How One Is Vindicated

In today's first reading, Isaiah 58: 1-9a God asks the prophet to tell the people their wickedness, and the house of Jacob their sins. They seek me day after day and wonder why I do not answer their prayers when, in fact, they have abandoned my law. They fast but continue to carry out their own pursuits. You  "drive all your laborers. ...[Y[our fast ends in quarreling and fighting, striking with wicked claw." The kind of fast which God wants of them and us is the following:

• "Releasing those bound unjustly, untying the thongs of the yoke.
• Setting free the oppressed
• Breaking every yoke
• Sharing your bread with the hungry
• Sheltering the oppressed and the homeless
• Clothing the naked when  you see them
• Not turning your back on your own"

Have we  turned our backs on our own by gossiping, by being indifferent to the needs of one's spouse to be helped with the ordinary burdens of caring for the children, cooking the meals, cleaning the house, doing grocery shopping, helping the children with their homework, teaching and modeling the faith to the children and maintaining one's job so as to help support the family?  Are we actively involved in building relationships within the family, within one's religious community, within the diocese and/or parish?  When the opportunity presents itself, do we "share bread with the hungry, shelter the oppressed and the homeless, clothe the naked"?  At work, in our communities and in our families and parishes,  do we  "set free the oppressed, release those bound unjustly, untie the thongs of the yoke"?  If we do these things, God says to us:  "Then your light shall break forth like the dawn, and your wound [of sin] shall quickly be healed; your vindication shall go before you,  and the glory of the Lord shall be your rear guard. Then  you shall call, and [I] will answer, you shall cry for help, and [I] will say: Here I am!"

God Comes to Save

In tomorrow's first reading, Is 35: 4-7a,  God asks the prophet Isaiah to "[s]ay to those whose hearts are frightened:  Be strong, fear not! Here is your God, he comes with vindication; with divine recompense he comes to save you. Then will the eyes of the blind be opened, the ears of the deaf be cleared....Streams will burst forth in the desert, and rivers in the steppe. The burning sands will become pools, and the thirsty ground springs of water."

Imagine the day when "the eyes of the blind"  and "the ears of the deaf" throughout the world--in our  own country, in our government, in Congress, etc.--will actually be opened to truth and to the cries of the poor, the oppressed, the abused of our societies.  That day is coming, Isaiah tells us!  God will come "with vindication; with divine recompense he comes to save [us] from all kinds of oppressors, within and without: pathological lying, corruption, thievery, murder, avarice, narcissism, covetousness and so many other ways in which we are deceived by Satanic forces.

Know, too, that our own ears and eyes will be opened.  "Streams [of grace] will burst forth in the desert [of our hearts]." Our thirst for God, for Truth itself and for truth within ourselves, will be quenched!

Who Am I Trying to Please

In today’s Gospel, Matthew 11: 16-19, the people complain about John the Baptist as being possessed by a demon  because he did not drink nor eat with them as they expected.  Jesus, on the other hand,  did eat and drink with people and they called him a “glutton and a drunkard.”  Matthew concludes this passage with the statement: “…wisdom is vindicated by her words.”  We probably all know that we will never please everyone no matter what we do.  We can try but our efforts will be in vain and we will be left feeling empty and a bit crazy!  “…wisdom,” in our lives, will be “vindicated” by the works we do in accord with God’s will for us, not by whether or not we pleased everyone.   If we are true to what we are called to as unique persons with a special mission/purpose  to fulfill  as the Spirit leads us through the gift of each day, Wisdom will vindicate us. We will then be at peace. On the other hand, if our goal is to please everyone we will not rest in the peace of Christ, a peace the world cannot give. The choice is ours to make.

Committing our ways to the Lord

In today's responsorial psalm, Psalm 37, the psalmist advises us to:

        "[c]ommit to the Lord your way;
        He will make justice dawn for you like the light;
        bright as the noonday shall be your vindication.
        Turn from evil and do good,
        that you may abide forever;
        For the Lord loves what is right
        and forsakes not his faithful ones.
        Criminals are destroyed
        and the posterity of the wicked is cut off.
        The salvation of the just is from the Lord;
         he is their refuge in time of distress."

Many of us are appalled at the execution of two American journalist within the last two weeks.   I was amazed at their calmness, kneeling at the side of a criminal about to behead them.  My thoughts went to the faith of these two men. Within the hour, for sure, they would enter eternal life, abiding with the Lord forever. For them justice would dawn like the light--not that they had done any wrong--but in the hands of their executioners they were perceived as the enemy, the one who wronged them.  My conclusion of how they could kneel there and not be sobbing or filled with terror that would have reflected on distorted faces was that "the Lord...[was] their refuge in...[this] time of distress." We have learned since James Foley's death that he took refuge in our Blessed Mother, that praying the rosary was his shelter during his imprisonment.

To whom to you look when overwhelming injustice enters your life? Do you resort to prayer only in time of distress or are you spending time with the Lord daily, even when things are going well for you.  Now might be the time to open the Bible and discover its power. You might want to begin with a favorite psalm.