2 April 2025 - only what he sees from the Father

 

Today's Readings
(Audio)

For this reason they tried all the more to kill him,
because he not only broke the sabbath
but he also called God his own father, making himself equal to God.

They weren't wrong about what Jesus meant. But perhaps their inference lacked sufficient nuance. Jesus was not some potential competitor to the God of Israel whom he called his Father. He was so closely united to the Father that his entire life was directed by what he saw the Father himself doing. From all eternity he received his very being from the Father. It was fundamentally impossible for him to oppose the Father in any way or to have a different idea or opinion than he. So too the Holy Spirit who comes from the Father through the Son. There was a perfect harmony in what they desired as well as what they did.

Amen, amen, I say to you, the Son cannot do anything on his own,
but only what he sees the Father doing;
for what he does, the Son will do also.

The Son was not at all dangerous to the proper honoring of the Father, for no one honored than Father more than he. There was no person who contradicted the will of the Father less than Jesus, no person who desired to see him glorified more than he did. Consequently, what the Judeans feared about Jesus, was as far from the intention of Jesus as possible. He did not desire that the Father be obscured or usurped. Rather, he desired that he be honored. In fact, it was impossible to honor the Son also honor the Father. Honoring the Father but dishonoring or disregarding the Son was in actuality an impossible contradiction. It wasn't as though the Son introduced something new and superior that left in the dust all that the Father offered to previous generations. He only ever had what he had from the Father himself.

For the Father loves the Son
and shows him everything that he himself does,
and he will show him greater works than these,
so that you may be amazed.

Jesus, as Son, was not inferior to his Father precisely because his Father held absolutely nothing back from his Son. All he had, all that made him worthy of glory, he gave also to the Son, and to the Spirit. He reserved nothing as strictly his own. Though he was in some way the origin of the Son and the Spirit he did not exist before them, but from eternity poured himself out completely to them.

For just as the Father raises the dead and gives life,
so also does the Son give life to whomever he wishes.

The Son makes the Father manifest in the world. From the point of view of the Judeans it was only possible for the Son to draw attention away from the Father to himself. But from the point of view of Jesus nothing he did had its origin in himself but redounded to the Father. The Father was a life giver. But no one had seen the Father. Therefore Jesus came to demonstrate exactly what that meant. For instance just as babies were born on the Sabbath as an example of the life giving power of God, so too would the Son heal on the Sabbath to reveal that power even more concretely. So too would he raise Lazarus from death. So too will he eventually raise us all. Before him we will face judgment. But his judgment is worthy of trust because it is without self-interest or ulterior motives. The Father demonstrated this by giving judgment to the Son. The Son proved it in turn by judging only as his Father would have him judge.

Do not be amazed at this,
because the hour is coming in which all who are in the tombs
will hear his voice and will come out,
those who have done good deeds
to the resurrection of life,
but those who have done wicked deeds
to the resurrection of condemnation.

The way to ensure that one was right with the Father was to believe in his Son whom he sent into the world. The way to be in right relationship with the Father was to honor him by becoming more and more like the Son, even becoming united to him through the Sacraments. This meant being filled with the power of the Spirit, as Jesus was. Receiving the Spirit honored both the Father and the Son who together unleashed him upon the world at Pentecost. The Spirit empowered the followers of Jesus to not only imitate him but to be united to him.

I judge as I hear, and my judgment is just,
because I do not seek my own will
but the will of the one who sent me.

Being united to Jesus may sound exulted, as though those thusly configured to Christ had something about which they could boast. But it was not so. It actually meant having the same attitude in ourselves that was also in Christ Jesus, "who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped" (see Philippians 2:6).

Jesus knew, and we ought to know, that we don't debase ourselves by giving ourselves away. We don't become less but rather all that we are meant to be when we live in the love we first receive from God. This is precisely how God himself comforts us and shows us mercy.

Can a mother forget her infant,
be without tenderness for the child of her womb?
Even should she forget,
I will never forget you.

 Jim Cowan - At The Name Of Jesus

1 April 2025 - wherever the river flows

Today's Readings
(Audio)

When Jesus saw him lying there
and knew that he had been ill for a long time, he said to him,
"Do you want to be well?"

The implication of the question was of course that the man didn't really want to be well, that his coming to this pool was basically a pretense. He didn't want to be well, but he didn't want to believe that about himself, so he came again and again as though he did. But had he truly desired it he could have at least found a way to get into the pools by then. It seems rather that he gave up in advance. He had a certain amount of frustration with the repetition of this occurrence, but not so much as to make a change. In fact, he was like many of us. He had grown comfortable with his condition, with the limits that it imposed, and with the demands of normal life from which he found himself safely excluded. In exchange for the joys of normal life he substituted wallowing in self-pity as his consolation. Feeling self-pity doesn't seem like something anyone would want. But for some who felt it it could serve as a protection of their egos, a way to blame and to absolve themselves of any culpability or responsibility. It had a certain intoxicating quality that made it hard to abandon even while it rendered one increasingly incapacitated.

Jesus said to him, "Rise, take up your mat, and walk."
Immediately the man became well, took up his mat, and walked.

There was so much more in the command of Jesus than merely that of a physical healing. Everything that had hindered the man's inner life and stunted his growth was also healed. It was as though Jesus said to him, 'You are meant for more, now live for it'. We can imagine that if the man had been healed without the help of Jesus he would have taken a much longer and slower road back into life in the world. But in response to the words of Jesus the change was immediate.

"Who is the man who told you, 'Take it up and walk'?"
The man who was healed did not know who it was,
for Jesus had slipped away, since there was a crowd there.

We don't necessarily know everything about Jesus when we first experience his healing power. This is obviously true for those of us baptized as infants. But even for those who had powerful adult conversions there is still much to learn. It is not merely one encounter that teaches us the truth of who Jesus is but many, as he himself visits us in the varied circumstances of our life and reveals himself to us.

"Look, you are well; do not sin any more,
so that nothing worse may happen to you."
The man went and told the Jews
that Jesus was the one who had made him well.

Once Jesus had revealed himself to the man he found himself unable to keep it a secret. We can't imagine that he told the Judeans in bad faith, knowing how they would respond. Rather, he was too excited about Jesus, and couldn't hold it in. Surely any who realized what he had done would realize that he wasn't an enemy. But he underestimated the hardness of their hearts.

Therefore, the Jews began to persecute Jesus
because he did this on a sabbath.

Some people are more stuck in their patterns of life than others. They tend to respond with more violence and hostility to the call of Jesus to convert. But Jesus only ever responds to us with love, though not always of the warm and fuzzy variety. He isn't interested in acting as enabler for our sin and addiction. He is interested in healing us just as he did for the man by the pool of Bethesda. It is not truly any pool that heals, but Jesus himself, the source of living water.

Wherever the river flows,
every sort of living creature that can multiply shall live,
and there shall be abundant fish,
for wherever this water comes the sea shall be made fresh.
Along both banks of the river, fruit trees of every kind shall grow;
their leaves shall not fade, nor their fruit fail.
Every month they shall bear fresh fruit,
for they shall be watered by the flow from the sanctuary.
Their fruit shall serve for food, and their leaves for medicine.

 Anne Wilson - Living Water

31 March 2025 - all things new

Today's Readings
(Audio)

For Jesus himself testified
that a prophet has no honor in his native place.

One might assume that Jesus would not go specifically to the place where he was without honor. Yet for Jesus, coming from Samaria into Galilee was indeed coming home. This was surprising, but consistent with the whole purpose of the incarnation, in which, "He came to his own, and his own people did not receive him" (see John 1:11). We can't assert that he was surprised by the rejection he encountered. God always knew how this would go, and that knowledge was contained in his Eternal Word. This is why Jesus was "the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world" (see Revelation 13:8).

Then he returned to Cana in Galilee,
where he had made the water wine.

Jesus gave signs to be used as interpretive keys to understand his mission. The point was not to provide such overwhelming evidence that no one could resist. His signs and healings were surprisingly low-key. He didn't necessarily conceal them, especially when he demonstrated something important to his adversaries by his willingness to, for example, heal on the Sabbath. But he definitely did not flaunt them. Whenever he came close to that, as with the multiplication of the loaves, what it engendered in most of the crowd was not the faith he sought. He didn't want to be appreciated only insofar as he was willing to give others what they wanted. That was not the kind of king he desired to be. His signs, therefore, pointed to his desire to give salvation, and to restore right relationship between God and humanity.

Now there was a royal official whose son was ill in Capernaum.
When he heard that Jesus had arrived in Galilee from Judea,
he went to him and asked him to come down
and heal his son, who was near death.

Jesus tested the royal official before he gave him an answer. Was he so focused on getting what he wanted that he didn't care whom he asked? Was Jesus just one stop in an exploration of various options? Would he only believe after all reasonable doubt was gone in virtue of a healing performed? Or did he rather come to Jesus because he already had a mustard seed of faith within him?

“Sir, come down before my child dies.”
Jesus said to him, “You may go; your son will live.”

In calling Jesus, "Sir", he used the word also translated as lord, a word also applicable to God himself. And it seems that Jesus must have understood this to be some sign of inchoate faith, for he responded. It was more than using flowery language to butter him up. It demonstrated that the reason that he asked Jesus was because of his belief that Jesus could answer.

The man believed what Jesus said to him and left.

The royal official responded to the words of Jesus with faith. He had asked Jesus to come and to heal his son. But now he was content to trust the words of Jesus that his physical presence was not required. He had one view of how things were and what his hope might be, but had been willing to trust Jesus' words more than his preconceptions.

While the man was on his way back,
his slaves met him and told him that his boy would live.
He asked them when he began to recover.
They told him,
“The fever left him yesterday, about one in the afternoon.”

The details pointed to the fact that it was not a fluke or coincidence but rather the power of Jesus himself. The confirmation not only strengthened the man himself in faith but led to the faith of his household as well. He might well have found it otherwise difficult to persuade the rest of them since Jesus hadn't been present for the healing. But it was hard to argue that the precise time of the healing and the words of Jesus were mere coincidence.

What, then was this sign supposed to mean? Was the fact that his son would live merely meant to mean that Jesus could extend one's life in this world? Or did it hint at more? Did it not point to the fact that Jesus himself had power over life and death, the truth of what he would later express in the words, "I am the resurrection and the life" (see John 11:25).

Thus says the LORD:
Lo, I am about to create new heavens
and a new earth;
The things of the past shall not be remembered
or come to mind.

In order to solve the apparently intractable problems of this earth, nothing short of a new one will do. But Jesus demonstrated his capacity and desire to bring this about. That is why, when we come to faith in Jesus, we experience such newness of life that we begin to forget the things that lie behind (see Philippians 3:13).

 

Big Daddy Weave - All Things New

30 March 2025 - inheritance diss

Today's Readings
(Audio)

Tax collectors and sinners were all drawing near to listen to Jesus,
but the Pharisees and scribes began to complain, saying,
“This man welcomes sinners and eats with them.”

This, then is the context, the key that explains the primary meaning of the parable of the prodigal son. It is an explanation of why the Father delights to welcome sinners to his banquet. It also explained why the Pharisees tend to resist and reject that aspect of the Father.

It is important to note from the beginning that the younger son really had transgressed, and that his offense was no minor thing. He had not been misunderstood. Neither did he simply lack the moral knowledge necessary to know better. Asking for his inheritance while his father was still alive was all but saying that he wished that he was dead. His father, at that moment, was no more to him than potential financial gain. But it wasn't just greed, he wanted no part in the life of his father's house.

After a few days, the younger son collected all his belongings
and set off to a distant country
where he squandered his inheritance on a life of dissipation.

We might surmise a few things from the younger sons journey. The first is that he did not know how to put his newfound wealth to good use. He was not able to use it in a way that made him truly happy. And there was much less to prevent this away from home. He did not know how to use his money, and so far away and isolated there was no one to teach him. The second point is that the reason his father kept the inheritance for a later time was not so much because he was reluctant to share but rather his sons were not yet ready to receive it. If he grew in maturity by living with his father and learning his ways he would have been able to handle increasing sums with proportionally fewer problems. He fled his home precisely because he did not want to live under such scrutiny. But it was obviously just this of which he was still deeply in need.

Coming to his senses he thought,
‘How many of my father’s hired workers
have more than enough food to eat,
but here am I, dying from hunger.

We note that the younger son was not moved to return home in the first place because he had offended his father. It was more or less imperfect contrition that drove home back. He feared the pains of hunger and the loss of the comfort of home. It was not especially because he loved the father who was certainly deserving of that love.

Father, I have sinned against heaven and against you.
I no longer deserve to be called your son;
treat me as you would treat one of your hired workers.

Still, his contrition helped him to realize that he had made a mistake. It motivated him to subject himself to his Father, whom he knew to be just. He saw the way sin had broken his relationship. But even if could not be the same he no longer wanted to be without it entirely.

While he was still a long way off,
his father caught sight of him, and was filled with compassion.
He ran to his son, embraced him and kissed him.

The Father, however, loved his children far more than they could ever guess. All he he desired from them was that they could all be together, and share the life of his family. In order for the younger son to experience it, it was necessary he first turn from his ways. But the relationship that he feared could not be restored was already whole again before his speech, his act of contrition was even finished. It was a true spiritual resurrection. He had been dead in sin, but brought to life again by his father's love.

Quickly bring the finest robe and put it on him;
put a ring on his finger and sandals on his feet.
Take the fattened calf and slaughter it.

It was his father's love for him that made him capable of moving beyond his early and still self-directed motivations into genuine love. By seeing his imperfect contrition met with perfect love he more and more desired to reciprocate that love in an increasing pure contrition.

This can describe the way confession affects our own relationship to our heavenly Father. It can be a profound experience of unmerited love. Or it can if we don't take it for granted. This was the lesson of the elder son who had remained physically close to his father, but whose heart had grown cold to him. He was envious of others because he didn't know what he himself already had, since, as his father told him, "you are here with me always". So even if we never entirely leave home in mortal sin, our venial sins can still take our hearts increasing far from the Lord. We are invited, in confession, to rediscover the Father's love and to reintegrate ourselves more fully into the feast, the banquet of the Lamb.

 Vineyard Worship - Hungry (Falling On My Knees)

 

29 March 2025 - deprioritized seating

Today's Readings
(Audio)

Jesus addressed this parable
to those who were convinced of their own righteousness
and despised everyone else.

People such as this believed that they were right with God and properly aligned with his will but they missed the mark in several ways. There was no doubt some small part of them that was concerned with the will of God. But their pride was still in control. It was this pride that made them boast in the superiority over others and to think highly of themselves because of their fine-grained acts of devotion.

The Pharisee took up his position and spoke this prayer to himself

The Pharisee had a spot which he thought belonged to him. He was like the person in the parable of the chief seats where he chose what was highest for himself rather than choosing the lowest. Since he took the highest place he would have to give it up for someone else. Had he taken the lowest place he may have heard, "Friend, move up higher" (see Luke 14:7-12). His prayers, like all his superficially righteous deeds, were done to order to enlarge his own ego, and not for God. He ultimately said his prayer to himself. Which may have been for the best, in a way, since what was God to make of it?

‘O God, I thank you that I am not like the rest of humanity —
greedy, dishonest, adulterous — or even like this tax collector.
I fast twice a week,
and I pay tithes on my whole income.’

The tax collector, by contrast, did not choose the highest place for himself. His attitude indicated that he knew himself to be undeserving, to have done nothing to merit coming into the presence of God. When someone was stripped of pride and arrogance they might well resemble this tax collector, whose grip on reality was much more realistic. He assumed nothing. He was therefore ready at any moment to be surprised by the ways in which God would bless him and show him love. When it was the host who called him to a higher place he would gradually come to understand that it didn't matter how undeserving he was. That didn't matter to God in the last. He would therefore grow in a relationship of trust with the Lord, something superficially similar to, but utterly different from the presumption of the Pharisee. The tax collector might one day feel as though he did have a seat reserved at the table of the Father. But not because he earned it. The Pharisee all but believed that he himself had built the house and brought in all the chairs and that he was therefore entitled to his pick of the lot.

‘O God, be merciful to me a sinner.’

We may think that this prayer was a result of low self-image. But it was actually a result of accurate self-image, unobscured by pride. It was the self-knowledge of one who realized that he was only able to stand by of the grace of God that made him able. The degree to which he resisted temptation, the degree to which he sought the Lord, was not on the basis of heroic strength but rather on the mercy of God. Acknowledging that fact is not rehearsing a narrative of depression. It was rather of focusing oneself on one's utter dependence on the Lord.

I tell you, the latter went home justified, not the former

The tax collector was ultimately invited to take the higher place. He, and not the one who had done everything with superficially correct form, was the one who went home justified, right with God, forgiven, with grace to begin anew.

In this parable Jesus presented the Pharisee with comic exaggeration. But he did this so that we wouldn't be too upset to see ourselves in him. Do we not go to into a church and 'take up our position', as though it was something we earned? Do we not at times say 'prayers to ourselves', for the sake of self-image rather than any real motivation to communicate with the Lord of heaven and earth? When people display genuine humility as did the tax collector don't we find ourselves judging them just as the Pharisee judged him? We'd hate to be the Pharisee because it would look bad. But neither can we bring ourselves to desire the attitude of the tax collector. But again, it was he who went home justified.

He will revive us after two days;
on the third day he will raise us up,
to live in his presence.

 

 

 Craig Musseau - Good To Me

28 March 2025 - not pretencious

Today's Readings
(Audio)

 Which is the first of all the commandments?

In other words, what was the unifying theme behind all the various and varied commandments? Jesus replied with the words of the Shema:

Hear, O Israel!
The Lord our God is Lord alone!
You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart,
with all your soul,
with all your mind,
and with all your strength.

And this commandment alone did contain all that was necessary to understand the principles behind the Law and to consider the other commandments in proportion to this one. But the trouble was that it could be misinterpreted and misunderstood. The scribes, the Pharisees, and the Sadducees claimed to be loving God, but at the expense of their neighbor, even devouring the houses of widows while making long prayers as a pretense (see Luke 20:47). If Jesus had let the commandment of strict monotheistic love for God to stand on its own it would have remained open to such errors. People could have thought that isolated and individual holiness without reference to others in the world was intended by God.

The second is this:
You shall love your neighbor as yourself.

Jesus added the second commandment in order to clarify the first, as, in turn, the first clarified the second. It was impossible to truly love God and to not love those who were made in his image. Loving God implied learning to love what he loved. He didn't love them based on their merits. And so too should those who love God be ready to love others even if they did not seem to deserve that love. But although God was willing to begin anywhere with those who sought him, he was not indifferent to the goal. We were made to find our fulfillment, ultimately, in God alone. He would not sit and watch as he people made idols from temporary things, even very good things, that could not last forever, that could not bear the weight of divinity for which they were never intended. But this fulfillment in God was to be reciprocated precisely be love of neighbor, since God himself needed nothing from us. He needed nothing, but delighted to allow us to be used as agents of his love, as a way to express our love for him. Every gift we have to offer to him was something that he first gave us.

And when Jesus saw that he answered with understanding,
he said to him,
"You are not far from the Kingdom of God."
And no one dared to ask him any more questions.

No one dared to ask him any more questions because with Jesus questions were not merely abstractions or pastimes. They had consequences. And the consequences always implied a greater need for love of God and love of neighbor on the part of those who listened. Asking for more in this context could feel overwhelming. But as his hearers put into practice what they had heard thus far they would come to desire still more as his word bore fruit in their lives.

Ephraim! What more has he to do with idols?
I have humbled him, but I will prosper him.
"I am like a verdant cypress tree"–
Because of me you bear fruit!

Claudia Hernaman - Lord, Who Throughout These Forty Days

 

27 March 2025 - houses divided

Today's Readings
(Audio)

 Some of them said, "By the power of Beelzebul, the prince of demons,
he drives out demons."

They were so opposed to Jesus and his message that they were able to imagine that a great work of liberation was not actually good but rather the result of demonic powers. There was nothing about the action itself that would make them suppose this. After all, even their own people could sometimes drive out demons. It was only their hostility to Jesus that made them willing to intentional misinterpret his every word and deed. It was wrong to be so uncharitable even to one's enemies as to fail to acknowledge when they did something genuinely good. How much more so in the case of Jesus himself?

Others, to test him, asked him for a sign from heaven

It was obvious why those who asked did not deserve and would not benefit from a sign. They had just witnessed one and responded only with willful blindness. They had no expectation that he could convince them. No matter how many signs were given they would never be satisfied. They were among those who "turned their backs, not their faces, to me". Yet setting the oppressed free was precisely one of the things that the scriptures foretold the Messiah would do.

Every kingdom divided against itself will be laid waste
and house will fall against house.
And if Satan is divided against himself,
how will his kingdom stand?

Satan could sometimes manifest a pleasing appearance, and make a persuasive argument. But he was not about to set free those oppressed by his demons. It made no sense that someone in his service would go about working against his own accomplishments by setting free the ones whom he himself held captive. There were many things he promised in order to trick people into lowering their guard to his influence. But his promises were always empty, never nearly so obviously good at the exorcism of this mute man.

For you say that it is by Beelzebul that I drive out demons.
If I, then, drive out demons by Beelzebul,
by whom do your own people drive them out?
Therefore they will be your judges.

Satan was not divided. His purpose was unswervingly set on the ruin of God's good creation. Jesus was not divided. His heart was always on his Father's will, our salvation, and the renewal of the world. But those who opposed Jesus were divided. They approved of some good things, but not the origin of all goodness, Jesus himself. It behooved Satan not to undermine himself by acts of goodness. If the hostile crowd really did desire God and his goodness they would be inevitably undermined by rejecting his incarnate Word. For this reason it was impossible to be on the side of goodness and of God while at the same time rejecting Jesus since, "whoever does not gather with me scatters".

When a strong man fully armed guards his palace,
his possessions are safe.
But when one stronger than he attacks and overcomes him,
he takes away the armor on which he relied
and distributes the spoils.

Jesus was not merely a nice optional extra for those who vibed with him. He was not one path among many. He was the only one strong enough to set free all those who were captive to Satan. Without Jesus bringing into our world "the finger of God" those captives would not and could not be set free. However, an important addendum to that statement on exclusivity was that anyone actually seeking the good, anyone who would accept Jesus given the chance, was working with him and worthy of support insofar as that was true.

Oh, that today you would hear his voice:
"Harden not your hearts 

 

Jars Of Clay - Two Hands

26 March 2025 - not to abolish but to fulfill

 

Today's Readings
(Audio)

Do not think that I have come to abolish the law or the prophets.
I have come not to abolish but to fulfill.

Some have asserted that the law is the opposite of grace, faith, and the Spirit. They say that because no one can fully fulfill the law that it can only bring death. And it is true that the letter apart from the Spirit brings death (see Second Corinthians 3:6). But upholding the law by faith and the power of the Spirit is necessary for life. It is not an either/or proposition. The just demands of the law are fulfilled in those who live by faith (see Romans 8:4).

Therefore, whoever breaks one of the least of these commandments
and teaches others to do so
will be called least in the Kingdom of heaven.

Jesus wasn't speaking only to those outside of his Kingdom when he said that the law could never be changed. He was clearly talking to his followers who were meant to be part of that Kingdom. In other words, to his disciples, and also to us. If even minor infractions make one the least in the Kingdom of heaven then what must then be true of major transgressions? They imply rejecting our faith and willfully separating ourselves from the love of God, what Catholics call mortal sins.

But whoever obeys and teaches these commandments
will be called greatest in the Kingdom of heaven.

Obedience to the commandments is not something of which we are capable by our own efforts or by our own power. We need the Holy Spirit, which is given only through faith. This is why the letter alone is dangerous and can be deadly. If not infused with the Spirit it leaves us in an even worse position than when we started, since before the letter we might have at least pleaded ignorance. But we weren't meant to remain in ignorance, and it is a disservice to others not to teach them. Following the law, by the power of the Spirit, is necessary if we want to have the abundant life promised by the Lord. Even aside from mortal sins a lack of concern for God's will as described in the law implies at best a lukewarm relationship with him. It may mean that we experience rules as though we are slaves rather than as sons and daughters. Sons and daughters must also obey the rules of the house, but hopefully they have a greater appreciation for their benevolence than would a slave.

For what great nation is there
that has gods so close to it as the LORD, our God, is to us
whenever we call upon him?

The law is God's revelation of himself and his plans for us and the world. It is not evil. It is not meant to be stifling. It is given that we may thrive. Thus we Christians have even more grounds to boast, since in the Sermon on the Mount Jesus taught about the deep inner dimension that the laws implied. He didn't want our hearts to be saying one thing and our actions another, always desiring what we were not meant to have. He didn't want it because he knew that what he desired for us is better than anything we know how to desire for ourselves.

Now to him who is able to do far more abundantly than all that we ask or think, according to the power at work within us (see Ephesians 3:20).

 

Matt Maher - Lord, I Need You

25 March 2025 - hail, full of grace

Today's Readings
(Audio)

 “Hail, full of grace! The Lord is with you.”
But she was greatly troubled at what was said
and pondered what sort of greeting this might be.

The angel Gabriel appeared, greeting Mary as though she were a personification of the daughter of Zion, calling her to rejoice. But rather than calling her by her name he addressed her as full of grace, as though her very identity was that she had been and continued to be full of this grace. And while it is true that "grace and truth came through Jesus Christ" (see John 1:17) it was not necessarily true that this was only possible after the incarnation. It had in fact already been this grace which allowed great Old Testament prophets to be holy. It was clear that Jesus was in some way present throughout history. He prepared his mother for his own coming, applying the grace he would one day win for the world to her at the moment of her conception. And she responded by continuing in that grace throughout her life. But if Mary was called to rejoice and was celebrated as full of grace so too are we her children called to rejoice as she did and to allow Jesus to fill us with his grace as much as we are able. The blessings given to Mary were not given for herself alone, it was, but was not merely, an instance of Jesus honoring his mother as the Law commanded. In a way this was like when God blessed Abraham while knowing it would eventually overflow even to the Gentiles. He knew that the blessings given to this chosen handmade would overflow for the whole world. She was given special grace to be the mother of Jesus, but not only that, to be the mother of all of those who believed in him and kept his commandments (see Revelation 12:17).

Do not be afraid, Mary,
for you have found favor with God.
Behold, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son,
and you shall name him Jesus.

Despite her closeness to God and the grace in which she walked she was not born with advanced knowledge of how the Lord would use her. In fact, in her great humility, she would have never assumed or imagined so exulted a role for herself as God in fact intended for her. There was the possibility  that even her perfect heart could fear that such a prospect was simply too great for her. But this heart was also one that could not doubt when an angel told her that there was nothing to fear.

How can this be,
since I have no relations with a man?

Unlike with Zechariah, Mary's question was not a doubt. Doubts and legitimate questions could appear very similar on the surface but their motivations were completely different. Doubts were the result of a lack of trust. But questions showed the desire to learn in order to conform oneself to God's plan. As Saint John Henry Newman said, "Ten thousand difficulties do not make one doubt". Mary wanted to know the details of the plan since it seemed to conflict with prior promises she had made. She knew how children were usually conceived and had no expectation that it could happen this way in her case. Indeed the way it was to come about was something she never could have guessed.

The Holy Spirit will come upon you,
and the power of the Most High will overshadow you.
Therefore the child to be born
will be called holy, the Son of God.

The Holy Spirit would come upon her in such a way as to make of her a new tabernacle, a new ark of the covenant, containing the presence of God in a new and more complete way than ever before. As with the old ark she was able to bring this presence to others, as she was soon to do for Elizabeth, and as she continues to do in our own day. It was, admittedly, a lot to take in. But in spite of that she was receptive to the angel's words in a way that was only possible because of the grace with which she had been prepared, which in a way had been given especially for that particular moment.

Mary said, “Behold, I am the handmaid of the Lord.
May it be done to me according to your word.”

It was at that very moment that the child who would be "called Son of the Most High" and who would sit on "the throne of David his father" and "rule over the house of Jacob forever" was conceived in her womb. Not to downplay Christmas, but it is really today's Solemnity of the Annunciation that is the feast of the incarnation of the Lord. At Christmas he showed his face to the world. But it was at the moment that Mary gave her 'Yes' to God that the Word became flesh.

What are we to make of all of this? Is Mary merely an outlier with no relevance to our lives? Far from it. She calls us to rejoices, teaches us how to open ourselves to the grace of God, and brings to us the presence of her Son. She desires that we say 'Yes' to him in the way that she did, completely and without reserve.

 

John Michael Talbot - Holy Is His Name

 

Damascus Worship Featuring Seph Schlueter - Hail O Queen

24 March 2025 - outsiders in

 

 

Today's Readings
(Audio)

Amen, I say to you,
no prophet is accepted in his own native place.

Jesus had returned to Nazareth, a place which more than any other ought to have accepted him. But although he "came to his own, and his own people did not receive him" (see John 1:11). This verse described not only of Nazareth but of all the people who rejected him. But for Nazareth in particular the closeness of people to Jesus in his early earthly life seemed actually to make it more difficult to recognize who he truly was. Those with greater familiarity with him were also those with the most rigid expectations of him. They thought they knew him. Therefore any pretense at claiming that he was a prophet proclaiming the year of Jubilee had to be false. Did it stem from mental instability or the desire for fame? If they knew him they ought to know that it was neither of these. He was extremely humble and eminently reasonable. But precisely because his childhood was so unremarkable they now couldn't accept this new aspect of his character.

It was to none of these that Elijah was sent,
but only to a widow in Zarephath in the land of Sidon.

Outsiders brought less baggage to the idea of Jesus. Those who knew him were closed to his message in the way that the land Israel had been closed to rain in the time of Elijah. During that time God was only able to use Elijah to assist a widow who was a Gentile. She didn't know the Lord and therefore had no sense of presumption, no sense that she deserved anything from him. She didn't know Elijah, and, while she wasn't overly credulous, she was at least willing to hear him out.

Again, there were many lepers in Israel
during the time of Elisha the prophet;
yet not one of them was cleansed, but only Naaman the Syrian.

Sometimes God made choices that seemed baffling to Israel, God's chosen nation. They couldn't understand how God might choose someone who was a Gentile when there were so many lepers in within their own borders. Naaman wasn't even particularly receptive to Elisha when he heard what he must do in order to be healed. But he was able to ultimately let go of his own expectations of precisely how his healing would come about. He was able to accept a rather humble solution, for which Elisha himself wasn't even present.

In the great mystery of God's providence he sometimes bless the Gentiles "so as to make Israel jealous" (see Romans 11:11). When they witnessed God's gifts bestowed on the Gentiles then hopefully they too would long for those gifts. It was provocative, but the end goal was that the hearts of all people would return to God.

One question for us is whether we have become so familiar with the Jesus we have known thus far that we are unwilling to accept when he wants to do something new, that we are unwilling to let him surprise us. Is our expectation such that we will only let him heal us if it is precisely thus and so? We thought he would stand, invoke God, and wave his hand, when the cure he did in fact offer was through the cleansing water of baptism. Were we in fact hoping for something else? If so it must mean that we have not yet fully experienced and appreciated the effects of baptism in our own lives. And if we haven't this is nevertheless a hopeful thing, because it means we still can.

A second question is whether we can tolerate when God seems to choose someone other than ourselves. Are we able to be happy to see others being blessed, particular when we ourselves are in a period of spiritual drought and famine? Are we able to bless God for healing someone even while we ourselves need healing? The Lord is trying to teach us to leave behind are expectations and to embrace his goodness anywhere he delights to demonstrate it.

Send forth your light and your fidelity;
they shall lead me on

 

CFC - O Send Forth Your Light And Your Truth

23 March 2025 - tower defense

 

Today's Readings
(Audio)

 Do you think that because these Galileans suffered in this way
they were greater sinners than all other Galileans?
By no means!

It has become abundantly clear that it is not the guilty who suffer in this world nearly so much as the innocent. It is more often the contrary, where it is the guilty who seem to reap the rewards while the innocent pay the price. Yet, knowing this, even we have a hard time thinking of victims of tragedy as anything other than cursed. Even at best, we think of them as lacking blessings others received. Jesus explained clearly that difficult situations were not necessarily punishment for sin. The fact that accidents happened and tyrants perpetrated violence was not proof that God desired such things. Since "God did not make death, and he does not delight in the death of the living" (see Wisdom 1:13).

But I tell you, if you do not repent,
you will all perish as they did!

Tragedies can remind us to number our days and teach us the shortness of life. They demonstrate that we don't know when our lives will be demanded of us. If we put off repentance to some future date it may will be the case that we don't live long enough to do it. In such a case our death would take us by surprise, as it no doubt did those on whom the tower at Siloam fell. But even if our sin did not directly bring death upon us a lack of repentance could result in eternal death, the death of the soul. Repentance is no guarantee of a happy life. But it can guarantee something better: a blessed death.

For three years now I have come in search of fruit on this fig tree
but have found none.

In his mercy the Lord pleads for more time for those of us who have not born fruit and have exhausted the soil. He did not come immediately with an axe to cut us down. But it is inevitable that fruit will be required of us eventually. It is upon this that we will be judged at the hour of our death. It is a mystery how the time allotted to each one is decided in the wisdom and providence of God. But it seems certain that each one is given enough time to align his life with the purpose of God. When we are spared from hardship and tragedy it is precisely with a greater spirit of repentance and a greater motivation to bear fruit that we ought to use the extra time we have been given. A near brush with the axe is no reason to despair. It is a reason to watch even more closely for the gardener who delights to care for even the trees that have been barren thus far. Then we can put the nutrients which he infuses in us to good use and stretch out our roots into the good soil he himself creates around us.

   

 Maranatha! Music - Change My Heart Oh God

 

22 March 2025 - a tale of two sons

 

Today's Readings
(Audio)

 A man had two sons

He had two sons with different manifestations of the same problem. It was actually, in a way, the same problem that the wicked tenants of the vineyard displayed in yesterday's Gospel. They all wanted to use the goods of the one who had them apart from his interference. The tenants wanted to use the fruit and even the son's inheritance without any reference to the landowner. The younger son clearly demonstrated that he wanted his inheritance with no input from his Father by taking that sum to a distant land, away from his eyes, guidance, suggestions, or commands. The elder brother stayed, demanding nothing, not disobeying, but still cherishing in his heart the desire to have a celebration, not with his father, but with his friends.

It is necessary to learn the purpose of our inheritance before we receive it, before we are mature enough to put it to good use. Hoarding behavior was not appropriate. There was a due season and a due use for fruit, especially since it was not something one could generate oneself, but was always contingent on the gift of another. Without reference to the giver the gift would be misspent and wasted.

The prodigal son learned this same lesson by spending his father's riches on himself, buying things that ultimately could not satisfy him, until he had nothing left. The problem wasn't with the money, anymore the the tenants problem was with the fruit. The problem was they didn't know, and didn't want to know, how to make good use of those good things.

The elder son had avoided breaking any rules, but seemed to secretly envy the younger son, even before his return. It seems he built up resentment over years of working without any apparent reward. But the reason he did not experience that reward was because he didn't really want the involvement with the father that it would entail. They had all things together, but he, like the younger son, actually wanted them only apart and for his own purposes. We might guess that the father would have even welcomed the elder brother's friends to a meal, with a young goat or better. But perhaps the brother was too embarrassed by his father to bring his friends to dinner.

He became angry,
and when he refused to enter the house,
his father came out and pleaded with him.

The elder brother's envy came to a head when the son returned seemingly without consequence. The elder brother probably thought that he too might as well have gone, spent, and returned, if there were no consequences. He wasn't paying enough attention to notice how that journey had wrecked his brother and brought him to rock bottom. The father knew what was in the heart of his son, that it was a similar sort of problem to that of his brother, but he didn't hold it against him, as he had not done for the younger either. He wasn't interested in punishment. What he desired was that both siblings would return to him, in heart, and in body, and celebrate with him. He wouldn't force them. If they wouldn't join him they were free to be apart from him. But there was no happiness or joy to be found there. The joy for which they were made was in their father's house.

Tax collectors and sinners were all drawing near to listen to Jesus,
but the Pharisees and scribes began to complain, saying,
"This man welcomes sinners and eats with them.

The tax collectors and sinners were those who had gone astray and knew it. The Pharisees were those who remained home but whose hearts were far from God. It was clear to the tax collectors that the table of Jesus was the place they were meant to be. But Pharisees held it against Jesus that he would welcome them, and therefore implicitly held it against God for being rich in mercy. They seemed in their own eyes to be already home and in the father's house. They seemed upset that they might work and yet others receive so freely. Because of this they never discovered the banquet that was on offer in his presence.

We usually have a little of both brothers in us. There are parts of us where we do go to distant lands and hide from God. There are other parts were we remain near him but mainly complain about our effort and lack of reward. But we are meant to find our joy in the banquet, with our brothers and sisters, at the table of our Father.

 

Cory Asbury - The Father's House

 

21 March 2025 - they will respect my son

Today's Readings
(Audio)

There was a landowner who planted a vineyard,
put a hedge around it,
dug a wine press in it, and built a tower.
Then he leased it to tenants and went on a journey.

The wine press of our world is something we only have on lease. It is not ours to reconstruct on a whim, nor are the good things it produces ours to do with as we will. But the actual owner is not visible to us and we often forget. We rip out fences because we forget what they why they were in place. We tear down towers because they seem like unnecessary obstructions.

The buildings and fortifications of the vineyard might be taken as symbolic of the rules and institutions meant to help us to live peaceful, safe, and holy lives. That these are increasingly dismissed as irrelevant or dangerous seems obvious. The fruits are not just the material but all the goods which life in this world has to offer. We may not be actively tearing down the institutions. But we don't like any interference when it comes to how we choose to enjoy the fruits of life. We can't be bothered to consider how the landowner might want us to dispose of our time, talent, and treasure. Part of the reason is that we don't trust that there will be any rest or resources left for us. We actually demonstrate a fundamental distrust of the landowner and doubt his goodwill toward us.

When vintage time drew near,
he sent his servants to the tenants to obtain his produce.
But the tenants seized the servants and one they beat,
another they killed, and a third they stoned.

We are not typically killing prophets anymore, nor silencing those who speak God's word. But we often manifest mental hostility to those who speak prophetically. More to it, try to ignore when the landowner speaks to us through our own thoughts. We're much quicker to reject any idea but our own about what to do with the produce of the vineyard.

Finally, he sent his son to them,
thinking, 'They will respect my son.'

May it always be said of us that we did and do respect his son. And yet even we know we still have some discomfort with the idea that even he could come in and demand of us our fruit. It would seem to us that we were the ones who worked for it and that therefore we should be the ones to consume it. But the vineyard was not ours to begin with. Nor did we create the natural laws that allowed fruit to grow. This is at least partially an experience the curse that God placed on Adam, making work burdensome. But that curse was not God's original intention. Whether or not it is evident, there is something good and purifying about enduring such things as healing remedies. It is a privilege, therefore, that we were even called to lease the vineyard in the first place.

Come, let us kill him and acquire his inheritance.

Like the prodigal son we want the inheritance but don't want to share life with our heavenly Father or anyone else who might tell us there are better ways than those we now choose. We prefer increasing isolation where we need answer to no one but ourselves alone.

Therefore, I say to you,
the Kingdom of God will be taken away from you
and given to a people that will produce its fruit.

We are called to be fruitful. The Pharisees failed to deliver on this, which was especially required of those in positions of leadership, and therefore they were on the verge of losing it. But we have been given greater potential for fruitful than they through the power of the Holy Spirit. So where is our fruit? How hostile are we to the landowner when he comes for what is his?

The stone that the builders rejected
has become the cornerstone;
by the Lord has this been done,
and it is wonderful in our eyes?

Even if we make mistakes God is still the chief architect of the project. If we have been building and consuming on our own apart from him, even in small ways, it is time to get on board with his plan. The more we act as willing participants the more we will realize the plan's goodness. The less we begrudge giving, and the more we do it cheerfully, the more joy there will be.

Matt Maher - 40 Days

20 March 2025 - at our door

Today's Readings
(Audio)

There was a rich man who dressed in purple garments and fine linen
and dined sumptuously each day.

From the broad perspective of time and place most of us are much closer to the finely dressed rich man eating well than to poor Lazarus. But our wealth is not inherently an issue. Our relationship to our wealth and the ways we are or aren't free to use it are the potential issues. Wealth can be a specific case of "trusting in human beings" and seeking "strength in flesh" which are themselves problem precisely to the degree that they turn our hearts away from the Lord. The reason Jesus asked his disciples to go minimally equipped on their first missionary travels was so that they could go unencumbered, free to do his will. It is almost impossible to have wealth without worry. But the worry tends to make it seem like wealth is the whole world, like a financial disaster would therefore be the end of the world. To have but to not be attached was what Paul taught to the Corinthians (see First Corinthians 7:29-31).

And lying at his door was a poor man named Lazarus, covered with sores,
who would gladly have eaten his fill of the scraps
that fell from the rich man's table.

What is a litmus test for us to know whether our relationship with our wealth is healthy or not? One answer is for us to see if we have sufficient freedom to address the needs of those at our door, or if we would prefer, not merely to meet our own needs, but to assure our superabundant comfort, rather than addressing the needs of others? As we have said previously, it is not necessary to seek out and address each and every case throughout the world. But we should be willing to do so. Which means when we all but trip across a particular case we really ought to consider what we could do to help. Do we even notice the Lazarus in our lives? Or have we numbed ourselves so that we easily pass him by? Do we see each and every case such as his as someone else's problem?

Abraham replied, 'My child,
remember that you received what was good during your lifetime
while Lazarus likewise received what was bad;
but now he is comforted here, whereas you are tormented.

Those who received injustice in this life may hope for recompense in the life to come. But those who perpetrated it will only find that the barrenness of their life on earth will be fully realized in reflected in the place the find themselves after death. Theirs hearts were dry of anything like love. They burned only to satisfy their own desires. And thus they were asking of God a world like that, with only them in it, fully experiencing those things. But all those actually in such a world regretted it.

If they will not listen to Moses and the prophets,
neither will they be persuaded
if someone should rise from the dead.

We can confirm this is true since someone has in fact been raised from the dead. While we may believe that is a fact, we still aren't easily motivated to listen to him in every area of our lives. What God said to the people through Moses did not convict them. Nor does Jesus always convict us, except insofar as it is convenient and conduces to a desirable self-image.

The question is not 'Should I give away all I have to charity?' but rather 'Who is the Lazarus at my door and how can I help him?' The one right on our doorstep is a good place to start, a better remedy for our hardheartedness than more abstract options.

Blessed is the man who trusts in the LORD,
whose hope is the LORD.
He is like a tree planted beside the waters
that stretches out its roots to the stream:
It fears not the heat when it comes

We are able to be a blessing to others because God has first blessed us, not only with wealth, but with new hearts that can put it to good use. If we try to fix the world without his help we will quickly find that this too constitutes seeking "strength in flesh". In such a case we will feel the crushing hopelessness of an apparently intractable problem. But if we remain as branches on the vine the Lord himself will sustain us, assuring us that to do our part is enough, since he holds all things in his hands.

 

 Maranatha! Music - I Will Delight (In The Law Of The Lord)

19 March 2025 - hail Joseph

Today's Readings
(Audio)

 Jacob was the father of Joseph, the husband of Mary.
Of her was born Jesus who is called the Christ.

The whole genealogy that Matthew enumerated above was the genealogy of Joseph and not of Mary. This was because inheritance was paternal in that culture and it was through Joseph that Jesus would be a descendant of David. That the promise of God did not require strict genetic descent was evident, since "those of faith who are the sons of Abraham" (see Galatians 3:7). The fatherhood of Abraham depended on faith in God and so too did that of Joseph. Not that the whole lineage was composed only of those who were perfect examples of faith. Yet those who in some measure inherited the promise did demonstrate profound faith.

Joseph, son of David,
do not be afraid to take Mary your wife into your home.
For it is through the Holy Spirit
that this child has been conceived in her.

Joseph who would accept a role as the earthly father of Jesus was a man of faith. He was tempted at times to doubt, not God, nor even Mary, but himself. Next to Mary even a righteous man might be acutely aware of his flaws. And in the mission of raising up a miraculous child such as Jesus those flaws might be even greater liabilities than in a normal situation. So he probably thought when he decided to divorce Mary, in order not to bring shame upon her or the child. But the angel appeared to him and reminded him that this was about something bigger than himself. The angel did not address him as the son of Jacob, though he was. Rather, he reminded him that he was also a son of David. This probably confirmed, if he hadn't realized it, that this pertained to the coming of the messiah. But what he almost certainly hadn't fully realized until that point was that it was through him that Jesus would inherit the messianic promise. He need not fear because it was not all about his efforts. It was rather through the Holy Spirit that these things had been orchestrated and came about.

She will bear a son and you are to name him Jesus,
because he will save his people from their sins.

Joseph was also the one who would give Jesus his name, which meant "God saves". It was appropriate for one of those in the genealogy to which the promise was entrusted to welcome the advent of the promise realized in person by identifying him with a name appropriate to who he was.

When Joseph awoke,
he did as the angel of the Lord had commanded him
and took his wife into his home.

When commanded, Joseph always responded with prompt obedience. He took Mary into his home and kept her and the child Jesus under his care. When ordered, he fled to Egypt until it was safe once more for the family to return. It is interesting that after Jesus was found in the temple it was Mary who attempted to scold Jesus for his apparent lack of concern. Perhaps Joseph's heart was too tender to say what ought to be said based on the appearance of what happened. Though probably, Mary said that not for herself, or due to lack of faith, but to offer comfort to Joseph who had no doubt at least briefly entertained such thoughts. In other words, they were a real family, all trying to put the concerns of the others before their own.

I have made you father of many nations.

May we all, by the grace and prayers of the Holy Family, gain even a modicum of their selfless love. By the prayers of Saint Joseph may we learn to promptly obey when God asks something of us. May he help us to trust that, for us too, the Holy Spirit is guiding all things.

 

Damascus Worship Featuring Aaron Richards - Hail Joseph

18 March 2025 - but do not follow their example

 

Today's Readings
(Audio)

 The scribes and the Pharisees
have taken their seat on the chair of Moses.
Therefore, do and observe all things whatsoever they tell you,
but do not follow their example.

People can be bad examples, but valid leaders and even still teach what is true. We don't get to object to legitimate authority just because of the private actions of individual leaders. In the early church even Peter made mistakes of a sort (see Galatians 2:11). But that didn't lessen his authority as the Prince of the Apostles. However, we must not let authority figures normalize bad behavior for us. We must separate legitimate authority and teaching from individual moral example. A case could also be imagined where the example seemed good and the individual upstanding but he was still mistaken about the truth therefore beyond the limits of legitimate authority. Such a one would needs be resisted however nice they seemed.

Jesus wasn't preaching primarily to condemn and criticize the Pharisees. He happily did that to their faces and for the sake of their conversion. He was contrasting the kinds of leaders that the Pharisees were with those that the disciples were meant to be. They were to be integrated and whole, practicing what they preached. They were to speak the truth, and then set the example by their lives, such that they could say, like Saint Paul, "Be imitators of me, as I am of Christ" (see First Corinthians 11:1). They were to be recognizable not only by sound doctrine but also by good fruit. In the event that this didn't always happen Christ configured the Church so that individual shortcomings would not preclude the holiness of the people. Individuals might fail and fall short but truth would still be proclaimed and grace made available through the sacraments. And this was ultimately a good design since everyone falls short in some measure. If we were limited to what the best could do then there might be a few people in proximity to living saints who had hope. But we, in the presence of rather ordinary people trying to do God's will, can attain marvelous growth, even without such sanctity all around us.

They tie up heavy burdens hard to carry
and lay them on people's shoulders,
but they will not lift a finger to move them.

As leaders we are meant to first be integrated. Second, we are called to be motivated by compassion. Leadership is often desirable because of vanity, where things are done for the sake of appearances, and where the prestige of the role becomes an end in itself. This is probably especially the case in the Church where the power that comes with leadership is fairly limited. But any kind of a leader, from a parent, to a priest, to a politician, can lord it over those under his charge. But as Jesus said, "It shall not be so among you. But whoever would be great among you must be your servant" (see Matthew 20:27).

Leaders were called to see themselves not as sources of truth, but as those who pointed to the one source of truth. They were to remember that they were only fathers a limited and derived sense, pointing to the ultimate Fatherhood of God himself. Much less where they to delight in being considered a master, or in desiring such absolute obedience. Rather, they were to point out the path to obedience to the one master, the Christ.

The greatest among you must be your servant.
Whoever exalts himself will be humbled;
but whoever humbles himself will be exalted.

Jesus commended to his disciples a philosophy of leadership that was the opposite of that of the Pharisees. The disciples were to seek the last and lowest place, to orient to ministry toward service of others rather than of self. But this was because that any other way of leadership was playing the short game. It would eventually crash and collapse against the reality of the God who is love. It was a brief illusion that would vanish like the morning mist.

Matt Maher - Lord I Need You

17 March 2025 - be merciful

Today's Readings
(Audio)

 Be merciful, just as your Father is merciful.

In a recent reading from the Gospel of Matthew we saw Jesus call his disciples to be perfect as their Father in heaven was perfect. Today we see a greater specificity of in what such perfection consists. If we move from the initial commandment to be holy, to the one to be perfect, to the one we hear today enjoining mercy, we see a greater and greater specificity. True holiness is not an external avoidance of that which was ritually unclean. Nor is it a sort of perfection that is merely an amoral honing of an ability. Virtue does indeed grow with practice. But one might strive to practice virtue and stop at the standard of justice. In doing so she would still be ahead of most people in the world who are concerned only with themselves. 

Jesus called for more than justice. He called for mercy. He did not at once exercise strict justice on the human race, and thank God for that. Everything might have ended in the garden of Eden in that case. Rather, when we were unjust, he himself bore the burden necessary so that we might be justified, holy and righteous before him (see Colossians 1:22). Holiness, then, is not based on exclusion, nor is it something that one can achieve in isolation. It necessarily goes out, seeks the other, and gives of itself to raise them up.

Stop judging and you will not be judged.
Stop condemning and you will not be condemned.

Judgment can be problematic in a variety of ways. On the one hand, it is obviously appropriate for legitimately appointed judges in order that a just society may be maintained. But on the other, the scope of judgment for individuals is much more limited. It is often a barrier to mercy. It may lead us to see some individuals as undeserving of mercy or prevent us from giving to their bad actions the most charitable interpretation possible. It is a problem when it prevents us from reaching it to them in love and makes us want to strike hard with what we believe they deserve. But even negative self-judgements can be problematic. They may prevent us from trusting fully in the mercy of God ourselves and therefore render us incapable of sharing that mercy with others. This may have been what Paul meant in his first letter to the Corinthians.

But with me it is a very small thing that I should be judged by you or by any human court. In fact, I do not even judge myself. For I am not aware of anything against myself, but I am not thereby acquitted. It is the Lord who judges me (see First Corinthians 4:2-4)

When we aren't trapped by some misplaced compulsion to judge others and ourselves we will become increasing free to give as we are called to give, demonstrating that we then have the maturity also to receive. God will be more free to bestow his blessings on us if he knows we will use them for the sake of the Kingdom.

For the measure with which you measure
will in return be measured out to you.

The idea that we will receive in exchange for what we give does not mean that we give primarily out of self-interest. Rather we receive precisely in that we become a conduit of divine love, transparent to the presence of God within us. In this way we fulfill the deepest purpose of our being, becoming holy, perfect, and merciful.

We have sinned, been wicked and done evil;
we have rebelled and departed from your commandments and your laws.

Daniel demonstrated an attitude that was the opposite of wicked judgment. He grouped himself in with a people who had transgressed the laws of God, though he himself had not done so. He threw in his lot with them and pleaded on their account for mercy. In this way he foreshadowed Jesus who came and threw in his lot with humanity, bearing for our sake the just judgment for our sins, and ultimately liberating us, just as Daniel desired that the be of Israel be restored by the mercy of God.

 

Vineyard -Help Us Our God