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?

Amazed by Grace

January 4 - Tuesday after Epiphany or January

1 John 4:7-10 / Psalm 72:1-2, 3-4, 7-8 / Mark 6:34-44

Amazed by Grace

What amazes me most about this miraculous feeding is not that we begin with five loaves and two fish and satisfy a crowd of 5000 men plus who knows how many women and children. What amazes me most is that there are twelve baskets of leftovers. In other words, they did not merely have enough. They were satisfied. The reading doesn’t say that they managed to throw a meal together by making do with what they had. The passage indicates there was an excess of supply – more at the end than what they started with. 

I assume his disciples were as amazed at this as I am.

·        When has Jesus Christ amazed you?

Geography and Prophecy

January 3 - Monday after Epiphany

1 John 3:22-4:6 / Psalm 2:7bc-8, 10-12a / Matthew 4:12-17, 23-25

Geography and Prophecy

There is a lot of geography in today’s gospel passage: Galilee, Nazareth, Capernaum, Zebulun and Naphtali, Syria, the Decapolis (the Ten Cities), Jerusalem, Judea, the Jordan. Ten places if we go by names (or perhaps as many as 19 if we count each of the ten cities separately). Jesus was on the move constantly it seems. 

Readers like me who are geographically challenged might want to simply skip over the place names and dive into the content. But these place names help to anchor the gospel in a real time and a specific space. Jesus did not benefit from a satellite feed, internet connection or a broadcast tower to spread his message. He met real people in real places.

People on pilgrimage to the Holy Land consider it a grace to stand in those places, even if they are 15 feet above the level of the streets in Jesus’ day. In our own lives there are places that mark moments of deep conversion, realization and key experiences for us. So it was for Matthew and his community as they remembered not just the who, what, when, why and how of Jesus’ life and ministry, but also the where.

·         Take a moment to recall a place you have grown spiritually, where you met Jesus. What does this place mean for you?

The Gifts

The Epiphany of Our Lord

Isaiah 60:1-6 / Psalm 72:1-2, 7-8, 10-11, 12-13 / Ephesians 3:2-3a, 5-6 / Matthew 2:1-12

The Gifts

I have heard reflections on the Epiphany that point us to see ourselves as the modern day magi, telling us, “The wise still seek him.”  I have heard reflections encouraging us to be like the star that pointed the wise men to Jesus that they might come and worship him; for our contemporaries we are to be the light that leads them to Christ. But I have never heard a reflection encouraging us to identify with the gifts: gold, frankincense and myrrh. I’d like to suggest we do just that.

If we see ourselves as gold offered to Jesus, the gift for a king, then we can reflect not only on Jesus as our king, but that as baptized believers we are a kingly people, sharing Christ’s authority over creation, and we can extend his sovereignty over all the world by our obedience to his word. Or perhaps we could think of each disciple, including ourselves, as crowns of gold Jesus has won and wears with great joy.

If we see ourselves as frankincense, the gift that reflects his holiness, we can remember that we are called to live holy lives. Every one of us is called to live a life of sanctity, a few of us by leaving the everyday world, most of us by entering it and sanctifying it as he has sanctified us. Alternatively, we could see ourselves as the incense in the thurible, which is used to honor the sacredness of certain symbols of Christ in our liturgies. By our life we could call attention to the Jesus, the Bread of Life who sustains us, or to the Word of God which ought to shed light on the meaning of our everyday life, or even the assembly of the faithful which is his Body, and help us to find him present in every moment of our lives. Or perhaps the incense can represent us coming before God in prayer of praise, thanksgiving and intercession, as incense rises toward the heavens from our sanctuaries.

If we see ourselves as the myrrh, we might want to dig deeper than simply seeing ourselves as helping in the burial and embalming processes for Jesus. Myrrh can also have medicinal properties and be used to salve wounds. Yet as a symbol of suffering it can remind us that we are called to suffer in solidarity with Christ, our priest, and with those who are most vulnerable. Myrrh can represent our own self-mortification through fasting and other sacrifices, or our efforts at self-discipline and the development of the virtues in our lives. Myrrh can also be burnt as incense, and is said to be sweet-smelling; in this form it can act as a repellant to vultures and insects – just as our self-discipline can preserve us from much folly.

·         Pick a gift – gold, frankincense, or myrrh – that you would like to represent you. Reflect on the qualities of this gift and how they are reflected in your life.

·         If you were to journey with the magi and bring a fourth gift to Christ, what would it be? Why have you picked this gift to represent you, and to honor Christ?

Remembering the Blessing and Consecrating the Year to Come

January 1 - Octave of Christmas – The Blessed Virgin Mary, Mother of God

Numbers 6:22-27 / Psalm 67:2-3, 5, 6, 8 / Galatians 4:4-7 / Luke 2:16-21

Remembering the Blessings and Consecrating the Year to Come

It is very likely that you have encountered images and stories of the key moments of the past year in recent weeks. Retrospectives are common at this time of year recalling the triumphs, tragedies, trends and turning points of life over the past 365 days.

This is a time of year I think Mary would feel comfortable. The Gospel of Luke tells us, “Mary treasured all these things and reflected on them in her heart.” Perhaps these are the days to take stock of our own personal images and stories from the year gone by; pictures and videos of birthday parties and weddings, the new addition to the family on the Christmas post card; pictures of vacations and special events. Scrapbooks and photo albums are ways for us to remember the good times we have come through, or even how we have been able to weather the tough times.

The people of Israel knew tough times. The Book of Numbers recounts their situation en route to the Promised Land. Out in the desert there were many hard times, and the Lord used these to teach them his ways. The blessing in our reading today can help us to reflect:

            The Lord bless you and keep you!

            The Lord let his face shine upon you and be gracious to you!

            The Lord look upon you kindly and give you his peace!

The key line is the middle one, for no one is worthy to see the face of God and live. Yet the blessing invokes that experience. Out in the desert, the Israelites, still far from the Promised Land, were told they would see the face of God.

Whether our year has been a desert journey, or a stay in the Promised Land, it might be good today to count our blessings, to look back over the year and see what moments were grace for us. What trials turned into blessings? What good things filled our lives with joy? Take a few moments to consider what events, people and places you would preserve in your scrap book for this “Anno Domini.” When in this Year of Our Lord have you seen a glimpse of the face of God?

• List five to ten key moments in the past year of your life. Which three were most important for you? Why? Which ones tested your faith, and or helped you grow in it?
• Take a moment to pray the blessing from today’s first reading. What does each line mean to you? How do you connect this blessing to the year gone by, and the year to come?
• Consider what you might face in the year to come. Pray to God consecrating the year ahead to him that he may “Look upon you kindly and give you his peace.”