God, A Disciplinarian Who Never Abandons His Children

In today’s first reading, Isaiah 10: 5-7, 13b-16, God, like  any good parent who disciplines his/her child when that child acts against the parents’ will, so, too, God disciplines us when we do not obey. He  uses Assyria to discipline the Israelites for their disobedience.   In the words of   Psalm 94 of today’s liturgical celebration, the Chosen people have trampled upon the poor: “[w]idow and stranger they slay, the fatherless they murder. And they say, ‘The Lord sees not; the God of Jacob perceives not.’”   Throughout the Old Testament, whenever the people strayed  from the laws of God, the Lord allowed other nations to overtake them. In today’s reading, Assyria is the instrument used by God to bring His people back to living righteously, honorably and humbly, caring for one another, acting justly and lovingly toward the poor and oppressed of the land.  Assyria boasts, saying “by my own power I have done it (conquered Israel), and by my wisdom, for I am shrewd.  I have moved the boundaries of peoples, their treasures I have pillaged, and, like a giant, I have put down the enthroned.” In other words, Assyria also insults the Lord God and is likewise disciplined by God in His efforts to turn people back to living honorably as instruments in God’s hand.  God alone is the Lord. God is Master of the Universe, Creator, Redeemer and Sanctifier of us all.

As of old, so, too, today. God uses every circumstance of our lives to redeem us, make us holy, righteous, just, caring, loving, and forgiving toward one another, treating all as brothers and sisters in the Lord.  As we stray from the path of goodness, justice, and humility, do we, like our ancestors in the Old Testament say , in the words of the psalmist, “The Lord sees not; the God of Jacob perceive not?”  If so, we, too, need to hear the next few verses of Psalm 94, where God says to us: “Understand, you senseless ones among the people; all, you fools, when will you be wise? Shall he who shaped the ear not hear: or he who formed the eye not see? Shall he who instructs nations not chastise, he who teaches …[humankind] knowledge? For the Lord will not cast off his people, nor abandon his inheritance; but judgment shall again be with justice and all the upright of heart shall follow it” (Ps. 94).

Is it possible that all of the disasters throughout the world are God’s way of disciplining us and bringing us to the point of acknowledging who, really, is God and who is not?  Are we being given wakeup calls and not hearing, not listening?

The Risen Lord among Us

In today’s Gospel story, John 21:1-14, Jesus reveals Himself to the disciples at the Sea of Tiberias. Peter and his companions have been out fishing all night long and have caught nothing.  Jesus is on the shore that morning, preparing breakfast for them.  He sees them coming to shore and asked them:  “Children, have you caught anything to eat?”  Of course, they haven’t.  He says to them:  “Cast the net over the right side of the boat and you will find something.”  They follow the Lord’s direction and, yes, they land a huge catch, 153 large fish.  

Other important lessons assert themselves in this story.  Like the disciples, if we follow the Lord’s instructions, if the Lord intervenes on our behalf—and He always does—we will be shown the power of the Risen Lord, who walks among us, goes before us, and anticipates our needs. If we are open to being directed and if will set our pride aside-- letting go of “That won’t work; there are no ‘fish’ there. We know, we are the professional fishermen here--we will experience the Lord’s generosity, His care and concern. He will provide, and always does provide, for us abundantly. We will only know that if we act in humility, exercise our faith and our trust and, at times, try what we have not tried before.  Sometimes, we are called upon to do that which seems foolish, as casting on the other side of the boat must have sounded crazy to Peter and his companions that morning.

As you read this story, also notice that, at first, the disciples do not recognize that the man on the seashore is Jesus. After following his lead and catching a huge number of fish, “the disciple whom Jesus loved” (no name is given, as that disciple is you and me), says to Peter: “It is the Lord.”  Many times we need others to show us God at work in our lives, as we may be too close to the situation and/or too busy frantically working at a task that we do not see beyond what is most obvious to others.

Water that Transforms , Heals and Makes Us One with God

In today’s first reading, Ez 47: 1-9, 12, the prophet is invited by an angel to “the back entrance of the temple of the Lord.”  He sees “water flowing out from beneath the threshold toward the east….  The angel, Ezekiel tells us “had him wade through the water.” At first the water was ankle deep, then up to his knees and finally up to his waist until he was unable to cross it. A river ran through it and anything near the bank of the river flourished and bore fruit. Salt waters, into which the river flowed, were made fresh.

In the Gospel, the ill, the blind, the lame and crippled sought healing in the Bethesda pool.  Whenever the waters in that pool swirled, the first person into the pool was healed.  A man crippled for 38 years never made it to the pool first. Jesus noticed his plight and asked him if he wanted to be made whole. He responded: “I have no one to put me into the pool when the water is stirred up; while I am on the way, someone else gets down there before me. Jesus said to him.  ‘Rise, take up your mat, and walk.’”

Jesus also notices our infirmities, that which cripples us mentally, spiritually, socially.  He says to us, as He said to the crippled man:  “Do you want to be well?”  In our case, we need to avail ourselves of the sacraments of reconciliation and of the Eucharist.  We need to “pick up our mat,” that is pick up the Bible and read about God’s promises to those who seek Him (the psalms might be a good place to begin or the Gospel readings). We need to stop the noise around us, become quiet before the Lord for 2, 3, 5 minutes a day, if not longer: “Listen to the stillness; God is at work,” that is, the Living Water within us is swirling to make us whole.   Are we willing to  accept “the angel’s” invitation to wade through those waters that made us new, that  transform us into Christ, that lead us to oneness with God and others, as Jesus and the Father are one with each other and with each of us? 

 

Taking Things into Our Own Hands: The Consequences

In today’s first reading, Gen. 16: 1-12, 15-16, we have the story of Sarai giving her husband permission to have intercourse with her Egyptian maidservant Hagar, because “the Lord has kept me from bearing children.”  Abram and Sarai take things into their own hands instead of trusting and relying upon the Lord,  who promised them that their descendents would be as numerous as the stars in the sky or the sand on the seashore.  Following her pregnancy, Hagar begins to treat Sarai with disdain and lord her pregnancy over Sarai. Sarai blames Abram for Hagar’s abuse. He dismisses it as her problem: “Do with her whatever you like.”  Sarai, in  turn, abuses Hagar, who runs away to get escape the consequences of her bad behavior that Sarai reciprocates.  God communes with Hagar, expressing his concern and counseling her to deal with the situation she has created by returning to Sarai. 

How easily to get ourselves into a mess when we take things into our own hands and then take steps to avoid any responsibility for the mess that we have created.  There are consequences to abusing anyone, to lording it over others, to entertaining and acting upon jealousies.  Note, though, that God does not abandon any one of these persons and He does not negate His promises. The covenant stands that He made with Abram and Sarai.  Hagar, too, is given protection, is counseled, is shown care and concern from on high. 

God has a plan for all and that plan will not be thwarted because we choose to do things our way instead of waiting upon the Lord.  In what ways, we need to ask ourselves, do we take things into our own hands, arrange to escape the messes we have created in our relationships, act upon jealousies and forget God’s covenant with us?