Freedom or Slavery

Today's Gospel, Luke 10: 13-16,  begins with strong, harsh words spoken by Jesus:  "Woe to you Chorazin! Woe to you,  Bethsaida!  For if the mighty deeds done in your midst had been done in Tyre and Sidon, they would have long ago have repented, sitting in sackcloth and ashes.  But it will be more tolerable for Tyre and Sidon at the judgment than for you."  Jesus is not trying to bully the inhabitants of these two cities. Rather, He is expressing His grief that they have not turned back to God. Instead they remained slaves to their sinful way of life in spite of the many ways in which Jesus revealed God's love and mercy.

To this very day, it is very easy to get caught in a lifestyle dominated by greed, immorality, lust,  resentments, envy, avarice,  and other corrupt activities.  Satan is a Father of Lies, a "professional" at conning people into choosing wrongful actions to the point that people do not even realize when they have been deceived. The scene in the Garden of Eden plays out over and over again in today's reality: Satan entices one person to sin and that person lures another, while both find ways to pass the blame onto another  person or something else, refusing to accept responsibility for the choice one has made.

All of us need to pray with the psalmist the words of Psalm 139, today's responsorial psalm:  Guide me, Lord, along the everlasting way and take to heart the words of the psalm:

"O Lord, you have proved me and you know me;
you know when I sit and when I stand;
you understand my thoughts from afar.  
My journeys and my rest you scrutinize,
with all my ways you are familiar."

So, I may cover up the truth from my fellow human beings and from myself, but not from God.  God knows me through and through and is deeply saddened when I make poor choices, choices whereby I become more and more a slave to sin and less and less a slave of the truth that makes me free.

God's Coming in a "Dense Cloud"

In today’s first reading, Exodus 19: 1-2,9-11, 16-20b,  we read:  “I am coming to you in a dense cloud, so that when the people hear me speaking with you, they may always have faith in you also.”  Is it not true that most days God comes to us in “dense clouds?”  Only through faith, do we see and hear God. Many times,  we don’t see him and  don’t hear his voice.  Concerning His speaking to the crowd in parables, Jesus says to His disciples in today’s Gospel (Matthew 13: 10:17):  “This is why I speak to them in parables, because they look but do not see and hear but do not listen or understand.”

Is that not true of you and me at times; namely that 1) we look at people but really do not see their beauty and goodness as a child of God and 2) that we hear what they are saying but are not really listening or understanding? Our eyes can be blinded by our prejudices or by whatever preoccupies us. Past hurts that we have suffered from them can cause us to automatically turn them off or prompt us to walk away from them.  Things we heard about them from others can also blind us to their goodness, their beauty, their authentic person-hood.  Our ears hear but we may not be truly listening or understanding anything they are saying, though we may pretend to be listening and understanding.

However, there are also times when the Lord reveals “the mysteries of the Kingdom” through these very people we have blocked out. Our eyes and ears are opened by the Lord’s forgiveness and our own. We see differently. We truly listen, putting our personal issues aside, and understand. O, the grace of Almighty God—each one of us grows into being “hearing, listening, understanding” individuals. Christ in us increases and the ego-self decreases (cf.John 3:30).

Nelson Mandella: A Person Faithful to the Spirit's Guidance

In today’s first reading, Isaiah 29: 17-24, Isaiah prophesies that Lebanon shall be changed into an orchard, and the orchard be regarded as a forest! On that day [of salvation] the deaf shall hear the words of the book [the book of life itself]; and out of gloom and darkness, the eyes of the blind shall see.”

Out of the 27 years spent in the darkness of an 8’ by 8’ prison cell, Nelson Mandela’s efforts to confront the injustice of apartheid in South African were finally realized.  Out of gloom and darkness, the injustices  imposed by wealthy whites upon the people of color, a light had shown. The justice of God shown through Nelson Mandela.  As the prophet Isaiah prophesied, the “lowly” found “joy” in the Lord working through Mandela. The “poor” were led to rejoicing in the Holy One of Israel at work in South African through a faithful son, a beloved brother, who was willing to die for justice, integrity and right relationships between whites and blacks, between the rich and the poor.  Through Nelson Mandela, the people of his country witnessed the power of reconciliation and forgiveness, in that Mandela forgave his oppressors, his jailers, those who condemned him to life in prison. Why? Because he stood for truth, justice and right relationships. Grace triumphed over the evils he fought against because of Christ’s victory on the cross where Satan’s head was crushed, where evils were rendered powerless. Because Mandela cooperated with the Spirit of God directing him from within, “Lebanon” was “changed into an orchard, and the orchard [is now] regarded as a forest—an “orchard”, a “forest”  where the dignity and the rights of all people, black and white, are respected.

In cooperation with the absolute and limitless graces of salvation won for us by Christ on the cross in His triumph over death, physical and otherwise, and out of respect for Nelson Mandela ,  may we, too, stand up for the rights of  all people.  May we, like Nelson Mandela,  turn our weapons into plowshares, using reconciliation and forgiveness as weapons  instead of nuclear bombs, drones, and threats of violence. May we have the courage to stand up for truth, justice and the rights of all people even to the point of dealing with the opposition of those who are oppressors of the poor and lowly in the world, in the church, in our societies, in our workplaces; in short, in our personal, familial, ecclesial, social, civic and governmental realities.

The Courage to Approach Jesus in our Need

In today’s Gospel, Mark 10: 46-52, Bartimaeus, a blind man, realizes that Jesus is passing by.  He calls out: “Jesus, Son of David, have pity on me.”  The crowd tries to quiet  him, perhaps believing that he is not worthy of Jesus’ attention.  He cries out even louder.  Jesus says to the crowd: “Call him.”  At Jesus’ command, they say to  him: “Take courage; get up, Jesus is calling you.”  Jesus looks upon Bartimaeus with compassionate love and asks him: “What do you want me to do for you?”  In faith, Bartimaeus expresses his need:  “Master, I want to see.”  Jesus tells him that his faith has saved him. Bartimaeus’ sight is restored  at that moment and he follows Jesus.

This story challenges us to ask ourselves several questions:

1.       Will I recognize Jesus in what or who crowds around my space today?
2.       Will I persist in wanting to talk to Jesus even when the crowd discourages me, treats
           me  disrespectfully, in fact scorns me?
3.       Do I realize in what ways I am blind or why I need Jesus to intervene in my life?
4.       Do I even believe that Jesus is God, a God of infinite compassion and love, who wants
           to heal me and fill me with His love and mercy? Do I have faith in Jesus’ willingness
           and ability to open my eyes to what I need to see?
5.       What do I want from Jesus?

No matter how we answer the above questions, Jesus says to us: “Take courage. Get up. I am calling you.”  As today’s first reading, Sirach 42: 15-25, reminds us:  God “plumbs the depths and penetrates the heart; …[our] innermost being he understands….No understanding does…[God] lack; no single thing escapes…[God]. Perennial is his almighty wisdom; he is from all eternity one and the same…How beautiful are all his works.” And, yes, when Jesus gazed upon Bartimaeus, He did so from this stance!  The same is true of his gaze upon you and me! He deeply desires to help us in our need. But we need to articulate that need.