Saturday after Ash Wednesday
As we close these opening days of Lent and enter into the first full week of this penitential season we reflect in a particular way on our sinfulness and on penance as reparation for it.
Lent is a season of increased fasting, almsgiving, and prayer—all practices of penance, that is expressions of our sorrow for sin and our commitment to lead a better life. Good practices of penance cause us to reflect more deeply on our own sinfulness and draw us into solidarity with others throughout the world, especially the poor.
Friday after Ash Wednesday
A friend of mine is a Carmelite nun who spends at least half the year in prayer and contemplation at a small hermitage. (The rest of the time, the community is called from their contemplation to acts of service.) Contemplatives are sometimes seen as strange because they sometimes speak of spiritual experiences - everything from prayers in which God speaks so clearly it is impossible to miss, to visions, to levitation and more. In our scientific culture, this can seem a bit much to accept at face value, and these experiences usually get explained away by psychology, biology and so on. But nonetheless, there are numerous people who are attracted to my friend and her community precisely because they have had some kind of experience of God that they can't reconcile with what the world tells them about it. The community's visitor book is filled with guests' descriptions of their own encounters.
Thursday after Ash Wednesday
Lent has begun, and we will be hearing selections from the Hebrew exodus in the Old Testament. In today’s passage from Deuteronomy, Moses presents the Israelite people with a choice: they can choose either life or death, blessing or curse, the one true God or many false gods and idols. This choice is a constant theme throughout the Old Testament, and the Hebrew people struggle, sometimes choosing false gods, and sometimes turning to God. It is a choice and a struggle that has great consequences. In choosing for God, the people can be assured of God’s protections. In abandoning God, however, the people may face their own destruction.
Ash Wednesday
Have you ever read a book or seen a movie that was life changing? When we encounter such an instrument of transformation we tend to want to tell others. How do we promote that which gave us joy or caused profound healing in us? We do not simply talk about it, we express our thoughts or feelings passionately. Our excitement is what draws others to the book or movie. This is what an ambassador does; they represent an organization or country and work as a messenger of good will.
Tuesday of the Seventh Week in Ordinary Time
In the gospel for today, Jesus speaks of the need to become like children. If we do so, he says, it will make it much easier for us to receive God. It seems to me that Jesus’ words in the scripture for today can easily be misunderstood or misrepresented. First, Jesus might be taken to be saying that we should remain ignorant of the truth, but that would be a mistake. Children are not ignorant. They know many things, and they are very eager to know more and more about the world around them and the people in their lives. It seems to me that adult Christians, if we really desire to love God, will want to learn more and more about God and the world that God has created. The other mistake is to see Jesus as saying that we must develop a servile attitude towards others and allow ourselves to be taken advantage of. This too would be a mistake. We are called to live out our love for God in the service of others, yet we should experience this service as liberating and life giving and not as a life of bondage and servitude.
Monday of the Seventh Week in Ordinary Time
The first book that I ever read was “Green Eggs and Ham” by Dr. Seuss. I remember struggling with certain words and my mom patiently and lovingly reminding me to “sound it out.” But sometimes I found a word to be too challenging and my mom would eventually step in and say the word that was too difficult for me to read on my own. And as much as I honestly needed her help, in the stubbornness of a young child, I told her “Don’t tell me the word, Mom! I can do it on my own!” So, in my frustration, I would start the book over with the very first sentence. I would start over because my mentality was, “If I needed help, I didn’t really read the entire book all the way through.” I wanted to do it on my own! I recall going through two or three iterations of me obviously needing help, my mom helping me, and then starting the book over because I didn’t do it on my own. Eventually I finished the book without assistance, but many years later I find myself sometimes struggling with the same problem. No, I don’t struggle with reading “Green Eggs and Ham.” At 26 years old, I’ve mastered it. But I do struggle sometimes with admitting that I need assistance and I am often not ready to humble myself or show weakness. I sometimes still want to do it on my own.
Seventh Sunday in Ordinary Time
We might be inclined to focus on the story of the paralytic which is a rather impressive story of faith and healing. As I read the reading very carefully, I also realized that there is a theme hidden in the first reading and the gospel reading that can easily get glossed over. The very last sentence of the first reading says, “It is I, I, who wipe out, for my own sake, your offenses; your sins I remember no more.” (Is 43:25) And then in today’s gospel reading, when the paralytic is lowered down from the roof, Jesus’ first response was “Son, your sins are forgiven.” Are the readings really, then, drawing our attention to the concept of sin? I am inclined to think they are.
Saturday of the Sixth Week in Ordinary Time
After listening to today’s readings, one is struck by the theme of tongues, mouths, and speech.
In today’s first reading, St. James warns us to watch our tongues. Here, James uses “tongue” to refer to “speech” and even more specifically, “teaching.” Indeed, he warns at the outset that not “Not many of you should become teachers” (Jas 3:1) because of our capacity to fall short with our tongues. James was deeply concerned about the authenticity of Christian teaching in the early Church, making sure that the gospel was passed on properly.
Friday of the Sixth Week in Ordinary Time
This week we have been hearing the first reading from the letter of St. James. I am grateful that this letter is included among the canonical books of the New Testament. As grateful as Protestants are for the letter of Paul to the Romans (because Romans emphasizes salvation by faith alone), Catholics are as grateful for the letter of James because James wo0uld say, “Faith without works is dead. And again, “What good is it, my brothers and sisters, if someone says he has faith but does not have works? Can that faith save him?” IN this way, James evens out faith with works.
Thursday of the Sixth Week in Ordinary Time
Jesus has some strong words for Peter in today’s gospel reading (Mark 8: 27-33): “Get behind me Satan. You are thinking not as God does, but as human beings do.” Here is Peter, the one Jesus named “Rock”, being rebuked by Jesus. So, what brought this on? Well, apparently even though Peter was the first disciple to outwardly identify Jesus as the Messiah, the “Christ”, he did not yet understand that this would entail suffering and even death for Jesus. The gospel tells us that Peter first rebuked Jesus when he told the disciples that he must suffer greatly, be rejected, be killed, and then rise. Peter didn’t like what he heard and in a sense, played the role of Satan by suggesting that Jesus should be the political liberator that was popularly expected of the awaited Messiah at that time.
Wednesday of the Sixth Week in Ordinary Time
How often have I said I will do something only to forget to do it? It is not enough just to say that we are Christians if our actions do not bear out the words we speak. Teenagers are often seen as being rebellious; however social science has discovered a deeper reason for this conclusion. It may play out like this: a parent insists that their children go to church regularly and then drops them off at the door. In another scenario a parent may insist that a child not watch TV non-stop when they have modeled the very behavior they are telling their children not to do. When we say one thing and do another, people assign more weight to actions rather than our words.
Memorial of Saint Cyril, monk, and Saint Methodius, Bishop
In the gospel reading for today Jesus talks of the leaven of the Pharisees, referring to their teachings and their influence. Leaven is an interesting metaphor, because it invokes the idea of something that works through the dough and causes it to rise. Yeast multiplies quickly to produce a significant change. A little bit goes a long way, and in the process the dough changes from what it was before.
Monday of the Sixth Week in Ordinary Time
Have you ever been so disappointed or exasperated all you could do was just sigh?
You feel powerless and helpless and know there is absolutely nothing more you can say or do to change a situation. All that is left to do is accept the way things are and turn and walk away. Today’s Gospel reading is only three verses long. But in those three verses we can really feel what Jesus was experiencing when he faced, yet again, the unbelief and hardness of heart so characteristic of the Pharisees. It says Jesus “sighed from the depth of his spirit” (Mk 8:12) when the Pharisees were arguing with him and testing him by asking for a sign from heaven. Knowing their motives, Jesus left them, got into the boat and went to the other shore. (Mk 8:13)
Sixth Sunday in Ordinary Time
There is a Youtube video that is going viral these days. Jefferson Bethke is a young rap artist who has posted a video called “Why I Hate Religion, But Love Jesus.” Since he posted the video a month ago, it has gotten close to 19 million hits. Only four other videos have been this widely viewed. Bethke arguments are simplistic and we can easily punch holes in them. But the young people particularly are resonating with his trend of thought. Let me share some of the lyrics of his poem with you. He writes:
Saturday of the Fifth Week in Ordinary Time
In Mark’s gospel, the story of Jesus is portrayed as a cosmic battle between Christ and the devil, beginning with Jesus’ temptation in the desert by Satan (Mk 1:12-13) and continuing with the exorcisms in which Jesus casts out demons (Mk 1:21-28, 34; Mk 5: 1-20). By the time that we reach Chapter 8 in Mark, the audience could have clearly understood Jesus’ mission only in terms of the Jewish expectation of one who would come to save the Jews. Of course, Jesus was a Jew and so were most of the people whom he healed and taught. This perspective could have been confirmed by the first feeding story (Mk 6:34-44) in which Jesus multiplies loaves and fishes in a predominantly Jewish area with an emphasis on Jewish symbolism.
Memorial of Saint Scholastica, Virgin
People often ask me why God seems not to speak quite so clearly to us as he did to people in past times.
What I think we often forget, however, is that what we read in the Bible is the edited version of a long, long line of human relationships with God. Take today's first reading (1 Kings 11:29-32; 12:19). This story tells us about how the nation of Israel, which had been united under two kings (David and Solomon), will now become divided into two kingdoms. Ten tribes of Israel will become the Northern Kingdom, under Jeroboam. The remaining two tribes will become the Southern Kingdom under Rehoboam, King Solomon's son. The Southern Kingdom emerges as the "good guy" in this passage. This is because the Northern Kingdom's Jeroboam is not from the Davidic line, which is a problem because God had promised that David's kingship would be everlasting, and so the Northern Kingdom seems to be disbelieving God's promise. Even worse, from the point of view of the Southern Kingdom, Jeroboam comes from Egypt, where the Israelites had been enslaved. The language of today's passage highlights how poorly the author thinks of the Northern Kingdom when he writes: "Israel went into rebellion against David's house."
Thursday of the Fifth Week in Ordinary Time
How easy it is for us to convince ourselves that we don’t really have to follow God’s commands. We might think we’re spiritually stronger than most, so “this doesn’t apply to me”. We are often weakest when we think we are strongest.
Take Solomon, son of David, for example. He went against God’s command not to take foreign wives, believing he could withstand the influence of their foreign gods. But today’s first reading (Mark 7: 24-30), tells us that when Solomon was old, “his wives had turned his heart to strange gods.” His heart was no longer entirely with the Lord as the heart of his father David had been. As a result, the Lord deprives Solomon of his kingdom, “Since this is what you want, and you have not kept my covenant….”
Wednesday of the Fifth Week in Ordinary Time
The expression, ‘you can’t judge a book by its cover’ speaks volumes towards todays’ readings. In the first reading, we encounter Solomon in all of his glory. Clearly, his wealth is abundant for all to see. Many have come to seek his counsel and adorn him with gifts. Indeed, Solomon’s gifts are abundant. Yet as clear as the opulence surrounding him, Solomon’s greater gift is the one within him, wisdom. This gift alone makes Solomon one of the most spiritually rich men in his day. The gift of wisdom allows Solomon to draw others into his wonderful experience of God.
Tuesday of the Fifth Week in Ordinary Time
A lot of advertising and marketing today projects the image that we can be happy if only we get on the right diet or eat at the right foods. We are told that blueberries are ‘super foods’ so we should eat them, that eggs with omega threes are better than regular eggs and will make us healthy, or that we will be happy if we treat ourselves to a cup of specialty coffee. The point of most of this advertising seems to be to get us to think that we can make ourselves happy by eating ‘the right’ things. In the gospel for today, however, Jesus shows us a different way to be. What is important is not eating the right things, making ourselves righteous, or holding ourselves to standards of purity. Instead what is really important is our relationship with God.
Memorial of Saint Paul Miki and Companions, Martyrs
One of the things I enjoy reading every morning is the “Dear Abby” column in our local newspaper. Recently, there was a letter from an older woman asking Abby where she might suggest that this woman look to find opportunities to enjoy the warmth of a hug or touch of other people. She had recently lost her husband, and missed the physical connection that she had enjoyed. Many readers in the weeks that followed offered various suggestions, such as finding a ballroom dance class or joining a group at a church where often friendships grow and people greet one another with hugs and warmth. I think all people need and desire the touch of other people. It gives us a sense of belonging and being loved. Even more so, I think people need the touch of God. I believe, as it has been suggested by others, that we are all created with a “God-shaped hole” in our hearts which can only be filled with His presence. God put this in us, and this is what makes us long to be with Him, so that we may be complete.