7 July 2020 - revealed by clouds

Today's Readings

(Audio)

Having come down in a cloud, the LORD stood with Moses there
and proclaimed his name, "LORD."

The New Testament is concealed in the old. In the theophanies of the Old Testament are found hidden manifestations of the Trinity. In the reading from Exodus we already have the one who speaks, the Word spoken, and the cloud surrounding them. The cloud did obscure, but it hinted at a depth that was not entirely monolithic. It pointed to a oneness that could not be captured by the normal images or concepts we would use to convey it. It eschewed representing the idea of one even by symbol, which in one sense would have been simple enough. But reality itself was not so simple.

Cyril of Jerusalem spoke about why God is inherently mysterious, "[f]or we explain not what God is but candidly confess that we have not exact knowledge concerning Him. For in what concerns God to confess our ignorance is the best knowledge."

Yet although there is a cloud, the cloud is still more than an absence. There is something legitimately revealed, and therefore a reason for the revelation. It may never turn neatly into concepts in our minds, but it assuredly did already turn the world upside down and continues to do so.

The same speaker, the same cloud, and the same Word were present when Jesus was baptized. In the light of the incarnation this mystery of God began to take on density, even if it would always remain mysterious.

God so loved the world that he gave his only Son,
so that everyone who believes in him might not perish
but might have eternal life.

The Father sent the Word, the Word whom he is always speaking, into the world. He spoke him specifically to us by the incarnation. And as a word is spoken together with the breath, so too is the giving of the Word tied up with the giving of the Holy Spirit.

In the visible mission of the Son we see the inner life of the Trinity lived out in space and time. We see a profound interaction of love between Father, Son, and Spirit, which overflows into his creation.

Looking back to Exodus we begin to realize that this truth always marked the inner life of God, it was not just the way that he later chose to interface with creation. God did not simply decide arbitrarily to be loving. Rather he himself has always been Love itself.

Beloved, let us love one another, for love is from God, and whoever loves has been born of God and knows God (see First John 4:7).

So while we will never have perfect words to capture the Trinity, there is a real way in which we experience him by love. His invitation to us is to allow ourselves to enter more fully into this great dance of love between Father, Son, and Spirit. It is this dance to which Paul invites the community in Corinth.

The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ
and the love of God
and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with all of you.

For Paul the reality of the Trinity is lived out, even incarnated, in the love of the community.

Mend your ways, encourage one another,
agree with one another, live in peace,
and the God of love and peace will be with you
In our abstractions we will always be a little off the mark. But in our love the reality is revealed.

6 June 2020 - her whole livelihood

Today's Readings

(Audio)

5 June 2020 - both son and lord

Today's Readings

(Audio)

How do the scribes claim that the Christ is the son of David?

How could the Christ be both the son of David and his lord? The scribes rightly realized that the Christ would be "descended from David according to the flesh" (see Romans 1:3). Yet, with apparent incongruity, the Holy Spirit moved David to call the Christ his own lord when he wrote Psalm 110. The scribes and the crowds could not have known the answer, for it had not yet been revealed. The reason, we now realize, is that the one who was the son of David according to the flesh was also shown "to be the Son of God in power according to the Spirit of holiness by his resurrection from the dead" (see Romans 1:4).

The great crowd heard this with delight.

What stirred this delight in the crowd? It wasn't as though they could have guessed the riddle's answer. But even so, by posing the question Jesus deepened their hope for a messiah. He hinted that this would be not be an ordinary man. And that Jesus himself knew this hinted that he himself might be that man. It was as though he was inviting them to keep their eyes on him, ready at any moment to be moved to faith that he was the Christ, and from that faith to understanding of all that that entailed. He himself would be revealed as the Son of God, worthy of being called lord by David. But they had to wait for this revelation. It could not simply be spoken or delivered through parables or questions. It could only come through the mystery of the cross and resurrection.

Once the truth that Jesus is the Christ is revealed to us, once we learn and believe, we have to remain faithful to it. We live in a world where people trying to live religiously, to love, do good and spread the Gospel, will be persecuted. We undeniably live in a world where wicked people and charlatans will go from bad to worse, deceivers and deceived. If we do not actively seek to remain faithful we quickly find ourselves numbered among them. To avoid that eventuality we must spend time in "the sacred Scriptures, which are capable of giving you wisdom for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus." We are no longer in the situation of the scribes who didn't know the true meaning of what they read. We are blessed to be like the disciples on the road to Emmaus. He has interpreted to his Church "what referred to him in all the scriptures" (see Luke 24:27).

All Scripture is inspired by God and is useful for teaching,
for refutation, for correction,
and for training in righteousness,
so that one who belongs to God may be competent,
equipped for every good work.

How do we navigate an increasingly confused and polarized world? How do we discern what is right in each new circumstance? We need to begin from a basis in Scripture. Knowing that Jesus is Son of God and Son of Man is meant to be the very basis of our lives. This knowledge frees from being forced into step with the beliefs of the world.

Yet from all these things the Lord delivered me.
In fact, all who want to live religiously in Christ Jesus
will be persecuted.

We have more even than the Scriptures. We have the Holy Spirit's teaching on the meaning of the Scriptures as expressed through the Magisterium of the Church and the wisdom of the Saints. When we are at a loss for answers it is here that we can become competent, and equipped for every good work. Assuredly, the world needs us to be thus equipped.

I wait for your salvation, O LORD,
and your commands I fulfill.

4 June 2020 - the right answer

Today's Readings

(Audio)

Hear, O Israel!
The Lord our God is Lord alone!

In one sense, Jesus came to remind people of things they already knew, the call they had already received. They were called to love God and neighbor. This was to be the priority even above all the rituals, burnt offerings, sacrifices and other particular aspects of the law. The call to love God was actually prior to these other things in the history of the Jewish people. It was in fact the ground reality for that people from the beginning.

Yet when Jesus said stated this priority it silenced those around him. It did not have the effect we might think, of putting everyone on the same page, giving them common ground, and a basis for ongoing conversation.

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.

There was something about the way that Jesus taught that was threatening enough to business as usual that those around him became reluctant to pursue it further. Jesus confirmed that the answer of the scribe was the right one. Yet that answer, in and of itself, only put him near the Kingdom of God. Just knowing the right answer was not enough.

At the same time, it is a new commandment that I am writing to you, which is true in him and in you, because the darkness is passing away and the true light is already shining (see First John 2:8).

In Jesus the commandment is transformed from the letter which brings condemnation to the Spirit which gives life (see Second Corinthians 3:6).

Jesus came to proclaim that the Kingdom was at hand. It is as though he told the scribe that the words of the Shema, the most sacred of the commandments, pointed toward fulfillment only in Jesus and his Kingdom. What was the the people to make of being told that they knew the truth, but apparently to no profit, if it stopped short of the Kingdom? People were legitimately afraid to find out.

Only in Jesus could the commandment be perfectly fulfilled. And only after, by his Spirit, could the just requirements of the law be fulfilled in us as well (see Romans 8:4). This is our own call: to not just know the truth, but to "obtain the salvation that is in Christ Jesus".

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

The truth is vital. Confusing it by arguing about words is a huge disservice. We need the word of truth without deviation. But more than this we need to die and live with Christ, for this is the direction to which all truth directs us. In him we do begin to do what seems impossible, to love God with all our hearts, and our neighbor as ourselves.

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.

3 June 2020 - the power of God

Today's Readings

(Audio)

Jesus said to them, “Are you not misled
because you do not know the Scriptures or the power of God?

We need to know the Scriptures and the power of God to avoid being led into error, and even to avoid being led into unproductive speculation. We too sometimes allow ourselves to become fixated on ideas for their own sake, just because they seem interesting or novel to us. Yet our cool ideas can serve to insulate us from the living God. They tend to perpetuate our own limited perspectives rather than opening outward to the God whom are ideas can never entirely capture.

He is not God of the dead but of the living.
You are greatly misled.

The good news for us today is that it is possible for us to know the Scriptures and the power of God. There is a sense in which the Scriptures themselves are that power (see Romans 1:16). This is because Christ himself is the power of God and the wisdom of God (see First Corinthians 1:24). He himself is present in the Scriptures. 

This calls for a subtle shift in perspective.

You search the Scriptures because you think that in them you have eternal life; and it is they that bear witness about me, yet you refuse to come to me that you may have life (see John 5:39-40).

We are called to engage the faith not for vain curiosity but rather for the sake of encounter with Jesus through his Spirit. This is why we must constantly remember to stir into flame the gift of the Holy Spirit we have been given. It is this Spirit that makes the power of the Gospel and the power of Christ present to us.

For God did not give us a spirit of cowardice
but rather of power and love and self-control.

When we read in the Spirit the words can't be contained by the pages on which they are written. They become living and effective, powerful even over our own lives and hearts (see Hebrews 4:12).

Through the power of God we are offered we come to live in the light of life and immortality which the Gospel reveals. We are even able to suffer. This is something that proves our own abstractions empty. They meet resistance and dissolve. But the confidence we have in Christ gives us strength.

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.

2 June 2020 - image nation

Today's Readings

(Audio)

“Whose image and inscription is this?”
They replied to him, “Caesar’s.”

But whose image and inscription is on Caesar and indeed on everyone?

So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them (see Genesis 1:27).

Yet we have a tendency to get things flipped. We tend to seek fulfillment in things, things which are made in our own image, serving our own purposes.

Therefore since we are God’s offspring, we should not think that the divine being is like gold or silver or stone—an image made by human design and skill (see Acts 17:29).

We can see in money an example of the idolatry that still afflicts us. It is perhaps less obvious than statue of a golden calf or other birds and animals and reptiles. But the way it claims the loyalty that by right belongs to God alone is obvious. It is not just the world that goes this way in its excesses. Even Christians turn to money for a sense of peace and stability that should only be sought in God. This doesn't mean we need to give away all we have. It does mean that if we rely on money and stop there we are going to be like a ship tossed on a massive storm.

“Repay to Caesar what belongs to Caesar
and to God what belongs to God.”
They were utterly amazed at him.

We can possess and use the things of this world. But we must realize that they are not finally ours but God's. This perspective allows us to remember the impermanence of the things we use. It allows us to walk in peace even our health and wealth are threatened.

those who deal with the world [should act] as though they had no dealings with it. For the present form of this world is passing away (see First Corinthians 7:31).

Jesus helps us get the order right. When we care most about God and his image we can treat others as made in that image rather than as means to our own ends. We can treat the things made in the image of man in service of the ultimate end of man, which is none other than God himself. Only with this attitude can we welcome the kingdom as Peter invites us.

Wait for and hasten the coming of the day of God,
because of which the heavens will be dissolved in flames
and the elements melted by fire.

Only when we realize the true purpose of all things will we be truly eager for the transient to be stripped away and the eternal to be revealed.

But according to his promise
we await new heavens and a new earth
in which righteousness dwells.

We do get fixated on the current heaven and the current earth, often just as much as anyone, Christian or otherwise. But God is patient. He is giving us this time, this specific time, to prepare ourselves and our world for him.

Therefore, beloved, since you await these things,
be eager to be found without spot or blemish before him, at peace.

Money need not leave spot or blemish on us. It need not rob our peace. It need not move us from an adult stability that grows in grace day by day, and in the knowledge of Jesus. We give thanks that our origin is in God, in whose image we are made. And we give thanks too as we are shaped ever more into that image.

And we all, with unveiled face, beholding the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from one degree of glory to another. For this comes from the Lord who is the Spirit (see Second Corinthians 3:18).

Since we come from God and are returning to God we can pray with the psalmist and trust that he give us all we need along the way.

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

1 June 2020 - behold your mother

Today's Readings

(Audio)

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

We know that Jesus gave Mary to be the mother not only of John, but of us as well. She is the mother of the Church. Eve was meant to be "mother of all the living." But because of the disobedience of her and her husband death was brought into the world and she became instead the mother of spiritually dead. God was not content to let things stand as they were.

I will put enmity between you and the woman,
    and between your offspring and hers;
He will strike at your head,
    while you strike at his heel.

It was many years before the promised offspring would come. The promise of the seed of the woman was obscure because the seed was usually said to be from the man. It wasn't until a virgin gave birth that the veil of this mystery was lifted. Eve had been unable to fulfill the promise of her name to be the mother of the living. Only in Jesus Christ was the curse of death finally reversed, its sting removed, its triumph ended.

I am the living one. I died, but look—I am alive forever and ever! And I hold the keys of death and the grave (see Revelation 1:18).

United to Jesus his people also receive new life.

We were buried therefore with him by baptism into death, in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we too might walk in newness of life (see Romans 6:4).

United to Jesus his people learn to call God Father. But we do not stop there. We also learn to call Mary our mother just as John did. Her role in salvation history was not random or arbitrary. Her own obedience undid the disobedience of Eve. It was precisely this act, her yes to God, made possible by his grace, that opened the world to receive its savior. This yes was the invitation that caused the Holy Spirit to overshadow her.

And the angel answered her, “The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you; therefore the child to be born will be called holy—the Son of God (see Luke 1:35).

It is was in the by a perpetual yes to God that Mary continued to live her life. Her yes was a continual welcoming of the Holy Spirit. She was with the Church in the upper room as they devoted themselves to prayer. But it was almost as though that upper room was her own womb, bringing the Church to birth.

All these devoted themselves with one accord to prayer,
    together with some women,
    and Mary the mother of Jesus, and his brothers.

The old Eve was created from the side of Adam. Mary, the new Eve, was at the cross when the side of Jesus, the new Adam, was pierced and the blood and water poured forth as the source of life for her and all who would be her children. This is why Scripture itself describes "the rest of her offspring, those who keep God’s commandments and bear witness to Jesus" (see Revelation 12:17).

Certainly there is beauty in the truth that Mary is our mother. It is wonderful to know that God only permits suffering and disobedience that he may bring from it some greater good. It is beautiful to see that Eve's no to God redeemed by Mary's yes. But there is a promise here that is greater than mere sentimentality. The yes of Mary can continue to have practical consequences for us just as it did for the disciples if we, as they, rely on her as our mother. The Spirit that never ceases to overshadow her can fill us as well. Through her the image of her Son can be perfected in us. This does not stem from any ability or power of her own, but from the grace God gave her to simply speak that yes and to not get in the way of his work in her. Precisely because there would be no mistake about to whom credit for our salvation was due God was and still is delighted to do so much through her.

And of Zion they shall say:
    “One and all were born in her;
And he who has established her
    is the Most High LORD.”