7 June 2018 - handling the truth

Today's Readings (Audio)

You are right in saying,
He is One and there is no other than he.
And to love him with all your heart,
with all your understanding,
with all your strength,
and to love your neighbor as yourself
is worth more than all burnt offerings and sacrifices.

The scribe knows Jesus is right. Yet it makes him afraid to hear him say it.

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

The scribe answers with understanding. But he really wishes Jesus had something else to offer in place of what he already knew about love of God and neighbor. No one asks any more questions after this. They are afraid because they know it is the truth. They know the truth calls for more from them than they are currently giving. They aren't even sure they could if they wanted to. Jesus would tell them, 'For man this is impossible, but not for God.' Unfortunately, though they are afraid to ask. The standard is indeed impossibly high. But grace makes the impossible possible.

What is being asked of us is ultimately a death to self. But there is no way that this death can be meaningful unless it is joined to new life. Only Jesus can offer this grace.

If we have died with him
we shall also live with him;
if we persevere
we shall also reign with him.

We can ask Jesus the questions even for which the answers seem difficult. Those answers, like suffering and imprisonment, ask more of us than is possible without grace. It is as if Paul were asked to spread a message while being chained in prison apart from grace. That couldn't happen. His own words would be chained. But not so in the order of grace. Not so with the word of God.

such is my Gospel, for which I am suffering,
even to the point of chains, like a criminal.
But the word of God is not chained.

The temptation is to hear the hard stuff and turn away. The temptation is to not dare to speak about the Kingdom once we hear what it entails. But grace shows us that we can keep asking and proclaiming. Indeed, we must.

Therefore, I bear with everything for the sake of those who are chosen,
so that they too may obtain the salvation that is in Christ Jesus,
together with eternal glory.

Let's be all in for Jesus and his Kingdom. Let us ask him to teach us his ways and be truly open to the response he gives. If the answers sound difficult perhaps what we need is a new way of hearing.

All the paths of the LORD are kindness and constancy
toward those who keep his covenant and his decrees.
The friendship of the LORD is with those who fear him,
and his covenant, for their instruction.

6 June 2018 - heavenly connection

Today's Readings (Audio)

He is not God of the dead but of the living.

The resurrection from the dead is something different from and greater than simply more of the life we have now. We need to know the Scriptures and the power of God in order to understand this. If we fail to understand it we risk having an inadequate hope that can't motivate us to keep moving toward the Kingdom.

For this reason, I remind you to stir into flame
the gift of God that you have through the imposition of my hands. 

In order to know the Scriptures and the power of God we need the Holy Spirit. He teaches us how to read the Scriptures as he himself inspired the authors to write them. He gives us direct experience of the power of God in the Church and in the gifts he gives. The Spirit also reminds us of what Jesus says and guides us into all truth. He leads us beyond our preconceptions about what sort of heaven would make us happy and shows us the heaven for which we are created.
We can experience in a small way what worship around the throne of heaven is like. We learn to worship in Spirit and truth.

The Holy Spirit keeps us centered in the core truth of our faith.

He saved us and called us to a holy life,
not according to our works
but according to his own design
and the grace bestowed on us in Christ Jesus before time began,
but now made manifest
through the appearance of our savior Christ Jesus,
who destroyed death and brought life and immortality
to light through the Gospel

By showing us more and more what we have received and connecting us directly to the life and immortality for which we hope the Holy Spirit allows us to stand firm and bear our share of hardship for the Gospel with the strength that he himself provides. He himself is the bridge between not yet and now.

On this account I am suffering these things;
but I am not ashamed,
for I know him in whom I have believed
and am confident that he is able to guard
what has been entrusted to me until that day.

How do we embrace the Holy Spirit in our lives? Let us lift up our eyes to him. With all the attentiveness we can offer let us simply be aware of and welcome his presence in our midst.

As the eyes of a maid
are on the hands of her mistress,
So are our eyes on the LORD, our God,
till he have pity on us. 

5 June 2018 - image nation

Today's Readings (Audio)

They replied to him, "Caesar's."
So Jesus said to them,
"Repay to Caesar what belongs to Caesar
and to God what belongs to God."
They were utterly amazed at him.

Whose image is really on this coin? Caesar's, yes. But Caesar is made in the image and likeness of God. So to whom does this coin really belong? Even if this coin belongs to Caesar in a narrow sense Caesar himself belongs to God. He has the obligation to offer himself to the one in whose image he is made.

There is no separate sphere is human authority where this claim of God on mankind does not hold. This is how we must approach both our own lives and the social order. There is not the Sunday religious self and something else in our weekly public life. The self at we present at mass is meant not meant to be different from our daily public life. It is, rather, supposed to be that same normal self, though present in the most perfect and attentive way we can manage. The same goes for society. The naked public square, devoid of all religious viewpoints, is a myth. We cannot help but be informed by our religious views in our politics. The social order only makes sense when we know the origin of the social order. Only the Trinity reveals all that society can be and is meant to be.

As we wait and hasten the day when a new heaven and a new earth will perfectly achieve this righteousness we must not become lax or simply surrender to the imperfections we encounter. We are meant to be active agents of change and transformation. 

Therefore, beloved, since you await these things,
be eager to be found without spot or blemish before him, at peace.
And consider the patience of our Lord as salvation.

We have access to grace and to the knowledge of our Lord Jesus christ. We can bring a little bit of that new heaven and that new earth even into the old earth, simply by living in accord with the image in whom we are created. This is why the knowledge of Our Lord and savior Jesus Christ matters so much. He reveals to us the image of God. He is our access to grace. He gives us stability even when the world tries to force our allegiance.

Fill us at daybreak with your kindness,
that we may shout for joy and gladness all our days.
Let your work be seen by your servants
and your glory by their children.

4 June 2018 - in due season

Today's Readings (Audio)

But those tenants said to one another, 'This is the heir.
Come, let us kill him, and the inheritance will be ours.'
So they seized him and killed him,
and threw him out of the vineyard.

We read this and feel little sympathy for the tenants of the vineyard. It seems pretty extreme to do this to the one from whom we have leased the vineyard. But we do this in small ways ourselves whenever the master of the vineyard comes at the proper time for some of the produce. We bear fruit. But when we are asked to give that fruit so that it may be used for others? All bets are off. We are willing to go to some lengths to keep it to ourselves. Hopefully we don't kill anyway. But the spirit of selfishness is the same. We have the same failure to recognize the owner of the vineyard and the same lack of thanks for the gift of leasing it.

The LORD's "divine power has bestowed on us everything that makes for life and devotion". But we can see what how much the corruption that is in the world because of evil desire can sabotage us. If we give heed to that desire we end up rejecting the stone which God chooses to be the cornerstone. We build dilapidated shacks instead of a temple of worship that unites all people. We horde fruit rather than sharing it. How do we avoid the trap of evil desire?

For this very reason,
make every effort to supplement your faith with virtue,
virtue with knowledge, knowledge with self-control,
self-control with endurance, endurance with devotion,
devotion with mutual affection, mutual affection with love.

It begins with faith. From there, we act on what we believe. If Jesus is LORD than he is entitled to our fruit whether we feel like sharing or not. We need knowledge of him so that we can exercise self-control with ever greater precision and so that we can see more how sharing the fruit fits into his plans for the human race. Even then we will need some endurance that continues to do this when our feelings don't line up with our faith. But it is not meant to be hard forever. Devotion to God, mutual affection, and love eventually make sweet that which the LORD asks of us.

Because he clings to me, I will deliver him;
I will set him on high because he acknowledges my name.
He shall call upon me, and I will answer him; 
I will be with him in distress.

3 June 2018 - perfect offering

Today's Readings (Audio)

Jesus offers himself as a sacrifice for us. He gives himself completely.

"Take it; this is my body."
Then he took a cup, gave thanks, and gave it to them,
and they all drank from it.
He said to them,
"This is my blood of the covenant,
which will be shed for many.

Jesus is able to fulfill the old covenant promise of obedience where no one else could. He actually does do "everything that the LORD has told us." All of the old sacrifices find their true meaning in the one sacrifice of the obedient Son. He gives his body and blood from the cross for our salvation because it is the Father's will. He brings this sacrifice to the sanctuary of heaven to obtain eternal redemption for us. It was impossible for the old covenant to take away sin. It wasn't meant to. It was meant to reveal our need for Jesus. All the old sacrifices look forward to the feast we celebrate today.

Now that the new and perfect sacrifice has been made it does not mean that things are done and over. Rather, we must keep the feast. We must continue to feast on the sacrificial offerings of flesh and blood. It is precisely in this communion that the fruits of the sacrifice are communicated to us.

For if the blood of goats and bulls
and the sprinkling of a heifer's ashes
can sanctify those who are defiled
so that their flesh is cleansed,
how much more will the blood of Christ,
who through the eternal Spirit offered himself unblemished to God,
cleanse our consciences from dead works
to worship the living God.

The sacramental life of the Church is how we receive the grace of this new passover. Baptism washes us with the living water that pours from the side of Christ. Communion cleanses our consciences from dead works. It allows Christ's own obedience to be manifest in us by transforming us more and more to be like the one whom we receive. Dead works are vestiges of the old life, habits and tendencies that remain even after baptism. Even after confirmation, even for those who regularly attend confession and are in a state of grace, we all need the grace of the Eucharist to conform our lives to Christ. It is not merely a nicety. It is the bread from heaven that sustains us on our journey.

Though we cannot earn the blessings of the Eucharistic feast it doesn't matter. Jesus earns them for us. He pays the price. He makes the acceptable offering. We not only receive the fruit of it. His Church joins him in offering this perfect sacrifice. We are given grace to give the perfect offering to the Father. This is the grace into which we are invited to enter. It's amazing and inexhaustible. Let us keep the feast.

How shall I make a return to the LORD
for all the good he has done for me?
The cup of salvation I will take up,
and I will call upon the name of the LORD.

2 June 2018 - knowing who we are

Today's Readings (Audio)

Jesus doesn't waste time with people trying to trip him up.

Then Jesus said to them,
"Neither shall I tell you by what authority I do these things."

The chief priests, the scribes, and the elders only ask their question to ensnare Jesus. They want to trick him into saying something he should not say. Because Jesus has nothing to prove to them he doesn't fall for it. If there was even a little pride or a little insecurity it would be hard for Jesus not to back up the authority by which he does what he does with an answer. It is different for genuine seekers of truth. Jesus will always answer them for their own sakes. But Jesus is to assured of who he is in the Father's love to need to bother with people who don't really care to hear his answer. This is a lesson for us.

Keep yourselves in the love of God
and wait for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ
that leads to eternal life.

If we learn to go through our lives aware of how much God loves us we won't waste our time as prisoners to the judgments of others. We will be concerned with pleasing God rather than men. We will have, if anything, a deeper concern for others because it is not a mask we where for our self-image.

On those who waver, have mercy; 
save others by snatching them out of the fire;
on others have mercy with fear,
abhorring even the outer garment stained by the flesh.

We must build ourselves up in our most holy faith and pray in the Holy Spirit. This is how we keep ourselves in the love of God. This is how we avoid the wickedness and snares of the devil.

To the one who is able to keep you from stumbling
and to present you unblemished and exultant,
in the presence of his glory,
to the only God, our savior,
through Jesus Christ our Lord
be glory, majesty, power, and authority
from ages past, now, and for ages to come. Amen.

Let us taste and see how good the love of God can be. Let us learn to thirst for it with all that we are, realizing how desperately we need his presence throughout each day of our lives.

O God, you are my God whom I seek;
for you my flesh pines and my soul thirsts 
like the earth, parched, lifeless and without water. 

1 June 2018 - changing the changers

Today's Readings (Audio)

My house shall be called a house of prayer for all peoples?
But you have made it a den of thieves."

Jesus wants to dwell in our hearts. We are meant to be the temples of the Holy Spirit.

Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you, whom you have from God? (see First Corinthians 6:19).

We need our hearts to be fit places in which God can dwell. They can't be so full of selling and buying that there is no room for Jesus. We often try to justify those things which consume our thoughts. We sell doves for people that need them for sacrifice. But this is not true if those concerns intrude into the parts of the temple which are reserved to the worship of God. This was true in the physical temple and it is now true in our hearts. We need to invite Jesus to chase these false priorities from our hearts.

They came to Jerusalem,
and on entering the temple area
he began to drive out those selling and buying there.
He overturned the tables of the money changers
and the seats of those who were selling doves.

The money changers and merchants grow comfortable where they are. The sooner we can get rid of them the easier it will be. 

Only when are hearts are not enslaved to worldly concerns do we bear fruit for the Kingdom. We still experience those concerns, but they no longer keep us from God.

When he reached it he found nothing but leaves;
it was not the time for figs.
And he said to it in reply, "May no one ever eat of your fruit again!"
And his disciples heard it.

We drink from living water and bear fruit every month. We are never out of season when God is our source. The living water has to be the priority because Jesus isn't asking for natural fruit. It is not the time for figs. But we bring them forth anyway when our roots drink from these streams.

Then the angel showed me the river of the water of life, as clear as crystal, flowing from the throne of God and of the Lamb down the middle of the great street of the city. On each side of the river stood the tree of life, bearing twelve crops of fruit, yielding its fruit every month  (see Revelation 22:1-2).

This concern begins with being sober-minded enough that we will be able to pray. It means not allowing worldly concerns to so consume us that we cannot go to God in the temples of our hearts. From those temples the fruits come. There is intense love. There is hospitality. All of the manifolds gifts of God are put to use. There is preaching. There is service. But it is all from the strength that God supplies, strength that flows from the altars of the temples of the Church and of the Spirit within us.

so that in all things God may be glorified through Jesus Christ,
to whom belong glory and dominion forever and ever. Amen.

He comes to rule the earth. May he first reign in our hearts.