28 February 2024 - be careful what you wish for

Today's Readings

(Audio)

She answered him,

"Command that these two sons of mine sit,

one at your right and the other at your left, in your kingdom."

The ego, the part of us that is unable to recognize or understand what Jesus means to do for us by his Passion and death, will always try to scrape together for itself some sort of payment or a consolation prize for the difficulties it must endure. 

Jesus said in reply,

"You do not know what you are asking.

Can you drink the chalice that I am going to drink?"

Because we misconstrue what Jesus wants to do in our hearts we also do not ask for the right things. If we can't have fancy robes or honorific titles maybe we can have positions of honor. Maybe we can see ourselves elevated over other disciples and legislate from that position how the others ought to live and conduct themselves. But authority, honor, and glory in the Kingdom are not what our egos misunderstand them to be. Jesus is glorified precisely in giving his life as a ransom for many. It this cup, not the one that the sons of Zebedee imagine they want, that Jesus desires to share. 

My chalice you will indeed drink,

but to sit at my right and at my left,

this is not mine to give

but is for those for whom it has been prepared by my Father.

Fortunately, Jesus did not countenance their request by giving them the places right and left of his enthronement on the cross. The Father had other and different ways planned for the sons of Zebedee to share Christ's chalice. From this episode we learn the vanity of all of our attempts to control the future to ensure results we consider optimal. Even when our aspirations are partly spiritual we still find worldly ambition mixed it. It is only because the Father leads us even in spite of us not knowing what we ask, guiding us by hidden ways, that we may hope to eventual arrive at the places prepared for us in his Kingdom. But we can make things somewhat easier on ourselves by disabusing ourselves of false notions of the Kingdom. It is not merely a spiritual substitute for worldly benefits. It is something more sublime and beautiful than that. It is not reigning as prideful tyrants, but on a spiritual level. It is rather in giving ourselves in servant leadership that we most closely approach the Son of Man who "did not come to be served but to serve".

David Crowder Band - Here Is Our King

27 February 2024 - bad examples

Today's Readings

(Audio)

The scribes and the Pharisees

have taken their seat on the chair of Moses.

Therefore, do and observe all things whatsoever they tell you,

but do not follow their example.

It may sometimes be necessary to be obedient to authority even when the moral character of that authority leaves something to be desired. If those in authority teach the truth than it is true regardless of their own hypocrisy. If what they command is in accord with the divine law it holds no matter whether or not they themselves act uprightly. But it is important to not allow any flaws in their character to rub off on us. It is all too easy to excuse our own behavior when we see it reflected by those in authority. It is tempting to think we must sink to the lowest common denominator to compete on the terms of the world. But this will ensure that progress away from that which we despise is slow or nonexistent.

For they preach but they do not practice.

They tie up heavy burdens hard to carry

and lay them on people's shoulders,

but they will not lift a finger to move them.

Christians ought to be aware of the fact that we all preach without practicing to some degree. This is because we strive for holiness which always remains at least partially aspirational during our mortal lives. But we ought not to have comfortably settled in to hypocrisy as a matter of course. We must not become those who are ready to tell others how to live a life of righteousness while being indifferent to our own. It is only when we recognize our own struggle adequately that we will be moved to help with other people's burdens.

The authorities in the time of Jesus colluded to tie up the heavy burden of the cross and to force Jesus to carry it, utterly indifferent to the suffering they caused. Jesus, however, refused to inflict any burden without helping. He carried the cross for us all when we were too weak to do so. And about every other burden he said, "Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest" (see Matthew 11:28). He would have our only burden be the one which he himself helps us to carry. This is the starting place where we find the leverage to be similarly sympathetic and compassionate ourselves. Then we can obey the command of Paul to the Galatians, "Bear one another's burdens, and so fulfill the law of Christ" (see Galatians 6:2).

Jesus wants to teach us to have love and mercy be our main motivations. We can do this when we first allow his own love to touch our hearts and respond with thanks. The alternative is to try to live righteous lives on our own without his help. But if we do this we will try to scrape together some sort of payment in order to justify the project to our egos. It may be something as vain as religious attire or professional sounding salutations. It will, of course, leave our ego wanting more. But if we leave it to run free it will take at least what it can get. Let us consider instead the truth of our position, living humbly and thankfully as servants privileged to share the burden of Christ.

Call no one on earth your father;

you have but one Father in heaven.

Do not be called 'Master';

you have but one master, the Christ.

The greatest among you must be your servant.

Elevation Worship - O Come To The Altar

26 February 2024 - just judge not

Today's Readings

(Audio)

Jesus said to his disciples:

"Be merciful, just as your Father is merciful.

If we want to be perfect is the Father is perfect we will do this best by imitating his mercy. As weak and fallen creatures we will never walk completely without fault in perfect holiness during our mortal lives. But this should sensitize us to our own constant need for mercy which we can in turn make our own as an attitude toward others. All the good things we have, not least of which is the saving knowledge of Jesus Christ, we have not in virtue of any good deeds we have done, but because of God's mercy. We are called to be similarly generous toward others. We can do this first and foremost by not paying attention to what we imagine others to deserve and by forgiving others as God as first forgiven us. In this way we remove our mental barriers that would limit our love and allow us to love more like the Good Samaritan commended to us by Jesus himself.

Stop judging and you will not be judged.

Judging others is often at best a distraction and at worst a profound deception. We judge because it distracts us from the log in our own eye or even because we seem to see in others what is actually something we hate within ourselves. Oftentimes what we seem to see as worthy of judgment in others says more about us than about them. We often pretend our judgments issue from the moral high ground. But they are often issued more for our own entertainment than for any good they might do for anyone else. The delicate art of helping a brother or sister remove the splinter from his or her own eye ought only by attempted after the Lord has so filled us with mercy that we no longer see ourselves as exalted and others in need of our help. Then we will have the appropriate compassion and even holy fear to attempt to aid in the guidance of others if we feel called to do so. We can see this attitude in the heart of Daniel and in the way he identified with the sinful people on behalf of whom he interceded with God.

We have sinned, been wicked and done evil;

we have rebelled and departed from your commandments and your laws.

When, instead of judgment, we give mercy, we will find that God is never outdone in generosity. However much we manage to give we will find ourselves the beneficiaries of still more. It is by giving that we open ourselves to be filled. But the return is far in excess of what we measure out. This because when we measure with our limited attempts at mercy God responds by measuring back with his own perfect mercy, with grace beyond measure.

Give and gifts will be given to you;

a good measure, packed together, shaken down, and overflowing,

will be poured into your lap.

Vineyard - Help Us Our God

25 February 2024 - preview of things to come

Today's Readings

(Audio)

Jesus took Peter, James, and John

and led them up a high mountain apart by themselves.

And he was transfigured before them,

and his clothes became dazzling white,

such as no fuller on earth could bleach them.

For a few precious moments the disciples were allowed to see Jesus more truly as he was, radiant with glorious light. They witnessed the Law (Moses) and the Prophets (Elijah) bear witness to him (see Romans 3:21). It was so powerful of a scene as to overwhelm them and leave them at a loss for words.

Then Peter said to Jesus in reply,

"Rabbi, it is good that we are here!

Let us make three tents:

one for you, one for Moses, and one for Elijah."

With a consolation so great it was only natural that Peter would want to try to capture it and prolong it indefinitely. But that is not the way of consolations. The Transfiguration was given to them to help them come to a deeper faith in Jesus himself, faith to which they could hold even when he didn't radiate glory, which could strengthen them even during the dark hour of his Passion. It planted and seed of hope in their hearts so that even after all was apparently lost they might dare to hope again.

Then a cloud came, casting a shadow over them;

This was the cloud which had accompanied Israel through the dessert on their Exodus journey, which came to rest on the tent of meeting in the dessert, and finally on the temple built by Solomon. It was this same cloud of glory that overshadowed Mary to bring about the birth of Jesus within her. It implied that Jesus himself was now the place of God's permanent and abiding presence among his people.

"This is my beloved Son. Listen to him."

Suddenly, looking around, they no longer saw anyone

but Jesus alone with them.

Everything that the Father had to say was spoken to us through the person of his Son. There was nothing left unsaid that the Father would need to add or clarify, everything had been made known through Jesus who revealed the Father, since "[w]hoever has seen me has seen the Father" (see John 14:9). We see in the Letter to Hebrews this same sense that Jesus is the fullness and final form of divine revelation.

Long ago, at many times and in many ways, God spoke to our fathers by the prophets, but in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son, whom he appointed the heir of all things, through whom also he created the world (see Hebrews 1:1-2).

The full meaning of the Transfiguration would not be evident until the Son of Man had risen from the dead. What they were seeing was a preview of the glory of the risen Lord. But apart from the full context of his suffering and death it only revealed part of the story. We too have been given the light of faith but the full path of our own story is not yet clear. We will ourselves likely face times of darkness in our own lives as we take up our crosses to follow after Jesus. It probably won't be as extreme as the darkness which Abraham must have experienced when he was called to not spare his own son but hand him over. But Abraham, without understanding, was able to trust. Although he probably didn't reason it this explicitly, "[h]e considered that God was able even to raise him from the dead, from which, figuratively speaking, he did receive him back" (see Hebrews 11:9). We, who have been given a greater light of certainty about the resurrection can therefore remain firm in faith even in the darkest of times. This is the certainty of Paul when he says, "If God is for us, who can be against us? He who did not spare his own Son but handed him over for us all, how will he not also give us everything else along with him?" This confidence is meant to be God's gift to us. Let us open our hearts to receive it.

TobyMac featuring Hollyn - Lights Shine Bright

24 February 2024 - pray for those who persecute you

Today's Readings

(Audio)

You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.

In the world we hear plenty of voices suggesting that if we don't hate our enemies we are putting ourselves at risk. There is much clamor to take preemptive steps of self-protection and to build up our particular in groups by tearing down any competing out groups in the vicinity. Loving these competitors and enemies may seem unrealistic. But if that seems too unrealistic to us, imagine the idea that Jesus would call his Jewish audience not only to not hate but to love the Roman occupying force that had subjugated them. Unrealistic? Absolutely. Impossible? Humanly speaking, yes. But not so for children of our heavenly Father. The God who loved us while we were his enemies (see Romans 5:10) can give us the grace to love others as he first loved us.

But I say to you, love your enemies,

and pray for those who persecute you

After all, this is the kind of love that Jesus himself demonstrated during his Passion. He told Peter to sheath his sword and did not summon a legion of angels to liberate himself. He prayed for the very ones responsible for his suffering and death, saying "Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do" (see Luke 23:34). Jesus gave us not only an example to imitate but the grace of his own lived experience to empower us to do so. This is proven by the fact that he has again and again reproduced this aspect of his own life in the lives of those saints dedicated to him. We saw such love in, for instance, Saint John Paul the Great forgiving the person who attempted to kill him. Such forgiveness often brings poignant and powerful proof of the love of God that opens the door to the conversion of even the most hardened of sinners.

For if you love those who love you, what recompense will you have?

It is easy to love those from whom we stand to gain by doing so. But is this sort of market based give and take really worthy of the name love? Jesus calls us to more, to love those in our little slice of the world whether or not doing so provides us with any sort of reward, emotional, material, or otherwise. Instead of thinking about what we can get or what will feel the most rewarding we can think about the cold and dark places where our sun shining could make a difference. We can look for the dry and arid places where our rain failing might help the seeds of new life to grow. We can ask our heavenly Father how he desires to love those around us through us, no matter who they might be.

And if you greet your brothers and sisters only,

what is unusual about that?

Do not the pagans do the same?

It isn't necessarily the case that we are called immediately to grand works that change the world. It may in fact be necessary to start small, by, for example, greeting those whom we had previously ignored or overlooked. This, no doubt is a necessary step to ensure that we no longer walk past Lazarus on our doorstep without noticing or caring.

So be perfect, just as your heavenly Father is perfect.

Our lives are meant to be directed toward the love of God as to a goal. This is illuminated by the fact that the word for perfect has the same root as our word for teleological. An acorn is teleologically ordered to becoming a tree. Humans however reach their perfection, not merely as adults, but as vessels of the love of God. The parallel passage in Luke gives additional color and character to this call when we hear Jesus call us to be "merciful, even as your Father is merciful" (see Luke 6:36). The sort of love and mercy can never begin with us. Such perfection is not possible through grit and determination. It is only possible because the light of God is already shining upon us and his Spirit never ceases to fall like rain when we open our hearts to him.

Maranatha! Music - Shine Jesus Shine

23 February 2024 - not fooling anyone

Today's Readings

(Audio)

Jesus said to his disciples:

"I tell you,

unless your righteousness surpasses that

of the scribes and Pharisees,

you will not enter into the Kingdom of heaven.

The scribes and Pharisees appeared to others to be righteous. This was, after all, their goal. They performed their works to be seen and publicly presented themselves as holy men. But Jesus revealed that these exterior works masked corrupt interior intentions. He taught that it was not enough to merely avoid the sins that the commandments forbade if one cherished those sins in his heart. 

You have heard that it was said to your ancestors,

You shall not kill; and whoever kills will be liable to judgment.

But I say to you, whoever is angry with his brother

will be liable to judgment,

and whoever says to his brother, Raqa,

will be answerable to the Sanhedrin,

and whoever says, 'You fool,' will be liable to fiery Gehenna.

We typically exonerate ourselves from any charges of murder on the basis of the fact that most of us are not frequently given to physical violence of any sort. Yet Jesus sees through this merely external and performative obedience to the motives of our hearts. By how we treat and talk about others we sometimes act as though we wished that they were out of the way, in effect, that we could murder them. Of course we don't go so far as to intend murder, but sometimes only because it is forbidden. If we could find a legally acceptable way to silence our foes perhaps we would happily do so. 

Where do the wars and where do the conflicts among you come from? Is it not from your passions that make war within your members? (see James 4:1).

We must take steps to prevent any animosity against others from taken root in us, and this at the earliest possible opportunity. That is why we must never allow a rift to form between our brothers and ourselves. It is so urgent that, "if you bring your gift to the altar, and there recall that your brother has anything against you, leave your gift there at the altar, go first and be reconciled with your brother, and then come and offer your gift". We must seek reconciliation right away regardless of whether it is their problem with us or ours with them. The risk otherwise is that our anger will fester overnight.

Be angry but do not sin; do not let the sun set on your anger,

and do not leave room for the devil (see Ephesians 4:26-27).

We are taught by Jesus to nip problems in the bud, to stop them while they are still small and before they take deeper and more intractable roots within us. It isn't impossible to correct even the most hardened faults. But it is definitely a harder and more painful process than it is work things out earlier.

Settle with your opponent quickly while on the way to court.

Otherwise your opponent will hand you over to the judge,

and the judge will hand you over to the guard,

and you will be thrown into prison.

Jesus reveals the tendency of our hearts toward sin and what to do about it, not because he desires the punishment or the death of the sinner, but rather so that we could turn to him to find life. He unmasks the illusions we hold of progress and holiness not to leave us empty, but rather, so that he himself can fill us.

Brian Doerksen - Refiner's Fire

22 February 2024 - key takeaways

Today's Readings

(Audio)

“Who do people say that the Son of Man is?”

They replied, “Some say John the Baptist, others Elijah,

still others Jeremiah or one of the prophets.”

The answers other people give can only go so far in helping us to understand the identity of Jesus. Others often give answers that, while not entirely wrong, miss the central point. Jesus was indeed a prophet like John, Elijah, or Jeremiah. But he was also more.

He said to them, “But who do you say that I am?”

Our response to the question of who Jesus is matters. It isn't mere trivial errata, as though we were recognizing an actor in a movie. For this reason it is a question that we must ultimately answer for ourselves. Jesus wants us to know and come to faith in the full truth of his identity. But in our hearts we must genuinely hear the question and open ourselves to receive the answer by revelation. The focal point of faith is believing that Jesus is the Son of the living God. When the Father reveals this truth to our hearts we are empowered to believe the other truths of our faith as corollaries. Accepting Jesus as the one who reveals the Father is in effect accepting the whole is the Christian revelation. Refusal to accept the revelation of Jesus isn't just a choice to ignore him. It is rather to reject the offer of salvation which is not primarily a doctrine, but rather a person: Jesus himself.

And so I say to you, you are Peter,

and upon this rock I will build my Church,

and the gates of the netherworld shall not prevail against it.

Peter was to be the foundation of the Church Jesus came to establish. But this Church was not to be a substitute for individual relationship with Jesus, but a place where such relationship could be nourished and protected. It wasn't as though because Peter correctly identified Jesus now we need not do so. It was rather that Peter's correct identification of Jesus would be guaranteed as always present and available within the Church. Sometimes, it is true, this message has been made obscure and opaque. But the promise has not been broken. The netherworld has never prevailed.

I will give you the keys to the Kingdom of heaven.

Whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven;

and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven.

In giving his royal authority to Peter as a steward of the Kingdom on earth Jesus did not intend to establish a tyranny, but rather an authority that was at the service of the members, a shepherd who lived for his sheep. This is in fact the attitude with which Peter did guide the Church, as we can see from our first reading.

Do not lord it over those assigned to you,

but be examples to the flock.

And when the chief Shepherd is revealed,

you will receive the unfading crown of glory.

Today's feast calls us to gratitude that Jesus has sent shepherds to care for us, in order to help us all receive the invitation to come to believe ever more deeply in who he is and all that he has done. Within the Church, protected by the authority of the Chair of Saint Peter, may we open ourselves more and more to the Father revealing Jesus to us.

The LORD is my shepherd; I shall not want.

In verdant pastures he gives me repose;

Beside restful waters he leads me;

he refreshes my soul.

Matt Maher - The End And The Beginning