Each of the elements of the Parable of the Sower are worthy of meditation and reflection. A very good practice would be to take some time to reflect on each of its aspects and ask what limits the germination and growth of the seeds God has sown in our lives, and also what helps us to bring about successful growth and a successful yield. When did we experience God’s word but have it almost immediately snatched away; when did we gain an insight, experience joy from of his word and guidance, but did not in any way put the learning into practice; how many times have trials, hardship, and lack of courage or outright persecution, robbed us of stretching out of our comfort zone, and we withdrew, not wanting to risk growth?

Many of us can relate to: “Those sown among thorns are another sort. They are the people who hear the word, but worldly anxiety, the lure of riches, and the craving for other things intrude and choke the word, and it bears no fruit” (Mk 4:18-19). Distractions pull at us from within and without, from one second to the next. So much seeks to undo us, tear us down, and drive us into states of anxiety, despondency, cynicism, and depression. So many apparent goods and false truths entice us to feed our desires for power, wealth, fame, and pleasure. Material temptations offer promises of fulfillment but shortly after purchase leave us feeling empty. All the while, there is also so much good that needs to be done, so much work to do, even if we are willing to look beyond ourselves that we aren’t even sure how to serve or where to begin.

The lesson that Jesus offers us is to remember that the sought after outcome of a seed sown is that it will grow to be a mature plant that bears fruit. To bear fruit we need to create rich soil. That means breaking into hard ground, our hardness of heart, prejudgments, and pride, by spending time with people who we may have kept at arm’s length. In engaging with a person, instead of an idea of who someone is, we can begin to diffuse false judgments and prejudices.

When experiencing an insight it is helpful to embrace it, resist the distractions and mind noise that arise that attempt to steal it away, and encourage us to rush on to the next project or event. Meditate on the inspiration, let it take root, and put it into practice. God may be giving us a message through these encounters. When trials, tribulations, and temptations arise, may we prune and uproot weeds of distraction and distortion.

We often react or give in to our impulses and instead may we take a moment to breath, to discern each situation, purchase, and action, pray and seek God’s guidance, rely on trusted family, friends, colleagues, and classmates for guidance. Recall how similar past experiences turned out and resist making any rash or reactive decisions. Ultimately, trust that Jesus is present. Regarding service, start small, apply the same points just mentioned and engage in reaching out in your own small way, but with full focus and intention.

These are just a few ideas to start to uproot weeds and thorns, begin to remove some rocks and soften the earth, and enjoy the process of preparing some rich soil – our heart, mind, and soul to receive the seeds of the love of God that he sows. In time, as we surrender more to his will, continue to be nourished by his word, accept and put into practice his word, and trust in him and not the temptations that entice, distract, and disrupt our growth, we will see sprouts begin to grow, and soon mature plants that will “bear fruit thirty and sixty and a hundredfold” (Mk 4:20).

Photo: Class of 2017 models of creating rich soil!

Link for the Mass readings for Wednesday, January 24, 2018:

http://www.usccb.org/bible/readings/012418.cfm

Even a surface reading of the gospels will offer a glimmer of Jesus making things new. We can read and imagine the scene today. Many are gathered around him in a circle. The crowd is large, but more focused as Jesus is teaching. His family, presumably the relatives that only a few verses earlier came to seize him because he was out of his mind (cf. Mk 3:21), had arrived, were standing outside, and sent word. The message passed among the people was: “Your mother and your brothers [and your sisters] are outside asking for you” (Mk 3:32).

Jesus seizes on the opportunity for a teachable moment. Jesus looks not beyond and past the crowd that has encircled him to his family who had sent word, but to those who nearest him and said: “Here are my mother and my brothers. [For] whoever does the will of God is my brother and sister and mother” (Mk 3:35). The true measure of family in the kingdom of God is not bloodline but faith in and following the will of God.

Only those who still experience the gift of a close, tight knit, experience of extended family can come close to the dramatic moment of silence that must have followed after this statement. For anyone living in the ancient Near East, familial, clan, tribal relations were paramount to survival. To state that family bonds were strong is an understatement. Yet Jesus is challenging this societal norm.

The relatives of Jesus are not present in this inner circle, they are on the outside. Imagine who else might be sitting in that circle; sinners, the unclean, tax collectors, and maybe even Gentiles, non Jews, and Jesus is saying that they are his brother and sister and mother. If his relatives thought he had lost his mind before, I cannot imagine what kind of mental conniption they entered into as a reaction after these words.

We might want to take a brief moment and assess if we might have had a similar reaction to Jesus’ words? Is he putting down his family, undercutting family values? Certainly, those who think nothing of attacking the Bible will stock up on this verse as well as the one in Luke about how if one is not willing to hate mother or father they can not be his disciple (cf. Luke 14:26).

We need to recognize that Jesus is not devaluing or delegitimizing family, he is restoring family to its proper place and extending it out beyond what anyone of his time could conceive of. As Bishop Robert Barron writes, “when we give the family a disproportionate importance in short it becomes dysfunctional” (Barron, 17). We are united under our God and Father as his children. There is a more powerful call to unity here than mere family, clan, or tribe. As each person draws closer in their encounter and relationship with God, they also draw closer together. As we are conformed more and more to the life of Christ we begin to bear his fruits of love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, gentleness, and self-control (cf. Galatians 5:22).

If we are living and treating each other with more love, not the mere minimal emotional response, but the depth of unconditional love, willing the good of the other, Jesus practices; if we are more patient and present with one another, are kind, supportive, and empowering; do you think relationships will grow and bonds become stronger? How about if these same acts of expressing respect for the dignity of another goes beyond just family and friends, person to person out to the peripheries, where those who feel set apart, and/or are on the outside looking in? What if we take the fruits of the Holy Spirit and practice them with our enemies? Not possible? True, if we enclose our selves within our own bubble and focus on protecting our ego. Possible if we walk with Jesus who is inviting his followers to build a relationship with God first, and participate in the infinite Love of the One that created the universe.

Many in our country are choosing to encase themselves in their own protective bubble wrap. Instead of embracing diversity we are going backwards, we are regressing. By choosing to close ourselves off to other viewpoints, talking over each other and at each other if we are talking at all, and embracing fear instead of love, we are distancing ourselves from God. Our strength as a people and as a nation and as a world increases when we embrace the human dignity of each person, and the rich diversity bestowed upon us through the unconditional love of God. May we embrace the teaching of Jesus who in his emphasis on following God’s will “was insisting that the in-gathering of the tribes into God’s family is of paramount importance” (Barron 17).

Those in the circle with Jesus are those who are not defined by race, ethnicity, or gender. The family of Jesus is defined by those of us who are willing to follow the will of God and bear the fruits of the Holy Spirit in our encounters with each person we meet. We need Jesus, we need God, we need to open our hearts and minds to receive the Love between them, who is the Holy Spirit, and be open ourselves to will the good of our family and friends, our colleagues, classmates, and neighbors,  as well as those on the margins and our enemies. We need to resist asking who does or does not belong in the circle of those around Jesus and instead ask are we willing to surrender to God, follow his will, and sit at the feet of Jesus to learn how we can be better brothers and sisters to one another.

Photo: Cardinal Newman strong!

Barron, Robert. Catholicism: A Journey to the Heart of Faith. NY: Image, 2011.

Link for the Mass reading for Tuesday, January 23, 2018:

http://usccb.org/bible/readings/012318.cfm

The scribes who had come from Jerusalem said of Jesus, “He is possessed by Beelzebul,” and “By the prince of demons he drives out demons” (Mark 3:22).

The scribes have come from Jerusalem to Galilee. Have they come because they have heard about this Jesus and want to assess the one who was speaking on his own authority, healing many, eating with sinners? They experience for themselves Jesus exorcising demons, and do not understand how he is able to cast them out to heal those possessed, so they make the leap that he does so, not by the power of God but, by the power of Beelzebul, the prince of demons. Could their purpose be to delegitimize, or literally demonize, Jesus in such a way that those beginning to follow him will begin to doubt or outright turn away from him? If Jesus is who he says he is, then the scribes are actually the ones serving Satan in aligning with him to sow discord and disunity.

Jesus is providing an invitation to build bridges of reconciliation and healing to restore the unity that has been lost by those choosing to sin, to put self first over God. He also meets those on the peripheries, those who have been kept at arms length, healing those conditions which have been used to justify their separation. Yet Jesus does not impose over another, he invites, as well as others come to him on their own initiative or call out to him seeking healing. In each case, Jesus demands a choice. Jesus has also said and is recorded in Luke, that he has not come to establish peace but division (cf. Lk 12:49-53).

Jesus shows over and over again by word and deed not only how he is creating bridges of connection between the human and the divine, he is in actuality the bridge, the kingdom of God in our midst, and yet, he is not going to drag anyone over it against their will. Jesus calls all who encounter him to make a choice, there is no middle ground, we are either for him or against him.

The scribes in today’s account and many of his relatives reject Jesus. He is able to perform only a few miracles in his own hometown. Those who reject the invitation cut themselves off, separate themselves from the very source of their life, the very core and sustaining force of their being. Those who say yes and repent, like those that receive his healing, like the disciples, the Apostles, and Mary Magdalene, surrender to him, will be transformed, and are freed from their enslavement to sin. They align themselves with the very source and communion they have been created for, God the Father. This is no one revelatory moment but a day to day commitment of saying yes to Jesus. Even in messing up or falling down, we refuse to stay down but are willing to get up, repent, and to begin again and again. We must always and everywhere reject the lie that echoes in our minds that we cannot be forgiven. Jesus loves us more than we can ever mess up.

If you have read today’s Gospel you might say, well what about Mark 3:29 where Jesus says that “whoever blasphemes against the holy Spirit will never have forgiveness, but is guilty of an ever lasting sin”? Jesus is referring here to our free will to accept or reject the free gift of his grace. The scribes have Jesus, the kingdom of God in their midst, and they reject him. He will not impose, he only proposes. If he or his healing and forgiveness is refused, he respects the freedom of the person to reject the offer. The difference between Peter and Judas was that Peter repented, was forgiven, and transformed. Judas withdrew within himself, cut himself off from Jesus, did not believe he would conquer death and come back as he said, and took his own life.

We can choose the path of Peter or the path of Judas. We have a choice each and every day, each and ever moment, to say yes or no to the kingdom of God, to Jesus whose is at hand. We can withdraw from God and others, feed our own self and ego, refuse to examine our conscience to assess where we have sinned, live defensively, keep those who we deem as different at arms length, or worse, demean, belittle, and degrade.

We can also refuse that path of darkness and take the hand of Jesus, repent from our pride, prejudice, greed, lust, envy, gluttony, sloth, and wrath, and believe in the gospel. We can believe that Jesus is who he said he is, refuse to build walls, but instead join in the task of building bridges of unification and communion. We will take steps forward and steps back, and we will fall, but through each experience, the hand of Jesus is still there to help us back up and we can begin again and again. We are not alone. Mary the Mother of God, the Apostles, Mary Magdalene, and the saints said yes to Jesus’ invitation, they understand what we are going through, they are also cheering us on, guiding us, empowering us, so that one day we to will be where they are, seeing God the Father face to face. Jesus is offering his hand to us today, will you take it?

Photo: Rainbow, sometime in August 2018

Link for the Mass readings for Monday, January 22, 2018;

http://usccb.org/bible/readings/012218.cfm

“This is the time of fulfillment. The kingdom of God is at hand. Repent, and believe in the gospel” (Mark 1:15).

With these words, Jesus begins his public ministry in Galilee and in essence announces his mission statement. As I have mentioned before, Jesus has not come to abolish Torah, the Law or the Teachings, the foundational principles of Judaism formed and passed on from Moses to this point. Jesus came to fulfill and take the teachings of the Law and the Prophets to a new and higher level. Jesus’ proclamation happens at a specific time and place within history, this is what we call in the Greek, chronos, or chronological time. While at the same time what is breaking into the ordinary course of daily events is the kingdom of God, which is not limited to chronos time, but is the eternal present of God the Father, the realm of heaven, which is kairos time.

Jesus is making known the revelation of his Incarnation, that the time of fulfillment is this very moment where the human course of history meets with the eternal reality of heaven. There is a communion of the human and divine present now and for all ages, for the kingdom of God is at hand in the presence of the God Man, Jesus the Christ, who is fully human and fully divine. This kingdom is not a static, sedentary of place, as past kingdoms, but an active reign of transformation. Nature, the very finite reality of creation has now been infused with the grace of God. What Jesus is proclaiming is that humanity and all of creation will be redeemed in him through the fullness of his Paschal Mystery, his life, suffering, death, Resurrection, and Ascension into heaven.

All who hear the wonder and glory of this pronouncement can participate in this new kingdom and eternal reign of God. The way to be a part of this new way is to: “Repent, and believe in the gospel.” Andrew and Simon, James and John, did just that. Repentance is more that just following this rabbi, learning a new philosophy or theology, engaging in an intellectual endeavor. They were being transformed from within, reaching a higher pitch, or frequency, they were being divinized, made to be participants in the very life of Jesus.

What appears to be a dismal failure on the part of the Apostles throughout the Gospel of Mark, are really just the recordings of the growing pains of their transformation. For as long as they fall short of the reign of God, but continue to repent, to accept their mistakes, sins, and failures, and continue to turn back to God and away from their own ego and self as their focus, they continue to be transformed.

Simon, the fisherman, answered the invitation of Jesus and he followed him. He would make mistakes, wrestle with doubts, sin, deny Jesus, and even give up for a time and walk away, but he continued to say yes, continued to repent, to believe in the gospel, the good news of the one who called him. Simon would experience and participate in the reign of God here on earth, such that in the Book of Acts 3:6 we can read the account of no longer Simon, but Peter, the rock, who would say to the crippled beggar, “I have neither silver nor gold, but what I do have I give to you: in the name of Jesus Christ the Nazorean, [rise and] walk.” The beggar did so through the power of Jesus working through Peter.

We too, as with Peter, are invited to hear and respond to the same words of Jesus announced at the beginning of his ministry: “This is the time of fulfillment. The kingdom of God is at hand. Repent, and believe in the gospel” (Mark 1:15). We too can participate in God’s kingdom and reign here and now, by realizing that Jesus is still close at hand, he did not jettison off like a rocket at his Ascension, but is now present to us at a higher pitch or frequency of existence, that we can participate in, as did his Apostles. We do so by saying yes to Jesus’ invitation and placing ourselves in a posture of repentance daily by being open to surrendering our will, our ego, our selfish desires and temptations, to the Father’s will, giving ourselves, mind, body, soul, and strength to Jesus, through dedicated time of prayer, listening to and reading his Word, receiving his Body and Blood, and acting and serving his broken and wounded Body through the guidance and the Love of the Holy Spirit in our every day experiences. In this way we participate in his very life, and so too become divinized, transformed into God’s very existence of divinity. We will become through God’s free gift of grace what we have been created to be, a part of his eternal reign, in communion with God and one another.

Photo credit, Deacon Michael Miller: Saying yes to Jesus’ invitation September 7, 2013, the transformation continues!

Link for today’s Mass readings for Sunday, January 21, 2018:

http://www.usccb.org/bible/readings/012118.cfm

Jesus arrives “with his disciples” at the house, also translated as home. As with his first arrival home (cf. Mk 2:1-12), the crowds gather again in overwhelming numbers. In addition to the disciples, specifically being mentioned this time, we can also read that the relatives of Jesus are near. “When his relatives heard of this they set out to seize him,
for they said, ‘He is out of his mind’” (Mk 3:21). This reaction is certainly an interesting way to welcome Jesus back.

What is it that his relatives have heard about that has gotten them so riled up? Was the vast number that had gathered causing damage, trampling over items, breaking pottery, or acting in an unruly and boisterous fashion? We just read a few days ago how Jesus was concerned that he might be crushed by the crowds. Were undesirables, those on the peripheries, sinners, those on the other side of the tracks, coming into town? Are the disciples who arrived with him the Twelve he chose that we read about yesterday? The number would not have been lost on anyone gathered. The Messiah was to usher in the gathering of the nations. Jesus choosing and commissioning twelve Apostles, representing the twelve tribes of Israel, thus continuing and extending his healing, preaching on his own authority, is a big change from the carpenter next door who they all grew up with.

We don’t know, but the fact that they were ready to “seize him” because they thought that, “He [was] out of his mind” says that something about Jesus was really pressing their buttons. Jesus very early on in his public ministry is already receiving a growing chorus of resistance from the Scribes and Pharisees, demons and unclean spirits, and now his own relatives. Jesus though does not water down his message or adjust his ministry. If anything he doubles down, as is recorded not in Mark but Matthew 10:37: “He who loves father or mother more than me is not worthy of me;” and even stronger in Luke 14:26: “If anyone comes to me and does not hate his own father and mother and wife and children and brothers and sisters, yes, and even his own life, he cannot be my disciple.”

Jesus calls us to live a life that is dedicated to him and the will of his Father and as we begin to step out in a public way to live our faith, there will be push back from all quarters. Especially, those who we have known all our lives. We place others in and are placed in boxes by others. Expectations and prejudgments abound. It is hard enough for us to stretch out of our comfort zone, to go beyond prior established boundaries, but as we do so, those in our realm of influence, those who observe us making a move in that direction, consciously, or more often unconsciously, they feel threatened.

Living a life of faith, of loving and willing the good of others, especially those outside of our societal accepted boundaries, those that are “different”, those that are other, though we have been created to and find fulfillment in doing so, means we are taking a risk. We risk being misunderstood, labeled, rejected, and thought of as losing our minds. Yet, risk we must, if we are to follow the will of Jesus, if we are to grow in holiness, and be the saints that we are called to be. As we risk, remain faithful, and are true to who God is calling us to be, as well as resist the temptation to strike back negatively when challenged, we will begin to radiate his light, which will continue to repel some who still prefer the darkness, but draw others from the shadows.

In coming to encounter and know Jesus we are going to be transformed, we cannot stay the same. Yet we fear change, the plateau, the valley is comfortable, but that is not the path Jesus would have us walk. As Cardinal John Henry Newman said: “To live is to change, and to be perfect is to have changed often.” Let us pray for courage this day that we may have hearts and minds open to hear the direction and guidance of our God, to ponder it, and then begin to act upon it. Even in the face of adversity and opposition, may we stand up for the truth, the dignity of ourselves and others, even those who might resist our efforts, and be willing to love as we have been loved. May we remember that we are not alone, Jesus loves us more than we can ever mess up. Let us be strengthened by his Word, with his Body and Blood, may we embrace the transformation to holiness we are invited to undergo through the Love of the Holy Spirit, let us encourage and empower one another through word and deed, and may we boldly proclaim the Gospel of the Lord this day and each day!

Photo: Icon of Jesus my Aunt Nicky gifted me with.

Link for the Mass readings for Saturday, January 20, 2018:

http://www.usccb.org/bible/readings/012018.cfm

Jesus went up the mountain and summoned those whom he wanted and they came to him (Mk 3:13).

Through the centuries mountains have been sites where people have gone to rise above the every day, to rise above the clouds, where the air is crisper, cleaner. It is a means of gaining a new perspective, transcending the human to touch the spiritual, and hearing the voice of God. When one of the Gospel writers inserts the detail that Jesus is present on a mountain, we can be prepared that something significant is going to happen.

In today’s Gospel, the good news revealed to us is that Jesus calls to himself the Twelve, the Apostles to preach and cast out demons. They are to continue the ministry of Jesus. These are not perfect men, but each will have a part to play in salvation history. Jesus will entrust them with the deposit of faith that they are to protect, yes, but more so to proclaim. Apostle means one who is sent.

Jesus will continue to call the Twelve to himself, to teach, mentor, model, and empower them so they will continue his mission to call people to repent and believe in the Gospel. Especially, through the Gospel of Mark, it often looks as if Jesus may have made a mistake in his choice. When Jesus needs them most, Judas will turn him over to the Temple guards, the others flee at his arrest, and Peter will publicly deny him. It will not be until after the Resurrection and Ascension that the seeds that Jesus has sown in them will begin to germenate and bear fruit.

Just as Jesus called the Twelve, he calls us as well. In each generation we must own our faith and pass it on to the next. Are we perfect, no. Do we have doubts, fears, weaknesses, yes. Does God call us and love us any way? Yes. Like each Apostle, we are to go out and proclaim the good news that Jesus is our Lord! We do this daily with our words, faces, and actions. We think, look, speak, and act in ways that are kind, empowering, uplifting, and convicting while at the same time resisting the temptation to fix others but instead accompany and guide one another. We do this by looking at our family, community, country, and world and ask ourselves, “What is missing?” “What needs to be better?” “Our country and world would be better if…” Fill in the blank. Do any answers come immediately to mind? Then maybe that is what God is calling us to do.

Before panicking, take a deep breath. We all have much on our plate. Start small, we can bring God with us into whatever we are already doing. He will give us the tools and accompany us as we seek to fulfill his will. As did the Apostles, we will make mistakes, make false starts, fall, sin, and deny opportunities to reach out to be a witness. When we pull up short, let us resist beating ourselves up, learn from the experience, and prepare better for the next apostolic opportunity.  Jesus went up the mountain and summoned those whom he wanted, are we willing to follow his path to the heights and come to him?

Photo: Hiking to the mountain top, Mohawk Trail, MA., around 1983-84

Link for today’s Mass readings for Friday, January 19, 2018:

http://www.usccb.org/bible/readings/011918.cfm

The writer of the Gospel of Mark details that many from all over the region have come to Jesus, they are crowding in on him in such a way that Jesus “told his disciples to have a boat ready for him because of the crowd, so that they would not crush him” (Mk 3:9). There are others in the crowd, unclean spirits who would throw themselves down before Jesus. Many are gathering and crowding in, just to touch him, but the fever pitch of the crowd is growing to a point that it is getting out of control.

The crowd is gathering and pressing in because of Jesus showing his power to heal. People are gathering as they would around any other miracle worker. People wanted to be healed and bring others to be healed. Yet they were missing the deeper point of who Jesus is. He was not just a miracle worker, not just someone that brought about physical healing. Healing accounts were heard and known about in the ancient world. The unclean spirits recognized Jesus before the people did, “for, whenever unclean spirits saw him they would fall down before him and shout, ‘You are the Son of God'” (Mk 3:11).

Throughout the Gospel of Mark we will read about how the crowds, disciples, and apostles, all struggle to understand who Jesus is and the unclean spirits will recognize and be silenced by him. The people closed in on Jesus seeking to be healed, but missing the deeper hunger within their souls that St Augustine, the fourth century bishop of Hippo, so eloquently described on the first page of his autobiography: “[Y]ou have made us for yourself, and our hearts are restless until they can find peace in you” (Augustine, 17). Jesus is the Son of God, not just a miracle worker, but God Incarnate.

That is the point. The only way we will be fully satisfied, fulfilled, at peace, is through an ongoing deepening relationship, and communion, with our Creator. God is infinite and cannot be exhausted. We as finite beings, are left wanting with even the best of material things. We always hunger and want for more. We want God.

May we spend time exploring which experiences leave us feeling flat, let down, or deflated. Then look at what experiences open us up to joy, ways in which we feel inspired, empowered, where we touch a foretaste of heaven, the divine in our midst. When we slow down and make the time to see where we do not, and do, experience God in our everyday experience, we can better choose actions that will support a deeper relationship, a deeper intimacy and union that we all hunger and thirst for deep in our soul. We can begin to experience the good news that Jesus offers: He has freed us to abide in a love expressed at a deeper, more intimate level than we can ever imagine, a grace filled embrace, that as children of God we are drawn into by our Abba, our Loving God and Father.

Drawing by: Jesus and the Lamb by Katherine F. Brown

St Augustine. The Confessions of St Augustine. Translated by Rex Warner. New York: New American Library, 1963.

Link for the Mass reading for Thursday, January 18, 2018:

http://www.usccb.org/bible/readings/011818.cfm

In today’s scene, Jesus enters the synagogue and sees a man with a withered hand. The eyes of the Pharisees are on him to see if, yet again, Jesus will heal on the Sabbath. Jesus is clear in his mind what he is going to do, though before doing so, he calls the man up and asks the Pharisees, “Is it lawful to do good on the sabbath rather than to do evil, to save life rather than to destroy it” (Mk 3:4)?

Jesus here is giving them a no brainer of a question. Of course, one is to do good rather than evil on the Sabbath, to save life rather than destroy it! Yet, the Pharisees remain silent. Jesus expresses anger and grief “at their hardness of heart”. Imagine yourself present in the synagogue and witnessing Jesus looking at the Pharisees and the Pharisees looking back at him. We have all been present when tensions rise and there is dead silence. Can you imagine what was going through the mind of the guy standing in between them with the withered hand?

The anger rising in Jesus may have to do with the unwillingness of the Pharisees to show any compassion, their outright refusal to acknowledge the need of this man. That they would hold so tightly to their self righteous stance to refuse to even have a discussion about the matter. Not even to say in effect, “Yes, Jesus of course, it is lawful to do good, to save life, but what you are doing is unorthodox.” No. They refuse to dialogue. Their faces are set like flint, they are digging in their heels, and even though Jesus is inviting them to move toward empathy, they instead harden their hearts. In their silence, they are choosing evil over good, destroying life rather than saving it. Pride has reared its grotesque head.

Jesus acts, and says to the man, “Stretch out your hand.”

The man is healed, but instead of rejoicing, and sharing the good news as Andrew did with his brother Simon, the Pharisees leave immediately to find the Herodians and plot the death of Jesus. We have witnessed in this scene evil incarnate. We have witnessed the mercy of God presented and rejected. As is stated in the Catechism of the Catholic Church: “There are no limits to the mercy of God, but anyone who deliberately refuses to accept his mercy by repenting, rejects the forgiveness of his sins and the salvation offered by the Holy Spirit” (1864). That is what Jesus is angry at. Not only do the Pharisees resist any move in the slightest direction toward compassion, or their own repentance, they further separate themselves from the love of God. They walk out with the intent to now to kill Jesus, and on the Sabbath! Their hypocrisy is on full display.

We walk on the slippery slope of pride when we feed it, because with each choice of putting self over another, pride grows and wants more. Its appetite is insatiable. Pride is known as the mother of all sins because of its disordered focus on self at the expense of all others and all else. The attention sought is to be directed solely to one self. The height of which is a direct opposition to God. We have witnessed this today in today’s reading.

We need to pray daily for God to reveal to us those dark tendrils of pride that are rooted within us, and for the courage to repent, to seek his mercy and forgiveness so we can be healed. The way to starve pride is to, remember that God is God and we are not, to open ourselves to his love so that we love, will the good of the other. Let us surrender before God in prayer, focus on him and his will for us, and be open for ways in which we can be present to others for their sake and not our own. With each interaction we have a choice to scowl or smile.

Photo: Crucifix in the chapel of Cardinal Newman High School, WPB, FL

Catholic Church. “Article 8: Sin,” in the Catechism of the Catholic Church, 2nd ed. Vatican: Libreria Editrice Vaticana, 2012.

Link for today’s Mass readings for Wednesday, January 17, 2018:

http://www.usccb.org/bible/readings/011718.cfm

“The sabbath was made for man, not man for the sabbath. That is why the Son of Man is lord even of the sabbath” (Mk 2:27-28).

In making the above statement, Jesus is not discrediting or devaluing the observance of the Sabbath. He is entering a common debate about what is considered work, and thus what can and cannot be done on the Sabbath. Jesus is also going deeper to address the origin of the Sabbath observance in that it, “commemorates God’s creative and saving action for humanity, and alleviating hunger might be an example” (Donahue and Harrington, 112).

God created us, formed us, and breathed life into us. There is an intimacy and closeness between God the Father and us his created beings, his children. God is our source and we are interconnected in our relationship with him and with one another. God continues to deal with us in a personal way. The Torah, the Law or the Teachings, is meant to enhance the intimacy and closeness of that relationship with God and one another, to provide boundaries and definition so that we can resist going astray. Jesus has come to fulfill the Law, to restore it from distortion, while at the same time bring it to the next level.

When asked what commandment is the greatest, Jesus announced that we are to Love God with all our heart, soul, mind, and strength and we are to love our neighbor as our self (cf. Mk :29-31). To live out this commandment then, we need to foster our relationship with God so to experience his love, mercy, and forgiveness, to fill up to overflowing, to then share with others, otherwise we have nothing to give. With or without a relationship with God we can experience emptiness, anxiety, fear, and loneliness. Without of a relationship with God, and the community of the Church, we are more vulnerable to the temptations to quench our thirst with material, finite false goods, that are readily available, and thirsting more and more, fall deeper into the lures of power, pride, prestige, ego, and addiction. We then dig in more and more to protect that false sense of self at all cost, deepening our thirst and increasing our fear. We buffer our self off from the very one we have been created for, and those we consider as other.

May we embrace the gift of life we have been blessed with, open our heart, mind, soul, and strength to our Loving God and Father, so to see the dignity of Jesus present in other human beings in our midst. Let us not fall into the temptation that the Pharisees did, to prevent food for those who are in need through a false interpretation of the law. May we align ourselves with Pope Francis who said this past Sunday in his homily: “Having doubts and fears is not a sin. The sin is to allow these fears to determine our responses, to limit our choices, to compromise respect and generosity, to feed hostility and rejection. The sin is to refuse to encounter the other, the different, the neighbour, when this is in fact a privileged opportunity to encounter the Lord.”

Let us who have access, not fear our neighbor but seek to encounter, accompany, and work to empower and provide means of access for the most vulnerable among us. May we work to see each person as God sees us, as human beings endowed with dignity, worth, potential, and diverse gifts, created in his image and likeness.

Let us align ourselves with the Lord of the Sabbath and start a discourse of respect and dignity, allow no evil talk to pass our lips and say only the good things that people need to hear (cf. Ephesians 4:29). Let us resist speaking words that delegitimize, degrade, and dehumanize, but instead speak to empower, encourage, and support. We must also call out, stand against, and denounce any words that belittle or dehumanize another, hold accountable those who make disparaging comments, while at the same time resist attacking the person. We are to love, to will their good, even those who speak and act with hate, and pray for their healing. Otherwise we perpetuate the poison that is injected into our discourse. Let us choose this day and each day, with Dr. Marin Luther King, Jr., to resist darkness by choosing light, to resist hate by choosing love, to resist staying silent by choosing to speak up for things that matter. If we have trouble with being human, with loving another, may we look to the One who walked with his disciples among a field wheat one day, and who is now our Bread of Life this day!

Photo: Tabernacle, St Peter Catholic Church, Jupiter, FL

Donahue, S.J., John R., and Daniel J. Harrington, S.J. The Gospel of Mark in Sacra in Sacra Pagina Series, vol. 2. Collegeville, MN: Liturgical Press, 2002.

Pope Francis full text of homily at Mass on World Day of Migrants and Refugees, Sunday January 14, 2018:

http://saltandlighttv.org/blogfeed/getpost.php?id=79091

Link for readings for Mass readings for Tuesday, January 16, 2018:

http://www.usccb.org/bible/readings/011618.cfm

“Can the wedding guests fast while the bridegroom is with them? As long as they have the bridegroom with them they cannot fast. But the days will come when the bridegroom is taken away from them, and then they will fast on that day” (Mk 2:19-20).

The conflict that Jesus is responding to is that Jesus is witnessed eating and drinking, practicing table fellowship with his disciples, as well as tax collectors and sinners. There is no evidence that he and his disciples practice fasting. His critics were probably not aware that Jesus spent forty days fasting in the desert to prepare for his public ministry.

Jesus’ response utilizes the image of a wedding banquet, which for the people of his time would often last at least a week. Fasting certainly was not a practice during the wedding feast. Now that Jesus has begun his public ministry, it is a time of celebration, because Jesus has been proclaiming the good news that the kingdom of God is at hand, the bridegroom is with his people. As Donahue and Harrington write: “People are summoned to hear the good news of the victory of God over evil, illness, and sin. Even those thought to be habitually outside the pale of God’s forgiveness are welcomed to the banquet” (p. 108). This is indeed a time to rejoice!

People are being healed of chronic conditions, having demons exorcised from them, coming to be able to see, to hear, and are being restored to the community that they had been separated from. These are causes of celebration, why wouldn’t those receiving the gift of new life not celebrate? We have and will continue to see the reality of celebrating the preaching, healing, and restoration of God’s kingdom played out in our daily readings. That is one of the gifts of reading the Gospels.

Jesus also references his death, when he will be taken away, and the people will fast on that day. This day will be his crucifixion. So we, like the community of Mark, live in between the time when Jesus walked the earth and proclaimed his message of the good news, and after his Crucifixion, Resurrection, and Ascension, until the time when he will return. We are living in a time of both/and. If we look at the course of a week as a model, we may contemplate the opportunity to fast on Fridays in remembrance of the day he gave his life for us, and to feast on Sundays, the Lord’s Day, when we celebrate his Resurrection.

The course of our life follows an ebb and flow of sorrow and joy, sickness and healing, conflict and resolution, sin and reconciliation. In the midst of our every day, may we seek to take the hand of Jesus, the union of the human and divine, yoke our lives to his, and seek to live a life of balance. Let us resist the temptations of overindulgence and gluttony while at the same time resisting the polar opposite of a hyper asceticism. We are both spirit and body, so we need to attend to and take care of both our spiritual and physical needs.

I invite you to make a list of three things you can do for yourself this week to take care of your self. Three things to take care of the spirit, such as go to Mass or church, spend five minutes a day in quiet prayer, read from the Gospel of Mark, a spiritual book, sit in comfortable chair and listen to some music. Three things to take care of the physical, such as plan your meals so they are little healthier, fast with smaller meals on Friday, make something for yourself and family this Sunday that is a special family meal and fellowship together, add some exercises that include a combination of stretching, cardio, and weight bearing, take a walk outside, breath in some fresh clean air.

Life goes fast, let us commit this week to seek Jesus’ help to better take care of ourselves and each other.

Photo: Playing hockey (around 1982) and reading the Bible, an ideal balance!

Donahue, S.J., John R., and Daniel J. Harrington, S.J. The Gospel of Mark in Sacra in Sacra Pagina Series, vol. 2. Collegeville, MN: Liturgical Press, 2002.

Link for today’s Mass readings for Monday, January 15, 2018:

http://www.usccb.org/bible/readings/011518.cfm