God Has No Favorites

In today's responsorial psalm, Psalm 62,we praise God, saying: "Lord, you give back to everyone according to his works."   In the first reading, Romans 2: 1-11, St. Paul reminds us that God has no favorites. Anyone who does evil will reap accordingly and those who do good, as well. Whether Greek (Gentiles) or Jews, whether rich or poor, whether persons who hold high offices or "low", whether this race or another, this nationality or another, whether black or white or any other color,  whether Native American, African American, Chinese or Japanese, Russian or European, Scottish or Danish, and so on:  God "will repay everyone according to his [her] works, eternal life to those who seek glory, honor and immortality through perseverance in good works, but wrath and fury to those who selfishly disobey the truth and obey wickedness."  No exceptions for anyone in any state of life or any nationality or any culture or any status!  To emphasize, St. Paul states: "Yes, affliction and distress will come upon everyone who does evil, Jew first and then Greek. But there will be glory , honor, and peace for everyone who does good. Jew first and then Greek. There is no partiality with God."

Oh, the mercy of our God so admirably revealed to us on the cross when Jesus said to the good thief, who rebuked the thief beside him who was mocking Jesus and asked Jesus to remember him when he got to His kingdom. "This day, Jesus said to him, you will be with me in paradise."  Because of God's mercy toward us, Jesus says the same thing to you and me when we acknowledge him as Savior and God and repent of our sinfulness: "This day you will be with me in paradise," not that we earned it but because Jesus secured it for us when he triumphed over sin and death through His resurrection from the dead.

Thank  you, my Lord and my God, "my rock and my salvation, my stronghold" (Psalm 62)!

One with Jesus and the Father

In today's Gospel, John 17: 20-26,  Jesus says to the Father:  "I have given them--you and me--the glory you gave me, so that they may be one, as we are one, I in them and you in me, that they may be brought to perfection as one, that the world may know that you sent me, and that you loved them even as you loved me." Let us personalize Jesus' statement to read:  Father, "I have given  [Dorothy Ann]-- (your name)--the glory you gave me." What glory? The glory of being one with Jesus, as Jesus and the Father are one with one another. Jesus explains to the Father why He is asking that you or I be one with Him:  "[T]hat [Dorothy Ann--insert your name] may be one, as we are one, I in [her] and you in me, that [she] may be brought to perfection as one [with me],  that the world may know that you sent me, and you love [her] even as you loved me."

If you are married, I encourage you to read that passage with you and your spouse in mind, personalizes the passage! It then would read, for instance: "I have given Joe and Mary the glory you gave me, so that they may be one, as we are one, I in them and you in me, that Joe and Mary may be brought to perfection as one, that the world may know that you sent me, and that you [love] Joe and Mary even as you [love] me." 

Triumph over Evil

In today's first reading, Daniel 7:2-14,  Daniel shares a vision he has throughout the night:  ...the four winds stirred up the great sea, from which emerged four immense beasts, each different from the others": A lion with eagle's wings, a bear with three tusks in its mouth, a leopard with four wings and four heads, and a fourth beast with ten horns looking more terrible than all the others.  All of these beasts lost their dominion, their power and their strength, as the "Ancient One took his throne," and as "[t]he court was convened" and "One like a son of man coming on the clouds of heaven...reached the Ancient One."  This son of man was given "dominion, glory and kingship; nations and peoples of every language serve him. His dominion is an everlasting dominion that shall not be taken away, his kingship shall not be destroyed."

All of creation is subject to the Lord. All humankind belongs to God: all nations, all peoples, all nationalities, all races belong to God. Evil, in any form--arrogance, pride, prejudice, jealousy, deceitfulness, lust, slothfulness, violence, and other forms of rebellion against God and others--will be destroyed.  "Dominion, glory and kingship" belong only to Jesus, not to us!

The Promises of the Lord

In today's first reading, Baruch 5: 1-9, the prophet asks Jerusalem "to take off [its] robe of mourning and misery....For God will show all the earth your splendor: you will be named by God forever the peace of justice, the glory of God's worship.....Up, Jerusalem! stand upon the heights; look to the east and see your children gathered from the east and the west at the word of the Holy One, rejoicing that they are remembered by God. Led away on foot by their enemies they left you: but God will bring them back to you borne aloft in glory as on royal thrones. For God has commanded that every lofty mountain be made low, and that the age-old depths and gorges be filled to level ground, that Israel may advance secure in the glory of God."

What promises, not only to Jerusalem, but to every city and town, nations and peoples!  Every continent, every race, every religion is ask "to take off its robe of mourning and misery.  "...God will show all the earth" the splendor of God" hidden within it. Are we willing to yield our robes of mourning to the Lord? Are we willing to leave corruption and sin, injustices and deceit behind?  God has named us forever "the peace of justice."  "Lofty mountain[s]" of pride and lust, gluttony and avarice God has commanded to "be made low."   Isis and Al Quaeda, abortionists, human traffickers, those perpetrating slave labor, all those involved in corruption of any kind will be defeated. That within you and me that needs to be brought low will be leveled and virtue risen in its place.

O, the glory and the splendor, the power and the honor of our God in our midst. God, who is our leader and our warrior, will not be stopped in His plan of saving us. We may for a time be "led away...by [our] enemies]...but God will bring [us]  back...borne aloft in glory as on royal thrones," Baruch prophesies!

These are some of my reflections on today's first Scripture reading, Baruch 5: 1-9. What is God saying to you in this reading?

Confidence in Oneself

In the Gospel of today, John 17: 1-11a, Jesus says to His Father:  “Father, the hour has come. Give glory to your son, so that your son may glorify you….I glorified you on earth by accomplishing the work that you gave me to do. Now glorify me, Father, with you, with the glory that I had with you before the world began.”  Jesus is about to be arrested, condemned to death, scourged, crowned with thorns in mockery of His Kingship, and crucified.  Three days later, death having no power over the Son of God, Jesus is risen—glorified, with the Father,  with the glory that He had with the Father before the world was created.

Like Jesus, Paul, in the liturgy’s first reading, Acts 20: 17-27, is looking back on his life as well and is about to go to Jerusalem, where, like Jesus, he faces hardships and imprisonment.  Paul can testify that, like Jesus, he “did not shrink from telling you what was for your benefit, or from teaching you in public or in your homes. I earnestly bore witness for both Jews and Greeks to repentance before God and to faith in our Lord Jesus.”

You and I have also been sent here to accomplish a task, a mission, given to us by the Father through the Holy Spirit, the Advocate sent to us by Jesus.  Like Paul and Jesus, as we bring our wills into harmony with God’s will for us, as we give glory to God by  the Gospel values we embrace,  we will meet hardship, be mocked and ridiculed. We will, from time to time,  be rejected on account of our beliefs in the Lord God, in Christ Jesus.  Disappointments, frustration, pain   are part of anyone’s faith journey.  At the end of our lives, hopefully, like Paul and Jesus,  if we have striven to give glory to God by our lives, if we have come to know the Father, the only true God, and the one whom the Father sent, Jesus Christ (cf John 17: 3),  we can confidently look forward to being glorified with our Father in heaven. 

At the end of this day, will I be able to say, as Jesus did, "Father, I have accomplished the work you gave me to do?"

Jesus Shares in Blood and Flesh to Secure our Freedom

In today's second reading, we are given the following message:  "Since the children share in blood and flesh, Jesus likewise shared in them, that through death he might destroy the one who has the power of death, that is, the Devil, and free those who through fear of death have been subject to slavery all their life" (Hebrews 2: 14).  "Who through fear of death have been subject to slavery all their life," what could that possibly mean? People scramble here and there, for this or that, compulsively consuming drugs and alcohol to the point of becoming unconscious, delirious, numb. Other people slavishly seek one experience after another, get involved in one sexual encounter, then another and another and another; run here, run there, seeking more and more material goods, larger paychecks, more yachts and summer homes, more and more expensive vacations, more clothes, more gadgets. Others are desperate to look younger and younger, going under the knife for face lifts and tummy tucks and what have you to defy age, to remove wrinkles and liver spots. Are we, in fact, afraid of death, afraid of advancing toward eternal life, afraid of going to Jerusalem with Jesus, unsure that our resurrection will be glorious?

St. Paul says to us in 1 Cor 2: 7-11, "It is of the mysterious wisdom of God that we talk, the wisdom that was hidden, which God predestined to be for our glory before the ages began. None of the rulers of the age recognized it; for if they had recognized it, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory; but it is as scripture says: 'What no eye has seen or ear has heard, what the mind of man[woman] cannot visualize; all that God has prepared for those who love him, to us, though, God has given revelation through the Spirit, for the Spirit explores the depths of everything, even the depths of God."

Is it that we are failing to explore the depths of life that we live on its surface only, living to get drunk or to numb out with material things, tummy tucks and face lifts or whatever the world offers as THE way to be fulfilled, actualized, made popular and powerful? Are we ignorant of THE WAY, THE TRUTH AND THE LIFE, and thus slaves to a fear of death?

Spiritual Warfare

Today's first reading, 2 Cor 6: 1-10,  opens with: "Now is the acceptable time; behold, now is the day of salvation," Paul says to the Corinthians.  He commends himself and his companions  "as ministers of God, through much endurance, in afflictions, hardships, constraints, beatings, imprisonments, riots, labors, vigils, fasts; by purity, knowledge, patience, kindness, in the Holy Spirit, in unfeigned love, in truthful speech, in the power of God; with weapons of righteousness at the right and at the left; through glory and dishonor, insult and praise." There is a saying that goes "No pain, no gain." To reach high honors in school or on the athletic field, one needs to put in long hours, endure the pain of endless practice and challenging hours of tedious study.  The same is true of our growth spiritually.  Purity of heart is not a gift achieved by weak hearted, undisciplined persons but by persons of strong character, willing to endure the ridicule of "friends," and risk being bullied by others.  Knowledge of one's faith, of God, of the Scriptures is acquired by those willing to apply themselves to the work of learning, doing the research and hours of reflective study.  Patience and kindness are developed in a difficult circumstances borne gracefully.  "Weapons of righteousness" are drawn in situations that are unjust, unkind, uncaring, abusive: standing up in those kinds of conflicts takes a woman/man of incredible faith in the power of God and the guidance of the Holy Spirit. Yes, we are engaged in a holy warfare day in and day out.    Now is the time to volunteer to be warriors for Christ sake.