MUSINGS

Second Sunday of Advent

Readings: Baruch 5:1-9; Psalm 126; Philippians 1:4-6, 8-11; Luke 3:1-6

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      “The Lord has done great things for us.”

      All of us have experienced a time in our lives when things were looking dark and bleak and we were beginning to lose hope, but we clung to our Lord with every bit of strength we could muster because we knew that only He could rescue us from the situation.

      Then one day the sun came out. The trial was over and we could experience joy once again. God had brought us through!

      The reading from Baruch today was originally given to the Israelites while they were in captivity in Babylon. “There our captors asked us…for joy…but how could we sing a song of the Lord in a foreign land?” (Psalm 137). The people were in deep sorrow. They had lost hope. Now Baruch tells them, “God is leading Israel in joy by the light of his glory.” Could they see that? Could they have even grasped that as a possibility?

      I think the next part of that sentence gives us a key to understanding how that could be. The reading continues to say, “…with his mercy and justice for company.” We get the mercy part, but I think we too often misunderstand the justice part. Today we hear so often on the news that people are fighting for justice for someone, but if you look at the details of some of those stories, you see that the person they are fighting for might have been a criminal in the act of wrongdoing. What would justice be for them? It would be prison, not exoneration.

      We so often misunderstand justice in our world, and I believe we misunderstand God’s justice even more. Our sins deserve justice, and that justice is eternal punishment. God in His mercy rescues us from that punishment if we confess our sins to Him, but in His justice, we must still sometimes bear the weight of the consequences of our sins. That is when the darkness comes. Do we recognize it as the justice of God, allowing us to experience exactly what we deserve? Do we praise God in the midst of it, knowing that He is molding us and shaping us into what He desires us to become?

      Will we receive God’s correction with humility and see that Paul’s prayer for the Philippians is answered in our lives: “that your love may increase ever more and more in knowledge…to discern what is of value, so that you may be pure and blameless.”

      John the Baptist cries out, quoting a passage from Isaiah that mirrors our passage today from Baruch: “Make straight his paths. Every valley shall be filled, and every mountain and hill shall be made low.” Where are the mountains in your life: mountains of pride, of possession, of ill feelings toward others? Where are your valleys: valleys of negativity, of depression, of hopelessness? God has commanded that those be removed so that we may “advance secure in the glory of God.”

      So, now as you go through dark times in your life, recognize that the hand of God is still very much upon you. He is walking with you. Sometimes He is carrying you, but He must take you through this that you would grow more and more into “the full stature of Christ” (Ephesians 4:13).

      “Those who sow in tears shall reap rejoicing. Although they go forth weeping…they shall come back rejoicing.”

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First Sunday of Advent

Readings: Jeremiah 33:14-16; Psalm 25; 1 Thessalonians 3:12-4:2; Luke 21:25-28, 34-36

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      “Teach me your paths.”

      Each of the readings today talks about an adventus, Latin for “coming.” The season of Advent is a time of waiting, of anticipating Christ’s coming, not only at that first Christmas, but especially at the end of time when He will come to gather His elect to Himself. Jeremiah tells us, “The days are coming, says the Lord, when I will fulfill the promise I have made.” In the reading from First Thessalonians, Paul talks about the “coming of our Lord Jesus with all his holy ones.” And Jesus tells us in the Gospel of Luke: “they will see the Son of Man coming in a cloud with power and great glory.”

      What should be our attitude with His coming? The readings seem to focus on calling us to prepare our hearts so that we would be ready to receive Him when He comes. Paul prays for us in the second reading that “the Lord make you increase and abound in love … so as to strengthen your hearts.” In the Gospel, Jesus tells us to “be vigilant at all times and pray.”

      These are all positive images, images of encouragement. Yet, Jesus begins this Gospel passage by telling us of terrible calamities that are to come, so terrible that “people will die of fright in anticipation.” How can our attitude be so different if this is how some will react?

      We look to God for our answer. We submit ourselves to Him and His kingship in our lives. “To you, O Lord, I lift my soul.” As we give ourselves to Him, we can be assured that He will “guide me in your truth and teach me.” He will hold us in the palm of His hand. He will hide us in the shadow of His wings till harm pass by.

      The psalmist tells us to humble ourselves before Him. “He guides the humble to justice, and teaches the humble his way.” Humble yourself before God. Ask forgiveness for your sins. Give your life over to God and let Him have control of your destiny. The psalmist goes on to say, “All the paths of the Lord are kindness and constancy toward those who keep his covenant and his decrees. The friendship of the Lord is with those who fear him.”

      Then, when the end comes, we will not be afraid. Our hearts will not have “become drowsy from … the anxieties of daily life,” and we will not be caught by surprise when these things happen. Instead, we will be at peace in the assurance of God’s faithfulness and mercy and we will be able “to stand erect and raise your heads” when He comes.

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Solemnity of Our Lord Jesus Christ, King of the Universe

Readings: Daniel 7:13-14; Psalm 93; Revelation 1:5-8; John 18:33b-37

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      “For this I was born…to testify to the truth.”

      These words were spoken by Jesus before Pilate as he was about to have Him executed. Pilate’s response, I think, is equally memorable, even though it is not a part of today’s reading: “What is truth?” We know that Jesus claimed that He Himself was truth: “I am the way and the truth and the life” (John 14:6). So, we know that what He is telling Pilate is that He is testifying to Himself.

      He goes on to say, “Everyone who belongs to the truth listens to my voice.” We must listen closely and constantly to His voice, especially as He speaks to us in the Scriptures, so that we would learn what it means to “belong to the truth.”

      Today, we celebrate the feast of Christ the King. As Americans, we do not have a strong grasp on what it means to have a king rule over us. We might be tempted to think of a tyrannical autocrat who lords it over his subjects, but we know that Jesus spoke against that in all three of the synoptic Gospels by telling his disciples, “But it shall not be so among you” (Matthew 20:26; Mark 10:43; Luke 22:26).

      So, He is not a typical king, and we, as His subjects, are not typical subjects. No, those who “belong to the truth” are children of God and thus children of the King. We are not slaves of a despotic ruler, but children of a benevolent Lord. But He is still a king and deserves our respect and awe. We must not become too “familiar” with Him that Jesus becomes our “buddy.” We must not forget that we are sinners who do not deserve any of the gifts that He showers upon us.

      The first reading tells us, “all peoples…serve him.” But how do we serve Him? The second reading tells us that He “has freed us from our sins by his blood” and that He has “made us into a kingdom” and called us to be “priests for his God and Father.” As children of God, we are also made priests, to serve at His altar and worship Him.

      As followers of the Truth, we can trust His laws. “Your decrees are worthy of trust indeed,” the psalmist tells us, because they call us to holiness: “holiness befits your house, O Lord.”

      We, who have been slaves of sin and death, have been liberated by the great King. He has freed us from our past by His great sacrifice on the cross and has made us into a kingdom of sons and daughters who must live out our lives in holiness of truth.

      The Collect summarizes it all by telling us that God’s “will is to restore all things” so “that the whole creation, set free from slavery, may render your majesty service and ceaselessly proclaim your praise.” That is our call as sons and daughters of God, as children of the King.

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Thirty-Third Sunday in Ordinary Time

Readings: Daniel 12:1-3; Psalm 16; Hebrews 10:11-14, 18; Mark 13:24-32

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      “You will show me the path to life.”

      Today’s readings sound a little scary. The prophet Daniel in the first reading tells us, “It shall be a time unsurpassed in distress since nations began…” Then Jesus tells us in the Gospel, “the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light, and the stars will be falling from the sky…” All of this might cause us to be fearful about the end of the world.

      Even in the midst of all that calamity, there is hope, and our hope rests in Christ. In the reading from Daniel, we hear, “at that time your people shall escape, everyone who is found written in the book.” In the Gospel, Jesus assures His followers, “then he will send out the angels and gather his elect.”

      So, the only fear we might have is knowing if we are His elect and our names are found written in the book. Why might we not have this confidence? The answer is sin. When we sin, it blinds us, it darkens our minds and our hearts. We can no longer see God clearly, or sometimes even see His call on our lives. Then we become fearful.

      The Scriptures tell us that “perfect love drives out fear” (1 John 4:18). God is our solution to fear. So, when we sin, we must turn back to God immediately so that He would once again shed His light upon us and we can then see truth.

      In the Letter to the Hebrews, we are told, “by one offering he has made perfect forever those who are being consecrated. Where there is forgiveness of these, there is no longer offering for sin.” When we call out to the Lord and give ourselves completely to Him, He consecrates us as members of His body. We are “made perfect” by His atoning sin. Obviously, we are not yet perfect in this life, but by His atonement, we can be perfected.

      “You will show me the path to life.” God gives us the Way, and His name is Jesus. “You are my allotted portion and my cup,” the psalmist tells us. “It is you who hold fast my lot.” If we give ourselves to Jesus, He will hold us in the palm of His hand. He will hide us in the shadow of His wings. He will protect us from all evil.

      Then we can claim with the psalmist, that we will receive “fullness of joys in your presence, the delights at your right hand forever.”

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Thirty-Second Sunday in Ordinary Time

Readings: 1 Kings 17:10-16; Psalm 146; Hebrews 9:24-28; Mark 12:38-44

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      “Do not be afraid…”

      The widow of Zarephath has just explained her dire situation to the prophet Elijah and he responds thus. Then he challenges her to put her faith into practice. He asks her to give him from her meager possessions almost all she has, but then he gives her a promise: “the jar … shall not go empty, nor the jug … run dry.”

      What must have been going through her mind when he said these words to her? I believe she must have been a woman of faith and had already been praying for a miracle from God, some sign that He would come to her aid and help her. Perhaps she had finally given up on believing God: “when we have eaten … we shall die.”

      The words from this man stir her hope again. She believes that what he has spoken to her is a sign from God. She trusts and does as Elijah asks. Then she sees her miracle. She sees that miracle the very next day when she opens the jar of flour and pours from the jug of oil. She continues to see that miracle every day for a year! It all started with that one moment of stepping out in trust and offering pretty much everything she had.

      The poor widow in the Gospel mirrors this story. She also must have been a woman of faith, and she also gave all she had to the Lord. Jesus declares, “This poor widow put in more than all the other contributors…” God was not looking at the size of her gift; He was looking at the size of her heart as she gave. We can only assume that God also took care of her after this and provided for all her needs as well.

      How is God calling you to step out in faith and give all you have? What areas of your life do you need to see the miracles of God at work? Are you willing to take that first step of faith, to go “all in,” as the gamblers say? Will you trust God enough to know that He will provide for you? You might even see a miracle or two along the way!

      Christ is our exemplar, as we see in the reading from Hebrews. “Once for all he has appeared … to take away sin by his sacrifice,” the reading tells us. Christ was “all in” for us and now it is our turn to be “all in” for Him.

      Do not be afraid. The psalmist tells us, “The Lord keeps faith forever … the fatherless and the widow he sustains.” Trust Him. Offer your heart to Him, fully and completely, holding nothing back. Then watch and see the miracles He performs in your life.

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Thirty-First Sunday in Ordinary Time

Readings: Deuteronomy 6:2-6; Psalm 18; Hebrews 7:23-28; Mark 12:28b-34

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      “You are not far from the kingdom of God.”

      Jesus speaks these enigmatic words to the scribe who asks Him the question in today’s Gospel: “Which is the first of all the commandments?”

      When the scribe applauds Jesus’ answer and responds “with understanding,” this is how Jesus answers him. Not “you’re in the kingdom; you made it,” but that “you are not far” from it. What is missing? What must the scribe yet do to enter the kingdom?

      Perhaps we find the answer in the very words Jesus speaks. “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind, and with all your strength.” The scribe has made a mental assent to the Scripture; he loves the Lord with his mind, but does he love the Lord with his heart, his soul, his strength? We do not know.

      Jesus, who sees the heart, knows. He sees someone striving after truth, someone taking what he knows and desiring to learn more, to go beyond himself, to dig deeper in his quest for truth. Jesus’ answer is an encouragement to him; He wants him to go deeper, to learn more, to reach the point where his love becomes self-surrender.

      As human beings, our love so often falls short of the love that God has for us. We love conditionally; we have not learned the gift of total self-surrender.

      How do we learn it? Jesus gives us the first commandment: to love God with all that we have and all that we are. We can only love God that way if we first let Him love us. In one of John’s epistles, he states, “We love because he first loved us.” Learn to receive God’s love first, and with that as your foundation, you can learn to love God wholeheartedly. Then you can respond to the second commandment as well; you can love your neighbor as yourself, because you will truly love yourself as God loves you.

      Too many of us have a self-love that is unhealthy, twisted by our sin-nature. Many of us have no self-love. Build your relationship with God and you will see all that change. Spend time with Him, not only in prayer, but in adoration, especially before the Blessed Sacrament, in more frequent attendance at Mass, listening to Christian music, even spending time in nature. Begin to recognize God as your source, as your strength, as your rock, your fortress, your deliverer, as the psalmist states. As you grow in your relationship with Him, your natural response to His outpouring of love will be to love Him in return. The more you love, the more you find yourself capable of greater love.

      You will see that love manifested in your relationships with others as well. You will be able to love them more, and it won’t be a love of the world, but truly a love that comes from God. You will be able to see in your brothers and sisters, and even the “least of these,” the face of Christ. Then you will be able to love them as Christ calls you to love.

      Recognize that Christ, the great high priest, “lives forever to make intercession” for you in order that you would draw closer to God. Open your heart. Take the first step to meet Christ, and He will take you from there, that “you may grow and prosper the more.”

      As you learn and grow in God—in Christ—you will begin to understand with the scribe how much greater it is to love God than to perform any devotional practice, make any sacrifice, give any alms, or do any of the other little practices that we think might please God. Begin to love God as He has called you to and you will find that you yourself “are not far from the kingdom of God.”

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Thirtieth Sunday in Ordinary Time

Readings: Jeremiah 31:7-9; Psalm 126; Hebrews 5:1-6; Mark 10:46-52

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      “…but he kept calling out all the more…”

      Have you ever experienced calling out to Jesus for a need that you have, and you feel like your prayer is making it no further than the ceiling? Has it felt like God must not hear your prayer, or else wouldn’t He answer it?

      Then there are other voices that tell you to stop wasting your time praying for that need. You are foolish to keep asking when it’s obvious that God is not going to answer you. It is then that you need to have the tenacity of Bartimaeus, the faith of that man who knew what Jesus could do for him and was not going to stop until he had an answer.

      Look at what happens next in the reading. “Jesus stopped.” He heard him! Bartimaeus’ voice was not drowned out by the naysayers. However, Jesus did not approach him. Instead, He tells the others to call him. Though Jesus had not come to him or called him Himself, Bartimaeus still believed. “He threw aside his cloak, sprang up, and came to Jesus.” Pretty amazing for a blind man! Yet nothing was going to stop him. He was determined to meet Jesus and ask for His mercy.

      We hear the theme of God calling echoed in each of the readings today. Jeremiah says, “I will gather them from the ends of the world, with the blind and the lame in their midst…I will console them and guide them; I will lead them…” The Letter to the Hebrews says of the priesthood, “No one takes this honor upon himself but only when called by God.”

      In our blindness, we call out to God. We do not see that it is He who is calling to us. He desires us to draw near to Him so that we might be healed of our blindness and our deafness. Sometimes He uses other people to call us to Himself. Do we recognize our need enough to know that Jesus calls us in order to heal us from the sickness of our sin? Will we throw aside the things that make us comfortable and spring to our feet, blind though we are, and come to Jesus?

      If we do, we can expect Jesus to do great things for us. When He does, we will be able to understand the response of the psalmist when he experienced freedom: “we were like men dreaming. Then our mouth was filled with laughter, and our tongue with rejoicing.”

      Cry out today to God. Do not stop crying out for your need, but also listen. Listen for God to call to you. When He does, throw aside everything that might encumber you and run to His side so that you might receive His healing, His mercy. Then you will be filled with joy.

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Twenty-Ninth Sunday in Ordinary Time

Readings: Isaiah 53:10-11; Psalm 33; Hebrews 4:14-16; Mark 10:35-45

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      “Let your mercy be on us, as we place our trust in you.”

      Much of our faith is a mystery: hard to understand and harder yet to live out. We struggle with the mystery of suffering, and especially with trying to understand how God can use suffering in our lives and the lives of those we love. Yet, Jesus tells us in the Gospel today that it is inevitable for us human beings. We will suffer. “The cup that I drink, you will drink, and with the baptism with which I am baptized, you will be baptized.”

      None of us desires suffering. But we know it is part of the human condition and it will come to us. I once had a friend tell me that to grow in my Christian faith, I would need to learn to suffer well. I still feel like I am only beginning to understand what he meant.

      In the reading from the prophet Isaiah, we are told about the suffering servant: “Because of his afflictions, he shall see the light in fullness of days; through his suffering my servant shall justify many, and their guilt he shall bear.” That tells me a lot about the purpose of Jesus’ suffering and makes it very clear to me why He had to undergo it. Then I think of my suffering, and it takes a much greater leap of faith to understand how that can be joined to His suffering to become something redemptive for me or those I love.

      I get it that tribulations can build character. I also get that when you have nothing else but God, then you will turn to Him and beg for His mercy, but I feel like there is so much more to the mystery of our suffering that I do not understand and perhaps never will … in this life. That’s okay. I don’t need to understand it to accept it from God. That’s where the trust comes in.

      The psalmist says, “See, the eyes of the Lord are upon those who fear him, upon those who hope for his kindness, to deliver them from death, and preserve them in spite of famine.” God does not eliminate hardship and death, but He “preserves” and “delivers” us in the midst of it.

      The reading from Hebrews tells us that Jesus understands our struggles. “We do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who has similarly been tested in every way…” He knows what we feel. He knows how hard it is.

      One thing I am beginning to understand more and more: I always need to call out to the Lord in my struggles. I need to rely on Him in the midst of any hardship, and He will walk with me. Sometimes He will carry me, but He will always be there, with me.

      The Letter to the Hebrews tells me that I can “confidently approach the throne of grace to receive mercy and to find grace for timely help.” So I pray the Entrance Antiphon with confidence: “To you I call; for you will surely heed me, O God; turn your ear to me; hear my words. Guard me as the apple of your eye; in the shadow of your wings protect me.”

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Twenty-Eighth Sunday in Ordinary Time

Readings: Wisdom 7:7-11; Psalm 90; Hebrews 4:12-13; Mark 10:17-30

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      “Jesus, looking at him, loved him…”

      Before Mass today, I read a little devotional that talked about the Gospel encounter between Jesus and the rich young man. It explained that the young man understood the basics of his faith, but that Jesus wanted to call him higher, to not only do the good things that religion requires, but to give his heart fully to the Lord so that the things he would do would be done out of love.

      I was pondering this meditation when I heard the first readings. The author of the reading from Wisdom clearly desires wisdom above all things. He recognizes that to receive wisdom opens him up to receive everything else he could possibly want.

      The psalm takes it a step further. The psalmist tells us that his desire is to “gain wisdom of heart.” Not just head wisdom, but wisdom of heart. His prayer is: “fill us with your love, O Lord, and we will sing for joy!” It is clear that the wisest thing we can seek is to love God. As we do, we experience true happiness: “we may shout for joy and gladness all our days.”

      In the Letter to the Hebrews, it tells us that the word of God is “able to discern reflections and thoughts of the heart.” In the next sentence, it says “no creature is concealed from HIM.” Not it, but Him. Who? The Word of God. Christ Himself.

      We see this very clearly in the Gospel. The young man approaches Jesus with zeal and sincerity, but the Word Made Flesh sees the heart. He sees the immature faith of this young man, who has learned how to practice a religion, but has not taken the next step to make that commitment to love through his actions. Still, Jesus looks at him and loves him.

      I can imagine Jesus thoughts about this young man as he kneels before him: You have such enthusiasm for the faith and such sincerity of heart, but you just don’t get it. It’s more than actions. Those actions mean nothing if there is no love. It needs to be the radical self-giving love that is the hallmark of the gospel, the kind of love Jesus has for us.

      I hear so often today about learning scriptural principles that will change your life and make everything better. Or with a devotion, if you do it just right, you are promised to receive blessings. What is the quickest and simplest way to have “success” in our faith? What requires the least amount of work? But it can’t be that way. It has to be about giving your heart away.

      The young man in the gospel was not ready to take the next step and so he went away sad. I wonder sometimes if I’m not ready either. Then I think of Peter’s words to Jesus, “To whom shall we go?” In the Christian faith, there is no turning back. If you continue to press forward, you will eventually have to embrace the cross. Peter reminds Jesus today that “we have given up everything and followed you.” Jesus, in turn, tells him to expect abundant blessings, but also the cross. There’s no way around it. You only get to the resurrection through the cross.

      I go back to the words of the psalm for comfort. I say with the psalmist, “Make us glad, for the days when you afflicted us, for the years when we saw evil.”

      Christ promises us in the end that we will see resurrection. We pray in the Prayer after Communion, that Jesus “may make us sharers of his divine nature,” and in the Offertory Prayer, that “we may pass over to the glory of heaven.”

      “Go, sell what you have,” Jesus tells the rich man, and He tells us as well. It’s not just material possessions, but any of the things that we hold onto that are keeping us from growing in our relationship with God. “Go, sell what you have…then come follow me.”

      Are we ready for Christ to take us to another level of faith? He waits for us to respond. He looks at us and loves us, but He wants to call us higher. You can never stay where you’re at with Jesus; you either have to go higher or you have to walk away. The choice is always yours. And He will love you either way. But only one of those choices will make you truly happy.

      Choose today whom you will serve. As for me and my household, we will serve the Lord.

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Twenty-Seventh Sunday in Ordinary Time

Readings: Genesis 2:18-24; Psalm 128; Hebrews 2:9-11; Mark 10:2-16

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      “If we love one another…His love is brought to perfection in us.”

      The major portion of the readings today talks about marriage and how God sees the union of a husband and a wife. St. Paul tells us in Ephesians that the relationship of husband and wife models the relationship of Christ and His church. So, as we see Christ dealing with His church in the Scriptures and we see how the church responds, this should help married couples to understand how to live out their relationship in order to be “perfected” in holiness.

      There is an even greater lesson here for all of us: how we, as the bride of Christ, need to live in Him in order to find our own road to perfection.

      The reading from Hebrews tells us that “He who consecrates and those who are being consecrated all have one origin.” Christ became like us in the flesh that we would be able to be joined to Him in a marriage covenant of faith. As His bride, we become one with Him when we surrender our lives to Him.

      He was made “perfect through suffering.” I read a commentary that suggested the meaning of “perfect” in this case was “complete.” Through His life, death, and resurrection, He made our salvation complete. We, as His bride, must follow Him. If we desire to follow Him into life, we must also follow Him to the cross in order to reach that life that waits on the other side. We don’t go looking for suffering—it will find us easily enough—but when we suffer, we can offer that suffering for our growth in holiness and for others as well. In that, we can love one another.

      In the Gospel reading, Jesus immediately begins to talk about becoming childlike as soon as He has finished His teaching on God’s plan for marriage. Again, if we recognize God’s call to the heavenly marriage feast, then we can appreciate the docility, the childlikeness, that God desires of us in order to be in relationship with Him. He wants us to be open, to be completely trusting, to run into His outstretched arms. We may have sinned and been “hard of heart” as the Israelites were, but when God calls us, we need to let Him soften our hearts so that we would not be afraid to embrace Him and let Him cleanse us and heal us.

      Then we can pray the Collect, the opening prayer at Mass, with conviction: “Almighty ever-living God, who in the abundance of your kindness surpass the merits and the desires of those who entreat you, pour out your mercy upon us to pardon what conscience dreads and to give what prayer does not dare to ask.”

      We can experience the fullness of relationship with God in the eternal marriage covenant as we empty ourselves of self and run to Him like a child. Then He will gather us in His arms and hold us close to His Sacred Heart for eternity.

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Twenty-Sixth Sunday in Ordinary Time

Readings: Numbers 11:25-29; Psalm 19; James 5:1-6; Mark 9:38-43, 45, 47-48

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      “Cleanse me from my unknown faults.”

      Sometimes it’s easy to see our “wanton” sin; that sin that we recognize as sin but choose to do anyway. We pray, asking for God to deliver us from that. “Restrain your servant,” the psalmist prays, “let it not rule over me.”

      What of our unknown faults? Like Joshua in the first reading, are we jealous of others who are gifted by God in ways we don’t believe they deserve? Or, like John in the Gospel reading, do we resent those who are gifted by God but do “not follow us”? What is this hidden sin that we do not acknowledge?

      Could it be pride? Are we like the Pharisee in the parable of the Pharisee and the Tax Collector when we tell God how good we are and how we follow all the rules and are “not like the rest of humanity”? James excoriates his readers, telling them just how wrong has been their focus. “You have stored up treasures,” he declares, but those treasures will mean nothing when we face God at the final judgment. What He will hear are the cries of those we have treated wrongly during life in order to get those treasures. James goes on to say, “You have lived on earth in luxury and pleasure; you have fattened your hearts for the day of slaughter.”

      Is there no hope for us? Jesus wants to make it very clear that we must radically root out everything in our life that does not lead us to Him and His kingdom. When have we put our hands to tasks that advance us but hurt others? When have we stepped foot in places we should not have gone, just to satisfy our passions? When have we chosen to look at things—or people—in ways that do not please the Lord? Jesus tells us in no uncertain terms to cut those things out of our lives.

      As we do this, we must replace these unholy things with what God desires of us. “The law of the Lord is perfect, refreshing the soul,” the psalmist tells us. Do we need refreshing? Do we desire to lift the heavy burdens of our life off us and be at peace? Then we must follow the Lord’s laws. The psalmist again tells us, “The precepts of the Lord give joy to the heart.”

      Follow the ways of the Lord, not in pride of your accomplishments, thinking you are holier than others. Recognize that it is God in His mercy Who has rescued you from your unknown faults and will restore you and refresh you.

      The Entrance Antiphon, taken from the book of Daniel, sums it up well: “All that you have done to us, O Lord, you have done with true judgment, for we have sinned against you and not obeyed your commandments. But give glory to your name and deal with us according to the bounty of your mercy.”

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Twenty-Fifth Sunday in Ordinary Time

Readings: Wisdom 2:12, 17-20; Psalm 54; James 3:16-4:3; Mark 9:30-37

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      “The Lord upholds my life.”

      Each day, we experience a barrage of evil coming at us, from the world, the flesh, and the devil. People with evil intentions try to hurt us, our own selfish desires try to rule us, and the tempter, who knows our weaknesses, attacks us there. We are surrounded on all sides by those who wish us harm. Yet we are safe in the hands of Jesus.

      The psalmist tells us, “The haughty have risen up against me, the ruthless seek my life.” In the Book of Wisdom, the author tells us that there are those who want to “put the just one to the test” to see if “God will defend him and deliver him.” And James tells us, “You fight and wage war…you kill and envy.” Even in the Gospel, while Jesus is discussing His coming death and resurrection, the apostles are busy arguing about who among them is the first. We are a sorry lot, this human race.

      Yet God loves us. He tells us to call out to Him in prayer even in the midst of our petty disagreements and misunderstandings. “O God, by your name save me, and by your might defend my cause. O God, hear my prayer; hearken to the words of my mouth.”

      Know that God will answer us. The psalmist goes on to say, “God is my helper; the Lord sustains my life.” But God desires to teach us through these difficult times. He wants us to learn from our shortcomings and grow in our faith. Jesus tells the Apostles, “If anyone wishes to be first, he shall be the last of all and the servant of all.”

      It seems the way of the Lord is never the easy way. But we can continue to struggle and strive after our own choices, which we know will only make us unhappy in the end, or we can do it His way and ultimately find happiness. Jesus gives us the example of a little child once again. In other places in the Scriptures, He has told us, “Unless you turn and become like children, you will not enter the kingdom of heaven.” Today, He tells us that we must receive the little ones—the poor, the suffering, the lost—in His name and when we do, we receive Jesus and also the Father.

      In another place, the Scriptures tell us, “My thoughts are not your thoughts, nor are your ways My ways.” God does not just desire to change our minds. He desires to change our hearts, to transform us, so that we can think differently. He wants to give us the mind of Christ so that we would understand how to receive a child in His name, how to love like He loves, how to act like He acted.

      We must let go of ourselves and our agendas, and offer them to the Lord. Then, instead of the striving and failing that we continue to experience, we will know that truly “the Lord upholds my life.”

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Twenty-Fourth Sunday in Ordinary Time

Readings: Isaiah 50:5-9a; Psalm 116; James 2:14-18; Mark 8:27-35

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      “O Lord, save my life!”

      The psalmist today cries out to God, “The cords of death encompassed me, the snares of the netherworld seized upon me; I fell into distress and sorrow…”

      Have you ever felt that way? Like everything is against you and there doesn’t seem to be any light at the end of the tunnel? Usually it is then that most of us finally decide to cry out to God, begging Him for mercy, for deliverance. The faith that we say we have always had suddenly comes into sharp focus and we reach out to God. No longer is our faith just so many words; it now has to have a reality, or we know we will be lost. In a sense, this is faith in action much like what St James talks about in the second reading.

      Perhaps through this kind of experience, we will begin to realize that our faith is indeed something real, that it is more than just pious thoughts and the practice of attending Mass on Sundays. It is very real and it is life-giving.

      But I think we all intuitively know that it has a price. God freely gives it, but when we receive it, we must activate it in our lives. James challenges us: “Demonstrate your faith to me without works, and I will demonstrate my faith to you from my works.”

      Jesus declares something that sounds even more ominous: “Whoever wishes to come after me must deny himself, take up his cross, and follow me. For whoever wishes to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake and that of the gospel will save it.”

      The gift of faith requires us to take great responsibility. And because we realize that truth at some level of our understanding, we hesitate to ask for it. But God, Who loves us, will put us into positions where we have to acknowledge the dire circumstances we are in, that we must really choose between life and death. And the path to life involves us dying to ourselves.

      So, each of us should “set my face like flint, knowing that I shall not be put to shame,” and follow the Lord. And when we do, we will know that what the psalmist said is true: “For he has freed my soul from death, my eyes from tears, my feet from stumbling … Gracious is the Lord and just; yes, our God is merciful. The Lord keeps the little ones; I was brought low, and he saved me … I shall walk before the Lord in the land of the living.”

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Twenty-Third Sunday in Ordinary Time

Readings: Isaiah 35:4-7a; Psalm 146; James 2:1-5; Mark 7:31-37

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      “The Lord gives sight to the blind; the Lord raises up those who were bowed down.”

      Bowed down under the weight of the world, we slog through life burdened and unhappy. Each day is a drudgery; each task seems harder to bear. We go around on the same wheel, over and over again, never finding any relief, like the mouse caught in a cage.

      But God has promised to raise us up! Often, when God teaches us about the blind and the lame and the deaf and the mute being healed, He is talking about more than just physical healing. He is also talking about spiritual healing. He cures our blindness that does not allow us to see His actions in the world. He cures our lameness that does not allow us to run to Him in times of need. He cures our deafness so that we can hear His voice when He speaks to us. He cures our muteness and gives us a voice to praise Him.

      In the reading from the Letter of Saint James, he tells us not to look at appearances, recognizing that it is often the poor ones, the ones you least expect, who are the ones that God has called and chosen to carry out His mission on the earth. Perhaps even you are one of the poor ones He is calling now.

      God wants to take us outside our comfort zone. He wants to raise us up to greater things than we have seen or done before. He wants new life for us, perhaps maybe even more than we do.

      We can remain bowed down and continue to slog through life. Or we could recognize our deliverer and allow Him to touch us, to heal us of our blindness, our lameness, our deafness, our muteness, and bring us into the kingdom of His light.

      Look up. Recognize the time of your visitation. And receive all that God wants to give to you, no matter how poor you think you are. Let Him transform you with His love so that you can acclaim, as the man in the Gospel today, “He has done all things well.”

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Twenty-Second Sunday in Ordinary Time

Readings: Deuteronomy 4:1-2, 6-8; Psalm 15; James 1:17-18, 21b-22, 27; Mark 7:1-8, 14-15, 21-23

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      “Every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no alteration or shadow caused by change.” God doesn’t change, and every gift we have comes from Him.

      We hear so much today about how the Church has to change with the times and “update” itself so that it can meet the challenges of today. But we hear that God is unchanging. Does that mean that He is no longer relevant because He doesn’t fit our modern way of thinking?

      There are those who will tell you that is true. But most of us are very shortsighted. We don’t see the big picture. And only God sees the entire picture, not only how everything affects everything else, but also how the past and the future all fit together.

      In the reading from Deuteronomy, Moses declares this truth when he tells the people to listen to the commandments that God has given them and that they should “not add to what I command you nor subtract from it.” The law that God gives is just, and when people recognize that truth, they can’t help but believe that “this great nation is a truly a wise and intelligent people.”

      Unfortunately, the nature of man is that we cannot seem to accept God’s plan as it is. We have to embellish it. We have to deviate off the course He has given us. We are stubborn and willful and independent. We can’t seem to find our rest in God. And so, we end up creating our own kingdoms instead of building His kingdom, and then we fiercely defend that kingdom we have built, even if it means that it will lead to our destruction.

      But, of course, we don’t see that end. Like I said, we are shortsighted. I’m sure the Pharisees believed they were being holy and upright and pleasing to God with all the rules and regulations they had developed. But the rules became an end in themselves. They lost the meaning of WHY they were doing what they were doing. Jesus saw through this and declared it plainly to them: “This people honors me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me.”

      Have we also gotten into a pattern of observing a bunch of rules for our life that give us a sense of order, of control over things, but our hearts are far from God and the plan He intended for us? Have we even stopped asking God to reveal His plan to us? Have we settled into a comfortable routine of following our own rules and doing what we believe is right?

      Is it time for you to turn back to God and ask Him once more to reveal to you His next steps in the plan for your life? Is it time to put aside all the rules and habits and routines you’ve developed to find a comfortable rhythm to life, and now reach out in the darkness to your heavenly Father, who IS light, and ask Him to clear away the shadows you have created by your poor choices, and to reveal in His marvelous light the path He desires you to take?

      Listen to the Lord. Follow His ways. The psalmist tells us that “the one who does justice will live in the presence of the Lord.” To do justice is to do the will of God. If you follow God’s will, you will live in His presence, and “the word that has been planted in you” will be “able to save your souls.”

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Twenty-First Sunday in Ordinary Time

Readings: Joshua 24:1-2a, 15-17, 18b; Psalm 34; Ephesians 5:21-32; John 6:60-69

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      “To whom shall we go?” These words have always struck me as words of desperation. I believe Peter and the other apostles didn’t fully understand what Jesus was telling them, but they couldn’t give up, they couldn’t turn back like some of the others around them were doing. They had to see it through.

      Compare this with the response of the people in the first reading. “Therefore we…will serve the Lord, for he is our God.” They spoke these words with such confidence. They declared all the works they had seen and how they knew that God was with them. Yet, the Israelites wandered in the desert for 40 years and most of the generation that witnessed these mighty deeds had died. So, the ones who spoke that day were more than likely the ones who had heard the stories from their forebears and had not actually witnessed these things themselves. Their confident assurance of following God was not as strong as it first appears. And ultimately, they ended up failing God and not serving Him.

      There’s a Scripture that says, “Your loyalty is like the morning mist, like the dew that disappears early.” The Israelites were so ready to say they would follow God, but their promise was short-lived. And later, we will see Peter himself fail spectacularly in following Christ.

      Are then our promises to God worthless? Should we even bother promising our allegiance to Him, knowing that we will fail? Absolutely, we should. “When the just cry out, the Lord hears them, and from all their distress he rescues them.” And again, “Many are the troubles of the just one, but out of them all the Lord delivers him.”

      God is a God of infinite mercy. He knows our weakness. He knows our failure to follow Him. He is always calling out to us, always reaching out to us to rescue us from the pits we have dug for ourselves. He is faithful even when we are unfaithful.

      Following Christ is not a life of carefree bliss, where everything always works our well. It is messy and full of pitfalls and disappointments. But always God is walking with us through it, and He waits for us to cry out to Him, so that He would scoop us up into His loving arms and carry us through.

      “Taste and see the goodness of the Lord.” Recall in your own life how many times you have wandered from Him and how many times He rescued you and brought you back to Himself. His desire is to be one with you. He gives Himself totally to you as a husband does to his wife, even to the point of giving His life for you. And He does this to sanctify you, to cleanse you, so that you “might be holy and without blemish.”

      Rest in the Lord. Continue to promise Him you will follow Him and continue to cry out to Him when you have failed to keep your promise. He will rescue you and take you back to Himself as a man takes a bride. Then we can say with the psalmist, “I will bless the Lord at all times, his praise shall ever be in my mouth. Let my soul glory in the Lord.”

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