Mary “traveled to the hill country in haste” (Lk 1:39) and as she drew close and called out to announce her arrival: Elizabeth heard Mary’s greeting, [and] the infant leaped in her womb, and Elizabeth, filled with the Holy Spirit, cried out in a loud voice and said, “Most blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb” (Lk 1:41-42). This is an encounter of joy. Elizabeth’s response is a confirmation to Mary’s yes to the angel Gabriel, that she has indeed conceived in her womb the Son of God who was taking on flesh and becoming one of us, a human being, as she traveled to the hill country. Elizabeth’s son recognized him, and in leaping with joy, helped to get the celebration started!

The encounter and interaction between Mary and Elizabeth, Jesus and John, at the Visitation is a model for us of discipleship. Touched by the Holy Spirit we are to go out to share the Good News that God our Father loved us so much that he sent his Son to be one with us. He was willing to enter into our humanity. Some of the earliest heresies in the Church, which are still perpetuated today, were birthed because of an unwillingness to accept this gift, that God entered into and embraced our humanity, that God would become human was and is inconceivable. Yes, we have been wounded by sin, but we have not been destroyed. The coming of the Son of God as one of us is an opportunity to be healed, to be born again from above, and this can happen through the same love of the Holy Spirit that inspired John to leap and Elizabeth to rejoice.

May we resist the mind noise from within, and without from other people who tell us overtly and/or covertly that we are worthless or nothing. Not true! Through our very being, we are created in the image and likeness of God, we have been created by Love, to receive and to share love. We are a living craving hunger and desire to be in communion with God and one another. This is true for the atheist and the believer alike. We are called to will the good of the other as other as they are, unconditionally. If we have fallen short, a little or a lot, in the way we have been treating ourselves or others lately, today is a new day to take Jesus’ hand and begin anew. Let us celebrate with Jesus, Mary, Elizabeth and John.

We are celebrating that Jesus was born for us, he lived that we might not only be shown a better way, but know that he is the Way. Jesus became vulnerable for us, a key ingredient in unconditional love: to be willing to risk being authentic to who God called him to be, even to being willing to be rejected, even if that meant that all might walk away from him. May we be willing to be vulnerable, to risk, to share with others who we are, free of masks and pretense. May we be present to, and also walk and accompany one another. Being there for our family and friends is important, and if we take our Christianity seriously, we must come to acknowledge, in concrete ways, person to person, that we are all brothers and sisters, that in Christ we are all related.

Just as the sun shines on the good and the bad alike, Jesus died for each and every human being, all of us. After his Resurrection and Ascension into heaven, he sent the Holy Spirit, the Love shared between the Father and the Son, to empower us to live as he did, in communion with his Father, so to better actualize our communion with one another.

An invitation for the transformation of all humanity and creation happened at the Galilean hill side when two simple women said yes to God and embraced with joy. They came to embrace not only each other, but their vocation. May we join them in saying yes to God, follow his will with joy as Mary and Elizabeth did and with them, celebrate the gift of life, because as each of these mothers would experience all too soon, life can be taken quicker than they or we could ever imagine.

The lives of Jesus and John were not given in vain. They were offered up for us, you and me, so many hundreds of years later, as well as every other person then, passing on to each generation up to and including now living on this earth, that we all could have life and live it to the full. Let us resist the temptation to take this life we have been given, any moment we have been given, for granted. The life we have is not perfect, many suffer, many grieve, many are in pain. Our life is fragile, but precious a gift. That is why we have much work to do. Let us embrace our vocation and as J.R.R. Tolkien put in his character Gandalf’s mouth, “All we have to decide is what to do with the time that is given to us.” May God help us to know and guide as to what we are to do!

May some of that time be devoted to letting those we care about know that we love them. Let us make that call, send that card, email, or text, and/or invite that person for a walk, to sit down and visit. Even amidst the rising tide of divisive and polarizing darkness, may we be a light to all we encounter. Empowered by the love and joy of Jesus, may we conform our minds to his, so to think, speak, and act, toward anyone we might encounter with dignity, respect, kindness, and understanding. May we encourage, empower, and lift up one another. The easiest way to start is when you catch the eye of another, smile. In that simple gesture we say to the other person that by making time to smile we care enough about them to acknowledge their dignity, their worth, and let them know that they exist and have meaning.

Painting of Elizabeth and Mary in the church of El Sitio, Suchitoto, El Salvador
Accessed from:
https://walktheway.wordpress.com/2013/12/21/solidarity-mary-with-elizabeth/

Link for today’s Mass reading for Thursday, May 31, 2018:

http://www.usccb.org/bible/readings/053118.cfm

Some people will deny the divinity of Jesus on account of the differences between the synoptic Gospels, Matthew, Mark and Luke, which all follow a similar outline and similar accounting of the life of Jesus, and the Gospel of John, which is very different in regard to how much of the divinity of Jesus is expressed in its theological presentation. Those who would deny the divinity of Jesus following this proposal, state that the author of John is adding to Jesus that which was not there and that in the synoptic Gospels there are no accounts of the divinity of Jesus.

The assumption that there is no accounting of the divinity of Jesus in the synoptic Gospels does not present a true assessment of the these texts. This view is just not supported with a careful reading of the text. The very first line of the Gospel of Mark states: “The beginning of the gospel of Jesus Christ [the Son of God]” (Mk 1:1). This verse may often be read as merely an introductory device, and even if we drop the words the Son of God, bracketed because there are some manuscripts that do not include them, Mark was saying something very clear and very subversive when he used the word gospel. The Greek rendering of the word gospel is, euanggelion, which we interpret as good news. This is still pretty much, “Ho, hum,” unless we understand the context of how euanggleion was used during the time of Jesus.

This word was used by the Roman emperor who would send his emissaries to proclaim the good news throughout the empire announcing his birthday, or an imperial victory. No one else dare to use these words in a public forum as Mark is doing with the very first line of his Gospel, as this was the prerogative of the emperor. Mark was stating that Caesar is not Lord, but Jesus is.

Jesus only fourteen verses later would claim: “This is the time of fulfillment. The kingdom of God is at hand. Repent, and believe in the gospel” (Mk 1:15). The kingdom of God is at hand in the presence of Jesus. This is the euanggelion that we believe. The gospel, the good news, is that the Son of God has become one with us in the flesh, to dwell among us.

In today’s opening verse from Mark, we have read or heard; The disciples were on the way, going up to Jerusalem, and Jesus went ahead of them. They were amazed, and those who followed were afraid (Mk 10:32). Again, this verse may be read over quickly as a literary device so we can get to the good stuff, yet again, Mark is saying a lot. We may miss the context, but the readers and hearers of his audience would not have. They would have known that when the words, amazed and afraid, were used, they were done so to describe the reactions to God, his messengers the angels, or the work of God.

The Good News, proclaimed to us through the tome of salvation history, hidden in the Old and revealed in the New Testament, is that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God. He is our Lord, he is our Savior and Redeemer. He became a human being, became one with us in all things except sin, and dwelt among us. Jesus did so that we can become divinized, we can become God through our participation in his life. May we too, like the disciples, be amazed and in awe of the magnitude of this reality. How many times have we heard this Good News, yet have just walked along or went about our business, as if nothing significant was said?

May we resist that temptation to do that here. May we meditate on the wonder and glory of this Good News today. We can become so busy, so caught up in just getting through all that we have to do, that we forget what is really important, who is really important. We can take for granted those that are near to us, not out of any malice or lack of care, but just because life happens and we get caught up in doing and getting done. May we stop today, slow down and appreciate our life in communion with God and one another. May we fully appreciate the gift that Jesus has offered us, which is a relationship with him, his Father, and the Holy Spirit, and in so embracing and developing the gift of our relationship with God, we can experience the dignity of our humanity, and recognize the same dignity that is present in each and every other human being.

Photo: Together in embracing human dignity!

Link for the Mass readings for Wednesday, May 30, 2018:

http://www.usccb.org/bible/readings/053018.cfm

Jesus’ continued his teaching about the entrance into the kingdom of God as the rich man walked away sad by stating, “Children how hard it is to enter the kingdom of God! It is easier for a camel to pass through the eye of a needle, than one who is rich to enter the kingdom of God” (Mk 10:24-25). The disciples are stymied, primarily because present Jewish belief was that those who had amassed wealth and riches did so because they were blessed by God. If someone who had followed the commandments of God, was blessed by God, would not be a part of God’s kingdom, what then was one to do?

Yesterday’s reading ended with Jesus responding to the disciples astonishment. First by stating that “For human beings it is impossible.” Jesus said this because there is nothing that we can do to earn or buy our way into heaven. It is not through perseverance, our dogged determination, or will power that we are saved. Our security also is not to be placed in the things of this world, our happiness and fulfillment is not to be placed in the apparent goods and glitter of the finite things that offer comfort and pleasure. For if we place our hope in the things of this world, in our own belief that we can control our destiny, we will be building our foundation on sand. For human beings, it is impossible, but not for God. All things are possible for God” (Mk 10:27).

There is only one way to enter the kingdom of God. A person is to receive and say yes to his invitation. The rich man refused the invitation, because he chose his possessions over the kingdom. The disciples of Jesus chose differently. The opening line of today’s Gospel reading is given by Peter, speaking up for those, who like him, did what the rich man did not do, when he said “We have given up everything and followed you” (Mk 10:28). Jesus affirmed Peter and the other disciple’s acceptance of the invitation to come and follow him, as well as to assure those who would willingly sacrifice and voluntarily give up, house, family, or land, to follow him. He insists that they would receive back “a hundred times more in this present age… and eternal life to come” (Mk 10:30).

Jesus is not a preaching here a kind of prosperity gospel or free reigning capitalism, nor is he being a proponent of socialism or communism. For each of these are human social constructs. Jesus instead is painting a picture of the reign of God as a new family. One that exists, not of the world, but of God’s design. A kingdom not of this world, but still present in it. Those who are a part of this kingdom are not connected through bloodline, tribe, political party, or nation, but through a transformation of heart and mind and spirit. The followers of Jesus are brothers and sisters to one another. They will provide hospitality, charity, support, and encouragement to one another, as well as to the poor, as they meet the challenges and persecutions that would come from those who oppose the kingdom.

Jesus offers us the same invitation that he offered the rich man and his disciples. He is inviting us to follow him by letting go of that which distracts us, holds us attached, and bound from giving our life more fully over to following Jesus Christ and ourselves promoting his Gospel. The best way we can do this is to make an assessment of our lives, to divest ourselves of those things that are not necessary, to let them go, so as to live more simply. In this way we will be less tempted to look to our material goods for our security and pleasure, thus be less attached to them, and instead build our foundation on the solid rock foundation of our relationship with Jesus, his Father, and the love of the Holy Spirit. Who are you going to follow today, the allure of wealth, power, pleasure, and/or honor, or Jesus?

Painting: Ariel Agemian, “The Face of Christ”

Link for the Mass readings for Tuesday, May 29, 2018:

http://www.usccb.org/bible/readings/052918.cfm

A man approached Jesus seeking to know what he must, “do to inherit eternal life” (Mk 10:17). Jesus shared that following the commandments, such as: do not kill, commit adultery, steal or bear false witness; do not defraud, but do honor his father and mother (cf. Mk 10:19), would be a good place to start. The man affirmed that he had followed them all. I can see the eyebrows of Jesus raise and his mouth curl into a smile as he realizes the sincerity of the man kneeling before him. The disciples recognized that look and held their breath.

Jesus, looking at him, loved him and said, “You are lacking one thing. Go, sell what you have, and give to [the] poor and you will have treasure in heaven; then come and follow me” (Mk 10:21).

The man was crushed. He had followed the prescriptions of Torah all his life, he was blessed by God with the gift of having many material goods, but in the end it was those possessions that had enslaved him. He genuinely came seeking eternal life, and Jesus gave him just what he sought, and more by giving him the opportunity to be one of his disciples, but he could not give up the one thing he was lacking.

The heart of the commandments is to help us to be freed from that which enslaves us, so that we can put God and each other first and foremost in our lives. This is what we all have been created for, “You have made us for yourself, O Lord, and our hearts are restless until they rest in you” (St Augustine, Confessions).

The man in today’s Gospel account knew what he needed to do, but was too attached to his wealth and material things to let them go, so he walked away sad, because he could not let go of the finite things he had that would not ultimately satisfy and turned away from that which would fulfill him and give his life meaning.

When we make some time to be still today and find a quiet space, may we enter a place of stillness. May we then return to the scene in Mark 10:17-31 and recall the image of the disciples and Jesus watching the rich man walk away sad. Slowly, we observe that they turn their eyes of invitation toward us. A bit hesitant, maybe, we too ask Jesus, “What is it that we need to let go of?” What are we holding onto that is keeping us from giving ourselves completely to Jesus, and journeying with him toward eternal life? Jesus looks at us, holds our gaze in his, and as he loves us, he begins, “You are lacking one thing…” What does he say next? What is our response?

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Painting “Jesus and the Rich Young Ruler”,1889, by Heinrich Hofmann

Link for the Mass reading for Monday, May 28, 2018:

http://www.usccb.org/bible/readings/052818.cfm

When we enter a Catholic church to pray or participate in the celebration of the Mass we stop by a holy water font, dip our finger in the holy water and make the sign of the Cross. We may also say the words that go along with the gesture, “In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit.” When we do this mindfully, we are recalling our Baptism, we are recommitting ourselves to our baptismal vows which is to live our lives as followers of the God of Jesus Christ. This God is one God, subsisting in three Persons, God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit. We also affirm this reality in the Creed we say each Sunday, where we affirm individually, while at the same time in communion with one another, that I believe in one God the Father Almighty, I believe in one Lord Jesus Christ, the only begotten Son who is consubstantial with the Father, I believe in the Holy Spirit the Lord the giver of life, who proceeds from the Father and the Son.

We also may bring this sacramental practice into our everyday lives. This gesture we can also make when driving past a Catholic church out of reverence for the true presence of Jesus in the tabernacle. We can also make this gesture and say the accompanying words, at the beginning and end of prayers, before and after we eat, in private as well as in public. We can see this movement of crossing one’s self at sporting events, before taking tests, when passing an accident, or when some one cuts us off in traffic. This gesture being a much better choice than a few others we might otherwise be tempted to use.

This hand gesture and accompanying words are one of the most basic prayers we learn and when we practice it consciously, we call to mind the very foundation of our existence. God within himself is a communion of three Persons, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. God is a reality that always has been, is, and always will be. God the Father loves his Son eternally and fully, he is the Lover; God the Son receives the Love offered from the Father, he is the Beloved, and the Holy Spirit is the infinite breath, expression, and mutual sharing of the infinite love between the Father and the Son. This is why we can say without hesitation that God is Love because of this eternal self giving, receiving, and willing the good of the other.

The Son of God, the Second Person of the Trinity, has entered into our three dimensional realm, our temporal time and reality, to become a human being, while remaining fully divine, so to draw close to us, so we could draw close to him and become partakers in the same communal exchange of love that he shares with his Father. Having spent thirty-three years on earth, before he would Ascend back to the Father, he then commissioned the eleven Apostles: “All power in heaven and earth has been given to me. Go, therefore, and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you” (Mt 28:18-20). The followers of Jesus did just that and we have the invitation and opportunity to continue that rich Tradition today.

We who have been baptized in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, are called to be partakers in the life of the Trinity. We are to be participants in the love of God through our thoughts, words, and actions. As we have been loved into existence, so we are to love others, “of all nations.” We need to resist the urge to withhold our love from, those closest to us, but also those we consider as other, those we fear, and those we would judge as lesser and label as an enemy.

When we withdraw into our self, keep others outside, when we build up walls, we separate and isolate ourselves from one another. We wound our interconnectedness, we become less than human when we dehumanize, degrade, and belittle. By actually spending time with, by being engaged and interacting with one another, by willing their good, through participation in the corporal and spiritual works of mercy, the external labels, judgments, and prejudices start to fall away. We begin to see each other as human beings again. We can then experience the love of God flowing back and forth between one another and grow to be brothers and sisters.

Pope Francis tweeted on September 12, 2015, that “Every time we make the sign of the Cross, we draw closer to the great mystery of the Trinity.” May we ponder the mystery of God today, ponder and so enter into the mystery of his Trinitarian Love. Each encounter we have is to be a mirroring of Trinitarian communion in that we are to love, be loved and so experience the love that is shared between us. This is when we are at our best as Church. May we be a witness of what we believe today by mindfully making the sacramental sign of the cross, yes, but also living the deep reality of what this gesture means in our lives. If you are not sure where to start, begin with a smile, a hug, a handshake. We are all interconnected to one another with a Trinitarian Love that surpasses all understanding. As we engage in sharing the love of God, we remember who we are and whose we are.

Photo: Image accessed from http://www.schmalen.com

Link for the Mass readings for Sunday, May 27, 2018:

http://www.usccb.org/bible/readings/052718.cfm

In today’s Gospel, we read about a short scene, or pericope, in which people are bringing their children to Jesus to receive a blessing. The disciples step in to prevent this process from happening. The reason for their actions is not presented by the author, but what is shared is the indignance and anger of Jesus. Jesus rebuked his disciples by saying, “Let the children come to me; do not prevent them, for the Kingdom of God belongs to such as these. Amen, I say to you, whoever does not accept the Kingdom of God like a child will not enter it.”

Jesus consistently offers grace to those who might otherwise be prevented from receiving it. Jesus provides healings for the possessed, lepers, women, the blind, the lame, tax collectors and sinners. The very fact that this small pericope mentioning children is even included in an ancient near Eastern text says something profound. Jesus is recognizing the dignity of children as is also recorded in Mark 9:36-37 when he states that whoever receives a child in his name, receives him. Children had no recognized social status. Orphans were at risk and needed to be taken care of and especially up to two years old, there was a high infant mortality rate. As a defensive measure, psychologically, many parents may not have become too attached until after two years old. This harsh reality could be a reason why these children were being brought to Jesus for a blessing.

Jesus, in his reaching out to the children, impresses the point that he takes the life of children seriously and by so doing encourages others to do so. There are historical accounts that Christians continued to take this teaching seriously. In ancient Roman society, if parents did not want a child they would just leave them in a local dump to die. Christians would come to retrieve the infants and bring them into their homes as their own.

Jesus also used this opportunity as a teachable moment when shared that “the kingdom of God belongs to such as these.” Jesus is recorded as using the image of God as a Father one hundred seventy five times in the Gospels. Our relationship to God, then, can be seen as being children from the perspective of having total dependence and placing all our trust on God. Also, from this perspective, everything we receive from God, our Father, is as a gift.

Jesus teaches us that the kingdom of God is a pure gift. God has created us to be in relationship with him. God has given us our very existence through participation with our parents, and we need him as an infant does for his or her own very survival. We enter the kingdom of heaven when we recognize our dependence on God. Also, we need to recognize that we do not buy or earn our way into the kingdom because God and his realm is so transcendent, so beyond us, we cannot get there on our own effort and merit. We enter the kingdom of God when we say yes, and accept the invitation he offers.

Just as Jesus opens his arms to embrace the children, to receive and bless them in his arms, so he does so with us. In our willingness to enter into and receive his embrace, we enter into the kingdom of our Father. May we be thankful today for the gift of our lives, the gift that we are loved, the gift that we exist as a person of dignity, value, and worth. As we accept and embrace this gift of seeing God as he sees us, may we see others in the same way, not as other, but as brother and sister in the family of the kingdom of God. May we also work to promote a culture of life that recognizes and acknowledges the dignity and value of each and every person without exception from the moment of their conception, birth, throughout the ups and downs of daily life, up until our elder years and natural death.

Photo: First grade class I assisted with during my time in the pre-novitiate with the Franciscans of Holy Name in the Bronx, around 1990.

Link for the Mass readings for Saturday, May 26, 2018:

http://www.usccb.org/bible/readings/052618.cfm

If you ask many people what the rate of divorce is in the United States most would say that it is at about 50% and most likely increasing. Recent sociological studies however have claimed that there was a dramatic increase in the divorce rate over the 1970’s and 80’s and the projection was that this rate would continue to rise. This time period was most likely actually the peak time, at which it did not reach 50%, and the rate of divorce has been decreasing since the 80’s.

The challenge with figures such as these is that statistical analysis can be shaped and skewed, also, measuring divorce rate is not all that easy. The reason I even address the point is that it is a good thing to be able to read reports that would suggest that the rate of divorce is dropping. The fact that there is still possibly a 30% or higher divorce rate is not something to celebrate, and the fact that Moses was addressing this problem in ancient Israel shows that we have been dealing with this issue for a long time.

Jesus addresses this same challenge of divorce in today’s Gospel as some Pharisees approach him about the issue. Jesus acknowledges the stance of Moses in that he did allow for “the husband to write a bill of divorce” because the people were not able to live up to the prescriptions of the Torah. Jesus then sites Genesis, stating that, “from the beginning of creation, God made them male and female. For this reason a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh. So they are no longer two but one flesh. Therefore what God has joined together, no human being must separate“ (Mk 10:6-9).

Jesus, in quoting from Genesis 1:27 and 2:24, reaffirmed God’s intent, that marriage is to be a union that is to be indissoluble. The reason for this is that God intended marriage to be a covenant, not a contract. Contracts can be signed or broken. Covenants are sacred bonds for life. Marriage is also a natural ordering that mirrors on earth the reality of God who is a communion of Three Persons in heaven. Jesus building on this natural ordering bestowed his grace upon marriage thus elevating it to a sacrament in which there is a sacred bond between the husband, the wife and Jesus himself: “Therefore what God has joined together, no human being must separate” is interpreted by the Church to mean that a valid, sacramental marriage cannot be undone.

The unfortunate reality is that many who marry in the Catholic Church have not been thoroughly catechized to understand the reality of the sacrament of marriage, and Pope Francis acknowledged this in June of 2016 when he stated that, “the great majority of our sacramental marriages are null”. The Pope was referring to those who are entering into and have celebrated the Sacrament of Matrimony are doing so invalidly, meaning that the marriage certainly did happen, but it has not been elevated to the sacramental bond of a covenant.

Pope Francis recognized two things with this statement, that those who seek to marry in the Church do so with a good intent, but are grounded in a culture that is more provisional than seeking permanence. We are losing our sense of indissolubility. We live in a culture in which the acquisition of material goods that are produced and purchased are done so with the understanding that our economy has been built to thrive, not on what will last, but that which will be quickly replaced through innovation, updates, and newer models. What has been happening is that our consumer culture is being translated to the person and to our relationships with horrific consequences.

Jesus has set the bar and ideal for marriage high for the reason that marriage and the family is the closest mirroring on earth to the divine communion in heaven of the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit. The infinite outpouring of love, of sacrifice and willing the good of the other is the foundation for any relationship, but even more so for marriage. For this union is meant to be open to a third, the child. For the family to be stable, they must be present to one another, to sacrifice, to give of themselves to each other, and to encourage and support one another on their mutual path to heaven.

Sadly, there are those who enter marriage with good intentions, but not fully aware of what they are getting into, not fully aware of the truth of love being more of a sacrifice and less of a feeling, and not fully comprehending that marriage is not a trial process but a sacred bond. In addition there are many factors that work against the couple such as, the relationship meets a crossroad, a better model comes along, there is a lack of the proper social and conflict resolution skills, the realization of a false premise unknown before the marriage surfaces, domestic abuse, and then what can arise is the choice for separation, and regrettably an ending. From this choice there is deep pain, trauma and wounds that need to be healed. Jesus does not seek disunity but unity. He does not lessen the bar as did Moses, but is present to those affected by the wounds of the separation and dissolution of the union. He is and calls us to be willing to accompany our brothers and sisters who are in need of healing from the trauma of the ending of a relationship for those involved.

Marriage is a wonderful gift, and as with anything that is going to last, those seeking to be married need to be prepared. Certainly, no one can prepare for everything, nor can we foresee the unannounced surprises that life can bring, but there must be at the beginning a willingness to commit to putting in the effort, to sacrifice, to support, and love, not lust for each other. There needs to be an openness to the possibility of children, a genuine caring and commitment to willing each other’s good through the ups and downs of life’s journey together, for better and for worse, as well as a willingness to seek Jesus for help when life gets bumpy.

I would also like to offer six suggestions from Pope Francis regarding marriage advice: the first is to end every day with forgiveness, the second is to ask permission, the third is to show gratitude, the forth is to help your spouse reach his or her highest potential, the fifth is to keep alive the romance, and the sixth is to refuse to give up so easily.

Please, please, please, remember we are not commodities, we are created in the image and likeness of God. We are not to use one another for our own gain or just as a means of pleasure. Each of us are sacred, human beings endowed with dignity, value, and worth that deserve to be loved more than we can imagine by God and one another. A God-incident for the day is that this Gospel reading happens to fall on the same day as JoAnn and my 22nd anniversary 🙂 Please pray for us that we may continue to enjoy 22 more wonderful years together, as we pray for you and your relationships to thrive as well!

Photo: JoAnn and me Thanksgiving 2015

Article with more information on Pope Francis’ six marriage tips:

https://www.liveabout.com/marriage-tips-from-pope-francis-2492126

The link for the Mass readings for Friday, May 25, 2018:

http://www.usccb.org/bible/readings/052518.cfm

What we think, say, do or do not do, has consequences for ourselves and others. The smallest act of kindness, like suggesting, as Jesus did in today’s Gospel, of giving someone a drink of water goes a long way. That may seem like a small and insignificant gesture, but according to Water.org, 844 million people do not have access to safe drinking water. That is equivalent to one out of every nine people on earth not having ready access to a drink of clean water. Women and girls are especially affected as they can spend up to six hours a day seeking and returning home with water.

The reality that there are people who do not have access to just the basic needs of survival is a major problem. The most serious of sins in this regard is not bothering to care. Jesus shared clearly, as is recorded in Matthew (cf. chapter 25), that what we do to the least of our brothers and sisters, we do to him. As he shared with Saul on the road to Damascus (cf. Acts 9), Jesus asked him, “Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me?” Jesus did not ask why Saul was persecuting his followers, because, in persecuting his followers, Saul was persecuting him.

We just finished the Season of Easter where we celebrated how Jesus, carrying the sins of all of humanity with him, died, conquered death, and rose again to redeeming us from our enslavement to sin. Just as in Adam all would die, just as in Jesus all have the opportunity to rise again in Christ. God has created us as being interconnected with one another. What one thinks, speaks, and acts ripples out to touch all people and all creation. This is why Jesus uses such graphic, hyberbolic words in today’s Gospel, such as “If your hand causes you to sin, cut it off. It is better for you to enter into life maimed
than with two hands to go into Gehenna, into the unquenchable fire” (Mk 9:41-50). Jesus does not literally mean that we are to cut off our hand or foot, or pluck out our eye, if we sin, but he is showing us the seriousness of our sin.

We can see the horrific affects at play in our fallen world. Life is hard, people suffer, violence and darkness abound. When we choose to shut ourselves off from others and the wonders of creation, and retreat into our own self-made world, keeping the need of others at arm’s length; when we engage in thoughts, words, and actions of personal sin; when we rationalize and justify behavior that goes against our Gospel values and our conscience, we play a part in contributing to the condition of original sin that plagues our world, and we are going against God’s plan for what we pray for in the Our Father, “May your kingdom come, may your will be done on earth as it is in heaven.”

Jesus is not calling us to jump out of bed today and amass heroic acts of virtue, nor is he asking us to be transformed all alone and all at once. The disciples took time to get his message and get on board, so it will take time with us. To say we are followers of Jesus though we must recognize we need a change of heart and mind today. We need to ask Jesus to transform us with his love. We need to invite the Holy Spirit to give us his courage. We are to strive for holiness, for oneness with our Loving God and Father.

May we start by slowing down enough to sit in prayer and allow Jesus to shine a light in our life, that we may better see with the eyes of our conscience, the lies, the half-truths, and apparent goods that we have been allowing to have free reign in our life. As they are revealed, may we pluck them out, even the smallest of sins, and dash them on the rock of Christ. May we ask Jesus to inspire us so that we may reach out beyond ourselves in love, to will the good of another, to strive to think, act, and speak in ways that will bring more support, encouragement, aid, love, faith, hope, and joy to our corner of the world. In our time of prayer, may we embrace the truth that Jesus loves us more than we can ever imagine, really spend time in believing and pondering that very real truth, and go into our day, doing small things with the greatness of the love we have just received.

Photo: Crucifix in the chapel at Cardinal Newman HS. May we resist the darkness and allure of sin and choose to be children of the light.

Link for the Mass readings for Thursday, May 24, 2018:

http://www.usccb.org/bible/readings/052418.cfm

Elitism and selectivism can be dangerous in that others are excluded that ought to have access. There are those areas in which there will be limited access. Select positions such as a principal, CEO, or manager. At higher levels of sports, the arts, and civic leadership, there are limited positions available as well. Yet access ought to be granted for the most qualified. Artificial impositions regarding racial, ethnic, gender, or religious litmus tests are to be avoided. Regarding having access to God, worshipping as a community, and spreading his love and word, an elitist approach has no place.

Jesus addresses this concern in today’s Gospel from Mark. The Apostle John approaches Jesus to complain that someone who does not belong to their inner circle of disciples was healing in the name of Jesus. John even shared that they attempted to prevent this person from healing. Jesus replied, “Do not prevent him. There is no one who performs a mighty deed in my name who can at the same time speak ill of me. For whoever is not against us is for us” (Mk 9:39-40).

Jesus shared in words what he modeled throughout his life and that is the kingdom of God is open to all those who were willing to receive him and receive the invitation of his Father in relationship. That relationship with him was to then be a spark that lit a fire in those of his followers to reach out to teach, preach, cast out demons, heal, and be present to others in their need in his name. The kingdom of God is not for the select few, not for the frozen chosen, or not to be an elite club. The reign of God is for each person that is willing to say yes to his invitation. The depth of active participation is only limited toward one’s willingness to be engaged in baptism, repentance, forgiveness, healing, transformation and holiness by participating in the life of Jesus.

May we hear the message of Jesus’ universal message today. May we strive to work toward seeking that which unifies us more than what divides us. May we embrace his message that “whoever is not against us is for us.” This can be translated outward beyond our tradition as Catholics. There is much we can do together with Christians of other denominations, of people of other faith traditions, and of no tradition or belief in faith at all.

There are many who are in dire need of support in our communities, our states, countries, and world. May we resist the us vs. them mentality that is a temptation on so many levels. May we resist the temptations of indifference or feeling like we have nothing to contribute. Jesus calls us to be contemplatives in action. We are to pray, to come to know God and know his will for our life, to hear and meditate on his word, to know what he would have us to do so that we can be his presence to others in our midst. In our unique ways, let us meet the actions of division, polarization, and dehumanization, with the healing balm of unity, dialogue, and empowerment.

Photo: Contemplatives in action!

Link for the Mass reading for Wednesday, May 23, 2018:

http://www.usccb.org/bible/readings/052318.cfm

Power and honor are attractive temptations. Power is alluring because we want to be in control. Many of us believe that control provides security and safety. Many of us believe that power provides access and control over our environment and situations as they arise. Honor has an attraction also because we want to belong, we want to be a part of. With honor and fame we believe we will be accepted, liked, have access, without the risk of rejection.

Power and honor become a problem when they are grounded in our self and that we feel we attain them on our own initiative. They become an asset if we recognize them as gifts from God that help us to promote his kingdom. In and of themselves, power and honor are finite expressions. If they are only fueled by our insatiable desire to put our self first, front and center, we will not only constantly fall short, but we will constantly be seeking more, because nothing finite can fulfill the transcendental hunger that we have to belong to someone so much greater than ourselves, who is God.

The disciples of Jesus run smack into the temptations of power and honor in today’s Gospel from Mark. Jesus has just shared with them that he will be handed over and killed. But that he will rise again. The disciples do not understand what Jesus is saying, so they grasp for what they can understand from their experience and culture. What they hear instead is that Jesus will lead them into a new reign. They dismiss any idea of his death, and they begin to jockey among themselves for places of priority in his kingdom. They seek positions of power and honor.

Jesus, aware of what his disciples are discussing, even though they are not willing to come clean, sits down among the Twelve and presents to them what it will mean to be his follower when he says: “If anyone wishes to be first, he shall be the last of all and the servant of all” (Mk 9:35). Power and honor does not come by being served, true power and honor comes from the source of all existence, God the Creator. Nor is the infinite power of God some impersonal force that we tap into.

We receive the power of God by serving the one who is omnipotent, all powerful, and worthy of all honor and praise. We receive the power of God by experiencing and developing a relationship with him, through his Son and the Love of the Holy Spirit. The path of discipleship is traveled by those willing to follow the lead of our almighty God and Father, submitting to his will, embracing the gifts he has given, and sharing what we have received with others.

True power is trusting not in the material and finite things of the world because they are unstable. The foundation that we seek comes from building a relationship with Jesus and participating in his life because he is the source of our life. The closer we get to him, the closer we access the truth of who we are and God calls us to be. Honor is just a recognition of our participating in the Good, the True, and the Beautiful, which are expressions or foretastes of heaven. Honor becomes instead from the attractiveness that others see in us, wanting what we have, which is the indwelling of God radiating out from our joy.

Let us relinquish our perceived access of control in a fallen world that is ever unstable and changing and instead place our hope and trust in the one who is our destiny, who is our hope, refuge and strength. Let us let go of the desire to be liked and adored by the fickleness of others and instead strive to be true to who we are. As we live our life in accordance with God’s will, trusting that he is our firm foundation, there will be those drawn to us, because they see Jesus radiating out from us. As others are drawn to us, we are to, like Mary, point to Jesus, and like Jesus, point to God as the source of our joy and fulfillment.

Photo: Graduates surprise visit yesterday, coming to share their joy!

Link for the Mass readings for Tuesday, May 22, 2018:

http://www.usccb.org/bible/readings/052218.cfm