renew your wonders

Chris Tomlin - Whom Shall I Fear (God Of Angel Armies)

"Before Philip called you, I saw you under the fig tree."
Nathanael answered him,
"Rabbi, you are the Son of God; you are the King of Israel."

To account for Nathanael's response we must say more than that Jesus simply happened to observe him in a human way, and thought that he seemed like a sincere individual based on appearance. Rather, his assertion, that there was in Nathanael no duplicity, was neither flattery nor assumption. Jesus could see both the surface and the depths of Nathanael's spirit. The fact that he observed him under the fig tree was not simply meant to describe the scene. Rather, Nathanael desired to be part of the messianic age in which "every man under his vine and under his fig tree" (see Micah 4:4). Jesus was not merely saying he happened to see Nathanael under any fig whatever. He was saying he saw Nathanael in the scene of that messianic age, in which Nathanael would have a place. This appears to have been the deepest desire of Nathanael's heart. There was no duplicity between his external action and his internal desire. But by saying he saw it in the way Jesus did, he meant in a way that was a divine and omniscient observation of the future. He went beyond the mere acknowledge of the desire to the confirmation that it would come to pass. It was this combination of insight and assurance that led Nathanael to confess that Jesus was not only a teacher but the Son of God and the King of Israel. Who else but the person described by those words could know what Jesus knew or promise what he had promised?

And he said to him, "Amen, amen, I say to you,
you will see heaven opened
and the angels of God ascending and descending on the Son of Man."

Jesus promised Nathanael more than he dared to hope or ask. The messianic age was going to be something far greater than he imagined, ushered in by a messiah who was more than he had dared to desire. The messiah would not merely restore the kingdom and restore the offering of right praise to Israel. He would do those things. But he would do so, not merely at a human scale, but by bridging the gap between heaven and earth, just as the ladder Jacob saw in a dream foreshadowed. Jesus himself would unleash the full blessings of heaven, which would be ministered to us by angels, doing so by removing the obstacles to those barriers, and uniting the heavenly and the earthly realms in his very person. Through Jesus the angels would bring the blessings of heaven, that had heretofore only been partial and unexpected exceptions, down to earth in a regular and reliable way. Through Jesus the angels would aid his people as they sought to lift up their lives to become worthy of life in that realm of the Spirit that was at the other end of the ladder of the incarnation.

We can see from the first option for our first reading how the same myriad of heavenly hosts that surround the throne of the Father are also servants of the great Son of Man. For our purposes this morning this includes especially Michael, Gabriel, and Raphael, archangels with particularly important roles in God's plans for our salvation. Why should we bother with them, or why care about them? Why not just focus all of our limited mental resources on Jesus himself? We should pay attention to them because God himself clearly did by the prominent role he gave them in accomplishing our salvation, a project with which he clearly didn't actually need any help.

It is not the case that the victory accomplished through Michael over the Devil and his angels is merely a past event. Rather, as God chose Michael to conquer the Devil, so too does he use each of the archangels in accomplishing his will in our own lives and in our world. Saint Michael can help us achieve our own victories over the evil one. Gabriel can help connect us to God's will and teach us how to make Jesus present in our own lives. Raphael can lead us to healing and restoration of bodily ailments, relationships, and even spiritual afflictions. It is not only the psalmist, but ourselves too, especially in the mass, where heaven meets earth, who are meant to sing our praises in "the sight of the angels".

Monday, September 28, 2026

28 September 2026 - good reception

Newsboys - Blessed Be Your Name

Whoever receives this child in my name receives me

The disciples were vying over who among them was the greatest, probably arguing amongst themselves about who of them had the greatest value for Jesus and his mission. No doubt they referred to their own achievements and accomplishments, or to their success in preaching and casting out demons with the divine authority given to them by Jesus. Jesus knew they had gotten things backwards. The talents that made them successful were entrusted to them by God. The spiritual gifts that operated through them were not functions of their individual greatness or merit. The very idea that they were could be a roadblock to the future reception of grace, since grace required ongoing openness. What truly mattered was not what they had on their resume of successes, but rather valuing what Jesus valued, as demonstrated by the figure of a child. A child did not count for much in the time and place where Jesus lived. But he explained to his disciples that accepting a lowly and weak person, such as that child, was equivalent to receiving Jesus, thus more valuable than all the disciples' previous jockeying for position.

and whoever receives me receives the one who sent me
For the one who is least among all of you
is the one who is the greatest.

Willingness to share the heart of Jesus was key to receiving him, to truly being present to him in a way that transcended sitting at his right or his left. It was the condition necessary for mutual indwelling, in which we live in him and he in us. And because the heart of Jesus is always perfectly aligned to the heart of the Father who sent him it means that receiving the outcasts and the neglected is not only the door to receiving Jesus, but also the Father and the Spirit as well. That is not to say we earn God's presence by ensuring we perform corporate works of mercy to the right people. It is rather that when we do receive the marginalized we implicitly acknowledge that what matters is not what we have or what we accomplish, much less what society values, but rather, what matters to the heart of God is what has true value. In order to accept those who are small and childlike we must become, after a fashion, smaller still. In order to address those who are seen is the least in the world we must become lesser still. But it is precisely in this apparent nothingness of abnegation that God makes us everything he wants us to be.

Master, we saw someone casting out demons in your name
and we tried to prevent him
because he does not follow in our company.

Why did they care so much if this individual was in their company or not? Part of the reason was probably because they felt the need to be in control, which may have been motivated by a subtle desire to take credit for what the person was doing. Another reason may have been a desire to ensure that everything this person did followed the correct form and protocol. They did not want impressive miraculous deeds to allow the crowds to be led astray with false doctrine. Fair enough. But the implication of Jesus was that it was not always appropriate to try to be in control. The fact was that the person was helping to undermine the works of the evil one, and was, in that sense, on the same team. Even though the apostles would go on to positions of authority in which they would help people to know true doctrine from falsehood they would not necessarily maintain a rigid grip on everything taking place around them. In fact, too much desire for control could potentially stifle genuine works of the Spirit, which tended to spring up where he was least expected. At the very least they were to treat good things done by outsiders as good, and cross the bridge of dealing with partial or incorrect theology when and if they came to it.

If we can let go of our own need to be in control to some extent we may find that the world is filled with more friends, more allies, and a greater amount of wonder, than we see when our desire to be in charge narrows our horizon and focus too much to see them.

Jesus said to him,
"Do not prevent him, for whoever is not against you is for you."

Another level to being childlike and to relinquishing control is when we remain as children even in the midst of our suffering. This means not turning away from God, but turning toward him, not surrendering our trust in the Father, but doubling down, as did Job in our first reading.

Naked I came forth from my mother's womb,
and naked shall I go back again.
The LORD gave and the LORD has taken away;
blessed be the name of the LORD!"

Sunday, September 27, 2026

27 September 2026 - relaxing the past tension

ILP Chorale - At The Name Of Jesus

But if he turns from the wickedness he has committed,
and does what is right and just,
he shall preserve his life;

We tend to be less willing than God to allow for the possibility that people can change. Once someone gets canceled in modern society there isn't really a mechanism to rehabilitate his public persona, even if he diligently sought to address whatever offense landed him in that situation. We prefer a more simple world where those who commit injustice are punished immediately and those who do good are rewarded. But the immediacy that we desire foregoes the depth that God seeks. He is less interested in who we are in passing moments than who we choose to become as those moments shape our lives.

He said in reply, 'I will not,'
but afterwards changed his mind and went.

Our society prefers to see those modern outcasts, who are our tax collectors and prostitutes, punished immediately. We don't often rejoice when we see someone who overcomes such life choices becoming successful. Instead we drag their reputations through the mud until it no longer amuses us to do so, and then forget about them. But to God an initial no does not preclude the possibility of an eventual yes that matters much more. Of course this is actually good news for us, since no one has ever lived a consistent yes throughout his life, save Jesus and the blessed virgin.

The man came to the other son and gave the same order.
He said in reply, 'Yes, sir, 'but did not go.

We often fail to recognize why it is such good news that God gives sinners a chance to repent. The reason for this is because we tend to believe that we are righteous and in no need of forgiveness. We believe this because we mistake saying yes for living it. We do communicate this superficial yes through various actions, like going to church, saying the creed, and other superficially religious gestures. We feel like we are 'doing the thing'. But what we busy ourselves about is mostly the appearance of doing the thing. Like the religious leaders in the time of Jesus we have information, and opinions, and a long list of ritual obligations fulfilled. But we haven't been transformed, in the way that the presence of Jesus transformed tax collectors and prostitutes, such that they way they lived together was forever different. Their neighbors were no longer people to exploit, or potential obligations to be avoided, but brothers and sisters. From isolated bastions of ego they came to share a common life and a common purpose as described by Paul in our second reading.

complete my joy by being of the same mind, with the same love,
united in heart, thinking one thing.
Do nothing out of selfishness or out of vainglory;
rather, humbly regard others as more important than yourselves

The transformation of people who were obvious offenders is not meant to make us grumble and complain. Rather, it is meant to inspire us to believe that transformation is possible, whatever the starting point. This is truly good news since it means that whatever apparently intractable attitudes and behaviors we have not yet been able to change can be overcome with the help of divine grace. If we are willing to let our minds be changed, to have in us the "same attitude that is also in Christ Jesus", God himself will give us the grace we need.

And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God (see Romans 12:2).

Let's not take this forgiveness for granted. Doing so puts us closer to the category of the religious leaders who do not truly believe they need forgiving. It makes it more likely that we will only put on a facade of repentence rather than truly seeking to change our minds and our hearts. We are not fine and we are not OK. But as long as we are on our way, together with Jesus, we will certainly reach our destination.

Good and upright is the LORD;
thus he shows sinners the way.
He guides the humble to justice,
and teaches the humble his way.

Saturday, September 26, 2026

26 September 2026 - living with the question

CeCe Winans - Goodness Of God

“Pay attention to what I am telling you.
The Son of Man is to be handed over to men.”

Jesus transitioned abruptly from performing miraculous deeds that amazed everyone to a prediction of his passion that alluded to Isaiah's passage about how the suffering servant "poured out his soul unto death, and was numbered with the transgressors" (see Isaiah 53:12). This gave the disciples a great deal of cognitive dissonance, even mental whiplash. They couldn't make the leap from the Jesus, who seemed able to surmount every obstacle and overcome every problem that came his way, and this plan for him to be handed over or poured out for others. Implicit in such thinking was an idea with which guards would later taunt him, "He saved others; he cannot save himself" (see Matthew 27:42). From either end of that statement it was nearly impossible to see the other. If, as the disciples believed, he had saving power, he must also be able to save himself. If he was unable to save himself, as the religious leaders believed, than the previously reported miracles must have been deception.

We are not so different. The goodness of the world that we sometimes experience in the beauty of nature, or the wonderful tenderness of human relationships, or the ingenuity of the arts and sciences, seems utterly incongruous with realities of suffering and death. Growing as disciples means coming to see how salvific suffering is a part of the divine plan. It means accepting on faith the fact that God allowed this universe to be the way it is because from it he could draw a greater good than had he not allowed disobedience and suffering in the first place. While it is possible for us to acknowledge these things abstractly here it is more difficult to allow them to shape our lives. There is a way in which the true depths of the meaning is still hidden from us, and perhaps in a way that is not entirely our fault. Maybe we are somewhat to blame if we are "afraid to ask" and pursue the issue, fearing that it might unsettle our faith. But it may also be the case that we are meant to learn over time by living as disciples and following Jesus. Too much too soon is not always helpful or even possible. If his disciples had immediately experienced the full horror of the cross it is unlikely that any academic explanation of its importance would have helped. They all may well have fled without looking back. They may not have been able to make themselves return so that Peter could strengthen his brothers. Peter might not have been able to muster the courage to dare to hope that repentence was possible. So instead God led them gradually, with repeated predictions of the passion and hints about the dark hour that was coming. They may not have understood, but by choosing to remain with Jesus even in spite of that they were strengthened for what was to come.

The situation of the disciples was similar to that of the youths to whom Solomon addressed himself in our first reading:

Remember your Creator in the days of your youth,
before the evil days come
And the years approach of which you will say,
I have no pleasure in them;

They were being prepared to remain faithful even in a time when all was not roses in and sunshine, hugs and puppies. The risk for them and for us is that if we don't plan on trials and suffering our faith might be shaken when they inevitably come. It doesn't matter that we can't understand precisely how the pain of this life could be beneficial. What matters is that we trust in the goodness of our God who assures us that, for those who love him, "all things work together" (see Romans 8:28). When we are in the midst of suffering we think what we want most are answers. But what we really need is a hope in God so robust that we can live with our questions and remain faithful. This is how we endure the growth, the breaking of the hard outer shell of our egos, the metamorphosis to the Spirit-led disciples we are meant to become.

Fill us at daybreak with your kindness,
that we may shout for joy and gladness all our days.

Friday, September 25, 2026

25 September 2026 - an appointed time for everything

The Byrds - Turn! Turn! Turn!

Who do the crowds say that I am?

John the Baptist must have had an overwhelming and irrepressible personality, which we learn not only from the wild things he did and said, but from the fact that people couldn't accept he was gone when he was killed. He was larger than life to the degree that even Herod, who himself was the one who had John killed, gave some credence to the rumors that he had risen from the dead. After all, he seemed in many ways to be a modern version of the prophet Elijah. Had John been Elijah or someone similar it would have seemed that an ignominious execution could not have been his end. Elijah was taken up into heaven by flaming chariots. If that was not to be the destiny for John the Baptist, surely it was still not to be death by execution? They wrongly assumed that the return of Elijah would be more like a victory lap than a martyrdom. They couldn't accept, and were at least partially correct in not accepting, that it couldn't end that way. Perhaps whatever the prophetic presence manifested in Elijah and John was not gone but not acting in the person of Jesus? In a way, this wasn't actually so far from the truth. But they were confused because they couldn't wrap their heads around the role suffering played in the plan of God. John the Baptist's role was not less perfect because he died for the truth, but more. The crowds were keyed in on signs of success and continuity with what had gone before. But these interpretive keys only gave a partial picture of Jesus himself.

Then he said to them, “But who do you say that I am?”
Peter said in reply, “The Christ of God.”

Jesus was more than merely the repetition of one preexisting archetype. Pointing to this or that Old Testament figure for reference could only tell a part of the story. This is because everything in the Scriptures referred to Jesus, and he was the fulfillment of all that had come before. People were capable of conceiving narrow ideas about how the future would fall into patterns found in salvation history. But they could not conceive of how all of the patterns would converge in the person of Jesus. One could not identify Jesus merely on the basis of similarity to a past figure, even David or Moses or Elijah. One needed rather to allow Jesus to give a personal revelation of his own identity and from that vantage point understand preceding history, and the destination toward which the future was being guided. The disciples were aware of the formulaic, stock answers about the identity of Jesus. But Peter remained sufficiently open to allow the Father himself to reveal the truth. This is still the right option for us in our day. Even though pithy, accurate summaries about the identity of Jesus exist, they mean little to us until they become revelation. We need to not only get the answer right, but to have the answer change our lives if it is to avail for us. We can mouth the words "Jesus is Lord". But it is when we say them by the Spirit that they have their true meaning and effect.

He rebuked them and directed them not to tell this to anyone.

He said, “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.

No wonder Jesus wasn't eager for his disciples to broadcast his identity far and wide. The crowds were as yet incapable of understanding the fact that the Son of Man not only would suffer but "must suffer". Suffering wasn't an unfortunate accident but rather a part of the divine plan. To be fair, even the disciples, even Peter were not yet fully on board with this idea. But since they had shown willingness to let Jesus define himself, rather than imposing their own ideas on him, they were better situated to survive the scandal. There would be a time to shout the Gospel message from the housetops. But for the time being it was best to keep it hidden. There is, after all, a time for every purpose under heaven. But only Jesus can reveal the "timeless" God has put "into their hearts".

Thursday, September 24, 2026

24 September 2026 - conflict of interest

Big Daddy Weave - All Things New

Herod the tetrarch heard about all that was happening,
and he was greatly perplexed because some were saying,

Herod was trapped in a world of vanity, a better translation for which is vapor. Born to Herod the Great, his life was defined by cycles of violence that showed no signs of subsiding. He was taught from a young age that power had to be aggressively sought and defended. Yet power and whatever else he chased were obviously things that, like vapor, dissipated the more one tried to grasp them. His labor, if one could call it that, under the sun did in one sense profit him greatly. He wore fine clothes and lived in a palace. But for all that profit he was still obviously unsatisfied. He was unsatisfied because at the core of his being he knew that things were not as they should be. He was not as he should be. He couldn't help but listen with interest when John the Baptist spoke, even though he spoke critically of his life choices. Herod could not shake the truth of the criticism that drove him to have John the Baptist killed, even once he was dead and buried. But he did not see a possible way to escape. He thought that he was who he was, the world was what it was, and that no substantial change was possible. He found himself haunted by John and desirous of escaping his current predicament. Thus he listened with fascination when people began to spread rumors of something that truly was finally new and different.

“John has been raised from the dead”;
others were saying, “Elijah has appeared”;
still others, “One of the ancient prophets has arisen.”

Of course, one cannot learn the truth of Jesus merely from who others say that he is. One must address the question directly. In some sense Herod sought to do this. But he apparently never sought it any more sincerely than how he listened to John while he was imprisoned. It was more of a question of curiosity and abstract interest. It was not something he was truly open to receiving as correction.

John, for his part, was the boundary between the old things which had been endlessly repeated and the new thing found in the Kingdom proclaimed by Jesus. So perhaps in John Herod discovered a little too much of answers which he had already previously heard but had found unsatisfying. It seemed his interest in Jesus was too directly analogous to his interest in John. On the one hand he was driven by curiosity. But on the other he hoped to silence another voice similar to John's that might suggest that he ought to change.

What has been, that will be;
what has been done, that will be done.
Nothing is new under the sun.
Even the thing of which we say, “See, this is new!”
has already existed in the ages that preceded us.

Jesus was not a rejection of all that had come before, in the sense that he did not come to abolish the law. But he did represent something truly new. In his death and resurrection the problems of sin and death, that had previously been addressed by priests through ultimately ineffective repetition of rituals (see Hebrews 10:4), were definitively solved. Jesus, and in particular his resurrection, were the fulfillment of what God promised through Isaiah: "Behold, I am doing a new thing" (see Isaiah 43:19).

Most of us probably have a slightly different problem than Herod. We've grown accustomed to the radical newness that is found in Jesus Christ. We no longer really believe that through him anything is possible. Yet we are wrong to think so. Chains that have long held us can be broken. Patterns of addictive behavior can be overcome. Illnesses that have shaped our lives can be healed. If we do claim to believe it, we don't really have hope that it might apply to us. We think we've seen everything that is possible under the sun and we agree more with Qoheleth than with Jesus. But Jesus explicitly said of himself that he was one (the only one) wiser than Solomon (see Matthew 12:42). So who should we really believe? Our past? Others who tell us things can't change? Or Jesus himself who promises that they can? His demonstrated that all of our previous expectations are faulty and that there is not a single thing that is excluded when he says, "Behold, I am making all things new" (see Revelation 21:5).

Wednesday, September 23, 2026

23 September 2026 - what we leave and what we bring

Take nothing for the journey,
neither walking stick, nor sack, nor food, nor money,
and let no one take a second tunic.

It is a potential pitfall of any missionary endeavor that we focus on the programmatic and logistical aspects more than the core message. Jesus wished to spare his disciples the temptation to become distracted by resource management. But the consequence of this was that they would need to depend more on God than would have otherwise been the case. Only if they put their trust in him would they be better off without the worldly encumbrances weighing them down. If not, they would always be worrying about from where their next meal would come. Sometimes we are called to put the Kingdom first and trust in God even those things we would normally attempt to prudentially provide for ourselves. Not always. But sometimes he does give us the opportunity, as he did for his disciples, to show that we trust him. This only works in practice when we remember that what he did give us for the journey, "power and authority", are of greater value than what he told us to leave at home. He does want us to have the experience of needing to depend on his wisdom and grace more than the resources we might otherwise bring to bear. Not always. But if the Lord does seem to be making such a call at some point in our lives it is important not to panic. He himself didn't need great wealth or other resources proclaim the Gospel. We should therefore realize that he is able to ensure our own mission as long as we remain faithful to his word.

Whatever house you enter, stay there and leave from there.

Another potential pitfall of our attempts to proclaim the Kingdom of God is that we have a tendency to always look for a situation that is even slightly better. We let the ideal or the perfect become the enemy of the good. What's more, by perfect, we often mean perfect for us. That is, we mean that we seek situations that are not only dynamic for the proclamation of the Gospel but also comfortable and convenient for ourselves. We could stay in whatever house we first enter and use that as our base of operations. But what if they make a better breakfast elsewhere? In the context of mission the main point is not to find a five-star B&B. It is the message, which is served just as well from anywhere that meets our basic needs. Jesus wanted his disciples to come to terms with such temptations in order to overcome them.

And as for those who do not welcome you,
when you leave that town,
shake the dust from your feet in testimony against them.

A third potential pitfall of missionary activity is the fear of rejection. Now, one might have assumed that the disciple of Jesus would never face rejection provided that they adhered closely enough to his instructions. But we can see in these very instructions that it was not the case. Rejection was part of the plan. Jesus sent his disciples to villages populated by people with free will. The invitation was meant to be made not only to those who would accept it, but also to those who would not. The point was not merely to officially seal their condemnation. It was rather that God desired all to be saved, to the degree that he desired to invite everyone, even knowing that some would refuse him. From this we can learn that we should not be too focused on communicating the message of Jesus only to those who seem likely to respond. In the mystery of grace even initial rejection is not the end of the story. And everyone has a right to hear the invitation.

Add nothing to his words,
lest he reprove you, and you will be exposed as a deceiver.

We can discern a final temptation from our reading from Proverbs. We sometimes wish to add or subtract from the word of God to make it more congenial to our audience. This we must not do. It is not that we recommended the use shock tactics or suggesting that we ought to present the most extreme and hard to accept parts of the Gospel first. But we do no service to anyone if we neglect such realities as sin, judgment, and the last things. Without the full picture people may assume we are only presenting a spirituality that could serve as an interesting hobby for people who resonate with it. But it is a weightier thing than that. It is a vital thing. It is the one thing necessary, without which we don't really have anything else.

The word of Jesus gives us strength and comfort when we give it a central place in our hearts and in our lives, when we let it speak to us and direct us, just as Jesus directed his disciples in today's Gospel. With the psalmist, let us remember and repeat: "Your word, O Lord, is a lamp for my feet".

Amy Grant - Thy Word

Tuesday, September 22, 2026

22 September 2026 - flip it and reverse it

Andy Park - The River Is Here

He was told, “Your mother and your brothers are standing outside
and they wish to see you.”

They told him this because they thought it ought to preempt his mission and take precedence over preaching the Kingdom. There was little that they could imagine that was more important than honoring one's parents, the first commandment of the second tablet of the law pertaining to one's neighbor. And Jesus did not say such bonds were not important. He did, however, say that the he and the Kingdom must come first. He said, "loves father or mother more than me is not worthy of me" (see Matthew 10:37). At the same time he said that those who did put the Kingdom first would receive "a hundredfold" "brothers and sisters and mothers and children and lands" (see Mark 10:30). There was a new principle at work in the Kingdom that took precedence over ties of blood since, as Paul wrote to the Galatians, "those of faith who are the sons of Abraham" (see Galatians 3:7). With this John the Evangelist also agreed, when he wrote that "to all who did receive him, who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God" (see John 1:12).

He said to them in reply, “My mother and my brothers
are those who hear the word of God and act on it.”

In today's Gospel Jesus gives us a pithy summary of all that we have already said. The Kingdom was a reversal in which, among other things, faith and spiritual bonds took precedence over human wisdom and mere blood relations. None of this was actually a sleight to Mary who was doubly related to Jesus, both as his mother in the natural order, but also in the order of grace, in which she received and consented to the word of God as conveyed to her by the archangel Gabriel. She had no additional agenda that she desired to impose on the life of her Son. She didn't always understand his plan or act in perfect synchronicity with it. But she remained humble and docile enough to be redirected and even reshaped whenever it was necessary. Thus, if she came to see Jesus and there wasn't presently a spare moment to do so, we can't imagine that she took offense. More probably, she happily joined with the crowds in listening to his wisdom. It was, after all, a greater wisdom than that of which we read in the Proverbs of Solomon. Even more than Solomon was the heart of Jesus, the true King of kings, a stream in the hand of the Lord. It was a stream of living water capable of imparting the Holy Spirit to those who heard, just as the woman at the well discovered.

The water that I will give him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life (see John 4:14).

When we are tempted to take offense at some reversal the Lord has said let us be aware of the human tendency to assume we're always right, that although "the ways of a man may be right in his own eyes" "it is the LORD who proves hearts". We don't know our world or its purpose as well as does its creator. We don't even know our own hearts or their deepest and most intrinsic desires as does the one who shaped them all. Whenever we submit to the will of God his ways are eventually vindicated and our mistakes become gradually evident. Let us learn from Mary to maintain a posture of humble docility that is willing to at least entertain the idea that the Lord might be right this time too, and to be redirected by the current of grace that is gushing forth from the heart of Christ.

Out of his heart will flow rivers of living water (see John 7:38).

Monday, September 21, 2026

21 September 2026 - in need of the divine physician

David Crowder Band - How He Loves

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

Jesus called us to follow him and we did follow, but not nearly so immediately and wholeheartedly as did Matthew. He continues to call us to follow him more closely, but we continue to hesitate and second guess his call. The way we experience encountering Jesus must be qualitatively quite different from the way Matthew experienced it. Jesus upended everything Matthew thought he knew about who he was and his place in the world. But somehow we don't receive the invitation from Jesus with similar power. We can see from Scripture that not everyone did. For some people the invitation was revolutionary and transformational. But others found reasons to ignore or reject it. It seems that we may be trying to straddle the issue, with one foot in and one foot out. We may not fully trust Jesus or his intentions if we believe too much of the world tells us about him. Is he really good? Does he really want want is best for us? Yet the hardest part of believing his call can sometimes be the fact that he would call us specifically. We believe ourselves to be unworthy of his love. We may wonder what of value we have to contribute to his Kingdom project.

The Pharisees saw this and said to his disciples,
"Why does your teacher eat with tax collectors and sinners?"

Jesus did not come to call those who were already worthy of him. He came to give us the grace to make us worthy. He did not come to call those already equipped, but rather to equip those whom he called. As Paul explained to the Ephesians, "he gave some as Apostles, others as prophets, others as evangelists, others as pastors and teachers, to equip the holy ones for the work of ministry, for building up the Body of Christ". But many of us put up a false pretense of worthiness and skill that prevent us from receiving all that Jesus has for us. We are like the Pharisees in this way. Even if we may recognize that our situation is imperfection and needs improvement we imagine our need to be mild and incremental. We don't realize that we stand in the same desperate need as any tax collector or sinner. We've been projecting this aura of competence because the world all but insists upon it. Unfortunately we often come to believe it to one degree or another We think that if we need Jesus at all we need him just a bit, in some measure, but that much of our lives are fine without him. Thus we try to slot him in to specifically religious segments of our schedules. But Jesus is not willing to play the role of our life enhancer. He wants to be our lord and our king. To experience this we may have to tear the band-aids off of our wounded hearts, revealing the full truth of who we are to him, so that we can receive the healing and transformation that he so longs to give us.

Those who are well do not need a physician, but the sick do.

We do need the healing hands of the divine physician in our own lives. We are doing ourselves a disservice when we pretend otherwise. But this does not apply only to ourselves. It means there are many people who are merely pretending, though perhaps they themselves believe, that they are fine, complete, needing nothing and no one. The more people insist on this the more suspicious the claim becomes. Obviously the point is not that we should attack them, shouting 'You're just as pathetic as the rest of us', or something like that. Rather we should be sympathetic and willing to put the invitation of Jesus in front of them even if they don't seem interested. They may not appear to be on the surface. But somewhere inside every person is interested. We are made to be so.

Not a word nor a discourse
whose voice is not heard;
Through all the earth their voice resounds,
and to the ends of the world, their message.

Sunday, September 20, 2026

20 September 2026 - not our ways

Randy Rothwell - Salvation Belongs To Our God

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.'

Although the Jews had been the Lord's people since the beginning of history it was no violation of justice for God to share his benefits with the Gentiles as well. This had in fact been his plan the whole time. Though they had been idle while the Jewish people had been in the vineyard of the Lord it did not imply that they should receive less as a result. It wasn't as though God truly needed the involvement of either people. Rather he involved them both in different ways and at different times to demonstrate his generosity and his mercy through them. Part of the lesson was precisely the gratuitous nature of the gift. God did not need anyone, was in fact able, "from these stones to raise up children for Abraham" (see Matthew 3:9).

What was true about periods of history and the difference between the other nations and Israel was also true about the calling of different people at different times in their lives. Whether one is called in youth, in middle age, or repented like the good thief on the cross moments before death, the fundamental reward was still the same: eternal life. Yet it is also true that there is a sense in which some were rewarded more than others, but it requires a reversal of assumptions to understand it. Only when we come to see that the work in the vineyard is a privilege and not a mere obligation do we begin to see how those who are able to show greater love and mercy while still in this life, and perhaps in spite of great suffering, are actually uniquely privileged. It seems clear to us that the landowner sees things this way. He is borderline obsessed with putting as many people to work as possible, going again and again to find any he might have missed on earlier visits. He seems to do this, not so much because he needs the help, since, after all, how much will it really contribute to have people working the last hour of the day? But he appears to sense the indignity endured by those who were standing around idle and without purpose. They are, he knows, meant for more.

'Why do you stand here idle all day?'
They answered, 'Because no one has hired us.'
He said to them, 'You too go into my vineyard.'

This is good news for those of us who have turned to the Lord later in life. But it is also good news for those who have labored long in the Lord's vineyard. We can see something of this attitude in Paul, who would have been content to receive the reward of eternal life common to all, which is, in one sense, incomparable. But he did not begrudge the importance of the ongoing work he could do in the vineyard during his mortal life.

For to me life is Christ, and death is gain.
If I go on living in the flesh,
that means fruitful labor for me.

A more selfish man who was similarly convinced of his eternal destiny and in love with Jesus might have been less willing to put up with longer years of suffering and service before seeing him face to face. But not Paul. He wanted what the landowner wanted. He knew that human ways were different from God's ways and he decided to relinquish his own right to preference when it came to the God's judgment.

Christ will be magnified in my body, whether by life or by death.
For to me life is Christ, and death is gain.

Saturday, September 19, 2026

19 September 2026 - sown and raised

Kutless - Word Of God Speak

Those on the path are the ones who have heard,
but the Devil comes and takes away the word from their hearts
that they may not believe and be saved.

The opportunity to receive the word of God is fairly abundant in our world today. But we know that there is a difference between the abstract possibility of receiving it and actually doing so. There is so much set against our reception of the word. The general cultural view of Christianity is that it is a myth that has given way to a more enlightened scientific understanding. Among Christians there are many who claim to adhere to the word of God but who have not allowed it to significantly change their lives. The Devil is highly invested in preventing people from receiving the word and in taking it from those who do begin to receive it. As a liar and the father of lies, we should not be surprised that he does this by spreading false rumors and partial truths about Christianity. These tend to prevent people from receiving the seed in the first place. But they can also weaken the potency of what is received such that is unable to take deep enough root. If the Devil managed to make the Corinthians believe in a false and limited view of the resurrection it would have meant that their beliefs were less able to resist worldly temptations, and more subject to their passions, such anxiety, pleasure, and the pursuit of wealth.

The antidote to the lies of the Devil is the truth, since, as Jesus tells us, "you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free" (see John 8:32). We fight the spiritual battle against the Devil in a variety of ways. But one way is by making sure he doesn't steal from us our Christian birthright of access to the truth, the fullness of divine revelation contained in the word of God and the Sacred Tradition as expressed authentically through the magesterium of the Bride of Christ. This implies understanding the resurrection, which in turn means understanding what Jesus did for us, how it applies to us now, and how it will apply to us in the future. Far from an abstraction, it helps us see that this world is not ultimate and death is not the end. This does prepare us for the harvest, but it also motivates us from the long haul since we know that our efforts are not hopeless. We "embrace it [the word] with a generous and good heart" and bear fruit here and now precisely because we know that we are meant to live now in a way that embraces we hope our eternal destiny will be. We live now by the power of the Spirit because we hope to one day receive resurrection in which all that we are, including our physical bodies, will be fully transformed by the Spirit into something glorious. If there is a resurrection then no love is ever wasted. But if the resurrection is a myth, or something that happened to Jesus as a one time unique event, then it is only natural to infer that it doesn't have much to do with us. What is left but anxiety, riches, and pleasure in that case?

It might seem like a stretch to imagine a future so different from the present world we know. But this present world is only the beginning. It is still in the mold shaped and left to us by Adam, full of the heritage of sin and death that taints ourselves and everything around us. This was allowed to be the beginning precisely so that something better and more lasting could meaningfully supersede it. The happy fault of Adam was permitted because God saw that he could bring from it an even greater good. He gave life and breath to humans through Adam. But he gave us his Spirit through Christ Jesus, and through that same Spirit he will one day raise us up.

If the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, he who raised Christ Jesus from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through his Spirit who dwells in you (see Romans 8:11).

So let us treasure the precious seed of the word of God, knowing that there is a real opponent out there doing all he can to make us second guess what we believe. Let us seek to learn how to make it a true root, one that can anchor us even in the face of real world difficulties, and help us resist the allure of worldly temptations. We begin to bear fruit in this life, love, joy, peace, and the rest. But it does not end here.

So also is the resurrection of the dead.
It is sown corruptible; it is raised incorruptible.
It is sown dishonorable; it is raised glorious.
It is sown weak; it is raised powerful.
It is sown a natural body; it is raised a spiritual body.

Friday, September 18, 2026

18 September 2026 - accompanying him

Matt Maher - Christ Is Risen

Accompanying him were the Twelve
and some women who had been cured of evil spirits and infirmities

We too are called to accompany Jesus, to provide for him from out of our resources, and to serve him with our talents. We are called to do so regardless of our social standing, and are not disqualified by our past, whatever it may have been. Even for those of us who did not have lifestyles of debauchery and dissipation before our eventual conversions it is nevertheless true that we have all sinned, all fallen short of the glory of God (see Romans 3:23). We have all done what we ought not do, and not done many things we ought to do. We have never once adequately responded to the many gifts of grace given us by God. Even our thanksgiving is paltry compared to what we receive. Yet none of this defines us. None of it puts a limit on who we can become now that we are walking with Christ. We may have a past as sinners but it in no way precludes our future as saints. Things that the world tells us should define us and limit us are not limitations in Christ in whom, "There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is no male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus" (see Galatians 3:28). Our lives now transcend the narrow horizon of mortality. Paul wants us to understand that the resurrection of Christ does not merely tell us about Jesus but also about ourselves and our own destinies.

If Christ is preached as raised from the dead,
how can some among you say there is no resurrection of the dead?

It is not the case that resurrection was merely a one-time event, an outlier that happened to Jesus, but without ongoing effects on reality. The problem it addressed was not a temporary problem, as though it merely removed an obstacle for Jesus himself. It was not just a continue after a game over. It was the victory in a battle in which death was defeated and sin was conquered. Our own sin would still remain were it not for the resurrection. Our own past would still define us. It is the resurrection which opens a new horizon of life for us and makes us new creations in Christ (see Second Corinthians 5:17). This is why Paul writes, "if Christ has not been raised, your faith is vain; you are still in your sins". This is the reason why we're here. Without it Christianity doesn't really have anything to offer. Without the resurrection all that remains is a distraction from the harsh reality of our impending death. There are ways in which our lives will be better as Christians regardless, since being virtuous does lead to fulfillment of a sort. But living as though our treasure is in heaven if there were really no heaven awaiting us would truly be sad and hollow. The payoff from Christianity is meant to be more than the side benefits that may accrue during our mortal lives, which is why Paul tells us, "If for this life only we have hoped in Christ, we are the most pitiable people of all". But the thing to remember, the thing on which Paul insists, and the fundamental core of the Good News of Christianity is precisely that "Christ has been raised from the dead, the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep". Let us not only believe it but let's allow it to transform us, as it did all who encountered the risen Christ.

Thursday, September 17, 2026

17 September 2026 - hence, she has shown great love

Matt Maher - Your Love Is Extravagant

Do you see this woman?
When I entered your house, you did not give me water for my feet,
but she has bathed them with her tears
and wiped them with her hair.

The primary thing that differentiated the Pharisee from the so-called sinful woman was that she recognized the depth of her need for Jesus, whereas the Pharisee took a more casual academic interest. The woman came in desperate hope. The Pharisee was as ready to be disappointed as impressed, seeing himself as better than Jesus, able to recognize the fact that the woman was a sinner, which Jesus had apparently missed. The Pharisee didn't recognize that he too ought to have wept for his sins at the feet of Jesus. Because he didn't recognize his need for forgiveness his was unable to receive it, and was therefore not motivated to do anything for Jesus in response. Although he invited Jesus to dinner he did not give water to wash his feet, or kiss him in welcome, or anoint his head with oil.

The woman knew her need for Jesus, sought him, and, this is key, he welcomed and did not reject her. It was this loving acceptance that motivated her response, since it represented the forgiveness she desired. It made it clear that her contrition was received and accepted. Thus she was forgiven much and then loved much in response. She washed his feet with her tears, kissed them, and anointed them with oil. This extravagant response was provoked by recognizing and receiving the extravagant love of Jesus himself. We can see too that her love represented a kind of "reparation" to the heart of Jesus for the omissions of the Pharisee since Jesus himself saw it as filling the omissions of hospitality by Simon the Pharisee.

Two people were in debt to a certain creditor;
one owed five hundred days’ wages and the other owed fifty.
Since they were unable to repay the debt, he forgave it for both.
Which of them will love him more?

It isn't so much that any of us owes so much more or less than any other. The point is that some of us recognize it more, and our lives are changed as a result. We do ourselves no favors by pretending to be perfect, strong, and flawless. When we do so, we fail to give Jesus the access to our hearts that he needs in order to transform us. The risk is that we remain like Simon, stingy, judgmental, indifferent to others, and trapped in the prison of our egos. But when we recognize our need for Jesus he breaks open the shell of our egos, transforms us, and makes us both capable of love and motivated to do so.
We can infer from our first reading the degree to which Paul knew the transforming love of Jesus for himself. Since he saw himself as foremost among sinners (see First Timothy 1:15) and yet forgiven he received grace that allowed him to toil "harder than all of them". Let us not neglect the source of strength we find when we cast ourselves at the feet of Jesus, holding nothing back.

Indeed, I have toiled harder than all of them;
not I, however, but the grace of God that is with me.

Wednesday, September 16, 2026

16 September 2026 - acceptable answers

David Ruis - We Will Dance

For John the Baptist came neither eating food nor drinking wine,
and you said, ‘He is possessed by a demon.

When John came they thought he was too extreme, too single-mindedly focused on only his mission. They thought that they way he ate and the fact that he avoided wine entirely were entirely unreasonable and unacceptable. Rather than his approach, they preferred to slot religion in more as a hobby or an abstraction than as a way of life. If it was important to them at all it was important as one thing among many. This would lead one to believe that if someone else came eating and drinking they would be more open to it. But it was not so.

The Son of Man came eating and drinking and you said,
‘Look, he is a glutton and a drunkard,
a friend of tax collectors and sinners.’

If the Son Of Man had merely been a believable excuse for them to eat and drink they might have welcomed him. But there was a difference between the feast being offered by the king for the wedding of his son and mere gluttony and indulgence. In order to reap the benefits of the festive and joyful mood of the wedding feast they would need to accept the invitation. As we know from the parable, they had better things to do. They could not imitate Zacchaeus who welcomed Jesus to his table but who also transformed his life as a consequence.

In short, the crowds who could not accept either John or Jesus did not really do so because they were hugely averse to fasting or feasting. These were convenient excuses to impugn the character of individuals whose doctrine they found to be difficult. It is ever thus. In ages marked by excess conservatism the Church is regarded as too liberal for permitting music, dancing, and moderate alcohol consumption. In ages marked by excess liberality the Church is condemned as too conservative for condemning the excesses of sexual license and other moral failings. Her character is impugned not because it is really too extreme in one direction or the other, but because she is too right, and we don't want to change.

In spite of our reluctance to dance and weep when we ought the Father does not cease playing the music of his invitation to us. The world may tell us that this invitation will, in one way or another, destroy us. But we know that it will not because "wisdom is vindicated by all her children". We can see that it worked in the lives of others, notably in the lives of Saint Cyprian and Cornelius whom we remember today. And we can recognize that it works in us as we ourselves believe and begin to bear fruit in the joy and power of the Holy Spirit.

It ultimately isn't about a competition among competing spiritual ideologies, as though the group who could demonstrate the greatest spiritual gifts were superior. It is rather about something far more fundamental: the path of love. This path means necessarily following and uniting ourselves to God who is love, and to Jesus, who took on flesh for our salvation, to be the face of love for us. Among the childish things we are called to put aside are these instincts that make us compete, even in spiritual matters, rather than focusing on the one thing that really matters. Whether we call that one thing love or we call it God, we are talking about the same thing. The music of his invitation is ongoing. Let us take up our part in the dance.

Give thanks to the LORD on the harp;
with the ten stringed lyre chant his praises.
Sing to him a new song;
pluck the strings skillfully, with shouts of gladness.

Tuesday, September 15, 2026

15 September 2026 - her station keeping

Norbertines of St. Michael's Abbey - Stabat Mater Dolorosa

Standing by the cross of Jesus were his mother
and his mother’s sister, Mary the wife of Clopas,
and Mary Magdalene.

Mary was so united to her Son that she felt the pain that he felt, just as Simeon prophesied, saying, "you yourself a sword will pierce". She was preeminently part of the body of Christ of which, as Paul tells us, all the baptized are members. This means not only sharing the charismatic gifts that flow from Christ but also and especially sharing his heart, being motivated by what motivates him, moved to compassion as he was, desiring the Father's will above all as he did. Being united to the heart of Christ means resisting the diabolical temptation to avoid the cross to which Peter momentarily succumbed. It means being willing to stand up and be counted with Jesus rather than denying and betraying him before men. It means a willingness to be present with him in dark and difficult times and not only in moments of glory.

If we try to be members of his body without receiving everything that flows to us from his heart we are obviously going to have, at best, impaired function. Mary is a stellar example of an unfiltered reception of the heart of Jesus into her own heart. It began with her fiat to the angel Gabriel, continued as she took up her station by his cross, and culminated in her assumption and coronation in heaven. None of this did she earn through her own merit. It was a gift, and one not intended for her alone.

Then he said to the disciple,
“Behold, your mother.”
And from that hour the disciple took her into his home.

We are meant to be the disciples who are meant to take Mary into our home. United to Jesus we not only cry "Abba! Father!" but we also call Mary our mother. Just as she was perfectly united to her Son so too is Mary united to his Body. What Mary became by grace she helps her other children, those who keep the commandments and the testimony of Jesus (see Revelation 12:17), to become. She treasured everything she received about the Lord in her heart. And now she helps us to learn what she learned through contemplating the face of her Son. One particular way she does this is in the mysteries of the rosary that she has given us. But, as should be clear by now, these are not meant to be pious abstractions. They are meant to increase our own union with Jesus so that we can love him as completely as Mary herself did, and then, in turn, love our neighbors for his sake, as Mary also clearly did. We will not do this all in the same way or with the same gifts. But we are all meant to be united to Jesus and used by him as Mary allowed herself to be. This may mean that we too will be signs to the world that are "contradicted". But at such times we can know that we are not alone at our cross. Mary is there with us, together with her Son, bringing the image of Jesus to perfection in us through her motherly care.

Monday, September 14, 2026

14 September 2026 - God so loved