Jesus, please help us to see.
As Christians we are often called, along with Jews and Muslims, the people of the Book. This is in reference to our sacred texts, the Torah, the Qu’ran, and the Bible. In actuality, Christians are not a people of the Book, nor is Christianity an idea, philosophy, even a theology, or series of practices. Christianity and being a Christian is about an encounter with a person. That person is Jesus the Christ.
If we do not know Jesus, then the words of our Bible just become dead letters, our philosophy and theology are just intellectual exercises, and our religious observances provide little meaning or relevance for our life. Our presence in Mass or Church can just be something we do.
This could be why for every one person who joins the Catholic Church today six to eight people are leaving. People leave for their own reasons, but the underlying cause could be that in their experience of Church they are not encountering Jesus, they are not feeling welcomed or a part of a community that cares about them, and/or maybe in their daily lives they are not building, nor are they aware of how to build and sustain a relationship with Jesus.
Each of us hunger and thirst to experience and know the living God. Each of us seek meaning, purpose, and fulfillment in our lives. We have been created to be loved and to love, we have been created to belong, to be a part of, to be in relationship. We live, crave, and desire to be in relationship with God and one another, and this is true for the atheist and the mystic alike.
In our Gospel reading from Luke today, Jesus is speaking to his disciples, those who have encountered him and said yes to following him. Jesus teaches them and us important lessons of discipleship.
One we hear or read today is that a blind person cannot lead a blind person, otherwise both will fall into the pit. Jesus is speaking about more than physical sight, but spiritual sight. We all have some level of spiritual blindness. We do not see those thoughts, behaviors, and desires within ourselves that keep us from deepening our relationship with Jesus or even those that will help us to develop and sustain a relationship with him. Jesus invites us to experience his love, to receive his healing touch, to bask in the light of his grace so as to reveal to us our sin.
Jesus meets us where we are and loves us as we are. When we receive his love, we experience that he loves us, as we are, with all of our faults, mistakes, sins, wounds, and our brokenness. We then receive his healing touch when we let our guard down and lower our defenses. As we heal, we can see our sinful actions and patterns and the reality that they are apparent goods, empty promises that will leave us unfulfilled.
As we experience the love of Jesus, the knots of our sins are loosed, and we feel more comfortable to let God into all the areas of our life. Then our lives begin to change. We are transformed from only focusing on ourselves and our own needs, to begin to be aware of the needs of others, even those who have looked down at us or hurt us with their prejudicial and abusive looks and words.
How then do we come to know, build, and sustain a relationship with Jesus?
We do so by spending time each day reading and praying God’s word. I remember reading from the Gospel of Luke 12:22 when I was about seventeen. The passage talked about not worrying about your life. I then felt God speak to me. He said that I would never win the lotto, but he would always provide work for me. My wife and I read the daily readings of the Mass each evening together and then I read a reflection that I post online each day. In this way, this is no ordinary book, but the living word of God. Through this daily practice, JoAnn and I drew closer to God and each other.
We can spend five to ten minutes a day in quiet prayer, meditating on the Gospel, sharing our concerns with Jesus, thanking him for our blessings, and just being still to be led by him. We can ask Jesus to reveal to us our sin, we can ask him to help us to remove the log in our own eye, so that we can see more clearly to help another to remove the splinter in their eye. I meditate and pray when I first get up before I head to school and spending this time with Jesus has provided a firm foundation for me to meet the challenges of the day.
We encounter Jesus by learning about our faith through reading and praying with the Bible, studying the Catechism and the lives of the saints, as well as other spiritual reading, videos, podcasts and the like. On my way to and from work, I listen to different podcasts that I find enriching and empowering.
JoAnn and I, though resisting at first because of our busy schedules and enjoying winding down in the evenings, joined a small group at church which has been a wonderful gift. We were and I continue to blessed by our weekly time of fellowship, learning, and growing in our relationship with Jesus and each other.
We can also encounter Jesus in our negative thoughts. When a judgmental thought, urge to gossip, to say something that is negative arises, we can seek Jesus at the first moment this poison arises and ask him to help us to instead think and say the good things that people need to hear, things that will be instructive, empowering, and hopeful. We can do the same with our temptations.
We can encounter Jesus by allowing our hearts and minds to be open to respond when he moves us to reach out to be present to someone with our words and actions, even in simple ways such as sharing a smile, making the time to listen, or offering support or assistance in the moment of another’s need, even when it is not convenient, or the best time for an interruption.
We also encounter Jesus in the sacraments, especially the Mass, through the word proclaimed, the music, in our fellowship together, and especially, in the Eucharist, Jesus’ Body and Blood that we will receive. This is a sacred moment of encounter with Jesus and his Body coming together as one.
Each of these examples are small, practical ways that we all can encounter Jesus in our daily lives. Jesus is already reaching out to us, inviting us to be in relationship with him and his Father. Being willing to encounter and build our relationship with him is not only for ourselves but as we come to experience, develop and deepen our relationship with Jesus, experience his love and mercy and how his grace builds on our nature, we are to share Jesus with others.
As Jesus becomes more present in our lives, we are healed of our blindness and begin to see and share, that which is truly good, true, and beautiful. As we see our sin, and through our participation in the life of Jesus are healed so to remove the log in our eye, we can then lead others to remove the splinter in their eyes.
Jesus, please help us to pray for each other, support and be present to one another in our everyday experiences, as well as to open our hearts and minds to receive the loving embrace of God our Father. And may the flame of the Holy Spirit catch fire and rise within each of us such that we may go forth and set the world on fire with God’s love.
Photo by Mathew Thomas from Pexels
Link for the Mass readings for Sunday, February 27, 2022
We are to be like children by recognizing our dependency on God.
In today’s pericope, or scene from the Gospel,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 offered, but what is shared is the indignance of Jesus. Jesus rebuked his disciples: “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” (Mk 10:14-15).
Jesus consistently offered grace to those who might otherwise be prevented from receiving it. Jesus provided healings for the possessed, lepers, women, the blind, the lame, tax collectors and sinners. The very fact that this short account mentioning children is even included in an ancient near Eastern text says something profound. Jesus recognized the dignity of children as was also recorded in Mark 9:36-37 when he stated that whoever receives a child in his name, receives him.
Children in the ancient Near East had no recognized social status. Orphans were at risk and needed to be taken care of. Children up to two years old were vulnerable in many ways and as such, experienced a high rate of infant mortality. Because of this reality, many parents may have developed an unconscious, defensive posture that they did not become too attached to their children until after they were two years of age. This harsh reality could also 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 so 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, one recourse was to leave them in a local dump to die. Christians would retrieve the infants and bring them into their homes and raise them as their own.
Jesus also used this opportunity as a teachable moment when he 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. From the historical context of infants and young children during the time of Jesus and Jesus equating that the kingdom of heaven belongs to such as them, he could be leading his followers and us to the understanding that we are to depend totally and place all our trust in God as our Father.
God has created us to be in relationship with him and one another. We need him as an infant does for his or her own very survival. This also means that we do not buy or earn our way into the kingdom of Heaven because God and his realm is so transcendent, so beyond us, that we cannot possibly get there on our own effort and merit. We enter the kingdom of God through the door of his Son, who is the way, the truth and the life.
Just as Jesus opens his arms to embrace the children in today’s Gospel, 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. It is relationship with God who we are wired for, he is our hope, our meaning, and our fulfillment.
Thank you Jesus for the gift of loving us and revealing to us our dignity, value, and worth. Help us to accept and embrace this gift of your love so that we may love each other as brothers and sisters. Help us 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 to and including our elder years until natural death.
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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, February 25, 2022
Marriage is a sacred bond and a gift.
Jesus addresses the 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 order 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 within the Church have not been sufficiently 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 referred to those who have entered into and have celebrated the Sacrament of Matrimony did 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. 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, self centeredness of one or both, and then the choice for separation, and regrettably a dissolution.
From this choice, whether made by one or both, 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 and committed to one another at each stage. Certainly, no one can prepare for everything, nor can we foresee the unannounced surprises that life can bring, but we will be on firmer ground when in the beginning there is a mutual willingness to put in the effort, the sacrifice, the support, and to love, not the 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 acknowledge Jesus’ presence when all goes well and to seek his help when life gets bumpy.
Pope Francis has offered some advice as well: 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 that 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, that is objectification. Each of us are sacred, human beings endowed with dignity, value, and worth. We are loved more than we can ever imagine by God and we are to mirror that same love on earth as it is in heaven.
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Photo: Date night!
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, February 25, 2022
A way to alleviate our suffering, is to help another who is suffering.
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. The reality that 771 million people do not have adequate access to the most basic of needs, safe drinking water (water.org), is an amazing and saddening statistic. The most serious of sins in this regard is not bothering to care. Jesus shared clearly, in the Gospel of Matthew (cf. chapter 25), that what we do to the least of our brothers and sisters, we do to him.
We have a choice to act in ways: that limit or provide access for people seeking such basic necessities as food, water, and shelter; that harm or hurt; that divide or unify. Jesus uses 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, but he is showing us the seriousness and cost of our sin in this life and the next. Whether we refuse to give or provide someone a drink has consequences.
Life is hard, people suffer. 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 that are divisive, dehumanizing, and self serving; 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. When we act in these ways, we are going against God’s plan that we pray for each day: “May your kingdom come, may your will be done on earth as it is in heaven.”
Jesus is not calling us to leap out of bed today to amass heroic acts of virtue, nor is he asking us to enact massive change alone and all at once. The disciples took time to get his message and get on board, so it will take time for us as well. As followers of Jesus, we need to resist the temptations of turning in upon ourselves and of being self-centered, looking out for our own concerns alone. Instead we need to experience the truth of how Jesus loves us more than we can ever imagine. We do so when we open our hearts and minds to receive his love and share it by willing the good of each other and as we do so we will be transformed.
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Photo: Jesus frees us from our suffering when we align ours with his. Crucifix at St Peter Catholic Church, Jupiter, FL.
Link for the Mass readings for Thursday, February 24, 2022
Let us be still and listen to the voice of God in the quiet of our hearts and follow his lead.
An elitist posture 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 in action throughout his life and that is that the kingdom of God is open to all those who were willing to receive his invitation to enter into a relationship his Father. That relationship 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, and not to be an elite club. The depth of active participation is only limited by one’s willingness to be engaged in participating in the life of Jesus.
Jesus again offers us a 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 as well. There is much that we can do together with Christians of other denominations, people of other faith traditions, and people of good will as well.
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 tempts us 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, to be open to the leading of the Holy Spirit and to act as he leads us.
Jesus, invites us to spend time in prayer to better know God our Father and his will for our life. He encourages us to slow down so that we can listen and be still so that we will recognize his voice in the silence of our hearts and come to know how we can best act each day to be of help and support. In our own unique ways, let us meet division, polarization, and dehumanization, with the healing balm of unity, dialogue, and empowerment.
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Photo: CN contemplatives in action!
Link for the Mass reading for Wednesday, February 23, 2022
No to war and yes to turning swords into plowshares.
Jesus asked, “Who do people say that the Son of Man is” (Mt. 16:13)? Peter answers Jesus by saying that Jesus is: “The Messiah, the Son of the Living God” (Mt: 16:16). In other words, Jesus is Emmanuel, God with us.
When we dig a little deeper, another question that might overshadow the question of who Jesus is, is where is Jesus, especially as tensions between Russia and Ukraine rise, the instability in Afghanistan, Syria, and Yemen remain and other areas of the world continue to experience increasing violence as well.
What does Peter’s response that Jesus is the Christ the Son of the living God have to do with the above examples of ongoing and escalating violence? This means Jesus is one with us. The infinite reality of God is present within each human being that exists because Jesus became one with us so that we can be one with him. We have been created in God’s image and likeness and this is true from the moment of our conception through each stage of life until natural death. The unfortunate effects of Orignal sin are that our image has been distorted and our likeness to God has been lost. The fact that we continue to dehumanize and delegitimize the dignity of each other only continues to fuel this divide between us and God. We continue to choose self over God and continue to perpetuate the loss of our dignity.
Does Jesus care? Yes, just as Jesus said, “Saul, Saul why are you persecuting me” (Acts 9:4)?, he asks the same to all who would take up arms to maim and destroy the dignity of his Body and spill his Blood. Jesus experiences the death of each and every life that is lost to violence, whether in war torn regions of the world as well or in our own escalation of violence in our own country. How does Jesus the Christ, the Son of God, experiences these horrific tragedies? For what you do to the least of these, my brothers and sisters, you did it to me (cf. Mt 25:31-46).
Violence will continue as long as we refuse to see the dignity present in each and every life. Each and every one of us is interconnected and what effects one of us effects all of us. Human beings are not: to be disposed of as political pawns, collateral damage, illegal, to be objectified, property to be used, and/or to be abused. As we prepare for this Lent let us pray and fast, that the conflict between Russia and Ukraine de-escalates, that hearts and minds throughout the world may moved to lay down their weapons, walk away from violence, turn our swords into plowshares, our spears into pruning hooks, and no longer to lift our swords up to each other and choose instead reconciliation over war (cf. Isaiah 2:4).
We need to place our trust in Jesus Christ, the Son of the living God, and turn to him in prayer, offering him our anger, our doubt, our pain, and our yearning for justice, mercy, peace, and a will to seek healing and forgiveness instead of violence. We also can take heart in knowing that pain, injustice, violence, and death do not have the last word. Jesus suffered violence and died a brutal death, and conquered death to give us another way. As we pray and work for change, may we find some comfort in the words of Fr. James Martin, S.J.: “Life is stronger than death. Love stronger than hatred. Hope is stronger than despair. Nothing is impossible with God.”
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Painting: Icon of Christ: Swords Into Plowshares by Kelly Latimore
The final quote came from a talk given by Fr. James Martin, S.J. given on April 22, 2014, titled On Pilgrimage with James Martin, SJ, Fordham University.
Link for Mass readings for Saturday, February 22, 2022
“I do believe, help my unbelief.”
In the opening of today’s Gospel, we witness Jesus, Peter, James, and John returning from the experience of the transfiguration. As they draw closer they witness a commotion, for while they were away, a man had brought his son to the other disciples to expel a demon from him but they could not. As they draw closer, the father appeals to Jesus: “But if you can do anything, have compassion on us and help us.” Jesus said to him, “‘If you can!’ Everything is possible to one who has faith.” Then the boy’s father cried out, “I do believe, help my unbelief” (Mk 9:22-24).
Jesus’ response to the man is clear and consistent with his teaching, miracles, exorcisms, and healings. We see that the key ingredient over and over again throughout the Gospels is an appeal to Jesus’ help and the person’s faith. What may be unclear is the man’s response, “I do believe, help my unbelief!” This statement not only addresses his experience but those of his disciples who were not able to heal the boy.
The man did have faith in Jesus to a point, for he brought his son to him believing that he could possibly heal him. His words reveal the maturity of his faith, “But if you can do anything…” This request shows some doubt. This is much different than the woman with the hemorrhage who believed if she but just touched the tassel on his cloak she would be healed or the Canaanite woman who sought to have her daughter exorcised even though Jesus initially dismissed her for being a Gentile.
The father’s statement, “I do believe, help my unbelief!”, is beneficial to us all. The father believes in Jesus to a point, but recognizes he needs help to go further in his faith. Jesus confirms that what is important in maturing in our faith life is being people of prayer. When his disciples talked to him in private, they asked him why they were not able to heal the boy and Jesus replied, “This kind can only come out through prayer.”
Prayer is not a magic formula. Prayer is about becoming aware of God’s invitation to develop and sustain a relationship with him. When we make time for God in our day and recognize his presence in every aspect of our life, we come to know him and know his will in each situation. The exorcism of the young boy happened because the father of the boy appealed to Jesus that he needed his help to believe. The disciples could not heal because they sought to do so through their own will power alone instead of drawing on the infinite source of Jesus.
The good news is that even though time and again they fell short, and we see plenty of examples of this, they persisted in their faith, in their belief in Jesus. They grew in their trust in him such that the disciples did mature, and they recognized that apart from Jesus they could do nothing,
So much so, that we see Peter, who had denied Jesus, reconciled with him after his Resurrection, would some time after the Ascension of Jesus, come to encounter a man crippled from birth who was begging for alms. Peter said to the man: “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” (Acts 3:6).
Peter’s faith grew over time, through failure, sin, and unbelief, but he, like the father in today’s Gospel, gives us a model to follow each and every day. We can mature in our faith as well. Let us begin our day with this prayer and return to if often: Jesus “I do believe, help my unbelief.”
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Photo by Pic Rodrigues at Pexels.com
Link for the Mass readings for Monday, February 21, 2022
“Forgive and you will be forgiven.”
As Christians, we are called by Jesus to live lives of holiness, with the end goal of being saints. Saints are those who are about one thing. They know what God requires of them and they do it. Each on of us are invited to live lives of sanctity as well, no matter our age or our vocation. What we need to realize is that we cannot attain holiness on our own. For apart from Jesus we can do nothing, yet in participation with Jesus all things are possible. We also need to understand that Jesus is not “just an idea but a person” (Barron 6, 2016).
We receive a demanding challenge from this person in our Gospel reading from Luke today in an excerpt from Jesus’ Sermon on the Plain. This provides a nice opportunity for us to assess how we are doing in living our life as a Christian.
Let’s look at the first two. How many of us this week have been regularly loving our enemies or doing good to those who hate us? Let’s look at these two points a little more concretely, how did you react the last time you were cut off in traffic? Did you bless them with the sign of the cross or offer another gesture? What was your internal reaction the last time you perceived that someone was rude or impatient with you? Were you rude and impatient in return, did you stew within, or were you understanding and patient?
How many people have you blessed this week that have cursed you and how many people did you pray for that mistreated you? I could go on, but I encourage you to read the entire account prayerfully and reflectively. Resist the temptation to slip into rationalizations and defensiveness or to throw your Bible or computer across the room.
Jesus is helping us to understand the kind of love he calls us to engage in. This love is not about emotion, mere sentiment, or about feeling good about ourselves because we have done something nice for someone else. This love is not about giving to get something in return. This love that Jesus is imploring us to live in and share, is about willing the good of other as other and realizing that apart from placing ourselves in a position of receiving and experiencing the unconditional and merciful love of Jesus, we are not capable of loving others.
Jesus also shares that we are to: “Forgive and you will be forgiven.” We do not do forgiveness well. Thus, we do not experience forgiveness, and so remain stuck in a this growing cycle of unforgiveness, bitterness, division, polarization, separation, and isolation. If we instead put more effort into consciously practicing forgiveness and asking Jesus to forgive us, for what we have done and have failed to do, I am convinced that we will experience his love and mercy and be better agents of healing and reconciliation.
Lent is almost upon us. Lent is a good time to participate in the healing power of the sacrament of Reconciliation. By doing so we experience the love of being forgiven. Once we experience God’s tender love and forgiveness, we will be able to begin to love our enemies, do good to those who hate us, bless those who curse and mistreat us. We will begin to offer the other cheek to the one who strikes us, do to others what we would have them do to us, and be merciful because we have received the mercy of our Father in heaven.
Jesus calls us for a purpose, to be holy and set apart, to live as saints, to live as Jesus calls us to live in his Sermon on the plain, which is to be about one thing, opening our hearts and minds, applying our faith and reason, as we receive the love of Holy Spirit so as to love God, ourselves and our neighbors as ourselves.
Photo: from an evening walk two nights ago.
Quote from Francis Cardinal George from the forward to: Barron, Robert. The Priority of Christ: Toward a Postliberal Catholicism. Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Academic, 2016.
Link for the Mass readings for Sunday, February 20, 2022
Spiritual Stepping Stones 