14 February 2019 - to the rescue

Today's Readings

(Audio)

The LORD God said:  
"It is not good for the man to be alone.
I will make a suitable partner for him."

From the beginning we were made for relationship. We were made to be able to leave the comfortable and routine in order to pursue relationship. This archetype is at the heart of so many stories of romance. But our loneliness runs deep. After the fall Adam and Eve could be side by side but still feel alone. Being together suddenly became the potential occasion of shame. The relationships for which we were made were broken and needed to be restored.

Jesus is the one who leaves his Father to seek out the bride. He does so to restore our relationships to God, to one another, and even to ourselves.

"Therefore a man shall leave his father and mother and hold fast to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh.” This mystery is profound, and I am saying that it refers to Christ and the church (see Ephesians 5:31-32).

The Syrophoenician woman was unwilling to let this heroic figure pass without his helping her. In this she demonstrated the faith that we all need. She had confidence in Jesus as the one who had come to set things right. Her faith allowed her to persist even when she met first with apparent rejection. But it was only that, apparent rejection.

Lord, even the dogs under the table eat the children’s scraps.

Jesus wanted to restore the relationship of mother and daughter. But even more so, he wanted this woman's faith, because that faith is what would restore her relationship to God. He took her into the deep waters of humility but she did not sink. She kept her eyes on Jesus.

Jesus can restore us to relationships where shame is no longer much of a threat. He can sustain us in the powerful love of the Trinity. But for this to be possible we must enter the waters of humility as well. We must allow ourselves to be rescued by the bridegroom who has come to save his bride.

Behold, thus is the man blessed
who fears the LORD.
The LORD bless you from Zion:
may you see the prosperity of Jerusalem
all the days of your life.

13 February 2019 - fruit of the tomb

Today's Readings

(Audio)

Nothing that enters one from outside can defile that person;
but the things that come out from within are what defile.

Nothing from without can cause sin. Even the worst temptation must be embraced by our will before it defiles us. But what is coming from within us, from our hearts? Do we not have the inchoate forms of all of the vices within us? Do we not allow ourselves to dwell on and mentally enjoy temptations? If we do this, it only becomes harder to cast them aside later. The longer we spend before casting them down the more their lasting influence will be felt.

You are free to eat from any of the trees of the garden
except the tree of knowledge of good and evil. 

For us it is hard to read this verse without our old self entertaining doubting questions. Why a tree that we can't have? We have already, in our first thoughts, abandoned trust in the creator. We are already suspicious. We should practice with thoughts like these when we find them. We should intentionally make acts of faith in God immediately following the fact that provoked us. Everything except this tree? The LORD knows what is good for me and he must have a good reason for it. We may, at some point, understand why the tree is there. It exists as a sign of free will and the fearful ability to choose we have been given. But we will never discover that from a position where doubt is already coming from our hearts. We will only believe that God is holding out on us.

But what comes out of the man, that is what defiles him.
From within the man, from his heart,
come evil thoughts, unchastity, theft, murder,
adultery, greed, malice, deceit,
licentiousness, envy, blasphemy, arrogance, folly.
All these evils come from within and they defile.

We do not have to allow temptations into our hearts. We can take every thought captive for Christ. Let's notice what is coming out of us today so we can see how it got in in the first place. Let us use the Spirit we have been given to ensure that we only embrace good things within our hearts and only bring forth good fruit for the Kingdom.

When you send forth your spirit, they are created,
and you renew the face of the earth.

12 February 2019 - a lower case of tradition

Today's Readings

(Audio)

This people honors me with their lips,
but their hearts are far from me;
in vain do they worship me,
teaching as doctrines human precepts.

We do honor God with our lips, but where are our hearts? Are they far from him? How can we tell? And if they are far from him, how can we return?

We should cling to God's commandment even in the face of human tradition that is opposed to it. Whether it is within our churches, within society, or within our own families there is always the risk of human tradition that is designed to moderate the complete commitment and surrender that Jesus really wants from us.

The deviations from the true way usually start off with noble sounding excuses and proceed until habit becomes tradition and we eventually forget how it even began. The weight of precedent prevents us from even questioning a lot of what passes for Christianity. But if we take a glance back to the commandments we quickly stand revealed for what we are. Are we loving God with our whole hearts and our neighbor as ourselves? Are we honoring father and mother? 

The traditions of men protect our wealth, our status, our reputation, and our comfort. The purpose of God in creation is love. It is all too easy to substitute this love for tradition. To avoid this peril we need to recognize that God has a purpose for us in creation and to live according to that purpose. We can trust that the creator who made all things to be good has a good purpose for us.

God created man in his image;
in the divine image he created him;
male and female he created them.

In mankind living his vocation of love creation is upgraded from good to very good. Human tradition isn't equipped for bearers of the divine image. It is too static, too stale, and too inherently selfish. It seems safe, but that safety is a dangerous illusion. Let us turn instead to the Tradition we receive from the living God. It is a living Tradition that reminds us again and again that our purpose is love. This is the meaning of the sabbath rest wherein we have a Tradition of prioritizing love above the tyranny of any work.

Since on the seventh day God was finished with the work he had been doing,
he rested on the seventh day from all the work he had undertaken.
So God blessed the seventh day and made it holy,
because on it he rested from all the work he had done in creation.

Let us rest in the arms of the one who loves us. 

What is man that you should be mindful of him,
or the son of man that you should care for him?

11 February 2019 - something greater

Today's Readings

(Audio)

Whatever villages or towns or countryside he entered,
they laid the sick in the marketplaces
and begged him that they might touch only the tassel on his cloak;
and as many as touched it were healed.

Creation was made good. "God saw how good it was." In the beginning there was a proper order to all things and the beauty of existence was easily and clearly seen. Disorder was introduced that obscured this goodness. Yet looking back before this point we can see that creation was meant for more.

God did not make death,
and he does not delight in the death of the living (see Wisdom 1:13).

The order we see God creating in the garden is the same order we see restored wherever Jesus goes. But Jesus does not simply restore what was meant to be. He raises it to something still greater. He is doing what he promised through the mouth of Isaiah.

"For behold, I create new heavens and a new earth; and the former things shall not be remembered or come into mind" (see Isaiah 65:17).

Jesus is beginning to bring about this new creation in humanity in particular.

Therefore, if any one is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has passed away, behold, the new has come (see Second Corinthians 5:17).

Again, what Jesus is doing is more than mere healing. It is more than restoration to what was. It is the seed of a life together with the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. It is the indestructible life of love they share that the resurrection of Jesus reveals and makes available to us even now.

For you have died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God (see Colossians 3:3).

There is plenty in the world that makes us doubt the goodness of creation, and therefore of the Creator. The invitation today is to remember just how good the Creator is and to renew our trust in his plans for us. What we are invited to share in even here and now is a paradise greater than the life of Eden. Let's embrace it.

Bless the LORD, O my soul!
O LORD, my God, you are great indeed!
You are clothed with majesty and glory,
robed in light as with a cloak.

10 February 2019 - fishers of men

Today's Readings

(Audio)

Jesus said to Simon, "Do not be afraid;
from now on you will be catching men."
When they brought their boats to the shore,
they left everything and followed him.

Genuine encounters with Christ result in this sense of holy fear. It is because, even when not explicit, we are encountering God himself.

I saw the Lord seated on a high and lofty throne,
with the train of his garment filling the temple.
Seraphim were stationed above.

Like Isaiah we say "Woe is me, I am doomed! For I am a man of unclean lips, living among a people of unclean lips; yet my eyes have seen the King, the LORD of hosts!" Like Peter we say, "Depart from me, Lord, for I am a sinful man." We're afraid because we see just how great Jesus is and how unworthy are the lives we have lived thus far. But the revelation of Jesus isn't about the old us. It isn't about where we've spent our lives frustrated, fishing where there are no fish. It is about him and the new thing he wants to do in us.

"Do not be afraid;
from now on you will be catching men."

We won't be forced to rely on our own weak and sinful natures.

He touched my mouth with it, and said,
"See, now that this has touched your lips,
your wickedness is removed, your sin purged."

There is grace enough to transform us. Our encounters with the God-man Jesus Christ are meant to transform us into his witnesses. The message isn't that complicated.

For I handed on to you as of first importance what I also received:
that Christ died for our sins
in accordance with the Scriptures;
that he was buried;
that he was raised on the third day
in accordance with the Scriptures;
that he appeared to Cephas, then to the Twelve.

Jesus Christ has died, he is risen, and he will come again. We are among those who have experienced the power of his resurrection. We need not fear to become fishers of men.

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

Let's allow the grace of the risen Christ to make us eager to proclaim his word.

All the kings of the earth shall give thanks to you, O LORD,
when they hear the words of your mouth;
and they shall sing of the ways of the LORD:
"Great is the glory of the LORD."

9 February 2019 - to seek and to save

Today's Readings

(Audio)

"Come away by yourselves to a deserted place and rest a while." 

Jesus wanted to teach his disciples that time alone with him was important. But his mission was not to be well rested or to have time to himself with his disciples.

When Jesus disembarked and saw the vast crowd,
his heart was moved with pity for them,
for they were like sheep without a shepherd;
and he began to teach them many things.

His mission was to seek and to save the lost. This, he demonstrated, was a greater priority even than rest. It was, of course, a balance. He did find time apart with his disciples. Human nature breaks down and burns out without sufficient rest. But his heart was always for the lost sheep. Whenever possible he would open his arms to them.

One thinks of the attitude of hospitality in Benedictine monks toward the guests they receive, receiving each one "as Christ" (see RB 53). In a certain way, this welcoming takes on a greater priority than anything else going on for the abbot. For example he can even relax his fasting to eat with the guests.

In order to truly have enough energy to care for the lost and to welcome guests we must rely on God. 

May the God of peace, who brought up from the dead
the great shepherd of the sheep
by the Blood of the eternal covenant, 
furnish you with all that is good, that you may do his will.
May he carry out in you what is pleasing to him through Jesus Christ,
to whom be glory forever and ever.  Amen.

The Father raised Jesus when he was dead. The same Spirit can give us new vigor when we feel too tired for the task at hand. As long as the yoke is that of Jesus, shared with him, and not our own, it will be easy and light. Apart from that yoke we will never find the right balance of rest and work.

If we begin to think it is up to us to save every crowd and welcome every guest we'll quickly burn out. Instead, God asks us to focus on him and the good he places close at hand for us to do.

Through Jesus, let us continually offer God a sacrifice of praise,
that is, the fruit of lips that confess his name.
Do not neglect to do good and to share what you have;
God is pleased by sacrifices of that kind.

When we walk with the good shepherd we want for nothing. As he brings more and more of the lost sheep into his pastures we discover just how verdant, green, and refreshing they are.

8 February 2019 - on not being afraid

Today's Readings

(Audio)

Suggested Memory Verse: Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever (Hebrews 13:8).

The Lord is my helper,
and I will not be afraid.
What can anyone do to me?

Confidence in the LORD allows us to endure and be steadfast in virtue and constant in brotherly love. It allows us to say things which should be said even when to do so is risky. It allows us to act rightly when other easier paths are open to us.

John had said to Herod,
"It is not lawful for you to have your brother's wife."

If we lack hospitality we risk receiving messengers from the LORD as Herod does John the Baptist. Hospitality is another way of saying that we are open to whatever God sends us, to welcome it for his glory. If God sends us a messenger we must be open to their words. We may be so invested in our particular faults that the criticism of the prophet seems to challenge our very identity. But if we remember to be confident in the Lord we are not afraid. We remember that since he is on our side no one else can hurt us and nothing is truly lacking.

Do not neglect hospitality,
for through it some have unknowingly entertained angels.
Be mindful of prisoners as if sharing their imprisonment,
and of the ill-treated as of yourselves,
for you also are in the body.

Confidence in the LORD helps us to see beyond the narrow horizons of our lives. On our own we are afraid to be so mindful of prisoners or others who suffer. We fear that we will be crushed under the weight of our own sympathy. But because the Lord is both our helper and the helper of all who suffer we need not fear for ourselves or for them. In uniting ourselves to them we can be confident in God on their behalf.

Certainly following God leads to risks for our flesh. They persecuted Jesus so they will persecute us as well. John the Baptist experienced the hardship that can result from following God. But he was confident that what he had in his relationship with God was worth more than even his own life.

but be content with what you have,
for he has said, I will never forsake you or abandon you.

Be content in what we have from the LORD! Be confident in his love! These will be the fuel of our discipleship.

The LORD is my light and my salvation;
whom should I fear?