The Word of God

Daily Reflections

• Reflection – Lectionary: 451 

  “Thus he has given us new life to raise again the house of our God and restore its ruins, and has granted us a fence in Judah and Jerusalem.” It is important to remember that the prophets Haggai and Zechariah played an important role in encouraging the Jewish people and their leaders to return to their homeland and rebuild the Jerusalem Temple following the Babylonian Exile. The Books of Ezra and Nehemiah are also key literary sources on the Restoration of the Jewish religious community. What our First Reading underscores is both quite simple and beautiful: The ultimate depth of any of our prayers must slowly and surely reach the ultimate surrender of everything to the One who made us out of pure love. This sentiment is captured throughout the Psalm of today and is echoed brilliantly and with great comfort throughout the Gospels. The rain must fall, but with dawn comes rejoicing because of the very One who died for us. 

  “Then they set out and went from village to village proclaiming the good news and curing diseases everywhere.” And how do we know all this is true? Jesus lived it and won for us the crown of victory, which is custom-shaped to each one of us depending on our own situations and life settings. We also have countless examples of Saints like St. Vincent de Paul, who lifted up the poor and hungry and sought to educate the clergy. Suffering will always be with us, which means that we must always seek to understand the deep misery of despair, unite those sufferings to Jesus, and thus reach the other side of glory. Consider this from St. Teresa of Calcutta on the occasion of her first visit to the United States:

  I suppose that some of you are feeling that you would have to buy a plane ticket and travel to India if you were to give effective help to the poor. There is no need. The poor are right here in your own country… In developed nations like yours, there is an abundance of food. But there is often a famine of the heart due to a lack of love. The victims of this famine of love are the new poor. And who are these poor people? They are the people sitting next to you.

  Look around you today. There are others who are hurting. Together we are going to win this. Jesus promised.

• Reflection – Lectionary: 450

  Are You My Mother? is the story about a hatchling bird. His mother, thinking her egg will stay in her nest where she left it, leaves her egg alone and flies off to find food. The baby bird then hatches and does not understand where his mother is, so he goes to look for her. As he lacks the ability to fly, he walks, and in his search, he asks a kitten, a hen, a dog, and a cow if they are his mother, but none of them are. This quaint and well-known children’s story helps us remember the nearly same kind of question hurled at Jesus in the Gospel today. People thought that since the Virgin Mary and other close family members were asking for Him, that Jesus would respond immediately; however, His response was nearly puzzling on first impressions: “He said to them in reply, ‘My  mother and my brothers are those who hear the word of God and act on it.'”  We could repeat with the cute story the same question in an entirely different and mesmerizing context: “God, are you my mother, my brothers, sisters, family?”  The answer, however, is as mystifying as it is clarifying: “Blessed are those who hear the word of God and observe it.”  You see, it is not the family tree replete with flesh and blood nuances and connections that brings us closer to God, but our fidelity to what He says and following what He does. 

  “I rejoiced because they said to me, ‘We will go up to the house of the LORD.’ And now we have set foot within your gates, O Jerusalem.” All of us want family, and we seek security in one way or another. We need intimacy to discover our place in the world and make a healthy connection with others, especially with God. What is the foundation of such levels of relationship? Fidelity and obedience. We feel and exist closer to the Lord the more we follow Him and live in the light of His love, starting with our desire and success to forgive even the deepest of pains in this life, especially betrayal. Interestingly enough, the way the little short story ends and the way our own lives will find their conclusion are very similar. In the children’s book, the little bird dramatically returns to its nest just as its mother returns. The two are reunited, much to their delight, and the baby bird recounts to his mother the adventures he had looking for her. Imagine your own homecoming to Jesus in Heaven and all the stories you’ll share as you spent a lifetime looking for Him, too. 

  “Of course,  God does not consider you hopeless. If He did, He would not be moving you to seek Him (and He obviously is). What is going on with you at present is simply the beginning of the treatment. Continue seeking with cheerful seriousness. Unless He wanted you, you would not be wanting Him.”  C. S. Lewis 

• Reflection Lectionary: 643 

  “I, a prisoner for the Lord, urge you to live in a manner worthy of the call you have received.” How can we say that someone who is a prisoner is actually in a good place? This would have to be determined by a number of factors, such as the prison itself, the prisoner, and, of course, the jailer.  On this beautiful Tuesday, we have encountered such a mission of understanding and belief that will hopefully expand our notions of faith and to the awesome extent that Jesus loves us. “…with all humility and gentleness, with patience.” The word “prison” has been defined in some circles as a state of confinement while awaiting trial. In many ways, we could stretch that meaning just a bit and see how life itself can be a sort of prison because we are confined in space and time, awaiting the final judgment of all that we have said and done while here on this earth. Thus, while we are “confined” we have been given instructions while we are here. We are to be humble and gentle and as much can be grasped, patient with as many as possible. “…bearing with one another through love.” If we see everyone in our lives as fellow prisoners, then we could find the strength and the power to love because we are all awaiting the same trial. That in and of itself will bring us to unity and peace: “…striving to preserve the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace.”

  “Go and learn the meaning of the words; I desire mercy, not sacrifice. I did not come to call the righteous but sinners.”  On this great Feast of St. Matthew, this particular phrase from the Gospel describes and determines the attitude of the “jailer” in our little analogy of this Reflection. God has placed us here on earth “in confinement,” and Jesus will come one day to lead us out of this existence to another, which is complete and eternal freedom. In the meantime, then, we are to concentrate on living, acting with, and living in mercy. Showing mercy to each other is indeed a pledge and promise that mercy will be shown to us. 

  “Teach me to feel another’s woe, To hide the fault I see; That mercy I to others show, That mercy show to me.” Alexander Pope (from The Universal Prayer) 

• Reflection – Lectionary: 133

  It has been posited that there is no real justice on this side of Heaven. We can look at our human history to see a glimpse of that when we remember that slavery, Apartheid, and the horrible Holocaust were legal. Abortion is today a legal matter. With that in mind, we could conclude that legality is a matter of power rather than justice. This is why we begin our Reflection today by remembering and echoing the great cry for justice that is open to all of us: “Seek the LORD while he may be found, call him while he is near.” But how would we accomplish such a thing? The clue follows shortly today as well: “Only, conduct yourselves in a way worthy of the gospel of Christ.”

  To bring this discussion to more concrete terms, the Gospel of the day gives us such rich morsels to ponder, wonder, and then act: “The kingdom of heaven is like a landowner who went out at dawn to hire laborers for his vineyard.” The vineyard is clearly a metaphor for life in the Kingdom and where we should plant ourselves squarely in it. But there is some element of injustice there, isn’t there? The people who started out early in the morning received the same wage as those who worked just an hour. Does that seem fair? Of course not, IF this was a lesson in macroeconomics (which it is not). Remember, it is about the mysterious life in the Kingdom where not everyone has the same amount of talents, gifts, or even opportunities, yet everyone is accountable for what they do with what they have. Thus, jealousy and envy are vicious poisons that can kill the life of the Spirit in the one trying to follow Jesus. The wages at stake (even at the moment of Jesus’ first telling of the parable) are not actual daily wages for vineyard laborers but forgiveness, life, and salvation for believers. Seen like this, it really does not matter when a person receives them, whether early or late in life, as long as they do find them before the end of the day, the final call, death, that is. The key here is to get working in the Kingdom as soon as possible, no matter who is first, second, third, fourth, etc…

  “Let the first act of every morning be to make the following resolve for the day:

  • I shall not fear anyone on Earth.
  • I shall fear only God.
  • I shall not bear ill will toward anyone.
  • I shall not submit to injustice from anyone.
  • I shall conquer untruth by truth. And in resisting untruth, I shall put up with all suffering.”

  Mahatma Gandhi

• Reflection – Lectionary: 448

  “Enter his gates with thanksgiving, his courts with praise; Give thanks to him; bless his name.” What does it signify or suggest when we take a walk? First, we can safely assume that we need to get outside of our routine and even ourselves to achieve a fresh perspective on our lives, and even cleanse the soul of any negative or destructive attitudes or thoughts. Secondly, we walked where it was safe and perhaps even invited someone we trusted and loved to accompany the stroll with us. And finally, and by no means the end of possible answers, we knew that something good would come of this walk if only to find peace and comfort, even exercise. All this applies beautifully to the image of entering the gates of the Lord and making sure that our deeds are worthy of light. This is what it means to live a healthy and holy life. 

  “When a large crowd gathered, with people from one town after another journeying to Jesus, he spoke in a parable. ‘A sower went out to sow his seed.” In the Gospel today, there were many people “out for a walk,” and this time they met Jesus. He told them a great, meaningful story about yet another person who went out on a walk, this time to sow seeds. Depending on where the seed landed determined the outcome. Here again is yet another wonderful image of life itself. We are all walking through many different situations and circumstances. What we do during these “life walks” and what we plant will determine not only how the day will end, but also how each life will finish and be judged: “But as for the seed that fell on rich soil, they are the ones who, when they have heard the word, embrace it with a generous and good heart, and bear fruit through perseverance.” 

  “Always walk through life as if you have something new to learn, and you will.” Vernon Howard

• Reflection – Lectionary: 447 

  “Accompanying him were the Twelve and some women who had been cured of evil spirits and infirmities, Mary, called Magdalene, from whom seven demons had gone out, Joanna, the wife of Herod’s steward Chuza, Susanna, and many others who provided for them out of their resources.” This Gospel passage is interesting because it is another mention in the Gospel of Luke where we hear about demonic possession. The ancient world believed that the air was thickly populated with evil spirits which sought entry into everyone. Often, they did enter through food or drink. All illness was caused by them. The Egyptians believed there were thirty-six different parts of the human body, and any of them could be entered and controlled by one of these evil spirits. There were spirits of deafness, of dumbness, of fever; spirits that took a man’s sanity and wits away; spirits of lying and of deceit and of uncleanness. It was such demons that Jesus exorcised here.  

  “For the love of money is the root of all evils, and some people in their desire for it have strayed from the faith and have pierced themselves with many pains.”  However dramatic or dark, this topic of confronting evil and evil spirits is good for each and every one of us because every day is a challenge and a struggle to live this life and walk this walk. We live in a world where darkness and terror can overcome us unless we hold the Light of Christ within us; we will indeed be swallowed up in despair. Thus, the battle of light and darkness is not just outside of us; it is also within us. And we have Jesus, especially in the Eucharist, to help us move forward in faith. Evil is not sustainable because it has already been defeated. It is now up to us to join the winning, victorious team. 

   

   “Be careful when fighting against evil that you don’t become evil yourself.”  Marty Rubin

• Reflection – Lectionary: 446

  “Attend to yourself and to your teaching; persevere in both tasks, for by doing so you will save both yourself and those who listen to you.” St. Paul makes it very clear, most emphatically, in his Letter to Timothy that humanity is lost without the Gospel. And yet, he warns all of us Christians that we cannot hide behind precepts and regulations and mount some kind of superior plane or landing from which to judge people and forget that we, that is, all of humanity, are in the same boat. Clearly, we have no right to judge other people just because they do not sin like we do. St. Paul explains that the final judgment will be a review of performance, not of privilege. From this perspective, everyone stands on an equal footing with each other, and thus, we cannot realistically condemn others without condemning ourselves. 

  “Since they were unable to repay the debt, he forgave it for both. Which of them will love him more?” St. Luke continues and completes this thought for us by making sure that the Pharisees know that mere possession of laws is no evidence of virtue. Mark Twain once responded to a man who was going to the Holy Land to see where the Ten Commandments were given with, “Why don’t you just stay home and live them?” Good point, Mr. Clemens. 

  “Your faith has saved you; go in peace.”  “The worst prison,” St. John Paul wrote, “would be a closed heart,” and this is precisely why you and I must know the difference between judging and admonishing. Arrogant judgment condemns because it is motivated by pride; admonishing the sinner liberates because it is motivated by love. Each produces very different results: “So I tell you, her many sins have been forgiven; hence, she has shown great love. But the one to whom little is forgiven loves little.”

  “If you judge people, you have no time to love them.” St. Teresa of Calcutta

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