8 March 2025 - called out

 

Today's Readings
(Audio)

 He said to him, "Follow me."
And leaving everything behind, he got up and followed him.

We, as much as Matthew, have been called by Jesus. But Matthew was successful in making a break with his past life more profoundly than most of us. Was this all because he found his own situation so distasteful that it was easy to grasp at any sliver of hope? Was he so isolated that any acceptance would do? It couldn't have been that simple. He had become a tax collector for a reason in spite of it making him a pariah. He depended on that income, having been unable to find another way to live. There had to have been something more compelling about Jesus' offer than it being a mere unlikely chance. There must have been something more desirable about his acceptance than that of others, given that Matthew at least already had friends who were tax collectors. He must have heard the call of Jesus more clearly and more for what it really was than most of us seem to have done.

When we are called by Jesus it is not like being called by anyone else. In his call we experience being chosen in a way that no mere mortal could ever choose us. He sees all of our liabilities and is no less insistent because of them. He is far more certain of our potential than we are. If we came to Jesus on the basis of self-evaluation no one would come. We would either see ourselves as too sinful or too perfect. We could easily believe that we have too little potential or ability to benefit Jesus, that there would be literally millions that would be more effective disciples than ourselves. Or we our potential is  so great and our current work so important that we ignore the need that both we and the world have for salvation.

"Why do you eat and drink with tax collectors and sinners?"
Jesus said to them in reply,
"Those who are healthy do not need a physician, but the sick do.
I have not come to call the righteous to repentance but sinners."

We have to understand how much we need Jesus in order to receive all that he has for us. And we also have to believe in his ability to heal us in order to entrust ourselves to him. This is why faith is the gateway to new life. As with Matthew it isn't really the case that we come to faith through rigorous preparation. Even those of us who start out as seekers don't find the answer merely as the result of searching it out. God was in fact already seeking us before we started. Therefore being found by him is always a surprise, because it is unearned, and even unimaginable. It is the gaze of Jesus that finds us at our own  customs posts where we have been frittering away the hours of our days and awakens faith in our hearts.

Then Levi gave a great banquet for him in his house,
and a large crowd of tax collectors
and others were at table with them.

Matthew probably wouldn't have predicted Jesus would want to have a banquet with his old friends, many of whom were tax collectors. Before being chosen he would have suspected that it was only on the basis of his conversion that Jesus would choose to fellowship with him. But Jesus demonstrated his love for people even before they were able to make any change on their own. Just his very presence was an invitation. Part of his call of Matthew, which Matthew would never have predicted, was precisely that he could be a way for Jesus to reach out to his friends, many of whom were in similar situations, and might respond in the same way as Matthew had.

When we hear the call of Jesus we recognize all of the promise and potential spoken of by the prophet Isaiah:

He will renew your strength,
and you shall be like a watered garden,
like a spring whose water never fails.
The ancient ruins shall be rebuilt for your sake,
and the foundations from ages past you shall raise up;
""Repairer of the breach,"" they shall call you,
""Restorer of ruined homesteads.""

Matthew needed this renewal, but so do we. He had ruins that needed to be rebuilt. But so does our world, and so do we. Let us become more aware of the gaze of Jesus so that we too come to believe that this is possible and desirable. We tend to think it impossible because for humans it is. But not for God.

 

Kari Jobe and Cody Carnes - Holy Spirit

 

7 March 2025 - not fast company

Today's Readings

(Audio)

"Why do we and the Pharisees fast much,

but your disciples do not fast?"

Along with the disciples of Jesus, the Pharisees and the disciples of John were competing visions for what it meant to be religious or devout. And the thing was, both the disciples of John and the Pharisees seemed to be expending more effort than those of Jesus. They appeared to be trying harder which seemed to indicate that they cared more. 

Can the wedding guests mourn

as long as the bridegroom is with them?

Jesus explained that the paradigm that explained his disciples' behavior was different from the one understood by the Pharisees and John's community. The one that guided the Pharisees and John's disciples was derived from the Old Law, and the one that guided the disciples of Jesus was from the New. And Aquinas mentions in his commentary on this passage that, "the Old Law had its beginning in fear; the New, in love". The interlocuters of Jesus thought of themselves as being more committed to God. But it was clear from their comparison and criticism of others that they saw this virtue as something originating from themselves rather than grace. And if it was from themselves they would always be desperate, always afraid it wouldn't be enough, or that that they would eventually give up or fail. But the New Law was given by one who was the bridegroom of those to whom the law was given. It was given out of love, not to insight fear but rather to elicit a loving response.

The days will come when the bridegroom is taken away from them,

and then they will fast.

Everything in the new law was centered around the presence of Jesus, the nearness of God, the extreme extent of his love for his creation. It wasn't that fasting had no place. Rather, it had a different place. It couldn't be done apart from a proper disposition of the heart. That disposition was always meant to be a deep longing for more of Jesus himself. His physical, incarnate presence among the people made it unfitting to fast. It was, in fact, time to party. He was with them to teach them and to guide them. This called for celebration Fair enough. But what of the presence of his Spirit, of whom he said, "it is to your advantage that I go away, for if I do not go away, the Helper will not come to you" (see John 16:7)? It is true that the presence of the indwelling Trinity is even closer to us than the incarnate Lord was to those around him. But we ourselves are not always as close to him as he is to us. We couldn't, in fact, be quite so far away if he was in the same room, visible to us. But in this age there is both greater possibility and greater peril. He is nearer than ever, but also even easier to forget. That is why we fast. We desire his presence to remain with us and for us to be increasingly present to him.

Sharing your bread with the hungry,

sheltering the oppressed and the homeless;

Clothing the naked when you see them,

and not turning your back on your own.

Jesus is also present in the poor and the oppressed. But we are not always particularly attentive to this presence either. Fasting can also serve us in drawing near to him in this 'distressing disguise'. It not only frees us to share our resources with others but it draws us nearer to them in the love which is his own.

Songs In His Presence - Prayer Of Augustine

6 March 2025 - life, but not as we know it

Today's Readings

(Audio)

The Son of Man must suffer greatly and be rejected

by the elders, the chief priests, and the scribes,

and be killed and on the third day be raised.

Those who heard him at the time did not understand because what he told them didn't fit into any pattern they understood. It was opposed to their usual ways of thinking. We fail to understand because we have heard it so many times that we have a difficult time realizing how utterly unexpected, unique, and terrifying was the prospect of the death of the Messiah. We sit at a safe and sanitized distance of two millennia from the events Jesus predicted. For us, the crucifix has become a static piece of art on our walls and our rosaries. It does not usually move us to wonder or ask why Jesus would go to such great lengths. Sadly, it does not often inspire us to love him.

If anyone wishes to come after me, he must deny himself

and take up his cross daily and follow me.

It must be that we have such difficulty following Jesus and taking up our own crosses precisely because we lack a sense of what he did for us. If we really knew the love that he poured out for us in his own blood how could we help but follow him, even at great cost to ourselves?

he must deny himself

Is the cross a fundamental denial of what makes what makes us unique individual members of the human race? Is it, as it may seem to be, a denial of the value of life in this world? We must answer, 'No'. It is a denial of the old sinful unrepentant self. But it is an affirmation of the new self, the new creation we become when we are baptized. It is death to sin and vice. But it is an affirmation of the life of the Spirit and the fruits the Spirit makes us able to bear.

The cross was not, however, just one good among many. It represented the primacy of God in our lives. It meant that they only way to truly save our lives or gain anything was by putting God before everything. It was a clarification of what Moses had already said:

If you obey the commandments of the LORD, your God,

which I enjoin on you today,

loving him, and walking in his ways,

and keeping his commandments, statutes and decrees,

you will live and grow numerous,

and the LORD, your God,

will bless you in the land you are entering to occupy.

Obeying God would sometimes mean choosing his ways when would prefer to do otherwise. This was always a death to self, at least a little one. But it was not so because God desired us to suffer. Rather it was because he couldn't bear to see us settle for less than himself, the fullness of all he could give. It didn't mean losing one's personality and becoming some sort of Christian automaton. But it did mean that nothing could be as core to our identity as God, which is the same as saying that nothing could be more important to us than love. However we define ourselves, and whatever makes us unique, must still take a backseat to love. But surprisingly, when it does, we discover that we become more fully ourselves, all that we were meant to be. It is life in this sense, filled with love, and therefore with himself, that he desires for us.

Choose life, then,

that you and your descendants may live

Maranatha! Music - Here I Am To Worship

5 March 2025 - not feeling seen

Today's Readings

(Audio)

Take care not to perform righteous deeds

in order that people may see them;

otherwise, you will have no recompense from your heavenly Father.

Yesterday we read about Peter, who wondered what there would be for disciples who had given up everything to follow Jesus. Today, on Ash Wednesday, Jesus enumerated several possible wrong answers for his hearers. As his followers they should seek to give alms, making Jesus more important to them than their wealth. They should seek to pray, emulating the closeness of the relationship Jesus had with his Father. And they should fast, longing for the bridegroom in the ways and situations in which he felt absent from the world. But all of these ways of following Jesus could be done to seek rewards that were something less than Jesus intended to give his followers. They could be done for the praise and admiration of others. The trouble with this was if individuals received such a reward for their apparently pious practices they would not have room to receive the reward from the "Father who sees in secret". We can look to the world to repay us, or to God, but ultimately not both. If we are content with earthly sympathy we will not be open to the compassion of God. If we seek earthly vindication or revenge too aggressively we go against the command of God, who said, "Vengeance is mine, and recompense" (see Deuteronomy 32:35). Obviously we need justice in this world, but this is something that best when it is objective and impersonal. We are not meant to be entirely without recognition or sympathy. But this is more a matter of not excessively avoiding them than it is seeking them out ourselves. When situations or hard or when we are called to undertake difficult things, where, ultimately, do we look for our reward?

For our sake he made him to be sin who did not know sin,

so that we might become the righteousness of God in him.

What is the point of this Lenten season in which we "proclaim a fast" and "call an assembly"? It is to plead for the mercy of God so that he can help us reestablish in our hearts his primacy over the things of this world that may have supplanted it. Jesus did what he did even though there was no immediate earthly gratification for doing so because of the knowledge that it was his Father's will. The sinless one, who need not have sacrificed at all, became an offering for the sin of the world. He did this so that we could be filled with God's own righteousness and therefore be empowered to love as he did. We receive this grace in our baptism by faith. But we are entirely capable of neglecting it to the degree that it is ineffective in us, that is, of receiving it in vain.

Behold, now is a very acceptable time;

behold, now is the day of salvation.

Lent, in particular, is a graced time to reestablish the primacy of God in our hearts, and of letting his righteousness fill our lives. There is no more acceptable time. This is how we experience salvation.

Chris Tomlin - Jesus Messiah

4 March 2025 - what about me?

Today's Readings

(Audio)

Peter began to say to Jesus,

'We have given up everything and followed you."

Peter was speaking on behalf of this disciples when he asked this question. He implied what all of them were wondering, "What then will we have?" (see Matthew 19:27). They were concerned since Jesus had told the young man that riches were more of a liability than an asset. They were sure that they themselves had been able to let go of much of what they had in a way that he had not. But it appears that even if they had given it up they were still attached to it to some degree, like the Israelites in the desert who still longed for the comforts of Egypt (see Numbers 11:5).  They seemed to hope that giving up wealth now would lead to wealth later, and they wanted to clarify how that would work.

Jesus said, "Amen, I say to you,

there is no one who has given up house or brothers or sisters

or mother or father or children or lands

for my sake and for the sake of the Gospel

Jesus did not rebuke Peter for his question or criticize the fact that there was still selfishness in his heart. Rather, he explained that, as Peter hoped, there would be a reward for sacrifices made. But it was not insofar as things were strategically surrendered for selfish ends that there would be a reward. Rather it was when things were surrendered for the sake of Jesus and for the sake of the Gospel that a true reward would be given. Giving up on earthly riches to obtain more earthly riches at some point in the future did not come a guarantee. It was only those exchanging worldly riches for heavenly wealth that were promised blessings.

who will not receive a hundred times more now in this present age

The rewards promised by Jesus, though they came from seeking treasure in heaven, were not restricted to heaven alone. It was precisely when disciples had hearts that were in the right place that Jesus was free to bless them, even here and now. Given wealth, they would use it for others. Given new family, they would respond with service and love rather than demands. Of course, in this world we see that these blessings the Lord promised are not analogous to those that the replace. The wealth he gives is primarily the wealth of grace and of the gifts of the Holy Spirit. The family he gives are the other members of his body with whom we join together in worship of God. To an earthly mindset this might seem to be less than worldly wealth or even a copout. But seen rightly it is far more. This is wealth that cannot fail us, that will not pull us back down to earth, that can't pull against us in our desire to follow Jesus. Earthly well comes with all of these liabilities. But the wealth Jesus gives leads and draws us onward to "everlasting life in the age to come".

with persecutions, 

Jesus was clear. Life for the sake of the Gospel was not going to be a cakewalk. It did come with blessings that far outweighed what was given up. But it was never without persecutions while this life continued. Just as Jesus was persecuted for standing for the truth so would his followers be for standing up for him. Whether this was done by governments, by individuals, or even by the forces of the evil one trying to corrupt God's work in individual hearts, there was no avoiding the fact that all would face temptations and trials. All would need to take up their crosses to follow Jesus through this life if the life of the resurrection was really what they desired.

What about those of us who still have many goods of this world? The point is not necessarily that we all must abandon our lives in this world and become mendicant monks begging for our bread. Rather, the primary thing is our disposition toward what we do have and the way we make use of it in our lives. Sirach tells us that merely doing what we are called to do is a pleasing sacrifice before the Lord.

To keep the law is a great oblation,

and he who observes the

commandments sacrifices a peace offering.

This is reminiscent of the words of the prophet Micah: "He has told you, O man, what is good; and what does the Lord require of you but to do justice, and to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God?" (see Micah 6:8). But we must do so with a willing spirit and a positive attitude. As Sirach writes, "pay your tithes in a spirit of joy". Paul confirms this, writing, "God loves a cheerful giver" (see Second Corinthians 9:7).

We're not living as disciples for nothing. There is a great reward waiting for us, greater than anything the world can offer. In the truest sense the reward is ultimately the one thing that can satisfy the deepest desires of our hearts: God himself.

David Haas - We Are Called

3 March 2025 - what must we do?

Today's Readings

(Audio)

""Good teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?""

Jesus answered him, ""Why do you call me good?

No one is good but God alone.

This man was in the dark, looking for the light. He was blind, but sensed that Jesus could open his eyes. Jesus sought to help him clarify just what it was he was seeking. After all, a normal individual or even a wise teacher wouldn't be the ultimate authority on eternal life. No mere human could be so good as to be able to definitively answer where true goodness could be found. The man had a vague sense that, for some reason, Jesus was so good and so in contact with the truth as to be able to answer this question. What he saw only vaguely Jesus hoped to make lucid for him. It was emphatically true that no one but God alone was good, and therefore only he could provide the answer the man sought.

You know the commandments: You shall not kill;

you shall not commit adultery;

you shall not steal;

you shall not bear false witness;

you shall not defraud;

honor your father and your mother.

Jesus, as a teacher who was clear sighted, could make those who became his disciples like him. He often did this by clarifying what was already visible to an individual and in this way confirming his spiritual acuity, demonstrating his reliability to the one who was still walking in some degree of spiritual blindness. When the world transition from blurry outlines and shadows to something more solid, the individual who had been helped by Jesus would stumble less and therefore become living proof of the truth of his words.

"Teacher, all of these I have observed from my youth."

In several things the young man was correct. He was right that Jesus was good and that he could answer his question. He understood the importance of keeping the commandments and had done so. But in every case Jesus led him to see how what he knew pointed beyond toward an answer which he did not yet possess, which Jesus alone could give.

Jesus, looking at him, loved him and said to him,

""You are lacking in one thing.

Go, sell what you have, and give to the poor

and you will have treasure in heaven; then come, follow me.""

The young man had affirmed that he had followed the second tablet of the law regarding love of neighbor and Jesus had not contradicted him. But there was something incomplete in his love of God, something with which his possession of wealth interfered. He needed to empty himself, to remove himself from the center of his own life, put Jesus at the center, and follow him. In this way he could fulfill the first tablet of the law regarding love of God. He could divest himself of earthly treasure in favor of treasure in heaven. He could love the Lord God with all his heart, mind, and strength. He could do so precisely because, "Jesus, looking at him, loved him".

At that statement, his face fell,  

and he went away sad, for he had many possessions.

We now see how the man's wealth was an obstacle to his love of God. It prevented him from responding dynamically to God's call on his life. It was not just that he preferred his wealth over obedience. It was that he preferred it over drawing nearer to the one who had looked on him with a love so full he would never experience the like.

“Then who can be saved?”

Jesus looked at them and said,

“For men it is impossible, but not for God.

All things are possible for God.”

Even the disciples didn't understand. If the rich, who had the most resources, and who held the highest positions in society could not be saved then who could? It was only those who had no illusions about saving themselves, who had given up trying to earn salvation through their own resources. For it was such as they whom God himself would save. As Gabriel had said to Mary, "nothing will be impossible with God" see (Luke 1:37).

To the penitent God provides a way back,

he encourages those who are losing hope

and has chosen for them the lot of truth.

Even our reading from Sirach, which speaks urgently about our own responsibility, doesn't go so far as to say repentance is entirely our own initiative. Rather it is God who provides a way back, not the penitent who creates one. It is finally the desire for God that can lead to him. Settling for anything else leads to follow the young man who "went away sad, for he had many possessions".

Matt Maher - Lay It Down

Matt Maher - Come To The Water/I Will Run To You

2 March 2025 - by their fruit

Today's Readings

(Audio)

Can a blind person guide a blind person?

Will not both fall into a pit?

No disciple is superior to the teacher;

but when fully trained,

every disciple will be like his teacher.

The Pharisees were spiritually blind and yet they styled themselves as teachers. This was perilous for others who had not yet had their spiritual sight healed. They might easily careen after anyone claiming to be a teacher all the way into a ditch. They needed to be wary of whether or not the teacher was the model they wanted to emulate, someone whom they wanted to become. When they were fully trained they would become like their teacher, for better or for worse. If their teacher was spiritually blind they would become more so themselves. If their teacher had clear vision eventually they might hope to become so as well.

Why do you notice the splinter in your brother’s eye,

but do not perceive the wooden beam in your own?

Obstructions in one's spiritual vision would have the necessary result of preventing one from acting in accord with reality. One's decisions would be based on the phantoms and illusions created by the ego rather than on what was real. This was the case with the Pharisees who noticed splinters in the eyes of others without noticing the wooden beams in their own. This meant they would be unable to help anyone else have clearer vision since they had already trained themselves to overlook massive problems for the sake of trivial infractions. For them, blindness was a skill which they had spent their careers practicing.

Jesus was able to remove the splinters and beams from the eyes of others because he alone saw with perfect clarity. Unlike the Pharisees, he was not a hypocrite putting on a show, but always acted with sincerity and integrity. His goal when he criticized others was never to benefit himself but rather the ones who heard him. Disciples of Jesus could one day hope to be clear sighted as he was precisely because he, more than anyone, saw well enough to help. 

A good tree does not bear rotten fruit,

nor does a rotten tree bear good fruit.

For every tree is known by its own fruit.

Seeking out a teacher, especially since one's own spiritual vision was not yet healed, was a tricky endeavor. An individual probably wouldn't be able to choose simply on the basis of superficial external appearances. One could, however, avoid corrupt teachers on the basis of the rotten fruit they produced. Their words and deeds would ultimately give them away if they were closely scrutinized. Teachers with rotten fruit might have words with the pretense of truth, but they would be ordered toward evil ends, such as the condemnation of others, or their own pride and vanity. They might have arguments that seemed persuasive, but to what end were they trying to persuade? Words had an inherent direction to them which might at first appear to be some kind of fruit but under a closer inspection would be revealed as rotten.

We are trees the fruit of which is still potentially corruptible. But we are being infused with life by the source of life. And his resurrection will one day clothe us in incorruptibility. Now sin is a risk of which we must be ever on guard. But the more we are in Christ Jesus the less we are under the law. And if we hold fast to the grace he gives we will one day have the fullness of victory. So even though our efforts here below are halting and imperfect they are not necessarily in vain, if they are ordered toward the resurrection life of the Kingdom, as fruit is made to grow by water and sun.

Elevation Worship - There Is A King

1 March 2025 - to such as these

Today's Readings

(Audio)

People were bringing children to Jesus that he might touch them,

but the disciples rebuked them.

The disciples repeatedly demonstrated that they didn't understand what the Kingdom of God was intended to be. They assumed that it was about prestige and power. When Jesus predicted his passion Peter rebuked him because dying seemed to be as far from success as a kingdom could be. This was forgivable since it was promised of Jesus that, "he will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and of his kingdom there will be no end" (see Luke 1:33). It's unclear the degree to which the disciples were familiar with such promises. But if the general conversation and expectation of Jesus's ministry had this aspect it was unsurprising that his disciples had trouble holding it in dynamic tension with the fact that he was also going to fulfill the prophecies of the Suffering Servant from Isaiah. But there was more. The disciples were further from the mark than merely objecting to Jesus's plan. In the wake of what seemed to be promised failure they argued amongst themselves about who was the greatest. They were still thinking of the Kingdom in worldly terms. If they had continued in this direction they would have become like, "the Gentiles lord it over them, and their great ones exercise authority over them" (see Matthew 20:25) when they were supposed to be growing more and more similar to Jesus who "did not come to be served, but to serve" (see Matthew 20:28).

Let the children come to me; do not prevent them,

for the Kingdom of God belongs to such as these.

The only time in the Gospels Jesus was said to be indignant was in response to his disciples trying to prevent people from bringing children to him so he could bless them. No doubt the disciples thought that this was a meaningless waste of time. They still felt, along with the society around them, that children were a burden and of no particular value except insofar as they would eventually become adults who could work and perhaps carry on a family legacy. Children were basically seen to be deficient because they had nothing about them that was particularly useful. And the disciples assumed the the Kingdom only had time to deal with that which was useful.

Amen, I say to you,

whoever does not accept the Kingdom of God like a child

will not enter it.

We take this statement for granted, having heard it so many times. But the disciples must have been shocked. Wouldn't the Kingdom belong to them, the ones who had done the work of evangelization, and who would be leaders and judges within it? But Jesus completely reversed their expectations by stating that a child was the paradigmatic case of what it meant to be within the Kingdom. They, more than bickering disciples, were the ones to whom the Kingdom belonged. The disciples would need to become like these children to enter the Kingdom, not the other way around. But this was a real possibility and a genuine invitation. They need not remain trapped in patterns of thinking only concerned with efficiency, those which equated power with value. It required a surrender of merely human ways of thinking. After all, from a human perspective, how could any sort of Kingdom flourish if it was filled only with children and the childlike? They would need to transcend such thinking.

Then he embraced the children and blessed them,

placing his hands on them.

Children could not provide for themselves, could not achieve great things. But it was not their capabilities that made them suitable for the Kingdom. It was their very openness to being blessed by Jesus that made them fit for Kingdom life. Children were good candidates for the Kingdom because the lived by depending on others. But the degree to which they were aware of this dependance could vary widely. An advantage of an adult being born again as a child of the Kingdom is that this perspective would not be lost on them. It would typically be even more pronounced than even those children that had some sense of it since for adults it would only come by surrendering more of the things that constituted their sense of identity.

The call to us this morning is to understand the value Jesus placed on children, to do what we can for children, the greatest of which is to bring them to Jesus himself. At the same time, we are called to divest ourselves of ways of thinking that make us unable to value children. We do this by becoming childlike ourselves. This does not mean we become infantile. But it does mean recognizing our dependence on Jesus, and realizing that all that is of true value comes from him and not from ourselves.

DC Talk - Mind's Eye