Holiness: What is it?

In the first reading, 1 Thes 4: 1-8, St. Paul exhorts the Thessalonians in the the name of Jesus to conduct themselves in ways that please the Lord. "For you know what instructions we gave you through the Lord Jesus.  This is the will of God, your holiness: that you refrain from  immorality, that each of you know how to acquire a wife for himself in holiness and honor, not in lustful passion as do [those] who do mot know God; not to take advantage of or exploit a brother or sister in this matter..."

You and I also know that God's will for us is our holiness, nothing less than that!  What does holiness look like? It may be a father playing basketball with his teenage son, a mother coloring with her seven-year old daughter, a husband helping his wife prepare the evening meal, a wife tending to her paralyzed husband, grandparents babysitting their grandchildren, an adult being a faithful, dependable employer; a family attending Sunday worship services,  persons making choices that improve their physical, mental and spiritual well-being (choices that lead to wholeness or holiness), and on and on!

What is holiness for you? What, obviously, would you not describe as holiness?

Freed from slavery!

In today's first reading, Exodus 12: 37-42, we are told about the night that the Israelites rushed out of Egypt.  To this very day, this night is remembered by the Israelites as "a night of vigil for the Lord".  God kept watch over His people and, at the right time, freed them from the slavery of the Egyptians.  God also keep vigil for us. He knows the chaos or the slavery into which we have fallen or could fall each day. He watches. His timing of freedom for us is the perfect timing.  God is not turned back by what He sees. The turmoil, the chaos, the sinfulness, the divisiveness, the deficits in our lives do not cause God to distance Himself from us. No!  On the contrary, God draws near to us.  God is always near, watching and waiting for the right moment to set us free, to draw us closer and closer to Himself and to others in love.

For 430 years, the Israelites stayed in Egypt! That certainly is a long time!  Where was God, you may ask? God was at their side, empowering them to rise up to the occasion and do what had to be done as slaves.  Was God pleased that they were slaves? Of course not!  God, in no way, wishes us evil or rejoices when life is difficult for us.  God is the liberator, the One who reconciles us with those who  bring us harm or frees us from those who hurt us!  Our freedom may come in a variety of ways. Sometimes as dramatic as with the Israelites' passage out of Egypt. Most times, in less dramatic ways and sometimes we are not even immediately aware that we are being led to freedom.  We simply start making choices by which we let go of attitudes that enslave us to others or that allow others to abuse us.  We begin making choices that give us peace or we keep company with persons who are supportive of us and give us the courage to be our true selves, not another person's slave!

Am I, are you, choosing ways that limit our authentic freedom to be the best person we can be? What behavioral changes do I, do you, need to make to experience greater freedom to serve God with joy and in peace?  What attitudes do I, do you, need to change that will lead us more deeply into the truth of who we are, who God is and how to become our better selves?

Smartness or Stupidity: Which Is it for Me/You?

In today's first reading, Galatians 3: 1-5, St. Paul is frustrated with the Galatians who have turned to the flesh and away from the Spirit. "Who has bewitched you, before whose eyes Jesus Christ was publicly portrayed as crucified?"   Paul is having a hard time comprehending how people can turn away from a God who poured out His love them upon the cross, surrendering to the Trinity's plan of salvation even unto death.   Jesus held nothing back to redeem us from the law, which condemns us, and from the cruel deceitfulness and wickedness of the devil who will go to any length to get us to deny Christ and turn away from our salvation, to deny Truth and Justice, Love and Mercy.  Satan seems to be having a hay day in the world of today. Evil seems to be triumphing over good, as on that first Good Friday.  However, we know that, as black as Good Friday was with the Savior of the world being put to death as a criminal that day, death--evil--was destroyed on that day and resurrection followed.  Good is going to triumph over evil. The wicked will not have the last word. Jesus will! Good people will!

On whose side will I be that day? the side of evil or the side of good? the side of justice or the side of injustice? the side of honesty or the side of deceitfulness? the side of love and mercy or the side of hatred and mercilessness? the side of humility or the side of pride? the side of forgiveness or the side of revenge?

Where do I stand today?  The choice is mine to make in cooperation with Jesus, who comes daily to save us, not condemn us!

God's Faithfulness

In today's first reading, Amos 2: 6-10, 13-16, the prophet Amos is speaking, I believe, directly to us today in the following message:  Thus says the Lord: for three crimes of Israel, and for four, I will not revoke my word; Because they sell the just man for silver,  and the poor man for a pair of sandals. They trample the head of the weak into the dust of the earth, and force the lowly out of the way....Upon garments taken in pledge they decline beside any altar; And the wine of those who have been fined they drink in the house of their god."  Some world leaders, including the U.S., I believe, are doing exactly what Amos states.  Just men and women are being sold for drugs, for sex, for loading the pockets of billionaires. Poor men and women are being sold for whatever some of the rich covet. By lowering taxes on billionaires and easing re taxes of the poor, profiteers "drink in the house of their god," that is unearned wealth, abused power and control. The "head of the weak" are being trampled "into the dust of the earth" and "the lowly" are forced "out of the way," put into cages, detained in detention centers, returned to a country where their lives and the lives of their children are in danger. 

Amos tells us that God "will not revoke" his word. Even though you and I are unfaithful, God remains faithful to His promises. We are told in the Gospels, that Jesus has come, not to condemn the world but to save it.  God does not go back on that promise.  Salvation is ours if we claim it by living in the the Light and in the Truth, cooperating with God's grace, living up to our baptismal promises. Salvation is ours by the choices we make to do good, act justly, love tenderly and walk humbly with our God (see Micah 6:8). Salvation is ours when we respect each person's right to freedom and to a just wage; when we help all peoples experience liberty, justice and happiness; when we reach out to the needy and oppressed, the sick and deprived of this world; when, in short, we return evil with good.

What kind of choices am I, are you making? Am I, are you, living in the Light or have we chosen to live in the dark and spread darkness into other people's lives?  One comes leads to an eternity of darkness--not God' choice for you or me. The other choices leads to an eternity of light and love--God's choice for all of us.

Choosing Wisely

In today's Gospel, Luke 19: 45-48,  "Jesus entered the temple area and proceeded to drive out those who were selling things....The chief priests, the scribes, and the leaders of the people, meanwhile, were seeking to put him to death, but they could find no way to accomplish their purpose because all the people were hanging on his words."

Have you ever been about to do something that you did not want anyone to know about--in fact, something you should not have been doing, in the first place--and someone walks into the room and, sheepishly, you walk away hoping no one noticed? How often the chief priests, the scribes, and the leaders of the people experienced just this in their attempts to snare Jesus.

This kind of behavior is part of the human condition. We are not always about doing good or planning to do what is proper. And, foolishly, we attempt to hide our wrongdoing.  God, not to punish us, is always aware of what we are about.  God only wants what is right for us. God wants us to be filled with joy and peace, which we deny ourselves when we take the easiest path and reject the way that leads to experiencing the fullness of life that Jesus promises.  And many times, I believe, God is disappointed when we choose poorly and suffer the consequences of our foolhardy choices, depriving ourselves of the joy of following the least-chosen path, the narrow way that leads to an abundance of life in Christ Jesus.  God, then, I believe, awaits our return, as did the Father of the prodigal son. God waits eagerly to restore us to a right relationship with ourselves and others, because it is then that we are also in right relationship with God Himself.

In today's liturgy, Matthew presents us with the genealogy of Jesus' historical existence.  The list includes both men and women of heroic pasts and those whose past lives include murder, rape, idolatrous and other destructive behaviors; in short those dominated by selfish, narcissistic, greedy  violent pursuits. All persons  listed in Jesus' genealogy were part of our salvation history, then and now!  Each of us, now as well, has a role to play in bringing about our own salvation and the salvation of the world. Sometimes, our choices are those by which others are appalled or simply embarrassed and which bring people, including our self,  to their knees. At other times, our behaviors are inspiring and bring people to the Light.  Our salvation history, in 2016, as prior to Jesus' birth,  includes leaders of reputable characters who inspire us and leaders whose behaviors are deceptive, repulsive and morally questionable.  God uses the good and the bad within us  and others to show us the way to the Father--choices that lead us to eternal life with Christ and those which could lead us to an eternity that excludes Christ and thus is an eternity of suffering!

What choices am I making each day?  What appalls me? What inspires me?

Blessed are Those Who Choose to do Good

In today’s responsorial psalm, Psalm 1, David pronounces those “blessed” who do not follow evil ways, ways that are immoral and sinful, unkind, rude, malicious; who do not walk in the ways of sinners. We know that we all are sinners, yet we have the choice every single day, every moment,  to choose the good, to make wholesome choices, to be decent human beings: reliable, trustworthy, helpful, persons who live high-quality lives.  We are capable of doing so, of serving the Lord with a generous heart, a noble heart. God is a give-away God and calls us to be the same: to give ourselves to others, to give ourselves to noble endeavors, to give ourselves in ways that make this world, someone’s world,  a better place, to make a difference in someone’s life today by our smile, by offering a helping hand to our spouse, our children, our neighbor, a community member; by  saying “I’m sorry” when we have wronged someone, by reaching out to someone who has fallen into “a pit” of loneliness and despair, who need a shoulder to lean on, of delighting “in the law of the Lord” (Psalm 1).

The other choice is to make life difficult for someone as did the crowd in today’s Gospel, Luke 18: 3-43.  A blind man was sitting by the roadside begging when Jesus passed by. He heard all the noise and wondered what was going on. Someone in the crowd had the courtesy to tell him that Jesus was passing by. The blind man shouted: “Jesus, Son of David, have pity on me.” “The people walking in front rebuked him, telling him to be silent.” Jesus sensed what was happening, “stopped and ordered that he be brought to him” and He answered his request to be healed of his blindness.

Who would I have been? The persons willing to help or those who wanted the man to shut up? Would I have used this opportunity to make a positive difference, to show that I cared about the person in need? Would I have given a helping hand or tried to dismiss him?