7 June 2024 - heart speaks to heart

Today's Readings

(Audio)

but one soldier thrust his lance into his side,

and immediately blood and water flowed out.

Blood and water flowed from the heart of Jesus because his heart itself was the new temple. Just as the old temple had an outlet through which the blood of sacrifices was emptied using water to facilitate the flow so too did Jesus' heart let flow his own Precious Blood together with streams of living water. The was the water which Ezekiel saw figuratively in his vision of the temple.

Again he measured a thousand, and it was a river that I could not pass through, for the water had risen. It was deep enough to swim in, a river that could not be passed through (see Ezekiel 47:5).

This was the water that Jesus promised to the Samaritan woman at the well, about which he said "whoever drinks of the water that I will give him will never be thirsty again" (see John 4:14). This is consistent with Ezekiel's description of the power of the stream flowing from the temple.

This water flows toward the eastern region and goes down into the Arabah, and enters the sea; when the water flows into the sea, the water will become fresh. And wherever the river goes, every living creature that swarms will live, and there will be very many fish. For this water goes there, that the waters of the sea may become fresh; so everything will live where the river goes  ... And on the banks, on both sides of the river, there will grow all kinds of trees for food. Their leaves will not wither, nor their fruit fail, but they will bear fresh fruit every month, because the water for them flows from the sanctuary. Their fruit will be for food, and their leaves for healing (see Ezekiel 47:8-9, 12).

Just as Jesus had promised the Samaritan woman so too did he promise those at the feast in Jerusalem, saying, "If anyone thirsts, let him come to me and drink. Whoever believes in me, as the Scripture has said, ‘Out of his heart will flow rivers of living water.’" (see John 7:37-38). This promise was not just to a specific person or group but to all the followers of Jesus in all times and places. But what did it mean to drink this living water? To what did the psalm refer when it said we would draw water at the streams of salvation? 

The first association this water brings to mind is the font of baptism which was unsealed for the Church by the death and resurrection of Jesus. This was the initial draught of water that would become a spring welling up in believers unto eternal life. But more generally, the living water was a symbol of the Holy Spirit himself. Prior to the death of Jesus the Spirit had not yet been given. Referring to his previous statement about streams of living water flowing from his heart the Gospel writer explained, saying, "Now this he said about the Spirit, whom those who believed in him were to receive, for as yet the Spirit had not been given, because Jesus was not yet glorified" (see John 7:39). But with the completion of the self-offering of Jesus the barriers to prevent that stream from flowing were removed and a torrent began to flow, cascading down from heaven, culminating in the gift of Spirit at Pentecost. 

The Spirit flows to us from the heart of Jesus, a heart  that was wounded out of love for us. This means that the Spirit is more the a power source or fuel or means of divine connectivity. He is himself the bond of love by which God draws us to himself. Those of us who have been baptized have received some measure of this gift and yet if we are attentive we will notice that we still thirst for more. We want to live lives based on the gift of strength in the inner self that the Spirit brings and especially to be "rooted and grounded in love". How do we drink more deeply of this gift of grace? We do what Paul prayed his hearers would be empowered to do (since this prayer of his extends to us as well).

that you, rooted and grounded in love,

may have strength to comprehend with all the holy ones

what is the breadth and length and height and depth,

and to know the love of Christ which surpasses knowledge,

so that you may be filled with all the fullness of God.

It would seem that we drink more deeply of the stream of living water by comprehending more and more the love of Christ himself. This is no onerous obligation. Even the means by which the gift is given is itself a gift. Let us therefore stay well hydrated with this water of love so that we ourselves may survive even in times of dryness and so that we may become a source of life for others.

My strength and my courage is the LORD,

and he has been my savior.

With joy you will draw water

at the fountain of salvation.

Bob Fitts - The River Is Here

Songs In His Presence - Isaiah 12: You Will Draw Water

6 June 2024 - first things first

Today's Readings

(Audio)

Beloved:

Remember Jesus Christ, raised from the dead, a descendant of David:

such is my Gospel, for which I am suffering,

even to the point of chains, like a criminal.

Paul pointed Timothy to the central tenet of the Christian faith, the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead. Naturally, he desired that Timothy keep a general focus on the kerygma, the central doctrines of Christianity. And this was necessary because otherwise he might succumb to a temptation that apparently happening in the community at that time, "disputing about words". Among those actively practicing the faith this continues to be a reality in our own time. A large part of the antidote, according to Paul, is keeping the central truths of the faith at the forefront of our minds.  Then we will be less likely to chase after speculative trivialities or try to impress others by our elegant phraseology and rhetoric. It is too easy for those who hear such superficiality to be harmed by it, possibly never even able to understand and internalize the Gospel because of it.

Remember Jesus Christ, raised from the dead, a descendant of David

There was a second and more immediately practical reason why Paul insisted on the importance of the resurrection. It was because it was this fundamental truth that allowed him to make sense of his own mission and his suffering. From a human perspective much of his ministry appeared to be a failure. He was suffering "even to the point of chains, like a criminal". But the resurrection was definitive proof that "the word of God is not chained", not even by death itself. And not only that, it was proof that Paul's own current suffering wasn't the end of his own story.

If we have died with him

we shall also live with him;

if we persevere

we shall also reign with him.

The truth, then, was too vital to abuse with superficial disputes and idle speculation. Especially in a society where persecution of Christians was commonplace, it was necessary to be grounded in the truth. Only such grounding was proof against the temptation to deny Jesus when to affirm him might lead one to a fate like that of Paul's present condition, or worse. Only the insistence that death had in fact been defeated was a valid motivation to risk even death itself for the sake of the Gospel.

But if we deny him

he will deny us.

If we are unfaithful

he remains faithful,

for he cannot deny himself.

If we turn from the truth of the resurrection, no matter the reason, it does not become any less true. Jesus, truth itself, cannot pretend reality is other than it is, for he himself holds all things in being. He will always be internally consistent even if we ourselves swerve from the path of truth. He can't follow us into affirming lies that would make creation other than it is or speak of a salvation other than the true one which he has won for us. He has no desire to deny us and himself gives us the grace to remain faithful to him. This grace can make us workmen who cause no disgrace. It is his word of truth at work in us that allows us to impart that word to others without deviation.

Which is the first of all the commandments?

In today's Gospel Jesus also speaks of the central truths of faith. This was another example of how keeping first things first could prevent the temptation to get lost in the weeds. The Pharisees, for their part, often seemed to set one commandment against another and to get lost in disputes about words and interpretations of words. Jesus was able to cut through their traps because he understand the things that were most central: love of God and love of neighbor. The class of the professionally religious might forget and begin to believe religion was about something more suited to demonstrating their expertise. But Jesus himself never needed to appeal to the extravagant. His Gospel was always unvarnished, and it was this that Paul and the other Apostles inherited and passed on to us.

Your ways, O LORD, make known to me;

teach me your paths,

Guide me in your truth and teach me,

for you are God my savior.

Matt Maher - Your Love Is Extravagant 

5 June 2024 - stirred up

Today's Readings

(Audio)

For this reason, I remind you to stir into flame

the gift of God that you have through the imposition of my hands.

Paul remembered Timothy constantly in prayer and even considered him a dear child. It was because of his love for Timothy that he reminded him not to neglect the gift he had received from Paul through the imposition of his hands. Paul wasn't making this recommendation primarily to ensure the optimal productivity of the Church or so that Timothy could be a useful functionary in a specific role. Rather, his first concern was Timothy himself. Paul was confidence that when the gift of God was fully alive and on fire Timothy would have a different experience of life and ministry than he would without that reality.

For God did not give us a spirit of cowardice

but rather of power and love and self-control.

There are at least two possible ways to read this further implication Paul mentions. One is that we ought not to fear putting the gifts of God to use because he himself has given us the power, love, and self-control necessary to do so. Another is that, to the degree that we don't fan the flames, we will actually tend toward fear and cowardice. For power, love, and self-control to predominate in our lives we need God's gift to be fully alive in us, which is something that requires some cooperation on our part, that of stirring or fanning the flames. 

So do not be ashamed of your testimony to our Lord,

nor of me, a prisoner for his sake;

It would be humanly possible or even natural to give in to shame at the Gospel, which was not yet highly esteemed in the world, and in particular to shame at those suffering for it. We might well avoid association with them in order not to share their fate. Similarly, fear would be a natural response to seeing other believers suffer, knowing that that same suffering could be just around the corner for us. But conceding to the temptations to fear and shame of this sort can smother the flames of the Spirit. And yet God is more than able to give us all that we need to handle any situation. Are we willing to believe this? Or will we instead believe what the circumstances seem to indicate or predict? It is the case that we may and probably will have to bear our share of hardship for the Gospel. But this is not a cause for fear, if we fan the flames, because then we will do it "with the strength that comes from God".

Paul himself seemed to have every reason to give in to fear and despair. He was appointed preacher and Apostle and yet he still had to face suffering and persecution. Humanly speaking it might have seemed as though he were doing something wrong. Wouldn't the correct course of action yield immediate success? But Paul did not give in to such doubts. The reason he did not is instructive.

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.

Paul was not ashamed because he knew him in whom he believed. Perhaps we are ashamed and afraid because we do not know Jesus in this same way or to this degree and we do not share Paul's confidence that he is able to guard what has been entrusted to us. So perhaps fanning to flames for us in our lives means seeking to know Jesus in this highly personal and experiential way that Paul knew him, until we come to share in his confidence. Knowing Jesus helps us to believe that even the cross is not the end. And we can know him in precisely the same way as Paul because his promise to be with his people always and unto the end of the age is to us as much as it was to him. The reason such a promise is possible is captured by the passage cited by Jesus in today's Gospel.

As for the dead being raised,

have you not read in the Book of Moses,

in the passage about the bush, how God told him,

I am the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac,

and the God of Jacob?

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

Jesus Culture - Set A Fire

4 June 2024 - a con census?

Today's Readings

(Audio)

Teacher, we know that you are a truthful man

and that you are not concerned with anyone’s opinion.

The Pharisees' and the Herodians' mission didn't have anything to do with truth. Hence they felt free to assert things which neither they nor those who sent them believed. In calling Jesus truthful and saying that he taught the way of God in accordance with the truth they were saying things that they themselves did not believe. They acted as though it was meritorious that Jesus was not concerned with anyone's opinion or a person's status though they hated this about him. They themselves were utterly bound by such considerations.  The crowds  seemed to love the way which Jesus "taught with authority" (see Matthew 7:29), leading to the envy of his opponents.

Is it lawful to pay the census tax to Caesar or not?

Should we pay or should we not pay?”

In order to knock Jesus down a peg they attempted to force him to answer a question which they imagined he could not answer without yielding to the opinions of the crowd or the status of the rulers. Then he would be demonstrated to be, after all, just like everyone else. His Gospel would then be seen to be too impractical to deal with the so-called real world of politics and positioning. The Pharisees and Herodians could not see an alternative answer in the trap they set. Either Jesus would displease the crowd by saying that the occupation force should receive the census tax or he would run afoul of Caesar by saying it should not be paid. It seemed those were the only options. This was because a mind chained to opinion and half-truth did not have the freedom to consider all possibilities. But Jesus was different.

“Whose image and inscription is this?”

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.”

Jesus did not simply carve out a secular arena ruled by Caesar as apart from a religious sphere ruled by God. That would not have really been satisfactory. The problematic reality of a hostile occupying force would, in such a solution, simply by ignored. But Jesus answered in a way that they could not have conceived, limited as they were by their prejudice and presuppositions. In his answer Jesus seemed to imply that Caesar himself was made in the image and likeness of God and that therefore, although one might pay the tax to Caesar, Caesar himself had the obligation to offer all that he was to God. There was not a distinction of secular and sacred in this scheme. For how could there be anything that did not belong to God? Perhaps only Jesus could see this answer because only he was so willing to readily recognize that Caesar himself was made in God's image. Maybe the anti-Roman sentiment that was common in its occupied territory made it difficult for anyone else to think that way, creating an opposition and a dividing wall that could not be resolved until someone helped all involved to see their shared humanity and creatureliness. Jesus himself was the one suited to do this because he was precisely the image in which all humans, Romans, Jews, and otherwise, were created. 

“Repay to Caesar what belongs to Caesar

and to God what belongs to God.”

They were utterly amazed at him.

Jesus spoke of justice, of rendering to each their due. And there was a legitimate justice one owned to the government charged with the care of the common God. But this was still a lesser part of a bigger sphere of the duty owed to God, since God was charged with the providential care of all creation. But people in general tended to fail at justice generally speaking. They tended to try to carve out the maximum benefit they could attain and leave others to fend for themselves. This was part of the reason that truth became distasteful to them and the mirage of opinion and status came to predominate. But again, Jesus was different. He was the first man to truly offer to God all that was his due. And it is now in him that we too can offer this same offering to God. In him, we too can shed our fear of opinion, our regard of status, and learn to love the truth. By sharing this offering with Jesus, especially when we attend mass, we really do what Peter enjoins in today's first reading.

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.

But according to his promise

we await new heavens and a new earth

in which righteousness dwells.

We may not be perfect yet, not without spot or blemish before him. But we can hold on to this goal because we have the offering of Jesus to speak on our behalf. We can cling to our trust in his patience and mercy since we are certain that it is he himself that desires us to grow in grace and knowledge of him. We don't have to fall back to a position of protecting our self-image because we have come to believe in the love God has for us (see First John 4:16). We are all made in his image. And this means that we are all made for his glory.

But grow in grace

and in the knowledge of our Lord and savior Jesus Christ.

To him be glory now and to the day of eternity. Amen.

Passion - Heart Abandoned

3 June 2024 - vineyard crimes

Today's Readings

(Audio)

Then he leased it to tenant farmers and left on a journey.

At the proper time he sent a servant to the tenants

to obtain from them some of the produce of the vineyard.

How quickly we forget that everything we have and even everything that we are is only leased to us! We begin the treat our talents as though they were earned, our possessions as though they were our own creations, and even ourselves as though we were the ones holding ourselves in existence from moment to moment. No doubt the tenant farmers had been doing what they considered to be actual work on the property for so long that it didn't seem fair to them that another would, from so great a distance, demand the fruit of those efforts. Because they had been exerting themselves they came to gradually regard themselves more as in charge, more and more as owners rather than tenants. But God would have us know that even our efforts are not truly something for which we alone can take credit. All is predicated on the gift of grace. And we must therefore not hold back the fruit of his gift when he comes to ask it of us.

At the proper time he sent a servant to the tenants

to obtain from them some of the produce of the vineyard.

But they seized him, beat him,

and sent him away empty-handed.

The vineyard owner could have immediate resulted to violence from the moment his servants were beaten and sent away empty-handed. But he did not. He tried again and again to persuade rather than coerce. But this seemed rather to have the opposite effect, eliciting, not the fruit, but hardness of heart and an ever escalating response of violence from the tenants. How can it be that God's demonstrations of patience and mercy can meet with such a response? This can only be because of the mystery of sin which causes us to wildly and desperately try to protect what we imagine to be our own sphere of autonomy and independence. Our egos tend to fight desperately for dear life, to keep their walls strong and imporous against any intrusion. Questions like what we owe to God or what would be the best use of the fruit of our vineyard must not even be considered if we are to remain safely ensconced within, seated on the throne of our lives.

He had one other to send, a beloved son.

He sent him to them last of all, thinking, 'They will respect my son.'

The depths of love demonstrated by the owner sending his son to such a hive of violent miscreants is difficult to fathom. It wasn't as though he had been coming closer and closer to success in his diplomatic efforts and thought one final push of sincerity would do the trick. He must in fact have known that his son would be at risk. But he spoke, not of what was likely, but what he desired in the depths of his heart: "They will respect my son". Yet that they did not do so was not the end of the story. The landowner was wiser than to place all his hope on the success of that plan. In fact, even the violence which it was said the landowner would visit on the tenants was not necessarily the last word on their fate. For the tenants were in fact those who heard this parable of Jesus. And they were still standing there free and capable of repentance. Even the fact that the parable itself seemed only to confirm them in their role as tenants attempting to seize the son was not necessarily the end of the story. It may eventually have been the case that they were able to recognize not only that the parable was addressed to them but that it really did reflect on something evil within their hearts. Perhaps they might have been among those to look upon him whom they had pierced and repented.

they look on me, on him whom they have pierced, they shall mourn for him, as one mourns for an only child, and weep bitterly over him, as one weeps over a firstborn (see Zechariah 12:10).

If we look around us at our homes and possessions, or consider our schedules, or ponder the different abilities we have have been given, do we remember that these are all elements of the vineyard gifted to us by the landowner in order to produce his fruit? Why is it that we so often try to hoard that which only has value when it is shared?

But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law (see Galatians 5:22-23).

God has given us "everything that makes for life and devotion" by "his own glory and power" so that we possess the "precious and very great promises" designed to bring us to share even in the divine nature itself. This divine nature, the essence of God himself, is a good that is always diffusive of itself, and a love which always seeks to share itself with others. For this reason we must make every effort to avoid the path of the hostile tenants and instead seek to follow the guidance of Peter.

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.

Nichole Nordeman - You Are My All In All

2 June 2024 - bread of angels

Today's Readings

(Audio)

"Where do you want us to go

and prepare for you to eat the Passover?

The disciples were able to prepare for Jesus to celebrate the passover because Jesus himself had already somehow singlehandedly arranged everything to his purpose. At their entry into Jerusalem he had told them they would find a colt and the words they could use with its owner so that he would allow them to bring it (see Luke 19:30-32). Now they were told they would find a man with a jar of water who would lead them to a place that Jesus, apparently, already had in mind, and for which he must have already made rather specific arrangements. The disciples consistently "found it just as he had told them". But this was more than impressively careful planning on the part of Jesus. It was an indication not only of his exhaustive foreknowledge of what was to come, but of his complete control over the situation. It demonstrated concretely that Jesus himself freely chose to lay down his life and that no one took it from him (see John 10:18). These sorts of preparatory measures ought to have helped the disciples cling to hope even during the dark hour of the Passion when all hope seemed to be lost.

"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

It is clear that the principle actor in the establishment of the Eucharist was not the Pharisees, or Pilate, or any other Jewish or Roman leader, but Jesus himself. It was Jesus who gave his flesh and blood to the Father as an offering "for many", his "flesh for the life of the world" (see John 6:51). He was the Paschal lamb whose blood would forever stay the sword of the angel of death. His blood was that of a new and eternal covenant that would finally accomplish what the "blood of goats and caves" could not, the remission of sins. It was actually these sacrificial overtones of the Last Supper that eventually helped the disciples to recognize the cross of Jesus as itself a sacrificial offering. For apart from this connection the cross appeared to be an ignominious execution and a shameful death. Two thousand years of reflection makes it seem obvious to us that the cross was primarily a sacrifice for sin. But it was not so immediately obvious at the time and without the Eucharist it would have remained obscure.

Amen, I say to you,

I shall not drink again the fruit of the vine

until the day when I drink it new in the kingdom of God."

The cross did not lead only to the remission of sins. This was merely the first step in clearing the way to a larger goal. The earthly banquet pointed toward a heavenly one in which the risen Lord would drink new wine of joy in fellowship with his disciples, those who were with him then, and those who have followed him throughout history. The sacrifice of Jesus was meant not only to remove sin but to allow his followers to receive new life. If the life was said to be in the blood of a creature then the blood of Jesus was meant to convey his own divine life to us. The Eucharistic feast had the opposite effect of normal food. In normal eating and drinking we assimilate the nutrients to become a part of us. But in the Eucharist we are meant to become what we receive as Jesus himself assimilates us into his own Mystical Body.

A final point about the Eucharist that is so obvious as to merit stating explicitly so that we don't neglect it is the fact that it is not meant to be received only once. It is meant to become our daily bread and food for our journey. The effects toward which it points cannot be accomplished, typically, a single mass, but are meant to nourish and transform us over the course of a lifetime. We ignore our need for this heavenly food at our peril. But isn't it quite wonderful that Jesus has deigned in his providential wisdom to remain so close to us as this, a relationship with a built in recurring ritual of love, so that we may never be far from him.

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.

Jim Cowan - This Is Jesus

Matt Maher - The End And The Beginning

Lauda Sion

1 June 2024 - the author of authority

Today's Readings

(Audio)

By what authority are you doing these things?

Or who gave you this authority to do them?"

There was, perhaps, cause to wonder about the question of authority. Jesus was, after all, neither Pharisee, Sadducee, chief priest, scribe or elder. He couldn't claim to be from a renowned rabbinical school as Paul could claim that he studied under Gamaliel. And in spite of coming from the nowhere town of Nazareth and lacking any prestigious teacher he had amassed a large following, many of whom hung on his every word (see Luke 19:48). He felt no need to defer to precedence in his teaching, as evidenced from the Sermon on the Mount, where he famously updated doctrines given by Moses in the law with the pairs of "You have heard it said" and "But I say to you". He even claimed to forgive sins, a prerogative that belonged to God alone. Who would have the chutzpah to do such things? It was a question that ought to have led to a deeper consideration of the identity of Jesus. Such consideration could have eventually led people to recognize that his ministry was of heavenly and not human origin. But these individuals that sought to question Jesus weren't really interested in the truth. They were primarily concerned with what people thought. They envied the popularity of Jesus and his status with the crowds. This was why they couldn't offer a legitimate response to the counter-question Jesus posed.

They discussed this among themselves and said,

"If we say, 'Of heavenly origin,' he will say,

'Then why did you not believe him?'

But shall we say, 'Of human origin'?"–

they feared the crowd,

for they all thought John really was a prophet.

Getting caught up in what other people think to too great a degree can hinder our own search for truth. We can become caught in similar snares to these chief priests, scribes, and elders, where we can only think of propositions in terms of their popularity and not their truth value. We risk caring not so much about what is true but about appearing correct in the eyes of others. And the reason it is tempting to care about what others think about what we believe is because we tend want others to respect and value us. But if this value is tied to us always being right then we will be incentivized to never admit we are wrong and to never update our views based on new evidence. In discussions with individuals where ego is of greater value than truth compromise or agreement become unlikely. If we escape hostile diatribe it may only be replaced with evasiveness like that which we see from the opponents of Jesus.

So they said to Jesus in reply, "We do not know."

Then Jesus said to them,

"Neither shall I tell you by what authority I do these things."

The authority with which Jesus said did the things he did was that of the heavenly Father. Jesus himself did nothing other than what he had seen from the Father (see John 5:19). But this truth was not one that his opponents were ready to hear. Jesus instead pointed them back to the ministry of John the Baptist. This might seem like he himself was merely evading the issue. But it was rather the case that he was trying to help his interlocutors recognize their own flawed ways of thinking. There was something of legitimate value, worthy of consideration and discussion, and ultimately of belief, in the ministry of John. But in that case as well envy at the crowds had caused them to harden their hearts and not believe him. And now, looking back, they were too paralyzed by concern from the crowds to take a firm stand against him. Taking a position, any position at all, based on what they really believed would have been a better starting place for discussions rather than their insincere speech intended to entrap him.

May we learn to care more about the truth than what the people think about the truth or about us for believing it. We recognize that their is much contrary pressure in the world pushing us in the opposite direction. And so we do well to heed the advice of Jude in today's first reading.

Build yourselves up in your most holy faith; pray in the Holy Spirit.

Keep yourselves in the love of God

and wait for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ

that leads to eternal life.

Songs In His Presence - My Mouth Shall Praise You With Joy