Fulfilling our Ministry Here on Earth

In today's first reading, 1 Timothy 4: 1-8, Paul says to Timothy, and to us:  Beloved: I charge you in the presence of God and of Christ Jesus, who will judge the living and the dead, and by his appearing and his kingly power: proclaim the word; be persistent whether it is convenient or inconvenient; convince, reprimand, encourage through all patience and teaching...[B]e self-possessed in all circumstances; fulfill your ministry."

We proclaim the word by word, by deed, by our very lives, that is, lives of integrity. We live a life of integrity when we consistently follow Christ and His messages in the Gospel, when we live by faith, when we love God with our whole heart, our whole soul, and our whole mind and our neighbor as ourselves and do all of this when "convenient and inconvenient."  Paul asks us to be "self-possessed", that is in control of our emotions, our thoughts, our actions and not act out in anger or jealousy or revenge or greediness, covetousness, or avarice, in sexual excess or lust. We are asked to be patient, kind and loving, caring and forgiving, understanding and compassionate!

Am I, are you, aware of when another person need for encouragement or need to be reprimanded for making choices contrary to their baptism into the life and death of Christ?  On the other hand, am I, are you, open to needing to be encouraged to make right choices or our need to be reprimanded for going astray?

Later in this passage, Paul says that he is "being poured out like a libation, and [that] the time of [his] departure is at hand."  Confidently, he says: "I have competed well; I have finished the race; I have kept the faith. From  now on the crown of righteousness awaits me, which the Lord, the just judge, will award to me on that day, and not only to me but to all who have longed for his appearance."

What to you, what do I, want to be able to say when our departure from this earth is at hand?  If we stay on the course that we are now o,  will we be able to say: "I have competed well; ...I have kept the faith...[A] crown of righteousness awaits me, which the Lord...will award to me on that day" when I enter eternal life?

Fulfilling God's Purpose

Today’s  first reading, Isaiah 55:10-11, speaks about God’s word going forth from God’s mouth never returning  to Him void, but always doing the will for which the word was sent.  You and I are small words—Jesus is The Word of God--sent forth by the mouth of God to accomplish the purpose for which God put us here on earth.  We will not return to the Lord until we have accomplished that purpose. How  mind-boggling  to realize that God  not only sent us here to accomplish His purpose but also did so in a way that  we possess all of the “tools” needed to accomplish God’s will. Furthermore, God did not send us alone; He has sent His Spirit to direct us, strengthen us, and enlighten us along the way. He also sent His Son to destroy Satan’s power over us.    And, as noted in the liturgy’s responsorial psalm, Psalm 34, as we go through life striving to accomplish God’s will by doing the good we were sent to do, the Lord rescues us from all of our distress, that is, from that which would hamper us from doing the good we are challenged to bring about in God’s name and overcoming the evil that we encounter. Furthermore, the Lord stays close to us when our hearts are broken (Psalm 34) and saves us when we “are crushed in spirit” (Psalm 34).  

Jesus' Graciousness

In today’s Gospel, Luke 4: 14-22a,   Jesus is attending a service in the synagogue. He is handed a scroll which he unrolls and reads a passage from the prophet Isaiah:   “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me because  he (His Father and our Father, His God and our God)  has anointed me to bring glad tidings to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim liberty to captives and recovery of sight to the blind, to let the oppressed go free, and to proclaim a year acceptable to the Lord.”    He then tells the people that this passage is being fulfilled in their midst.  At the end of this passage, we are told that the people “were amazed at the gracious words that came from his mouth.”

Throughout the Gospels, we witness Jesus’ use of words, that is, his graciousness,  for instance, to:

·         The Samaritan woman at the well

·         The woman caught in adultery

·         The two apostles, James and John, vying for a position of honor in His Kingdom

·         The apostles not wanting the little children to come to Him

·         Bartimaeus, the blind man on the side of the road yelling for help and the crowd trying to quiet him

·         The demoniac in the Geresene hills

·         The blind and deaf, the crippled and lame, the sick and infirm, persons of every kind of disease

·         The deaf and dumb

·         The lepers, outcasts of society

·         The centurion begging that his servant be healed

·         The widow of Naim

·         The crowds of people lost without a shepherd

·         His executioners and those who came to the Garden of Gethsemane to arrest Him

·         Judas in his betrayal and Peter in his denials

·         Herod and Pilate

·         Those who mock Him, scourge Him, and crown Him with thorns

·         The women who are weeping for Him on His way to Calvary

·         The thief on the cross asking for mercy

·         Mary and John beneath the cross

How gracious would my words be in some of those situations? How gracious am I in the presence of those who betray me, persecute me, confront me with violent words, reject me and put me to scorn? How gracious am I toward the deaf and dumb, the disfigured, the diseased (spiritually, physically, mentally; persons  awkward socially), the “lepers” of my society, those oppressed and poor?  Kind words, grateful words, loving words give life. Harsh words can cripple people for life. Which do I choose to speak and to whom?  To whom do I refuse to be gracious?

The Earth Filled with the Knowledge of God

"There shall be no harm or ruin on all of  my holy mountain; for the earth shall be filled with knowledge of the Lord, as water covers the sea, " we are told in today's first reading, Is. 11: 1-10.

What a promise, especially given the fact that the family of Jesse, David's father, has been reduced to "a stump," and appears dead.  How possibly will God's promise of an everlasting Kingdom, where "there shall be no harm or ruin," come about from David's royal lineage?  And happen, it does in Jesus' birth!  The Son of God comes into this world to remind us that God's Kingdom is rooted in human nature, will survive death and last eternally. That Kingdom, through the Spirit at work in the world, at work in each one of us, is removing the obstacles that appear to thwart God's plan of salvation, that seems to be delaying the time when the earth will "be filled with the knowledge of God." 

Blessed, Jesus says in today's Gospel, Luke 10: 22-24, are those who see God's plan coming to fruition, who believe in God's promises and know, in faith, that God's faithfulness has no limitations and no end.  Yes, the day is fast approaching when "justice" will be granted to "the poor," and "the ruthless" will be crushed "with the rod of...[God's] mouth" and the wicked will be slain "with the breath of...[God's] lips" (See Is. ll: 1-10).

O, the greatness and the power and the love and the justice of our God!  Blessed are those who believe when they do not see. Blessed are those who wait and trust in God's coming and acting on behalf of the poor and distraught, the marginalized and the oppressed of this world, of our governmental, societal, ecclesial, familial, and legal systems, for "nothing is impossible for our God" (Luke 1: 37).  Mary believed  and got involved in this Plan in the face of risking her life by stoning.  To what point do you and I believe in God's plan and to what point are we willing to say "yes" to the Lord and assume the mission God has entrusted to us to work along side of and with God, until the time comes when "the earth shall be filled with the knowledge of the Lord, as water covers the sea"?

Jesus Turns to Gaze upon Us and to Address Us

The gospel of today’s liturgy (catholic Mass) opens with the words: “Great crowds were following Jesus and He turned to address them…”  Imagine being a part of that crowd. Jesus turns and your eyes meet! He speaks directly to you nonverbally. Love touches your heart deeply and it is transformed by that look of love.  St. Paul, in today’s first reading, Romans 13, 8-10, tells us that we “[o]we nothing to anyone, except to love one another….Love does no evil to the neighbor; hence, love is the fulfillment of” each of the commandments that instruct us to “not commit adultery; …not kill; …not steal; …not covet.”  Imagine being so transformed by Jesus’ loving gaze that your love for yourself and others is set ablaze.  Judgments cease on your part. You begin to look for the good, even the smallest good, in your neighbor, in yourself, in your loved ones, in those with whom you are at odds, in those  whose attitudes sting like salt on an open wound. And you not only look for that good, you name it,  you point it out to that person.  “Love,” St. Paul teaches, “is the fulfillment of the law.”  And yes, you yourself, are fulfilled by that kind of loving!

Lord, may I have the courage and the humility today to be loving, that is to look for good in myself, in those with whom I come in contact, in the world, in the church, in my family and my religious community. May I risk expressing that love, naming the good I see, especially, in situations that seem depraved of any good or in persons who are raging, ranting or pouting, who are depressed or lonely or hurting, who are incredibly annoying, especially if that is me having “a bad day”, if that is me encountering maddening circumstances that seem to arise out of nowhere and that I allow to shatter my peace. In those times, may I turn to you, as you are always turned toward me. May my eyes and your eyes meet in an embrace of love, in an embrace that restores calmness to my troubled soul.