Weeping, Mourning and Rejoicing

In today's Gospel, John 16: 20-23, we are again reminded that here on earth we will have times when we "will weep and mourn, while the world rejoices; [we] will grieve but [our] grief will become joy. When a woman is labor,"  Jesus says to us, "she is in anguish because her hour has arrived; but when she has given birth to a child, she no longer remembers the pain because of her joy that a child has been born into the world."   The sufferings of this life that cause us anguish, I believe,  are "birthing" us, if you will,  into the persons God intends us to be.  We might think of suffering as a means of  being "born" into holiness, a way in which God is "birthing" us into the self that resembles God and molds us into our Christ-self!  And if a natural birth is painful, and it is, then, too, is being "born" into our best selves, our God-self.  Suffering could be perceived, I believe, as the "birth canal" into a new self according to God's holy will.

Wanting life to be easy would be as unreasonable as wanting the birth of a child to be easy.  It is not and neither is life lived for and with and through God.  Jesus models for us how to deal with life's difficulties. He shows us how to deal with the traumas of life: being betrayed, being rejected, being ridiculed, being condemned, being impoverished, being bullied,  being a refugee or a stranger in a foreign land, being misunderstood. He even shows us how to deal with death and those causing us "death": "Father, forgive them for they know not what they are doing."  And throughout His life up to and including the crucifixion on the cross, I believe, that Jesus often forgave his persecutors, his detractors, and those who scoffed at His teaching, those who hated Him.  Jesus kept His eyes on His Father and spent time each day in communication with Him. May we do the same so that we, too, are able to put things in their right perspective, especially when they cause us to weep and mourn.

God's Mercy as Role Modeling our Call to be Merciful

Today's readings are about mercy, being shown mercy by our God and being called to be merciful in relation to other human beings.  The Gospel, Matthew 18:21-35, reveals God's infinite mercy towards us in the parable of the king who forgives a debtor an amount of debt that he absolutely has no way of resolving.  Rather than following the king's example, this pardoned debtor exacts payment from someone who owes him a much lesser amount. He has him thrown into prison until he pays up!  That leads to the king revoking his pardon and exacting payment from the debtor, who in turn is also imprisoned until he pays the huge amount that he also owes.


We have choices! Forgiving others leads to personal, inner freedom. Exacting payment--holding on to resentments, harboring grudges, and punishing others for their "debts," however we choose to do that--leads to enslaving or imprisoning ourselves in our own anger states.  Furthermore, in the Our Father, we ask God to forgive us as we forgive those who trespass against us. By not forgiving others who hurt us or owe us an apology, or whatever, we subject ourselves to God's justice, which is also infinite--what we mete out to others will be meted out to us!

In the responsorial psalm of today's liturgy, Psalm 25, we pray:  "Remember your mercies, O Lord."
That does not exonerate us from doing our part in acting mercifully toward others! Let us remember how merciful God is towards ourselves and, in turn, show mercy to our neighbors, near and far!

Be Compassionate as God is Compassionate

In today's Gospel, Luke 6: 36-38, Jesus says to us: "Be merciful, just as your Father is merciful. Stop judging and you will not be judged. Stop condemning and you will not be condemned. Forgive and you will be forgiven. Give and gifts will be given to you; a good measure, packed together, shaken down, and overflowing, will e pour into your lap. for the measure with which you measure will in return be measured out to you."

"Just as your Father is merciful!"   God models mercy and reveals his merciful self in Jesus!  Jesus challenges the sinner but does not condemn. In fact, in his own words, Jesus tells us that he came, not to condemn, but to save us, showing us how to love others as ourselves, how to be compassionate as God is compassionate, how, in short, to forgive ourselves and others.

Jesus reveals that His Father, and He himself, is merciful and compassionate, slow to anger and quick to forgive. He does so on the cross when the good thief turns to him and says: "Remember me in your kingdom" and Jesus replies: This very day you will be with me in my kingdom.  When a woman caught in adultery is dragged before him and her accusers are ready to stone her according to the law of the nation of Israel, Jesus admonishes them, asking: Which of you is without sin, cast the first stone. No one stoned her! When a deaf man was brought to him for healing, and Jesus was asked "who sinned, the person or his parents", Jesus states clearly that no one sinned.  He indicated that misfortunes are not the result of our sinful behaviors. Jesus shows mercy and heals the deaf person.

God is about mercy, wholeness, and healing. He takes no pleasure  in people suffering in any way. That is not God's thinking but ours!

What attitudes do I need to change within myself? Am I quick to condemn, to judge, to find fault with another when misfortunes occur, when illness same to take possession of another, of myself? How caring am I? How loving am I? How forgiving am I? Does compassion direct my thoughts?

The Kingdom of God is at Hand!

In today's first reading, Hebrews 1: 1-6, St. Paul reminds us that in the past God  spoke to His people "in partial and various ways...through the prophets."  Today, which Paul calls the "last days", God speaks "to us through the Son, whom he made heir of all things and through whom he created the universe."  This Jesus, the Son of God, "is the refulgence of [God's] glory, the very imprint of [God's] being".  Jesus, the word of God made flesh, is the one who "sustains all things by his mighty word.  He sustains you and I.  "When he accomplished purification from sins, he took his seat at the right hand of the Majesty on high, as far superior to the angels as the name he has inherited is more excellent than theirs."  It is this Jesus who says to us in today's Gospel, Mark 1: 14-20, "This is the time of fulfillment. The Kingdom of God is at hand. Repent and believe in the Gospel."  Following that proclamation, Jesus passes by the Sea of Galilee, sees Simon and his brother Andrew and calls them to follow Him and become "fishers of men."  A little further on, he calls James and his brother John for the same purpose. All four men leave their fishing business to become Jesus' followers and take on a new profession, that of evangelists and apostles.  What role do you and I assume to spread the Word of God, the message of Jesus' Gospel?

In "these last days," you and I are called to follow Jesus. "This is the time of [our]  fulfillment.  The Kingdom of God is at hand" for us!  Are we heeding Jesus' voice?  Or are we too busy to take time to build our relationship with Christ and with others in love, forgiveness and justice?  Are we too busy with our own affairs to lead people to Jesus, as Simon, Andrew, James and John did? How, you ask, are you to do this? By living according to the Gospel, doing what Jesus did in his ministry to the people of his day: being just and compassionate, being loving and forgiving, healing the sick and infirm, welcoming all to the table, touching "lepers" and welcoming them to the Eucharist and to experience a heart full of love.

"The Kingdom of God is at hand. Repent and believe in the Gospel!"   Live it one day at a time!

Seeing and Hearing God Walking in our Midst

Today we celebrate the feast of Saint Maximilian Kolbe, a priest  who, in the Auschwitz concentration camp asked that he be taken to the starvation room in place of a man who had a wife and two children.  His request was granted.   In light of the first reading of today’s liturgy, Ez 12:1-12, Maximilian, unlike the chosen people, had eyes that saw and ears that heard the Lord’s invitation to give of his all,  to act with justice, to love tenderly and walk humbly with his God (Micah 6:8).   In his willingness to give his life for another, Maximilian also was granted the grace to forgive the Nazis who imprisoned him along with millions of other Jews. Nothing, in the words of St. Paul, came between Maximilian and the love of Christ (Rom 8:39).

Today we have millions enduring the martyrdom, not of the concentration camps run by the Nazis but  of those run by other ruthless persons. Millions are being silenced by others in various ways by being  deprived of justice, denied their integrity as persons, treated poorly and abusively. Some are being stoned to death for alleged crimes while others are being victimized by the corrupt use of emotional, psychological, political, ecclesial, intellectual powers.  Many are being “martyred” as slaves of pimps, human traffickers, drug traffickers, unjust employers and so on.   Yes, we  live “in the midst of a rebellious house; they have eyes to see but do not see, and ears to hear but do not hear…”  God’s call for justice, truth, reconciliation, forgiveness and love frequently falls on deaf ears and hardened hearts.

What part of me could be described as rebellious? What part of me, like Ezekiel, sees and hears God walking in our midst?  In what ways am I willing, as Maximilian was, to give my life that another can live? Am I willing to give up gossiping about another, judging others, judging myself, criticizing others, putting others and self down? Am I willing to forgive others and forgive myself, not once, but in the words of today’s Gospel, 70xs 7 times?