Our words can wound and divide or empower and unify.
Jesus calls us to be holy, each and every one of us. Our life is to be lived with the end goal being our ascent to heaven, to be in union with our Loving God and Father for all eternity, and to assist others to do the same. Jesus provides for us a concrete example of the heights to which we are called to reach: “You have heard that it was said to your ancestors, You shall not kill; and whoever kills will be liable to judgment. But I say to you, whoever is angry with his brother will be liable to judgment, and whoever says to his brother, Raqa, will be answerable to the Sanhedrin, and whoever says, ‘You fool,’ will be liable to fiery Gehenna” (5:21-22). Jesus is building on the Torah, the Law or the Teachings, by helping us to realize that we can not only kill with weapons but also inflict dehumanizing damage with our words.
To resist this temptation of inflicting mortal wounds, we need to start participating in a deeper examination of conscience which gets to the roots of our own thoughts, words, and actions. If we are not able to discipline our thoughts, what will follow is undisciplined words, and then undisciplined actions, that can lead to entertaining and embracing the deadly sin of wrath. Wrath is unbridled anger that leads someone away from the capacity to think or behave in a rational manner, such that this individual would no longer acknowledge the dignity of the person they would inflict their wrath upon.
Jesus is helping us to see that we can be free of the temptation of wrath if we recognize the danger and destruction of unleashing words as weapons. He offers us the examples of calling someone, Raqa, meaning something along the lines of an air head or an idiot, and calling someone a fool. These words directed at another have no other cause than to demean, degrade, and belittle. This language, and worse, has no business coming out of the mouths of a disciple of Christ if we are serious about being one of his followers.
I remember a moment in sixth or seventh grade unleashing a derogatory word or two directed at a classmate, and almost instantly the way I felt after hearing myself say them. God gave me a graced moment to feel, contrition, actual sorrow, for the negativity and poison I had unleashed with my words. I remember making a commitment to myself not to speak that way toward another person going forward.
We need to be aware that words have the power to wound or to heal. If we are serious about following Jesus, then a wonderful practice this Lent can be to make a commitment to fast from gossip and from words that wound and divide and replace them with words that empower and unite. Even when we disagree with another’s point of view, we can do so by respecting the person.
May we also commit to going deeper and resisting negative or dehumanizing thoughts. Even when we have defensive musings, resulting from another’s disparaging tone, words, or actions, let us resist entertaining them and pray instead for the strength of the Holy Spirit to develop a mind and disposition that seeks rather to understand, to hold each other accountable with respect, and to love, to will the good of each other.
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Photo: An uplifting conversation with Dr. Sixto and Elena Garcia, September 2013
Link for the Mass readings for Friday, March 15, 2019: http://www.usccb.org/bible/readings/031519.cfm
Does God answer our prayers?
Jesus said to his disciples: “Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you” (Mt 7:7). If taken in a purely secular, non religious or biblical sense, this teaching of Jesus from his Sermon on the Mount may not ring true. Some people have also left their faith behind because they have asked something of God and from their perspective they did not receive what they asked for.
To understand this verse we need to understand a few key points. One is that God is God and we are not. That means that we do not have the full scope and sequence of God’s infinite viewpoint. We can only see from our limited finite perspective. Our God, who is Good, will only give us that which is good for us. What we are asking for may appear to be good, but may not in fact be truly good, and/or in our best interest beyond the moment. If someone wants to say, well, I ought to be able to decide that! That means they have missed the first point, God is God and we are not.
Another point is one that I have learned from Bishop Robert Barron, and that is, “Your life is not about you.” We are created by God for a reason and a specific purpose. Our life is about fulfilling our role in God’s theodrama. We are not the director in the great play of life, God is, but we have a unique and significant part to play! What God requires of us, he will give us the means and support necessary to fulfill it. When we experience the forgiveness, love, and mercy of God, that is not for ourselves alone, but we are to receive these precious gifts and give them away!
A third point that can be helpful comes from C.S. Lewis: “I pray because I can’t help myself. I pray because I’m helpless. I pray because the need flows out of me all the time, waking and sleeping. It doesn’t change God. It changes me.” If we pray to God to bend his will toward ours then we are going to come away from prayer frustrated time and again. Our time of prayer with God has to do with answering his invitation to spend time with him, being willing to participate with his plan, and then being willing to share what he has given us in his love to share with others. In this way, we become transformed by his love and his grace builds on our nature.
As we pray this Lent, let us approach our time of prayer with the proper orientation of recognizing that God is God and we are not, our life is not about us but about coming to understand and following the will of God, and acknowledging that our prayer does not change God, but our time of prayer does change and conform us to his will. When we approach prayer from these three points of reference, we can be confident that what we ask of God will be given to us, what we seek we will find, and when we knock, the door will be open to us.
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Photo: https://www.cathopic.com/dimitriconejo
Link for the Mass readings for Thursday, March 14, 2019: http://www.usccb.org/bible/readings/bible/matthew/7:7
“There is something greater here.”
There is something greater here. Something greater than the wisdom of Solomon and something greater than the preaching of Jonah. Following the way of Jesus is a faith we are called to live daily. This is not a part time vocation. We all have a unique gift in the dignity we have been conceived and born with. We have a unique way to express and live out our dignity. Unfortunately, what happens with most of us is that we are distracted, tempted, or misdirected as to what God would have us do each day. We are often unplugged from the very source of our existence.
As Jesus taught, often in his parables, the kingdom of Heaven on earth starts small, like a mustard seed, like yeast, and develops slowly when nurtured. Lent is a good time to slow down, step back, take a retreat even while in the midst of our everyday activities. We just need to insert some dedicated time to God each day so to better be able to acknowledge his presence in our activities.
If you are feeling a bit restless, on edge, or out of sync, I invite you to make some time to be still and breathe, this can be in the shower, when you have some breakfast, a morning walk, or sip of coffee or tea. During this time ask God for some guidance. We can ask him to help us see those areas that we need to repent from and let go of, those thoughts, words, and actions that keep us distracted, redirected, and off kilter as to who God is calling us to be. We can then confess to him and receive his forgiveness and reconciliation. From this place of healing we are in a better posture to listen to his guidance and direction and to share his blessings.
Jesus said in today’s Gospel that, “There is something greater here.” Christianity is not a secret sect. We are called to share the joy, the forgiveness, and reconciliation we experience from God with others. We can look for opportunities throughout this day to offer a smile, an encouraging word, to reach out to someone we have been meaning to connect with for awhile, in person or far away, and/or someone that we may sense just needs a listening ear. We can also react less by asking for God’s patience to be more understanding.
Lent can be a joyful time when we enter into the season with the intent to deepen our walk with the One who is wiser than Solomon and preached the message of Jonah which is repentance. With our hearts and minds turned back to and open to God, Lent will not so much be a drudgery to endure, but a joyful embrace of the opportunity for repentance, healing, sharing the joy, and building the kingdom of God!
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Photo: Morning stillness in the CN chapel as the day begins. “Lord, open my lips and my mouth shall declare your praise.”
Link for the Mass readings for Wednesday, March 13, 2019: http://www.usccb.org/bible/readings/031319.cfm
Finding relevance in the Our Father this Lent
Jesus begins his teaching on prayer by stating that prayer is not babbling. When we pray we are to resist just saying empty words that have no meaning, or just praying in words that we think God wants us to hear.
Prayer, first and foremost, is a response to the Holy Spirit moving within us, urging us to pray, “for we do not know how to pray as we ought” (cf. Romans 8:26). We are to speak honestly to God in our prayer. One of the most honest prayers I prayed was when I was around eight years old and overheard my parents discussing the idea of getting a divorce. I said to God that if I woke up in the morning and he allowed this to happen we were through. When we pray we bring our struggles and petitions, as well as our joys and prayers of Thanksgiving, and let us not forget, we are to be still and silent as well to listen for his word or his silence.
Reading the psalms are also a great way to pray because they cover the full range of our human emotions; prayers of blessing, petition, intercession, thanksgiving, and praise. We will even come across a reading like Psalm 88, which we feel does not appeal to us at the moment, as it is such a psalm of despair, yet someone is feeling that prayer and we can read and pray it for others if we are not feeling the same way.
In our Gospel today, we read Matthew’s version of the Lord’s Prayer or the Our Father. It presents two ways to pray, first it is a rote prayer that we memorize word for word. The blessing of a rote prayer is we can pray it in communion with others, as we all know the same words. Another important gift of rote prayers is that we can pray them when we are physically in pain or emotionally distraught when we feel we can’t pray. Having prayed the Our Father daily, it is a prayer we can lean on to give us strength through the storms of our life. Praying the Our Father gives us the words to speak when we have none, and by loosening our tongues, we can come to a place where we can speak more freely with God.
The Lord’s Prayer is also a model of prayer such that each word or phrase can be a starting point to enter into a deeper and loving dialogue. As an example, we begin with the words, “Our Father.” This is a reminder that God is the Father of us all and the beginning of all prayer. His sun shines on the good and the bad alike. Our prayer begins by putting our self in his presence.
God our Father is with us even when we experience fear, feel forgotten, misunderstood, or alone. Our Father loves us more than we can ever imagine, and our very desire to pray is already a prayer, because we are responding to his invitation to spend time with him. Calling on his name is a reminder that he is always present and he hasn’t forsaken us. He provides our daily bread and forgives us as we forgive others.
As we make some time today to pray the Our Father slowly, we can allow whatever is going on in our life to enter into the recitation and remember that the best dialogue allows each party involved to spend some time listening to the other. As St Mother Teresa taught, “God speaks in the silence of our hearts.” By making some time to pause, to be still, and not rush through the prayer, maybe we can grow in our ability to listen to each other better as well.
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Photo: Painting of Jesus that my maternal grandparents had in their bedroom that was passed on to us and is now in our bedroom.
Link for the Mass readings for Tuesday, March 12, 2019: http://www.usccb.org/bible/readings/031219.cfm
Mt. 25:31-46 or St. Mother Teresa’s five finger Gospel
How we treat each other matters. How we speak to each other or about each other matters. Even how we think about each other matters, because our actions come from our thoughts. If we are able to be mindful of how we think we can be more aware of our actions. We do not have to immediately react, we can think before we act. We can discern how what we are about to do will affect the person before us.
Jesus is very clear in today’s Gospel from Matthew, “Amen, I say to you, whatever you did
for one of these least brothers of mine, you did for me” (Mt 25:45). Because we are interconnected with one another, what we do to one another affects everyone. When we throw a stone into the middle of a pond, the ripples of the water circle out to touch the bank and go even beyond the bank.
St. Mother Teresa called this verse her five finger gospel which she taught each person in her order and each person she had the opportunity to pass it on to. Each finger represented the words: you – did – it – to – me. When we entertain a thought today, are about to form a word, and are about to follow through on an action, may we first look at the five fingers of our hand before following through. Would we continue to think the thought, say the word, or follow through on the action if Jesus was in front of us? Because he is. For what we do to each other we do to Jesus.
Give somebody five today!
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Photo: A CN high five moment!
Link for St Mother Teresa sharing her five finger gospel, starts about 30 seconds in:
Link for the Mass readings for Monday, March, 11, 2019: http://www.usccb.org/bible/readings/031119.cfm
Jesus, ground us in the love of your Father.
Filled with the Holy Spirit, Jesus returned from the Jordan and was led by the Spirit into the desert for forty days, to be tempted by the devil. (Luke 4:1-2). Jesus experiences the temptations of Satan, the one who tempted Adam and Eve, the father of lies, the accuser, the slanderer. Satan is one who seeks division and we dismiss the reality of his presence at great risk. On the other hand we often give him more power than he deserves. Jesus is tempted, but unlike Adam and Eve, he does not give in. Jesus remains grounded in the will of his Father and so Satan has no power over him.
Jesus could have dismissed Satan, yet he endured his temptation to teach us “how to triumph over temptation” (St Augustine 1976, 87). Jesus not only teaches us how, but empowers us to overcome Satan. The weakest Christian is more powerful than Satan himself, because we can call on the name of Jesus. This is not some magic incantation, but when we call on the name of Jesus, he, in the fullness of his humanity and his divinity, is present with us. God has given Jesus the name above every other name, so that as his word is spoken, every knee shall bow in heaven and on earth (cf. Philippians 2:9-10). Just as a floodlight shines in the darkness, the darkness gives way to the light. This is even more true with Jesus. Where Jesus is present there is love, such that no fear or evil can remain.
I had a dream some time ago, I am not sure how long now, but it is still just as vivid. I was sitting on a couch in the first floor of a house. The scene shifted so that I was seeing myself sitting on the couch from above and then my view was redirected to the attic. I witnessed a misshapen, dark figure rummaging through old boxes and newspapers. He embodied pure evil. I was then back in my body, and knew this creature was moving out of the attic and coming down the stairs to the room I was sitting in. My heart was pounding and I felt petrified as I heard his steps drawing closer. I was frozen in fear. In a few more moments, he came into view. What I saw was not the figure in the attic, but a handsome man, but I knew it was him. As he continued closer my fear increased, fearing that he would touch me, then a hymn came to mind. He stopped the moment I began to sing, my fear began to dissipate and I woke up.
Evil tends to present itself at first as an apparent good, as attractive, as normal, otherwise we would reject it outright. Satan and his demons are active through whispers and nudges, they look for our weaknesses and through the same tactics as peer pressure, seek to inject their poison and manipulate our actions. I am not talking about possession here, I am just talking about their divisive influence. The most dangerous evil is the one masked in faith. Someone who can speak the verses of a Bible and quote chapter and verse does not a Christian make. The devil can do the same thing as we saw in today’s Gospel from Luke.
Each day we need to examine our conscience and assess honestly who we are serving. As with the Parable of the Talents, we cannot sit on our hands and do nothing like the wicked servant. That is the most effective tool Satan has, that he can influence us to do nothing, to be indifferent in the face of the dehumanization of the person in all of its forms. Another horror is when we rationalize what we know is unacceptable in ourselves as well as others, such as giving into the temptations of gossip, prejudicial, and/or divisive talk, that lead to actions, such as the centurions who placed a robe and crown of thorns on the bloody, scourged body of Jesus and mocked him.
May we see this icon of Jesus, scourged, bloody, wearing a crown of thorns, and mocked in our minds eye whenever we are tempted to or justify anyone who would, even in the smallest of ways, belittle, demean or degrade the dignity of another person, through thoughts, words, and/or actions, because what we do to the least among us, we do it to Jesus (cf. Mt 25:35-45). We also need to also resist the temptation of beating ourselves up when we have sinned, because that is another trap, another lie, because we are still focused on ourselves, still caved in within ourselves, instead of opening up ourselves to the love of God and one another.
We need to assess our day, our thoughts, actions, and words with honesty and humility, thank God where we have said yes to his will and followed through on acting where he has led us, where we have loved, and ask for forgiveness for the part we have played in spreading the darkness of the father of lies. We leave less room for the allurements of Satan when we keep ourselves grounded not in ourselves, but in the will and love of God, just as Jesus did in the desert. When tempted, we can call on his name, “Jesus, I trust in you”, or sing his name! As St Augustine wrote, the one who sings prays twice.
“Trust in Jesus, my great Deliverer, my strong Defender, the Son of God. I trust in Jesus
Blessed Redeemer, my Lord forever, the Holy One, the Holy One” (Chorus from Third Day’s song, “I Trust in Jesus”).
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Photo: Jesus covered with purple robe and crown of thorns, side chapel in the Mission San Luis del Rey de Francis, Oceanside, CA
Quote from St. Augustine in The Liturgy of the Hours. New York: The Catholic Publishing Co., 1976.
Link for the Mass readings for Sunday, March 10, 2019: http://www.usccb.org/bible/readings/031019.cfm
Jesus shines a light on our sin, not to beat us up, but to lead us to healing and reconciliation!
Think about how good we feel after coming to be on the other side of healing from a bad cold or the flu, recovering from a twisted ankle, a broken collar bone, or other health condition. We experience a feeling of wholeness that was missing during the midst of our suffering where we may have pondered a time or two whether or not we would ever get better.
The same can be said for estranged relationships. There is a distance of separation that can be agonizing, an inner gut wrenching experience that gnaws away at us. We wonder if there can ever be a coming back together. When there is reconciliation, forgiveness, and a mending of the brokenness of relationships, we can experience such a relief, a lightness and joy, that we never imagined possible while in the midst of the conflict and separation.
Sin separates us from one another, and unchecked sin can build and multiply. The Pharisees and the scribes questioned why Jesus was eating with tax collectors and sinners, and Jesus replied: “Those who are healthy do not need a physician, but the sick do. I have not come to call the righteous to repentance but sinners” (Lk 5:32).
Jesus is truly a light in the darkness. For Levi and his friends, who just settled for the path they were on, thinking and feeling, this is the best it was going to get, were given a choice, an invitation, a new way. A great celebration of fellowship ensued in Levi’s home because these men and women, who had been outcasts, who were separated from the greater community were forgiven, welcomed, embraced. They were loved by Jesus as they were. They did not have to change first for Jesus to call Levi and gather with them.
They were welcomed into the kingdom and reign of God. Their ticket to reconciliation and healing was accepting the invitation of Jesus, to receive and experience his love and welcome. Levi and the other sinners did not run from the light of Jesus, but were willing to recognize their need for healing, were willing to repent, to turn away from their prior ways of life and were reborn!
They were divinized because of their willingness to participate in the life of Jesus. Levi would continue to follow Jesus such that it was no longer he who lived, but Christ who lived in him (cf. Galatians 2:20)!
Jesus invites us each day, as he invited Levi in today’s Gospel, to follow him. We are given the same invitation and opportunity for healing, for discipleship. Will we resist rationalizing and justifying our sinful thoughts, actions, and habits, welcome the light of Jesus that reveals our venial and mortal sins, and admit that we are in need of healing, and repent so to be forgiven and released from all the energy we have expended in protecting and hiding from ourselves and our God who loves us more than we can ever mess up?
Quietly spending time daily, especially in the evening and recalling our day, by asking Jesus to reveal to us those ways in which we have not lived according to his will is a wonderful practice. Those sins we call to mind we can confess on the spot and Jesus will forgive us. As we recognize recurring actions or more serious sins, we will need a more direct human encounter by embracing the Sacrament of Reconciliation. Reconciliation is a gift of mercy and healing where we can experience first hand the healing grace of Jesus.
Jesus loves us as we are. Yet holding on to our sin, keeps us at a distance from experiencing the greater breadth and depth of his love. We only need to be willing to be contrite, to embrace sorrow for the harm we have inflicted with our personal sin and go to the Divine Physician in our time of prayer and/or Reconciliation. Once absolved, the heavy weight is lifted and we are healed, we are better able to engage in penance to atone for our sins committed, better able to forgive others as we have been forgiven, and to love as we have been loved!
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Photo: The Calling of St. Matthew (also known as Levi) by Carravagio, 1599-1600. A wonderful work to meditate on for Lent!
Link for the Mass readings for Saturday, March 9, 2019: http://www.usccb.org/bible/readings/030919.cfm
Aligning the beating of our heart to the Sacred Heart of Jesus
Today is March 7, 2019 A.D. AD stands not for after death or analog to digital, but Anno Domini. This is a Latin phrase that means in the year of our Lord. We are living in the age of the Church, as well as in between the time when Jesus experienced his life, suffering, death, resurrection, and ascension into heaven until he will come again.
In the Gospel of Matthew we read today about the account of Jesus comparing himself to a bride groom: “The days will come when the bridegroom is taken away from them, and then they will fast” (Mt 9:15). In a sense, the bridegroom has been taken from us, in another sense, he is closer to us now than he was when he was with his disciples when he walked the earth. The fullness of his reign though will not be consummated until Jesus comes again, but while we wait, when we are willing to set aside other distractions and be still, we can hear and feel the beating of his Sacred Heart.
We need food for our survival, but we don’t need as much as we think we do! Fasting from food is not the only focus of our Lenten fast. The discipline of fasting provides an opportunity to keep our passions in check. By resisting the impulse of instant gratification, we are able to better discern between apparent goods and the actual Good in our lives. When we are able to navigate through the maze of distractions, temptations, and allurements on a physical level, we can begin to go deeper into the spiritual reality to begin to expose some of the demons that we feed, such as “distrust, apathy, and resignation” that Pope Francis talked about in his Ash Wednesday homily last year.
Pope Francis mentioned that these three demons “deaden and paralyze the soul of a believing people.” He continued by stating that: “Lent is the ideal time to unmask these and other temptations, to allow our hearts to beat once more in tune with the vibrant heart of Jesus.”
When we are willing to discipline our impulses and reactions, God will help us to loosen the ties that bind us to our ego and self and we can move away from our complacency and indifference and open ourselves to God’s invitation to relationship. We can then better assume the posture of John the Apostle and rest our head on the chest of Jesus (cf John 13:25), such that our hearts will beat in the same rhythm as his Sacred Heart.
This is the gift of contemplation that drives us to service. This is the same rhythm that beat in the prophet Isaiah who reminds us in today’s first reading what true fasting is all about: “releasing those bound unjustly, untying the thongs of the yoke; Setting free the oppressed, breaking every yoke; Sharing your bread with the hungry, sheltering the oppressed and the homeless; Clothing the naked when you see them, and not turning your back on your own” (Isaiah 58:6-7).
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Photo: A helpful bookmark from my breviary
Link for Pope Francis homily:
https://aleteia.org/2018/02/14/pope-francis-offers-a-worksheet-for-lent-check-it-out/
Link for the readings for Friday, March 8, 2019: http://www.usccb.org/bible/readings/030819.cfm
Spiritual Stepping Stones 