Saturday of the First Week of Lent

 Lectionary: 229

But I say to you, love your enemies,
and pray for those who persecute you,
that you may be children of your heavenly Father,
for he makes his sun rise on the bad and the good,
and causes rain to fall on the just and the unjust.
For if you love those who love you, what recompense will you have?

The all-encompassing love of God, as Jesus describes it in the above passage, has often come to my mind recently. A "people peculiarly His own" operates by different standards. Our generosity doesn't always support those causes that support our way of life. The people with whom I associate are more inclined to serve the homeless, unfed, and those without adequate medical care than ivy league schools, opera, and ballet. Those causes appeal to the wealthier ten percent.

Jesus insists that we should love our enemies. The poor can be like an enemy. They will take everything we can offer and more, because they need it. They might accept help without a word of thanks because they should receive those things with the same gratitude as the wealthiest might offer to the middle classes. Which is to say, little. Their needs are inexhaustible although our resources are not.

Or. that's how we think of our resources until we consider them in the light of God's providence. Somehow, we're not sure how it happens; we manage. We get by; and sometimes, after years of getting by and doing barely well enough, we notice that our faith in God sustained us when other resources ran dry. And we're still not wealthy.

He sustains his people without luxury; and provides security without power. We learn wisdom without degrees, diplomas, or certificates. We enjoy and thank God for our daily allotment of manna. Our children might not inherit our reverence for God but we will have spiritual descendants who keep the faith. Of this we're sure as even the world's history books prove. The Catholic Church is still here where many religions, races, and identities have disappeared.

Friday of the First Week of Lent

Lectionary: 228

Settle with your opponent quickly while on the way to court.
Otherwise your opponent will hand you over to the judge, and the judge will hand you over to the guard, and you will be thrown into prison.

When he was asked, "Which commandment in the law is the greatest?" Jesus gave a two-fold response in three parts: 

“You shall love the Lord, your God, with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind. This is the greatest and the first commandment.

The second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself.

The whole law and the prophets depend on these two commandments.”

In his First Letter, Saint John reflected on the Lord's second commandment: "Whoever says he is in the light, yet hates his brother, is still in the darkness."

I suppose everyone who has visited a church with an open mind and heart came away with a nice feeling of being loved, comforted, and mysteriously satisfied. That good feeling was almost immediately embellished with complacency: "I am okay in God's sight!" 

I think of a line in a Raymond Chandler novel: When our hero Philip Marlowe encountered a strikingly beautiful receptionist, he said something like, "Woo-hoo!" 
And then, to her raised eyebrows, he said, "I always react that way in the presence of a gorgeous woman." 
"How fortunate for you." she said. 

How fortunate for you that you feel good about yourself for having been to a church. But that good feeling means nothing in God's sight; and fails to impress anyone else, especially if you despise a brother or sister in the Lord. 

"Settle with your opponent quickly while on the way to court." Jesus tells us. Our faith and our religious practice must often -- seven times a day! -- remind us of the contempt we have toward others. We are certainly not shining like the sun on the just and unjust, nor blessing others like the gentle rain which falls on good and bad alike. 

It is good to visit a church; and better to attend Mass, and excellent to receive His Most Precious Body and Blood. But our response for these blessings must be humble gratitude. We might remember the Fisherman's immediate reaction, "Go away from me, Lord, for I am a sinful man." If the Lord didn't go away from him, it was nonetheless the gut reaction of an honest man who knew his own worth. 

And then, as penitents who have deserved nothing but received everything, we follow him.

Thursday of the First Week in Lent

 Lectionary: 227

“Do to others whatever you would have them do to you.
This is the law and the prophets.”

We have all scratched our heads over the Lord's command that we should "be perfect as your heavenly Father is perfect." We should hear His Golden Rule in the light of that earlier statement. 

Jesus has assured us, "His light shines on the good and the bad; his rain falls on the just and the unjust." There is no partiality in God, but there is His incredible initiative. 

It began with "In the beginning, God created the heavens and Earth." He had absolutely no need to create anything. God is perfect in himself and nothing He does makes him any better. His uttering "Let there be light!" is entirely generous and spontaneous. It's all gift. 

So when we hear his "Do to others..." we should recognize God's invitation to do as He does. He is the father in the pool who encourages his child, "Come on in! The water's fine! You can do this!" 

We hesitate. That's understandable. The water might be cold; and it's certainly wet, and perhaps unfamiliar. Like, "I've never done that before." But ordinary rationality tells us to hesitate no longer. Just do it! 

We have also heard Jesus say, "I have not come to abolish the law but to fulfill it." With this Golden Rule He teaches us how to fulfill our own nature as he  fulfilled his. We are naturally generous despite the timidity that remains over us like the placenta of birth. It's easily shed. We are called to fulfill our human nature with the divine imitation of Christ. 

Nor does He insist that we do anything He has not already done. Whether we're looking at God's creation in the beginning; or His call of Abraham and the blessing on Abraham's descendants; or the Lord's persistent patience as He forgave and delivered one generation after another, the Bible is an inexhaustible record of our reluctance to get in the water, and a tireless summary of his encouraging "Do not be afraid."

We have heard the earlier common sense rule, "Don't do to others what you don't want done to you." Any human being can understand that, and it's universally known to all cultures and societies. 

The Lord's Golden Rule teaches us what we should have figured out but never did. We can take the initiative; we can do to others as we would have them do to us. 

Wednesday of the First Week in Lent

Lectionary: 226

At the judgment the men of Nineveh will arise with this generation and condemn it,
because at the preaching of Jonah they repented,
and there is something greater than Jonah here.”

Jesus may have read the story of Jonah as we do today, as an entertaining, comical story with a sharp point; but he prefers to use the sharp point rather than the comical. He told some wonderful stories but they were not told to entertain anyone. And if we go to the Bible or the Church for entertainment, we're wasting the little time we have. 

Jonah and the Lord warned about the judgment of God, as does the Season of Lent. We're approaching that hour when Pontius Pilate will escort the Lord to the judgment seat -- that seat where the procurator usually sat -- and pushed the Lord upon it. And then he turned to the crowd and shouted, "Behold the Man." And they pronounced judgment. 

We've heard a lot about nonjudgmental and "unconditional love," phrases which never appear in the Bible. The Old and New Testaments are full of judgment; and insist that the Day of the Lord is coming. But fools will not be prepared for it. 

Is there some reason why God should not judge us. Don't we judge one another continually? Who hasn't looked at someone else and said, "Thank God, I am not like him?" Ours is a moralistic religion which speaks of good and evil, righteousness and wickedness, mercy and justice, sin and forgiveness; and then teaches us how to live so as to deserve God's mercy even as it warns us of the consequences of evil. 

Given the assistance God gives us no one can claim to have done it on their own, but neither can they claim the odds were stacked against them. There were opportunities and fools failed to take them; there were invitations and they declined. And we have suffered the consequences and should have learned from the experience. 

I was taught an older Act of Contrition and I prefer it for several reasons. It makes no promise to "sin no more." (As if...!) But with it I do intend to "amend my life, and to avoid the near occasions of sin" insofar as they can be avoided. I also take seriously "the pains of hell," although I have little need to imagine how dreadful they might be.

O My God,  I am heartily sorry for having offended thee, and I detest all my sins because I dread the loss of heaven and the pains of hell. Most of all, because they offend Thee, my God, Who art all-good and deserving of all my love. I firmly resolve, with the help of Thy grace, to confess my sins, to do penance, to amend my life, and to avoid the near occasion of sin. Amen.

 

Tuesday of the First Week of Lent

 Lectionary: 225

“If you forgive men their transgressions,
your heavenly Father will forgive you.
But if you do not forgive men,
neither will your Father forgive your transgressions.”

The question comes up periodically among devout Christians, "Will my dog go to heaven?" Perhaps it might be rephrased as, "Do animals have souls?" and we can engage in the more serious conversation about what it means to be human. 

I know people who react like Pavlov's dogs at certain stimuli. Should you mention the name of certain persons they immediately launch into an ugly story about that person, that you've heard a dozen times before. It's embarrassing if you're in polite conversation with others who've also suffered the same recurring story. You have little choice but to wait for the spasm to pass, but it may be followed by several similar and too familiar stories. 

Being fully human  includes self-awareness of one's thoughts, moods, habits, reactions, and the choices offered by each passing moment. Hearing a familiar name, shall I tell my story about that person, or has my audience heard it already? Will it edify or depress? Why do I want to tell this story again; what does it mean to me; and what do I gain by retelling it? Is there an unrecognized trauma that needs professional, or at least serious, attention? 

Or perhaps, it's not that important to me anymore, and I can let the opportunity pass. 

Grace enables me to forgive and forget past hurts. Their memories are no longer important, I have no further need for them. I have recovered my self-esteem since that long ago insult. Or, at least, the story only makes me look foolish and I can suppress the urge to tell it. 

Today we have heard the Lord's teaching about prayer and his singular genius expressed in the familiar Lord's Prayer. And, in case we missed it, we have heard Jesus immediately underline the passage about forgiving as we are forgiven. 

In the same Sermon on the Mount, we have already heard of the Father's generosity to everyone, good and bad, deserving and undeserving: 

"...for he makes his sun rise on the bad and the good, and causes rain to fall on the just and the unjust." (Mt 5:45)

Saint Columban was an Irish monk and founder of several monasteries in Ireland and Europe. Due to his extraordinary holiness and leadership ability, he was also a lifelong abbot. He had a personal code which he shared with others: "Hate no one; it's a sin against charity. Love no one; it's a sin against justice."

The second sentence sounds shocking at first. But I think, in the context of justice, love means an abbot's favoritism. Inevitably a leader will favor certain followers over others. They may be more useful, more ready to follow commands, quicker at understanding the leader's intentions, and so forth. In any group, we prefer some individuals over others, but leaders cannot afford that luxury. Justice will not allow it. 

Responsible parents of several children never show their preference for one over another. It should be neither expressed nor suspected. A teacher can have no pets; a cop on duty can have no relatives. A preacher speaks to everyone in the room. Our affections and our blessings should be given to the bad and the good, just and the unjust. I believe that mature human beings live that way. 

Jesus clearly loved the young man we call John, but he learned from the Master never to think too highly of himself. He hardly appears in his own Gospel, and close readers have to suspect which one he might be. When he outran Peter to the tomb, he stood aside to let Peter enter ahead of him. Jesus did not choose that disciple for leadership, and gave him no particular attention, except perhaps during the Last Supper. Other Gospels identify him as one of the three apostles closest to Jesus, but Peter and James were appointed to leadership. 

Adult human beings recognize their impulses, reactions, thoughts, and feelings; and are guided by the Holy Spirit as they decide, act, and assess their behavior. We forgive as we are forgiven. 

Monday of the First Week of Lent

 Lectionary: 224

‘Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty
or a stranger or naked or ill or in prison,
and not minister to your needs?’

Critics of the Church often challenge the faithful with complex questions while demanding simple, straightforward answers. Everything should be explained for them in soundbites and slogans, with an acrid taste of cynicism to fit their palette. We're usually unable to do so, and when we try we only make matters worse. 

Although rationality is an enormously useful method for dealing with complexity, human life is mysterious, and not entirely rational. 

For those who are genuinely eager and willing to submit to the authority of God and the complexity of life, the Bible offers useful answers, like the Ten Commandments. The list is not comprehensive and there remain more ways to interpret the Decalogue than there are people on Earth. But they are useful nonetheless. 

The Beatitudes found in Saint Matthew's fifth chapter are also extremely relevant and revelatory. They demand much reflection of those who are willing to listen; but they also lead us into discouraging reflections upon the enormity of our sins and the unfathomable depths of evil which penetrates and saturates the world we have made. 

Faith and today's gospel assure us the Day will come when every critical, cynical, barbed, and loaded question will be answered in ways that are simple and clear. Those answers will be given by One with authority, and no further discussion. But many will not be glad of what they hear. 

And they will take their unanswered questions -- like the one in today's gospel -- with them into the eternal fire prepared for the Devil and his angels.

First Sunday of Lent

Lectionary: 22

The tempter approached and said to him, “If you are the Son of God, command that these stones become loaves of bread.” Satan, in today’s gospel, doesn’t know what to make of Jesus. He seems uncertain of who Jesus is or his relationship with God. And so he twice challenges the Lord, “If you are the Son of God….” Jesus stands before Satan as an ordinary human being who has inexplicably placed himself in an intolerably helpless position. He is famished after fasting for forty days and forty nights. As Saint Matthew tells the story, Jesus was not proving to himself how strong he might be. He would not be the master of his fate or the captain of his soul. Rather, the Spirit led him into the desert to be tempted by the devil. This would be their first meeting, an encounter of hell and heaven. The contest between Jesus and Satan concerned power, but it was not a mighty struggle between two powerful parties. Rather, it was an apocalyptic contest between power and no power; or power and authority. The mysterious word of God had come to the wilderness to meet the chaotic, lawless, undisciplined power of this world. Satan could not quite imagine what was happening. He apparently thought this was the moment to challenge the Son of God – if he was the Son of God – for governance of this world and everything that happens within it. It might be the same contest Satan had won when he found a gullible, young couple in the Garden of Eden; and the same for every human being who must make a moral choice. Will Jesus trust God, and wait upon God as Adam and Eve had not; or will he allow unanswered questions and a leering face rush him into an unwise, premature decision? But Jesus, almost prostrate with hunger, like a child answering catechism questions, answered Satan with nothing more than memorized Bible verses:

"The Lord, your God, shall you worship

and him alone shall you serve.”

Satan offered Jesus economic power if he would turn rocks into bread. Jesus refused. He offered him religious authority if he would leap off the parapet of the temple and be lowered gently to earth by angels. People would see his astonishing descent and believe in him. Despite what secular authorities say, religion does have very real power in this world. Again, Jesus refused. Finally, Satan offered him royal power — all the kingdoms of the earth – if he would only worship Satan. Jesus refused. Jesus seemed to want nothing; he had no apparent purpose or goal. What did he want? Why was he fasting for forty days and forty nights? Saint Matthew says, “Then the devil left him and, behold, angels came and ministered to him.” That was just the beginning, their first encounter. And we’re left to wonder what comes next. How will this story end? Remember that the contest is about our salvation; it’s about the Earth and its ownership. Does the World belong to Satan as he claims, or does it belong to God, who seems to be so quiet, and distant, and removed from our anxious concerns? Nations governed by democracies want more power; as do those nations governed by autocrats, dictators, and kings. They believe they cannot survive without the power to defend themselves against other nations, and that means the power to threaten other nations – or at least to make their presence felt. They develop conventional weapons and nuclear weapons, biological and chemical weapons, cyber weapons and militarized drones, espionage, conspiracies, covert operations, PSYOPs, and assassinations. Only when they run out of every other option do they talk about compromise, and then they must negotiate from strength. There in the desert Jesus had nothing but his hunger and a few Bible verses. We might have hoped he'd be stronger when they met again, but that doesn’t appear to be what happened. He was even weaker after his trial before the Sanhedrin, Pontius Pilate, Herod, the mob, and the Roman scourge. But there he was again reciting Bible verses, “My God, my God, why have you abandoned me?” He had nothing more than his faith in God. Ever since 1945 people have wondered if you might stop a hurricane with an atomic bomb. Is it possible you might find just the right moment and just the right place, where you could detonate an atomic or hydrogen device and frustrate the enormous energy of a hurricane? Can you stop overwhelming power with the clever use of less power? But people who study these things have replied, “You might as well throw a firecracker at the hurricane. It will have the same effect.” Other than his hunger and a few bible verses, Jesus had there in the desert one thing more powerful than power. He had obedience. The Spirit had led an obedient son of Adam and Eve into the desert. He knew he could not worship Satan, and so he obediently waited for God his Father who would not to lead him into temptation and would deliver him from evil, Saint Matthew finished his Gospel with Jesus' quiet words to his disciples, “All power in heaven and on earth has been given to me.” Saint Paul would add to “heaven and earth,” that Satan in hell, would worship him:

Because of (his obedience), God greatly exalted him

and bestowed on him the name

that is above every name,

that at the name of Jesus

every knee should bend,

of those in heaven and on earth and under the earth,

and every tongue confess that

Jesus Christ is Lord, to the Glory of God the Father.

At Easter Christians celebrate the victory Jesus won for us over the powers of this world. His victory is the hurricane; Satan’s power and all the world’s resistance are nothing more than firecrackers.

Saturday of the First Week of Lent

 Lectionary: 229

"You have heard that it was said,
You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.
But I say to you, love your enemies,
and pray for those who persecute you,
that you may be children of your heavenly Father,
for he makes his sun rise on the bad and the good,
and causes rain to fall on the just and the unjust.

Simone Weil, an intense young teacher, writer, and philosopher, was once known by her fellow philosophical students in the academy as "Mademoiselle Categorical Imperative."

The expression, Categorical Imperative, was coined by Emmanuel Kant. He had proposed that, if something is the right thing to do then it absolutely must be done. And if it's wrong, it must never occur. If a piece of scrap paper should be picked up off the street, it's a sin not to. 

Mlle Weil lived her last days in England during World War II but she knew that millions of people in France and Germany were suffering starvation, and so she died of malnutrition after months of fasting in sympathy with the hungry, despite the urging of the English family that had taken her in. 

She also delayed Baptism and entrance into the Catholic Church because she had issues with some of the Church's policies and much of the Church's history, although she believed that the Blessed Sacrament is the Body and Blood of Christ, attended Mass, and worshiped often in a Catholic Church. 

Lent offers us the opportunity to recognize our sins, including the systemic sins of the world we have created and to which we contribute continually. It will also remind us of how helpless we are in our sins, because forty days is a long time to keep most of our resolutions intact. 

Like Mlle Categorical Imperative, we're appalled by stories of sin in the Church and among our ancestors; but our descendants will probably look aghast at things we take for granted. How can a society breed its children in test tubes and implant them in unknown women, as if the human child is a commodity or a pet? How can a society abort children and spend billions on custom-designed pets?  How can they smoke carcinogenic tobacco and drive fossil fuel vehicles? What were they thinking? 

We'll have no answer for them, as we helplessly observe their misdoings from eternity. But the grace of God will speak to them as it does to us, because our. 

"... heavenly Father makes his sun rise on the bad and the good, and causes rain to fall on the just and the unjust."

Friday after Ash Wednesday

 Lectionary: 221

Jesus answered them, “Can the wedding guests mourn
as long as the bridegroom is with them?
The days will come when the bridegroom is taken away from them,
and then they will fast.”

Boomers remember the Byrds' song, Turn, Turn, Turn; it brings back bittersweet memories of hope and disappointment. Most of us knew they were citing a scripture passage, though we might not have known Ecclesiastes 3 or "David’s son, Qoheleth, king in Jerusalem." 

Given our youth, we could not understand the scale, weight or significance of "There is an appointed time for everything, and a time for every affair under the heavens." That comes only with time, with more to come. 

Lent is a time to remember the scale, weight, and significance of our sins. Most of us flinch at that, and attempt to escape or excuse ourselves from responsibility for what has happened, like Adam when he blamed both God and Eve for what he had done. "I didn't vote for that party!" we might insist; or, "That wasn't what I intended. It wasn't my fault!"

The scriptures, recording as they do the history of Israel from Adam to the present day, put it more simply. 

"We have sinned like our ancestors; we have done wrong and are guilty. Ps 106:6

The accusation might be too heavy to bear if the Lord himself had not taken up the burden for us, and carried it to Calvary. Lent insists that we take up our own crosses and walk with him. Everyone must walk that lonesome valley, although we don't have to do it alone. "Nobody else can walk it for you." 

Americans enjoy the myth of rugged individualism, a foolishly unrealistic story that bears little relationship to our everyday experience. I couldn't drive across town without thousands of people obeying traffic laws, paying their taxes, and watching out for their neighbor. We're in this together, and together we bear responsibility for everything that happens. 

When the Lord joins us only fools would stand apart from us, thinking they don't need his company and ours. And so we fast, give alms, and pray to the Lord for forgiveness of our sins and deliverance from the evil we have brought upon ourselves. 

With him, we'll do Lent right; we'll be grateful; and we'll enjoy it. 

Thursday after Ash Wednesday

Lectionary: 220

What profit is there for one to gain the whole world yet lose or forfeit himself?

Today's gospel ends with a severe warning in the form of a rhetorical question. The Questioner assumes his hearers believe in some form of eternal life; or at least that human life has more depth and meaning than many of our modern contemporaries recognize. 

In His day, in a world without X-rays, MRIs, CT-scans, blood test, or blood pressure anyone might suddenly disappear into the maw of death. When the imaginary was populated with demons, angels, and spirits, people knew the human soul is destined for eternity -- even if eternity offered nothing more than endless lethargy following a bath in the River Lethe. 

Today's haves, however, often dismiss the deeper dimensions of human life as unknowable and unreal. They have what they want, and understand only power. It's palpable and real; and if they're not satisfied with their share of power, they do not suppose there is an infinitely powerful God who would surrender his power to a man in first century Judea. Everyone knows that power wants more power, shares little, and freely  surrenders nothing. 

But the Lord's question can force the wise to reconsider their own foolish impulses. 

"What profit is there for one to gain the whole world yet lose or forfeit oneself?"

We might enjoy financial success, but family and community are more satisfying. We might enjoy winning games but the camaraderie of sportsmanship is more important. We might enjoy those occasions when our opinions prevail over those of others, but our being right should humiliate no one. Every married person understands that, or must soon learn it. We might enjoy owning property, but the burden of ownership is heavy as our possessions take possession of us. It is better to let it go sooner than later. It is better to surrender power than to do harm with it. 

The Lord's question puts things in perspective as we begin preparing for Holy Week and Easter. We want to walk with the Lord from the Cenacle to Gethsemane, and from Gethsemane to Calvary, and from there into the Light of Easter. It will not be an easy journey. We'd better travel lightly. 

"What profit is there for one to gain the whole world yet lose or forfeit himself?"

Ash Wednesday 2026

Lectionary: 219

"Take care not to perform righteous deeds
in order that people may see them;
otherwise, you will have no recompense from your heavenly Father.

Moments before the Lord ascended into heaven, he commissioned them with a great responsibility: 

...you will receive power when the holy Spirit comes upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, throughout Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.”

But, rather than scattering from the Mount of Olives to tell everyone what they had seen and heard, they retired immediately to Jerusalem and the Upper Room, where they continued in prayer for nine days. They had to do that. There was much inner work to be done among those few who remained with the Lord. 

First, they had to get organized. In the Cenacle they recognized Peter's authority. He had been only the spokesman for the Lord before; but now he spoke with the authority of the Lord. And they had to appoint one of their own to replace Judas Iscariot, the traitor. 

Then they had to pray and wait upon the Holy Spirit. That is, they had much work to do in their hearts and minds. The sobriety program of Alcoholics Anonymous has an adage for new members, "No two-stepping!" Meaning, don't skip from the First Step -- "we admitted we were alcoholics and our lives had become unmanageable" -- to the Twelfth Step  -- "Having had a spiritual awakening as the result of these steps, we tried to carry this message to alcoholics, and to practice these principles in all our affairs."

Many new members, in their relief and joy of their new freedom immediately rush out and tell everyone that they too should join AA. They can be so taken up in that enthusiasm that they're immediately discouraged when their families and friends are neither persuaded of their newfound sobriety, not inclined to join them in attending a meeting. 

People in recovery have much inner work to do, as do the Lord's disciples. Before you go "...throughout Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth” go to your room, close the door, and pray to your Father in heaven. 

That's what Lent is all about. We can make a show of the ashes on our foreheads. That's kind of fun and everyone knows we're Catholic, but we're not saved by the show we make. Appearances are nothing more than appearances. Often, the more ostentatious our religion, the shallower its roots. Oddly, Catholic Churches are often packed on Ash Wednesday, more so than any other day of the year. I don't why that is, but it seems to mean nothing. 

"Wash your face, so that you may not appear to be fasting, except to your Father who is hidden; and your Father, who sees what is hidden, will repay you."

Tuesday of the Sixth Week in Ordinary Time

Lectionary: 336

Rather, each person is tempted when lured and enticed by his desire.
Then desire conceives and brings forth sin,
and when sin reaches maturity it gives birth to death.

Satan is no fool; he doesn't tempt good people with bad things. They readily brush off notions that are neither interesting nor appealing. Rather, Satan tempts good people with good things. 

Faced with several options, we study each one, gauging their merits against the risks and costs, and decide about them. Our preferences and desires, of course, play their own part. Everyone has predilections for certain ideas, themes, colors, places; and we're easily persuaded to do something we've often enjoyed, or something we've always wanted to do. Satan has a lot to work with in this field.  

The practice of prayer would urge us to consider what God wants, and which choices God prefers. But many "good people" may be inclined to make our choices before they've consulted with the Lord. Or their desires might say the choice isn't that important. Everyone makes hundreds, if not thousands, of choices every day. We can hardly be expected to think long and hard about which route to take on a familiar trip across town when several choices amount to the same distance. "Just do it!" we say.

And sometimes, we're led on by what everyone is saying, that "This is a good thing!" The relief of pain, for instance; or cost effectiveness. Such matters hardly merit an hour in prayer. 

But one choice leads to another, and we may be heading directly toward an unhappy conclusion even before we realize we chose this way. "Then desire conceives and brings forth sin...." Saint James says. We intended good but wrong came of it. 

"Never stop praying!" Saint Paul said. Prayer asks the question, "What does God want?" and remains available for an answer. It may not come immediately. And, perhaps, it really doesn't matter which one we choose. Continual prayer reminds us that God is always with us, and is a party to every decision. 

If we make a habit of not consulting our own preferences for every little thing, we're more open to the zephyrs of the Holy Spirit. He can shape our preferences in the smallest matters. 

We want with all our hearts to know the mind of God, and nothing pleases us more than pleasing God. That is what we desire with all our hearts. 

Monday of the Sixth Week in Ordinary Time

 Lectionary: 335

He sighed from the depth of his spirit and said,
"Why does this generation seek a sign?
Amen, I say to you, no sign will be given to this generation."
Then he left them, got into the boat again,
and went off to the other shore.

You know you're in trouble when your friend or loved one stops talking to you. And you should know you're in very deep trouble when your God gets into a boat and sails off to another shore. End of conversation. No more warning will be issued. You're on your own. 

"This generation" sought a sign, but no sign would be given. It sounds familiar. Is there some reason why God should prove he exists before you will believe in him? And how will you prove to God that you exist? 

That's the real question in their minds. I have met people -- we all have -- who cannot remember where they have been, and cannot say where they're going. Do they really exist? How do they know it? As a VA chaplain conducting a group conversation among recovering addicts, I learned not to ask them to detail major events in their life to date. 

I thought that would be an easy task: 

"I was born in such and such a year; I went to these schools; I enlisted in this year; I served in these capacities. This is what I've done since I was discharged." 

But it proved too difficult for many addicts. It hurt too much to try; it's like a headache. 

"Can we put off this discussion till tomorrow, or next week, or next year? I don't want to think of the time and opportunities and money and friendships and people I've wasted. It's too much. I have no past. 

And where am I going. I don't know. What will I do with my freedom from drugs, if I ever get it? I don't know. I guess I'll just do what I want to do; but that's why I am here. I was doing what I wanted."

Many of the Veterans did well in the sobriety program, although the process is demanding and endless. But we know there are millions of hapless individuals in the United States and the world who are not given the help they need. 

Does a person who remembers no past and expects nothing of the future actually exist? They seem to have a body, but no connection to it. 

We know God exists because He speaks to us. We have seen Him acting in our history very deliberately and very obviously. There was Jesus who rose from the dead! There was Moses who, at the Lord's behest, opened the Red Sea and commanded the Hebrews to march through it ahead of the Egyptian army. 

We know we exist because God called us, named us, and gave us a mission. We are to live in the Kingdom of God; we must live in such a way as to demonstrate God's continual presence to others. They should see the wisdom, justice, and mercy of God in our decisions, deportment, and style; and hear it in our language and song.   

This generation wants a sign, but they want it on their own terms. That cannot happen because they keep changing the terms. They're moving the goal posts and no one can win their game. 

He sighed from the depth of his spirit....

Then he left them, got into the boat again,

and went off to the other shore.

Sixth Sunday in Ordinary Time

 Lectionary: 76

Amen, I say to you, until heaven and earth pass away,
not the smallest letter or the smallest part of a letter
will pass from the law,
until all things have taken place.

Moses gave his people the law and he also assured them that God’s law is not impossible. Unlike the expectations we place on ourselves and others, the Law of God is entirely practical and doable. 

Many social observers have remarked on the impossible expectations we impose on ourselves. Women are supposed to be excellent mothers, good housekeepers, great cooks, reliable employees, virtuous wives, and fascinating sexual partners. And if you have to live more than forty years, don't look like it! 

Men should be strong, clever, confident, self-assured, successful, prosperous, and reliable. They should never ask directions, and should never admit they don't know the answer. (They'll make something up.)   

Like the First Couple in the Garden of Eden, after trying and tasting the forbidden fruit, Adam’s sons and Eve’s daughters have knowledge of good and evil, but no clear understanding of either. We know what we like; we sometimes know what we want; and we think those things are good. We know what we fear and have strong opinions of things we don't like. Many children detest and absolutely refuse to eat certain foods because they have never tasted them. We hate those things and think they’re certainly evil. 

But we have some notions of Good and Evil, of what those words really mean. Some philosophers today suppose those principles don’t really exist; there is no substantial reality beyond what we think, feel, and perceive with our senses. They insist there is no God who can reveal the truth to us, because there is no truth. 

And so they readily dismiss the Church which would help the world make personal, social, economic, and political decisions. They know only power; and they teach their children that “might makes right.” If you have the strength, the ability, the freedom, and the money, you can do anything you want; and more than you can imagine. You can do the impossible! There are no limits to what you can do – with machines, with ideas, with people, or with your bodies. You can go to Mars! You might even live forever. We will figure out how to prolong life forever! When you wish upon a star, makes no difference who you are, your dreams come true! 

One of the friars here at Mount Saint Francis, when I was a seminarian, told of a friend who asked him, “How can you priests live and not have women?” He replied, “It’s just like you, Joe. You have only one woman; that’s your wife. We don’t have that one.” The friar said he knew Joe played around with more than a few women, despite his being married; but he reminded the fellow that human beings can and do live chastely. 

When Jesus teaches us in today’s Gospel, “You have heard it said…, but I say to you…” he is reminding his disciples about the Good and Evil which God reveals through his Holy Word. That word comes to us as a command which cannot, and must not, be compromised. You have heard compromises about killing, divorce, adultery, and swearing; but I am telling you you can live in purity of heart without compromise. You can please God as Adam and Eve never did. 

whoever breaks one of the least of these commandments

and teaches others to do so

will be called least in the kingdom of heaven.

But whoever obeys and teaches these commandments

will be called greatest in the kingdom of heaven.

The Lord also insisted, “I have come not to abolish the Law, but to fulfill.” The enemies of God, who have great authority in our government, our schools, our entertainment, and social media, tell us that no one can live that way. It’s impossible and we should not expect it of ourselves or anyone else. Today’s child should expect to be married at least three times before they die, that’s just the way things are! We should commit adultery; we should lie, and lie under oath, like everyone else. 

But Jesus, who is compelled by the Holy Spirit, and passionately in love with God his Father, assures us, “...in the Holy Spirit all things are possible.” In obedience to God, with the humble confession that we are sinners like our sacred parents Adam and Eve, we can live in purity of heart. When we say yes, we mean yes; when we say no we mean no. When we say, “I will do it, it is done. Count on it.”

“My yoke is easy, and my burden is light.” When we place our confidence in the Spirit God gives us, and not in our fears and ignorance, all things are possible. 

…whoever obeys and teaches these commandments

will be called greatest in the kingdom of heaven.

I tell you, unless your righteousness surpasses

that of the scribes and Pharisees,

you will not enter the kingdom of heaven.

Memorial of Saints Cyril, Monk, and Methodius, Bishop

 Lectionary: 334

Jeroboam did not give up his evil ways after this,
but again made priests for the high places
from among the common people.
Whoever desired it was consecrated
and became a priest of the high places.
This was a sin on the part of the house of Jeroboam
for which it was to be cut off and destroyed from the earth.

Historians of the 19th and 20th centuries seemed to take delight in challenging Biblical history with its earth-covering flood, rain of fire and brimstone, and a Red Sea that mysteriously split apart to allow passage of escaping slaves and then slapped shut again on their pursuers. "It never happened!" they claimed. "It could never happen!"

But there was something that certainly happened repeatedly in David's Israel, and happens repeatedly in every nation's history, and that is sin. We know it; we recognize it; but only God's faithful people acknowledge, confess, and try to atone for it. Secular historians hypocritically say they make no judgments about people or their decisions; but judgments are made nonetheless. The winners are the good guys who write the history books; the losers are the bad people who remember what happened.

The Bible faithfully records the sins of God's people, of winners and losers, as in today's story of Jeroboam's leading the northern kingdom of Israel out of David's kingdom. But the Word of God also remembers the nations who insulted the authority of God and suffered dreadful consequences. As we approach Ash Wednesday we thank God that He gives us the courage and honesty to recognize, own, confess, and atone for our sins. 

And we thank God who helps us to live in purity of heart even among idolatrous nations. Today, as millions of people celebrate Valentines Day without even a passing reference to a gentle bishop who preferred torture and death to betrayal of God's love, the Church turns our attention to other names and other saints who practiced heroic virtue. There is no shortage. 

We remember Saints Cyril and Methodius, for bringing the Catholic faith to the people of eastern Europe. Their story is complicated by the sin of the German bishops who opposed the Greek brothers for their work among the despised Slavs. The brothers translated the Gospels, the psalter, Paul’s letters and the liturgical books into Slavonic, and composed a Slavonic liturgy. Despite the Bavarian bishops' opposition, Pope Adrian II approved their liturgical work. 

Cyril created the Cyrillic alphabet which is used in Eastern Europe and Northern/Central Asia. It serves as the official script for over 50 languages spoken by approximately 250 million people. Major nations using it include Russia, Ukraine, Belarus, Bulgaria, Serbia, North Macedonia, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, and Mongolia.  

In 1974-75, I saw an effect of their great work as I witnessed eastern European priests celebrating Mass and hearing confessions for Americans citizens and migrants in many Slavonic languages at our shrine in Carey, Ohio. 

Sometimes, it seems, if the Church cannot find someone to persecute our saints, we'll do it ourselves. As Cardinal Dolan said, "Don't tell me about sin in the Church; I am a Church historian!" But God gathers sinners to praise his Name, and in the process purifies us and makes us worthy to join the company of martyrs like Valentine and courageous souls like Cyril and Methodius. 

Friday of the Fifth Week in Ordinary Time

Lectionary: 333

He put his finger into the man's ears
and, spitting, touched his tongue;
then he looked up to heaven and groaned, and said to him,
"Ephphatha!" (that is, "Be opened!")
And immediately the man's ears were opened,
his speech impediment was removed,
and he spoke plainly. 

If Jesus is God and God can do anything he wants in any way he wants, and without much effort, then why did Jesus make such a show of restoring this man's hearing? Did he have to push his finger into the man's ears, spit, and touch his tongue? And groan? It seems pretty unsanitary! Is he using magical gestures to distract people from his actual identity? 

And why did Saint Mark retain that original Aramaic word in his Greek text, and then tell us what it meant? How many millions of gallons of ink might have been saved in all those Bibles in all those languages if ephphatha had not been included? 

Let's go back to the beginning, which is actually where we're sent when we finish reading the original text of Saint Mark's gospel with its appendices. That is, the text which ended with 16:8 -- the women...

"...went out and fled from the tomb, seized with trembling and bewilderment. They said nothing to anyone, for they were afraid." 

 Surely, every reader asks, "And then what happened?" And the reply: "If you have to ask, go back and read it again." 

He groaned when he healed the deaf man and he groaned as he died: 

"Jesus gave a loud cry and breathed his last." (Mark 15:37)

Like his groaning over the deaf man, the manner of Jesus death was shocking. First of all, a crucified man hardly has strength to whimper, much less cry out. Secondly, many interpret his last words as from one who has lost all hope. 

"Why have you abandoned me?" echoes Psalm 22, which ends in quiet confidence. But the expression nonetheless sounds like one who has failed because he has been betrayed. Nor has he any reason to expect anything but endless emptiness. Like many preceding generations of Jews, he has been removed from the land -- crucified and lifted above it -- to die in exile, far from the home, the temple, and the God who resided there. And, as Saint Mark adds, "The veil of the sanctuary was torn in two from top to bottom." meaning God has departed. 

Too often, thinking of Jesus as God, we forget what our salvation costs. But every teaching, every parable, and every gesture of human compassion cost Jesus his life. Everything about the man led him to Calvary. He was born to die and to atone for our sins. 

If we've not heard that message, we should ask the Lord to stab his finger into our ears.