truth

Seeing Jesus as he is will help us to experience the love of his Father!

Today’s Gospel reading is a sad account. For the first time since beginning his public ministry, Jesus has returned to his hometown of Nazareth. He entered the synagogue on the Sabbath and preached and taught in his “native place”. Unfortunately, this was not a roaring success of the hometown boy returning home to make good. Initially, it seems that the immediate reaction was the same where he had been preaching before. People were “astonished”.  This astonishment though was not received in the same way as his other audiences. The outsiders he preached to were amazed at the authority and power of his teaching. The hometown crowd looked at Jesus more with contempt.

This is a window into this small town of not more than 500 at the highest estimates. It is also a window into what really happened when Jesus returned home after being lost when he was twelve. What happened in those missing years from twelve until the beginning of his public ministry around thirty was most likely insignificant at best. As Mark mentioned, Jesus was merely a carpenter and the son of Mary. This identification is only used by Mark. Was this because of the roots of Jesus’ conception happening while still during Mary’s betrothal period to Joseph? Or, speaking of Jospeh, could this reference be to the fact that Joseph had already died, although, Jews more often than not during this time, referred to sons by addressing the name of their fathers, such as Jesus the son of Joseph, not by their mothers.

Most of the people here did not accept that he spoke with authority, healed, exorcised demons, or tamed violent winds and waves at seas as the lead stories coming into town had said. Jesus’ words were not received, and so he was not able to bring those who knew him for the greater majority of his life into deeper communion with his Father. The whole reason that he came was to bring light to a world suffering in darkness, and those closest to him refused the invitation such that: “he was not able to perform any mighty deed there, apart from curing a few sick people by laying his hands on them. He was amazed at their lack of faith” (Mk 6:6).

For the first five chapters that we have been going through each day with Mark as our guide, many were amazed at the power of Jesus’ preaching, presence, and miraculous works. Jesus was amazed that those who probably he was closest to more than anyone else, refused to believe. They had heard about and now witnessed themselves, the power of his preaching, but they could not see past the simple carpenter.

Is our world today becoming more and more like Jesus’ “native place”? Do we take Jesus for granted, if we pay him any attention to him at all? Where miracles are dismissed as hoaxes or coincidences at best? At one point, CS Lewis, I believe, wrote that Jesus is either a liar, a lunatic, or the Lord. He cannot be anything else upon a close reading of the Scriptures. Today, some circles would add that he is just made up.

We seek to know in the depths of our hearts, all of us, atheists and believers alike, as well as everyone in between. We seek to know the truth. Authentic faith seeks understanding. A questioning and searching mind are the ingredients for a living, relevant, and vibrant faith and life.

Yet, we can limit ourselves for many reasons and experiences that we have gone through in life. We can, like the Nazoreans, limit the truth of Jesus by accepting a caricature of him. As St. Thomas Aquinas taught: “To one who has faith, no explanation is necessary; to one without faith, no explanation is possible.” There are reasonable ascents we can make to the reality and truth that Jesus is the Son of God, but our reason can only go so far. God’s grace builds on nature. God has given us an intellect and will to seek and to know, but we also are not only limited to our ability to reason. God also reaches the deepest core of our being when we are willing to trust him a little and open our hearts and minds to his revelation.

May we resist setting limits, settling for a minimalist or cynical approach, and the hardening of our hearts, and instead open ourselves up to the limitless possibilities God opens up before us! There is so much to experience when we just slow down and are still to experience the wonder of everyday, miraculous moments happening all around us. The Holy Spirit touches our hearts in our encounters with one another when we resist keeping each other at a distance, in a box neatly defined, and/or lead with our fears instead of love. God wants to share with us the gift of his Son and the Holy Spirit. Are we willing to open our hearts and minds to him, even a little, and allow the love of God to happen today?

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Photo: The wonder of looking up! Stopping for a moment a few nights ago on my Rosary walk!

Link for the Mass readings for Wednesday, February 5, 2025

May we allow ourselves to be transformed by the truth and love of Jesus.

When I taught religion and theology, I have asked my students if Jesus ever sinned. Inevitably, someone referenced the account from today’s Gospel. In these verses, we read how Jesus, “made a whip out of cords and drove them all out of the temple area” (Jn 2:15). Jesus is not sinning here, rather, he is acting in line with prophetic tradition. Jesus is making a bold spectacle to drive home the point that the temple is not a marketplace but it is to be a place of worship and right praise to his Father.

Greater still than the temple, is the people of God. Further down in the text, when those present ask for a sign to justify this act, Jesus said: “Destroy this temple and in three days I will raise it up” (Jn 2:19). Clearly, he was pointing to his body as the temple of God and referring to his Resurrection to come.

The temple, the house of God, believed to be the corporal presence, the very seat of God among his people, Israel, was destroyed in 70 AD by the Romans. This left a tremendous spiritual, political, and social vacuum. Two groups that were intimately tied to the sacrificial cult of the temple, the Sadducees and the Essenes, very soon after the destruction, ceased to exist as a sect within Judaism. The Pharisees, who already were moving to a practice of home worship that mirrored the worship in the temple, would survive and be the ancestral root of different expressions of Judaism today. Another sect would also arise as the followers of the new way of Jesus which became the Church, the Body of Christ.

Each of us has a unique part to play in the Church. We are called to bear witness and practice, in our own unique way, our faith in our everyday experiences. We may be the only Bible someone ever reads. This call to put our faith into action is not an invitation to be overwhelmed by nor an excuse to assume a posture of elitism. We are no better than anyone else.

Pope Francis wrote: “Believers should not be presumptuous; rather, truth leads to humility. We know it is not ourselves possessing truth, it is truth that embraces and possesses us” (Costello 2013, 14). We are to seek and follow Jesus, the Way, the Truth, and the Life, and allow his truth and his love to shape and transform our lives. When we are willing to encounter and walk together, we learn and grow from one another. We are also less apt to keep others at a distance and become more willing to draw close.

We need to resist all that contributes in any way to the dehumanization, hate, and violence by rooting ourselves in Jesus, the living Temple. In doing so, we will become aware that we ourselves are temples of the Holy Spirit. In spending consistent time in silence, prayer, meditation, study, worship, and service, we not only purify our temple, we better know God’s will, and will be conformed to and empowered by the love of Christ to be instruments of peace, contemplatives in action, and advocates for healing and reconciliation in a wounded and weary church, politics, country, and world.

Photo: Rosary walk during on of my final evenings back at the St. Vincent de Paul Regional Seminary mid June.

Costello, Gwen. Walking With Pope Francis: Thirty Days with the Encyclical The Light of Faith. New London, CT: Twenty Third Publications, 2013.

Link for the Mass readings for Saturday, November 9, 2024

Jesus opens us up to and leads us to experience the Truth.

After Jesus continues to call out those Pharisees who follow their own will and put themselves in the place of honor instead of God, one of the scholars of the law said to him in reply, “Teacher, by saying this you are insulting us too.”
Jesus did not soften his words or hold back. He went right at the scholar and convicted him as well, “Woe also to you scholars of the law! You impose on people burdens hard to carry, but you yourselves do not lift one finger to touch them” (Lk 11;45-46).
Jesus is clear about his mission, about what the kingdom of God is not and what it is. Jesus is shining a light on the practices of those Pharisees and the scholars of the law that are not fulfilling the Law and the Prophets. I believe that there were those who were. Yet, for those he challenged, he did so in the hope that they would see the darkness that was blinding them. Unfortunately, unlike Bartimaeus (see Mk 10:46-52) who knew that he was blind and wanted to see, this is not true for these whom Jesus confronted.
How about us? Are we aware of our blind spots? Are we willing to allow Jesus to shine his light and love in our direction? Will we cover our eyes because the light is too bright and withdraw further into the shadows, or will we remain still and allow our eyes time to adjust so that the brightness of the Mystery of God will reveal to us that which has kept us bound? Will we justify, or rationalize our behavior or those of others that we know are sinful, or will we be transparent, repent, believe in the Gospel, and walk further into the light and the embrace of Jesus?
Let us resist the path of those Pharisees and scholars of the Law who imposed heavy burdens without being willing to help others along the way. We do need to know the law, the Catechism, the Bible, Canon Law, participate in the sacraments and be people of prayer and service, all doing so for the purpose of coming to know Jesus and the love he shares with the Father who is the Holy Spirit. We have been created for nothing less than to participate in the very love of God, to become divine through our participation in the life of Jesus. This love and relationship with God increases as we share what we have received with others.
Jesus did not come to abolish the Law and the Prophets but to fulfill them. He was actually much more demanding than the Pharisees or the scribes. The difference is, Jesus invites us into his divine relationship to empower us so that we can also fulfill the prescriptions and practices that God has commanded. Doing so is not for God’s sake but for ours! God’s divine law is in place so that we can experience freedom from the false truths, diversions, distractions, and attachments that we have fallen for. Meditating upon God’s law and putting it into practice is like a tree planted near fresh water that will never wither and fade. Our roots that run deep will continue to receive nourishment and sustenance even in times of drought, challenge, and trials.
Jesus beckons us to come out from the shadows and into the radiance of his light. As we experience his love and mercy, he encourages us to continue to move out of our comfort zones and complacency so that we may encounter others with the same love and mercy we have received. Jesus does not expect us to live the life he challenges us to aspire to all on our own power. Apart from Jesus, we can do nothing, but with Jesus all things are possible.
Photo: Enjoying some quiet time of breathing, praying, and walking with Jesus and Mary. Rosary walk, Vero Beach.
Link for the Mass readings for Wednesday, October 16, 2024

“You are lacking one thing…”

A man approached Jesus seeking to know what he must, “do to inherit eternal life” (Mk 10:17). Jesus interestingly shared the commandments of Moses’ second tablet, those of loving neighbor such as: do not kill, commit adultery, steal or bear false witness; do not defraud, but do honor his father and mother (cf. Mk 10:19), not any from the first tablet regarding how to relate to God. The man affirmed that he had followed them all. Jesus did not challenge the man’s response. The disciples, I bet, though perked up and prepared to watch Jesus lead this man deeper.

Jesus, looking at him, loved him and said, “You are lacking one thing. Go, sell what you have, and give to [the] poor and you will have treasure in heaven; then come and follow me” (Mk 10:21).

Jesus did not admonish or condemn the man. Mark, who most likely got this eyewitness detail from Peter, wrote, “Jesus looking at him, loved him”. Jesus loved him and hoped to help him to see that there was something still lacking in him, still holding him bound. So he lovingly invited him to take the next step to fulfill the deepest desire we all have, which is to be one with God and one another.

Instead of embracing the invitation, the man was crestfallen. That he followed the prescriptions of Torah all his life, and most likely sincerely felt he was blessed by God with the gift of having many material goods, in the end, did he really know God any better by following the precepts of the law alone? In the end, did he worship God or his possessions which still enslaved him.

He may genuinely have come to seek eternal life, but as many misunderstood the kind of  messiah Jesus would be, he did not grasp the reality of relationship that God invites us to experience. This man was likely serious, disciplined, well mannered, and virtuous but made the mistake in thinking this all came about by his own doing. He thought the things he received from God was his blessing, not realizing that God wanted to give this man the greatest gift of all, himself.

Jesus invited the man to follow him, and in so doing he was now bringing in the first of Moses’ tablets, the first three of the Ten Commandments, which have to do with our relationship with God. Jesus answered this man’s question, “What must I do to inherit eternal life?” by saying, “You are lacking one thing. Go, sell what you have, and give to [the] poor and you will have treasure in heaven; then come and follow me” (Mk 10:21). Interestingly, Jesus did not say, follow God, he said follow me! Jesus is the Son of God, he is God incarnate.

The heart of the commandments invite us to be free from that which enslave us, so that we can put God first and foremost in our lives, so we can experience and receive his love, so we can grow in our relationship with him and one another free of unhealthy attachments. This is what we all have been created for, as St. Augustine himself realized when he wrote, “You have made us for yourself, O Lord, and our hearts are restless until they rest in you” (St Augustine, Confessions).

I invite you to return to this scene from Mark 10:17-31. Recall the image of the disciples and Jesus watching the rich man walk away sad. Become aware of the eyes of Jesus, his gaze now on you. What stirs within you as you receive his gaze and his love?

Allow yourself to take a breath and ask, “What must I do to inherit eternal life?” Continue to look deeply into Jesus’ eyes as he says, “You are lacking one thing…” How does he fill in the blank for you?

What is your response?
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Painting image based on the Shroud of Turin.

Link for the Mass readings for Sunday, October 13, 2024