Reading Signs of Our Need for God

In today’s first reading, Ephesians 4: 1-6, Paul addresses us from his prison cell, urging us “to live in a manner worthy of the call” we have received, “with all humility and gentleness, with patience, bearing with one another [and ourselves] through love, striving to preserve the unity of the spirit though the bond of peace….”  Sometimes the most difficult person toward whom to be patient and gentle is ourselves. We make good intentions and break them. We pledge to do better and break that pledge. We get up in the morning determined to accomplish far more than we may be capable to accomplish  that day and, sure enough, the physical energy or emotional stamina is lacking.  We promised to not be obnoxious or demanding or controlling and, guess what, we are obnoxious, demanding and controlling when we do not want to be. Or we desire to be assertive and to stand up for ourselves and we slide right into being submissive and demeaning of self when we need to be strong on our own behalf. 

The challenge? To realize that our weaknesses are God’s strength, that our failings are a reminder of our dependence upon God, and that, when our fallen nature raises its head, we are to remember that God’s grace is sufficient for us. God, in fact, uses all of the circumstances of our lives to bring us salvation.

May we be graced to read human nature in the light of how God sees us and may we become as proficient in reading human nature as we are in reading the conditions of the weather.  As Jesus says to us in today’s Gospel, Luke 12: 54-59:  “When you see a cloud rising in the west you say immediately that it is going to rain—and it does,”  so when you see how weak and fickle you can be, may you say immediately: “My weakness, O Lord, is your strength!  I need your help, O Lord!”

Learning to do Good

In today’s first reading, Isaiah 1:10, 16-20, the prophet spells out the fast God desires of us; namely, that we “cease doing evil; learn to do good.  Make justice…[our] aim: redress the wronged, hear the orphan’s plea, defend the widow.”    In today’s Gospel, Mt. 23: 1-12,  Jesus challenges us to, not just teach others to do these things, but to do them ourselves as followers of Christ.  We are not in this world to place burdens on others , as the Pharisees did (see today’s Gospel, Mt. 23: 1-12) but to lift them ourselves.  Neither are we, as did the Pharisees, to “widen …[our] phylacteries and lengthen…[our] tassles,”—wearing our religion, so to speak, on our sleeves. We are not here to simply and ostentatiously assume places of honor, to be addressed as “Father,” “Sister,” “Brother,” “Mother”.  We are here to  become like our Father in heaven and like Jesus, to whom we are brother , sister, and mother when we do the will of our heavenly Father  (compare Luke 8: 21); that is, we are called to wash the feet of our tired, crippled neighbors,  our overly burdened family members, in short, to be servant of all, to humble ourselves and “raise” others up, as Jesus rose us up on the cross. We are here to learn to forgive others as Jesus forgave his persecutors. Like Jesus, we are  here  to be “poured-out wine” and “broken bread” for the sake of others  who are weighed down by the difficulties of life, those who may be suffering persecution, enduring injustices or  “withering”  under the  violence of war, domestic abuse, slave labor, human trafficking or any other  criminal activity. “Come, now,” God says to us in Isaiah 1: 10, 16-20, “let us set things right….”

How will be able to what God is asking of us? God, as promised in Ez. 18: 31, “will give…[each of us] a new heart, and a new spirit…[God] will put within…[us.]  …[God] will remove the heart of stone from…[our] flesh and give…[us] a heart of flesh.”

 

Childlikeness

The first reading of today’s liturgy, James 4: 1-10, begins with the question: “Beloved: Where do the wars and where to the conflicts among you come from? Is it not from your passions that make war within your members?” In the Gospel, Mark 9: 30-37, Jesus admonishes the twelve apostles for arguing among themselves about who is the greatest among them. They enter into this argument right after Jesus told them that He would be “handed over to men and they will kill him, and three days after his death the Son of Man will rise.” Totally ignoring Jesus, they fight about who is in first place in Jesus’ eyes. Jesus tells them that, in God’s Kingdom, those who are first are those who are “last of all and the servant of all”. He then brings a little child into their midst—children in those days were in last place and actually were not ever counted. As with women in that culture, it was as though they did not exist. Jesus puts His arms around this child and says: “Whoever receives one child such as this in my name, receives me; and whoever receives me, receives not me but the One who sent me.” Being a disciple of Jesus is about being like little children, who simply go about being little children, enjoying life, playing with each other, learning what is put before them to learn, assuming whatever role is given to them, exploring and being excitedly open to the wonders of the universe, of life itself, of who God is, who adults are, who they are as little children and what possibilities to live life fully are open to them. Children do not come into the world filled with jealousy of others, vying for first place, or arguing who is greatest among them. Those are learned behaviors passed onto them from adults in their lives. Receive a child as a child, in all its innocence, purity, openness, lack of prejudice, honesty (children say it as it is), awe, wonder. Teach that child about God, about love and gratitude, about forgiveness and service, about generosity and compassion. You will not only have received a child, you will have opened yourself to Jesus and to Jesus’ Father and your Father, God the Almighty. What more could we want from life, truly?