Listen to God's Instructions

In today's first reading, Isaiah 1: 10, 16-20, the prophet Isaiah asks to: Hear the word of the Lord...Listen to the instruction of our God...Wash yourselves clean, the prophet Isaiah says to us, "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. Come now, let us set things right...Though your sins be like scarlet, they may become white as show; Though they be crimson red, they may become white as wool."

"Cease doing evil,"  O people of the U.S., of North Korea, of Russia, of the Middle East, of North and South and Central America, of Africa and New Mexico, of Australia and New Zealand, of Iceland, Greenland and Europe, of Italy, Ireland and England, of Denmark, Switzerland, Scotland and Wales, of China and Japan and any other nation any where in the world! "Learn to do good!"

God says to you and me: "Listen to God's instruction" one day at a time and  "Learn to do good"  one day at a time.  Every morning when you and are awakened--it is God who does the awakening--God gives us one more day to learn to do what is right, to learn to be just and holy, to learn to defend the defenseless, to speak for those who have no voice, to set things right with those we have wronged or who have wronged us!  God gives us this day, the now, to find Him, to love Him, and to serve Him in the daily tasks that confront us each day!  "Why," God asks us in today's responsorial psalm, "do you recite my statues, and profess my covenant with your mouth, though you hate discipline and cast my words behind  you?"  Why do you ignore your spouse's request to help with the children, to prepare a meal, to do the grocery shopping, to take out the garbage, to shovel the driveway, to fix that leaking faucet? Why do you not read to the elderly person who is blind, take time to comfort the person who recently lost a loved one or spend time with a someone who is lonely or who is confused because of severe dementia?  "When you do [not] do these things," asks the psalmist, "shall I be deaf to it?"

In today's Gospel acclamation, the Lord asks us to "[c]ast away from you all [selfish and sloth-some ways]...and make for yourselves a new heart and a new spirit" (Ez 18:31)  and promises "those who go the right way" that they will be shown "the salvation of God"  (today's responsorial psalm, Psalm 50).

Setting God before our Eyes

Today's first reading, Daniel 12: 1-3, speaks of the second coming of Jesus, our Savior. "At that time," the prophet Daniel tells us, "there shall arise Michael the great prince, guardian of your people; it shall be a time unsurpassed in distress since nations began until  that time. At that time....the wise shall shine brightly like the splendor of the firmament, and those who lead the many to justice shall be like the stars forever."  For the wicked this event will be a time of "everlasting horror and disgrace," but not so for those who have clung to Christ, lived according to the Gospels and followed the directions of the Holy Spirit day by day--the Holy Spirit sent to us by Jesus upon His return to the Father in His resurrection from the dead.

My heart is saddened when I think of the many people who do not lead people to justice--people who close their eyes to injustice, who, out of fear, do not confront unjust legislature and executive orders, who close their eyes and ears to evil being perpetuated for fleeting gains of glory and accumulation of wealth for the wealthiest people in our nation.

Our inheritance, the psalmist tells us in today's responsorial psalm, (Psalm 16) is the Lord, not material gain! Those who realize that the Lord is their "allotted portion and [their] cup, [that it is the Lord ] who hold[s] fast [their] lot" are not afraid to lose their seats of honor in this world. Why? Because they  "set the Lord ever before [their eyes]; with [God] at  [their] right hand [they] shall not be disturbed." The heart of a person who stands up for justice and does what is  right "is glad and [his/her] soul rejoices." Such a person "abides in confidence; because [God] will not abandon [this person's] soul to the netherworld, nor will [God] suffer [His] faithful one to undergo corruption!"

May you and I be among those who seek justice in all we do and not be colluders with those who deny others their basic human rights for whatever reason or for whatever gain!

Living for God Alone

In today's first reading, Daniel 3: 25, 34-43, Azariah stands up in the fire, into which he and two others were thrown because they refused to obey the king's order that would have violated their beliefs, and prays: "For your name's sake, O Lord, do not deliver us up forever, or make void your covenant. Do not take away your mercy from us, for the sake of Abraham, your beloved, Isaac your servant, and Israel your holy one, to whom  you promised to multiply their offspring like the stars of heaven, or the sand on the shore of the sea. For we reduced, O Lord, beyond any other nation, brought low everywhere in the world this day because of our sins....[W]ith contrite heart and humble spirit let us be received....[L]et our sacrifice be in your presence today, as we follow you unreservedly; for those who trust in you cannot be put to shame....Deliver us by your wonders, and bring glory  to your name, O Lord."

This prayer as applicable to our nation today, as it was to the nation of Israel. As of old, God looks with mercy and love upon us. With Azariah, we pray: "With contrite heart and humble spirit let us be received. Let our sacrifices to do what is right be in your presence, as we follow you unreservedly; for those who trust in you cannot be put to shame. Deliver us by you wonders from sinking into deceitful ways and corrupt decisions that increase hardships for others around us and beyond us.  We ask this in Jesus' name. Amen."

Standing Up for What Is Right

We can learn a lot from today’s first reading, Philemon 7-20, in doing what is right.  Paul sends a letter to Philemon, a slave owner, asking that he accept back a slave who had run away from him. Such an offense back then—slavery was legal—meant being severely punished for running away. The punishment imposed upon a runaway slave was to be a deterrent for anyone thinking of defying a slave owner.  Philemon’s slave had converted to Christianity under Paul. Paul sends the slave back to his owner, which under the law he must do, and writes: “I urge you on behalf of my child Onesimus, whose father I have become in my imprisonment, ….to welcome him as you would me. And if he has done you any injustice or owes you anything, charge it to me….”  

 

Both Paul and Onesimus do what must be done under the law. Paul begs for mercy for Onesimus, whom he has grown to love deeply. Like Onesimus, we, too, have and will experience the ravages of slavery, of laws that impinge on our  or others’ freedoms, laws that needs to be taken off the books, so to speak, as slavery has been in some countries. Even though slavery has been formally abolished and is no longer legal in some countries, slavery still exists in many forms today throughout the world and in our own lives as well. Sometimes we are slaves to sin and selfishness. Sometimes, we are slaves to pathologies within, to a lesser or greater degree. At other times we are slaves to our negative moods.

Whatever forms of slavery we encounter, may we, like Paul and Onesimus, have the courage to face truth and stand up for one another, encouraging love and forgiveness, asking that we do not cement other people, or ourselves,  to  past mistakes and thus refuse to acknowledge that they, or we, have grown and have found Christ, our Savior.

Being Shown Salvation

In today’s first reading,  Micah 6: 1-4, 6-8, the prophet reminds us what God is asking of us”  “You have been told, O man/[O woman], what is good, and what the Lord requires of you: Only to do the right and to love goodness, and to walk humbly with your God.”

 We have examples of men and women  throughout the Old and New Testament, in our neighborhoods and parishes, in our families and schools, in our communities,  of people walking humbly with our God, doing what is right, and loving goodness within themselves and others.  Day in and day out, someone reaches out to the needy, clothes the naked, feeds the hungry. Every day a mother and a father do these things in their own family. Many mothers and fathers reach out to other children in need. Many dedicated men and women reach out to the sick, the addicted, the elderly to provide health care. Policemen and women throughout the world risk their lives every day protecting ours. Community workers provide garbage collection, fix our broken sewage systems and our potholed-ridden roads in beastly heat,   repair our battered homes, deliver mail in both pleasant and unpleasant weather, stock our grocery shelves or fix meals in our restaurants and fast-food places for workers “on the run”.  The majority of these people are not seeking praise but humbly doing what they believe God is asking of them, namely to love doing what is right and just, what is the good thing to do in this world.

Let us be grateful and loving in turn, doing good to those who do good to us and being humble in helping those who do not!  “Those who offer praise, [in these ways,] as a sacrifice glorify me; and to those who go the right way, [as persons mentioned above,]  I will show the salvation of God,” says the author of Psalm 50. May you be shown the salvation of God in your life and in the lives of those you serve humbly, justly and kindly.

The Beatitutes' Blessings

Mt 5: 1-12: The Beatitudes: “Blessed are you, (your name), the Kingdom of heaven is yours when you realize your dependency upon me, when you know that you are my creation, my possession; when you realize your creatureliness and my transcendence, imminence and indwelling, when you are obedient to the directions of the Spirit that I whisper from within you and around you and through others. The Kingdom of heaven is yours when you assume a listening, respectful stance toward others and are sensitive to the feelings of others, the fragility of the esteem of another, the other’s need for affirmation and support. The Kingdom of heaven is yours when you do not lord it over others, are meek and humble of heart.    

Blessed are you, (your name) when you mourn when others are suffering loss: the loss of a loved one, the loss of valued possessions, the loss of dignity and respect, the loss of self-esteem and support, the loss of freedom.  Blessed are you, (your name),  when you mourn these  things and take steps to restore loss self-esteem, offer support to “weakened knees” raise up fallen heart and allow others to grieve their losses.

Blessed are you, (your name), when you are meek and humble of heart, you will inherit “solid land”; you will not sink into the “mud” of a disgruntled, angry, proud heart.

Blessed are you, (your name,) when you show mercy; mercy will be shown to you.

Blessed are you, (your name), who are pure of heart, when the purity of the Spirit within you transforms that about you that is less than what God intends it to be. As your heart grows in purity, so, too, do your eyes see more clearly where and when God is present or absent. Yes, you will see God at work when your heart is pure.

Blessed are you, (your name),  when you keep the peace by being peaceful within and without, when you seek to resolve conflict peacefully rather than avoiding it or pretending peace has not been compromised by your behavior or speech or negative attitudes. When you strive to restore peace peacefully, people will then call you a woman/a man of God.

Blessed are you, (your name), when, standing up for what is right, when acting justly, when showing mercy, when being forgiving, when acknowledging Me, you are persecuted, ridiculed, “stoned” with disparaging words, your reward in heaven for speaking the truth and doing what is right will be great.

Walk humbly with your God

In today’s first reading,  Micah 6: 1-4, 6-8,  the prophet spells out what the Lord requires of us:  Only to do the right and to love goodness and to walk humbly with our God.  God is not asking that we engage in a strict, ascetical penitential life but that we choose what is right, embrace goodness, and live a life of humility.  No heroics, just simple living, doing good things throughout the day: helping a person struggling to bring a load of groceries up the stairs, preparing a meal for the people I love,  doing the laundry, pitching in to get the dishes done so the whole family can relax, making a phone call to a friend, helping a child with homework, taking time to  listen to what kind of day our spouses/community members had, listening to someone overwhelmed with grief, doing an honest day’s work, saying “thank you” to the person who bags my groceries, etc.

As I reflected upon the phrase “walk humbly with your God,” I was touched by the image.  How can any one of us,  mere human beings, walking side by side with God, strut  about like  peacocks, saying by our demeanor: look at us, how great we are! And yet, how often do we not do that.  This is God walking beside us day and night, counseling us, affirming us, challenging us, comforting us, strengthening us.

 I then looked up Eccles. 3: 17, which reads:  “My child, be gentle in carrying out your business, and you will be better loved than a lavish giver. The greater you are, the more humbly you should behave, and then you will find favor with the Lord; for great though the power of the Lord is, he accepts the homage of the humble.