A young man approached Jesus seeking to know what he must do to attain eternal life. Jesus shared that the key to entrance was to keep the commandments. The man asked which ones he was to follow, a reasonable request as there were 613 commandments to choose from! Jesus gave him six: do not kill, commit adultery, steal or bear false witness; do honor his father and mother, and love his neighbor as himself (cf. 19:18-19). The man affirmed that he had followed them all. Then he asked that next question, “What do I still lack” (Mt 19:20)? I can feel the disciples wince, see the mouth of Jesus curl into a smile while his left eyebrow raises. Mark is more eloquent than me: “Jesus looked at him, and loved him…” (Mk 10:17).

Jesus said to him, “If you wish to be perfect, go, sell what you have and give to the poor,
and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me.” When the young man heard this statement, he went away sad, for he had many possessions (Mt 19:21-22). He was so close! Jesus saw the one thing that was keeping this man from following Jesus, and gave him the opportunity to renounce what he had, give to the poor and have eternal life, which was what his original request was. It 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 young man knew what he needed to do, but was too attached to his wealth to let go, so he walked away sad.

Now faithful reader, may you find your quiet space, enter the stillness, and draw up the image of the disciples and Jesus watching the rich man walk away sad. Slowly, they turn their eyes to you. Ask Jesus, what it is that you need to let go of. What are you holding onto that is keeping you from giving yourself to the One who is Good? Jesus looks at you and loves you, and says, “If you wish to be perfect, …” How do you respond?

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Link for Reading of the Day, Monday, August 21, 2017:

http://www.usccb.org/bible/readings/082117.cfm

Painting by Heinrich Hofmann

[A] Canaanite woman of that district came and called out, “Have pity on me, Lord, Son of David! My daughter is tormented by a demon” (Mt 15:22).

I wrote about the encounter of Jesus and the Canaanite woman on August 9. Our Sunday reading for today takes up Matthew’s account again. Today I would like to go a little deeper. In Jesus’ encounter with the Canaanite woman, Jesus revealed through three responses, some of the darker sides of our fallen, human nature. But in his fourth, he also identified the way to resist these three sinful tendencies.

When the Canaanite woman called out to the Son of David to have pity on her, Jesus first responded with Silence. His silence can represent the indifference we feel toward those not like us. We ignore their very presence, as if they don’t exist. In the early nineties, while I was in the novitiate with the Franciscans of Holy Name Province, we toured an impoverished inner-city area in Philadelphia. One of the local friars pointed up to the elevated tracks as the commuter train headed past us toward the heart of the city. He shared how the majority of those commuting into the city had no idea of the need, pain, and struggles of those down here below, like the homeless mother and her three young children that I had met. Are we aware of those in need around us, or do we ride that same Elevated Train of Indifference?

The disciples approached Jesus and asked that he send the woman away. Jesus replied: “I was sent only to the lost sheep of the house of Israel” (Mt 15:24). Jesus’ response can represent the dangers of tribalism and nationalism, and how it can taint our perception regarding how we perceive those outside of our group. Those we consider as not one of us, we see as less than human. A Lakota elder, Fire Hawk, who became like family to me in my early twenties shared how in his youth, he thought about being a priest. He voiced his interest, and was told that it was not possible because he was an Indian, and after receiving one too many baths in which he was scrubbed down in bleach and water, to wash the red out, he gave up on the idea. If we are aware of those in need around us, do we not help because someone has a different national, religious, political, racial, ethnic, or gender identity?

The woman increased her boldness and walked directly up to Jesus and did him homage and asked him directly for help. Jesus’ third response:  “It is not right to take the food of the children and throw it to the dogs” (Mt 15:26). In this derogatory statement, Jesus’ third response can reveal the power of our words and symbols that we use to belittle, demean, and dehumanize. When we place labels on others and begin to believe them, we begin to see others as less than human. Not only do we refuse to help the other, we make them the enemy that must be put in their place. This path can lead to the horrific scenes witnessed in Charlottesville last week. Before we slip into the defensive posture that it can’t happen here. Let us remember, two years ago, April 18, 2015, in our community of Jupiter, three white teens were out “Guat-hunting”, their phrase, looking for Guatemalans to rob. That night they found a Guatemalan young man, 18 year-old Onesimo Marcelino Lopez-Ramos, a son and brother. After their encounter, Onesimo was bludgeoned to death with a rock. Are we aware that our attitudes matter, our words matter and our actions matter?

The Canaanite woman retorted, “Please, Lord, for even the dogs eat the scraps
that fall from the table of their masters.” Jesus’ responded: “O Woman, great is your faith” (Mt 15:28)! This final statement can reveal to us that there is an antidote to indifference, tribalism, and dehumanization and that is the love expressed by the Canaanite woman for her daughter. She crossed social boundaries, side-stepped indifference, refused to be sent away, risked ridicule, and possible abuse and death, because she would not be denied until her daughter was healed. She did not get defensive, did not fight back, because she did not think of herself. She thought only of the welfare of her daughter.

What is Jesus saying to us? We are to see each other as human beings, as sacred beings created in his image and likeness by the same God and Father of us all. Jesus demands that we meet darkness with light, and hate with love, and that in everyone we encounter, we reach out to them with that same love and mercy he bestows on us. We are to will the good of the other as other, no matter who they are. This day I invite you to choose faith, hope, and the greatest of these, love, to meet the needs of those who are hurting in our midst.

Let us examine our conscience as we prepare to receive Jesus, truly present in the Eucharist. May he shine the light of love in the darkest, most wounded areas of our souls to reveal to us what demons we need exorcised. May he heal and strengthen us for the mission he has prepared for us. As we receive Jesus today and place him on our tongue, may we go forward with a commitment to use our tongue to form words of encouragement, empowerment, affirmation, and prayer. May St Peter Catholic Church and all our homes, in the words of Isaiah, “be called a house of prayer for all peoples.”

Link for today’s readings: Twentieth Sunday in Ordinary Time, August 20, 2017

http://www.usccb.org/bible/readings/082017.cfm

“Let the children come to me, and do not prevent them; for the Kingdom of heaven belongs to such as these” (Mt 19:14).

Again we see the disciples refusing access to Jesus. The scriptures are not clear why they are consistent in acting in this way. We see them doing so with the blind man Bartimaeus, the tax collector Zacchaeus, and the Canaanite woman. In today’s reading they are refusing access to children. The consistent characteristic of each who are being refused is that they are considered to be on the periphery of Jewish society.

Children, paidia in Greek, especially so. Paidia could represent a child from infancy to twelve years of age. In ancient Palestine, children were particularly vulnerable, had no status and were completely dependent on their family for survival. Luke goes even further than Mark and Matthew by using, brephē, meaning infant, to describe the children. It is to these children and infants that Jesus states the Kingdom of heaven belongs.

Jesus is consistent in his ministry of paying particular interest to the individual person. He welcomes the children and blesses each one of them. Jesus continually acknowledges and affirms the dignity of each person he meets, especially those neglected and ignored. Those who have been on the periphery, those who have been on the other side of the glass looking, wanting to come in, Jesus gives admittance to. Jesus bridges the divide of separation through his healing touch, and they are willing to receive his invitation and welcome.

To enter the Kingdom of heaven, we must be willing to trust and accept Jesus’ invitation. We must place, like children, even more so, as infants, our total dependence on him, not on our own initiative. There is nothing we can do to earn our way to heaven. Entrance to the Kingdom of heaven is a free gift of God’s grace. We just need the humility to accept the invitation. God must be the total center of our life.

Some Pharisees approached Jesus, and tested him, saying, “Is it lawful for a man to divorce his wife for any cause whatever” (Mt 19:3)?

The question about divorce came from an already existing debate within Jewish circles of interpretation and schools of thought. Testing Jesus arose from time to time to better understand who he would side with. In the particular case of divorce, there was a range of interpretation. On one end of the spectrum there was the School of Shammai, which permitted divorce only in the event of some sexual misconduct. At the other end was the School of Hillel, which would allow a man to divorce his wife if she cooks a bad meal (cf. Harrington, 275).

The Pharisees sought to understand where he stood in the spectrum of thought. Jesus responded: “Have you not read that from the beginning the Creator made them male and female and said, For this reason a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh” (Mt 19:4-5)? The response of Jesus negated both schools. Nor did he acknowledge the precept of Moses who allowed divorce, explaining that, “from the beginning it was not so” (Mt 19:8). Jesus’ defense went back to God’s original intent recorded in the Book of Genesis, which allowed no provision for divorce.

In God’s plan, marriage is a covenantal relationship, as is the relationship between God and his people that is not to be broken. In marriage, we mirror the union between God and his people. The ideal of marriage is to be lifelong; the two giving of themselves freely to one another, and supporting one another, in sickness and in health, until death do us part. Jesus is saying that ought to be the goal and we should settle for nothing less, because this is a covenant. But we live in a fallen world and we do not often live up to what God has planned for us.

For many reasons there are times where a marriages do not work, but that does not mean we give up on marriage. Even though Jesus holds the standard high, he does not abandon us when we ourselves fall. He is present in our woundedness, brokenness, and fallibility. He reminds us: “Those who are well do not need a physician, but the sick do. I did not come to call the righteous but sinners” (Mk 2:17).

It is right to keep our goals high and resist the temptation to settle for anything less than what God has in store for us, which is a covenant relationship with himself. We need to provide education, support, modeling, and mentoring for couples to remain faithful to one another and to God. And when a relationship breaks down, we need to walk with those who suffer through the pain of the rupture. Jesus does not abandon us nor should we abandon one another. We are a broken people seeking healing and reconciliation in so many areas of our lives, and we need to support each other and strive to be faithful to a God who knows and loves us more than we can ever mess up.

Peter approached Jesus and asked him, “Lord, if my brother sins against me, how often must I forgive him? As many as seven times” (Mt 18:21)?

Peter’s initial question of asking to forgive seven times may sound pretty generous to us, because the usual question most of us ask is, “Do I have to forgive at all?” Many of us do not do forgiveness well, even if we look at it as a virtue. If someone says they are sorry, do we say the words I forgive you? Often our automatic response is, “That’s alright”, “It’s ok”, or “No problem”. When we are convicted of a mistake, error or offense, do we ask for forgiveness or operate from a defensive posture to explain why we did what we did, or defend what we did as right, not willing to admit any inappropriate action?

We are very habitual creatures, and much of what I shared is learned behavior. We are conditioned and shaped from our youth. That is why when we hear Jesus’ answer to Peter, “I say to you, not seven times but seventy-seven times”, we may dismiss what Jesus says outright as impossible, or what may come to our minds are those cases or positions that we feel justified in not forgiving. Jesus is yet again raising the bar.

We are to strive to forgive as our heavenly Father forgives. Seventy-seven times? Forgive the same person seventy-seven times? Yes. If someone is seeking forgiveness, we are called to forgive. I don’t believe Jesus means we don’t hold people accountable, remain in a dangerous or life threatening situation, or enable people in self-destructive behavior. Forgiveness has to do with not holding on to the hurt, not allowing the offense to fester as a grudge that builds to hate and negative or violent behavior ourselves. Forgiveness is also a blessing and not a curse. For when we forgive, it is an antidote to the poison someone has injected us with. If we refuse to forgive, we allow the person who has injured us to do so over and over again, we allow that poison to fester.

If you are struggling with holding onto a grudge and past hurts. Visualize yourself approaching the person you have the issue with and saying I forgive you. You may also find it helpful to visualize Jesus standing beside you while you do this exercise. Repeat the process each day in your time of prayer until you start to feel yourself coming to a place of forgiveness, and can imagine that reconciliation is indeed possible. If you find visualizing difficult, sit down and talk to Jesus. Be honest with him, tell him the situation and that you do not want to forgive the person. Then ask for Jesus to help you. Embrace the sacrament of Reconciliation and confess your unwillingness to forgive. When ready, determine how best to reach out to the person to say that you forgive them; a phone call, letter, email, or in person.

We don’t do forgiveness well. But with Jesus, we can begin again. Let us practice saying each morning, “Please forgive me, (Name)” and think of a few thoughts, words, or actions you need to be forgiven for, and then say, “I forgive you (Name), for” and think of a few words, actions, or inactions. Also, Jesus gave us a pretty good prayer: “Forgive us our trespasses and we forgive those who trespass against us.” We are not alone. Remember, Jesus asked God to forgive those who crucified him. We can ask God to forgive those who have offended, hurt, or abused us.

Gossip is a seductive and enticing poison. Many of us fall for its lure and its intoxication. There are many different reasons we engage in gossip. We may think we feel better about ourselves by putting someone else down, we may be jealous of what another has, or maybe someone just rubs us the wrong way. The one reason that we may feel justified in choosing to gossip is when someone has hurt, offended, or wronged us in some way. Even in that instance, Jesus offers a different approach in today’s Gospel.

Jesus said to his disciples: “If your brother sins against you, go and tell him his fault between you and him alone” (Mt 18:15). Jesus is drawing on his Jewish heritage here. Leviticus 19:17 warns against holding hate in your heart and instead encourages seeking to reason with your brother. Jesus is redirecting us from adding fuel to the fire by seeking revenge, or stewing in our own hurt, which will build resentment and hate. Instead he is inviting us to  seek reconciliation.

Pope Francis, in his September 9, 2016 General Audience was very clear: “The gossip is a ‘terrorist’ who throws a grenade – chatter – in order to destroy,” he added. “Please, fight against division, because it is one of the weapons that the devil uses to destroy the local Church and the universal Church.” Let us refuse to be a weapon of the devil in his plot to divide with our thoughts or our words, but instead seek to be a disciple of Jesus by advocating for forgiveness and reconciliation.

May we make a commitment to be more discerning with our tongue. With our words we can cut, wound, or destroy, or we can convict, reconcile, and heal. Let us choose today to lift up and empower one another. Yes, it is much easier to grumble about someone than to approach them in love and hold them accountable. If we are not quite ready for that, Pope Francis invites us to “bite our tongue” instead or we can choose to pray about the situation with someone we trust: “For where two or three are gathered together in my name, there am I in the midst of them” (Mt 18-20). With Jesus in our midst, we will have a better chance of choosing reconciliation over gossip.

Link for the Mass Readings for the Day:

http://www.usccb.org/bible/readings/081617.cfm

Link for Pope Francis’ comments:

https://cruxnow.com/vatican/2016/09/10/pope-francis-warns-gossip-destroys-church-within/

Image credit: Katherine Brown

“For at the moment the sound of your greeting reached my ears,
the infant in my womb leaped for joy” (Lk 1:44).

After Mary, conceived Jesus, through the power of the Holy Spirit,  she went in haste to the home of her relative Elizabeth. As soon as Elizabeth heard Mary’s greeting, John leapt for joy in her womb. When we experience great joy we want to share it with others, just as Mary did. When we unite with those we love we, like John, we leap for joy.

There was no one closer to Jesus than Mary. She bore him, nursed him, raised him, initiated, in motherly fashion, his public ministry, held him in her arms as he was taken down from the cross, and she was with the Apostles in the upper room when the Holy Spirit descended upon them. Mary, like Jesus, was also Immaculately conceived. When her time came, who better than Mary to have experienced the “singular participation in her Son’s resurrection and an anticipation of the resurrection of other Christians” (966).

Today we celebrate the official dogmatic constitution issued by Pope Pius XII in 1950, the Assumption of Mary, the final grace she received from her Son. Today is a day of joy! Jesus is the promise and Mary is the hope that we will live eternally with our heavenly Father, for Mary is now where we will one day be, body and soul. This is a day to celebrate!

Jesus and Mary have undone the sin of Adam and Eve. They in their faithful life and witness to God have opened up heaven for us. This is the Gospel, this is Good News! In our darkest trials, when storm clouds of injustice seem to gather, when nothing appears to get better, there is hope, because there is a light that shines in the darkness:  “My soul proclaims the greatness of the Lord; my spirit rejoices in God my Savior for he has looked with favor on his lowly servant.” God is ever faithful and present to us in his mercy. May we like Mary ponder the wonderful gifts of our Father’s Love, Mercy, and bestowal of his Grace.

Mary, like the moon, reflects the light of her Son. May we celebrate with thanksgiving today this wonderful gift we have been given of experiencing the foretaste of heaven and so go forward with haste, reflecting the radiance of Jesus in our life by being beacons of light and hope, and today at some point leap with joy! Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us now and at the hour of our death!

For the readings of the Mass for Tuesday, August 15, 2017:

http://www.usccb.org/bible/readings/081517-mass-during-day.cfm

Catechism of the Catholic Church

Jesus said to him, “Then the subjects are exempt. But that we may not offend them, go to the sea, drop in a hook, and take the first fish that comes up.  (Mt 17:26-27).

Jesus recognizes religious law as well as civil law, and if there is to be order and stability there needs to be an acknowledgement of and respect for the law, as Jesus said, “But that we may not offend them” and as he will say later, give back to Caesar what belongs to Caesar and to God what belongs to God (cf. Mt 22:21). These statements really cannot be used to adequately draw a parallel to the modern church and state issue, as there are many complexities and nuances to address that are beyond the scope of this reflection.

Also, the editorial hand of Matthew is in place here. The major issue for him is how to be a faithful Jew and at the same time a faithful follower of Jesus, while also living under the occupation of Rome. If one is seeking a barometer on how to act as a disciple of Jesus in today’s world, Jesus’ message is consistent and clear: “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind, and with all your strength. The second is this: You shall love your neighbor as yourself” (Mk 12:30-31).

Jesus not only gave us these words to live by, he consistently embodied them in every word he spoke, action he took, teaching he taught, and miracle he performed. In this greatest commandment, Jesus also redefined neighbor, as to represent all human beings, even those that we would consider our enemies. Each human person has dignity in that he or she has been created in the image and likeness of God. Any law is subservient to that fundamental starting point.

Each and every decision we make today, no matter how small or large, in dealing with one another on an individual to individual basis, all the way to national legislation, is to have as the starting point, the human dignity of the person. When we define any human being as other through labels, when we seek to belittle, delegitimize, or dehumanize any person, we are wounding the dignity of the person and ourselves. This is the root of conflict, aggression, prejudice, racism, tribalism, nationalism, violence, and war.

Jesus gave his life that we might have life and have it to the full. He taught and teaches us still, to see each other as human beings, brothers and sisters, with distinct gifts and viewpoints. Each and every one of us has something to offer for the greater good, and each and every one of us are beloved by God. May we join in prayer today for Heather Heyer and those wounded bodily and spiritually in Charlottesville, but not only there. Let us pray for forgiveness, healing and reconciliation for the many places in ourselves, in our families, communities, countries and world ravaged by hatred, violence and war.

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Mass Readings for today, Monday, August 14, 2017:

http://www.usccb.org/bible/readings/081417.cfm

Image credit: William Zadanak

After doing so, he went up on the mountain by himself to pray.
When it was evening he was there alone (Mt 14:23)

“After doing so,” is referring immediately to the preceding verse where Jesus dismisses the five-thousand after he had fed them and forced his disciples to go ahead of him and sail off to the other side of the Sea of Galilee. Jesus was now alone, which was the reason he originally came to this deserted place but the people had followed him. Though weary, and worn, Jesus “went up on the mountain by himself to pray.”

We need to do the same. In the midst of our business, we need to make time to be alone and pray. Like Jesus, we have many demands on our time. We may have many obligations, many people, and many challenges pulling at us. We also may have many distractions, anxieties, and fears that tempt us when we do move in the direction of making time to pray. For being quiet, being still, can be a fearful thing. It is here we are called to face ourselves, our sin, our despair, loneliness, or our pain, suffering, and hurt. As Jesus walked up the mountain, I am sure two recent events, being rejected in his hometown and the death of John the Baptist, were on his mind.

If making time for prayer has been a challenge, then the first step is to just begin with examining your days to find some “crumbs of wasted time to try to build short moments for recollection and prayer, we may discover that there is quite a lot of it” (Bloom 49). The point is to begin, and it is not so important how or what we pray, but to just make a commitment to two, three, five minutes each day to let go of time so you can just be in the present, in the moment. It is in the present moment that we can encounter God.

Choose a place where you know you will not be interrupted, set an alarm for the time you choose, so you can be freed from watching the clock, and then just take a few deep breaths and rest with God. Say to yourself, “I am seated, I am doing nothing, I will do nothing for five minutes, then relax” (52). The goal to start is not so much what you do during this time, it is that you complete the time you have committed to, no matter what arises. You can just examine the day, say the Lord’s prayer slowly, breathe, talk freely with God. Resist the temptations that will arise to stop and get up.

You may find even a couple of minutes very difficult, but once you have given yourself time each day for about a week, the exercise will become a little easier. You will begin to create a stable foundation of stillness that will begin to stay with you during the busier times of the day. You will begin to experience some more patience, begin to catch those times when your shoulders were in your ears and you were not even aware of it.

If you do not believe that this can be done, then you can use this blog post as a confirmation. I did not believe I had the time to write this, there was already too much on my plate. But I felt God encouraging me to go deeper into the Gospel readings, pray with them, and share what insights I received. The only goal was to write one entry a day. I have been doing so each day since late June.

One stepping stone at a time is the key. Choose a time and place to commit to be still, sit, breathe, and complete your time of stillness. God will take care of the rest!

Mass Readings for today, Saturday, August 12, 2017:

http://www.usccb.org/bible/readings/081217.cfm

Bloom, Anthony. Beginning to Pray. New York: Paulist Press, 1970.