MUSINGS

The Baptism of the Lord

Readings: Isaiah 42:1-4, 6-7; Psalm 29; Acts of the Apostles 10:34-38; Matthew 3:13-17

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      “Jesus said to him in reply, ‘Allow it for now, for thus it is fitting for us to fulfill all righteousness.’” These are the words we hear Jesus speak in the Gospel today after John protests about baptizing Him. I have to admit, when I first heard them, my response was, “What does that mean?”

      So, I studied the Scriptures a little to find some answers. I found out that the word “righteousness” is used 137 times in the Bible. Several Scriptures in Romans compare the righteousness of God with our righteousness. One of my favorite Scriptures on righteousness is from Second Corinthians: “For our sake He made Him to be sin Who did not know sin, so that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.” (2 Corinthians 5:21)

      Jesus, the righteous one, came that we might put aside our paltry righteousness and become the very righteousness of God through Him!

      In today’s reading from Isaiah, it says that Jesus “shall bring forth justice to the nations” and establish “justice on the earth.” He will be “a light for the nations, to open the eyes of the blind, to bring out prisoners from confinement, and from the dungeon those who live in darkness.”

      Peter echoes that in the reading from Acts. Jesus “went about doing good and healing all those oppressed by the devil.”

      Last week, the Epiphany manifested Jesus to the Gentiles. Today, we see another manifestation of the reality of who Jesus is before He begins His public ministry. As He rises from His baptism in the Jordan, “the heavens were opened for Him” and John saw “the Spirit of God descending like a dove and coming upon Him.”

      Jesus has opened the way for us to become the righteousness of God. In Ephesians, Chapter 5, it says, “For you were once darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Live as children of light, for light produces every kind of goodness and righteousness and truth.”

      Call out to Jesus and commit your life to Him. Allow the Spirit to live in you today. He will make you the very righteousness of God so that your life will produce every kind of goodness and righteousness and truth. What more could you need?

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The Epiphany of the Lord

Readings: Isaiah 60:1-6; Psalm 72; Ephesians 3:2-3a, 5-6; Matthew 2:1-12

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      “Lord, every nation on earth will adore you.”

      Epiphany means “showing.” Perhaps a more dynamic word might be “revelation.” Jesus reveals Himself to the world today as Lord, King, and Savior through the visit of the magi. If I read the passage correctly, the star appeared at Jesus’ birth, and the wise men came from the East to find the child. The trip took upwards of two years, and when they arrived, “on entering the house they saw the child with Mary his mother.” Although we often picture the wise men at the side of the manger on Christmas night, the Scriptures tell us it was actually a few years later and the Holy Family had by then moved into a house. Imagine what it must have been like for Mary to see these exotic strangers come to her door after all this time to look for this child whom they declared to her was a king! After the strange happenings at His birth and the amazing things she saw when He was taken to the temple for His presentation, life had finally started to settle down for the little family. Now these strangers appear, bringing curious and costly gifts for her child. How she must have marveled once again as she observed her Son, now just a toddler.

      Do we ourselves get that way with Jesus? Have we settled into a familiarity and comfort with our idea of Christ and His place in our lives? This feast is a reminder to step back and once more marvel at this little Child who came into the world so unobtrusively, yet even the heavens marveled by producing a new star!

      “Darkness covers the earth, and thick clouds cover the peoples, but upon you the Lord shines, and over you appears His glory…” A new day has dawned for us. We no longer need to walk in the darkness of sin. Christ, our light, has come to set us free! “For He shall rescue the poor when he cries out; and the afflicted when he has no one to help him.” “Then you shall be radiant at what you see; your heart shall throb and overflow.” For the Lord has come to save you!

      Let today be an epiphany for you. Realize the tremendous love God has for you, that He would come into this world to save you, to give you new life, to change your heart. Your life will never be the same again, and it is all because of that little Child that came into the world 2,000 years ago.

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The Holy Family of Jesus, Mary, and Joseph

Readings: Sirach 3:2-7, 12-14; Psalm 128; Colossians 3:12-21; Matthew 2:13-15, 19-23

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      “The angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream.”

      For me, Joseph seems to take center stage again in today’s Gospel. What stands out to me is that it appears the angel came to Joseph in a dream at least three more times! The angel tells him to leave for Egypt, then the angel tells him when it is safe to return, and finally the angel warns him not to go back to Judea, but instead, to settle in Nazareth. Each time, Joseph obeys unquestioningly.

      What a model Joseph must have been for Jesus. Although he was God, Jesus was also very human. There are those who believe that Jesus gradually came to understand who He was. I disagree. I believe He always knew who He was, as the story of His parents finding Him in the temple should prove. But I think it also proves that Jesus was still very human and had to mature His understanding. He was still a child and He thought like a child at that time.

      So, I do not discount the effect His parents had on Him. Although He was God, He learned much of how to live a human life from His parents. Joseph’s incredible obedience to the word of God and Mary’s deep pondering of the word of God must have had a great impact on Jesus as He grew into the man we see in Scripture. What Paul talks about in Colossians: putting on “heartfelt compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness, and patience, bearing with one another, and forgiving one another” were probably the hallmarks of family life that Jesus grew up with. Having godly and holy parents like Joseph and Mary gave Jesus the foundation He needed to choose the way He would live out His ministry.

      They say that, for children, lessons are more often caught than taught. In other words, what we do is more often picked up by our children that what we tell them. Are you a good role model for your children? Do you reflect the person of Christ in your life when no one else sees, except maybe your children?

      Mary and Joseph knew they had a special child. I’m sure they often observed Him with wonder and amazement as He grew up. At the same time, they practiced their faith and grew in holiness so that they could be the kinds of models He needed.

      The choices you make could very well affect the future of your children. Grow in holiness not just for your own sake, but also for those for whom you set an example.

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Fourth Sunday of Advent

Readings: Isaiah 7:10-14; Psalm 24; Romans 1:1-7; Matthew 1:18-24

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      “The virgin shall conceive, and bear a son.”

      When I read the account of Joseph finding out about Mary’s pregnancy, I imagine what it must have been like for him. After asking Mary’s father for permission to marry her, according to Jewish custom, she was already considered to be his wife. They had not yet lived together, but “she was found with child.”

      I believe Mary and her parents tried to explain to Joseph what she had experienced, since I believe she would have told her parents. Who else at that point could she confide in? There is no mention of her visit to Elizabeth in the Gospel of Matthew.

      I’m sure Joseph was torn. He must have loved Mary, which is why he did not expose her to the law. She could have been stoned to death for that offense. He makes up his mind to divorce her quietly to protect her from shame.

      He has gone through the soul searching and has come to a decision that he believes is just and merciful. It is only then that the angel appears to him in a dream and reveals to him that what Mary has claimed is true. Now he must choose between what he believes is right or walk by faith based on what he has heard in a dream.

      There is another tradition that has a slightly different take on this story. Joseph knew Mary’s character and he believed her when she told him about the supernatural origins of her Child. He, not feeling worthy to be in the role of foster father to this Child, decides that he will not become part of this family. The vision in the dream here helps him to have the courage to continue on.

      Either way, wisely, and I’m sure with a great deal of help from the Holy Spirit, he chooses to take Mary as his wife and to claim the child as his own, thus fulfilling prophecy about the savior coming from the line of David.

      Would we do the same? Do we choose based on our best reasoning, maybe even our compassion toward others, or maybe out of fear? While some of these choices can be noble, they are not always God’s plan. Instead, we must choose the “obedience of faith” that Paul talks about that may take us to places we never expected to go and cause us to do things we would never have dreamed of. Yet, if it be God’s will, we could very well change our world and touch the lives of many around us.

       Be open to God’s voice. When you are presented with a dilemma, think it through—reason with your best understanding of what is right—but also take it to prayer and let God show you if there is something greater that you can do. Then, be open to be obedient and follow where God leads you. You can only be blessed for doing so.

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Third Sunday of Advent

Readings: Isaiah 35:1-6a, 10; Psalm 146; James 5:7-10; Matthew 11:2-11

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      “Rejoice in the Lord always; again I say, rejoice. Indeed, the Lord is near.”

      Today is called Gaudete Sunday, which means “rejoice.” That is the central message of the readings today, starting with the Entrance Antiphon: rejoice. What are we to rejoice in? A priest recently told us that a woman approached him and asked why we celebrate Advent as the coming of Christ if He already came 2,000 years ago. What is our anticipation today?

      Yes, it’s true that Christ came in the flesh at Christmas 2,000 years ago. Yes, Christ will come at the end of time to judge the world, and yes, Christ will come for each of us some day to take us home.

      Looking at today’s readings, one thing stood out to me in several places. Christ comes NOW for each of us as well. He comes to do just what He proclaims in today’s Gospel: “the blind regain their sight, the lame walk, lepers are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, and the poor have the good news proclaimed to them.”

      How many of us are blinded by the allurements of the world, lame in our ability—or even desire—to follow in Christ’s footsteps, covered with the leprosy of our sins, deaf to the cries of our neighbors in need, dead in our sin? How poor we truly are in the things that matter for eternity.

      Let the good news be proclaimed. “Strengthen the hands that are feeble, make firm the knees that are weak, say to those whose hearts are frightened, Be strong, fear not! Here is your God, he comes with vindication, with divine recompense, he comes to save you.”

      Rejoice in the fact that, though you may have walked in darkness, Christ your light has come to save you from your sins. “Meet with joy and gladness.” Let “sorrow and mourning…flee.”

      Rejoice in the Lord always. Again, I say rejoice. You need no longer remain in your sin. The Lord “comes and saves us.” Let us receive the King of kings and the Lord of lords anew in our hearts this Christmas that we may truly know joy in His kingdom.

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Second Sunday of Advent

Readings: Isaiah 11:1-10; Psalm 72; Romans 15:4-9; Matthew 3:1-12

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      “He shall judge the poor with justice.”

      Justice is a funny thing. When we are wronged, we want justice. When we do wrong, we want mercy. The Scriptures talk a lot this week about the justice of God, but are we ready to receive His justice?

      In the first reading, it says that the “shoot of Jesse” which we take to mean Christ, “shall come to judge the poor with justice.” In the psalm response, it says that God will endow the king’s son—again we believe this to mean the Christ—with justice. In fact, “justice will flourish in his time.”

      Now we come to the Gospel. John the Baptist does not mince words. He addresses those who were leaders in the church, who performed acts of goodwill for appearance sake rather than doing them from the heart. “Who warned you to flee from the coming wrath?’ he says. In other words, who warned you to try to avoid God’s justice?

      John’s message is clear. God’s justice demands punishment. Christ will come to “clear the threshing floor and gather the wheat into his barn, but the chaff he will burn with unquenchable fire.” We cannot presume that we are the wheat unless we have done what John says: repent, which means to turn away from sin in our lives. We too easily rationalize our sins and let ourselves “off the hook” rather than repenting and turning our lives around. Now is the time to repent; to change the direction of our lives; to live fully for Christ.

      Christ is coming soon. Yes, at Christmastime as a baby, and yes, at the end of time as King of kings and Lord of lords, but none of us knows the day or hour when He will come for us individually. Now is the time to get ready; now is the day of salvation.

      In the Prayer over the Offerings, we pray: “since we have no merits to plead our cause, come, we pray, to our rescue with the protection of your mercy.” With that confidence, we can pray this Advent, “Come, Lord Jesus.”

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First Sunday of Advent

Readings: Wisdom 18:6-9; Psalm 33; Hebrews 11:1-2, 8-19; Luke 12:32-48

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      “Stay awake! For you do not know on which day your Lord will come.”

      Thus begins Advent, the head of the church’s liturgical year. The time of year that reminds us of the coming of our Lord—not only His first coming on that Christmas night 2,000 years ago and His second coming at the end of the world, but also, for many of us, His coming personally to take us home.

      Jesus’ words tell us to be ready “for at an hour you do not expect, the Son of Man will come.” How do we prepare ourselves? How do we get ready?

      One of the ways the church helps to prepare us is to remind us of Christ’s coming during this season of Advent. Unfortunately, in our culture, we want Christmas to be earlier and earlier each year. The lights are up, trees are decorated, carols are played, and of course, there is the shopping and cards to be sent and Christmas parties to plan. Everything is bright and cheerful and full of hustle and bustle. That is the world at this time of year.

      The Church, on the other hand, tells us that now is the time to quiet our hearts and minds and focus on our longing for Christ. It is reminiscent of the Hebrews and their anticipation over the coming of Messiah the first time, but it also focuses on the anticipation of Christ’s final coming. Now is the time we should enter into the silence more deeply, like the snow covers the landscape, and make sure our hearts are ready to receive the Christ when He should come to us.

      St. Paul tells us, “the night is advanced, the day is at hand. Let us throw off the works of darkness and…conduct ourselves properly as in the day.”

      Jesus tells us something similar when he talks about the coming of the Son of Man. “In those days…they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage.” In other words, it’s business as usual.

      Will we be prepared? Or, in these days, are we too busy doing our business as usual—buying our gifts and decorating our homes and attending parties—to realize that we have forgotten to prepare our hearts and souls to receive the King of kings? Will He come at an hour we do not expect and find us not ready to receive Him?

      Sometime during this busy season, take time to stop and quiet yourself and turn to God and ask Him to prepare your heart. That is the most important preparation you can do for Christmas. Don’t delay another minute. Make the time, and then see the fruit in your life of a true joy this coming Christmas.

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Solemnity of Our Lord Jesus Christ, King of the Universe

Readings: 2 Samuel 5:1-3; Psalm 122; Colossians 1:12-20; Luke 23:35-43

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      “Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom.” These words of the criminal on the cross with Jesus really stood out to me today. But the key part that struck me was “when you come into your kingdom.”

      Jesus had preached about the kingdom of God from the beginning of his ministry. This was a central part of His message, yet so many misunderstood what He meant. Even the day of the crucifixion, the rulers, the soldiers, and even the other criminal that hung with Him on the cross did not understood what it meant that Jesus was the Christ, the King. Each of them had their own idea of what the Christ should be and what the coming of His kingdom should mean. Only the “good thief” actually understood what the coming of the kingdom really meant.

      Jesus acknowledged that. He tells the man, “…today you will be with me in Paradise.”

      Do we understand the meaning of the coming of Jesus’ kingdom? Do we understand that “He delivered us from the power of darkness and transferred us to the kingdom of his beloved son, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins”?

      This is not an earthly kingdom of wealth, or fame, or prestige, or power. This is a heavenly kingdom of holiness and righteousness which He is calling us to. He desires to “reconcile all things…making peace by the blood of his cross” so that we can become God’s children, heirs to all that is His.

      The price to become part of this kingdom is costly: we must die to ourselves, our sinful ways, even our ideas of what might make us happy, and accept Him as our king, our ruler. As such, we must accept His plan for our lives, His way of living.

      Do you want to be part of His kingdom? Are you willing to accept His call to live in His kingdom as He sees fit? In the battle for your soul, surrender yourself to the King and let Him adopt you into His family, that you would become part of the “kingdom of truth and life, a kingdom of holiness and grace, a kingdom of justice, love, and peace,” as it proclaims in today’s Preface.

      God is calling. Set down your weapons of warfare—your sin, your self will, your preconceived notions—and surrender to the King of kings and the Lord of lords, that you might experience new life in His kingdom today.

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Thirty-Third Sunday in Ordinary Time

Readings: Malachi 3:19-20a; Psalm 98; 2 Thessalonians 3:7-12; Luke 21:5-19

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      “You are not to prepare your defense beforehand.”

      The temple in Jerusalem was considered at the time of King Herod to be one of the seven wonders of the ancient world. It must have been a magnificent edifice! It’s no wonder that people who came to visit it would marvel at its grandeur.

      Yet, Jesus reminds them that earthly things and earthly accomplishments will all end some day. That is not what is important. Even in His answer, His listeners take the wrong cues and continue to ask the wrong questions. They now want to know how to look for signs of the end: when will this happen?

      Jesus tells them that persecution will come first. That is what they need to be prepared for. How should they prepare? He says, “you are not to prepare your defense beforehand.” He says, “I myself shall give you a wisdom in speaking that all your adversaries will be powerless to resist or refute.”

      I have read so often of martyrs for the faith who spoke incredibly courageous words before their deaths that often turned their executioners’ lives around and they then became believers. What is the secret of what they had that we need? How will we be ready when the day comes “blazing like an oven”? Will we experience its destructive power and become stubble, or will it come for us like “the sun of justice with its healing rays?”

      Our hope lies in our relationship with Jesus. Are we growing daily in our relationship through prayer and acts of service, or are we too busy “minding the business of others” and making ourselves busybodies?

      Christ wants His followers to be prepared. Our instruction manual is the Word of God and the lives of those who have gone before us “marked with the sign of faith.” St. Paul tells us that we must imitate him and the other apostles. Read the Scriptures, study the Word, receive the sacraments, grow in virtue through acts of faith and kindness. Deepen your relationship with God so that you can feel confident that when “they hand you over” and you are “led before kings and governors because of” His name, God will give you the words of testimony to speak that will turn hearts to Him.

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Feast of the Dedication of the Lateran Basilica

Readings: Ezekiel 47:1-2, 8-9, 12; Psalm 46; 1 Corinthians 3:9c-11, 16-17; John 2:13-22

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      “Do you not know that you are the temple of God?”

      Today we celebrate the dedication of the Basilica of St. John Lateran in Rome. This church has a long history, having been dedicated in A. D. 324 as the first basilica of the newly legal Catholic Church. So, if this is a celebration of a building that we call church, why do all the Scriptures talk about people as the church?

      Both are true. The people are the church; St. Paul specifically says, “You are God’s building.” Yet the physical building is also the church, and perhaps almost as significant as the people in being called that.

      In the first reading, Ezekiel sees a vision of the temple (the Hebrew version of “church”) and from it are flowing the life-giving waters that make the sea fresh, and “along the banks of the river, fruit trees of every kind shall grow.”

      The psalm today talks about the “city of God, the holy dwelling of the Most High,” and because God is there, “it shall not be disturbed.”

      St. Paul begins to turn our understanding from a physical building as the source of God’s presence, telling us that we “are the temple of God, and …the Spirit of God dwells in you.” Yet, Jesus in the Gospel takes us right back to the physical temple as a holy place, calling it “my Father’s house.” Then immediately, He confuses His listeners by telling them about raising up His body, which He calls “this temple.” Jesus sees no disparity between calling His body the church and calling the building a church. It is all the same to Him.

      The Preface helps to clarify this unity by telling us “you are pleased to dwell in this house of prayer in order to perfect us as the temple of the Holy Spirit.” It goes on to say, “you sanctify the Church, the Bride of Christ, foreshadowed in visible buildings.”

      Unlike our Protestant brothers and sisters, who recognize the people as the Body of Christ while they can be anywhere, we Catholics understand that the physical building is also holy, and very much connected to our understanding of who we are as the Body of Christ, the church. That’s why so many of our churches at one time were such beautiful spaces, with reminders everywhere—the stained glass windows, the holy water fonts, the great marble altars and altarpieces—that this is a holy place meant to draw us closer to our God.

      So, let us today, as we commemorate this church building dedication, look around at our churches and recognize the Body of Christ in our fellow believers, but also the signs of God’s presence and His calling to us through the very building we worship in.

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The Commemoration of All the Faithful Departed (All Souls’ Day)

Readings: Wisdom 3:1-9; Psalm 23; Romans 5:5-11 (or Romans 6:3-9); John 6:37-40

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      “We shall also be united with him in the resurrection.”

      This is the promise of our faith. St. Paul goes on to say in the Letter to the Romans, “If then, we have died with Christ, we believe that we shall also live with him.” In Baptism, “we were baptized into his death” and, in the end, when we breathe our last breath, Christ promises in the Gospel that, “I shall raise him on the last day.”

      We—whose lives are steeped in sin—how can we expect to stand before a holy God? We have made our confession of faith, but our lives have witnessed to how fickle is our love for God, how short we fall off the mark of His high calling. Praise God that He has promised us a purgation of our sins that we might be made holy to be able to stand before Him in eternity.

      The book of Wisdom tells us, “yet is their hope full or immortality; chastised a little, they shall be greatly blessed, because God tried them and found them worthy of himself.”

      The psalm today tells us, “Even though I walk in the dark valley I fear no evil; for you are at my side with your rod and your staff that give me courage.” With His rod, God disciplines us; with His staff, He guides us in the right path.

      St. Paul, in his Letter to the Romans, tells us, “We were reconciled to God through the death of his Son, how much more, once reconciled, will we be saved by his life.” He makes it clear that the reconciliation with God through Christ’s death is the beginning of our journey to salvation. It is not the end. St. Paul explains this process a little more when he tells us “that our old self was crucified with him, so that our sinful body might be done away with, that we might no longer be in slavery to sin.”

      God’s promise is that He will complete the work He has started in us. Wisdom tells us that “in the time of visitation they shall shine…and the Lord shall be their King forever.” The psalm tells us that “I shall dwell in the house of the Lord for years to come.” And St. Paul tells us, “How much more then, since we are now justified by his Blood, will we be saved through him from the wrath.”

      Finally, Jesus tells us in the Gospel, “For this is the will of my Father, that everyone who sees the Son and believes in him may have eternal life.”

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Thirtieth Sunday in Ordinary Time

Readings: Sirach 35:12-14, 16-18; Psalm 34; 2 Timothy 4:6-8, 16-18; Luke 18:9-14

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      “The prayer of the lowly pierces the clouds.”

      In the Gospel today, Jesus in His parable wants to make very clear the difference between the two men who came to the Temple. First, the Pharisee, the one who follows the law down to the smallest letter, “took up his position and spoke this prayer to himself…,” telling God how worthy he was. The tax collector, the man who was despised by all because of his usually unfair business practices, “would not even raise his eyes to heaven,” but then prayed a sincere prayer from his heart.

      God sees our actions, but more importantly, He knows our hearts. Why we do what we do is as important as what we do, maybe more so. St. Paul, in his first letter to the Corinthians, makes this clear when he tells us that if we do things without love, we are nothing more than a “resounding gong or a clashing cymbal.” We may get noticed, but there is no lasting result, no fruit.

      Our hearts must be right with God if we are to truly serve Him, and, if we truly serve Him, as the reading from Sirach says, our “petition reaches the heavens,” our prayer “pierces the clouds” … “until the Most High responds.”

      Psalm 34 echoes that sentiment when it says, “When the just cry out, the Lord hears them, and from all their distress He rescues them.”

      How are we right with God? How are we just? Only in recognizing our sins and confessing them to the Father, even as the tax collector does in the Gospel. We are poor—our sinfulness causes our poverty. It is only in recognizing this that we can come to the realization that we are very much like that tax collector. We can only beat our breasts before God and pray, “O God, be merciful to me, a sinner.”

      It is too easy to become caught up in our own righteousness, to count off all the wonderful things we have done for God. Even to look down on those who are not as holy and righteous as we are, those who obviously are sinners, which we can recognize by their lifestyle choices. Do we allow them the opportunity to receive God’s mercy, or have we already judged them as not worthy of it?

      Do we instead look at our own righteousness as “so much rubbish,” as St. Paul declares in his letter to the Philippians, so that we “may gain Christ?”

      God is waiting for us to acknowledge our sinfulness, to show Him our brokenness. Whether we want to admit it or not, all of us are broken and sinful, poor and in need of God’s mercy. If we reach out to Him, we will find out as the psalmist declared, “The Lord is close to the brokenhearted; and those who are crushed in spirit He saves.”

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Twenty-Ninth Sunday in Ordinary Time

Readings: Exodus 17:8-13; Psalm 121; 2 Timothy 3:14-4:2; Luke 18:1-8

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      “Jesus told his disciples a parable about the necessity for them to pray always.”

      I am always intrigued by the story of the defeat of Amalek in the seventeenth chapter of Exodus. I looked at the passages before verse 8 and they tell nothing additional about this story. They don’t say that God gave Moses specific instructions of what to do to win the battle, but nonetheless, Moses does have some very specific instructions that he gives to Joshua. It also never mentions why Moses took both Aaron and Hur with him to the hilltop. Still, Moses knows what needs to be done to win the battle.

      What I find intriguing about this reading is that God later told Moses that He would wipe out Amalek, yet Moses had a very specific task to perform, Joshua had his part to play, as did Aaron and Hur. If any of them had not been obedient to their task, God’s victory would not have occurred.

      Looking at Jesus’ parable of the persistent widow, I get some sense of why the battle against Amalek played out the way it did. Jesus starts out the parable by telling his disciples “about the NECESSITY for them to pray always without becoming weary.” Not the importance, not the best practice, not the good idea, but the necessity.

      Why is it necessary? Does God need our prayers to act? Can we somehow influence God by our prayers so that He acts just so we will stop bothering Him, like the judge determines about the widow? No.

      I’ve heard it said that prayer is not about changing God, but that prayer changes us. The more we pray, the more we should take on the mind of God. If we pray the Scriptures, Saint Paul tells us in his letter to Timothy that the Scriptures are “capable of giving us wisdom for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus.” As we pray the Scriptures, God draws us closer to Himself and we begin to take on the mind of Christ, which leads us to salvation.

      Proclaim the Word in your prayer. Be persistent whether it is convenient or inconvenient. Let your prayer rise up to God continuously like fragrant incense. And then watch the changes happen. Maybe not in the circumstances around you, but in yourself as you become the new creation that God desires you to be. The part you play in the mystery of salvation is not to change God’s heart, but to change yours. Play your part and don’t grow weary. You will see the salvation of God in your life.

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Twenty-Eighth Sunday in Ordinary Time

Readings: 2 Kings 5:14-17; Psalm 98; 2 Timothy 2:8-13; Luke 17:11-19

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      “In the sight of the nations he has revealed his justice.”

      I have always liked the story of Naaman, though I’m not sure why. Here is a man who is not an Israelite, who does not practice the ways of Judaism, nor perhaps even understands them, yet God heals him through the prophet Elisha. His response, I expect, stems from his paganism. He wants to take back to his home some of the earth of Israel so that he can worship the God of Israel. Even in his healing, he has barely begun to understand what it means to worship and serve the true God.

      The same is probably true of the Samaritan in the Gospel. Jesus, at another time in the Gospels, tells a Samaritan woman that the Samaritans do not understand Who they worship. In this Gospel story today, we have a Samaritan who does not practice the faith of his Hebrew brethren in the same way as they do. In those times, if a leper was healed, he would show himself to the priest and the priest would declare that he could now return to his people since he was clean. I assume the other nine lepers did exactly as Jesus had told them, thinking that was enough. “Show yourselves to the priests.” But one, who was not as observant as the others, stopped when he realized he was healed and returned to the source of his healing, and thanked Him.

      What is our takeaway from all this? I think that the leprosy in the stories allegorically represents sin in our lives. When we ask for cleansing from our sins, do we do only that which is expected of us and then go our way? Or do we really realize the magnitude of what it means that God has cleansed us of our sins, and we are now free to follow Him? Paul, in his letter to Timothy, says that if we are unfaithful, Christ will remain faithful to us. If we sin, God is still there to forgive us our sin and to cleanse us. He also says that if we deny Christ, then He will deny us. Being unfaithful—sinning—is not the same as denying Christ. It is certainly not good; it makes us sick spiritually, and we know that if one remains sick for a long time or gets worse, they eventually die. The same is true in our spiritual lives.

      We have a remedy for our sickness. It is the forgiveness of Jesus! He remains faithful to us if we sin and then repent. We must come to Him for our healing, and when we receive that healing, we should return to Him in gratitude and thanksgiving.

      The priest at Mass reminded us that “Eucharist” in Greek means “thanksgiving.” What better way to return to Christ in thanksgiving for healing from our sins than to receive the Eucharist? We are thankful for His forgiveness, and He, in turn, gives us more of Himself! He gives and we receive. Even in our thankfulness, God outgives us! Oh, what love He has for us.

      I still long for the day when I will see people coming forward to receive the Eucharist who will be weeping for the knowledge that they are indeed not worthy to receive Him, but that God makes them worthy through His love and forgiveness.

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Twenty-Seventh Sunday in Ordinary Time

Readings: Habakkuk 1:2-3, 2:2-4; Psalm 95; 2 Timothy 1:6-8, 13-14; Luke 17:5-10

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      “The just one, because of his faith, shall live.”

      It seems whenever the disciples of Jesus ask him a question, he rarely answers it directly. They ask, “Increase our faith.” His response would tend to make one think that he does not believe they have any faith at all! “If you had even the tiniest bit of faith,” he appears to say, “you could make miracles happen!” Then he goes on to tell them that if they are obedient and do all that is expected of them, don’t expect to be congratulated for it; that’s what you’re supposed to be doing!

      In the reading from Timothy, Paul tells Timothy to stir into flame the gift of God he received, the gift of faith, so that he is able to bear the hardships that follow from preaching the Gospel.

      In the psalm, God calls us not to harden our hearts as the ancient Israelites had done even though they saw the miracles of God in the desert. Finally, in Habakkuk, the writer asks God to intervene and help him, and God answers by saying he should wait! “The rash one has no integrity; but the just one, because of his faith, shall live.” He shall live BECAUSE OF HIS FAITH!

      What is faith? The Scriptures tell us that “faith is the realization of what is hoped for and evidence of things not seen.” It is knowing the truth regardless of what circumstances look like. How do we know the truth? We find it in Scripture and in the teaching of the Church. Do you believe that God loves you and has a plan for your life? If so, that is true whether you are walking now in that plan or whether you sit now in darkness, unsure of what to do next.

      God does not change. He is the same yesterday, today, and forever, says the Scripture. If we look to Him instead of our circumstances, we can walk through any situation knowing that God is taking us where we need to go. We can listen more attentively in prayer to hear God’s voice and discern our next steps. We can be confident that when we begin to move, we are moving in His will rather than our own impatient rashness.

      God will increase our faith, but it’s not going to be in a waving of His magic wand and we suddenly have more faith. It will be in the darkness, in the uncertainty, in the daily slogging forward to do his will, being those unprofitable servants who are doing no more than what they are obliged to do.

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Twenty-Sixth Sunday in Ordinary Time

Readings: Amos 6:1a, 4-7; Psalm 146; 1 Timothy 6:11-16; Luke 16:19-31

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      “Compete well for the faith.”

      In Paul’s letter to Timothy, he tells him—and us—exactly how to compete well for the faith: pursue righteousness, devotion, faith, love, patience, and gentleness.

      We, as American Christians, are too easily caught up in the “me first” mentality, where it’s all about what God can do for us. The whole concept of the “selfie” I think shows just how far we have gone to put “me” first. We want God to bless us and provide for us, and rightly we should be asking for that, but that should not be our priority. Our priority should be self-giving, as Jesus did on the cross. One of the two choices for Communion Antiphon listed in my Magnificat prayer book is from 1 John 3: “By this we come to know the love of God: that Christ laid down His life for us; so we ought to lay down our lives for one another.”

      When I have practiced Lectio Divina or done a guided Scripture meditation, one of the things they suggest is that you put yourself in the story so that it becomes more alive to you. How many of us looking at the Gospel today would put ourselves in the place of the rich man? How many of us see ourselves taking care of our needs and pampering ourselves while ignoring the poor that are right at our doorstep? I think not many, and yet that is also the charge that Amos brings before the chosen people of God in his time. We have become complacent in our lack of want and we forget to share our gifts with those who do not have what we have.

      Perhaps we are really Lazarus in this story. He understood his poverty. I don’t believe we do. We are indeed poor; poor in the things that matter, as my priest said in his homily. We have not pursued the things that St. Paul tells us will help us “compete for the faith.” We have pursued material things: fame, wealth, prestige; things that will pass away. God desires so much more for us, but until we see our poverty, we cannot ask God for His riches. We pray in the Collect, “O God, who manifest your almighty power above all by pardoning and showing mercy, bestow, we pray, your grace abundantly upon us and make those hastening to attain your promises heirs to the treasures of heaven.”

      Where you treasure is, there your heart will be also. I pray this week that we strive after the treasures of heaven, instead of those of this world.

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