“A sower went out to sow. And as he sowed, some seed fell on the path, and birds came and ate it up” (Mt 13:4). With these words Jesus begins his Parable of the Sower. We read later in verse 19 Jesus’ explanation that: “The seed sown on the path is the one who hears the word of the kingdom without understanding it, and the evil one comes and steals away what is sown in his heart.”

The kingdom of Heaven begins small like a seed. God invites us to participate in his life. God meets us in our present moments and experiences, but the key is are we aware? There are many times in our life that we pass off a synchronistic occurence as mere coincidence. It is quite possible that God is at work, planting a seed and yet our minds and hearts are closed such that we do not allow that seed to be received. The moment passes and the seed is stolen by the evil one.

A path is a worn area of land not suitable for growth because it is hardened by much foot traffic. When we are hardened to life such that we cannot weep, cannot feel our emotions, the seed, who is Jesus, has no place to germinate in our life. We often do not feel compassion toward others because we would rather hold onto our pride and bear a grudge; we would rather be unforgiving because we would rather be right or avenged; we may have been abused, betrayed, wounded, and/or suffered a deep loss and we are afraid to take the risk of being hurt again. 

In allowing our hearts to be hardened, we close ourselves off from the source of our life, our very being, and we allow the evil one to steal the gift of life that God offers. God the Father has sent his Son to come close and to dwell among us. He seeks the cracks and places that have not been hardened, where there is some loose soil, the places in our being that are still open to faith, hope, and love.

Jesus, may the seed of your Word come into our lives today to reveal your truth so that we may understand who we are and who your Father calls us to be. Send your Holy Spirit to dwell deep within our hearts and take root in every aspect of our lives such that we can begin to heal; to feel compassion; to hope; to have faith, and to love.

———————————————————–

Photo by Gelgas Airlangga from Pexels

Link for the Mass readings for Wednesday, July 21, 2021

What Jesus proposes is not an either/or statement, but is meant to be a both/and statement. The end goal of our life is to be in communion with God. To attain that goal, we need to not only acknowledge that God exists but also come to know and follow God’s will. As Jesus said, “For whoever does the will of my heavenly Father is my brother, and sister, and mother.” (Mt 12:50). The challenge is that there is so much that pulls at us for our attention, so much that reaches out to divert us. People, activities, material pursuits are all vying for first place for our minds, hearts, and souls.

The challenge and demands of family life are tremendous. We often read, hear, and experience ourselves, how much the family is being challenged in our modern age. Many of us strive to put family first in our lives. That ought to and needs to be a priority as healthy relationships require commitment, love, sacrifice, and persistence. What Jesus offers then seems to be counter-intuitive to that reality.

Jesus is approached, in the midst of is teaching, and told that his mother and brothers were there wanting to see him. We would think he would say, “Great! Bring them right in, I have a place reserved for them here, front and center!” Yet, I am sure that his comment, “Who is my mother? Who are my brothers” (Mt 12:49), raised a few eyebrows and hackles.

Jesus was not choosing his disciples over his family, he was clarifying that the primacy of place of God his Father is to be first and foremost. “For whoever does the will of my heavenly Father is my brother, and sister, and mother” (Mt 12:50). Families come in many different shapes and sizes, one size indeed does not fit all. Building our relationship with our heavenly Father is the foundation toward striving toward healthier relationships.

As we deepen our relationship with God, our ego and self-centeredness become less of a focus. This is no overnight or easy process, but as we do so each day we will begin to experience God’s love a little more. As the relationship of God becomes foremost in our life instead of ourselves, we will begin to change. We will start to become more patient, understanding, less reactive, and more present. These qualities are very helpful in improving our relationships.

As we continue to mature in our spiritual life, we will also begin to experience the fruits of the Holy Spirit, which St. Paul shared to be love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, gentleness, and self-control (cf. Galatians 5:22-23). by putting these gifts into practice, we will be more available to others and better able to foster deeper relationships with our own family members, while at the same time coming to experience a larger extended family, those beyond blood.

Who was the closest relationship Jesus had? Mary. Not because she gave birth to him, but because who better than Mary followed the will of his Father? If life with some family members is a little bumpy right now or you just want to deepen your familial bonds, might I suggest that we assume the posture of Mary and say often, “May it be done to me according to your word” (Lk 1:38).

Photo: Leaning on God and each other two years ago in Los Angeles!

Link for the Mass readings for Tuesday, July 20, 2021

“An evil and unfaithful generation seeks a sign, but no sign will be given it except the sign of Jonah the prophet” (Mt 12:39).

Jonah is the prophet best known as the one who spent three days and nights in the belly of a whale, great fish, or sea monster, depending on your scriptural translation. Jonah ended up in that predicament because he refused to follow God’s direction to speak his message of forgiveness to the sworn enemies of Israel, the Ninevites. It would be like God asking one of us to fly out to the Middle East to meet with members of ISIS or Al-Qaeda and invite them to repent. Not only would we not believe they would want to repent, would we want them to even if they would? Also, whether they did or didn’t, would we be able to return from such a meeting with our heads intact?

These were probably some of the issues running through Jonah’s mind when he refused to follow God’s will. After swimming to shore, Jonah overcame his resistance and followed the command of the Lord, kept his head on his shoulders, and the people of Nineveh repented. Happy, happy, joy, joy! Not exactly. At the repentance of his enemies and God’s expression of mercy and forgiveness, Jonah said to God, “This is why I fled at first to Tarshish. I knew that you were a gracious and merciful God, slow to anger, rich in clemency, loathe to punish” (Jonah 4:2)”. Jonah shows his hardness of heart in that he did not want to go to Nineveh because he did not want his enemies to receive God’s forgiveness!

The scribes and the Pharisees asked Jesus for a sign and the sign of Jonah is what he gives them: The Ninevites, Gentiles, non-Jews, were willing to repent at the word of Jonah, and those scribes and Pharisees questioning Jesus, God’s chosen, were not willing to repent at the urging of one greater than Jonah, the Son of God, who was in their midst.

Jesus announced his ministry, as recorded in Mark 1:15, with the words: “The kingdom of heaven is at hand. Repent and believe in the Gospel.” That is again our invitation today, to examine our conscience by asking God to help us to recognize his presence among us, then reflect on what good God has done in our lives and give him thanks. Review the last day or two to see where God has called us to act. Where did we answer his call, where did we, like Jonah resist or refuse?

Someone greater than Jonah is in our midst today, he is Jesus the Christ. May we be willing to allow his love, mercy, and forgiveness to fill us and to soften our hardness of hearts. Pope Francis shared that, “God’s mercy is understood only when it has been poured out onto us, onto our sins, onto our miseries”. Once we are willing to repent and be healed we will be more willing to allow his love and mercy to flow through us to all those we meet in person and online. Even, and especially, those for whom we would rather not: those who get under our skin, grate on our nerves, and/or those who mirror to us our own biases and prejudices.

Suffering is a very concrete and harsh reality. That is something we all agree on whether we believe in God or not. The question is how to we respond to suffering. We can often fall into the response of denial, despair, covering our suffering with temporary, apparent goods or pushing forward to fix our situations or wish our problems away, but none of these work very well for the long term. Jonah found that out very well.

The answer Jesus gives us is the Cross. We enter into the suffering. Jesus did not heal everyone, nor does he do so today, but what he did, does, and calls us to do, is to draw close. True healing comes from the journey into and through suffering to the other side. There is no resurrection without the Cross. When we enter into our suffering we will not be alone. We will find Jesus waiting for us with his arms wide open to embrace us and journey with us. This is what we are to offer others as well, not an answer to their suffering or a silver bullet fix all, but our love and our presence to remain side by side and walk together. This is where God’s healing and mercy happen.

—————————————

Pope Francis blesses a prisoner during his 2015 visit to Philadelphia – Photo credit – CNS photo/Paul Haring

Link for Pope Francis homily, October 6, 2015

Link for the Mass readings for, Monday, July 19, 2021

“Woe to the shepherds who mislead and scatter the flock of my pasture, says the LORD… You have scattered my sheep and driven them away. You have not cared for them” (Jer 23:1-2).

The shepherds that Jeremiah spoke about in our first reading were the five kings that Jeremiah consistently called to task during the 7th and 6th centuries BC. Each of these leaders were more corrupt than the next. More and more they looked after their own interests and welfare and less and less they sought to provide care and support for their people.

Jeremiah not only spoke truth to power he also prophesied:

“Behold, the days are coming, says the LORD, when I will raise up a righteous shoot to David” (Jer 23:5).

As Christians, we believe that Jesus is that righteous shoot. He is the Shepherd that has been caring for his sheep for generations up to this day. Jesus is also the one who the Psalmist sings of:

“Even though I walk in the dark valley I fear no evil; for you are at my side with your rod and your staff that give me courage” (Psalm 23:4).

In today’s Gospel from Mark, Jesus gathered his apostles together and lead them off to a quiet place for rest, but once they arrived at their location and disembarked from their boat, Jesus “saw the vast crowd, [and] his heart was moved with pity for them, for they were like sheep without a shepherd” (Mk 6:34).

I invite you to imagine for a moment, that Jesus disembarks today on the shores of America. If he is allowed to enter, who does he encounter? Unfortunately, he will meet two thousand plus unborn whose lives have been cut short today, almost a hundred citizens killed by gun violence today, an unknown number of immigrant children who still have not been reunited with their families. He will also walk among thousands affected by human trafficking, domestic violence, discrimination, racism, sexism, and addiction, hundreds of thousands of homeless, millions without access to healthcare and gainful employment. Jesus weeps because of the level of indifference and rationalization, the widening gap between the rich and poor, and his heart aches as he witnesses the gathering darkness of polarization and division.

May we too have the eyes to see and the ears to hear the suffering of our brothers and sisters. It is time for us as Christians to remember who we are. We are an Alleluia people, we are a people of hope and joy because we are members of the Body of Christ, the Church. We just need to remember who our Shepherd is.

St. Paul knew his shepherd and wrote to the Church at Ephesus and he speaks to us right now:

Jesus is our peace, he who made both ONE and broke down the dividing wall of enmity.

Our starting place is to acknowledge where we contribute to building walls of enmity or hatred between ourselves and others. Instead of projecting our fears, anxieties, biases, and prejudices out toward one another, Jesus shines a light for us, to help us to see within our own darkness, to identify the roots of our sin growing deep within us, so that we can confess them to God and one another and uproot them.

Jesus commands us to love, to will the good of the other as other. We are better able to do so when we are willing to die to our own ego, our own self-centered, fallen nature and instead collaborate with Jesus in his work of redemption, to establish peace, and with God, in one body, through the cross, tear down the walls of division that have been suffocating us.

Christianity is not a private club for the select few. Jesus’ message of the Gospel is an invitation for ALL PEOPLE to share in the oneness of a relationship with the Trinitarian communion of Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. God, in giving us life, has created us each unique and we as the Church are at our best when we embrace the gift of our diversity.

The challenges of a culture of death and division that poison our country and world can be countered, if all of us are willing to work together. How do we meet the myriad of challenges that are before us?

The best way we can begin to bring about effective change, is that we first, need to resist making ourselves, our family, groups, political affiliations, president, the flag, and/or nation into our idols. For when we place our identity solely in anything other than God we will go astray. When we put God first, develop and deepen our relationship with him, learn about and live his teachings in our daily lives, we will begin again to see each other through God’s eyes, so to see people not as other, but as human beings created in his image and likeness.

When we are less governed by protecting the group and seeing the dignity of the person, we will be less apt to belittle, demean, dehumanize, and demonize those who are different as well as those who have opposing views and perspectives. We can be more open to engage in dialogue, instead of shouting at or over each other. We can be more open to share our diverse ideas, talents, cultures, and perspectives, so to learn from one another, stand up for and empower one another.

Second, we must make the time to pray and be still so to discern what is the gift that God has given each of us to contribute to building up his kingdom. Each one of us, has something to bring to the table, because each of us are loved by God more than we can ever imagine. When we engage ourselves in whatever challenge we face, no matter the situation in which we are called to serve, we are to bring the love that we have received in our own unique way and allow God to be God through us.

Third, we need to trust in Jesus. When anxieties and fears arise, it is a barometer that we are not trusting in the love and power of God.

I understand this very well. Much preferring to stay in my own world, I have struggled often with the fear of going out from myself. Speaking publicly in my youth was not even an option. When I was a child my father introduced me once as, “This is my son, he doesn’t talk.” The first time I read from the ambo as a lector, my legs shook the whole time. I have felt the urge, too many times, to reach out and help another, was instead indecisive and the moment passed where I did nothing. Each day I seek God’s help to do better, to not give in to my fears, but instead trust in the Good Shepherd who has remained by my side and who has led me to be a husband, father, teacher, and deacon and even now a widower and recoverer from Covid/pneumonia.

Finally, we need to, in the words of Blessed Archbishop Oscar Romero, “be God’s microphone”. We are called to speak truth to power, to speak and act on behalf of the dignity of those for whom we witness being belittled, demeaned, disrespected, or dehumanized in any way.

As followers of Jesus the Christ we need to be willing to stand up for one another, for God’s creatures and his creation. When we begin to act and speak as God’s microphone, and the first experiences of anxiety and fear attempt to silence us, we need to call on the power of the Holy Spirit and he will give us the courage and the words to speak. Even if Satan himself stands before us, the weakest Christian is stronger. For all we need to say is, “In the name of Jesus, get behind me Satan.” And through the power of his name, the devil must flee.

Jesus walks among us as our Shepherd and preaches peace to us who are far off, who are polarized, and divided. He promises that through him we all have access to the love of his Father. May we remember who we are called to be by remaining open, minds and hearts, to the love of the Holy Spirit moving through us and refuse to contribute to building walls of hatred and division and instead commit our lives to put God first by praying and discerning how best we will serve him and each other.

May we trust that Jesus is with us to comfort and heal us even in our darkest moments. May our focus also be drawn outward beyond ourselves to seek the courage of the Holy Spirit to be God’s microphone, speaking and acting on behalf of a consistent ethic of life for all of humanity at every stage of life and for all of God’s creation. This will be done in our own unique way and in our own corner of the world, person to person.

We are good shepherds when we are open and aware of how and when we can be light in the darkness of division; hope for those in despair; offer a smile of acceptance and welcome; provide for someone’s basic needs, an understanding ear to hear, a kind word of encouragement, and a loving shoulder to lean on for someone in need today.

Photo: Jesus in the Breadline, woodcut by Fritz Eichenberg

Link for the readings of the Mass for Sunday, July 18, 2021

In today’s Gospel from Matthew, Jesus realized that: “The Pharisees went out and took counsel against Jesus to put him to death” (Mt 12:14). Jesus did not then start to plan how he would defend himself against their plot, he did not arm his supporters, nor is there any indication that Jesus let the fact that he was a marked man bother him. What did Jesus do with this bit of news?

“He withdrew from that place” (Mt. 12:15) and cured those who followed him. Was Jesus being a coward by withdrawing? No. Jesus was refusing to engage or give any of his time or energy to their negativity. He focused on what he was about and that was continuing the mission that God had sent him to achieve, which was to help bring about the salvation of humanity and the world and to call those who would work with him to continue his mission.

Many of us will hopefully not receive death threats, but many of us have and will witness and/or receive critical, negative, belittling, or dehumanizing looks, words, and outright actions to cause physical, mental, emotional or spiritual harm, just in the course of our daily interactions. For those of us who choose to practice publicly the teachings of Jesus, we may receive even more! Unfortunately, for many people of color, they cannot hide their physical appearance.

Our common response to the many forms of perceived or actual animosity directed toward us is to react. Our reactions generally are based on learned defense mechanisms we have adopted through our lives. Often when we react, we slip into survival mode, experience increased anxiety, defensiveness, anger as well as a myriad of other emotions. Ideally, as we mature in our faith, our response is to draw into the present moment, breath, and call upon God’s guidance to direct us such that we can act more mindfully and be advocates of God’s grace.

Many times the best way to diffuse negativity is to do as Jesus did in today’s Gospel, resist to engage in it altogether, and continue to be about enacting God’s will in our life. Recalling a time that we have taken offense and reacted in kind toward someone who pushed our buttons and/or got under our skin can be helpful. After remembering this exchange, we can ponder different responses and then choosing one, re-imagine how we could have reacted differently. Going forward, we can ask the Holy Spirit to guide and help us to be more patient and understanding.

Life is short in the best of circumstances, let us not take a day or moment for granted, nor give away our precious time by engaging in unneeded drama or negativity. There are times that we do need to stand up and speak out, but that is a reflection for another time. Sometimes, we need to walk away and be still. During some quiet time today, I invite you to meditate on these words attributed to St. Teresa of Avila (1514-1582):

“Let nothing disturb you,
Let nothing frighten you,
All things are passing away:
God never changes.
Patience obtains all things.
Whoever has God lacks nothing;
God alone suffices.”

Photo: 2010 hike, taking a walk is often a good way to decompress and leave negativity behind! Hoping to get out for a walk again soon! Photo credit – Jack McKee

Link for the Mass readings for Saturday, July 17, 2021

I say to you, something greater than the temple is here. If you knew what this meant, I desire mercy, not sacrifice, you would not have condemned these innocent men. For the Son of Man is Lord of the sabbath.” (Mt 12:6-8).

Jesus continues to rock established regulations and practices. Here he is challenging the understanding of the Sabbath itself when justifying the accusations leveled toward his disciples who were picking and eating grain on the Sabbath, and he does so in a profound way by saying that, “something greater than the temple is here.” Present in the heart of the temple, the area called the Holy of Holies, was the ark of the covenant. Atop the ark was the lid called the mercy seat of God. Jews believed that this was where God sat and when the blood of atonement was offered from sacrifices, God’s mercy was offered to the people. In the temple then, was the mercy seat, the very presence of God.

Jesus’ claim that he is greater than the temple is putting him on the same level as God. A blasphemous statement to say the least, unless of course, he is God. Jesus even doubles down by claiming that he is the Lord of the sabbath; Jesus is God!

In quoting Hosea 6:6: “I desire mercy, not sacrifice”, Jesus is not only saying that he is the something greater, but that his Way is something greater. One of the foundational points of the Way of Jesus is mercy. Through the incarnation, the Son of God dwelt among us, became one with us in our humanity. He restored our dignity in the midst of our brokenness. What Jesus said, in defending his disciples eating from the grains of wheat on the Sabbath, he is saying to us today: “What is owed to every human being on the basis of his or her human dignity is personal respect, personal acceptance, and personal care” (Kasper 2014, 202).

Each one of us, when we are willing to participate in the life of Jesus, strengthens our unity in the Body of Christ when we follow Jesus in bestowing acts of mercy on our neighbor. “The works of mercy are charitable actions by which we come to the aid of our neighbor in his [or her] spiritual and bodily necessities. Instructing, advising, consoling, comforting are spiritual works of mercy, as are forgiving and bearing wrongs patiently. The corporal works of mercy consist especially in feeding the hungry, sheltering the homeless, clothing the naked, visiting the sick and imprisoned, and burying the dead. Among all these, giving alms to the poor is one of the chief witnesses to fraternal charity: it is also a work of justice pleasing to God” (Catechism of the Catholic Church, 2nd ed. 2447).

Are we willing to respect the dignity of each person, interact with and care for people different than us, journey together, and allow God to happen? Reviewing the spiritual and corporal works of mercy above is a good place to start. Praying about and deciding which one(s) to put into practice would be a good next step. We can write a broader and brighter chapter in the coming weeks and months ahead if we are willing to follow Jesus and lead with mercy, which is “the willingness to enter the chaos of another” (Keenan, 2015).

—————————————

Photo: Fr. Greg Boyle, SJ, founder of Homeboy Industries has helped to rehabilitate gang members and guide them to re-enter and begin again since the 1980s.

Link for the Mass readings for Friday, July 16, 2021

Kasper, Walter. Mercy: The Essence of the Gospel and the Key to Christian Life. NY: Paulist Press, 2004.

Catholic Church. Catechism of the Catholic Church: Revised in Accordance with the Official Latin Text Promulgated by Pope John Paul II. Vatican City: Libreria Editrice Vaticana, 1997.

Keenan SJ, James. “The Scandal of Mercy Excludes No One.” Thinking Faith. December 4, 2015.

Jesus said: “Come to me, all you who labor and are burdened, and I will give you rest” (Mt 11:28).

Scripture scholar, Fr. Daniel J. Harrington, SJ, states that in this passage Jesus’ invitation was given to those who are not yet his disciples, those Jews who do not yet believe in him and the way that he is proposing. He also intuits that Jesus is calling them from the heavy burdens laid upon them by the scribes and Pharisees and inviting them to accept his burden that is lighter (cf. Harrington, 167). We can read this in Matthew 4:3: “They tie up heavy burdens [hard to carry] and lay them on people’s shoulders, but they will not lift a finger to move them.”

Jesus’ charge leveled against the Pharisees comes from those who have experienced the laws without the assistance and support to follow them. The demands of Jesus are even more challenging than those of the Pharisees, Sadducees, or the scribes! I shared yesterday one of the six antitheses, here is another: “You have heard that it was said… whoever kills will be liable to judgment. But I say to you, whoever is angry with his brother will be liable to the judgment, and whoever says to his brother, ‘Raqa,’ will be answerable to the Sanhedrin, and whoever says, ‘You fool,’ will be liable to fiery Gehenna” (Mt5:21-22). Jesus is equating calling someone Raqa – an air-head, or calling someone a fool akin to murder. Our words can destroy or empower! We need to choose our words wisely.

The difference between Jesus and many of the religious leaders of his time is that Jesus, the Son of God in the fullness of his divinity, entered into the chaos of our humanity. As a human being, he walks among us and suffers along with us. He offers to yoke himself to us and so to carry the burden with us, making them lighter. Many impose burdens on us, we impose burdens on others, as did the Pharisees. We also impose them on ourselves and turn away from the invitation of Jesus’ help.

A handful of injuries I have suffered through the years were because I attempted to lift or carry something beyond my strength, instead of seeking assistance from another. I would think, “I can do it, I don’t need any help, I don’t want to bother anyone.” That is just the physical; there are also the mental and emotional burdens of anxiety, doubt, pride, fear, and worry that we burden ourselves with. This is not Jesus’ way.

Jesus offers us a path to follow that leads us to experience joy, peace, and tranquility in this life and fulfillment and union with God in the next. No matter what pain, suffering, trial, and/or challenge we are facing right now, we do not have to go through it alone. We just need to remember to reach out our hand to Jesus and when we do, what we will find is his hand already extended ready to grasp ours. Many times the offering comes from those who are close to us, who are more than willing to help.

In aligning ourselves with God’s will, life isn’t necessarily going to be easier, but he will give us the strength and peace of mind not only to endure but to experience a peace that surpasses all understanding while doing so. Let us take our first step together today, hand in hand with Jesus, and so find rest in knowing that we are not alone!

Also, may we be kind to those in our midst with our words, actions, and faces. Among those who may be abrupt or rude, we need to resist the temptation of reacting and instead be present and understanding; for we are not aware of the burdens others are carrying. Offer instead a simple smile as a start, which can make a heavy load just a little lighter.
—————————————

Photo: Jesus behind the altar of St Peter Italian Catholic Church, where I attended some Masses during my six-month stay in Los Angeles in 2019.

Harrington, S.J. Daniel J. The Gospel of Matthew. Vol. 1 of Sacra Pagina, edited by Daniel J. Harrington, S.J. Collegeville, MN: Liturgical Press, 2007.

Link for the Mass readings for Thursday, July 15, 2021

“At that time Jesus exclaimed: ‘I give praise to you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, for although you have hidden these things from the wise and the learned you have revealed them to the childlike’” (Mt 11:25).

Why did the wise and the learned, referring to some of the Sadducees, Pharisees and scribes, reject Jesus? One possibility is that Jesus challenged their idol of tradition. Even though Jesus did not come to abolish the law but to fulfill it (cf. Mt 5:17), the invitation to go deeper was and continues to be challenging. This is certainly highlighted in the six antitheses that Jesus shared during his Sermon on the Mount. Here is one such example: “You have heard that it was said, ‘An eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth.’ But I say to you, offer no resistance to one who is evil” (Mt 5: 28). Offer no resistance to one who is evil? Not only hard to swallow for people of Jesus’ time, but for us today as well.

Jesus offered then and continues to offer us today the intimacy of the Trinitarian Love of God shared between Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. To be fully alive, to share in his Love, we need to resist being governed by holding blindly on to tradition for its own sake. Instead, we need to be open to growth, change, and renewal. Gerhard Lohfink, in his book, No Irrelevant Jesus, quotes the Polish philosopher Leszak Kolakowski: “A society in which tradition becomes a cult is condemned to stagnation; a society that tries to live entirely through revolt against tradition condemns itself to destruction” (Lohfink 2014, 2).

Many have left the Church because they feel we are too steeped in tradition, rules, and laws, but in their throwing the baby out with the bathwater, they have no secure ground or foundation, no anchor in their life. Others remain hunkered down entrenched in a bunker of tradition fearing the secular tide, holding on to tradition, not to Jesus. Both tendencies weaken us because we are choosing our self over accepting Jesus’ invitation to let go and enter into the living stream of the communal Love of the Trinity we can then share with one another.

Jesus sees our selfishness, our shortcomings, and our weaknesses, while at the same time, he sees the potential and unique charism present in each one of us. He meets us where we are, as we are, in our present condition, and from that starting point, he invites us to crawl, then to walk, to run, and eventually to fly – to experience and share the experience of his unconditional Love.

We will be better off resisting the extremes of rejecting tradition altogether or idolizing tradition alone, but instead build on the foundation we have been given: Jesus Christ: “The Way, the Truth and the Life” (cf Jn 14:6). Within the life of the Church, “we must not do away with its traditions, but at the same time, it must continually clarify, renew, and deepen them” (Lohfink 2014, 2).

Entrusting ourselves to the Holy Spirit and asking him to burn away those small “t” traditions that keep us from God, will reveal to us those capital “T” Traditions, that which remains from his purifying fire of Love. In this way, we may come to know that which in reality is the foundation of our identity that leads us to become people of integrity. We do not want to become stagnant pools unwilling to grow but to continue to drink from the spring of eternal life; receiving that which Jesus teaches and reveals, learning, and putting them into practice so as to be continually renewed and transformed.
—————————————

Photo: S Migaj from pexels.com

Lohfink, Gerhard. No Irrelevant Jesus: On Jesus and the Church Today. Minnesota: Liturgical Press, 2014.

Link for the Mass readings for, Wednesday, July 14, 2021

“Jesus began to reproach the towns where most of his mighty deeds had been done, since they had not repented.” (Mt 11:20).

Anyone who encounters Jesus is invited to change. Jesus shines the light of his love and mercy into the darkness of our own fallen nature, where we are wounded, sinful, and broken. He invites us to repentance, healing, and reconciliation. He invites us to actualize who we truly are. A wonderful invitation, but why would we turn away? The darkness may be too dark and the light may be too bright.

Facing our own darkness and pain is not easy and can be frightening as well as intimidating. That is why we are so vulnerable to temptations, distractions, and diversions. We are not able to sit still because we want to keep moving so as not to face our fear and the root causes of our suffering, nor let go of our false senses of security, control, and the glitter of apparent goods. We also may not be able to accept the fullness of our goodness, of who God calls us to be, and the realization of who we really are.

Jesus invites us to stop, to breathe, to enter into his stillness and silence where we can hear the word of his Father and experience the love of the Holy Spirit. In this experience of silence, we come to encounter the choice to change our hearts and minds, to repent: to turn away from that which keeps us from growing closer in our relationship with God and becoming more fully alive.

God loves us more than we can ever mess up, more than we can ever imagine, and he does not define us by our worst mistakes. Jesus’ arms are wide open to receive us in the midst of our deepest wounds, fears, pain, sin, and suffering but we must be willing to stop running and be still long enough to experience and feel his forgiving, loving, and healing embrace. At the same time, we need to be willing to accept who we truly are and called to be apart from our false sense of self. We are often too self-critical and judgmental.

As we begin to accept ourselves and become more comfortable in our own skins, we can be more understanding and supportive of others. Jesus invites us to participate in the same mission that he first announced when he began his public ministry:  “This is the time of fulfillment. The kingdom of God is at hand. Repent, and believe in the Gospel” (Mark 1:15).

Photo: A wonderful place to be still and pray – the Rosary Garden at St Peter Catholic Church. Each day is a new opportunity to begin again with Jesus.

Link for the Mass readings for Tuesday, July 13, 2021

“Do not think that I have come to bring peace upon the earth. I have come to bring not peace but the sword” (Mt 10:34).

Words to live by from the King of Peace. The reality of this statement is the reality of his mission. Jesus entered the lives of individuals. Some said yes to following him and some said no; some saying yes and no within the same family. The image of the sword represents how sharp and stark this choice could cut. If you do not think that is true, just look at the polarization in our country right now. The cut between democrat and republican bleeds quite deep right now.

During the time of Jesus and for most within the first generation of believers, there was not a luke-warm choice. You were either for Jesus or against Jesus. Unfortunately, today, for too many, the Gospel is being shaped more by politics than the Gospel shaping politics. To live as disciples of Jesus and to actively engage in living out the teachings of the Gospel, it is more important that we follow Jesus, putting him first before any politician or political party. The platforms of democrats, independents, libertarians, and republicans are all deficient in fully following the teachings of Jesus.

We who have chosen to follow Jesus need to speak truth to the issues and hold leaders accountable on all sides. Our starting point for any issue needs to be respecting, first and foremost, the dignity of the person from the moment of conception and everywhere in between until natural death as well as promoting a healthy stewardship of God’s creation. In that dialogue, dialogue not a monologue, we need to respect those to whom we share our views and be willing to also listen in turn. In actuality, listening first and more often is a good posture to assume. We can and will disagree, but we need to resist devolving into demonizing one another.

There are those who promote a right to choose, to choose to take the life of their own unborn, there are those who support taking children away from their parents for seeking asylum and weeks and months later still not returning them, and those refusing to welcome the refugee and the migrant fleeing from dire situations to discourage people coming into this country. There are those who say we can’t pray in our schools, while others say we can’t take a knee to protest the disproportionate unjust killings of people of color by our law enforcement agencies. Mass murders, including the death of students in our schools as well as the daily violence in our cities abound. The addiction rate of our youth in many rural and urban areas has reached epidemic proportions with little concrete help and support, while equal access to education, jobs, and health care is woefully unbalanced. Some say Black lives matter, while others say all lives matter. Some say wear masks, while others refuse to do so and now there are those who say receive a vaccine and others who say not.

When Jesus said, “I have come to bring not peace but the sword” (Mt 10:34), he meant that we are not to settle for a false peace of appeasement to get along and water down the Gospel message. We must wield his sword, which is the Word of God, that speaks truth to power. When seeking to counteract a culture of death to build a culture of life, we must resist making political party affiliations and leaders into our idols and we must resist the urge to give in to our fears and prejudices. We must be willing to sit down and speak and listen to one another. It is important that we are able to share our experiences, our stories, and be heard.

We must refuse to contribute to the dehumanization and demonization of others, while at the same time resist falling into hopelessness, indifference, and/or despair. Following Jesus means that we are to be people of hope, mercy, and love and we are to bring that to each and every encounter such that we promote a consistent ethic of life.

Putting the Word of God, the teachings of Jesus, speaking the truth of the Gospel, praying for all of our leaders, for one another, and inviting the Holy Spirit to give us the ears to hear, the words to speak, and the actions to engage in is a commitment we must make. Our starting point for each of the issues before us in our moment and time is to be: “Whatever you did for one of these least brothers of mine, you did for me” (Mt 25:40).

In following Jesus and putting into practice the words of the Prophet Isaiah by ceasing to do evil, learning to do good, and making justice our aim (cf. Isaiah 1:15-17), we will cause disruption and face conflict but when we trust in Jesus, respect each other as human beings, really listen to and are present to one another, we will begin to see that we are brothers and sisters, fellow human beings, and we might just learn something from one another and maybe begin to move toward the reconciliation and healing our country is so desperately in need of.

Photo: We are like the drop that refracts our own unique color when we allow the light of Jesus to shine through us. A nice rainbow gift during prayer yesterday morning. You can see it just above the treeline to the left.

Link for the Mass readings for Monday, July 12, 2021