13 October 2024 - God alone

Today's Readings

(Audio)

"Good teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?"

Jesus answered him, "Why do you call me good? 

No one is good but God alone.

As we come to learn about Jesus we begin to recognize that he is good. It is a fact that is evident across the pages of the Gospels. He draws us to him just as he drew those around him to follow him. He captivates us with his teachings and makes our hearts soar with hope by his miracles and mighty deeds. We sense that Jesus is the one who has the ultimate answers to the deepest questions. This was what the man sensed when he asked Jesus what he must do to inherit eternal life. And although we might not phrase the question in the same way we too seek answers and realize that if they are to be found anywhere, they will likely be found in Jesus. But just what is this goodness that draws us to Jesus? We have known good people, and perhaps have had wise and generous teachers, but none of these have ever seemed as though they could answer ultimate and definitive questions about the meaning of life. But Jesus emphatically does seem to have such answers. And when asked, he does not hesitate. He asks what it is about his goodness that draws us to him because he doesn't want us to confuse him with normal human teachers. He doesn't want us to set his answers alongside those of philosophers, theologians, or other wise individuals. He wants us to understand that he and he alone is fully qualified to answer the deepest questions of our hearts.

He replied and said to him,

"Teacher, all of these I have observed from my youth."

At a basically level the young man had managed to avoid transgressions that would exclude him from eternal life. Yet he was still lacking in something, one central thing that could give his life meaning and direction. He was in fact still unable to move in the direction of eternal life, not because of evil things in which he indulged, but rather because he give primacy to the lesser goods of wealth and possessions. He was able to attend to the basic duties toward his neighbor as enumerated by the second tablet of the ten commandments. But riches were a genuine liability, not because they were bad in themselves, but because he chose them over and against following God in the person of Jesus Christ. The law was not enough in itself. Or at least any adherence to the law was incomplete without the first tablet pertaining to worship of God finding fulfillment in following Jesus himself. The law was always pointing toward faith and never existed merely as an alternative or substitute. The young man therefore needed an obedient faith in Jesus to enter in the kingdom of God. And he stood on the threshold of that faith as Jesus himself offered the invitation for him, saying "come, follow me". The young man ultimately went away sad because he was too tethered to lesser goods to put the one true good first in his own life. Jesus had tried help free him from this trap by helping him to realize what true goodness was and where true treasure could be found and kept. But the young man chose to prefer the apparent stability of what he already possessed. Even though he experienced his own choice against following Jesus as sadness he still made the choice.

It is difficult for those of us who are wealthy to enter the kingdom of God because it is too easy to choose our wealth and possessions against the many invitations we hear from Jesus to follow him in the concrete specifics of our lives. But we need not give up or go away sad. Let's spend a little bit of time meditating on the goodness of God that we experience in Jesus Christ. Let's allow his living and effective word to set us free from hindrances and obstacles to discipleship. We need not go away sad because it isn't finally all about us. For us, for human beings unassisted by grace, it isn't just difficult, but impossible. But not for God.

Elevation Worship Featuring Brandon Lake - There Is A King

12 October 2024 - heirs according to the promise

Today's Readings

(Audio)

“Blessed is the womb that carried you

and the breasts at which you nursed.”

This woman gave a simple summary of a limited way of understanding blessings. It was thought, for instance, that the blessings promised to the offspring of Abraham would go to those who were physically descended from Abraham. In such a world blessings would always be limited to specific people and nations. But Paul realized that, "it is those of faith who are the sons of Abraham" and that, therefore, "those who are of faith are blessed along with Abraham, the man of faith" (see Galatians 3:7, 9). It was to those who were similar to Abraham in their faith more so than in their blood that the promised blessings would be given. And because the only essential criterion was faith the blessings could transcend specific divisions of people and nations and be available to the whole world.

There is neither Jew nor Greek,

there is neither slave nor free person,

there is not male and female;

for you are all one in Christ Jesus.

Mary, the mother of Jesus, who possessed the womb that carried him and the breasts at which he nursed, was indeed blessed. But she was not blessed merely because of this physical association with Jesus. She was more blessed because of her spiritual association with him, with the faith she exercised in response to the message of the archangel Gabriel. She heard the word of God, declared to her by Gabriel, and gave her assent of faith, her famous fiat, that was filled with so much spiritual power as to begin to undo the disobedience of Eve. 

For what the virgin Eve had bound fast through unbelief, this did the virgin Mary set free through faith.

- Saint Irenaeus, Against Heresies, Book III, Chapter 22.

If we were to take comfort merely in our ancestry or our progeny, or any others merely because we were associated with them, we might feel some comfort, since it would in fact require nothing more from us than being in the right place at the right time. But this sort of association in itself was not enough.

And do not presume to say to yourselves, ‘We have Abraham as our father,’ for I tell you, God is able from these stones to raise up children for Abraham (see Matthew 3:9).

We need more than a good network of family and relationships. We need to imitate the faith of Abraham and Mary who believed that God could do even that which seemed impossible, since "nothing will be impossible with God" (see Luke 1:37). Like Mary we should not only hear the word of God but also observe it, and even treasure it in our hearts as she did (see Luke 2:19). Then we too will belong to Christ and become "heirs according to the promise".

Damascus Worship Featuring Seph Schlueter - Hail O Queen

11 October 2024 - a house united

Today's Readings

(Audio)

Every kingdom divided against itself will be laid waste

and house will fall against house.

And if Satan is divided against himself, how will his kingdom stand?

They accused Jesus of using dark powers to do good. In order to make such an assertion they would have to downplay or ignore the genuine value of the exorcisms Jesus performed. They had to make themselves believe that either they weren't good at all or that they weren't good enough to matter in the grand scheme of the enemy. And in doing so they were revealing inner fault lines and exposing themselves to division. They claimed to be acting in service of the good by attempting to undermine Jesus or make him prove his qualifications. But Jesus was God, and God wasn't just good, he was goodness itself. Intentionally ignoring or opposing Jesus only left partial and temporary goods with no guiding principle to organize them. Satan was certainly not interested in doing some good and some evil. He was fully committed to the ruination of God's good creation. But regular individuals in the middle of it all, once they encountered Jesus, would need to put their faith in him and accept him, or else risk internal fracture and eventual collapse.

But if it is by the finger of God that I drive out demons,

then the Kingdom of God has come upon you.

Jesus was better than the best of the people to whom he came. His power to set captives free was above and beyond anything anyone had seen or anything they could imitate. They claimed to be in service of the same good in virtue of the fact that they too performed exorcisms. But they were not a threat to the dark powers in the way that Jesus was. That enemy was the Jesus described as a strong man, fully armed, who guarded those souls whom he held captive. But Jesus was one who was stronger still, who without the possibility of opposition, overcame the enemy, took away the armor on which he relied, and distributed the spoils. In doing so he fulfilled the prophecy of Isaiah.¹ 

For thus says the Lord:

“Even the captives of the mighty shall be taken,

and the prey of the tyrant be rescued,

for I will contend with those who contend with you,

and I will save your children (see Isaiah 49:25).

People who claimed to serve the good ought to get on board with the one who was finally able to do what they claimed they desired. But they were perhaps less interested in seeing captives set free than in being held in high esteem. It seemed that others may well have eventually convinced a demon to leave an afflicted individual but were incapable of filling the newly free person with anything sufficiently substantial to resist future incursions.

But upon returning, it finds it swept clean and put in order.

Then it goes and brings back seven other spirits

more wicked than itself who move in and dwell there,

and the last condition of that man is worse than the first.

What newly freed captives needed was the gift of the Holy Spirit, who would keep the safe from all of the wickedness and snares of the enemy. Seven other spirits might return and try to assault such an individual, but they would not find him to be an easy target. He would be fully equipped with all of the weapons of spiritual warfare provided by Jesus himself, able to use the same tools with which Jesus won the initial victory in order to live that victory in his own life. He would be united by Jesus as the ordering principle of his life, and the throne at the center of his heart, and filled with the Holy Spirit, leaving no empty vacuum that might draw the enemy back to him. For this reason it is essential not to treat Jesus as an optional extra but rather as the most essential reality one can come to know.

1) Gadenz, Pablo T.. The Gospel of Luke (Catholic Commentary on Sacred Scripture): (A Catholic Bible Commentary on the New Testament by Trusted Catholic Biblical Scholars - CCSS) (p. 226). Baker Publishing Group. Kindle Edition. 

Hillsong - Stronger

10 October 2024 - knock and keep knocking

Today's Readings

(Audio)

If you then, who are wicked,

know how to give good gifts to your children,

how much more will the Father in heaven give the Holy Spirit

to those who ask him?

We saw yesterday that the fact that God is our Father was meant to be the context for our prayer, the core truth that gave it shape and motivation. Today we see this again as Jesus further explicates the life of prayer.

Jesus anticipated that we would run into discouragement when praying, feeling as though we reached a dead end or a door that had "already been locked". It might seem to us, Jesus knew, that God had made himself comfortable with those children that actually mattered to him, sending us away as nothing but annoyances.

‘Do not bother me; the door has already been locked

and my children and I are already in bed.

I cannot get up to give you anything.’

If God really were a merely mortal human, the father of a nearby family, we could perhaps eventually get through to him how much we needed his help. We could keep knocking until he came to realize that he wasn't going to be gaining any additional rest or comfort until he came to our assistance. But it is not as though we can actually bother God into doing something that he does not intend. So it seems that the message is that however much we might think of our insistence and repetition as annoying or excessive in human terms we ought to continue to pursue our requests anyway, since they are not so from God's perspective. He isn't too comfortable to move. He isn't immobile because of insurmountable indifference. Jesus knew we would be tempted to give up, and the pursuing our request would require us to go above and beyond what would be comfortable in a human relationship. That is why it is so important for us to remember that God is better, not only than our neighbors, but even our own earthly fathers, more even than the best and the most perfect among them, and he desires to give us good things.

And I tell you, ask and you will receive;

seek and you will find;

knock and the door will be opened to you.

For everyone who asks, receives;

and the one who seeks, finds;

and to the one who knocks, the door will be opened.

The point is that the only way we will be able to prayer constantly without losing heart is if we remember that God is our Father, different from human beings, the origin of all fatherhood (see Ephesians 3:15). His reasons for desiring us to ask and keep asking are not those of one who is lazy or indifferent. Whatever he it is precisely that he desires to do within our hearts and in the world it is something that he in fact desires more than we do. He wants to give good gifts. But it does also seem that he desires to give it in and through those children of his who trust him enough to pursue them.

Elevation Worship Featuring Chris Brown - Trust In God

9 October 2024 - teach us to pray

Today's Readings

(Audio)

Jesus was praying in a certain place, and when he had finished,

one of his disciples said to him,

"Lord, teach us to pray just as John taught his disciples."

The disciple seemed to sense that there was something uncommon about the prayer life of Jesus, some elevated about the ritual and routine that defined the practice of prayer for others. It seemed that it was also similar for John the Baptist, who must have radiated a close proximity to God because of his life of prayer, and who was able to speak powerful prophetic words because of that nearness. But however close John may have been to God in prayer, and however unusual that may have been, Jesus was something else again.

He said to them, "When you pray, say:

Father, hallowed be your name

Jesus, revealed to be the Son of the Father at his baptism, now desired to welcome others into his own relationship with his Father. In the Old Testament God was spoken of abstractly as the Father of Israel, or sometimes in a ritual way of kings. But Jesus invited his followers into a dynamic and living relationship with his Father. Although we often blow by this first line of the prayer without much thought or recollection it is meant to be life-changing. We get some grasp of this when we hear how scandalous it was for Jesus to make the claim of himself when we realize it was part of the reason his enemies sought his life, saying "he was even calling God his own Father, making himself equal with God" (see John 5:18). 

The divine Sonship of Jesus was proclaimed at his baptism. In our own baptisms we begin to share in this Spirit of adoption, sometimes called divine filiation. 

For you did not receive the spirit of slavery to fall back into fear, but you have received the Spirit of adoption as sons, by whom we cry, "Abba! Father!" (see Romans 8:15).

The truth of who we are in God is what elevates us above the status of spiritual slavery and allows us to conquer fear. But it will not do this simply by us thoughtlessly repeating a set of words and phrases. We need to ask God for genuine revelation of this truth, that the Holy Spirit would cry "Abba! Father!" within our own hearts, and not just in general in those of others. Just as Peter received a revelation of who Jesus was from the Father so too must we receive revelation of who we are in Jesus from him. Or at least, we must do this if we want to genuinely express the same courage and confidence as Paul did in the passage we cited from his Letter to the Romans.

It is as sons and daughters in Jesus that the other petitions of the Father take on the fullness of their meaning. When we know the Father we begin to desire what he desires and trust him for what we require. We see the way sin is harming his creatures from his point of view and therefore resolve more and more to cut our ties with it. We know that God permits us to be tested for the sake of helping us to grow. But we know that there are tests that will always be beyond our strength. We learn to rely on God to permit only those which are for our good and to keep us from "the final test" which would be too much for us.

See what kind of love the Father has given to us, that we should be called children of God; and so we are (see First John 3:1).

Matt Maher - Run To The Father

8 October 2024 - need of only one thing

Today's Readings

(Audio)

Jesus entered a village 

where a woman whose name was Martha welcomed him.

Martha's hospitality was admirable. Her desire to welcome Jesus stemmed from a good motivation. Yet there was something problematic about how she proceeded with her serving, something that made it seem burdensome. Jesus observed that she was anxious and worried about many things. This was like the seed choked by the thorns of "the cares of the world" in the Parable of the Sower (see Matthew 13:22). Jesus was meant to be a unifying influence that gave definitive direction and purpose to her actions. But she was being pulled away from attentiveness to Jesus by the nuanced details of many things she did in fact need to do. She could, perhaps, have continued to do them, but with more awareness of Jesus as the unifying central focus of her actions. And then perhaps she would have experienced something more like exhilaration than anxiety. 

Martha, burdened with much serving, came to him and said,

“Lord, do you not care

that my sister has left me by myself to do the serving? 

Tell her to help me.” 

Because Martha experienced her serving as burdensome she couldn't help but compare herself to Mary, who appeared to her to be slacking on her obligations to be a hospitable host. But was it really desirable to take away from another person the possibility of being near Jesus and sitting at his feet? Wouldn't it be part of the value of her work that it enabled other people to do precisely this? Martha did not suggest that perhaps she too might sit at the feet of Jesus and listen. She didn't seem to consider this possibility, or that the apparently reckless freedom demonstrated by Mary might be something that she could share. Would not a better request have been that she too have time when she could sit and listen to Jesus, rather than trying to sabotage that for someone else?

There is need of only one thing. 

Mary has chosen the better part

and it will not be taken from her.

To Martha's eyes, the pressing needs of the world were always going to outweigh the utility of sitting unproductively near Jesus. But Jesus wanted her to learn that this posture was by no means a lesser part. It was only by giving central attention to Jesus that everything else could have meaning. It was by seeking first the Kingdom that one could receive everything else.

When the crowds were hungry in the desert it was suggested that Jesus send them away in many different directions in order that their needs might be met. But Jesus always desired to unify people around him. At that time he multiplied the bread and fish to ensure that their would be enough for all. Might not something like this have also happened in the home of Martha if she attentively placed her meager gifts in the hands of Jesus? Who can say.

Passion - One Thing Remains

7 October 2024 - who is my neighbor?

Today's Readings

(Audio)

But because he wished to justify himself, he said to Jesus, 

“And who is my neighbor?”

The scholar of the law answered correctly and yet still felt the need to justify himself before Jesus. He must have felt how much was demanded by what was written in the law. He may have loved with most of his heart, being, strength, and mind, and loved some around him reasonably well much of the time. But he did not do so always and with all that he was. In order to justify himself he looked to carve out legitimate limits. If neighbors were only a small subset of the people that crossed his path it might become more plausible to love them as he knew he ought. Then, perhaps, love of God could be reduced to the abstract and to ritual purity, such as that practiced by Levites and priests. Then, hopefully, he could continue on his own side of the road all the way to eternal life. But what the scholar was meant to realize was that "no man is justified by the law in the sight of God" (see Galatians 3:11). He felt that his best shot at self-justification was his hope to circumscribe what the law required. But true justification could only come through faith in Jesus himself. 

But a Samaritan traveler who came upon him

was moved with compassion at the sight.

The Samaritan was someone who appeared from beyond the horizon of a narrow interpretation of the law, whose motivation was not to avoid moral obligation, but rather the desire to show compassion. By being able to recognize this archetypal figure as representative of one's true obligation to one's neighbor the scholar could transcend his own limited way of thinking. Trusting this teaching would be the beginnings of faith in Jesus himself for the scholar. It would be the beginning of a way forward beyond his own selfishness and human limitation. From trying to justify himself he could begin to learn how faith in Jesus could justify him.

He approached the victim,

poured oil and wine over his wounds and bandaged them.

Jesus himself was the one who most perfectly demonstrated love of God and love of neighbor. He was the one who approached humanity, wounded by sin, and began to heal us with the oil of the Spirit and the wine of his Eucharistic blood. By the crossed he carried us to his inn, the Church, and paid the price for our care with the two coins of his human and divine nature. In his promise to the innkeeper there was the guarantee of more than enough to provide for whatever care we might require.

At first, the parable of the good Samaritan might have been discouraging. The Samaritan went so far above and beyond what would have seemed by the scholar to be necessary according to the law. Yet he knew deep in his heart that passing by the victim was always an omission, and one he wasn't strong enough to never commit. But if he could recognize in Jesus the one who truly could pay the debt of love to one's neighbor he would begin to move to a place where Jesus could actually empower him to "Go and do likewise". Jesus was proof positive that human nature could actually love God and neighbor to the maximal degree. And faith in his command was the entryway to share in this power that he himself first demonstrated

Which of these three, in your opinion,

was neighbor to the robbers’ victim?”

He answered, “The one who treated him with mercy.”

Jesus said to him, “Go and do likewise.”

Rather than looking to justify ourselves by defining the minimum effort required let us instead look to Jesus. His is not merely an uplifting story or a positive example. If we believe in him he himself will become the way by which we become truly capable of love and compassion.

Leeland - Way Maker