31 October 2022 - meal planning

Today's Readings

(Audio)

When you hold a lunch or a dinner,

do not invite your friends or your brothers or sisters

or your relatives or your wealthy neighbors,

in case they may invite you back and you have repayment.

Is Jesus in fact discouraging dinner parties with family and friends? Not exactly. He is trying to teach us how to give unselfishly, to uproot and unsettle even the hidden selfishness that mars our relationship with family and friends. Is it in fact their enjoyment that is our goal, or is it rather our own? Are we setting table in order to indulge in living out some ideal image that might be ours and not another's? Or are we hoping that by this meal others might feel obligated or indebted to us in some way, even if it doesn't result in an invitation in return. Are we in fact seeking primarily to validate ourselves and to indulge in our own wish fulfillment? 

One way to test the sincerity of our normal meals is by attempting at least to imagine what Jesus suggests: 

When you hold a lunch or a dinner,

do not invite your friends or your brothers or sisters

or your relatives or your wealthy neighbors,

in case they may invite you back and you have repayment.

Rather, when you hold a banquet,

invite the poor, the crippled, the lame, the blind;

blessed indeed will you be because of their inability to repay you.

How would it be for us if the meal didn't match with our images and when nothing about it felt particularly validating for us? Could we enjoy the enjoyment of the poor, the crippled, the lame, and the blind even without the normal pleasant self gratification that a good meal for family and friends well executed might entail? Of course this applies not only to meals but all that we do, especially those things that we do to build relationships with others. Much of what we do does is in fact motivated by this hidden desire for repayment. And the best way to overcome such selfishness is to give to those who cannot repay, and to ask God to help us delight in doing so, for he loves a cheerful giver.

Do nothing out of selfishness or out of vainglory;

rather, humbly regard others as more important than yourselves,

each looking out not for his own interests,

but also everyone for those of others.

We are told by Paul to be of the same mind, acting with the same love. But this mind can be ours because it was first in Christ Jesus. He himself was the one who spread the table of his own body and blood for a world of sinners who had nothing to give him in repayment. He was the one who first invited the poor, the crippled, the lame, and the blind to dine in the Kingdom of God, and only then invited us to help issue the same invitations. To be like Jesus means we need the compassion and mercy that can only come from the encouragement in Christ and participation in the Spirit. Let us ask God to help us learn to share this same mind, with the same love, united in heart, thinking one thing. 

Jars Of Clay - Two Hands

Matt Maher ft. Brian Elmquist - Only Good Will Grow

30 October 2022 - to seek and save the lost

Today's Readings

(Audio)

Now a man there named Zacchaeus,

who was a chief tax collector and also a wealthy man

Zacchaeus was a chief tax collector. This was not a secret or subtle thing, but made others regard him as a public sinner and a traitor. Here was a man collecting the money to pay for the very government that oppressed and controlled Israel, and who was not afraid to take above and beyond what was necessary so that he himself was a wealthy man. Yet it seems clear that his wealth was not enough to give him peace, not enough to fill in the hole in his heart that isolation from those around him must have created.

was seeking to see who Jesus was;

but he could not see him because of the crowd,

for he was short in stature.

Zacchaeus could have simply given up. The crowds here were just one more element of the isolation he felt. His own shortness must have been like the physical expression of all of the limitations of his life to that point. Neither his riches nor his position provided the entry point to sate his interest about Jesus. 

One wonders what it was about Jesus that captured the attention of Zacchaeus. Could it have been the very attitude about Jesus toward riches, that they were not only not the answer, but a potential difficulty and liability? Could it have been the fact that Jesus had been friendly to other sinners, even other tax collectors (see Luke 5:27)?

Whatever it was that made Jesus so compelling to Zacchaeus it made Zacchaeus unwilling to give up so easily. Here at last, perhaps, was hope. Here finally a solution to the emptiness and isolation he felt. What he could not overcome with money and position he would instead overcome by humility and openness.

So he ran ahead and climbed a sycamore tree in order to see Jesus,

who was about to pass that way.

We might say that climbing this tree was an act of faith, faith that his hope in Jesus would pay off. It implied that Zacchaeus thought that seeing Jesus himself would be more worthwhile than preserving his own dignity by remaining with his feet planted firmly on the ground. It is in some way archetypal of many conversions which often involve humbling oneself, or at least taking oneself less seriously, in order be open and in range as Jesus passes by. What will happen then? The potential convert has already relinquished control. It might, his ego insists, be the case that not only the crowd but even Jesus himself laughs at his efforts. But what actually happens is quite different. Humble faith is rewarded.

When he reached the place, Jesus looked up and said,

"Zacchaeus, come down quickly,

for today I must stay at your house."

And he came down quickly and received him with joy.

As Jesus looked up at Zacchaeus, knowing his name, comprehending him in his entirety, all of his past shame and present struggle, and yet loving him, Zacchaeus experienced the truth spoken of by Solomon in the book of Wisdom.

For you love all things that are

and loathe nothing that you have made;

for what you hated, you would not have fashioned.

It was only on the basis of this love that was already his, that preceded any change in him or effort he made, that Zacchaeus was able to transform his life. He was so moved by this love that he could not help but change, going above and beyond what strict justice alone would have required.

But Zacchaeus stood there and said to the Lord,

"Behold, half of my possessions, Lord, I shall give to the poor,

and if I have extorted anything from anyone

I shall repay it four times over."

Like so many people after an encounter with Jesus, Zacchaeus found his place in a new and bigger story. His response was characterized by the eager haste and joy of those who knew themselves to be known and to be loved by God. Zacchaeus knew from this that he was no longer isolated and no longer defined only and entirely as sinner and tax collector. But Jesus made the point explicit.

Today salvation has come to this house

because this man too is a descendant of Abraham.

Zacchaeus may well have doubted that he was a descendant of Abraham in any meaningful way after his life as a tax collector, one who was consider a traitor to that very people. But Jesus was about his business of restoring the Kingdom and regathering the tribes. And no one need be excluded.

For the Son of Man has come to seek

and to save what was lost.

Just as in the parables of the lost sheep and of the lost coin so too was there joy in heaven over this one small statured sinner who repented. He was like the prodigal son who had finally found the Father's embrace, found that which alone could fill the hole in his heart, the answer to his deepest longing.

For this my son was dead, and is alive again; he was lost, and is found.’ And they began to celebrate (see Luke 15:24).

Matt Maher - The Way That You Love Me

29 October 2022 - an honor mistake

Today's Readings

(Audio)

He told a parable to those who had been invited,

noticing how they were choosing the places of honor at the table.

“When you are invited by someone to a wedding banquet,

do not recline at table in the place of honor.

The people in this home of the Pharisee believed that they were not at a wedding banquet. Yet the words of Jesus were obviously meant as a critique of them and the way they were choosing the places of honor at the table. Jesus was on the one hand saying something very practical that would apply in any situation. Jockeying for positions of honor was fraught with the inherent risk of overreach and suffering embarrassment as a consequence. Feigning greatness beyond what one possessed would merely set him up for a greater fall when his true status was unmasked. But what if, unbeknownst to the guests at this dinner, they were actually at a wedding banquet, albeit at one still in its early stages? What if there really was a more distinguished guest among them, perhaps even the bridegroom himself, that they failed to recognize and acknowledge? Jesus was himself the bridegroom, and his ministry on earth was the beginning of his wedding feast.

And Jesus said to them, “Can you make wedding guests fast while the bridegroom is with them? The days will come when the bridegroom is taken away from them, and then they will fast in those days.”

(see Luke 5:34-35).

The one who has the bride is the bridegroom. The friend of the bridegroom, who stands and hears him, rejoices greatly at the bridegroom's voice. Therefore this joy of mine is now complete (see John 3:29).

The Pharisee and his guests did not recognize that they were in the presence of the bridegroom, nor that their feast was a wedding feast in which they themselves did not have the starring roles. Because of they didn't know what story they were in they didn't correctly apprehend their part in that story. In their minds Jesus was just one of more individual for them to attempt to wow and impress by, demonstrating their greatness, they imagined, by where they sat at table. Even practically speaking the proverbs advised against such self-exaltation:

Do not exalt yourself in the king’s presence,

and do not claim a place among his great men;

it is better for him to say to you, “Come up here,”

than for him to humiliate you before his nobles (see Proverbs 25:6-7).

Jesus suggested not only this in the way that it was always and everywhere the case. He suggested it in such a way as to hint that he himself was the king and the bridegroom, in whose presence no man ought to boast. But that God was in Jesus Christ consummating a wedding with humankind was a lot to process. It had probably always sounded like nice poetry in the words of past prophets, with God himself as the bridegroom as Israel as the bride. But now here was one who called himself bridegroom, who implied that he himself was the king of the kingdom.

For as a young man marries a young woman,

so shall your sons marry you,

and as the bridegroom rejoices over the bride,

so shall your God rejoice over you (see Isaiah 62:5).

It might be the case that it wasn't possible for the people at the dinner to accept immediately that Jesus was himself the same bridegroom spoken of by Isaiah. But what Jesus himself suggested was that they not presume to take a place which wasn't their own and to allow the true host, God himself, to reveal both the guest that was more distinguished and, in turn, their own true places at the table. Presumption would result in failing to recognize Jesus and as a consequence usurping prerogatives that were meant to be his own. Humility meant choosing the lowest place for oneself, but only in order to leave one's position truly in the discretion of the host, so that he could be given his perfect place in a feast of joy and love.

Rather, when you are invited, 

go and take the lowest place

so that when the host comes to you he may say,

‘My friend, move up to a higher position.’

Paul demonstrated the logic of this parable by the way in which he did not insist on his own position but instead left it in the hands of God, knowing that God could glorify himself either way.

My eager expectation and hope

is that I shall not be put to shame in any way,

but that with all boldness, now as always,

Christ will be magnified in my body,

whether by life or by death.

For to me life is Christ, and death is gain.

Paul was content to celebrate and encourage others to celebrate the wedding feast without insisting on what his particular role in that feast would be. However God chose to use Paul was what Paul himself most desired. He might wish to run full steam into the fullness of the heavenly banquet. But if God desired him to remain on earth and in the flesh for the sake of the Philippians and the others to whom he ministered then he was willing to prefer that himself as well.

The main thing for Paul was that his boast and that of his audience be always only Christ Jesus himself. In this way they were the opposite of those at table with Jesus whose implicitly boasted of themselves by the position they took at the table. But Paul's boast was such that it would not result in embarrassment or being put to shame. It would always result in being invited ever closer to the one in whom he boasted, closer to the bridegroom, closer to Jesus himself.

As the hind longs for the running waters,

so my soul longs for you, O God.

Matt Maher - Burning Heart Of God

We Belong To God

28 October 2022 - mountain majesty

Today's Readings

(Audio)

Jesus went up to the mountain to pray,

and he spent the night in prayer to God.

Jesus himself did not undertake anything important in his life without first spending time with his Father in prayer. We may be legitimately unable to spend a whole night thus in prayer. But the example set by Jesus shows us that when we face big decisions or difficult challenges it might behoove us to dedicate time to prayer. 

Jesus came down the mountain bearing the fruit of his communion with God as Moses had once done. He was not there merely for his own pleasure or peace but in order to call the Twelve and to symbolically begin the regathering of the twelve tribes of Israel. These twelve Apostles were the same who Jesus prophesied would "sit on thrones judging the twelve tribes of Israel" (see Luke 22:30). Since Jesus was the true son of David and heir to his throne the twelve were also like the twelve district governors Solomon set over all of Israel. Indeed the task of those governors was "providing food for the king's household" (see First Kings 4:7) in the same way that Jesus each of his Apostles was meant to be a "faithful and wise servant whom his master has set over his household, to give them their food at the proper time" (see Matthew 24:45). The restoration of the Davidic throne and the regathering of the twelve tribes of Israel was a monumental thing, the fulfillment of of the peoples' messianic hope. Jesus demonstrated by his prayer that his choices were not capricious or arbitrary, but came rather from the Father's heart.

When day came, he called his disciples to himself,

and from them he chose Twelve, whom he also named Apostles

The disciples themselves must have taken comfort from the prayer that preceded Jesus choosing them. None of them were highly qualified by the standards of the world. If anything, most of them probably suspected that something about them would rule them out as a choice. But the solemnity and the certainty with which Jesus, as a fruit of his prayer, was able to call them, probably helped them to trust in his judgment about them.

and Judas Iscariot, who became a traitor.

The trust would be tested, because Jesus included in this number Judas even though he knew he would be betrayed by him. This was in a way the beginning that would finally lead the way the his Passion and he knew it. But imagine the uncertainty that this eventual betrayal would cause in the hearts of the other Apostles, both about the Jesus, and then as a corollary, about themselves and his choice of them. If Jesus had been wrong about him could he not be mistaken about any of them? Yet the prayer of Jesus, the time he spent with God, was an invitation to trust that even in this choice, even in his choosing the cross, there was yet a deeper wisdom at work. If they could believe this then perhaps they could believe that even their own failings might yet be taken up by God into the greater story of his mercy.

You are no longer strangers and sojourners,

but you are fellow citizens with the holy ones

and members of the household of God, 

built upon the foundation of the Apostles and prophets,

with Christ Jesus himself as the capstone.

The choosing of the twelve, including Simon and Jude, was not without consequence even for us in our own day. They were the solid rocks upon which the household of God was to be built. And it is in this house, the Church, that we now dwell. Jesus himself is making us grow into a temple sacred in the Lord and a dwelling place of God in the Spirit. We may rightly believe that in that night he spent in prayer Jesus did not foresee only the Twelve but also each one of us as well, delighting in the unique ways in which we would be a part of his temple, joining together to glorify God through his Spirit.

Songs In His Presence - The House Of God

27 October 2022 - on the third day

Today's Readings

(Audio)

Go away, leave this area because Herod wants to kill you.

Jesus was not going to be sidetracked from his mission for any reason. To the eyes of the Pharisees Herod was the one with power and Jesus and his mission were at risk. But Jesus recognized the limits of Herod's power. Herod was cunning like a fox, and certainly his potential for violence was real, as he revealed in beheading John the Baptist. But Herod, comfortably holed up in his palace, was not regarded by Jesus as a truly kingly figure. Rather, Jesus himself was the true heir to David and could not be put off by a pretender to the throne. The authority of Herod looked to the eyes of the Pharisees and the world to be the real power. But the authority of Jesus was rooted in his Father's will and was therefore inexorable.

He replied, “Go and tell that fox,

‘Behold, I cast out demons and I perform healings today and tomorrow,

and on the third day I accomplish my purpose.

To those still rooted primarily in the world, such political clout as Herod possessed might appear to be absolute. But Jesus would not die as a result of circumstances he could not control. Rather, he handed himself over willingly, in accordance with the divine plan foretold by the prophets.

No one takes it from me, but I lay it down of my own accord. I have authority to lay it down, and I have authority to take it up again. This charge I have received from my Father (see John 10:18).

Jesus knew exactly where he was going and for what. His face was set like flint toward Jerusalem, the holy city, the city that should above all welcome the prophets but which, due to the mystery of sin, was rather foremost in condemning them. But Jesus did not go toward Jerusalem as one who was merely resigned to his fate, or on a suicide mission. He did not go only for the sake of dying. He looked toward the third day when his purpose would truly be accomplished.

Jesus knew that the battle he was fighting was not finally "with flesh and blood but with the principalities, with the powers, with the world rulers of this present darkness, with the evil spirits in the heavens". Because of this he was not intimidated by the pomp and posturing of figures like Herod who thought highly of themselves but were actually just puppets in a battle that was invisible and spiritual. This perspective allowed Jesus to maintain a compassionate heart even toward those who would be responsible for his death.

how many times I yearned to gather your children together

as a hen gathers her brood under her wings,

but you were unwilling!

Even the desolation that would result from participation in the death of Christ was ordered, in the mysterious economy of salvation, toward restoration, forgiveness, and salvation. If the house was to be abandoned it was only because the foundations had never been firm, and in order that the inhabitants might now rebuild upon the rock.

Draw your strength from the Lord and from his mighty power.

Put on the armor of God so that you may be able to stand firm

against the tactics of the Devil.

We too need to remember that the things that we can see, flesh and blood, those with power in this world, those with armies at their command, or vast wealth and influence, are not actually powers to be feared. If we get caught up in earthly battles like those we will become easy prey for the dark powers, feeling more and more disempowered and angry with each passing day. But if we remember our true mission as Jesus did, and our true battle, as Paul advised, we too will be unstoppable in our journey toward the resurrection.

Therefore, put on the armor of God,

that you may be able to resist on the evil day

and, having done everything, to hold your ground.

If our battle were against flesh and blood we would try to procure weapons for ourselves for this world that were carnal. But "the weapons of our warfare are not carnal" (see Second Corinthians 10:4). Recognizing our true mission and battle we will avail ourselves of all that God himself offers us to equip us for that struggle. We will be more interested in truth than convenient lies, in righteousness rather than expedience, in peace rather than violence, and in faith rather than the superficial appearances of life in the world. Salvation will be our chief concern. As soldiers we will know that our roll is not merely defense, and so we will take up the sword of the Spirit in earnest.

How do we ensure, as much as it is in our power to do so, that we are at all times wearing this armor of God? Paul tells us. He says, "pray at every opportunity in the Spirit" or even "pray always" so that our life can then be rooted in something deeper than ourselves. When it is so rooted we will become more and more free of the fear of the Herods of this world, and therefore able to execute our mission without compromise.

Maranatha! Praise Band - The Battle Belongs To The Lord

26 October 2022 - the many and the few

Today's Readings

(Audio)

"Lord, will only a few people be saved?"

On the one hand we know that God himself desires "all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth" (see First Timothy 2:4), but on the other hand, "many, I tell you, will attempt to enter

but will not be strong enough". Why the apparent discrepancy? Jesus was himself the presence of God, guiding the willing in the way of salvation. In fact, he was himself the way (see John 14:6), and himself the gate (see John 10:9). 

After the master of the house has arisen and locked the door,

then will you stand outside knocking and saying,

'Lord, open the door for us.'

He will say to you in reply,

'I do not know where you are from.'

Jesus is the one who holds open the gate for our entrance. It is not enough to simply sit and observe this gate, to eat and drink in the sight of it, nor to merely hear described the directions that lead through it. We must actually move toward it in order to enter. 

Strive to enter through the narrow gate,

for many, I tell you, will attempt to enter

but will not be strong enough.

We must strive or struggle to enter, in the same way that Paul encouraged Timothy to fight the good fight (or striving or struggle) of faith (see First Timothy 6:12). This is a sort of fight that is not winnable by strength in the usual sense. We can't simply force our way in with will power, much less with our physical strength. It is rather the striving of faith to which we are called. This means believing what God tells us about ourselves and the world and living according to those beliefs. It means letting go of worldly priorities to the degree that they hinder our progress. Put another way, it means allowing God put to death the old sinful self that still lives and sometimes rises up within us. The old self with its stinking thinking and fleshly priorities will otherwise keep us away from the gate until it is closed, and once it is closed no amount of regret will be able to pry it open again.

Then he will say to you,

'I do not know where you are from.

Depart from me, all you evildoers!'

Rather than a call to heroic strength on our part, this is more a call to know the one who himself controls passage through the gate. If we ourselves are too weak, he is more than strong enough to make up for our deficiency. We are indeed called to work out our salvation with fear and trembling (see Philippians 2:12) but we are reminded, that "it depends not on human will or exertion, but on God, who has mercy" (see Romans 9:16).

For behold, some are last who will be first,

and some are first who will be last.

Those who will recline and dine in the Kingdom are those who made it a lifelong priority. When they fail or fall short they entrust themselves to the mercy of Jesus while the gate of mercy still remains open, knowing that as long as they don't give up on him he will guide them safely into his Kingdom.

Pursuing the gate to the Kingdom does not necessarily look dramatic. It might indeed result in a sanctity that is more hidden than visible, not an exciting subject for a movie, even going by the standards of movies about saints. One of the main things it most certainly will entail is a new and higher way of pursuing our existing relationships, one in which they are no longer closed in on themselves, but made expansive by being opened out toward God himself.

Children, obey your parents in the Lord, for this is right.

Honor your father and mother.

This is the first commandment with a promise,

that it may go well with you

and that you may have a long life on earth.

Fathers, do not provoke your children to anger,

but bring them up with the training and instruction of the Lord.

Yet even in our most comfortable relationships we become aware of our need for mercy. Our selfishness and our pride prevent us from giving and receiving the full communication of love between children, wives and husbands, bosses and employees (to change the idiom for modern times) that is meant to define these relationships in Christ. May Jesus continue to guide us and to draw us to the gate of mercy, helping us to lay aside all that will not serve us, all that we cannot carry through, and teach us to treasure and to prize that which we can in fact bring, which is only our love.

The LORD is faithful in all his words

and holy in all his works.

The LORD lifts up all who are falling

and raises up all who are bowed down.

Matt Maher - Bigger Table

25 October 2022 - small beginnings

Today's Readings

(Audio)

Jesus said, “What is the Kingdom of God like?

To what can I compare it?

One thing the Kingdom is not compared to here is another earthly kingdom which one might otherwise think would provide the closest analog for something which is also called Kingdom. But if there was some shared sense in which the Kingdom of God and the kingdoms of this world used that word there was also a profound gulf of difference, a difference frequently highlighted by Jesus in his parables.

It is like a mustard seed that a man took and planted in the garden.

The Kingdom of God involves the reversal of our expectations. Greatness comes from small beginnings and humble origins. It does not require impressive and lofty origins, exalted ancestry, impressive education, or high degrees of skill or artistry. Earthly kingdoms are built on the strength of their component parts and tend to fail when there is a weak link. Weakness in the Kingdom of God is not a liability but an asset. For "he has brought down the mighty from their thrones and exalted those of humble estate" (see Luke 1:52). This wouldn't work for any other sort of kingdom. It is predicated on the action of God himself, when his people are sufficiently humble to let him work.

I myself will take a sprig from the lofty top of the cedar and will set it out. I will break off from the topmost of its young twigs a tender one, and I myself will plant it on a high and lofty mountain. On the mountain height of Israel will I plant it, that it may bear branches and produce fruit and become a noble cedar. And under it will dwell every kind of bird; in the shade of its branches birds of every sort will nest (see Ezekiel 17:22-23).

The result is somehow more than the sum of its parts. We, the inadequate seeds, are planted and grown by God into a majestic tree with room enough to welcome the entire world to find a home in our branches.

Even the sparrow finds a home, and the swallow a nest for herself, where she may lay her young, at your altars, O LORD of hosts, my King and my God (Psalm 84:3).

It is not only our raw materials that seem too insufficient for the task for which they are appointed. It is also what we contribute by way of our effort and cooperation with God that seems to be far too little for a job that is far too big.

To what shall I compare the Kingdom of God?

It is like yeast that a woman took

and mixed in with three measures of wheat flour

until the whole batch of dough was leavened.

Many of us know all too well how insignificant our own efforts feel. Prayer seems hardly to move the needle. Our contributions to help the poor and other worthy causes seem swallowed up in an ocean of need. Yet we know by faith that everything done for the sake of the Kingdom has an effect that is much greater than would be expected by what can be seen and measured. We can take confidence that our works of mercy really are leavening an entire batch of dough even if this remains mostly invisible to us.

But he would feed you with the finest of the wheat, and with honey from the rock I would satisfy you (see Psalm 81:16).

These parables are meant to give us confidence to begin, and then confidence to keep going. They are meant to help us overcome the temptation to not begin because of a negative self-image or a negative assessment of our abilities. They are meant to help us continue even in the face of results which, on the surface, appear discouraging. Jesus wants us to be able to be people of faith, able to believe that there is more going on beneath the surface than empirical experiments can prove, much less what our emotions tell us, and to be deeply involved and invested in the things invisible even more than those that are visible.

God chose what is low and despised in the world, even things that are not, to bring to nothing things that are, so that no human being might boast in the presence of God (see First Corinthians 1:28-29).

Even more than the best of husbands love his wife Christ himself loves the Church. It is he himself who desires us to be holy and without blemish, he himself who nourishes and cherishes us, because we are members of his Body. His body is currently visible only to the eyes of faith. But his love is a reality that is meant to be experienced and shared.

Newsboys - Secret Kingdom

Newsboys - Shine

24 October 2022 - his story

Today's Readings

(Audio)

And a woman was there who for eighteen years

had been crippled by a spirit;

she was bent over, completely incapable of standing erect.

Imagine the hardship of being bent and incapable of standing erect. When we feel like this for a day or two we call a chiropractor. But this woman was unable to find healing from her infirmity for eighteen years. It would have been difficult to maintain a sense of positivity when her body language was saying something else. It must have been emotionally and spiritually oppressive to the woman in addition to the physical difficulty.

she was bent over, completely incapable of standing erect.

We experience something analogous to this infirmity when we are in the power of sin. We find that we become closed in on ourselves and unable to live in the expansive freedom of the sons and daughters of God. We try to stand, but without the healing hand of Jesus we find that we are incapable. In healing this woman Jesus, it was as though he was healing Eve herself, and implied his desire to heal all persons bent over, crippled, and unable to fully live.

He laid his hands on her,

and she at once stood up straight and glorified God.

This woman stood immediately and and found her place in the chorus of praise to God, now able to fully live the purpose for which the sabbath had been given. She had probably succumbed to the belief that her infirmity told her who she was. But now she learned who she truly was. Before, she had believed that the illness was the entirety of her story. Now she learned that the story to which she belonged was better than she could have imagined.

But the leader of the synagogue,

indignant that Jesus had cured on the sabbath,

said to the crowd in reply,

“There are six days when work should be done.

Come on those days to be cured, not on the sabbath day.”

What motivates us to condemn others for the good they do? This synagogue leader seemed to be more concerned for rules than the spirit behind those rules. He was all the more ready to weaponize those rules against those who did not belong to his in-group, against one like Jesus whose own popularity was likely the cause of jealousy among this leader as he was among so many. Jesus, simply by being who he was, relativized the importance everyone else, especially religious leaders. And many were not content to see themselves made apparently irrelevant by the coming of Jesus. They were so invested in their own story that they were unable to conceive of one which was different and better. They were content to remain police for the rules while suffering and affliction continued. They would welcome no change to that status quo even if it meant freedom and life.

This daughter of Abraham,

whom Satan has bound for eighteen years now,

ought she not to have been set free on the sabbath day

from this bondage?

We too need the healing touch of Jesus. Yet we too are at risk of insisting on our own story with ourselves as the heroes, stories with no room for Jesus. We make up all sorts of "empty arguments" in support of these stories. But these stories, if we insist on them indefinitely, lead ultimately to "the wrath of God". But we should know better. We have been healed by Jesus just as the woman was. Jesus has in himself reshaped humanity into a new person, able to stand erect and join with choirs of the angels in heaven to glorify the Lord.

For you were once darkness,

but now you are light in the Lord.

Live as children of light. 

We don't need to learn an entirely new story. But we do need to recognize more and more that the story that Jesus tells about our lives is the true one, and to relinquish, as grace enables, all the false roles and masks that our own poorly plotted stories imply.

Matt Maher - The Stories I Tell Myself

23 October 2022 - convinced of our own righteousness?

Today's Readings

(Audio)

Jesus addressed this parable

to those who were convinced of their own righteousness

and despised everyone else.

The tax collector and the Pharisee in the parable told by Jesus were such extreme caricatures that we risk not seeing ourselves in them. But the comedic distance we get when we hear the prayer of the Pharisee, thanking God because, "I thank you that I am not like the rest of humanity --

greedy, dishonest, adulterous -- or even like this tax collector", is not a distance that is supposed to make us dismiss him as irrelevant to ourselves. It is rather a distance meant to take off the edge so that we can see ourselves in him and recognize the degree to which we are still convinced of our own righteousness and despise everyone else.

We wouldn't use the phrase 'convinced of our own righteousness' to describe ourselves, and yet we often manifest a similar attitude to the Pharisee. We take up our position in Church or in prayer time casually and even indifferently as though we deserve to be there, as though we have earned that position by our own efforts. We may experience this as simply taking for granted that we are able to come into the presence of the God Most High rather than the fully rationalized attitude of the Pharisee and may not be entirely cognizant of the assumptions that underly such an attitude. But we can be sure there is something implicit in our presumptuous approach that resembles what was explicit in the Pharisee, that we believe we earned it, as he believed he did, "I fast twice a week, and I pay tithes on my whole income".

We also would probably not say we despised everyone else, or perhaps even that we despised anyone. And yet we often compare ourselves with others to assure ourselves of our own righteousness just as did the Pharisee. We call to mind an seemingly endless parade of public sin and scandal and use that as a comfort to ourselves to assuage the fear that coming into the presence of the Lord might otherwise invoke.

But the tax collector stood off at a distance

and would not even raise his eyes to heaven

but beat his breast and prayed,

'O God, be merciful to me a sinner.

God did not want the tax collector to remain at a distance to himself. But in order to truly come into the presence of the Lord it was necessary that he would first recognize his own unworthiness and lack of deserving. Only this attitude could truly free an individual from competing and comparing himself with others. Only this attitude was sufficiently emptied of itself, sufficiently poured out like a libation, in order to be filled with the mercy of God. This attitude is meant to be our own, and to mark for us the basis by which we hope to stand before the Lord. This is why it is not only at our first mass but at every mass that we pray, "Lord, I am not worthy that you should enter under my roof". It is not meant to engender in us an attitude of self-hatred, or anything that would increase the focus upon ourselves. It is meant rather to get ourselves out of the way as much as possible, to set our ego aside, so that there can be communion between the deeper and more true depths of our hearts and the Lord. The humility of the tax collector can in fact result in a new confidence to come into the Lord's presence that is no longer rooted in ourselves, as that about which the author of the Letter to the Hebrews wrote, "Let us therefore come boldly to the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need" (see Hebrews 4:16). It is precisely in that posture and with that attitude, when we stand before the Father in the name of the Son, and not in our own name, that our prayer becomes powerful.

The prayer of the lowly pierces the clouds;

it does not rest till it reaches its goal,

nor will it withdraw till the Most High responds

Taking the tax collector as our example won't make us pathetic, pitiful, or powerless, as we might fear. Rather it will allow ourselves to take advantage of the only strength that is true strength and with it to fight the good fight, finish the race, and receive the crown just as did Paul, who was in no way rendered pitiful or powerless even though he counted all is loss for the sake of gaining Christ.

And I was rescued from the lion's mouth.

The Lord will rescue me from every evil threat

and will bring me safe to his heavenly kingdom.

Tom Booth - The Jesus Song

22 October 2022 - ready or not

Today's Readings

(Audio)

Some people told Jesus about the Galileans

whose blood Pilate had mingled with the blood of their sacrifices.

These people who spoke to Jesus were like those recently mentioned by him who could not correctly interpret the signs of the present time. They demonstrated what we might recognize as a morbid fascination with the tragedies that were for them current events. We probably recognize such a fascination in ourselves. When was the last time we commented on the latest scandal or atrocity of this or this world leader? 

Do you think that because these Galileans suffered in this way 

they were greater sinners than all other Galileans?

By no means!

Rather than receiving the lesson that was present when those events were interpreted correctly it seems that the people distanced themselves from it by assuming that those particular Galileans were greater sinners than themselves. In other words, terrible things happened, and they were angry about those things, but did not see a deeper connection to their own lives. For us as well, we tend to enjoy the cycles of anger and outrage that the news provides, but without it resulting in much introspection on our part.

But I tell you, if you do not repent,

you will all perish as they did!

An important lesson in hidden in every tragedy is that time is short for everyone, and that none of us knows when our last hour will come. We have the same options as the people killed by Pilate and those on whom the tower at Siloam fell: we can allow fate to take us by surprise or we can repent and thereby be ready at any time. The news is good for nothing so much as showing us how imperfect and impermanent are all of structures in this world to which we otherwise often cling for our security. May we not use such headlines as distractions from the pressing issues of our own holiness and conversion.

‘For three years now I have come in search of fruit on this fig tree 

but have found none.

So cut it down.

Why should it exhaust the soil?’

The gardener does not desire that we should perish but "desires all people to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth" (see First Timothy 2:4). He is "patient toward you, not wishing that any should perish, but that all should reach repentance" (see Second Peter 3:9). But the point is that a tree with no fruit won't be allowed to exhaust the soil indefinitely. We damage not only ourselves by our failure to change but we also exhaust the soil on which other trees also rely. The gardener pleads for us, and himself cultivates the ground and provides fertilizer to facilitate our growth. But eventually "this year also" will end and by then let us hope to be found with fruit.

Bear fruit in keeping with repentance.

...

Even now the axe is laid to the root of the trees. Every tree therefore that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire (see Matthew 3:8,10).

Among the gifts given by God to aid the growth of the tree were the gifts of his Spirit listed by Paul in his letter to the Ephesians, "he gave some as Apostles, others as prophets, others as evangelists, others as pastors and teachers, to equip the holy ones for the work of ministry". We notice about these gifts that were not given primarily to do the work of ministry, but rather, to equip the holy ones, and that is us, to do that work, to bear that fruit. And why? Is it merely from fear that are meant to care for that work? No, rather it is the vision for how good it can be when that tree grows, is healthy, and bears fruit.

Rather, living the truth in love,

we should grow in every way into him who is the head, Christ,

from whom the whole Body,

joined and held together by every supporting ligament,

with the proper functioning of each part,

brings about the Body’s growth and builds itself up in love.

The Hillbilly Thomists - Good Tree

21 October 2022 - an acceptable time

Photo from Wikipedia

Today's Readings

(Audio)

You hypocrites!

You know how to interpret the appearance of the earth and the sky;

why do you not know how to interpret the present time?

We have strategies like these that help us predict the future, and as a consequence help us feel some measure of control over that future. There may be more or less truth in our interpretative tools, which range from folk wisdom, to social statistics, to artificial intelligence. The point is not that any of these is necessarily wrong. Rather, the problem is when we become so preoccupied about the future that we don't correctly interpret the present time.

For he says, “In a favorable time I listened to you, and in a day of salvation I have helped you.” Behold, now is the favorable time; behold, now is the day of salvation (see Second Corinthians 6:2).

Jesus came to "proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor" (see Luke 4:19), a year of jubilee. But to celebrate a true year of jubilee would require the remission of debts, most particularly the debts associated with sin. If the meaning of the present time according to Jesus was that it was to be a year of jubilee then it was, in a special way, right the time to repent. It was the right time to finally be free from sin and to set others free from whatever smaller debt they owed by forgiving them in turn. 

If you are to go with your opponent before a magistrate,

make an effort to settle the matter on the way;

The arrival of the Messiah pointed forward to the last judgment when Jesus himself would judge the living and the dead. Those who interpreted the present time correctly would act then and there in such a way as to be fit to enter into a year of jubilee which was eternal and perfect. But those with debts still outstanding were not yet sufficiently free to live in that eternal banquet of joy. Fortunately however, as long as they had begun and did not give up they would eventually be released unto that life in the world to come, but not until they paid the last penny. The emphasis of Jesus on the present time and its implications means that it is precisely now that we should repent and make ourselves ready for the life that we want to be ours for all eternity.

I, a prisoner for the Lord,

urge you to live in a manner worthy of the call you have received

We have been received a call to the year of jubilee, to an eternal wedding feast. We must begin to live now as those worthy of such a call, "with all humility and gentleness, with patience, bearing with one another through love". Without such characteristics present in the attendees of a banquet is it likely that it would be enjoyable, much less a place we would be content to remain forever? 

striving to preserve the unity of the spirit

through the bond of peace;  

We are called into a unity the is a supernatural fruit of the Holy Spirit, made possible by the peace (not only within us, but among us) that is his gift. It is the Spirit who robes us with righteousness at our baptism and makes us worthy to enter the wedding feast. But we need to treasure this gift, keeping it unstained is best we can, and availing ourselves of his cleansing power when we fail. When we do this we correctly interpret the true meaning of the present, which points toward eternal now of heaven, where God will be all in all.

Matt Maher - Isaiah 61

20 October 2022 - fire on the earth

Today's Readings

(Audio)

I have come to set the earth on fire,

and how I wish it were already blazing!

This is the fire that was predicted by John the Baptist when he prophesied of Jesus that he "will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and with fire" (see Luke 3:16). Jesus, the one who would not be content with that which was merely lukewarm (see Revelation 3:16) would himself be the one to bring the fire he desired. As a consequence the hearts of the disciples on the road to Emmaus would burn within them (see Luke 24:32). Timothy would be advised be Paul to fan into flames the gift he had been given (see Second Timothy 1:6). This fire was cast in a particularly manifest and powerful way at Pentecost when the Spirit descended like tongues of fire (see Acts 2:3).

There is a baptism with which I must be baptized,

and how great is my anguish until it is accomplished!

In order for us to receive the gift of the fire of the Holy Spirit Jesus himself first had to unlock that gift by his death and resurrection, "for as yet the Spirit had not been given, because Jesus was not yet glorified" (see John 7:39). He had first to be immersed in the baptism of his own suffering and death, to pour out the living water of the Spirit for us, so that we could be baptized precisely by that living water, uniting us with his own death and resurrection, qualifying us to receive the inheritance of the Spirit.

Do you think that I have come to establish peace on the earth?

No, I tell you, but rather division.

A challenging thing about the fire of the Spirit is that it does not tolerate a false peace which is actually only the status quo. It makes us more concerned for the holiness of God than simply the avoidance of conflict. It teaches us that even the greatest of natural goods cannot be preferred to God himself. But the Spirit does this by making us recognize experientially the hierarchy of goods. In other words, he makes us to understand that trying to enjoy even the blessings of family without reference to God subverts those blessings and empties them of their value. Family apart from God cannot have eternal significance. But family ordered toward God as its source and destiny can participate in the fire of the Spirit and know a peace and joy of supernatural origin.

I kneel before the Father,

from whom every family in heaven and on earth is named

The fire of the Spirit makes us zealous for God and the things of God. As a corollary it motivates us to fight against all injustice, especially against the lowest and the least of society, rather than accepting a "peace" that would ignore and trample them. It is not content to love them merely unto better social status, but wants for them exactly what Paul wanted for the Ephesians:

that he may grant you in accord with the riches of his glory

to be strengthened with power through his Spirit in the inner self,

and that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith;

that you, rooted and grounded in love,

may have strength to comprehend with all the holy ones

what is the breadth and length and height and depth,

and to know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge,

so that you may be filled with all the fullness of God.

Are our hearts in fact burning within us? Or have the flames receded to embers? Has our love cooled and become lukewarm? Jesus came to bring fire on the earth not to consume or destroy, but to ignite, to make fully alive. It is dangerous, in a sense, but we see in all the biblical figures who experience that fire how good it is. In it they find their ultimate purpose and the motivation with which to pursue it. The fire is good and we need not fear it! But if we want it, and want to keep it, we must fan it into flames. The Spirit is not something we can stir up by our emotions, however. Making our fire grow is something that Jesus himself must do within, something that he in fact wants to do more than we even want it for ourselves.

Now to him who is able to accomplish far more than all we ask or imagine,

by the power at work within us,

to him be glory in the Church and in Christ Jesus

to all generations, forever and ever.  Amen.

John Michael Talbot - Let The Fire Fall

19 October 2022 - not knowing the hour

Today's Readings

(Audio)

Be sure of this:

if the master of the house had known the hour

when the thief was coming,

he would not have let his house be broken into.

The coming of the Son of Man is always a surprise for powers who are hostile to him. The strong man, the Devil, fully armed, guarded his possessions, that is, the souls of women and men, until one stronger than he, that is, the Son of Man, appeared and overcame him (see Luke 11:21). To the powers of darkness especially the Son of Man appeared as a thief, taking from them the dominance over humankind that they have previously enjoyed.

You also must be prepared,

for at an hour you do not expect, the Son of Man will come.

We too must be prepared, not so much out of fear that he is coming to rob us, but more as though he were coming on a rescue mission in order to set us free. We have already been given great freedom in our baptism by the gift of the Holy Spirit, delivered from the kingdom of darkness unto the Kingdom of light. But there are still strongholds in each of our lives where this freedom is yet imperfect. In these areas Jesus wants to teach us who live by the Spirit to also stand by his power and to walk in time with his guidance. But it seems as though his deliverance still works better if he catches the earthly and selfish parts of us by surprise in order to better bypass the defenses we have built to keep control of our lives by keeping him from interfering at too deep a level.

so that the manifold wisdom of God

might now be made known through the Church

to the principalities and authorities in the heavens.

We are not meant to wait in total ignorance for the coming of Jesus. We are meant to be able to be able to understand his plans on a spiritual level by listening to the revelation given to the Church in Scripture and Tradition. This vision revealed by faith does not satisfy our ego much as we wait, and we must therefore persist in a posture of readiness. We must resist the temptations of the ego to forget that we are waiting and for whom. We resist well when we remain rooted in the revelation of the master's plan. When we forget that plan our resistance to temptation tends to evaporate.

But if that servant says to himself,

‘My master is delayed in coming,’

and begins to beat the menservants and the maidservants,

to eat and drink and get drunk,

then that servant’s master will come

on an unexpected day and at an unknown hour

and will punish the servant severely

and assign him a place with the unfaithful.

For our part we cannot use the excuse that we did not know the master's will and hope thereby to get off with only a light beating, and neither should be content with such excuses. We who know the master's will can be faithful and prudent stewards of the gifts that the master himself has entrusted to each one of us. We can recognize and remember the genuine goodness of the rescue mission for which we still wait, the complete freedom for which we still hope. And for that reason we will not hesitate to share it with others. For it is a much better thing to understand and to be a willing participant in this plan, beginning even here and now to enjoy the freedom that Jesus will bring definitively on the last day.

Shout with exultation, O city of Zion,

for great in your midst

is the Holy One of Israel!

Elevation Worship featuring Brandon Lake - There Is A King

18 October 2022 - beg the Lord of the harvest

Saint Luke painting the Virgin

Today's Readings

(Audio)

The Lord Jesus appointed seventy-two disciples

whom he sent ahead of him in pairs

to every town and place he intended to visit.

The Lord uses his disciples to prepare the way for the persons and places that he himself intends to visit. This is how Jesus and the Father desire to address the needs of an abundant harvest. Jesus will not himself do everything directly by his physical presence, but instead prefers to act through those willing to labor for the harvest. The first step is to hear the call of Jesus sending us out. This gives us our directions, our marching orders. But even then we must not simply take matters into our own hands. We must continue to submit ourselves and our mission to the Lord of the harvest.

He said to them,

“The harvest is abundant but the laborers are few;

so ask the master of the harvest

to send out laborers for his harvest.

Jesus sent the seventy-two but commanded them to ask the Father for laborers for the harvest. This was for more than filling in the gaps of a missionary force that was small compared to the needs of the mission field. It was also so that they themselves could be the answer to their prayer. The idea is that they would then  be operating at the call of the Father, sent by the Son, united in the Spirit. They would be able to make their own mission a sharing in the relationship of the Father and the Son. 

he sent ahead of him in pairs

Even in the fact that they were sent in pairs we can see another facet of the Trinitarian structure of mission. It was not the domain of an isolated individual but meant to be carried out by communion of persons, united in love. 

Go on your way;

behold, I am sending you like lambs among wolves.

Carry no money bag, no sack, no sandals;

and greet no one along the way.

Sent by both the Father and the Son, united in the Spirit, these seventy-two disciples would experience the freedom that can be found when the mission comes first. They would be able both to brave dangers and to endure privations and in spite of that still have a supernatural peace with which to bless the households they visited.

Into whatever house you enter,

first say, ‘Peace to this household.’

If a peaceful person lives there,

your peace will rest on him;

but if not, it will return to you.

All of this would work because it was not in their own strength that they went nor their own peace that they offered. They were not distracted by less consequential matters of merely human preferences because they had felt the heart of the Father and the Son toward these people to whom they went. They went, finally, as those preparing the way for the people whom Jesus himself would visit. And it is this way for us today. Whatever is our own part of the mission, it is always for the purpose of letting Jesus use us to prepare others for an individual encounter with himself.

If we recognize that we have been called by Jesus and ask the Father to send us then we too can know and share the peace of Christ with others, and he himself can use us to touch their hearts and lives. We can experience the singleness of purpose demonstrated by the seventy-two and even the great strength that the Lord gave Paul for the sake of the proclamation.

But the Lord stood by me and gave me strength,

so that through me the proclamation might be completed

and all the Gentiles might hear it.

Curtis Stephan - Go Out, Go Out