Wisdom: A Gift from God's Bountifulness

In today's first reading, Sirach 1: 1-10, we read that all "wisdom comes from the Lord and with him it remains forever, and is before all time....The word of God on high is the fountain of wisdom and her ways are everlasting....There is but one, the Most High all-powerful creator-king and truly awe-inspiring one, seated upon his throne and he is the God of dominion....He has poured her (wisdom) forth upon all his works, and upon every living thing according to his bounty; he has lavished  her upon his friends."

Because God pours wisdom upon all his works, upon you and me, and "every living thing according to his bounty," because he lavishes her upon us, we are empowered to know right from wrong, to reach out to those in need, to right what is wrong in  our personal, social, familial, ecclesial, civic and community lives.  Wisdom, which comes from God's generosity and concern for us,  enables us to assist others who have made poor choices.  We are able to direct others back to doing or not doing what wisdom inspires them to do or not to do, provided, that is, that we model such behavior!

The Closeness of our God

In today's first reading, Dt 4:1, 5-9, Moses asks the people:  "[W]hat great nation is there that has gods so close to it as the Lord, our God, is to us whenever we call upon him? Or what great nation has statutes and decrees that are as just as this whole law which I am setting before you today?" And we, today, can say to our children and grandchildren, our nieces and nephews, our grandnieces and grandnephews: "Who, like us, has a God who walked among us here on earth,  fulfilling the letter of the law in loving his neighbors, eating with outcasts, forgiving sins, raising the "dead" to life, curing illnesses and diseases of all kinds, who accepted all peoples as equals?   Who, like us, has a God (Jesus Christ, the second person of the Blessed Trinity) who showed us how to love God unreservedly, trust God totally and say yes to God even to the point of death on the cross?  Who, like us, has a God who walks with us, talks with us, counsels us, guides us, lives within us, and who strengthens us on a daily basis to follow His ways of justice and peace, forgiveness and mercy and unconditional love for all peoples regardless of their race or creed, gender or nationality, or cultural backgrounds? Who, like us, has a God who fulfills the law and brings each one of us to fulfillment, as well?

Do I, do you, know this God personally? Do we take time to get to know God by reading and reflecting upon the Scriptures, by spending time in personal, communal, familial prayer? Do we take time to dwell in solitude listening to the Lord speak to us, flooding us with peace, calming our fears, purifying our hearts and enlightening our minds?

God as God; God as Bridegroom

My meditation this afternoon began with the phrase "My Face is shining upon you, beaming out Peace that transcends understanding," from "Jesus Calling"  by Sarah Young.  I was regretting some of my behaviors and attitudes that I consider sinful and the Lord said to me: "Your sins are as far from me as the East is from the West.  I see you cleansed of sin by the blood of the cross, when, as I was dying, I poured my purifying blood over you!  I see you in that light day after day, night after night!  You are cleansed, made whole, healed, though you do not yet experience your healing or purification in its entirety. That will only happen when, believing in Me and repenting of your sins,  you enter eternity as my beloved daughter redeemed in my blood and accepting this free gift from a God who loves you and everyone else unconditionally.  As you journey through this vale of tears where Satan roams seeking souls to devour focus on Me, strive to do good every day empowered by My graces and you will be safe, as Sarah Young says in the mediation she offers in Jesus Calling on this date."

In the liturgical readings for today, the second week in Ordinary Time, we encounter a  just God, one who demands that His will be followed, that we do what God asks of us. In 1 Samuel 15:16-23, we are informed of Saul's disobedience when the men of his army, following the defeat of the Amalekites,  took the "best of what had been banned, to sacrifice to the Lord there God in Gilgal."  Samuel says to Saul: "Does the Lord so delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices as in obedience to the command of the Lord?  Obedience is better than sacrifice, and submission than the fat of rams. For a sin like divination is rebellion, and presumption is the crime of idolatry. Because you have rejected the command of the Lord, he, too, has rejected you as ruler."  Notice the words:  "rejected you as ruler."  Saul does not say that the Lord has rejected Saul as a person.  Saul as ruler was replaced, as we learn later in the Scriptures.

In today's Gospel, Mark 2: 18-22, Jesus shows us another face of God, one who celebrates life with us.  The Pharisees are troubled by this and asks the disciples of Jesus: "Why do the disciples of John and the disciples of the Pharisees fast, but your disciples do not fast?"  Jesus answers: "Can the wedding guests fast while the bridegroom is with them?"  We see a God who joins us in our celebrations, is intimate with us, dances with us when we celebrate, rejoices with us when we are rejoicing, and honors us with His presence.  This is the side of a caring, loving, generous God, a God who is not rigid and demanding.

Yes, God wants our obedience to His commands. He wants us to recognize that God alone is God and we are persons wondrously made by our God:  God's masterpieces but not God Him/Herself.  Unlike Adam and Eve, who wanted to be God and followed their wills that were contrary to the will of God, we are to be submissive to the desires of our Creator God!  God leads; we follow!  Adam and Eve failed in that, as did Saul and so many others.  You and I, at times, also fail in being faithful to the directions God sends us each day. The "sacrifice" God asks of us is the submission of our wills, praise and thanksgiving from our lips,  and love from our hearts.

Help me, God, recognize you as God and myself as your daughter/son, as your servant or handmaiden, as Mary and Joseph, whom we just celebrated this Christ season, did!

A Human Will Embracing God's Will

In today's Gospel, Luke 1: 57-66, we witness Elizabeth and John rejoicing in the birth of their son.  When the eighth day to circumcise him was upon them, those conducting the ritual wanted to name him Zachariah after his father. Elizabeth says: "No. He will be called John." The presiders objected: "There is no one among your relatives who has this name." Not being able to communicate with Zachariah because of his muteness, the presiders made signs to him.  Zachariah asks for a tablet and writes: "John is his name." Immediately, Zachariah's ability to communicate is restored!

Wow! Talk about God revealing His will and His power, both in the birth of John the Baptist and in restoring Zachariah's ability to speak!  God also wills for His plan to be fulfilled in us and that we, too, become His mouthpiece, conforming our wills to His!  Whatever within ourselves that we have distanced from God, God brings near to Himself. Whatever is  barren, God makes fruitful. And whatever part of our hearts has become hardened, God softens so that the will of God in our lives can be realized, as it was within Elizabeth and Zachariah.

The Crucifixion of Jesus in the World of Today

Today, August 9^th, we celebrate the feast of Saint Teresa Benedicta of the Cross (Edith Stein, a Jew who turned Christian and then entered a convent. The Nazis hunted her down, found her and shipped her to one of the concentration camps with other Jews headed for the gas chambers or to being starved to death over time, subjected to hard labor when hardly able to stand.  Not doing the required physical labor because of physical weakness or illness, any prisoner could be shot on the spot. 

Cruelty of the nature orchestrated by Hitler continues to this day by Isis and many others, known and unknown to us. Much of humankind’s inhumanity toward  men and women—adults, adolescents and children--of any race is not totally known today  any more than the common citizen knew  what Hitler, their leader,  was doing to Jews in his day.  The ordinary citizen only knew that Jews disappeared and were no more.

 Cruelty to humans—the crucifixion of Jesus-- continues in our back alleys where one gang member does not hesitate to “crucify” another gang member. Cruelty happens by police takedowns and “executions” and by retaliatory actions on the part of citizens toward police officers. Inhumane actions towards infants in the womb happen behind closed doors in some of our abortion clinics. Abuse of children also happens behind the closed doors of some of our homes, where men or women whose minds are poisoned by the abuse of alcohol and/or other drugs or who are addicted to anger plunge into murderous rages.  The same action occurs to young women jogging in beautiful parks and overtaken by a person whose mind is being driven by irrational impulses.  Humankind’s cruelty toward other human beings is rampant, as well, in the world’s war zones , in the industries of drug traffickers, human traffickers and those who force the young into slave labor.

 As God looks upon the earth today,  He sees what I described above. He weeps! He prays! And He says to us: “The days are coming… when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and the house of Judah [with the world of today and all who live in it].  It will not be like the covenant I made with their fathers: the day I took them by the hand to lead them forth from the land of Egypt; for they broke my covenant, and I had to show myself their master, says the Lord. But this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, says the Lord. I will place my law within them, and write it upon their hearts; I will be their God, and they shall be my people….All, from least to greatest, shall know me, says the Lord, for I will forgive their evil doing and remember their sin no more” (Jeremiah 31: 31-34).

This is as true today as back in the days when God made that promise to the house of Israel and the house of Judah!