"God Sent His Son Born of a Woman" (Gal 4: 4-5)

The Entrance antiphon of today's liturgy reminds us that "God sent his Son, born of a woman, so that we might receive adoption as children" (Gal 4:4-5).  God is father of both Jesus and us, as God is our Creator.  In  taking on human nature in Mary's womb through the power of the Holy Spirit, Jesus becomes a brother to us and we a brother/sister to Him. As adopted brothers and sisters of Jesus, we share the same inheritance that is His as a human being.  That inheritance is heaven!  And we know the ransom Jesus ultimately paid to open heaven for us--He was obedient to God the Father unto death on the cross. At the end of our lives we, too,  in obedience to God's will, will die with Jesus. At that moment our spirit self, our true selves, will return to heaven from whence we have come, unless we deny God.   If we deny God, God will deny us!  At the  final resurrection our mortal bodies that were returned to the earth in our burial will also rise and enter eternal life with Jesus forever.

The Entrance Antiphon clearly states that Jesus assumed human nature, entering Mary's womb--human nature and divine nature are united! Our humanity is lifted up to a state of divinity, though we are not God.  We share God's divine nature, as Jesus shares our human nature! What a gift! And what humility on the part of God becoming a human being, just like us in all things but sin!  Jesus shows us the depth, the length, the breadth, and the width of God's love for us and also shows us the way to the Father, the way of loving others and ourselves unto death! Love casts out fear, hatred, lust, envy, jealousy, selfishness, pride, greediness and any other sin that separates us from one another and causes divisions among us! The Gospels give witness to how Jesus fostered union with others, how He loved others and reconciled people with His and their Father God.  We are to do the same!

The Lord: Our Allotted Portion and Our Cup

In tomorrow's Entrance Antiphon, we pray: "O Lord, my allotted portion and my cup, you it is who hold fast my lot.  For me the measuring lines have fallen on pleasant sites; fair to me indeed is my inheritance."

That inheritance is not something you and I deserve. The inheritance of life forever with God in heaven is an inheritance for which an immense ransom was paid: the human birth, life, sufferings, death and resurrection of Jesus from the dead.  The Incarnate God poured out his blood, became the sacrificial lamb, for you and me! The "Lord [is our] allotted portion and [our] cup" at the price of Jesus' life and death on the cross.   It is a free gift of God's unconditional love for you and me!

Like Jesus, you and I pass "from death to life" in loving our brothers and sisters (compare tomorrow's first reading, 1 John 3: 11-21).  John reminds us that "[w]hoever does not love remains in death. Everyone who hates his brother [or sister] is a murderer and you know that no murderer has eternal life remaining in him [her]. The way we came to know love was that he [Jesus] laid down his life for us; so we ought to lay down our lives for our brothers [sisters]. If someone who has worldly means sees a brother [sister] in need and refuses him [her] compassion, how can the love of God remain in him [her]? Children," John says to us, "let us love not in word or speech but in deed and truth."

John puts it on the line for us! And God Himself has written this law of love on everyone's heart. We have no excuses for walking by someone in need and not helping if we have the means to help, whether that be financial means, material means or spiritual/psychological means to make a difference in that person's life by acts of love, by caring, by acting compassionately.

How do you and I measure up to what God is asking of us?

Jesus' Directness

In today's Gospel, Mark 10: 17-30, a man runs up to Jesus, kneels down, and poses the following question to him: "Good Teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?  ....You know the commandments," Jesus says to him and spells out what those commandments are. The man answers: "Teacher, all of those I have kept since my youth."  Jesus looks at the man and loves him deeply. He says to him:  You are lacking in one thing. Go, sell what you have, and give to the poor and you will have  treasure in heaven; then come, follow me."  The man's face fell, and he walked away from Jesus saddened, "for he had many possessions," of which he was not ready to let go!

With some fear, I asked Jesus:  What must I do to inherit eternal life?  With greater fear, I asked Jesus to tell me what was the one thing that I lacked?  And He told me!

What question or questions do you need to ask Jesus? After you ask that question, wait, in prayer, for Jesus' answer!  Be not afraid!  Jesus is gentle but honest. And remember, as with the man in today's Gospel:  Jesus looks at you and loves you deeply!

Compassion and Forgiveness: God's Saving Gifts

In today’s first reading, Ephesians 4: 32-5:8, Paul states clearly what the Lord asks of us, namely, to be compassionate and forgiving of others as God is of us.  We are asked to imitate Jesus, who gave his life for us. For whom am I giving my life today? Whom will I uplift today through my acts of love and forgiveness? Will I be a source of strength, hope and love for others today or will I burden others today by attitudes of selfishness, stinginess and disdain or  by deceitful ways and speech, through gossip and the like?  Paul goes on to say: “Immorality or any impurity or greed must not even be mentioned among you, as is fitting among holy ones, no obscenity or silly or suggestive talk, which is out of place, but instead, thanksgiving.”  Just in case we do not get it, he says furthermore: “No immoral or impure or greedy person, that is, an idolater, has any inheritance in the Kingdom of Christ and of God.”

My thoughts immediately went to what we witness during the campaigns for presidency of the U.S.  But that, in itself, draws Paul’s rebuke, as am  I not  engaging in silly talk about our politicians. Am I not then being divisive, looking at a “them versus us” categorization?   Is such talk not dragging others down to the level to which I lowered myself? Today’s Scripture opens with the invitation to be “kind to one another, compassionate, forgiving one another as God  has forgiven you in Christ.”  My thoughts then would be: “Lord, forgive me my trespasses as I forgive others theirs.”  I would, like the republican in Sunday’s Gospel, be saying to the Lord: “O God, be merciful to me, a sinner” (Luke 18: 14). 

May you and I heed Paul’s admonitions and follow the way that truly leads us to the “inheritance in the Kingdom of Christ and of God,” that Jesus won for us by His death on the cross for our salvation and salvation of the entire world, including the politicians of today and forever!

The Journey to the Promised Land

In today’s first reading, Jos 24: 1-13, Joshua gathers all of the tribes of Israel and  reviews for them all that the Lord has done on their behalf, tracing God’s presence in their lives all the way back to Abraham’s father Terah. He shows them how God stopped the Egyptians in their pursuit of them, delivered them from nations far more powerful than they,and thwarted a curse against them.  “It was not your sword or your bow”; it was not your military might, Joshua reminds them.  “I [the Lord,  Yahweh] gave you a land which you had not tilled and cities which you had not built, to dwell in; you have eaten of vineyards and olive groves which you did not plant.”

The same is true for us.  As with the Israelites, we are on our way to the Promised Land. As our inheritance as adopted children of God, God has given us a new Jerusalem, a city we did not build, vineyards we did not plant. On our journey here in the wilderness of this earth, God goes before us, leveling “cities,” overcoming powers that  lure us into worshiping false gods:  narcissism, atheistic materialism, consumerism, hedonism,  wealth for its own sake,  the glorification of the body as something to be worshiped, absolute freedom to do whatever we so choose even to assuming that it is okay to violate the rights of the unborn, of the poor and oppressed, of women and children, of immigrants, of persons viewed as minorities, of the earth itself and all that lives on it. 

If you and I gathered our families around us, going back several generations, what would the list of   blessings look like, I ask myself.  What false gods are we following? From what powerful “nations ”-- snares of the devil--has/ is God  rescuing us?  

The miracles God worked for the Israelites God will work for us in the 21^st century. I believe that! What is your belief? I pray for the grace that you and I have the courage and the wisdom  to cooperate with the Lord in bringing about the salvation of the world in some small way by our efforts,to avoid evil and  lead people to Jesus at the foot of the cross.

The First Installment of our Inheritance

Today’s first reading, Ephesians 1: 11-14, led me to think about  the excitement of persons who won a lottery of millions and millions of dollars and are promised 1000’s of dollars weekly.  The excitement, I imagine, is uncontainable. The future looks brighter than it ever has been.  For some, the hopes and dreams for their future are realized in genuine, authentic living of the messages of the Gospel. For others, living a purely secular lifestyle, the worst in human nature can spill out into jealousies, envious actions, abusive spending, selfish pursuits, wild ambitions, covetousness, prideful claims and so on.  Life, somehow, can become emptier and more chaotic than ever imagined.

Desperation, for some persons, leads them to turn to God, to take up the Bible, looking for help. The Spirit within them breaks through the darkness, as somewhere in the world prayers are being offered continually for the salvation of all persons.  Searching for God in the letter of St. Paul to the  Ephesians  in Chapter 1 verses 11-14, they are told that they are “chosen, destined in accord with the purpose of the One who accomplishes all things according to the intention of his will, so that…[they and] we might exist for the praise of his glory.”  In this passage, Paul reminds them and us that  we who first hoped in Christ….[and those who later come to believe in Him are] sealed with the promised Holy Spirit,…the first installment of our inheritance toward redemption as God’s possession.” 

Wow!  I wonder why our excitement is not as overwhelming as the excitement of those lottery winners!  We do not need to imagine “winning the lottery” that only God can give.  We did not even purchase a ticket. Jesus purchased it for us through His obedience to the Father’s plan for our redemption, his death and resurrection.  We have been given this inheritance  by the price which Christ Jesus paid for it.   The “inheritance toward redemption” includes the following: 

•  Being “chosen, destined in accord with the purpose”  of the Holy One, the giver of eternal wealth 

• Being “sealed with the promised Holy Spirit,”  the “first installment of our inheritance toward redemption as God’s possession”

My response and yours? Let us, with Mary and all the saints and angels in heaven [and on earth],  praise God in the words of the Magnificat: “My being proclaims your greatness,” O God, “and my spirit finds joy in you, God, my Savior, for you have looked upon me, your servant, in my lowliness…God, you who are mighty, have done great things for me. Holy is your name….”

The Promise of the Spirit

In today's second reading, Eph 1: 17-23, St. Paul prays that the "God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, give...[us] a Spirit of wisdom and revelation resulting in knowledge of him. May the eyes of...[our] hearts be enlightened," Paul prays.

 Note the words "the eyes of our hearts."  Those eyes are different from the eyes on our faces, so to speak.  The "eyes of our hearts" are inward eyes, eyes from the depth of our beings, eyes of faith whereby we grow in our knowledge of Jesus  and of "the hope that belongs to...[God's] call, what are the riches of glory in ...[God's] inheritance"  (Eph. 1: 17-23). Functioning from that depth of faith is the gift of the Spirit promised to the apostles, and to us, by Jesus when He said: "...the Spirit of truth ... will guide you to all truth....", truth of all that He taught while on earth and is contained for us in the Scriptures, is communicated to us by the Spirit living within us and others and which is hidden in all of the events of our lives.  As Jesus tells us in today's Gospel, Mt. 28: 16-20, "I am with you always" and as prophesied by Isaiah: "I have not spoken to you in secret, in a dark place of the earth I did not say to the seed of Jacob 'Seek me in vain'; I, the Lord,...declare things that are right."  And so did Jesus, the Son of God!