Knowing God

Laurence Freeman writes, "We know God not by thought, but by love."

This is so true, but is it really any different with our neighbor?  Once again, the unity of the love of God and the love of neighbor is Christianity's truest pearl. 

As often as you did it for the least of my sisters and brothers, you did it for me.

Have you...?

Have you allowed God to love you lately?
Have you let his love seep in?
It's better than you can imagine.

No agenda

We often pray for things, or for encouragement or guidance in some situation or other,
but there is a prayer that is simply
to love God
with no agenda,
to love God
because
God is God
because
God is love.

To Love God

When I say "I love you, my God," do I really know what it means?

Love

Love and do what you will. - Augustine of Hippo.

But do we know what it means to love?

Forever and Ever Moment by Moment

Thursday of the Fifth Week of Lent

Genesis 17:3-9 / Psalm 105:4-5, 6-7, 8-9 / John 8:51-59

Forever and Ever Moment by Moment

The next time you watch a television program count the seconds for each camera shot. You’ll probably find that the maximum amount of time any one shot is used is about seven seconds. Most of the time what you see changes every three seconds or less – commercials have even briefer time frames. A half hour program is typically divided into seven minute segments between commercial breaks. Whether these programming tendencies are based on studies of the human attention span, or our attention span has become less durable because of these tendencies I do not know.

It seems to me that in a culture of such short blips of information and entertainment, the concept of forever can be hard to comprehend. Yet forever is how long God will be faithful to us (quite astounding) and forever is how long we must respond to God’s faithful covenanting with us (quite challenging). With our short attention span – innate or conditioned – how can we hope to be faithful to a forever commitment?

First, our commitment is a response to God’s commitment. God’s commitment empowers our response. And with God all things are possible – including a faithful response to God’s forever love. Second, the psalmist today tells us “Look to the Lord in his strength, seek to serve him constantly.” Constantly could be looked at as moment by moment. Thus even our ever-shifting focus of attention can be a way to be faithful to God. Each time our focus of attention changes, we can look for God and a new way of serving him, or a new place to find him.

·        Place your attention on an object near you. Think of everything it means to you, or the varied or dedicated ways you use this object. Does this object connect you to God? How?  Next, for a few seconds, focus on another object. Then after a few seconds, focus on the first object again, but let all its meaning and uses fall away, and see the object again as if for the first time. After a suitable amount of time offer that object to God from your heart.

Like Father, Like Son

Wednesday of the Fourth Week of Lent

Isaiah 49:8-15 / Psalm 145:8-9, 13cd-14, 17-18 / John 5:17-30

Like Father, Like Son

Can you picture a little boy clunking around the house in work boots several sizes too big for him with a toy tool belt falling around his knees? He grabs a block and drives an imaginary nail into it with his plastic hammer. He’s seen his dad do something like this before. He wants to be just like him when he grows up — for now at least.

Jesus never grew out of this love for his Father’s work. In today’s gospel reading from John we conclude with a verse that could make one feel helpless, but when properly understood, actually explains what it truly means to be powerful. It turns what seems like subservience into true empowerment. It is the power of imitation that is beyond flattery; a power that saves.

“I cannot do anything on my own…” (John 5:30) seems like what a mere child would say, rather than the words of a thirty year old. It can seem like the self-pitying thought of a patient confined to a hospital bed waiting for the nurse to arrive and help with simple daily needs that others accomplish under their own power and take for granted. It does not seem like the words of a Savior or the Son of God. But this capable Son remains totally dependent and in strictest conformity with his Father’s will — so great is his love for his Father.

Perhaps the words “I cannot do anything on my own…” really mean, “I can’t imagine doing anything on my own. I don’t want to do anything apart from my Father.” Jesus always has the will of his Father in mind. Perhaps we choose to sin because we do not delight in the will of the Father as much as Jesus did.

·         Some people practice their religious faith because they want to have good things in their life, and be protected by God, not because the will of their Heavenly Father is their all-consuming passion. Reflect on your own reasons for practicing your faith: Why do you want to develop your relationship with your Heavenly Father? In developing this relationship, are you trying to take his will as your own?

Lourdes and Bethesda

Tuesday of the Fourth Week of Lent

Ezekiel 47:1-9, 12 / Psalm 46:2-3, 5-6, 8-9 / John 5:1-16

Lourdes and Bethesda

In the 150-plus years since Our Lady appeared to Bernadette Soubirous at Lourdes there are less than 70 miracles at that site which have been authenticated by the Church. One might wonder what the record of the pool at Bethesda would be, with or without rigorous modern criteria. For Lourdes that’s one authenticated miracle every two years or so. Who can wait that long? Who could guarantee it would be me if I did wait? I might be left thinking, “It’s always someone else who gets there at the right time.”

The passage from John’s gospel makes it clear that the man at the pool of Bethesda had been sick a long time — thirty-eight years. Who knows how many of those years he had spent waiting and hoping by the pool of Bethesda? He had been sick since before Jesus was born of Mary. Fortunately for the man at Bethesda he did not have to time his arrival at the pool just right for healing. Healing came to him unexpected, probably just when he’d gotten used to disappointment.

·        In what situation in your life have you given up hope? Imagine Jesus questioning you about it. What might he say? How do you respond? What might be the miracle to change you in regard to this situation?

Countering "Enlightened" Disinterest

Monday of the Second Week of Lent

Daniel 9:4b-10 / Psalm 79:8, 9, 11 and 13 / Luke 6:36-38

Countering “Enlightened” Disinterest

The popular expression, “Live and let live” is not Christian. It is not the fulfillment of Jesus’ saying, “Do not judge, and you will not be judged.”

“Live and let live,” can lead to a “look the other way” mentality. Don’t complain about someone else, or correct someone else and they will let you alone too. The focus of Jesus’ teaching is not about our neighbors’ judgment being withheld; it is about God’s judgment being withheld. Here Jesus is not teaching us to act as we’d have others act toward us, but as we’d have God act toward us. 

The teaching is not “Live and let live.” It is treat others with God’s compassion. “Live and let live” is “enlightened” disinterest in one’s neighbors. “Be merciful as your heavenly Father is merciful” is enlightened interest in them. The first says, “Good fences make good neighbors.” The second says, “If you want to be blessed, be a blessing.”

·        Toward whom are you judgmental? Why? Try to look at that person through God’s merciful eyes. What is the difference in the view? What gets in your way? Speak to God about it. Pray for the good of the person you have judged.

Staring Out at 75

Sunday of the Second Week of Lent – Year A

Genesis 12:1-4 / Psalm 33:4-5, 18-19, 20, 22 / 2 Timothy 1:8-10 / Matthew 17:1-9

Starting Out at 75

At what age will you have arrived? At 75 most people believe that what was going to happen in their lifetime has pretty much happened. Some of us believe that the time to set out for our goals and accomplishments is twenty-five or so. Some of us believe by thirty or forty we have "arrived" at the person we are to become.

Abram was seventy-five when the Lord came to him. At seventy-five we figure we have seen the landscape, and there is not much more is to be expected. But for Abram 75 was the beginning. 75 is when he heard the call: "Go forth from the land of your kinsfolk and from your father’s house to a land that I will show you.” In other words, “Leave the heritage your father Terah left to you and go to… well, you’ll know the place when you get there. I'll make a great nation of you out of nothing."

When most people are making sure their wills are all in order, and hoping Social Security and their 401k are enough, Abram and Sarai were packing up all the earthly belongings that could fit onto their camels, and heading out into the desert to become wandering Arameans. What’s more, they were an elderly, childless couple, and probably resigned to it by then. What great nation could come from them? What blessing could be found in their barrenness? But at 75 things were just beginning for Abram and Sarai.

Yet it would take twenty-five more years for the promise to even begin to take shape. By that time, Abram had reached the century mark, and Sarai his wife was probably not much younger than he, 99 perhaps. When she heard a visitor telling her husband he’d be back next year and Sarai would be “with child,” she laughed. Wouldn’t we all? Pregnant at 99! It’s the stuff you read about only in the National Inquirer and the Bible.

Perhaps Sarai’s laughter was nervous laughter. Perhaps she laughed rather than just tearing through the tent flap and shouting at the man for taunting her and reminding her of her enduring barrenness. How dare he bring that up! She and her husband had put all that behind them now. They had addressed the issue with the surrogate mother, Hagar, who had made the most of her fertility by lording it over Sarai. Perhaps Sarai was afraid of pregnancy at this point, afraid of becoming a mother, afraid of being blessed.

If we received our first promise or calling at 75, would we be willing to begin a journey then? Would we be willing to wait 25 years for the first sign of the promise being for real? Today God calls us to a journey, but are we afraid of the risk it requires? Abram’s was a journey of faith and trust. Usually when we prepare for a journey, be it a vacation or a business trip, we are in control of the destination, the route and the means to get there. On the Christian journey of discipleship we don't have this kind of control. We must surrender to God in trust: we must "listen to him," as the gospel of the Transfiguration tells us.

·         In your relationship with the Lord, do you feel you have arrived, or that you are just setting out?

·         Is God calling you to leave what is familiar to you (responsibilities, ministries, patterns of behavior) to do something new in accordance with his will?

·         Do you have the faith of Abram, the faith to wait a long time to see God’s promise come to fruition?

Peculiar Meaning

Saturday of the First Week of Lent

Deuteronomy 26:16-19 / Psalm 119:1-2, 4-5, 7-8 / Matthew 5:43-48

Peculiar Meaning

Peculiar is a peculiar word. It is rarely used, so it sounds peculiar when we hear it. Its modern usage normally denotes something odd or unusual. Sometimes a family, a group or a culture has an expression that is peculiar or unique to it, i.e. others don’t use the word that way. Sometimes a person’s habits are said to be peculiar, i.e. most people don’t do it that way.

The word peculiar as used in today’s reading from Deuteronomy is very faithful to its Latin root, peculiaris, which means “as one’s own.” Hence the English translation renders this verse, “peculiarly his own” thus avoiding implications of oddity.

The Jewish people are uniquely God’s people. God’s election of the Jews does not void his unconditional and universal love for all nations and all creation, but is a sign singling out the Jews as God’s covenanted people, so as to draw others to God through them.

In verse 26:19 Moses says to this people, “You will be a people sacred to the Lord, your God…”  When people today say something is sacred to them, they usually mean that they hold it in high esteem. They would not stand for it to be mistreated, or spoken ill of. Because they are a people sacred to the Lord, God demonstrated by his mighty deeds in the Exodus event that he would not stand for the Jews to be mistreated. What’s more, when God took action as the redeemer who chose them, they responded by choosing God in return, and dedicated themselves to him. And in that dedication, that covenantal relationship, the Lord promises to raise them “high in praise and renown and glory above all other nations he has made…” Not for the glory of Israel, but for the glory of God, and to draw all people to the Lord. Truly the Jews are to this day peculiarly God’s own.

·        Our Catholic tradition has a long history of prayers of consecration in many devotional forms. Write your own prayer of consecration to God. 

·        Reflect for a moment on the words of today’s reading: “sacred to the Lord.” Apply that expression to yourself. Are you thinking, feeling, acting, and viewing your circumstances in life through the lens of being “sacred to the Lord?” Does that lens change your view of life?

·        Consider the tensions between religious traditions today: Ask God to give you an understanding of and a love for your neighbors of different faiths, and think about how you might be able to reach out to understand more deeply what your neighbor’s faith means to them. Share the importance of your faith in Christ with them respectfully.

Why Settle Out of Court?

Friday of the First Week of Lent

Ezekiel 18:21-28 / Psalm 130:1-2, 3-4, 5-7a, 7bc-8 / Matthew 5:20-26

Why Settle Out of Court?

Laws aim at protecting rights. Holiness aims higher.

When Jesus says, “Settle with your opponent quickly while on the way to court,” he is not telling us to avoid legal procedures. He is returning to the themes of forgiveness, repentance and reparation. Christians should not need to be forced to be just by a law, we should be fair instinctively.

Jesus’ teaching here is not about getting away cheaply because we fear that the sentence of the court would be harsher than a plea bargain. It’s not about avoiding costly litigation. It’s about doing what is right, not because we are told to, but because we know it’s the right thing to do. 

Jesus is saying when you have not done the right thing in the first instance, do the right thing at the next opportunity, even if you have to create that opportunity. 

In Jesus’ eyes, an initial wrong is compounded by the need to force one of his followers to do what’s right. Doing the right thing should be part and parcel of our modus operandi – preferably sooner, but later if need be. We should be characterized by doing what is right as well as by righting the wrongs we have done. 

·        Steps eight and nine of the Twelve Steps of Recovery read as follows:

o   Step 8: Made a list of all persons we had harmed, and became willing to make amends to them all.

o Step 9: Made direct amends to such people wherever possible, except when to do so would injure them or others.

·        Pick one or two people you have wronged and consider how you might make amends to them. Decide if it would be helpful to make direct amends in word or deed. Be careful that you will not do more harm than good in making amends.

·        Consider how our society is structured: Who is disadvantaged? Is there a way you can work to right that wrong and correct that injustice?

Pray Because God Wants to Answer

Thursday of the First Week of Lent

Esther C:12, 14-16, 23-25 / Psalm 138:1-2ab, 2cde-3, 7c-8 / Matt. 7:7-12

Pray Because God Wants to Answer

We know that prayer is part of our Lenten discipline, but do we stop to think why it is part of that discipline? The gospel today says: “Ask… Seek… Knock...” Why?  Usually we ask, seek or knock because we want to receive, find or enter. But there is another reason to ask, seek and knock in the case of prayer.

It’s not only because we are in need, but also because God wants us to receive from him. God wants us to be found by him. God wants us to enter into his home – our hearts. Know when you ask, seek or knock that you have a willing response, and do it often this Lent and always.

·        Reflect on the disposition you bring to prayer when you are asking God for something.

            Do you ask like a beggar happy to get whatever scraps fall from the table?

           Do you ask like a child who is tugging relentlessly at her mother’s skirt:

                      “Mommy, Mommy, Mommy, Mommy, Mommy…?”

          Do you ask like you deserve or have paid for what you desire?

          Do you feel like you have to manipulate God to give to you?

         Would you rather steal it than ask for it?

         Is there a better description than these possibilities?

        How does the disposition that you take in “asking prayer” compare to the disposition Jesus advocates?

The Sign of Jonah Reinterpreted

Wednesday of the First Week of Lent

Jonah 3:1-10 / Psalm 51:3-4, 12-13, 18-19 / Luke 11:29-32

                                                                             

The Sign of Jonah Reinterpreted

What was the “sign of Jonah” Jesus was referring to? So often we think of the connection between the three days Jonah spent in the belly of the great fish and the three days Jesus spent in the tomb. But is there another way to look at it?

At the preaching of Jonah the people of Nineveh repented. They were a people who were thought to be beyond hope, under the condemnation of the Lord. Yet when they heard their sentence, they held on to hope. They did not despair. With all their heart they turned back to the Lord. They covered themselves in ashes and sackcloth, and turned to the Lord. Mission accomplished. Not destruction, but repentance; sinners reconciled with God.

The sign of Jonah might be that the hearts of those thought to be condemned were turned back to God. This was the sign that Jesus gave. He came as a shepherd in search of lost sheep. He came as a doctor for the sick. And those who were at the brink of destruction came back to God. And certainly he rose from the dead, like Jonah from the belly of the whale, but what for? So that we might rise from these ashes and return to God.

The sign of hearts converted is what Lent is all about: a season in which we cover ourselves with ashes and sackcloth, in order to express our sorrow for sin and return to the way God has traced out for us. It is a time to renew our first love, a time to turn away from sin, a time to admit our need for the doctor, the healer, the shepherd.

Be part of the sign given to this generation. Turn back to God. Show this generation how merciful the Lord our God is by turning to his mercy and imploring others to do the same. 

·        Picture two scenes:

(1) Picture yourself sitting near the seashore not far from Nineveh. All of the sudden a big fish comes up and spews forth a man from its belly onto the shore. Use your imagination to interact with Jonah: What do you say to each other? How will this affect your life? Your Lent?

(2) Now picture yourself in the streets of Nineveh as Jonah (cleaned up a little from the trip in the fish) walks by and shouts: “Forty days more, and Nineveh will be destroyed.” How will this affect your life? Your Lent?

The Lord's Prayer: A Lens for the Day

Tuesday of the First Week of Lent

Isaiah 55:10-11 / Psalm 34:4-5, 6-7, 16-17, 18-19 / Matthew 6:7-15

The Lord’s Prayer: A Lens for the Day

When Jesus says, “This is how you are to pray,” he also means, this is how you are to live. To receive the prayer of Jesus is to make it one’s own and to relate to the Father as Jesus does. Evelyn Underhill suggested that each day of the week we might take one of the seven petitions as the focus of our prayer and activity. The loving repetition of each day’s phrase can be a lens through which one’s daily activity is viewed. Another approach would be to use the Lord’s Prayer as an examination of conscience or an invitation to give thanks at the end of each day – either the entire prayer, or a line each day. Here is an example:

Our Father who art in heaven: Is God at the center of my life, or just one among other influences and concerns? I give thanks for being a child of God, the apple of his eye.

…hallowed be thy name: Do I hallow God’s name and every other person’s name I speak? Do I gossip about others or am I unfair in my criticism? I offer thanks that I bear the name “Christian.”

…thy Kingdom come, thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven: Am I open to God’s influence at every moment in my life today? Do I try to discern God’s will for me? Do I choose selfishly or act responsibly? Do I set my heart on material things, forgetting to weigh all things in light of my eternal destiny? Do I neglect my legitimate responsibilities toward family, friends, neighbors, strangers, creation? I give thanks for God’s design for my life. I give thanks for the “beauty of the earth” and for the glory of my call to share eternal life with the saints.

Give us this day our daily bread… Do I trust God to provide everything I need and then act accordingly? Do I earn my living honestly? Do I share my possessions for the good of all? Do I think and act in the best interests of the hungry and the poor? Do I make healthy choices in my eating? I give thanks for what God has provided.

…and forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us: Do I hold grudges? Do I ask God to forgive me when I am not willing to forgive others? Do I apply the same standards of mercy and justice to myself and others? Do I judge my behavior by the gospel, or by another standard? Am I humble enough to admit my own wrongdoing and make amends when I am able? I give thanks for the forgiveness God offers me in Jesus, and for the forgiveness others have offered me.

…and lead us not into temptation: Do I place myself in situations that might lead me to sin (the near occasion of sin), or do I make sure that I avoid situations that might lead me to act contrary to Christ’s love? I give thanks for the ways God helps me to choose well, to choose life.

…but deliver us from evil: Do I trust the Lord to work all things to my good, even hardship and struggles? Do I take unnecessary risks that endanger my safety or that of others? Do I lack the courage to stand up for what is right? I give thanks for the ways God protects me.

Fortunate without Photos

Monday of the First Week of Lent

Leviticus 19:1-2, 11-18 / Psalm 19:8, 9, 10, 15 / Matthew 25:31-46

Fortunate Without Photos

The body of Christ is the whole of humanity.

- St. Basil of Nyssa (335-386)

Fortunately for us photography had not yet been invented during the ministry of Jesus. If it had been, we would have pictures to look at and an accurate appearance to search for in a sea of human faces. We’d be distracted from the many ways we encounter Christ in need of our help.

Stories of people who visited Mother Teresa of Calcutta and her Missionaries of Charity abound. Most have a familiar thread. The visitor at some point is transformed by the humble and valiant work done by Mother Teresa’s community. The visitor asks Mother Teresa how he or she can be involved in the work of the Missionaries of Charity. Mother Teresa replies: “Go home and love those closest to you. Find the people in your own community who have been forgotten and overlooked and love them.” Mother Teresa was a living example of today’s gospel being fulfilled. You and I can be too.

·         Today be on the lookout for strangers. Pay attention to their faces, as well as everyday acquaintances, family and friends. Take a quiet moment at some time to contemplate the faces you have seen and how you responded to each one. Have you treated them like Christ in need of your kindness? If not, correct the situation in the next person you meet.

·         The next time you watch the news, try to find the face of Christ in each story. Then think of how you might be able to help the people in the stories or someone like them.

·         Meditate on the quote from St. Basil of Nyssa. How does it affect the way you look at today’s gospel passage? How does it affect the way you look at the people you meet every day?

Ready Answers for Temptation

First Sunday of Lent – A

Genesis 2:7-9, 3:1-7 / Psalm 51:3-4, 5-6, 12-13, 17 / Romans 5:12-19 / Matthew 4:1-11

Ready Answers for Temptation

We have two stories of temptation in today's readings: Adam and Eve's failure and Jesus' faithfulness. Why did Adam and Eve fail to resist temptation? Why did Jesus succeed? Jesus rejects temptation each time with words he had memorized from scripture. Adam and Eve enter into dialogue with temptation. When we enter into dialogue with temptation we typically lose.

Every time Jesus is tempted by the devil he responds with a quote from Scripture that had formed his relationship with the Father, words that reminded him of what was important in his life:

"One does not live on bread alone, but on every utterance that comes from the mouth of God."

"You shall not put the Lord your God to the test."

"You shall do homage to the Lord your God; him alone shall you adore."

Too often when temptation enters our lives, we listen to a voice different from God’s. We leave too much room for sin to enter in. We fail to “reject Satan, and all his works and all his empty promises” as our Baptismal vows require us to do.

Is there a better time than Lent to begin to implant in our hearts ready answers for temptation? 

·        Think of a recent occasion of sin. Rather than lecturing yourself about how you should have avoided this sin pay attention to the steps that led you to this choice. How did you fail to resist temptation? Be specific. At what point did you give in to temptation? What were the thoughts that led to your choice? How would you refute each thought, each rationalization, each argument in favor of this sinful choice? If you can, follow Jesus’ lead and choose passages from scripture that argue against this sin.

A Visit to the Divine Physician

Saturday after Ash Wednesday

Isaiah 58:9b-14 / Psalm 86:1-2, 3-4, 5-6 / Luke 5:27-32

A Visit to the Divine Physician

I have an aunt who for several decades did not visit a doctor. Defying the odds, she appeared to be the picture of health with only an occasional cold bothering her. After an accident in her home she was taken to the hospital. Since then she seems to be visiting one doctor after another. 

Most of us can’t seem to avoid visiting the doctor for quite as long as my aunt did and still stay healthy. Many people try to avoid annual physicals if they can, going to the doctor only when they sense something is wrong. Others willingly seek preventive care; they go before they get sick in order to stay healthy or to spot a small problem and correct it before it becomes a major concern. But for most people doctors’ visits are reactive rather than proactive. 

In today’s Gospel Jesus says the sick need a doctor, not the healthy; sinners need a savior, not the righteous. Maybe the ideal is to be spiritually proactive in seeking Jesus. But the reality is that there has not been a moment of our existence when we didn’t need God. Every moment I depend on God holding me in life. It’s hard to imagine turning to God proactively. We react to our sin by “turning back” to God. We react to blessings by thanking God. He is either the doctor who heals our ills, or the source of the health we already have. 

Because you are reading this, it is unlikely that you have the type of relationship with God that my aunt once had with doctors. Either through an awareness of your sins or an awareness of his blessings he has turned you to himself. In either case, rejoice that Jesus has come for you.

·        Imagine yourself in a hospital or a doctor’s examination room. As the door opens, Jesus enters. Speak with him about your “symptoms” for a while. Are you there because you are ill? Or is this a routine or proactive visit? Listen to him as he prescribes a remedy for what ails you.

The Fasting God Wants

Friday after Ash Wednesday

Isaiah 58:1-9a / Psalm 51:3-4, 5-6ab, 18-19 / Matthew 9:14-15

The Fasting God Wants

Why do we fast? If fasting is only about increasing our own suffering and deprivation, it isn’t Christian; it isn’t Good News.

Perhaps we fast to empty ourselves of something – even something good – so that we can be filled with something better. Perhaps we fast to symbolically empty ourselves of something we think we need, things we have come to mistakenly think of as essential, things we have come to take for granted, which we’d be better off with less of, or just plain without. I’ve known people who have given up meat for every day of Lent, not just Fridays. I’ve known people who have given up eating between meals. I’ve known people who have given up television. Sometimes they forget what the sacrifice was about. Other times, they became more aware of just what they could and couldn’t live without.

According to Isaiah the fasting God has in mind has to do with ending injustice not reducing one’s waistline. The latter would be nice – maybe even needed – but the former is undoubtedly essential. Lent ought to be a time when the whole Church (the Pilgrim People of God and the institution) looks at its own practice of justice and calls society to do the same. How is our stewardship of the earth? How are Church employees treated? Are they justly compensated? Do our parishes combine works of personal charity (i.e. reaching individuals in need) with works of institutional justice (i.e. challenging and transforming the social structures that create the inequities)? Do we both feed the hungry and fight the causes of hunger in our world today?

The fasting God wants isn’t merely about paring down to reduce excess and arrive at bare necessities. It is about forsaking sin and embracing justice. It is about facing our fallen human nature and insisting we live up to our high calling to live in the image and likeness of God.

Why do we fast? We fast for the sake of the Kingdom of God.

·        Make a point to research the causes of hunger, and, over a modest Lenten meal, discuss with friends and family what you learn, focusing on what can be done to change the situation.

Two Ways, One Choice

Thursday after Ash Wednesday

Deuteronomy 30:15-20 / Psalm 1:1-2, 3, 4 and 6 / Luke   9:22-25

Two Ways, One Choice

Two roads diverged in a yellow wood, and I…

— Robert Frost

Lent summons us to a fork in the road and prompts us to ponder: Are we headed to life and prosperity or to death and despair? As in the reading from Deuteronomy, God sets before us a choice and urges us: Choose life!

The choice of Lent is more significant than the one that lies before the poet standing in a yellow wood, contemplating two seemingly equally valid paths where one might regret not being able to travel both. In Lent we wrestle with our very own selves and seek to be true to the way God made us, trying to avoid the dead ends and detours.

It’s not as if we’d be happy taking either way. While there are two ways here, there is really only one viable choice. Lent brings us face to face with that choice: the way of the cross or the way of death; the way of light or the way of darkness; the way of service or selfishness; good or evil; heaven or hell; faith or faithlessness. You choose. You must choose.

·         What does choosing life look like for you? What are the end results? What are the steps that take you there? What does choosing death look like for you? What are the end results? What are the steps that take you there? Ask God to help you choose life.

Trading Places

Ash Wednesday Lent 2009

Joel 2:12-18 / Psalm 51:3-4,5-6ab,12-13, 14, 17 / 2Corinthians 5:20–6:2 / Matthew 6:1-6, 16-18

Trading Places

Have you ever wanted to trade places with someone? What was it about that other person that made you want to be in their shoes? Did he have the money, the car, the house, the job, the marriage or family you wanted? Had she earned the esteem and respect of others you desired? Did he have the intelligence or opportunity you longed for? Did she have the talent or health you felt you lacked? Perhaps that person’s life was less complicated than your own, while you felt overwhelmed by everything going on in yours. Surely envy is a bad thing, but the desire to trade places with someone else, the desire for something new, something more, something different can help us steer our way through Lent. 

As a season of repentance, Lent aims at change — even changing places. The reading from 2 Corinthians says, “For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that we might become the righteousness of God in him.” At times it may feel like the goal of Lent is receiving a seal of approval for fasting on the right days, making enough sacrifices, or doing something extra. But the true goal of Lent is to become more like Christ who became like us in all things but sin.

With a false sense of humility we might ask, “Who am I to presume I could be like Christ?” But our becoming like him is the very reason he became like us and shared in our suffering. So ask yourself instead: In what ways do I most need and most desire to become like Christ? If the list is long, you may want to narrow it down to just a couple and make those things the focus of your Lenten penance.

Having narrowed down your list to these few, ask yourself, “What can I do each day or each week to allow Christ to change me in this area?” Don’t look for the most difficult thing. Keeping it simple may help sustain the practice throughout the season.

This Lent let Christ live in you!

·        Describe your relationship with God as it is now. Describe your relationship with God as you would like it to be. Does your description match the relationship Jesus had with his Father?

·        What attribute of Christ do you most want to imitate in your life? Ask Christ to help you grow in this quality.

Lent: A Season to Deepen Our Relationship with Christ

Introduction

Lent: A Season to Deepen Our Relationship with Christ

Good news! Lent is not really about sin – at least not primarily. It’s not about beating ourselves up for continuing Adam and Eve’s fallen ways. It’s about returning to the font of life. It’s about cleaning out the clutter that has compromised our relationships. It’s about purifying our seeing, tasting, touching, smelling, hearing, and the desires of our souls, so we can better strive for the cross and resurrection of this season and everyday life.

During Lent we are called to turn away from sin and live the gospel. To do so we need to examine what tempts us. In the process we can get lost in self-pity or self-condemnation. We might take on penances without any connection to our relationship with Christ and neighbor. We can sometimes forget why we’re giving things up, or doing something extra.

As we begin Lent we would do well to consider what penances we will choose and how they are connected to our relationships with Christ and others. If our penances are not connected to the state of our relationships we may find that Lent bears little fruit, and after these 40 days our relationships are in need of the same renovation as before the ashes were imposed.

This Lent I invite you to ask, “What is my relationship with Christ is meant to be like? What is it like now? Don’t focus primarily on your failure, but on learning what kind of response the grace of Christ requires, and how we can build the strong relationship with Christ that he wills us to have. To bear fruit we must focus our first glance not on ourselves – which might become a pity party or a dance of self-deception – but on Christ. What does it take to reach him? What impedes our progress toward him? What is in the way rather than on the way?

Our souls get stuffed with many things that become distractions and deterrents to our progress. The fasting of Lent is meant to empty us of the clutter that has accrued; perhaps the excess has been gathered because of inattention, or disordered priorities. Lenten repentance is a call to attention and prioritizing. Fasting, prayer and almsgiving might mean taking a break from the ordinary consumer and entertainment culture that drives our society to madness. Lent is a time to step away from those dynamics and observe the frenzied tugs and attractions they generate in us, and the effect they have on our spiritual life. Lent is a time to step closer to Christ and immerse ourselves in his culture.

Lent is not primarily about sin; it’s about our relationship with Christ. It’s about getting ready for resurrection and glory. The reason for us to go into the desert of Lent is not to deprive ourselves for deprivation’s sake, but in order to meet Christ. Anything else misses the point. I hope these Lenten Meditations help you deepen your relationship with Christ. Before you begin, take a moment to consider the following questions:

·        Do you want a deeper relationship with Christ?

·        What will be most helpful to you in developing a deeper relationship with Christ?

·        Are you willing to cultivate this during the days of Lent?

·        What special preparations do you need to make in order to bear fruit?

God bless your desire to return to him and be saved in Christ!

A World Where Everyone Is Searching for Jesus

Wednesday of the First Week of the Year

Hebrews 2:14-18 / Ps 105:1-4, 6-9 Mk 1:29-39

A World Where Everyone Is Searching for Jesus

I dream of a world where everyone is searching for Jesus. But that is not the world we live in. Mention of the name of Jesus turns many people off. Placing faith in Jesus is considered to be one among many options. For many people it holds no special appeal. For some it is even a matter of disdain.

Why do I dream of world where everyone is searching for Jesus? Because I am searching for him, but my search often waxes and wanes. I am not as consistent as I would like to be. I start looking for him, get sidetracked, get discouraged, get confused, get interested and start again. I want a world where everyone is looking for Jesus because I want accountability partners, cheerleaders, and someone to both help me, and for me to help.

And I know that this searching for Jesus is not like anything or anyone else I search for. Jesus is not one among many things to seek. Jesus is the one to seek in everything and everyone, and above all else.

I want to go to Jesus and say, “Everyone is searching for you.” But since I left religious life and priesthood where I daily dealt with people who were looking for Jesus (or at least thought they should look for Jesus), I have not found too many people searching for him. Many don’t want to be bothered by him. This saddens me. I think he is THE person to get to know. But many people consider him to be a party pooper, no fun, a moralizer.

I think it is trite to argue that Jesus was a party animal by quoting his critics’ objection that he was a glutton and a drunkard. No doubt Jesus enjoyed food, drink and friends. Today in the Gospel of Mark we read that Jesus was a healer, a miracle worker. People heard and saw what he did and wanted to find him. Perhaps it wasn’t for the most altruistic of reasons. Perhaps they were selfish. Or maybe they were just looking for their burden of pain to be lifted. But we all have to start somewhere.

Karl Rahner, SJ wrote that all who seek the truth are indeed searching for Jesus – even if they name that truth another way (Rahner in dialogue with a rabbi, once accepted that term anonymous Jew as a compliment). What is more, he said that we all seek God, and we are created in such a way that we are capable of finding God.

Perhaps we are all searching for Jesus. Sometimes we just settle for far less than we are capable of, far less than Jesus.

The disciples found Jesus and told him “Everyone is searching for you.” Are you interested in what “everyone” was searching for?

·         What are you searching for?

·         What have you found so far?

I Do Will It

January 7 - Friday after Epiphany

1 John 5:5-13 / Psalm 147:12-13, 14-15, 19-20 / Luke 5:12-16

“I Do Will It”

What a strange thing to say to Jesus: “Lord, if you wish, you can make me clean.” Is the leper’s prayer, “If you wish…” holy resignation? Is it a mere formality? Does he already believe that Jesus wills his healing? Is it a hope? Is it a desperate plea? Is it some combination of these?

When we pray, “…if it is in accord with your will,” how often do we get the response, “I do will it?” What do we believe God wills for us? What do we expect from God in answer to our prayers? 

The classical answer for what God wills is that we love and serve God while being reasonably happy in this life and supremely happy in the next. We know that God wills that we love one another; that we have eternal life; that we believe in his Son.

But what about our “lesser” prayers – the prayers that do not deal with the “ultimate things”?  Prayers that we or someone we know be made clean of some habit, addiction or illness: perhaps the healing would free us or our loved one for some kind of service to humanity and God; perhaps our suffering could unite us to the Lord’s passion. Prayer for the success of the work of our hands: perhaps our achievement could bring God glory; perhaps our failure could make us turn to him more ardently and re-evaluate where we direct our efforts.

“Lord, if you wish you can…”

What do I want? What does God will?

• Make a quick response to this question:
• What is your “If you wish you can…” statement? 
• What do you believe God wills for you? Are you willing to ask for it now?
• What have you asked for in prayer that you do not believe has been granted to you? Speak to God about this, and ask God to bring you to faith with or without the answer that you desire.

Leaving Disturbed

January 6 - Thursday after Epiphany

1 John 4:19-5:4 / Psalm 72:1-2, 14 and 15bc, 17 / Luke 4:14-22a

                                                                             

Leaving Disturbed

On the Sabbath when Jesus read from the Isaiah scroll, I wonder what his long-time neighbors expected to happen. Probably nothing extraordinary, probably nothing that would lead them to back one of their own to the edge of a cliff.

Did any of them expect that God’s word would be fulfilled in their hearing that very day? It seems that, regardless of their expectations, they were not able to recognize the word being fulfilled in their midst.

What about us? When we gather at liturgy for Word and Sacrament, do we expect that God’s word will be fulfilled in our hearing, in our gathering? Do we expect that the word proclaimed and preached will throw light on our daily living? Do we expect that our lives will be changed because of what we do on Sunday morning? Is that a living expectation?

Are we too familiar with the man from Nazareth to recognize him for the prophetic figure that he is? Do we expect to be surprised and challenged, or do we expect that “what goes on at liturgy, stays at liturgy?” That whatever happens at Mass will simply reinforce what we already believe, rather than become a corrective lens and a call to conversion?

• Last time you went to Church what did you expect? Next time you go to Church what do you expect?

All the Difference in the World

January 5 - Wednesday after Epiphany

1 John 4:11-18 / Psalm 72:1-2, 10, 12-13 / Mark 6:45-52

All the Difference in the World

I think King Solomon had it wrong. When God said in his dream, “Ask for whatever you want me to give you," (1 Kings 3:5) Solomon asked for discernment of heart (wisdom) so that he could judge rightly and rule justly.

If God were to offer me the chance to ask for anything I wanted, I would ask for love: the gift to love God with all that I am, to love my neighbor generously, and to let myself be loved with no agenda. I know my efforts to love are sometimes muted and half-hearted. I need God’s help to love as I ought. Yes, I would ask for love.

In today’s first reading we have the best explanation of God: God is love (1 John 4:16). While love does not exhaust who God is — for God is also wisdom, knowledge, peace, power, truth, life, etc. — love informs all God’s other characteristics. Love gives wisdom and knowledge their purpose, placing them at the service of human freedom. Love makes peace far more than the absence of conflict; love makes peace harmony. Love makes power the servant rather than the master. Love makes truth the revelation, not simply of what is, but of what is meant to be. Love makes justice a matter of healing and reconciliation rather than punishment and revenge. And love makes life worth living.

In the opening lines of the Encyclical, Deus Caritas Est Pope Benedict XVI makes an overarching claim for 1 John 4:16: “We have come to know and to believe in the love God has for us.”

“…in these words the Christian can express the fundamental decision of his life. Being Christian is not the result of an ethical choice or a lofty idea, but the encounter with an event, a person, which gives life a new horizon and a decisive direction.”

In this Christmas Season we celebrate that loving encounter with God: Jesus Christ born for us. As the pope says, Christian love is not a lofty idea, it is God loving us, and it is the only adequate response we can give to God’s love for us: to love God in return – however disproportionately - and to love our neighbor as ourselves.

If God is love, it makes all the difference in the world.

• Reflect on the words, “God is love.”  What does this mean to you?  How has this truth changed your life?