31 August 2025 - places of honor?

Today's Readings
(Audio) 

When you are invited by someone to a wedding banquet,
do not recline at table in the place of honor.

Jesus told them they ought not to think more highly of themselves than they deserved. The reason was that if they chose their own seating based on this self-assessment they were likely to be wrong. Eventually such a wrong judgment would be revealed, and learning of it would be all the more painful for having previously cherished and celebrated it, even then it turned out to be fiction. 

Rather, when you are invited,
go and take the lowest place
so that when the host comes to you he may say,
'My friend, move up to a higher position.'

It was safer to err in the other direction, to be willing to occupy the lowest place. Then, if it turned out one was meant for a higher position, it would be a pleasant revelation, and honor among one's companions rather than shame. Taking the lowest place did not, however, necessarily correlate with having the lowest self-worth. Rather, it came from a lack of preoccupation with how one appeared in the eyes of others. Those who sought to appear among their friends in the highest places did so to cover hidden insecurities. Those content with the lowest place were so because they had nothing to prove. The ultimate reward at the end, given by the host, and regarded with esteem by one's companions, was on the basis of authenticity, integrity, and goodness of character, unlike the one some others sought at the beginning, which was about appearance. By choosing not to seek the appearance of position one was free to act in a way deserving of true honor. It was an honor that could not be sought for its own sake, nor found by seeking honor itself. It was rather the reward of true virtue, possible only for those not preoccupied with self-image.

When you hold a lunch or a dinner,
do not invite your friends or your brothers
or your relatives or your wealthy neighbors,
in case they may invite you back and you have repayment.

Jesus was not saying that we must never enjoy a nice meal with our friends and family. But he was suggesting that we not limit ourselves only to fellowshipping with those whose company we enjoy, much less those who can benefit us in some way. In addition to such harmless festivities he called us also to reach out to those who could not directly benefit us, the poor, the crippled, the lame, and the blind. To this we think, 'I'll help them with money, sure. But I won't invite them to dinner'. But part of the point might be that money can only help so much if we maintain such rigid barriers between us and them. We may do much for the poor with our resources, and this may in fact be the most important thing to help them. But if we are unwilling to accept them as potential friends and part of the human family money can only go so far. It could in fact backfire if what they come to possess is only wealth together with alienation. The only way such barriers can come down is if we learn to reach out without insisting on a reward. We should consider that at the banquet that will follow the resurrection of the righteous we will count ourselves blessed to sit near these presently unfortunate people. We need to open our hearts to that now, not later.

No, you have approached Mount Zion
and the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem,
and countless angels in festal gathering,
and the assembly of the firstborn enrolled in heaven

Matt Maher - Wait

30 August 2025 - talents shown

 

Today's Readings
(Audio)

To one he gave five talents; to another, two; to a third, one–
to each according to his ability.

He gave them these talents in order to equip them to do something good with them. He prepared good works and thus made it possible for them to walk in them. They were given talents that they were to use according to their ability. This may have meant that the one given the most had the most potential, as all seemed to infer. But it may have meant that the one given the least actually needed to least to produce results. Had he not interpreted receiving only one talent as a negative judgement on himself he might have managed to do more with it. Even if he did receive less because he possessed less ability, what of it? Why not be grateful that the master only asked of him what he knew he could deliver? Why not celebrate the fact that he was given, not just any gift, but one that was personalized for him as an individual? We ourselves may fall in various places on the scale of ability. But do we really envy what is asked of those who are given the most? Would we really want to trade places with Mary at the foot of her Son's cross? 

His master said to him, 'Well done, my good and faithful servant.
Since you were faithful in small matters,
I will give you great responsibilities.

The servants who produced a return on investment for the master were, according to the master, faithful only in small matters, even including the one who made five talents with the five he was given. Even the biggest return on the biggest investment was still not itself the point to the master. What he actually wanted to see was fidelity. The matters themselves were small. Thus, the one given a single talent could have equally proven himself to be good and faithful had he simply made an effort, any effort at all.

'Master, I knew you were a demanding person,
harvesting where you did not plant
and gathering where you did not scatter;
so out of fear I went off and buried your talent in the ground.
Here it is back.'

The servant who received only one talent could have been motivated by his fear to actually attempt something with the gift he had received. Instead, his fear only paralyzed him and prevented him from taking anything he perceived to be a risk. 

His master said to him in reply, 'You wicked, lazy servant!
So you knew that I harvest where I did not plant
and gather where I did not scatter?

The servant may have been somewhat disingenuous in trying to blame the master's reputation for his lack of effort, especially since, seriously considered, that reputation would incite not less but more effort. It was probably at least partially an excuse for his laziness in the absence of the master, for the fact that he must have been indulging other interests in lieu of being faithful to his charge.

Should you not then have put my money in the bank
so that I could have got it back with interest on my return?

If what we receive from the master is a portion of the mystery of the Kingdom then every little effort will yield outsized dividends, like a mustard seed growing into a large tree, or a little yeast leavening a whole batch of dough. But, by contrast, every omission is a failure, not just for ourselves, but for all who stand to benefit. They are a failures, not only of self-confidence, but of faith in the master. If he can harvest where he did not plant and gather where he did not scatter imagine what he can do with our efforts, however small. However much or little we appear to have been given is not a judgment against us, but rather a promise that the master believes that we too can act as good and faithful servants. And if we do hold him in fear let us do so rightly, with holy fear that motivates us rather than incapacitates us. As long as we respond to what we have received we too "will grow rich". Only when we force ourselves to rely only on what we have apart from the master will we find ourselves to be those who have not from whom even what we do have will be taken. 

Nevertheless we urge you, brothers and sisters, to progress even more,
and to aspire to live a tranquil life,
to mind your own affairs,
and to work with your own hands,
as we instructed you.

Carey Landry - Only A Shadow

Pat Barrett - Praise The Lord Forever

29 August 2025 - more John, less Herod

Today's Readings
(Audio) 

John had said to Herod,
“It is not lawful for you to have your brother’s wife.”

John was not a saint because he was tactful or because he changed his approach when he found that his message was making people mad. Nor did he alter his course for the sake of his own freedom or the preservation of his life. No, rather, he could not help but speak the truth, whether it seemed effective or not, whether it seemed advantageous or not. But, to be clear, he didn't do it because he enjoyed a self-image of boldness or one of superiority to those whom he spoke. If there had been any hint of condescension in his message it would have hit differently. Yet, as it was, Herod couldn't help but know that he was a righteous and holy man. It upset his assumptions about reality, and yet, though perplexed, he liked to listen to him. 

John might have attempted something more strategic, realizing that wasting away in Herod's prison wasn't doing much to advance his message. Having borne witness to the lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world, having baptized him, and having heard the message of the Father about his Son, would he now end his course because of this instance of marital issues which was apparently trivial by comparison?

Herodias harbored a grudge against him
and wanted to kill him but was unable to do so.

John was not the type to back down from the truth just because of external pressure. Had he been so he never would have had the successful career as a prophet that he did. Even here in this prison his refusal to tolerate any inconsistency in himself or others spoke volumes about the credibility of everything he said. Because he would never betray any specific truth he was more trustworthy when he pointed out the one who was Truth itself.

The king said to the girl,
“Ask of me whatever you wish and I will grant it to you.”
He even swore many things to her,
“I will grant you whatever you ask of me,
even to half of my kingdom.”

Herod, by contrast to John, changed his priorities moment by moment. He did not possess consistency or integrity that could anchor him amid changes circumstances. That meant he tended to seize upon whatever felt best in a given moment. Sometimes, perhaps, that was listening to John. But in a given moment the words of an imprisoned prophet would be less appealing than the alternative. This was certainly the case when the dancing girl made him forget John and whatever concern he made have had for him entirely.

“I want you to give me at once
on a platter the head of John the Baptist.”

Because Herod didn't have the anchor of firm commitment to virtue there was nothing to prevent him giving away even pieces of his very soul "even to half" of his kingdom. But this is how it is with sin. It seems so appealing in a given moment that if we don't have practiced habits of choosing the good to steady us then common sense and concern for our own free and rational agency won't be enough to tether us in the moment.

The king was deeply distressed,
but because of his oaths and the guests
he did not wish to break his word to her.

Once we do choose sin instead of standing firm we begin to find ourselves less and less free because of it. It gradually changes from something intoxicating and enchanting to something that we only continue to engage with sadness and because we feel that somehow we must. And this is because the alternative, choosing the good, feels still more distant and impossible.

When his disciples heard about it,
they came and took his body and laid it in a tomb.

It doesn't always seem practical or fun to choose the path of John the Baptist, as we can especially see today when we commemorate his death. And yet, hopefully we can see that we would do well to embrace more John and less Herod in our lives. Our approach to truth might be more the curious interest of Herod than the commitment of John. John's boldness might seem almost unapproachable. But we can approach it, little by little, choice by choice. He invites us to do so, both by his example and his prayers.

 

Newsboys - I'm Not Ashamed

28 August 2025 - giving food in due season

Today's Readings
(Audio) 

Stay awake!
For you do not know on which day your Lord will come.

Whether by the coming of the Lord we mean is at the end of our own lives, at the end of time, or even the secret presence of his grace in our daily lives, it is not something we can know with certainty. There may be signs indicating the likelihood of each of these comings, and watching for those signs helps us to stay ready (at the very least by the encouragement of hope), even if we end up being wrong to a greater or lesser degree about the timing. But we can't prepare our way around the need to remain vigilant, to remain faithful. We can't leave the house for dinner because we know precisely when the thief is coming, and can therefore be back just in time to prevent his intrusion. And maybe this is for our own good. Maybe Jesus knew that the only way we would take the call to fidelity as seriously as we should was if we were too uncertain to procrastinate, as even otherwise decent people might try to do.

Be sure of this: if the master of the house
had known the hour of night when the thief was coming,
he would have stayed awake
and not let his house be broken into.

Perhaps keeping the hour of his coming a secret also helps protect us from a final test by the evil one, who might otherwise recognize his last chance to make or retain us as his possessions. Instead, the surprise of the coming of Jesus can more likely take place when the defenses of our egos are down, when we are not clinging so desperately to our mortal lives, more ready to release ourselves into his hands. This possibility exists, not so much for those aren't paying any attention at all, as for those who have been consistently watching and hoping. For the later, the surprise of the advent of the Lord will be a welcome one. But not necessarily for the former.

Who, then, is the faithful and prudent servant,
whom the master has put in charge of his household
to distribute to them their food at the proper time?

Jesus was primarily speaking to his disciples and their successors as the ones who would give the laity the food in due season. But we all are tasked with seeing to it that the needs of others are met, both corporeal and spiritual. For us as well as the clergy, this call to love is meant to be our overriding priority while we await the return of the Lord. It is precisely in and through loving others that we express or fidelity and commitment to Jesus himself.

But if that wicked servant says to himself, 'My master is long delayed,'
and begins to beat his fellow servants,
and eat and drink with drunkards,
the servant's master will come on an unexpected day
and at an unknown hour and will punish him severely
and assign him a place with the hypocrites,
where there will be wailing and grinding of teeth.

There is only one real alternative to living for others for the sake of Jesus, and that is living for ourselves and for our own sakes. When we choose this alternative others will either be perceived as tools for our pleasure or obstacles to it. And in either of these cases we will not treat them with the compassion due to creatures made in the image of God. God himself regards such abuses with the utmost severity.  

Part of the point of today's Gospel is to not allow ourselves to be lulled by the (apparent) delay of the master. His delay might make following his way seem less and less worthwhile, with the reward seeming to recede into the distance of the future. When his reward seems distant we become more likely to try to find other, less noble rewards. But for those who stay awake and remain faithful his rewards are not distant. We find him in those others to whom we show his care, and his own spiritual presence as he makes it possible for us to love others with his own love for us.

What thanksgiving, then, can we render to God for you,
for all the joy we feel on your account before our God?

Songs In His Presence - Prayer Of Augustine

27 August 2025 - dead inside

Today's Readings
(Audio)

You are like whitewashed tombs, which appear beautiful on the outside,
but inside are full of dead men's bones and every kind of filth.

However beautiful a tomb may have been, what it concealed inside was always something dead and decaying. It wasn't something that could be solved by additional layers of paint. More vigorous grounds-keeping efforts would not render it a spot suitable for afternoon tea. In fact, for a tomb to look overly appealing was deceptive, making it more likely for a passerby to not exercise caution and be compromised by contagion. The scribes and the Pharisees actively worked to appear good in the sight of others, but made no effort to stem the tide of hypocrisy and evildoing that came from within. But this disparity was something that should have been increasingly difficult to ignore. One might start off acting hypocritically more or less by accident. But the more one became invested in hypocrisy and doubled down on it the more one would need to expend focused effort to create a mask specifically designed to conceal what was inside. An initial impulse to shield others from unpleasant realities could shift over time into a strategy specifically undertaken to allow one to preserve and accept the filth itself. The compassionate attitude toward a neighbor if one understood that he might cause his corruption would not be to conceal that fact and allow him to walk blindly into the danger zone, but rather, at least, to warn him. Yet we can easily understand how difficult it would be to do so. These scribes and Pharisees were invested in teaching what they claimed to be a path to life. The fact that their hearts were graves in need of a resurrection was not one they could afford to make public.

If we had lived in the days of our ancestors,
we would not have joined them in shedding the prophets' blood.

They had not actually made a sufficient break with the tendency of their ancestors to kill the prophets God sent to them. It was easy to adorn their memorials. But when a new voice actually came they behaved the same toward him as their ancestors had behaved in the past, which they revealed in their response to Jesus himself. It would be like Christians wearing a cross or crucifix even though the words of Jesus himself found no place in their hearts. What, then, could the cross mean to them, accept a wish for him to be permanently silenced? Just so, adorning the memorials of the righteous was a celebration that these prophets were relegated to the past, dead, and unable to speak.

How can we inoculate ourselves against the temptations toward the sort of double-life against which Jesus warned? We need to welcome a celebrate, not a word from the past, but one capable of speaking to us in the here and now, of challenging us, and calling us higher and deeper.

And for this reason we too give thanks to God unceasingly,
that, in receiving the word of God from hearing us,
you received it not as the word of men, but as it truly is, the word of God,
which is now at work in you who believe.

Elevation Worship - Graves Into Gardens

26 August 2025 - herbal remedies

Today's Readings
(Audio) 

You pay tithes of mint and dill and cummin,
and have neglected the weightier things of the law:
judgment and mercy and fidelity.

It wasn't wrong that they were fastidious even about apparently knit-picky details. High levels of precision weren't the problem. Rather it was that these details were all they saw, such that they missed the bigger picture. The fine detail of their tithing made them unable to see things from the perspective of the whole, and of what really mattered. They were so fixated on the details that they failed to notice the principles of judgment and mercy and fidelity that were the reason for everything else. It would be like being extremely attentive to the rubrics of the mass without remembering the sacrifice that was made present every time it was celebrated. All of those little details existed because of the sacrifice and the communion with God and neighbor it helped to achieve. Trying to enforce the details without remembering the point would initially result in a lack of proper proportion of one element to another, and, eventually, with losing the plot entirely, and with the liturgy becoming something other than it was meant to be. So too with these sacrifices. They were meant to emphasize the primacy and transcendence of God and our utter dependence on him. But they had become a means of asserting one's proficiency in spiritual things, a way to prove one's commitment, and a way to compare oneself favorable with those less detail oriented. Even if the action was good in itself, evil intentions such as these could spoil it.

Blind guides, who strain out the gnat and swallow the camel!

When we set up mental and behavioral filters to keep the metaphorical water we drink clean it won't matter if we avoid the smallest things if we ignore the largest and the most egregious. So, when we are giving attention to ensure that the drinking water of our lives is pure, our priorities for what to avoid must not ignore the more obviously problematic. Trying to remove many small venial sins when some significant problems with mortal sin remain can only yield limited fruit. There are other applications of this principle as well, from the shows we watch, to the candidates we support. We may successfully avoid a number of small and problematic issues. But if we do so only by ignoring other larger and more important ones we do so at our peril.

You cleanse the outside of cup and dish,
but inside they are full of plunder and self-indulgence.

The scribes and the Pharisees priority of looking good made it difficult for them to ever actually achieve being good. When we begin from the perspective of what matters to others and what others notice we will never address the deeper underlying issues that make us tend toward sin. We won't be approaching our issues with repentance, with hearts that desire change, but rather with avoidance, the desire that our darkness not be revealed. And yet cleansing what is within is more difficult than that which is without. We more easily become aware of those external imperfections of ours which are visible to others. The ones within are often hard to see, especially since we don't particularly want to see them. The only surefire way to attain the purity to which we are called is to have an external and objective frame of reference. And this is something that only God himself can be for us. But this is precisely what Jesus was trying to be for the scribes and the Pharisees. And, if we are open, he will be so for us as well.

The word of God is living and effective,
able to discern reflections and thoughts of the heart.

Craig Musseau - Good To Me

25 August 2025 - blind guides

 

Today's Readings
(Audio) 

Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, you hypocrites.
You lock the Kingdom of heaven before men.
You do not enter yourselves,
nor do you allow entrance to those trying to enter.

The way the scribes and the Pharisees taught had the opposite effect that it should have. Rather than finding their way to the Kingdom and helping others to enter they locked the entrance and themselves remained outside. They sought converts, but helped to make them children of Gehenna rather than children of God. Being raised on their teachings made those teachings even more entrenched in their disciples than themselves, making it even less likely that they would change their minds. 

The reason the teaching of the scribes and Pharisees was problematic was that they were blind guides. They claimed to lead the way but lacked the spiritual insight or wisdom necessary to find and remain on the path. Since they couldn't perceive objective spiritual reality they fell back on their own innovations. An example of this was the problem with oaths. People often seemed to feel that without an oath no one would take what they had to say seriously. It didn't seem like enough for one to just give her word. Oaths were so common that to not have one seemed like a suspicious omission. But rather than help people to understand and appreciate the solemnity and severity of oaths, which they ought to have understood, they manufactured an oath gradient with various options appropriate to one's level of commitment. Now there were oaths, not only for situations when one needed to make absolutely certain she would be believed, but also for other times when she hoped to be believed, or when it would at least be convenient if others gave her the benefit of the doubt, or even, perhaps, if she herself knew she was probably wrong about the veracity of her statement but still hoped that others might think otherwise. They tried to create this complex system of oaths based on the sanctity of that by which one swore. But in doing so they inverted the whole sacred order, giving value to the anthropocentric rather than the divine.

If one swears by the temple, it means nothing,
but if one swears by the gold of the temple, one is obligated.’
Blind fools, which is greater, the gold,
or the temple that made the gold sacred?

Jesus was not saying that one ought, in such a case, to swear by the gold. He was pointing out that all of the possible options had value because of their relation to God himself, and that they added believability to claims only insofar as they brought God's own credibility to bear on a specific situation. There was therefore no way to use an oath for a trivial purpose. This was why Jesus advised his own disciples to avoid oaths when possible, to let their yes be yes and their no be no (see Matthew 5:37).

Oaths were merely a symptom of a larger problem with the whole system of the scribes and the Pharisees. It was filled with human traditions that possessed a certain semblance of wisdom. It had the nuance and complexity that made it seem like it must correspond to something true. But the innovations, which may have been at times well intended, still managed to miss the point more often than not. They issued from human wisdom rather than divine truth. And those who took them seriously found it difficult to accept the straightforward teachings of Jesus. It was obvious that Jesus was consistent with the Scriptures. But it was equally obvious that his teaching seemed more otherworldly or alien than some kind of logical or obvious development normal men might have attempted. Once they were heard they could not be unheard or ignored. It was exactly the teaching what one would expect if the source of this new revelation was God himself. But it was at such odds with the teachings of the scribes and the Pharisees that those teachings were a definite hindrance to accepting it.

We must be careful by our teaching and example not to lock the Kingdom of heaven before others, and to ourselves strive to enter through the narrow gate. We may begin with decent motives, trying to solve common problems. But if we do so without a direct reference to God we may end up, not only not helping, but causing harm. Much more so if we teach or lead more for the sake of our self-image than for the souls of others. Then we too will end up generating systems of labyrinthine complexity that serve only to imprison others rather than pointing them to freedom, a conceptual manifestation of our own spiritual prisons. We must ensure that God, and self, is as much as possible at the center of our intentions.

Sing to the LORD a new song
of praise in the assembly of the faithful.

Dan Schutte - Sing A New Song

24 August 2025 - the narrow gate

 

Today's Readings
(Audio) 

Strive to enter through the narrow gate,
for many, I tell you, will attempt to enter
but will not be strong enough.

The entrance to the Kingdom is not wherever and whenever we please. This is difficult, since we would prefer a gate through which we could easily fit with room to spare, one still open after we finally got bored with all other options and conceded to go through it. We are often suspicious of a Kingdom with such a specific entrance. If we were creating it ourselves we would probably have included various gates of various sizes to correspond to the wide variety of people in the world. Even if a door had to close for some reason we would have stationed someone ready and waiting to open it to a person knocking outside. The actual Kingdom, by contrast, has only one door, not broad, but narrow, that will not open again after it closes, no matter how persistent the pleading from those outside. Harsh, we think.

And you will say,
'We ate and drank in your company and you taught in our streets.'

We should realize that the only business we might have in the Kingdom is on the basis of our association with the Lord. It is a Kingdom that was utterly closed off to humanity until he came to open the way in his own flesh (see Hebrews 10:20), by means of his cross, his death, and resurrection. The entrance was therefore narrow in that it was only through Jesus himself and by no other way. There was no other name given under heaven by which we could be saved (see Acts 4:12). Could he have opened a broader way, easier to enter? Not if the core meaning of the Kingdom was life together with God forever. If that was its meaning then it is amazing we could enter at all. Only because Jesus himself chose to become the bridge between heaven and earth was it even possible. The reason we experience the gate as narrow is because of all the baggage we would like to bring but has no business in the life of heaven. There is no room for our disordered affections or our lingering earthly attachments. And the only way to shed our excess is through the grace Jesus made available. Hence he was not only a way, but the way. Yet, although the entrance may seem constricted, we will be amazed by the spaciousness within.

And people will come from the east and the west
and from the north and the south
and will recline at table in the kingdom of God.

We are called to strive to enter this Kingdom. This striving is world's apart from forcing our way in by our own strength and ability, or by somehow earning a place inside. This Kingdom admits whom it will. In what sense, then, must we strive? As Hosea tells us, "Let us know; let us press on to know the Lord; his going out is sure as the dawn; he will come to us as the showers, as the spring rains that water the earth" (see Hosea 6:3). We are called to work out our salvation with fear and trembling remembering always that it is God who himself works within us for his good pleasure (see Philippians 2:11-13). Eternal life isn't ultimately about us or our greatness but rather surrendering ourselves more and more to Jesus and his greatness. As we read, "this is eternal life, that they know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom you have sent" (see John 17:3). It is precisely this connection to the king that makes perseverance possible. It can transform our experience of suffering, so that we can see it as discipline that is not pointless, but goal directed. When we see it this way it is not a guarantee that we will persist. But it will definitely make it less likely that we give up immediately in despair. It will enable us to more easily keep the goal in sight, and to trust in the Father who is helping us attain it.

For what "son" is there whom his father does not discipline?
At the time,
all discipline seems a cause not for joy but for pain,
yet later it brings the peaceful fruit of righteousness
to those who are trained by it. 

 

Hillsong Featuring Darlene Zschech

23 August 2025 - but do not follow their example

Today's Readings
(Audio) 

All their works are performed to be seen.

The scribes and the Pharisees were teachers who were often more interested in having the self-image of people who were wise and righteous than an actually acting with wisdom and righteousness. They were so preoccupied with thoughts of how they would be perceived by others that they didn't have a thought of sympathy to spare for the way their preaching might be received. They were too busy acting according to a preconstructed pattern to much notice or care that the burdens they were laying on the shoulders of others were heavy and hard to carry. They didn't even feel the need to attend to the core ideas that they preached themselves as long as they looked right to those around them. And naturally, if they never really tried to carry the burdens themselves, they would have no sense of how heavy others would find them. Their preoccupation with themselves and with their image made them insensible to the needs of others. Such preoccupation always leads to problems, but was especially egregious in the lives of teachers, who needed, not less, but more sympathy, in order to effectively understand the needs of their students and help them to advance.

Therefore, do and observe all things whatsoever they tell you,
but do not follow their example.

Bad examples did not necessarily invalidate true teaching. There would be a temptation to see selfishness and hypocrisy and react, not against the bad example, but against the valid teaching itself. One could easily imagine that if this is all that was meant by righteousness he might as well dive head first into hedonism and sin, since he wouldn't be missing out on anything by doing so, and would in fact be protesting what he found to be false about such hypocritical teachers. It would take one level of humility to embrace teachings about the path of righteousness at all. But it would take another to receive that teaching from hypocrites and still observe it. Yet since all teachers are human, even those who mean well still end up acting hypocritically at times. And so we must all learn not to reject what is genuinely truth no matter from whom we hear it.

We are called to be concerned with integrity. We must practice. And if we preach we must make even more certain to do so. We must not put burdens on others shoulders with no interest in helping them to carry them. Instead, we must lead them to the yoke of Jesus whose burden is easy and whose yoke is light, who will himself help them to do so. It is all too easy for the tone of a teacher to shift into a mode that is more self-congratulatory than useful. We have no business saying anything at all unless is arises from a genuine concern for others.

Absolutely speaking, the only true teacher, master, and Father is God. The point of caution about titles is that we sometimes forget and imagine that we become little gods ourselves, thinking that we are masters of the truth rather than its servants. But if we can only learn to put service ahead of self-image, doing everything for the sake of our one master, the Christ, we ourselves will remain safe, and even become a useful conduit of the truth to others.

Relient K - For The Moments I Feel Faint

22 August 2025 - I AM, the greatest.

Today's Readings
(Audio) 

"Teacher, which commandment in the law is the greatest?"

It wasn't a particularly devious question designed to entrap Jesus, necessarily. Though one could see a situation where, to any answer he gave, they would have responded by asking about some other commandment that he didn't mention. But it was more likely they intended to give him an opportunity to summarize his teaching by his answer, positioning the whole in relation to the main themes or priorities. Either way, the answer of Jesus didn't leave any openings for them to wonder about the competing priority of various rules. His answer was comprehensive and exhaustive.

He said to him,
"You shall love the Lord, your God, with all your heart,
with all your soul, and with all your mind.
This is the greatest and the first commandment.
The second is like it:
You shall love your neighbor as yourself.
The whole law and the prophets depend on these two commandments."

There really ought to have been no doubt that the commandment to love God above all held the first place among all of the laws of Israel. It had been emphasized again and again since it was first received by Moses, and had been implicit even before that. But there may have been a question of how the large number and variety of other commands related to the first and most important one. It was this that Jesus clarified by saying that the second was like the first. Already, before the coming of Jesus, this answer had a certain intuitive logic to it, since humanity was made in the image of God. One could not love God fully without also loving the creature he gave the dignity of his image and likeness. And love of neighbor could not be well maintained without reference to the God who was the origin and destiny of every person. 

One could not, however, love one's neighbor in lieu of loving God, as though there was nothing else to do beyond one's obligations of mercy and justice to others. We saw in the rich young ruler a person who had in fact kept all the commandments pertaining to love of neighbor from his youth and yet was still lacking something important. He could have achieved harmony between the love of God and love of neighbor by setting aside his worldly attachments and following Jesus. Jesus brought together the opportunity to love both God and neighbor in his own person, and through him, the possibility to embrace the world with a unified love that neglected neither God nor neighbor. Jesus was the bridge between God and man who elevated what was possible for humanity in terms of how perfectly they could love God, who had now come so close, and neighbor, whose dignity was now revealed with awe-inspiring clarity as a consequence of the incarnation.

The inseparability of these two commandments became a common theme of biblical writers such as John the Evangelist: 

If anyone says, “I love God,” and hates his brother, he is a liar; for he who does not love his brother whom he has seen cannot love God whom he has not seen (see First John 4:20).

We Christians are supposed to be recognizable by our love. This means that we need to be more than a spiritual NGO. People should notice that we are not just meeting obligations of justice but that we recognize a greater dignity and destiny in humanity than others, and treat them accordingly, as revelations of the love and the goodness of God.

Jars Of Clay - They Will Know We Are Christians By Our Love

21 August 2025 - free to feast

Today's Readings
(Audio) 

The Kingdom of heaven may be likened to a king
who gave a wedding feast for his son.
He dispatched his servants to summon the invited guests to the feast,
but they refused to come.

At first glance an invitation from the king would have seemed like a great option. It wasn't as though there could have been many highly competitive offers. No one was offering free tickets to Disney or an all-inclusive meal at a fancy restaurant. This wedding feast was the only game in town, and it was likely to live up to the hype. Who was better able to provide all that would conduce to joy than the king? And the king would certainly go all out for the wedding feast of his son. 

Some ignored the invitation and went away,
one to his farm, another to his business.
The rest laid hold of his servants,
mistreated them, and killed them.

It wasn't as though the people refused to come because they had something that could compete with king's invitation as an alternative. What they decided to prefer, the work of daily life, was emphatically not in the same category as the joy of a feast. So why prefer it? It must have been possible for them to take some time away from those things had they so desired. It is unlikely that the farm required twenty-four hour supervision or that the business could not be closed down for a few days. But still, the people felt that their daily lives, on the one hand, were reality, whereas, on the other, the celebration of a king they only knew distantly was an irrelevant fantasy. Their daily lives ensnared them as though they were legally bound to productivity and utilitarian value. They did not demonstrate the freedom of spirit required to enjoy a feast. But we too are like this in regard to the invitation to God's Kingdom. We aren't willing to modify our daily lives much in order to accommodate it. When there is the suggestion that we should do so, we tend to feel threatened, as if the king is encroaching on our rights. This is why prophetic voices are often mistreated and killed. And when we don't heed these voices it is at our peril. Although the response of the king seemed harsh it could be argued that leaving the citizens chained to their lives of servitude would have been worse. The destruction of the city opposed to the king could serve a wake-up call, exposing misplaced priorities.

Then the king said to his servants, ‘The feast is ready,
but those who were invited were not worthy to come.
Go out, therefore, into the main roads
and invite to the feast whomever you find.’

The king was set on seeing the wedding feast of his son well celebrated. He would fill the seats no matter what it took. We see the same sort of enthusiasm in him as we do in the landowner who kept looking for laborers for his vineyard until the last hour. Neither was content until every possible candidate had been invited. People might fail to come as a result of preferring their own disordered will to that of the king, but not because of any omission on the part of the king himself. In this he represented the God who desired all to be saved and to come knowledge of the truth.

He said to him, ‘My friend, how is it
that you came in here without a wedding garment?’
But he was reduced to silence.

Although the king desired all to attend the banquet they could not come in any attire. Their old life in the world was one which they had to leave behind, symbolically, by wearing a wedding garment. So too for our own invitation to the wedding feast of the lamb. We are not invited on the basis of the cleanliness of our attire. But we must attend without too much dirt or detritus staining our baptismal robes. And in fact, we must attend without spot or wrinkle or any such thing. But we do this by accepting the grace of perseverance given by Jesus himself.

that he might sanctify her, having cleansed her by the washing of water with the word, so that he might present the church to himself in splendor, without spot or wrinkle or any such thing, that she might be holy and without blemish (see Ephesians 5:26-27).

David Ruis - We Will Dance

20 August 2025 - living wage

 

 

Today's Readings
(Audio)

The Kingdom of heaven is like a landowner
who went out at dawn to hire laborers for his vineyard.

The master went out again and again to the marketplace to find laborers for his vineyard. He went and recruited when there was still a full day of work to go. And he kept going back, recruiting even when there was only an hour of work remaining. It's hard to imagine that he had this level of commitment for the sake of the vineyard. It seemed, rather, that he was concerned when he saw people standing around idle all day, looking for an excuse to exercise his generosity. It wasn't so much that he needed their work as that he saw the difference it made to their self-perceived dignity when they were able to put their capabilities to use and fully engage themselves, rather than doing nothing and remaining apparently useless. It was good for the individuals he recruited to have this experience of working toward an important goal, of being caught up in a project larger than themselves. Those who were idle in the market were trapped within themselves, probably introspective about precisely why no one had hired them. But everyone who had been chosen, whenever they were chosen, could infer from that the fact that they were in some way worthwhile. Was this lessened if their work did not, in the end, contribute much? Not if what really mattered was not their output but their willingness to participate. If that was what the master truly valued then it accounts not only for his excessive eagerness in seeking out workers but also for his odd strategy for reimbursing them.

And on receiving it they grumbled against the landowner, saying,
'These last ones worked only one hour,
and you have made them equal to us,
who bore the day's burden and the heat.'

If what the master truly cared about was the dignity of the workers, rather than the utilitarian value he gained through their employment, then it is not surprising that he wanted them all to receive a day's wage. He did not penalize those who were only recruited at the last hour since they still needed to in some way account for the whole day and make good on it. Yet he did not feel the need to pay those who began first with more, since what he agreed to pay them was fair, was enough for them to make good on the day. He was really looking to ensure that all of his workers received precisely what they needed. And that was, for all of them, a day's wage. 

He could, perhaps, have simply given some money to those who were idle, rather than insisting that they join the team. Then the workers hired first wouldn't have had occasion to compare themselves with them. But he was interested in more than the end reward. He was interested in helping them make the most of their time, however much remained.

Are you envious because I am generous?

The problem arises when we begin to compare what we receive with what others receive. We tend to make the mistake of assuming that what we receive reflects the value we contribute. But we all have an intrinsic value that is not dependent on what we receive. That we are invited to join the project of the vineyard, and that we receive a reward in the end, are not from us, but rather, from the generosity of the landowner. He himself is generous, and free to dispose of his wealth as he pleases. It is only we who twist it in our minds to make it seem unfair.

However many hours remain, let us thank the Lord for the privilege of being invited to help him with his vineyard. Let us continue to labor until evening falls, knowing that our reward will come, not from what we achieve, but from his goodness. And his goodness is always more than enough.

Andy Park - I See The Lord

19 August 2025 - for men this is impossible

Today's Readings
(Audio) 

Amen, I say to you, it will be hard for one who is rich
to enter the Kingdom of heaven.

We have seen how hard it can be. The rich young man from yesterday's Gospel demonstrated that his riches did not keep him from keeping the second commandment of the law and loving his neighbor. But they were an obstacle to him fully embracing the dynamic call of the Kingdom in his own life. Insofar as he was allowed to remain at the center and in control of his own life he was able to meet the secondary obligations that the law imposed. But when it came down to the decision of whether or not to follow Jesus he balked. He didn't want to lose his ability to be the final decision maker or abdicate his central place of self-governance. He could entertain the ideas someone like Jesus might present. But when asked to walk away from his possessions for the sake of Jesus he refused and went away sad.

Jesus looked at them and said,
“For men this is impossible,
but for God all things are possible.”

The rich young man was being invited to an undertaking that transcended what was humanly possible for him. But it was not impossible absolutely. Where Jesus gave an invitation there was sufficient grace to accept the invitation. But one needed to receive that invitation in faith, believing in the grace provided enough to overcome the doubt resulting from knowledge of one's weakness. The rich young man chose to believe that he was too tied to his riches, that they were too necessary for him to be happy, that could not give them up and follow Jesus. But he might have believed something else. He was free to do so. It was precisely some vague awareness of the reality of the alternate possibility that made his decision to stay on his current path so sad. If it had been, strictly speaking, impossible, he could have more easily shrugged it off. But it had been possible. And in spite of that he walked away.

Then Peter said to him in reply,
“We have given up everything and followed you.
What will there be for us?”

There were rewards for giving up everything and following Jesus. But they were not such that they would justify doing so in advance. They weren't the sort of rewards that the ego could use to justify discipleship in a cost benefit analysis. Peter had already made the choice to follow Jesus. He put first the Kingdom. And so he was free to receive all else besides. He didn't ask about the rewards first to make sure following Jesus would be worth his while. He sought the giver first and only secondarily inquired about the gifts. The reality of the gifts helped reinforce the idea that, although Christianity involved sacrifice, it led to something that was better than anything one had to surrender along the way. But it was able to lead to this new age was precisely because it led to the reality where the Son of Man was seated on his throne of glory. The greatness of the Kingdom could in no way be separated from the greatness of the King. 

And everyone who has given up houses or brothers or sisters
or father or mother or children or lands
for the sake of my name will receive a hundred times more,
and will inherit eternal life.

If we are asked to make sacrifices for our faith let us believe that we are capable of them, up to the task, not because of our strength, but through faith in the grace of Jesus. We can believe that they will be worth it even when our flesh protests and would prefer to keep its current wealth. We need not go away sad.

The LORD himself will give his benefits;
our land shall yield its increase.
Justice shall walk before him,
and salvation, along the way of his steps.

Matt Maher - Your Grace Is Enough

18 August 2025 - what good must we do?

 

Today's Readings
(Audio)

“Teacher, what good must I do to gain eternal life?”
He answered him, “Why do you ask me about the good?
There is only One who is good.

There was indeed a direct connection between the good and eternal life. This man sensed that Jesus had a more complete explanation of that connection than he could find elsewhere. But most likely he didn't know why he thought that. If Jesus was just another man like any other, with an opinion, however informed or interesting, why ask him? But since, in fact, Jesus was not like any other person, he attempted to draw out what was implicit in the young man's question.

If you wish to enter into life, keep the commandments.”
He asked him, “Which ones?” 

The commandments Jesus specifically mentioned were those pertaining to love of neighbor, the second tablet of the ten commandments. It was as though he was expecting the answer the young man gave, "All of these I have observed. What do I still lack?" Jesus seemed to give him the benefit of the doubt, that he sincerely had kept those commandments, so that he could go on to help him to see what he still lacked.

Jesus said to him, “If you wish to be perfect, 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 kept the second tablet of the law. But the place where more was needed was specifically in regard to the first. It related to Jesus, and why Jesus was an authority capable of speaking to the question. Jesus was himself the One who was good, and it was therefore by following him that the young man could hope to possess eternal life. In this way he could fulfill the first tablet of the law that pertained to love of God. Once there had been an encounter with Jesus fulfilling or not fulfilling those commandments was determined by one's response to him. He could decide to follow him and find joy, or else go away sad, trying to salvage what he could out of his old life. But there was no way to simply ignore the encounter and still honor God in the way God desired. There was no way to the Father except through the Son. To follow Jesus was to honor everything good in the law, and to find fulfillment of all that the young man had already embraced so far. But to turn aside was akin to giving up, seeing the fully realized ideal he had always desired, but determining that it was too difficult.

When the young man heard this statement, he went away sad,
for he had many possessions.

We can be on the path, doing many things well, and still end up walking away because of our attachments to things of this world. Sometimes the things we are asked to surrender will present us with the illusion that they are somehow worthy competitors to the joy of knowing Jesus and living with him forever. We, especially we who do have worldly abundance, must be especially careful to prioritize heavenly treasure. We must be cautious about becoming so attached to anything on earth that we would ever consider walking away from Jesus just to keep it. In the final analysis such things only present the appearance of goodness. God alone is truly good. He himself is the only reward worth seeking with all our hearts.

And this is eternal life, that they know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom you have sent (see John 17:3).

God Alone

17 August 2025 - trail blazer

 

Today's Readings
(Audio)

I have come to set the earth on fire,
and how I wish it were already blazing!

This fire was associated with his baptism, which makes sense. It was promised by John the Baptist that Jesus was the one who would, "baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire" (see Matthew 3:11). However, we also know that baptism related to the death of Jesus since, "all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death" (see Romans 6:3). This was the chalice that James and John naively believed they could drink, of which Jesus assured them, "The cup that I drink, you will drink, and with the baptism with which I am baptized, you will be baptized" (see Mark 10:39).

There is a baptism with which I must be baptized,
and how great is my anguish until it is accomplished!

His goal was the sending forth of the Holy Spirit, but that in order to do so the Passion was a necessary prerequisite. After all, in the Passion, the obstacles to the coming and indwelling of the Spirit were defeated. It was from the side of the crucified Christ that the living water of the Holy Spirit flowed. Before that, "the Spirit had not been given, because Jesus was not yet glorified" (see John 7:39). There was a death to the old that was first necessary in order that the new could come and find a place in us. Jesus first accomplished this death for us so that he could then make it present in us through our own baptism. He defeated sin in the world and would go on to defeat it in the hearts of his followers who learned to live, not by the flesh, but by the Spirit.

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

The transformation that the fire of the Spirit was meant to cause in the lives of Christians was something that required their consent and cooperation. It was not something which they could accomplish of their own strength. But they could very much refuse it through their own stubbornness. The consequence of clinging to things that could not last, and the old life, was judgment. The fire of God would consume all that was unfit to stand in his presence since he himself was a consuming fire (see Hebrews 12:29). Those who kept their eyes fixed on Jesus, the leader and perfecter of their faith, would experience the joy of being transformed in the Holy Spirit, and would be made capable of living together with God for all eternity. Those who stubbornly refused to look away from the ego self would turn out to be "chaff he will burn with unquenchable fire" (see Matthew 3:12).

No, I tell you, but rather division.

Jesus desired his Kingdom and his Gospel to spread like a fire on the earth. And this would result in division between those who accepted the message and those who did not. But this division was not necessarily eternal, not the division between those who would live the life of the Spirit forever and those who would experience judgment in the fires of hell. The divisive aspect of Jesus on earth was important because it helped make more clear where people stood. But it did not imply perseverance of those who at one time accepted him. They remained free to turn away. Nor did it imply certainty of judgment for those who at one time seemed to oppose him, and that for two reasons. The first was that they had time to change as long as their lives lasted. The second was that no one can read the soul of another. There may have been mitigating circumstances resulting in invincible ignorance. Since God desires all to be saved, the existence of this time of division before judgment must be precisely so that Christians can give themselves to spreading the Gospel and eliminating insofar as possible the group of those opposed to God by converting them. It is an obligation even greater than that which we bear to our families on the basis of the fourth commandment. Jesus was in anguish to see the fire of his love fill the world. What about us?

 

Dan Purkapile - Come Holy Spirit

16. August 2025 - to such as these

Today's Readings
(Audio)

Children were brought to Jesus
that he might lay his hands on them and pray.

Children were precious in the eyes of God and therefore in the heart of Jesus as well. He wanted to welcome them and bless them whether or not they had any immediate need, such as an illness or demonic possession. It was simply good that they existed, which he celebrated by being near them. Nothing 'productive' needed to happen for this time he spent to be valuable. No doubt having this encounter with Jesus at the beginning of the lives would lead them to subsequent blessings in an otherwise uncertain future. Maybe their parents had such blessings in mind when they brought them to him. But Jesus and the children enjoyed something deeper than the future benefits he might provide. They enjoyed relationship. Any other blessings they might receive in the future were secondary to the beginning to be with Jesus, to knowing him and to be known by him. 

The disciples rebuked them

The disciples represented the worldly view of the situation. It was not necessarily that they despised children so much as that they thought Jesus had other more important, more productive things to do with his time. Children could not apparently yield any utilitarian value for bringing about the Kingdom of God. And these children didn't seem to be in any kind of dire need. The disciples didn't seem to conceive of the value of rest, in which people simply enjoyed one another's presence. Even if they had most probably experienced such time themselves with Jesus they did not yet understand that it was worth valuing and helping to facilitate for others as well, rather than trying to prevent and block it as they in fact did.

Let the children come to me, and do not prevent them;
for the Kingdom of heaven belongs to such as these.

The disciples were worried that Jesus didn't have time for these children, that they were a distraction from the project of establishing the Kingdom on earth. But Jesus demonstrated that his time with them was actually already an experience of the Kingdom then and there, a reality yet to come, but momentarily revealed. 

Maybe we can learn something from these disciples and from these children. We often find ourselves at the mercy of the urgent, chained to the need to be productive, under the tyranny of all the many apparently necessary tasks in our lives. Are we able to slow down and just give Jesus some quality time? More to it, can we help him to have such time with others? Do we recognize how good it is for him to be in relationship even with very young children, even when there is no obvious superficial difference that results from it? Or are our concerns for others more about the apparent exigencies of their lives? We should remember that the things that seem necessary in the light of tomorrow are not necessarily those that matter most in the light of eternity. Since we can experience the light of eternity in the presence of Jesus that would seem to be, not only our goal, but also the proper place to begin.

Elevation Worship - Trust In God

15 August 2025 - checking her assumption

Today's Readings (Vigil Mass)
(Audio) 

“Blessed is the womb that carried you
and the breasts at which you nursed.”

She was indeed blessed, but it went deep than they suspected. Mary wasn't blessed merely on the basis of blood relation to Jesus her son. Rather, she was blessed because she had been chosen by God, and having been chosen, consented to his will. We have seen that others had seemingly been chosen, but did not consent, which was not enough. An example of suchlike was Ahaz who said, "I will not ask, and I will not put the Lord to the test" (see Isaiah 7:11). But this only delayed and did not prevent God's plan. Because of it the promise was given through Isaiah that "the Lord himself will give you a sign. Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel" (see Isaiah 7:14). When Mary was invited to be the virgin through whom Immanuel would be given to the world she did ask for clarification, but she did not doubt or deny God's will. Instead she gave her famous fiat, saying "Behold, I am the servant of the Lord; let it be to me according to your word" in response to the words of the angel (see Luke 1:38). Therefore the blessing with which she was blessed was about something more than was normally entailed in the conception of a child. She was so open to the word of God in her life that the word of God was conceived and took on flesh within her. We can imagine that this openness to the Spirit that marked the birth of the child would have defined her entire relationship to him as he grew and matured. Therefore it was not only the amazing and commendable things done by a normal parent that she did for Jesus. She would also have raised him in response to the movements of the Spirit. After all, had she obeyed only long enough to give birth to the child that would not have created the situation Elizabeth described in which all generations would call her blessed. She never turned aside from the way of obedience, though it was probably the most pronounced in her response to Gabriel.

Death is swallowed up in victory.
Where, O death, is your victory?
Where, O death, is your sting?

Mary had always been a kind of first-fruits, sharing in that which Jesus won for the world as an archetypal example of what the Church could be if she gave her whole heart to God. This was why she was permitted to share in the redemptive grace of Jesus from the moment of her conception. It was revealed when she lived out her entire life without a sin of any kind. She even demonstrated our hope of bodily resurrection and life forever together with Jesus through her being assumed body and soul into heaven. We are meant to follow her example in giving our whole hearts to God, to rejecting every enticement to sin, so that we too may eventually experience the resurrection of the body and the life of the world to come.

“Rather, blessed are those
who hear the word of God and observe it.”

The blessings with which Mary was blessed were not intended for her alone. God blessed specific individuals in powerful ways so that their blessings could overflow for others. Just as he had done through Israel, so now through Mary does the world receive immense light and grace. She gives us the example of her own obedience and then invites us to follow her example. But she does not simply leave us to our own devices after offering instruction and demonstrating the promise. Rather, her motherly care, raising children in the school of the Spirit, has never ceased. There is no more powerful intercession on our behalf than that which she continues to provide. Through obedience we become her true children and the word of God is formed within us, as it first was in her.

the rest of her offspring, on those who keep the commandments of God and hold to the testimony of Jesus (see Revelation 12:17).

Matt Maher - Christ Is Risen

14 August 2025 - debt forgiveness program

 

Today's Readings
(Audio) 

When he began the accounting,
a debtor was brought before him who owed him a huge amount.

We are this debtor. We already owed God an incalculably unpayable amount before Adam and Eve first incurred the debt of sin. To exist at all, to be aware of God, and of the goodness of creation and life in the world was already an entirely unearned gift. Therefore once a single sin was committed there was nothing that the human race possessed in order to pay that debt. Everything was already unmerited favor. 

Since he had no way of paying it back,
his master ordered him to be sold,
along with his wife, his children, and all his property,
in payment of the debt.

Sin changed our relationship with the world such that we were no longer fully under our own rule. The world would not respond to us as its master and guardian, but would rather now at times be our adversary, subjecting us to grueling work, pain, and finally death. Lest we become presumptuous self-styled gods, we could no longer relate to the world or to others as we had before the fall. It was in some way medicinal, designed as a response to what had broken within us. It was not easy. But neither was it the full story. It was meant to lead, not to permanent degradation, but rather to repentance.

At that, the servant fell down, did him homage, and said,
'Be patient with me, and I will pay you back in full.'
Moved with compassion the master of that servant
let him go and forgave him the loan.

Of course the debt was so large that it could never really be repaid. But the important thing was that the servant at least remembered to whom it was owed, remembered from whom he had received so much. He agreed that justice would dictate that he should repay the debt, and decided to set about doing so, though the task be never ending. Yet what the master wanted was not so much that the debt be paid as that the servant return to sanity, to humility, and to charity. Since he understood and expressed contrition he was allowed to experience forgiveness of the entire loan.

When that servant had left, he found one of his fellow servants
who owed him a much smaller amount.
He seized him and started to choke him, demanding,
'Pay back what you owe.'

The response of his servant to the debt of his fellow servant demonstrated that he hadn't fully received the gift of forgiveness from his master. Had he really understood his own situation he would have been sympathetic with that of his fellow servant. Had he been truly grateful for the gift of forgiveness he would have desired to share that gift. But it seemed that he perceived the master's response only as a narrow escape. He did not note the generosity of the master, which should have given him comfort. Rather than live on the basis of the abundance of the master he was motivated by his own perception of scarcity, seizing whatever opportunities he could to horde his own wealth, lest he ever be in a position where he could not pay a debt in the future. But no matter how much he horded it would not change his relationship as debtor to his master. If he refused to depend on the generosity of the master there was nothing left for him but to experience his justice.

Should you not have had pity on your fellow servant,
as I had pity on you?'
Then in anger his master handed him over to the torturers
until he should pay back the whole debt.

The ability to forgive our fellows consistently and from the heart comes from the revelation of what God himself has first done for us. If we lack this realization we will at best only forgive partially and inconsistently, according to some calculus of own, rather than on the basis of the mercy and generosity of God. May we not only receive God's mercy, but realize what we've received, so that we may share it with others.

 

Sword Of The Spirit Worship - Thy Mercy Free