A Bruised Reed God Will Not Break; A Smoldering Wick God Will Not Quench! (Isaiah 42: 1-4)

In today's Gospel, Matthew 12: 14-21, St. Matthew quotes the prophet Isaiah's description of Jesus:  "Behold, my servant whom I have chosen, my beloved in whom I delight; I shall place my Spirit upon him, and he will proclaim justice to the Gentiles. he will not contend or cry out, nor will anyone hear his voice in the streets. A bruised reed he will not break, a smoldering wick he will not quench until he brings justice to victory. And in his name the Gentiles will hope."

Those are consoling words in contrast to the message from Micah, 2: 1-5, in which the prophet issues a warning against the wicked of our world, saying: "Woe to those who plan iniquity, and work out evil on their couches. In the morning light they accomplish it when it lies within their power. They covet fields, and seize them; houses, and they take them; they cheat an owner of his house, a man of his inheritance. Therefore thus says the Lord: Behold, I am planning against this race an evil from which you shall not withdraw your necks; nor shall you walk with head high, for it will be a time of evil." 

In the Gospel of today, Jesus meets evil head on:  "The Pharisees went out and took counsel against Jesus to put him to death. When Jesus realized this, he withdrew from that place."

None of us will escape the evil that exists in this world. Every night on the news we are reminded of evil persons plotting to hurt another person, so it seems, or actually has brought evil upon another. The responsorial psalm of today's liturgy, Psalm 10,  also speak of this world's evil when the psalmist says: "Proudly the wicked harass the afflicted, who are caught in the devices the wicked have contrived. For the wicked man glories in his greed, (is this not what we see on the news each night) and the covetous blasphemes, sets the Lord at nought. The wicked man boasts, 'he [God] will not avenge it'; 'There is no God,' sums up his thoughts. His mouth is full of cursing, guile and deceit; under his tongue are mischief and iniquity.  ...[H]is eyes spy upon the unfortunate."  The psalmist then reminds us that God is not blind to anyone's wickedness or the effects of his/her wickedness upon another person, especially the poor and vulnerable. The Psalmist says of God: "You do see, for you behold misery and sorrow, taking them in your hands. On you the unfortunate [person] depends; of the fatherless [and motherless] you are the helper." God quickly comes to the aid of the poor and vulnerable of this world.

Let us never forget that God sees, God cares and God weeps with us! Though God does not magically destroy wickedness and its effects, God is there to walk through it with us, to carry us, if necessary. God is there to strengthen us, to hold us up, to bless us in ways that confound the wicked! It may seem as though the wicked are getting away with their evil intents and deeds.  However, God is a God of justice and at some point, here or hereafter, justice will be served to those who engage in evil! "A bruised reed he will not break, a smoldering wick he will not quench until he brings justice to victory." O, the greatness and the mercy and the love of our God! It knows no measure!

Lord, I know that you are at work in the "good Fridays" of our day, though I see you not! Justice will prevail and will triumph, as it did not Calvary. Jesus triumphed in the resurrection from the dead on that day; those who killed him walked away saying: "Truly, this is the Son of God!"

God's Inheritance Is Never Abandoned

In today's first reading, Isaiah 10: 5-7, 13b-16, Assyria is a "rod in anger" and God's "staff in wrath". Through the prophet  Isaiah, God says: "Against an impious nation I send him, and against a people under my wrath I order him to seize plunder, carry off loot, and tread them down like the mud of the streets. But this is not what he [the empire of Assyria] intends, nor does he have this in mind: rather,  it is in his heart to destroy, to make an end of  nations not a few. For he says: 'By my own power I have done it, 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. My hand has seized like a nest the riches of nations; as one takes eggs left alone, so I took in all the earth; no one fluttered a wing, or opened a mouth, or chirped!'"

God is furious at Assyria's claim and will to destroy other nations. Clearly, though, Assyria will suffer consequences for its fury toward other nations, including God's chosen people.  Did God use Assyria to chastise His people, to bring them back to the fold, to bring them to repentance? We can say "yes" in the sense that God uses the evil which any nation or any person encounters as a means to chastise us and bring us to repentance, to turn us from idolatrous ways. However, to those bringing harm and tragedy to another country or persons, in this case the empire of Assyria, God says the following, as noted in this passage from Isaiah: "Therefore the Lord, the Lord of hosts, will send among his fat ones leanness, and instead of  his glory there will be kindling like the kindling of fire."

In the responsorial psalm of today's liturgy, Psalm 94, we cry out on behalf of victims of violence:  "Your people, O Lord, they trample down, your inheritance they afflict. Widow and stranger they slay, the fatherless they murder. And they [those raging war and committing acts of violence] say, 'The Lord sees not; the God of Jacob perceives not.' Understand you senseless ones among the people; and, you fools, when will you be wise? Shall he who shaped the ear not hear or he who formed the eyes not see? Shall he who instructs nations not chastise, he who teaches men knowledge? For the Lord will not cast off his people, nor abandon his inheritance."

We are God's inheritance and, as such, we will be chastised when we do wrong but never abandoned. The psalmist reminds us  that God's "judgment shall...be with justice, and all the upright of heart shall follow it."

Imitate God in His Holiness, Compassion, Justice and Love

Today's first reading, Leviticus 19: 1-2, 17-18, exhorts us to "[b]e holy, for I, the Lord, your God am holy."  How? By  following the counsel given in this same passage:  "Take no revenge and cherish no grudge against any of your people. ..[L]ove your neighbor as yourself. I am the Lord." Paul, then, in the second reading, 1 Cor 3: 16-23, asks us the question:  "Do you not know that you are the temple of God, and the the Spirit of God dwells in you?  ...[T]he temple of God, which you are, is holy,."  In the Gospel, Jesus amplifies the teaching of Leviticus, saying to us:  "[L]over your enemies and pray for those who persecute you." And he exemplifies this calling when, on the cross, Jesus prays for his enemies, asking the Father to forgive them for they know not what they are doing!

Holiness is not just something to talk about or read about.  It must be lived by us by the way we treat each other, especially those who hurt us, treat us poorly, gossip about us, hold us in disdain, refuse to greet us or who have nothing good to say to us or about us. In today's Gospel, Mt. 5: 38-48,  Jesus challenges us to imitate His Father, who shines the sun on the good and the bad and orders the rain to fall on both the just and the unjust.  You and I are also to shine the "sun" of love, of grace and of goodness and justice upon those who sin against us.  We are to radiate God's holiness within us upon everyone, especially upon those we do not particularly like or who do not like us. If we greet only to those who cherish us, Jesus is then speaking directly to us us when He says:   ...[I]f you greet your brothers [or sisters] only, what is unusual about that? Do not the pagans do the same? So be perfect, just as your heavenly Father is perfect."  Be compassionate just as God is compassionate. Be caring just as God is caring. Love just as God loves!

God's Mercy as Role Modeling our Call to be Merciful

Today's readings are about mercy, being shown mercy by our God and being called to be merciful in relation to other human beings.  The Gospel, Matthew 18:21-35, reveals God's infinite mercy towards us in the parable of the king who forgives a debtor an amount of debt that he absolutely has no way of resolving.  Rather than following the king's example, this pardoned debtor exacts payment from someone who owes him a much lesser amount. He has him thrown into prison until he pays up!  That leads to the king revoking his pardon and exacting payment from the debtor, who in turn is also imprisoned until he pays the huge amount that he also owes.


We have choices! Forgiving others leads to personal, inner freedom. Exacting payment--holding on to resentments, harboring grudges, and punishing others for their "debts," however we choose to do that--leads to enslaving or imprisoning ourselves in our own anger states.  Furthermore, in the Our Father, we ask God to forgive us as we forgive those who trespass against us. By not forgiving others who hurt us or owe us an apology, or whatever, we subject ourselves to God's justice, which is also infinite--what we mete out to others will be meted out to us!

In the responsorial psalm of today's liturgy, Psalm 25, we pray:  "Remember your mercies, O Lord."
That does not exonerate us from doing our part in acting mercifully toward others! Let us remember how merciful God is towards ourselves and, in turn, show mercy to our neighbors, near and far!

God Sees the Good You Do Every Day

In today's first reading, Hebrews 6: 10-20, St. Paul reminds us that "God is not unjust so as to overlook your work and the love you  have demonstrated for his name by having served and continuing to serve the holy ones."  Think of the love that you, as parents, demonstrate to your children, husbands and wives to each other, children to parents.  God does not overlook that about you!  Every day, you serve others--persons who in the very core of their beings are holy.  Each of us as come forth from God, the Holy One. We are made in God's image, that is, in holiness, goodness and love!  We are empowered to share that holiness, goodness and love with others.

More and more, as I grow older, I realize what love my parents showed us throughout their lives:  up at 4:00 or 5:00 every morning, being sure that the house was somewhat warm, in winter, before us kids got up, doing chores day and night as farmers, gardeners, "chefs," bill payers, money managers, canners, seamstresses, launderers, ironers, domestic workers, chauffeurs, "catechists", comforters, teachers, challengers, encouragers, "counselors," and on and on!  God never overlooked their work and the love they "demonstrated for his name by having served" us children and one another, day in and day out, in "bad" days and good days, in problematic, fearful times, when all went well and when things did not go so well!

As I reflect on parents with young children today, I see the same pattern. I rejoice in the awesome dedication, the love shown by loving, caring parents day in and day out!  All because of God's faithfulness, God's presence, God's love, God's covenant with us!  God sees the good done every day, all day, by each of us!  May God  be praised!

Today's first reading, Hebrews 6: 10-20, reminds us that "God is not unjust so as to overlook your work and the love you have demonstrated for his name by having served and continuing to serve the holy ones."   God knows the good you and I do each day in your work as a parent, as an employee, as a husband/wife, as a fellow Sister to your companions in religious life and/or priesthood.  God also sees our efforts to do good. When we fail or fall, God is there, not to scold, but to pick us up, show us compassion and encourage us in moving on.  God does not rejoice when we fail to reach our ideals as a Christian, as a person,  as a member of our families, as mother/father, as husband,wife or as a fellow religious or fellow priest, as a pastor or as a parishioner.

As a fellow human being, Jesus knows our weaknesses and sympathizes with us. He knows the difficulties we face as human beings.  God is always assisting us in the "baby steps" we take in our efforts to love as He loves, to forgive as He forgives, to act justly, love tenderly and walk humbly with Him as our Guide, our Comforter, our Sanctifier!  Paul encourages us "who have taken refuge [in Christ Jesus]...to hold fast to the hope that lies before us," the hope of eternal life. Jesus has already, Paul reminds us, "entered on our behalf as forerunner, becoming high priest forever according to the order of Melchizedek."  Our salvation is guaranteed by Jesus' life, death and resurrection. And our salvation begins here as we struggle to grow in holiness!

"The Kingdom of Heaven is at Hand" (Matthew 10:8)

In today’s Gospel, Matthew 9: 35-10:1, 5a, 6-8, Matthew recalls his experience of Jesus. He tells us that  “[a]t the sight of the crowds, his heart was moved with pity for them because they were troubled and abandoned, like sheep without a shepherd. Then he said to his disciples, ‘The harvest is abundant but the laborers are few; so ask the master of the harvest to send out laborers for his harvest.’ Then he summoned his Twelve disciples [Matthew would have been one of those twelve) and [authorized them] to...go make this proclamation: ‘The Kingdom of heaven is at hand.’ Cure the sick, raise the dead, cleanse lepers, drive out demons. Without cost you have received; without cost you are to give.”

Jesus is the same today, yesterday and tomorrow!  To this very day, He is “moved with pity,” seeing millions of people without  proper instructors, without sufficient guidance, without being loved or cared for properly. In fact, in this 21^st century, Jesus sees millions of children, young adults and, in many cases,  women being abused spiritually, physically, emotionally, verbally. Jesus sees children and adults sifting through garbage dumps looking for something to eat. He sees homeless persons begging for help to survive homelessness.   He sees children and young adults used as sexual slaves and slaves in factories and various industrial sites where clothes and other commodities are produced by cheap labor and sold by companies that makes billions of dollars  of profit selling merchandise produced as cheaply as possible off the backs of poorly paid workers. 

On the day of reckoning, the Lord will bind up “the wounds of his people, he will heal the bruises left” by abusers(see today’s first reading, Is 30: 26); and,   yes,  on that day  “the tyrant shall be no more and the arrogant will have gone. All who are alert to do evil will be cut off,”  the prophet Isaiah warns us in Is. 29: 17-24.

“The time is fulfilled,” Jesus says  to us, “and the kingdom of God is close at hand. Repent , and believe the gospel” (Mark 1: 15).

May each one of us have the humility to heed Isaiah and Jesus' messages!  May we beg God's mercy for all of us, those doing good in the world and those perpetuating evil.

God's Expectations

In today’s first reading, Jeremiah 7: 1-11, we are asked to not put our “trust in…deceitful words: This is the temple of the Lord! The temple of the Lord! The temple of the Lord!’ Only if you thoroughly reform your ways and your deeds; if each of you deals justly with his/[her] neighbor;  if you no longer  oppress the resident alien, the orphan, and the widow; if you no longer shed innocent blood…, or follow strange gods to your own harm, will I remain with you in this place, in the land I gave our fathers/[mothers] long ago and forever.”

That I raise a bible in the air repeatedly and am able to quote myriad of or write eloquently about Scripture passages does not mean necessarily  that I have reformed my ways or my deeds, that I am dealing justly with my neighbor and no longer oppressing the resident alien, the orphan, and the widow.  Nor does it mean that I am not following strange gods to my own harm and the harm of others!

Honestly, how have I reformed my sinful, selfish, arrogant, pride-filled, deceitful attitudes and behaviors this past week? How have I reached out to my neighbor, to the person I do not like, to whom I do not want to listen, to the person who thinks and believes differently than I do, who does not share my enthusiasm about a significant person in my world or a recent book I read and enjoyed? What am I doing to lessen the oppression of the resident alien, the orphan, the widow?  What strange gods am I worshiping. How surprised I was this past week to discover that I was seeking to be honored, glorified, appreciated—yes, to be the center of other people’s lives? Is that not what is due to our God?

An Invitation Worth Noting

Today’s first reading, Isaiah 1: 10-17, opens with the following invitation:

Hear the word of the Lord,  princes of Sodom (insert your city, country)!

Listen to the instruction of our God,

People of Gomorrah (insert your city, country)!

What care I for the number of your sacrifices?

says the Lord.

I have had enough of whole-burnt rams

And fat of fatlings;

In the blood of calves, lambs and goats

I find no pleasure.

 May we realize that the prophet Isaiah is addressing us, the people of the U.S. and other nations.

Has God not had enough of the blood of persons killed in war, in our streets, cities and homes and in the wombs of parents murdering their unborn children? Has God not had enough of the “blood” spilled by slanderous accusations and untruths of all kinds proclaimed in order to get ahead of another person and secure power and control  by whatever means?  “I find no pleasure” in your sacrifices or in the “fat” of your wealth and power used to exploit the poor and helpless.   “Trample my courts [others] no more,” God says to us through the prophet Isaiah (Is 1: 12).  “Put away your misdeeds from before my eyes; cease doing evil; learn to do good. Make justice your aim: redress the wronged, hear the orphan’s plea, defend the widow” (Is. 1: 16-17).

 God continues to say to us through the prophet Isaiah (Is 1: 18-20): “’ Come, let us talk this over,’ says Yahweh. ‘Though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be white as snow; though they are red as crimson, they shall be like wool.  If you are willing to obey, you shall eat the good things of the earth. But if you refuse and rebel, the sword shall eat you instead—for Yahweh’s mouth has spoken.’”

Are we listening?

God's justice like the mountain of God

Today’s first reading, Jeremiah  2: 1-3, 7-8, 12-13, is proclaimed to all of us in today’s world, as we, too, have “defiled [the Promised Land], “made [God’s] heritage loathsome,” “rebelled against [God], gone "after useless idols.” 

The psalmist speak of God’s awesome, all prevailing mercy, which “reaches to the heavens.” God’s “faithfulness,” the psalmist reminds us, “to the clouds.”   God’s “justice is like the mountains of God; [God’s] judgments, like the mighty deep”  (Psalm 36).  If you and I, or any sinner, comes before God,  God takes out his gavel and proclaims: “Not guilty!”  “What?” we ask in amazement. God replies:  “Your debt has been forgiven.  Your sin is no more. It is erased, blotted out, forgiven.   

Volumes of testimony against the human race could be compiled to prove our guilt.  Those volumes would reach into the farthest depths of the earth and reach up into the farthest heights of the heavens.  God’s mercy, on the other hand, would be deeper and higher than any of our transgressions.   “…The  One sitting on the throne…[says to us], ‘Look, I am making the whole of creation new. Then He …[says]..., ‘It has already happened. I am the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End. I will give water from the well of life free to anybody who is thirsty; anyone who proves victorious will inherit these things; and I will be his/[her] God and he[she] will be my son/[daughter].  But the legacy for cowards, for those who break their word, or worship obscenities, for murderers and the sexually immoral, and for sorcerers, worshippers of false gods or any other sort of liars, is the second death in the burning lake of sulphur.” (Revelation 21:  5-8).

Obviously, the choice is ours.  God is not the one who proclaims  us “Guilty” nor the one who condemns us.  We do that to ourselves by the choices we make.  What choices are you and I going to make today?