The Road That Leads to Life

Memorial of Saint Aloysius Gonzaga, Religious

By Melanie Rigney

“For out of Jerusalem shall come a remnant, and from Mount Zion, survivors. The zeal of the LORD of hosts shall do this.” (2 Kings 19:31)

Oh God, we ponder your mercy within your temple. (Psalm 48:10)

“Enter through the narrow gate; for the gate is wide and the road broad that leads to destruction, and those who enter through it are many. How narrow the gate and constricted the road that leads to life. And those who find it are few.” (Matthew 7:13-14)

Piety

Savior, I adore You. I thank You for loving me and rescuing me from the long dark road. Give me the faith and courage and belief to follow you down that constricted road that leads to life.

Study

So humor me. It’s my birthday, one of those big ones that ends in a zero and gets you savings at restaurants, grocery stores, theaters and more.

For me, almost every song ever written, especially pop and rock songs from the 1970s, are God songs. The lyricists and performers may not have realized this at the time, and might scoff even today at this contention. That’s a matter of indifference to me. As far as I’m concerned, they’re God songs.

As I prayed over the readings for today, I kept hearing (and, I’ll be honest, listening to) the Hollies’ 1971 hit “Long Dark Road.” The tangible inspiration I suspect was the end of a romance, but, well, to me, it’s a song about getting off the broad road. The lyrics in part:

You tell me, try sell me

It could have been all I asked

It’s over, well over

It’s there and flows away

A distant past

Now it’s a long dark road

Yes a long dark road

And you know, I loved you

Yes you know, I loved you

We’ve likely all had romances and friendships and other sorts of tangible and

By John W. Barber [Public domain],
via Wikimedia Commons

intangible relationships that took us down broad roads of fun and pleasure and entertainment… but ultimately turned dark. Or maybe the road took us down a self-satisfying journey of pity and self-loathing and hatred.

Like the broad road, the narrow road has its challenges. The narrow road can be long, excruciatingly long at times, and it can be dark for even the most faithful among us, including the likes of Teresa of Avila. Amid one trial, in particular, she told the Lord that if in fact this was the way He treated His friends, it was no wonder he had so few. It can be tempting to take a little detour and rejoin all that fun and excitement on the broad road. But spiritual detours are seldom what they seem to be in the moment.

Neither road, the broad nor the narrow, is always easy to travel. Which you choose all depends on your ultimate destination. Choose love. Choose the Lord.

Action

Consider a favorite song from today or your glory days. Where does God figure in? Sing it loud!

The Wooden Beam

Monday of the Twelfth Week in Ordinary Time

And though the LORD warned Israel and Judah by every prophet and seer, “Give up your evil ways and keep my commandments and statutes, in accordance with the entire law which I enjoined on your fathers and which I sent you by my servants the prophets,” they did not listen, but were as stiff-necked as their fathers, who had not believed in the LORD, their God.  2 Kings 17:13-14

“Stop judging, that you may not be judged. For as you judge, so will you be judged, and the measure with which you measure will be measured out to you. Why do you notice the splinter in your brother’s eye, but do not perceive the wooden beam in your own eye?”  Matthew 7:1-3

Piety

Alas, alas for you

Lawyers and Pharisees

Hypocrites that you be

Searching for souls and fools to forsake them

You travel the land you scour the sea

After you've got your converts you make them

Twice as fit for hell!

As you are yourselves!

Alas, alas for you

-          Alas For You Lyrics from Godspell Soundtrack (1990).  Composer and Lyricist: Stephen Schwartz Librettist: John-Michael Tebelak

Study

Sometimes the Good News has deep historical and theological nuances to unravel to find the true meaning of a particular passage.  Not today.  Today is pretty straightforward – looking right down the line of “do as I say not as I do.”  The specific lesson today is about judging others.  Matthew zeroes in on the correlation between our conduct toward others and God’s conduct toward us. Matthew warns against passing judgment in a spirit of arrogance, forgetful of our own faults.

This goes beyond the basic message of change and repentance.  Surely we have to give up our evil ways.  However, in doing do, we also cannot throw stones if we live in the proverbial glass house. 

Action

In her book The Rule of St. Benedict: Insights for the Ages, Sr. Joan Chittister, OSB, reminds us of the basics of a Christian community.  It is not to be the judge or jury.  Rather it is to be the humble servant.

We must learn to listen to what God is saying in our simple, sometimes insane and always uncertain daily lives. Bitter zeal is that kind of religious fanaticism that makes a god out of religious devotion itself. Bitter zeal walks over the poor on the way to the altar. Bitter zeal renders the useless invisible and makes devotion more sacred than community. Bitter zeal wraps us up in ourselves and makes us feel holy about it. Bitter zeal renders us blind to others, deaf to those around us, struck dumb in the face of the demands of “dailiness.” Good zeal, monastic zeal, commits us to the happiness of human community and immerses us in Christ and surrenders us to God, minute by minute, person by person, day after day after day. Good zeal provides the foundation for the spirituality of the long haul. It keeps us going when days are dull and holiness seems to be the stuff of more glamorous lives, of martyrdom and dramatic differences. But it is then, just then, when Benedict of Nursia reminds us from the dark of the sixth century that sanctity is the stuff of community in Christ and that any other zeal, no matter how dazzling it looks, is false. Completely false.

Judging others – no matter what the era – is false.  We should concentrate on making sure our behavior is aligned with what God is asking of us alone.

Seek First

Saturday of the Eleventh Week in Ordinary Time

“Then the Spirit of God possessed Zechariah, son of Jehoiada the priest. He took his stand above the people and said to them: “God says, ‘Why are you transgressing the LORD’s commands so that you cannot prosper? Because you have abandoned the LORD, he has abandoned you.’”  2 Chronicles 24:20

All these things the pagans seek. Your heavenly Father knows that you need them all. But seek first the Kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be given you besides. Matthew 6:32B-33

Piety

Father, show us the path of peace. Guide us to your sources of love so that we can love all our neighbors.  Forever.

Study

Reading through sections of the Historical books of the Hebrew Bible over recent weeks provides an important lens for us to look at our own past and our own present. The concerning question posed by Zechariah also could have been echoed in the era of the Crusades or it could resonate today as we face the jihad (holy war) declared by some terrorists against Israel and the West.

People are pretty thin-skinned and hard-hearted and they did not take kindly to criticism from Zechariah any more than people like criticism today.  Posing the tough question and speaking truth to power got Zechariah stoned to death.  He was imitating Christ like St. Stephen before Christ was imitating Christ.  However, because his accusers and executioners were not in a right relationship with the Lord and had rejected the commandments, they got their “just desserts” as an invading army of Arameans came crashing down and killing all their leaders.

Could this message not resonate with the eleventh century Christians who waged a holy war with Islam in order to defend Christians in the Eastern Churches (areas of modern day Turkey, Egypt and Syria)?  European invaders were driven out of the Middle East after nearly 200 years of wars in seven campaigns across the Middle East.

Who was right?  The crusaders would say they were in a righteous relationship with God under the mantle of various popes.  The defending Saracen (Muslim or Islam was not a term used in the day) opponents would claim the same moral high ground about their relationship with Allah.  Invading armies from each side kept crashing down on the other side.  It is hard to see the loving relationship of your enemy with his or her faith when you are trying to kill them.

Yet, these caused one historian to note: "High ideals were besmirched by cruelty and greed ... the Holy War was nothing more than a long act of intolerance in the name of God." [i] He could have been writing about the battles in the Book of Kings, the Intifada, or the jihad called by radical terrorists from Al-Qaeda or ISIL.  But he was calling out the Christian Crusades. 

Action

How can we NOT base out action upon the call in Matthew’s Good News?  Our heavenly God knows what we need more than any temporal or earthly ruler – or even pope.  Jesus calls upon us to seek first the Kingdom of God – not the kingdom of our own choosing and defending. 

Maybe it should not surprise us that the Desert Fathers or the founders of the great monastic orders separated themselves from the political and social groups of the day. It might actually be harder for us to try to balance living in the modern world and trying to follow Christ than it would be if we sought to live a life of holiness in a monastery or convent. Living apart might remove much temptation. Might.

Jesus did not live his life away from his sisters and brothers. He sought God in the desert and on the mountaintop.  Yet Jesus always returned to stay with the people he came down to save to find God and be God among the people. Fortunately, Pope Francis is not calling us into some modern Crusade. He is imitating Christ by calling for us to have a revolution of mercy and justice in our hearts for the refugees, the poor, and those in need.  As Pastor Mark Meredith writes in his blog entry Loving Muslims, “Christ commands us to love and pray for our enemies. He absorbed the violence done to him out of love. It is my love of Christ that compels me to love Muslims.”[ii]

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[i] Runciman, Steven (1951). A History of the Crusades: The Kingdom of Acre and the Later Crusades (reprinted 1987 ed.). Cambridge University Press.

[ii] https://markmeredithblog.wordpress.com/2016/06/17/loving-muslims/

Treasure That Lasts

Friday of the Eleventh Week in Ordinary Time

By Colleen O’Sullivan

Then Jehoiada (the priest) made a covenant between the Lord as one party and the king and the people as the other, by which they would be the Lord’s people; and another covenant, between the king and the people. Thereupon all the people of the land went to the temple of Baal and demolished it.   

(2 Kings 11:17-18a)

“Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and decay destroy, and thieves break in and steal. But store up treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor decay destroys, nor thieves break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there also will your heart be. (Matthew 6:19-21)

Piety

Nothing is more practical than finding God, than falling in Love in a quite absolute, final way. What you are in love with, what seizes your imagination, will affect everything. It will decide what will get you out of bed in the morning, what you do with your evenings, how you spend your weekends, what you read, whom you know, what breaks your heart, and what amazes you with joy and gratitude. Fall in Love, stay in love, and it will decide everything. (Fall in Love, attributed to Fr. Pedro Arrupe, SJ, 1907-1991)

Study

Last Friday in the reading from 1 Kings 19, we heard about Queen Jezebel’s fury toward the prophet Elijah for having set up the contest between the prophets of Baal and himself, resulting in Israel’s God being recognized as the one, true God - for a while, anyway. This vengeful wife of King Ahab, who brought the worship of Baal to her marriage, set out to kill Elijah.   

But you haven’t seen anything yet. Fast forward a few years. King Ahab is deceased. One of his daughters, Athaliah, sets out to destroy the entire house of David in order to seize the rule of the kingdom for herself. Once her son, the reigning king, dies, she plots to kill all her grandchildren. However, one of her late husband’s daughters spirits one of the grandsons away and hides him in the temple for six years, at which time his presence is revealed to all, he is anointed a king, and the people are restored to right relationship with the God of their forbears.   

Today’s Gospel reading continues Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount. The Lord is

James Tissot (French,
1836-1902).
The Sermon of the
Beatitudes

speaking to the crowd about what they hold dear. Jesus tells them to store up treasures in heaven rather than on earth and points out that their hearts will be wherever their treasures lie. Unfortunately, sometimes what we treasure is anything but “heavenly.” Look at that queen mother Athaliah, for example. What she prizes above anything else, including the lives of her family, is political power. She’ll do anything for it, including murdering her innocent grandchildren. What kind of person kills her grandchildren? And earthly power, political or otherwise, doesn’t last.   When you die, you can’t take it with you.   

On the other hand, consider the people Jesus is addressing. Earlier in his sermon, he has addressed the poor in spirit, those who mourn, the meek, those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, the merciful, the clean of heart, the peacemakers and those who are persecuted. These are not the powerful of his day. These are the marginalized and dispossessed people of Jesus’ time. What they receive is the greatest treasure of all. They are face-to-face with the Son of God, the one who reveals the Father to them. Through Jesus’ promises, they are showered with the mercy, compassion and love of God. Imagine how it must have felt to be a nobody in the eyes of the world yet hear that you will inherit the kingdom of God, that you will see God, that your sorrows will be met with comfort, that God claims you as sons and daughters! To be in a relationship with Jesus and his Father is to possess treasure beyond description, something that will last for all eternity.

Our love for others is also a lasting treasure. In the musical Les Misérables, the main character, Jean Valjean, sings, “To love another person, is to see the face of God.” To love someone with the love God has shown us in his Son is to be blessed forever. It’s a treasure that never decays or rusts, one which no one can take from us.

Action

Every day when I pray St. Ignatius of Loyola’s Examen prayer, I offer to God the things for which I am grateful that day. As I was praying with today’s Gospel reading, I thought about the sorts of things that usually make it into that part of my prayer. Although I am blessed in having the necessities of life more than amply provided for, and perhaps should express my thanks in prayer for that more often than I do, the majority of days what I am most grateful for are the ways in which God has touched my life or the ways in which being in relationship with someone that day has been a blessing from God.

However you choose to pray each day, what is the treasure you lift before God with a thankful heart?

Your Will Be Done on Earth by Me, Lord

Thursday of the Eleventh Week in Ordinary Time

By Beth DeCristofaro

Like a fire there appeared the prophet Elijah whose words were as a flaming

furnace. Their staff of bread he shattered, in his zeal he reduced them to straits; By the Lord’s word he shut up the heavens and three times brought down fire. … Then Elisha, filled with the twofold portion of his spirit, wrought many marvels by his mere word.  (Sirach 48:1-3, 12)

Jesus said to his disciples: “In praying, do not babble like the pagans, who think that they will be heard because of their many words. Do not be like them. Your Father knows what you need before you ask him. (Matthew 6:7-8)

Piety

Icon of Christ,
Ivanka Demchuk

‘Our Father who art in heaven,
hallowed be thy name,
thy Kingdom come,
thy will be done,
on earth as it is in heaven.
Give us this day our daily bread;
and forgive us our trespasses,
as we forgive those who trespass against us;
and lead us not into temptation,
but deliver us from evil.’ 
“If you forgive others their transgressions,
your heavenly Father will forgive you.
But if you do not forgive others,
neither will your Father forgive your transgressions. (Matthew 6:9-15)

Study

Both Elijah and Elisha, fervent prophets and admired fathers in faith derived their mighty confidence and deeds directly from God.  They did not waver even when asked to accomplish the “impossible” for they acted in God’s name.  Jesus offers his followers the opportunity to walk in their shoes:  God as their Father will enable them, us, to be mighty in faith and deeds.  God knows and answers all our needs, even that which we do not know that we want.  But neither the Father nor the Son ever promises that this zeal and trust come easy or is simple to adhere to in life.

It remains an uncomfortable journey on many levels to live an active, committed Christian life.  Comedian W. Kamau Bell showed me just how far humans can detour. For an episode of his new CNN show, United Shades of America, Bell took a trip to Arkansas—to meet with the Ku Klux Klan[i].  He interviewed several active Klan members and Bell, an African-American man, was invited to a cross burning.  Except that the Klan calls this a “cross lighting” and as part of the ceremonial, each Klansman touches his torch to the torch of the leader saying “I accept the light of Jesus Christ.” When I heard this I gasped out loud!  How is this in any way “and lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil.”

In Cursillo, we speak of, we strive for, we hope to emulate Christ’s light.  In the Lord’s Prayer Jesus talks of forgiveness, putting our trust in and adhering to God’s will.  This TV show was so very difficult to watch as His Holy name was invoked for hate and power.  These divisive days in the US are reminiscent of the turbulent years in which Elijah and Elisha strove to turn the people of God back to God.  Can we, Catholic Cursillistas do the same today?

Action

Every day I work with people in healthcare who cherish the preciousness of life as does my Cursillo community.  I am blessed to daily put myself into the Lord’s hands.  Recent events chill me.  Our country continues to be so violent.  Pray the words of the Lord’s Prayer several times, contemplating the divine message of God’s will before mine.  In what way might I be more authentically God’s light in a hurting, divided world? 

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[i] “The New KKK” http://go.cnn.com/?type=episode&id=2060949

Please Stay Here

Wednesday of the Eleventh Week in Ordinary Time

When the LORD was about to take Elijah up to heaven in a whirlwind, he and Elisha were on their way from Gilgal. Elijah said to Elisha, “Please stay here; the LORD has sent me on to the Jordan.” “As the LORD lives, and as you yourself live, I will not leave you,” Elisha replied.  2 Kings 2:1-2

“Take care not to perform righteous deeds in order that people may see them; otherwise, you will have no recompense from your heavenly Father.”  Matthew 6:1

Piety

Lord, may we receive a double portion of your spirit to give us strength and commitment to fulfill your mission.

Study

The episode from Kings reminds me of a reverse ascension.  After Easter, the disciples were trying to hold onto Jesus.  On the road to Emmaus and elsewhere, they pleaded their case: “Stay with us.”  Elijah does something different with his student.  Knowing that the Lord will call him home soon, Elijah pleads his case with Elisha three times.  “Please stay here.”  He knows that someone must take on the mantle of the prophet and follow in his footsteps to continue the mission.

Elijah commissions Elisha with his request to stay with the people in Bethel, Jericho and Jordan.  Elisha accepts his mission with the words, “As the LORD lives, and as you yourself live, I will not leave you.”  What follows is not an elaborate confirmation of the Holy Spirit descending upon Elisha or an ordination or coronation.  As Elijah ascends to the heavens in his chariot, he leaves behind his mantle and his spirit which Elisha then wears as the sign of his new mission, his mission that extends the mission of Elijah. 

In Elijah and Elisha, we have flashbacks to the past.  Elijah’s sheepskin garment foreshadows the look of John the Baptist in the desert.  The sight of the fiery chariot is like Moses burning bush.  Striking the water with his new mantle makes Elisha like Moses parting the seas in the Exodus.  And the ascent to the heavens foreshadows Jesus leaving behind his disciples to carry on the work.

Action

What mission has Jesus asked you to fulfill today?  Has he asked you to be on a team like the women planning the 148^th Cursillo this fall?  Has he asked for your prayers for special intentions such as the victims of families of Orlando Pulse?  Has he asked for your almsgiving for the people of Europe that they may be able to care for the waves of refugees arriving on their shores on the five-year anniversary of the Syrian civil war?

So Be Perfect

Tuesday of the Eleventh Week in Ordinary Time

By Melanie Rigney

Then the LORD said to Elijah the Tishbite, “Have you seen that Ahab has humbled himself before me? Since he has humbled himself before me, I will not bring the evil in his time. I will bring the evil upon his house during the reign of his son.” (1 Kings 21:28-29)

Be merciful, O Lord, for we have sinned. (Psalm 51:3a)

“For if you love those who love you, what recompense will you have? Do not the tax collectors do the same? And if you greet your brothers only, what is unusual about that? Do not pagans do the same? So be perfect, just as your heavenly Father is perfect.” (Matthew 5:46-48)

Piety

Dear Jesus, help us to spread your fragrance everywhere we go. Flood our souls with your spirit and life. (Opening of a prayer said to be among the favorites of Teresa of Calcutta)

Study

I once saw a video in which the speaker asked who attendees thought was the best person of the twentieth century. Many said Teresa of Calcutta.  Then he asked who the evilest person of the century was. Many said Hitler; a few said Stalin. Finally, he asked where the audience members would put themselves. The consensus was somewhere in between.

The speaker then threw down the challenge. God’s desire is that we all live lives of generosity and justice and sacrifice in the way of Teresa. Being better than Hitler or Stalin simply isn’t enough.

But it’s so hard. So very hard.

Most of us are not called to nurse and pray over the teeming mass of humanity

By Clyde Waddell [Public domain],
via Wikimedia Commons

in the slums of Calcutta. We’re called to love in a different way. We’re called to love that pastor who feels the need to instruct us on the proper way to receive communion. We’re called to love that person who doesn’t wait for us to finish a thought because he or she knows, just knows, what we’re going to say and has already prepared a response. We’re called to love that texting teenager whose carelessness resulted in the death of our grandchild. We’re called to love (but not necessarily vote for) that politician whose views and ethics are so contrary to ours that we don’t think we could even stand to be in the same room with him or her.

We’re called to love.

Hitler and Stalin wouldn’t or couldn’t do it. But surely, with God’s help, we can put aside our human notion that we will never achieve the Father’s perfection of love… and seek it anyway.

Action

Spread Jesus’s fragrance today in a place you find odious.

Give to the One Who Asks

Memorial of Saint Anthony of Padua, 

Priest and Doctor of the Church

Ahab said to Naboth, “Give me your vineyard to be my vegetable garden, since it is close by, next to my house. I will give you a better vineyard in exchange, or, if you prefer, I will give you its value in money.” Naboth answered him, “The LORD forbid that I should give you my ancestral heritage.”  1 Kings 21:2-3

But I say to you, offer no resistance to one who is evil. When someone strikes you on your right cheek, turn the other one to him as well. If anyone wants to go to law with you over your tunic, hand him your cloak as well. Should anyone press you into service for one mile, go with him for two miles. Give to the one who asks you, and do not turn your back on one who wants to borrow.”  Matthew 5:39-42

Piety

Saint Anthony, you are the perfect imitator of Jesus, who received from God the special power of restoring lost things, grant that our country and the victims of senseless violence in Orlando last weekend may find peace and a solution to these mass killings which plague our nation and our psyche and our moral compass. At least restore to us peace and tranquility of mind. 

To this favor, I ask another of you: that I may always remain in possession of the true good that is God. Let me rather lose all things than lose God, my supreme good. Let me never suffer the loss of my greatest treasure, eternal life with God. Amen.

Study

This reflection will get around to having the right “New Testament” frame of mind, however, first, it will take a turn past some basic historical research to give the story from Kings meaning in the modern world.

If King Ahab had the “Right of Eminent Domain,” then this whole episode could have been avoided.  Eminent Domain is the right of a government or its agent to expropriate private property for public use, with payment of compensation.  My fraternal grandfather had a small homestead in Staten Island, NY back in the 1930s to 1950s.  Progress in the form of the Staten Island Expressway (Interstate 278/US 440 a part of President Eisenhower’s Interstate Highway system) was planned to run right through the property.  Today, the land is now the inside of an exit ramp from the Expressway to Richmond Avenue (near West Caswell Avenue).  Tens of thousands of cars and buses pass daily who otherwise would have been on neighborhood streets.   

Ahab, though, did not have any such public use in mind.  He wanted Naboth’s vineyard as a personal possession.  That is why he needed Jezebel to manipulate important structures of Israelite social order, law, and religious observance to eliminate the faithful Israelite landowner who tried to frustrate Ahab’s will. Naboth is shown as unwilling to sell or exchange his vineyard.  However, this is not a matter of choice. Even if he wanted to make the trade, according to the Israelite system, the land was not personal property but was held in common within the family or community. The vineyard was not private property, to be sold at will by the local real estate agent.  When the landholder died, it would pass to the next of kin, usually the first born son.  Naboth resisted Ahab because he had no choice.  (Today we only hear the first installment of this drama.  Stay tuned for rising action as the week progresses.)

However, this is a symbolic story of the broader story arc in Kings. 

When the people responded to and respected God and His Word, the nation was delivered from its enemies and prospered. But curses resulted when disobedience and rebellion against God became the order of the day… God is the Lord of history, actively involved in the affairs of men. When the nation and its leaders look to him and obey his laws, peace and prosperity follow. Political and economic disaster overtake Israel and Judah as a direct consequence of the weakening of the nation’s moral and religious fibre” (p. 251). [i]

The reading from Matthew gives a pretty big hint about what is unfolding as the new law replaces the old. If Naboth had not resisted, he might not have met his fate at the hands of Ahab and Jezebel. However, Naboth was a product of his time and traditions. The new law of the New Testament had not yet been introduced.  So, Naboth stuck to his traditions and legal position just like Tevia did in the Fiddler on the Roof story. 

Jesus eventually comes along and make course corrections.  Turn the other cheek.  Walk two miles. GIVE to the one who asks. Those will all come later. Instead, stay tuned to see how Ahab will face the music for his deeds and misdeeds when Elijah comes along to speak truth to power.

Action

What have we lost, St. Anthony?  Restore our tranquility and peace of mind.  As Pope Francis sums it up:

The terrible massacre that has taken place in Orlando, with its dreadfully high number of innocent victims, has caused in Pope Francis, and in all of us, the deepest feelings of horror and condemnation, of pain and turmoil before this new manifestation of homicidal folly and senseless hatred. Pope Francis joins the families of the victims and all of the injured in prayer and in compassion. Sharing in their indescribable suffering he entrusts them to the Lord so they may find comfort. We all hope that ways may be found, as soon as possible, to effectively identify and contrast the causes of such terrible and absurd violence which so deeply upsets the desire for peace of the American people and of the whole of humanity. 

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[i] http://lifehopeandtruth.com/bible/holy-bible/old-testament/the-prophets/former-prophets/1-kings/

Shown Great Love

Eleventh Sunday in Ordinary Time

By Jim Bayne

Then David said to Nathan, “I have sinned against the LORD.”  Nathan answered David: “The LORD on his part has forgiven your sin: you shall not die.”  (2 SAM 12:13)

I live by faith in the Son of God who has loved me and given himself up for me.  I do not nullify the grace of God; for if justification comes through the law, then Christ died for nothing. (Gal 2:20-21)

So I tell you, her many sins have been forgiven because she has shown great love.  But the one to whom little is forgiven, loves little." (Luke 7:47)

          

Piety

Blessed is the one whose fault is taken away, whose sin is covered. Blessed the man to whom the LORD imputes not guilt, in whose spirit there is no guile.

(Ps 32:1-2)

I acknowledged my sin to you, my guilt I covered not. I said, "I confess my faults to the LORD," and you took away the guilt of my sin. (Ps 32:5)

Study

“The Christian ideal has not been tried and found wanting. It has been found difficult, and left untried.” From The Unfinished Temple by G.K. Chesterton

In today’s readings, we encounter three individuals who, after a long period spent far from the “Christian Ideal,” encountered the Lord, sought forgiveness and spent the rest of their days living the Christian Ideal of love.

David, despite being especially loved by God and given countless blessings, is not content with what he has; he wants even more.  He seeks the wife of Uriah and has him killed in order to satisfy his want. Under the prodding of Nathan the prophet, David repents and goes on to be a righteous and effective king in battle and civil and criminal justice. He is described as a man after God's own heart.  David learned to love: to live the Christian Ideal.

Paul was dedicated to the persecution of the early disciples of Jesus in the area of Jerusalem.  On the road to Damascus, Paul had his “God experience.”  From then on he began to live the Christian Ideal and forever after regularly acknowledged his guilt and sought to bring God’s love to all he met.

In Luke, a woman who is said to have led a sinful life first washes Jesus’ feet with her tears and then anoints his feet with oil. Jesus describes this action as a plea for forgiveness which he immediately gives, shocking his host.

In all three of these stories, the ones forgiven go on to lead love filled lives.  The message is, acknowledge your sinfulness, accept forgiveness and go on to live the Christian Ideal of love. The pattern here is that we need to fail before we can become true lovers.

Richard Rohr described this sequence in one of his recent daily meditations:

Old Testament scholar and theologian Walter Brueggemann traces the evolution of human consciousness through three sections of Hebrew Scriptures: the Torah (the five books of the Pentateuch), the Prophets, and the Wisdom literature (including Job, the Psalms, Song of Songs, and Ecclesiastes). Just as children must begin with structure and rules, religion starts with setting boundaries, rituals, and rules about who is in and who is out. It's all about protecting the status quo, our tribal and egoic identity. But eventually, we have to develop the capacity for self-criticism, as the prophets did, which is the necessary second stage. If we do both of these stages well, we will normally be catapulted toward wisdom and holiness.

In today’s readings, we see three people with three very different roles in life “catapulted toward wisdom and holiness” through the action of God’s unconditional forgiveness and love.

Action

If you are reading this reflection, you are most likely one of the blessed who have experienced God’s unconditional love in your own life.  Use this reminder that we are all forgiven, no matter how serious our offense, and we are all loved unconditionally, as a motivation to reach out in forgiveness and love to those in your environment.

Set Apart for Me

Memorial of Saint Barnabas, Apostle

While they were worshiping the Lord and fasting, the Holy Spirit said, “Set apart for me Barnabas and Saul for the work to which I have called them.” Then, completing their fasting and prayer, they laid hands on them and sent them off.  Acts 13:2-3

Piety

But I say to you, do not swear at all; not by heaven, for it is God’s throne; nor by the earth, for it is his footstool; nor by Jerusalem, for it is the city of the great King. Do not swear by your head, for you cannot make a single hair white or black. Let your ‘Yes’ mean ‘Yes,’ and your ‘No’ mean ‘No.’ Anything more is from the Evil One.” Matthew 5:34-37

Study

With God as my witness, you shall not invoke the name of the LORD, your God, in vain. (Irony intentional!)  While some of the old laws would pass away, this one does not.  In nearly exact quotes, the prohibition against swearing is supported in the New Testament just as it appears in the Hebrew Bible.

“Let your speech be ‘Yes, yes,’ ‘No, no.’” Some think that this might mean that Jesus permits a milder form of oath.  NOT hardly.  In light of Matthew 5:34, “Do not swear at all.”  Jesus even says if you call people names, you might go to H E double hockey sticks!  That was in Thursday’s reading.   

We started out the week reading the Beatitudes and hearing what personality traits and behaviors result in blessings.  We conclude the week reflecting on a behavior that will result in the opposite.  Just as Barnabas and Saul were set apart, they will know we are Christians by the lack of swearing that people hear uttered from our lips.  It almost seems quaint, like a throwback to Victorian times to consider the ban on swearing.  Honest to God, you should not swear. 

Yet, one of the images embedded in our civil religion is political figures raising their right hand, placing their left hand on the family Bible and repeating the oath of office.  Such behavior is not required by the Constitution.  It is just slavishly following tradition in a society where 7 out of 10 people are Christian.

Action

This means we better clean up our verbal act --- along with our social media posting etiquette.  If Jesus was making up these rules today, he would also make cyber-bullying a crime punishable in Gahanna. 

I find it the ultimate irony that one of the most followed and popular Catholic priests who is active in social media has to on a regular basis remind his followers of the ground rules about reacting to the topics he posts.

The Rev. James Martin, SJ reminds his social media followers every week of these rules.  “NB: Two post limit. Keep on topic, please. No ad hominin attacks.”  If you have not brushed up on your Latin lately, this means no arguments should be directed against a person rather than the position they are maintaining. If you are following a Catholic priest, do you really need this reminder? Anything more is from the Evil One. 

It is one thing to act this way when arguing about sports teams in a bar or seated in a sports arena. However, do we really need to attack the messenger when posting about religious topics on The Face Book or in the Twitter-verse?

However, our leading political candidates make this the cornerstone of their debates using such expressions as crooked, bully, thin-skinned, etc. to talk about each other.

Let’s work to lead by example. 

A Tiny Whispering Sound

Friday of the Tenth Week in Ordinary Time

By Colleen O’Sullivan

At the mountain of God, Horeb, Elijah came to a cave, where he took shelter.  But the word of the Lord came to him, “Go outside and stand on the mountain before the Lord; the Lord will be passing by.”  A strong and heavy wind was rending the mountains and crushing rocks before the Lord – but the Lord was not in the wind.  After the wind there was an earthquake – but the Lord was not in the earthquake.  After the earthquake there was fire – but the Lord was not in the fire.  After the fire, there was a tiny whispering sound.  When he heard this, Elijah hid his face in his cloak and went and stood at the entrance of the cave.   (1 Kings 19:9a, 11-13a)

Piety

Hear, O Lord, the sound of my call;

have pity on me, and answer me.

Of you my heart speaks; you my glance seeks.

R.  I long to see your face, O Lord.

(Psalm 27: 7-8a)

Study

We have been following the story of the prophet Elijah for the last few days.  On Wednesday, we read about the contest between the prophets of Baal and the prophet of God, Elijah.  For all their crying out, the prophets of Baal were powerless.  We are told, “there was not a sound; no one answered, and no one was listening.”   When Elijah, on the other hand, cried out to the Lord, the God of Abraham, Isaac and Israel, the sacrifice was immediately consumed.  This was the one true God.  Elijah then executed all the prophets of Baal.

But now, he has had to flee for his life from Jezebel, who brought the worship of Baal with her when she married King Ahab.  She has vowed to kill Elijah.  The prophet traveled all the way to Mt. Horeb, where the Book of Deuteronomy tells us Moses received the Ten Commandments from God.

Alone in a cave, Elijah is huddled, depressed, in today’s reading.  He had hoped in vain that the contest would draw God’s people back to their faith.  Failure weighs heavily upon him.  As is so often the case, God doesn’t wait for the prophet to seek him out; he goes in search of Elijah.  He tells Elijah that the Lord will be passing by, so come on out of the cave.

Through earthquake, wind and fire, there is no sign of God.  It’s only in the ensuing silence that Elijah hears something.  In a tiny whispering sound, easily missed, the prophet hears the voice of the Lord.

Having just returned from a week-long, directed, silent retreat, this part of today’s Scripture reading really resonated with me.  I don’t think God said anything new to me over those seven days.  But in the stillness, absent the earthquake, wind, fire and other chaos that sometimes fill my life, I was able to hear what the Lord has been saying to me for months.

How often do we miss that soft whisper that is the voice of God?  Most people I know lead very busy lives.  Many of them are doing great things for God.  But how can any of us know what it is God desires of us or for us if we don’t carve out some quiet in the midst of all the doing?

Action

Perhaps the thought of a week of silence makes you break out in a cold sweat.  How about a day or an hour?  Praying is as much or more about listening as it is about talking.  If you don’t routinely spend quiet time with the Lord, how about trying it today?  Listen.  What do you hear?

Reconcile with Your Sister and Brother

Thursday of the Tenth Week in Ordinary Time

By Beth DeCristofaro

Elijah said, “Go and say to Ahab, ‘Harness up and leave the mountain before the

Mosiac at Our Lady of Mt. Carmel, Darien, IL
by Plamen Petrov
http://plamensart.com/?page_id=682 

rain stops you.’” In a trice, the sky grew dark with clouds and wind, and a heavy rain fell. Ahab mounted his chariot and made for Jezreel. But the hand of the LORD was on Elijah, who girded up his clothing and ran before Ahab as far as the approaches to Jezreel. (1 Kings 18:44-46)

“You have heard that it was said to your ancestors, You shall not kill; and whoever kills will be liable to judgment. But I say to you, whoever is angry with his brother will be liable to judgment, and whoever says to his brother, ‘Raqa,’ will be answerable to the Sanhedrin, and whoever says, ‘You fool,’ will be liable to fiery Gehenna. Therefore, if you bring your gift to the altar, and there recall that your brother has anything against you, leave your gift there at the altar, go first and be reconciled with your brother, and then come and offer your gift. (Matthew 5:22-24)

Piety

O God, from whom all good things come,

Grant that we, who call on you in our need,

May at your prompting discern what is right,

And by your guidance do it.

Through our Lord Jesus Christ, you Son,

Who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit

One God forever and ever.

        (Collect from the Mass for the Day)

Study

God works pretty hard through the hands, eyes, mouth and faith of his mouthpieces.  In 1 Kings we see Elijah, God’s agent, contributing to a miracle in which God reclaimed Israel by testing and besting the pagan god Baal who the Chosen people had begun to worship.  God dramatically shows them that God, alone, is the source of life and way to life.

Jesus opens us to small miracles which, in faith with Him, opens us up to God and clears our heart of idolatry of anger, vengeance, etc. He magnifies the Law by showing that our anger can be violent even if killing is never realized or intended.  He also gives us the opportunity to experience the grace of reconciliation when we renounce anger and turn back to him, in love, to our brother or sister.  Yes, it is as hard work for us to effect this small miracle as it was for Elijah to participate in God’s grand gesture of bringing rain to the desert.

Action

Is it only a coincidence that modern psychology parallels Jesus’ description of someone consumed with anger as experiencing the “fires of Gehenna”?  Today we recognize that our emotions, neutral in themselves, can be damaging to our own minds and bodies if left unattended and out of control.  And how many of us have found ourselves estranged from someone because of unkind words or unjust expectations?  Jesus, as part of a Triune God, hopes for us the same kind of healing, abundantly loving relationships as He experiences with the Father and the Spirit.  Tender your hand in reunion to someone today and surpass the idol of out-of-control human emotions. 

How Long Will You Straddle the Issue?

Wednesday of the Tenth Week in Ordinary Time

Elijah appealed to all the people and said, "How long will you straddle the issue? If the LORD is God, follow him; if Baal, follow him." The people, however, did not answer him. 1 Kings 18:21

Therefore, whoever breaks one of the least of these commandments and teaches others to do so will be called least in the kingdom of heaven. But whoever obeys and teaches these commandments will be called greatest in the kingdom of heaven. Matthew 5:19

PietyKeep me safe, O God; in you I take refuge. I say to the Lord, you are my Lord, you are my only good. Psalm 16:1b-2

StudyThe Prophet Elijah asks his people to choose the Lord. Jesus also places a critical question before his audience challenging them to follow Mosaic Law until heaven and earth pass away. The notes in the New American Bible explain that the “passing away” of heaven and earth is not necessarily the end of the world understood, as in much apocalyptic literature, as the dissolution of the existing universe. Rather, the “turning of the ages” comes with the apocalyptic event of Jesus’ death and resurrection.

The NAB notes remind us that the people to whom this gospel is addressed are living in the new and final age, prophesied by Isaiah as the time of “new heavens and a new earth” (Isaiah 65:17; 66:22). Meanwhile, during Jesus’ ministry when the kingdom is already breaking in, his mission remains within the framework of the existing Mosaic Law, though with significant anticipation of the age to come.[i]

Elijah reminds us that our strength is renewed when we place our offering before the altar of the Lord. As he re-enacts what we would call our offertory in the Mass, Elijah has the strength and the faith to trust that the Lord is his hope and will deliver for him in the challenging demonstration with the priests of Baal.

Action

We have such posed for us every day when we decide how to spend our time, talent and treasure. We relive those choices in the Ideal talk every weekend. We make such choices when we decide to pay our taxes, go to work, have children or visit our relatives. We also make a lot of little choices every day as well. We can choose to spend time in front of the idiot box watching cable talking heads blather on and on or we can choose to turn it off and turn on our volunteer spirit. We can choose to spend our money on that new perfume offered at the counter in Fair Oaks Mall or we can deposit those dollars in an envelope and send the money to support a school in a faraway country or places like the poor inner city of Camden, NJ or the rural counties of Appalachia.

We can use our talents for purely selfish pursuits or we can offer those talents to aid a charity, church or another social program. It does not matter if those talents are being the very best accountant, the very best writer, the very best nurse or the very best gardener. We can put whatever talents God has bestowed upon us to good use for others or for selfish uses.

Are we ready to stop straddling the issues and proclaim the Gospel that we are called to witness?

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[i] http://www.usccb.org/bible/matthew/5:17#48005017-1