Then Jesus said to Thomas, “Put your finger here and see my hands, and bring your hand and put it into my side, and do not be unbelieving, but believe.” Thomas answered and said to him, “My Lord and my God” (Jn 20:27-28)!

Thomas’ acclamation “My Lord and my God!” came from his touching the wounds of Jesus. Jesus who had risen from the dead, had conquered death, and yet still bore the wounds of his Passion. This is a profound message to the Apostles, those Jesus sent to proclaim his Gospel, and for us who seek to follow him today.

The Body of Christ is still wounded by the sin and division of our fallen nature that put him on the Cross. This reality is a reason that many doubt and do not believe today. Many decry, how can a loving God allow such suffering and pain, especially of the innocent? Blaming and scapegoating, or putting blinders on and keeping the messiness of life at arm’s length is not the answer. The path of a disciple, an apostle, is to allow ourselves to be led by Jesus to experience with him our own woundedness, while at the same time, enter into the pain and suffering of others. Immersed in the chaos of life, like Thomas and the other Apostles, we come to touch the wounded side of Jesus .

May we resist the temptation to flee from the conflict, challenges, hurt, pain, and suffering that we and others are experiencing. Instead may we, with the courage of Thomas, accept the invitation of Jesus the Christ to touch his wounded Body. We do so when we are willing to touch one another, to be present and accompany those who bear his wounds:  those who are vulnerable; the unborn, widows, orphans, refugees, immigrants, hungry, homeless, and those without access to clean water; those who suffer from addiction, poverty, depression, disease, oppression, prejudice, discrimination, dehumanization, racism, sexism, misogyny, unjust immigration policies, unemployment, underemployment, wage theft, human trafficking, domestic violence, slavery, violence, war, terrorism and natural disasters. For what we do to the least among us, we do it to Jesus.

May we resist the feeling of being overwhelmed, resist the temptation to rationalize or to be indifferent to the suffering in our midst. If we are feeling this way, it is because we are focusing on the problem and not the solution. Apart from Jesus we can do nothing, yet with Jesus, the one who conquered death, all things are possible! When we feel overwhelmed, helpless, or indecisive, may we acclaim with Thomas, “My Lord and my God!” trusting that he is present to us. Jesus is with us so we can be confident and on our way today to make our corner of the world a better place by reaching out person to person, to share a smile, a touch, provide a listening ear, and/or speak up or out for the dignity of those who do not have access or a voice.

Painting: The Indredulity of St Thomas by Caravaggio, 1601-1602

Link for the readings of the Mass for Tuesday, July 2, 2018:

http://www.usccb.org/bible/readings/070318.cfm

In today’s Gospel a scribe approaches Jesus. Often, when a scribe is mentioned in the Gospels, one can expect a conflict. This time though, it appears that this scribe has not come to challenge Jesus, but has a sincere interest in following him, of becoming one of his disciples because he said, “Teacher, I will follow you wherever you go” (Mt 8:19). Just as Jesus responded to the rich man who sought what he must do to enter the kingdom of God, so Jesus challenged the scribe, “Foxes have dens and birds of the sky have nests, but the Son of Man has nowhere to rest his head” (Mt 8:20).

The life of the scribe was generally very sedentary and stable. They, more than likely, would have sought urban areas where they could have access to more opportunities to practice their writing craft such as the recording of the collection of taxes, the recording of royal decisions and decrees, secretarial roles in government, as well as be legal scholars of the Torah. Some scribes could rise to high levels influencing kings or sitting on the Sanhedrin, the Jewish high council in Jerusalem. The life of Jesus was that of an itinerant preacher. For the remainder of his ministry he would not be staying in one place for long. If the scribe truly wanted to follow Jesus he would need to give up his present lifestyle and be willing to go on the road with Jesus.

There is no response from the scribe to Jesus’ invitation. This is well and good because it gives us the opportunity to answer the question for ourselves. How would we respond? Where do we place our security? Do we place our security in our job, in our home, our family, our trade, vocation, or career choice? Those pursuing college degrees, are you being led by Jesus or the pursuit of power, pleasure, wealth, and/or honor?

When we truly place our hope and security in Jesus instead of that which is finite and limited, we will be less attached to the things of this world, we can live more simply and be freer to reach out beyond ourselves to give and provide aid, comfort, and support to those who are in need. Our lives will be more balanced and fulfilling when we let go of our white knuckled grip of those material realities that we cling to for security and safety.

As was true with the disciples, our minds, hearts, and spirits need to first be open to the invitation of Jesus to follow him. Then as we follow his guidance and where he leads us, we need to recognize that our transformation takes time. May we persevere in prayer, draw strength from the love of the Holy Spirit and each other as trials, experimentation, experiences, sufferings, conflicts, joy, and successes arise. Jesus has a unique vocational call for each of us. To close today, may we pray the hymn written by the Benedictine Nuns of Stanbrook Abbey:

O God of truth, prepare our minds
to hear and heed your holy word.
Fill every heart that longs for you
with your mysterious presence, Lord.
Almighty Father, with your Son
and blessed Spirit, hear our prayer.
Teach us to love eternal truth
and seek its freedom everywhere.

Photo: My mother and me after Mass at St Philip, the parish where I received my First Communion. Picture taken during my last visit to CT two weeks ago. Mass is a good place to hear Jesus’ guidance!

Link for the Mass readings for Monday, July 2, 2018:

http://www.usccb.org/bible/readings/070218.cfm

Jesus is walking with a large crowd about him toward the home of Jairus. Jairus had pleaded with Jesus to come with him to lay hands on his daughter because she was near death. On the way, “a woman afflicted with hemorrhages for twelve years” (Mk 5:25) reached out and touched the cloak of Jesus.

This woman was considered unclean, an untouchable, likened to a leper, such that she could not participate in the regular social activities of her community, including worship. She was most likely able to weave her way through the crowd to get to Jesus because as she approached, people gave way, not wanting to be contaminated. She had sought help for years and found none. She had heard about the healing powers of Jesus and believed: “If I but touch his clothes, I shall be cured” (Mk 5:28). The woman knew the risk that was involved, touching a man in public, especially because she was unclean, was breaking the law, could lead to public shame and/or worse. Yet, she was willing to take the risk and was instantly healed.

Jesus, as the very embodiment of Love, healed her from his very being the moment she touched him. Jesus felt the power go out of him and asked who had touched his clothes. The woman could have attempted to walk away, could have remained silent, instead she “approached in fear and trembling. She fell down before Jesus and told him the whole truth” (Mk 5:33). Jesus did not condemn her for breaking the Levitical law. He acknowledged her faith and confirmed her healing, “Daughter, your faith has saved you. Go in peace and be cured of your affliction” (Mk 5:34). In the midst of storm clouds of gloom and despair, Jesus was the radiant sun of hope and renewal.

While this whole incident is transpiring, there is Jairus, who must have been in agony. Storm clouds of fear gathered in his mind, as the last hope for his daughter whose life was hanging on a thread, was being tied up by this woman who Jesus was making the time to talk! Then the horrific clap of thunder sounded, the news of his daughter’s death is brought to him. Could this woman’s interruption have cost his daughter’s life? Jesus, again a light in the gathering darkness, spoke to Jairus, “Do not be afraid; just have faith” (Mk 5:36).

The same faith of the woman who he had just witnessed interacting with Jesus. The woman who may had taken up the precious moments that prevented Jesus from getting to his daughter. The woman who he had most likely seen time and again over the past twelve years and kept at a distance, or worse indifferently ignored.  Most likely their eyes met after Jesus’ words to him. In his eyes fear and bewilderment, yet in hers a peace and strength of faith that may have given him just enough hope that led him to take those first steps with Jesus. They resumed their journey, arrived at the home of Jairus, and Jesus healed the daughter.

The account of Jairus, the woman with the hemorrhage, and their encounter with Jesus (Mk 5:21-43) has much to tell us today. Like Jairus, the synagogue official, who sought the aid of Jesus for his daughter, there are many in our country today that have serious need, and which is sometimes dire. Like the woman with the hemorrhage, someone on the peripheries, considered unclean, on the outside, who sought help for twelve years and could find no relief, risked all to get to Jesus, there are many seeking to come to our country seeking asylum, seeking a better life. They are willing to risk their lives to get here. Are we willing to encounter them as Jesus encountered the woman with the hemorrhage? Are we willing to provide access to healthcare for those in our country, as Jesus was willing to go to the home of Jairus to heal his daughter?

About 25.4 million refugees worldwide are fleeing their countries because of conflict or persecution. The United States, if it continues on its current pace, will resettle the least amount of immigrants in our history. Our approach to those seeking a better life economically, those seeking asylum, no matter their country of origin, whether it be from our southern border or from across the seas, ought to be one in which we afford the opportunity for our brothers and sisters to do so. Following the lead of Jesus, we can protect our country as well as extend open arms to welcome those seeking entrance, seeking aid. We can also provide better care for those in need in our country now, some 33 million who do not still have access to health care.

Too many times in the history of our country has fear arisen to support the storm clouds of protectionism and isolationism directed toward those without and assimilation toward those within. Neither is a healthy approach. Regarding how we interact with one another, how we seek to provide for one another, we need to resist feeding our fears and prejudices, and instead look to the light embodied by the words that Jesus spoke to Jairus, “Do not be afraid; just have faith” (Mk 5:36). May we resist looking for scapegoats and instead, be willing to encounter one another, embrace the gift of our diversity, and approach changing and creating policies that regard supporting the dignity of each person from the moment of conception, through each unique life, until natural death.

May we be willing to recognize the risk and hope that so many place in coming to our country, and provide a means for them to enter and become a part of our country. May we provide better means and access to health care for those who are here already and in need. With Jesus, who is our light and our source, we can create a way to support and uplift one another. Even when it seems impossible, even when the storm clouds gather, Jesus as the Son of God, provides the light to guide our way through the darkness. Let us trust in Jesus, reject our fear of one another. May we have faith in Jesus and embrace one another.

Photo: The sun shining bright amidst the gathering storm clouds one afternoon this past week.

Link for the Mass readings for Sunday, July 1, 2018:

http://www.usccb.org/bible/readings/070118.cfm

The centurion said in reply, “Lord, I am not worthy to have you enter under my roof; only say the word and my servant will be healed” (Mt 8:8).

After Jesus finishes his Sermon on the Mount, he comes down from the mountain. In the opening of chapter eight we see two hearts open to God, a leper and a centurion. The centurion may or may not have been a Roman but he certainly was a Gentile. He, a member of an occupying army, was aware of the animosity many Jews felt toward him. Yet he, like the leper approached Jesus.

Jesus saw in the leper, not revulsion, and in the centurion, not an enemy, but first and foremost, human beings in need, two persons with faith and belief. Reading on we see that Jesus also heals the mother-in-law of Peter and many who are possessed. Jesus reached out to them with a simple touch of his hand, with his healing words and in so doing brought to each of them the healing they sought. Jesus shows us that the kingdom of his Father is open to all who have faith and believe.

We are all wounded by sin and in need of the healing word and touch of Jesus in our lives. May we approach Jesus, who is already present to us, waiting for us to ask, and open our hearts and minds to him so to be healed, to be transformed by his love and mercy. May we also, like the centurion, approach Jesus on behalf of others who are also in need of healing. Let us resist the temptation to judge anyone as unworthy to receive the grace, love and mercy of Jesus.

God brings people into our lives, let us receive them as Jesus did: as fellow human beings, first and foremost, created in his image and likeness, regardless of another’s religious, ethnic, racial, political, social, gender, national, economic, refugee, immigrant, or enemy status. May we resist the urge to keep each other at arm’s length, instead may we be willing to allow Jesus to reach out through us to share his healing word or extend his healing touch through us to another.

Painting: Sebastiano Ricci, 16th century Italy

Link for the Mass for Saturday, June 30, 2018:

http://www.usccb.org/bible/readings/063018.cfm

Jesus said to his Apostles, “But who do you say that I am” (Mt 16:15)

Do we take the time to get to know Jesus, to answer the same question he posed to his apostles? Too often we move from this to that, one situation to another, putting out fires and moving from one crisis to another, or we are just seeking to make it through another day.

To be a Christian is not a call to stop living our lives, but it is an invitation to live our lives with Jesus. We have been described as a People of the Book, along with Jews and Muslims. This is true, yet, in addition, we are also a people of encounter; we encounter the Living Word, the Son of God, Jesus the Christ.

Peter and Paul encountered Jesus in their lives and were changed forever. We can encounter the same Jesus when we slow down enough to pray with the word proclaimed in Liturgy or read in personal prayer.

As a very simple example: except for the first Office of the day, in praying the Liturgy of the Hours, the prayer begins, “God come to my assistance, Lord make haste to help me.” How many times have I just said those words mindlessly as a beginning to my prayers, but didn’t really take in what I was saying?!!! How many times do we make the Sign of the Cross without being attentive to the profound act we have just engaged ourselves in?

Through invoking this prayer and making this sacramental gesture, we are inviting the Creator of all that exists to come to be a part of our lives. Each are also prayers we may lean on when tempted, stressed, worried or anxious. Each are affirmations of commitment to resist giving in to a mindset of minimalism. All things are possible because we are choosing to align ourselves with the Holy Trinity.

Peter and Paul both answered the above question, Peter as recorded in Mt 16:16, said, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.” and Paul in Acts 9:20 “proclaimed Jesus in the synagogues, that he is the Son of God.” Let us spend some time praying and meditating on how we will answer Jesus’ question: “Who do you say that I am?” How we answer makes a difference as to the kind of Christian we will be.

Saints Peter and Paul, pray for us!

Painting of Saints Peter and Paul by El Greco, 16th Century

Link for the Mass readings for Friday, June 29, 2018:

http://www.usccb.org/bible/readings/062918-day-mass.cfm

“Everyone who listens to these words of mine and acts on them will be like a wise man who built his house on rock” (Mt 7:24).

Jesus speaks. His words are recorded in the Gospels, Jesus speaks in the silence of our hearts, he speaks to us through our conscience, Jesus is present where two or three gather in his name, Jesus speaks through the words of others, Jesus speaks in our daily activities, and through creation which has been loved into existence through collaboration with his Father and the Holy Spirit.

We can be unaware of his word spoken among us, we can hear his words but not listen, hear his words but ignore them, listen but not act upon them, or we can do with his words as Jesus encourages us to do. We can listen to his words and put them into action. We can hear the words of Jesus and let them come in through our mind and enter our heart, where we can then be transformed.

St Irenaeus, whose feast we celebrate today, said that Jesus became one with us so that we can become one with him. Not one with us, so that we can know about Jesus. Not one with us, so that we can say that we prophesy, cast out demons, do mighty works, cite Bible chapter and verse to show our knowledge or justify our behavior in his name. One with us so that we can become one with him. 

Jesus meets us on our level and lifts us up to his. Jesus has been doing just that in his Sermon on the Mount which we have been reflecting on these past few weeks. If you are just coming in today or need a refresher, this gathering of teachings began at chapter five of Matthew and takes us up to today with chapter seven. Jesus presented us with the Beatitudes, that we are called to be salt and light, he built on the law and the prophets by giving us the six antithesis (You have heard it said, but I say to you…), he taught us to pray the Our Father, that we are to depend and place our trust in God and not the things of this world, we are to refrain from judging others, we are not to cast our pearls before swine, we are to do to others as we would have them do to us, we are to seek to enter through the narrow gate, and to be aware of false prophets.

These are but just some of the words of Jesus that we are to put into action if our house is to be built on solid rock. May we go back through chapter five, six, and seven of Matthew and see which teaching Jesus is leading us to ponder, meditate upon, and put into action.

If this list is a bit overwhelming, let us start with what St Irenaeus taught us. Jesus became one with us so that we can become one with him. Jesus entered our humanity so that we can participate in his divinity. Jesus invites us to be in relationship with him, to know him, so that we can know his Father, so that we can be one as Jesus and the Father is one. Jesus loves us as we are, and for who we are, right now at this very moment. Jesus loves us more than we can ever imagine. May we receive his love as we would receive a loving embrace, stay with it, savor it, so to return his love, by loving each other as he has loved us.

Photo: Listening to the words of Jesus – models of kindness!

Link for the Mass reading for Thursday, June 28, 2018:

http://www.usccb.org/bible/readings/062818.cfm

“Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep’s clothing, but underneath are ravenous wolves. By their fruits you will know them” (Mt 7:15-16).

So as not be taken in by false prophets within in our Church and society, and most importantly, so as not to be wolves in sheep’s clothing ourselves, we need to know the Shepherd. We need to know, as St Irenaeus (whose feast we celebrate tomorrow) described: Jesus, “who did, through His transcendent love, become what we are, that He might bring us to be even what He is Himself” (p. 526 Against Heresies, Book V, Introduction). Jesus Christ, the second person of the Trinity, who entered and embraced our fallen and wounded condition to become fully human while remaining fully divine, came to shine a light on that which causes division and disunity. Jesus came to reveal those sinful acts which estrange us from God and one another. Jesus came to show us the value of our unique dignity as human beings, the wonder of God’s creation that we are, and empower us so as to restore our relationship with God and one another.

How can we know Jesus?

One way is that we can begin by following the lead of Pope Francis who has been encouraging us to read and prayerfully reflect on the Gospels each day.

May we resist the temptation to just read the Gospel with the sole intent to finish it and move on to something else, so as to just complete one more task. Instead may we read slowly, reflectively, spending time with Jesus by mediating on a word or phrase from the Gospel that peaks our attention. We may receive an insight, an intuition, a confirmation, a sense of excitement, or a question as we are reading. May we resist the temptation to just blow off what arises and instead pay attention, and follow where Jesus is leading us. We can also place ourselves in the scene as if we are watching a movie. In this way, allowing our senses to come alive and again pay attention to what arises.

We can then meditate for a time on that word, phrase, insight or other experience that has arisen, taking time at different moments during the day to return and ponder. Through a daily commitment of praying with the Gospels, meditating upon them, allowing Jesus to speak to us, we will not only know about Jesus, but come to encounter and know him and his voice as his disciples did. We will also see the fruit that Jesus bears and encourages us to bear through our thoughts, words, and actions.

Another gift of encountering Jesus in the Gospels is that we will naturally be drawn to examine our conscience as we read and ponder the life and teachings of Jesus. As we are able to see those fruits of selfishness, greed, judgment, gluttony, lust, pride, indifference, sloth, envy, wrath, or any others, seek God’s forgiveness and can begin to prune those branches within us that lead to such fruits. This will leave more room for the fruits of love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, chastity, goodness, generosity and self-control, to grow and mature in our life.

As we come to know Jesus and his voice, we will begin to recognize, through the fruits they bear, those false prophets who seek to lead us astray, and so be better be able to resist their temptations as well as temptations within. We will better know the truth of who we are and are created to be. More importantly, we will no longer lead others astray, but as we bear the fruits of the Spirit we will lead others through word and deed to the Shepherd.

Photo: Picture of the Bible I received for my confirmation.

Mass readings for Wednesday, June 27, 2018: http://www.usccb.org/bible/readings/062718.cfm

“Enter through the narrow gate; for the gate is wide and the road broad that leads to destruction, and those who enter through it are many. How narrow the gate and constricted the road that leads to life. And those who find it are true” (Mt 7:13-14).

Jesus meets us where we are in our present state of life. He accepts us as we are in this very moment. At the same time, Jesus does not want us to just settle, to be minimalists and merely get by, surviving day by day, but instead he guides us to be fully actualized. He calls us to perfection, to holiness, to be saints! He sees in us, as he did in his disciples and apostles, the promise of our potential and who his Father calls us to be. We each have a unique gift or gifts to offer to the world, each and every one of us.

Entering the narrow gate means that we need to say no to those apparent goods and half truths that will in the end, burden us, weigh us down, and ultimately lead us to emptiness. So not to aimlessly stand outside, to pass through the narrow gate, we need to say yes to that which will truly bring us happiness and fulfillment. We will also need to say no to supporting our false ego and our slavery to sin; to fear, anxiety, and worry such that we turn in on ourselves. May we instead say yes to going out from ourselves and willing the good of and accompanying others.

Let us spend some quiet time in prayer today with Jesus, seeking and discerning his will and listening for his guidance. What thought burdens of worry, anxiety, or fear; pride, judgement, or prejudice; what sinful actions, habits, or addictions can we say no to and let go of? May we open our heart to the Holy Spirit to give us the courage to do so. May we place our hand in Jesus’ hand today, allow him to lead us off the broad road that leads us to sin and destruction, so to pass through the narrow gate with him that will lead us to experience the love, mercy, and grace of God Our Father. What Jesus guides us to do, he will also give us the strength and resources to bring to completion. Our completion is to be fully alive, to experience a life of joy to the full, and assist and support others in doing the same.

Photo credit: Photo by Rene Asmussen from Pexels

The Mass reading for Tuesday, June 26, 2018:

http://www.usccb.org/bible/readings/062618.cfm

For many of us, judging one another is almost as automatic as breathing. As we encounter someone we have instant internal judgments, we judge looks, clothes, actions, inactions, homes, cars, and material items. We judge our family, spouses, friends, colleagues, classmates, leaders, enemies, celebrities and those on the peripheries. Much of what gets our attention when we take the time to think about it is what Jesus is addressing in today’s Gospel, negative judgments.

Jesus said to his disciples: How can you say to your brother, ‘Let me remove that splinter from your eye,’ while the wooden beam is in your eye? You hypocrite, remove the wooden beam from your eye first; then you will see clearly to remove the splinter from your brother’s eye” (Mt 7:4-5).

There are positive judgments that bring about effective change for the good. In a court case, our hope is that the judge is learned in the law and guides the lawyers and jury in ways of sound judgement such that justice with mercy is served. For us to do likewise in our everyday interactions with one another, Jesus shares that we need to remove the wooden beam from our eye first before we are able to remove the splinter in another.

Jesus is leading us to be transformed. We need to have a change of heart, one that is not hardened by negative judgments of others based on our biases and prejudices, but a heart softened, one that is lead by the mercy and love of Jesus. This does not mean that we accept any and all behaviors from ourselves and others. Jesus does not do this. Jesus accepts ALL people as we are and where we are, with mercy. He is willing to enter our chaos, to embrace any and ALL of us who will receive his healing embrace, and through his love Jesus accompanies and walks with us, leading us from our slavery of sin to that which is True, Good, and Beautiful.

We participate with Jesus in doing the same as we allow him to heal us from our own limitations of self centered perceptions, from our anxieties, fears, and prejudices, and so come to see others as God sees them, as human beings endowed with dignity, because ALL people have been created in the image and likeness of God. We participate in building the kingdom of heaven when we allow God to love others through us, to bestow his mercy on others through us. We participate in Jesus’ work of redemption when our judgments toward ourselves and others are not condemnations but convictions that help to empower, build and lift up our brothers and sisters. We participate in taking the log out of our own eye and assisting to remove the splinter in another’s eye when we resist imposing on another and leaving them alone to bear the weight and burden of our judgment, and instead are willing to take another by the hand and accompany them, to be yoked with them, to journey side by side together, helping each other to be transformed into who God is calling us to be.

May we lay down our gavels of judgment, bias, and prejudice today, and instead, with an open heart on fire with the love and mercy of the Holy Spirit, offer our hands to one another, and together with Jesus, hand in hand, arm in arm, be about building the kingdom of God together.

Photo: One of the altar server teams of one hundred altar servers I was blessed to train and serve with at Holy Cross Parish in the Bronx, NY, around 1991.

Link for the Mass readings for Monday, June 25, 2018:

http://www.usccb.org/bible/readings/062518.cfm

“No. He will be called John” (Lk 1:60).

With these simple words three inter-related points arise. First, Elizabeth is beginning to shift the momentum of original sin. Eve was tempted by the serpent to eat of the fruit that God had told her and Adam not too, yet she did. Adam did not support her in her dialogue but remained silent in the face of the pressure placed upon Eve, both of them slipped into sin, by not following the will of God.

At the time of the birth of Elizabeth’s son, there was cause for celebration, for Elizabeth was past child bearing years. The day had come to have him circumcised and named, her relatives and neighbors had gathered around with great excitement and there appeared to be a unanimous decision to name the boy after his father. Elizabeth did not, like Eve, cave to the pressure and temptation. Unlike Adam who lost his voice at the time he needed to speak up, Zechariah found his voice, had Elizabeth’s back and followed the will of God. Both Elizabeth and Zechariah knew what God wanted them to do, and were faithful to follow through.

The second point is already alluded to in the first, and that is how Elizabeth and Zechariah were faithful to God even amidst the familial and social pressure placed on them. We may be removed by such social pressure when naming a child, although some of us may still have experienced this pressure. Elizabeth held her ground and stood firm that the boy would be named John. Ignoring her, the people deferred to Zechariah, the boy’s father, thinking he would have more sense, but he, ignoring the paternal cultural pressure, supported Elizabeth. The point here is not so much the name, but the following of the will of God in the face of pressure to do the opposite.

This brings us to the third point and that is the maturation in moving from identity to integrity. Culture and traditions are not sacred, but God is. Elizabeth and Zechariah faced a lot of familial and social pressure to conform, yet they chose to be true to God, to be true to themselves, and they chose their integrity over their identity.

The very simple account of Elizabeth and Zechariah naming their child John in opposition to the familial and societal pressure offers for us a way to counteract the rising tide of polarization and conflicts that we face in our own country today. Identity provides safety, support, and security. It fuels one of our deepest hungers and that is to belong, to be a part of something bigger than ourselves. We can find our identity in family, friendships, our religious traditions, culture, political affiliations, common interests, clubs, activities, and hobbies. But our identity, which provides us with security, can also be a trap.

We want to belong so much, the drive is so strong, that we may be willing to make decisions, act in ways, and support others, that go against who we are, just so we can belong. We may not be true to ourselves and what we believe in to be part of the group. We may know what God wants from us, we may hear the whispers of his voice in our conscience, yet we are pulled by the louder voices of our group. We are sometimes so engrained by our identity that we are being strangled by it, instead of freed to be who God calls us to be.

Elizabeth, and Zechariah bring God to their family and neighbors by being true to who God calls them to be in the face of pressure. Many times being a person of integrity does not go so well. Their own son, who would grow to be John the Baptist, would lose his life, by speaking truth to power. But by being a person of integrity, like his parents, he would be the bridge from the old covenant to the new. Identity and tradition are important, but for identity to be true and to grow, it must be open to the truth, it must be open to integrity.

Instead of sharing what I believe or what I feel God has called me to say, instead of facing conflicts, real and/or perceived head on, there have been too many times in my life in which I have been frozen by indecision or chosen silence so to protect my identity, my ego, my false self, instead of accessing moral courage and embracing integrity. One thing that has helped me this past year is reading and studying the Gospel readings of the day. Time and again I have witnessed how Jesus is a model of integrity. Jesus embodies the moral courage that we all need today. Though more than just a model of a life well lived, more than just a word on the page, Jesus is the Word of God. Jesus is present to us now, to guide and lead us, to empower us with the same love that he embodies, such that when we say yes to him and invite him into our life, we too can be transformed to live a life of truth, moral courage, and integrity.

May we give ourselves a moment to be still today and reflect on those times in which we have chosen our identity over being people of integrity. When have we supported something we know is clearly wrong only because we are supporting our group? A good way to see this is when we judge the same act differently only based on who is doing it. Person A in my group does Act X and I defend him. Person B, who is not in my group, does Act X and I condemn her. Also, let us recall when God has inspired us to speak or act, even in simple ways of kindness and caring extended out toward another, and we refused because we feared the reactions or judgments of others.

May we follow the lead of Elizabeth and Zechariah, and their son John the Baptist from today’s Gospel and pray for one another that we may hear the word of God and act upon it. May we be able to turn away from supporting the identity of our own false self, that enslaves us through fear, so to be people of integrity and moral courage by listening to our consciences again. May we be willing to act and speak up when there are those that are belittling, demeaning, dehumanizing, and/or not respecting our dignity or the dignity of others on and individual and societal level, no matter who it is that is doing so. May we be willing ourselves to treat each other with dignity and respect, whether we are in the same group of identity or not.

Photo: accessed from http://www.pexels.com

Link for the Mass readings for Sunday, June 24, 2018:

http://www.usccb.org/bible/readings/062418-day-mass.cfm