John 8: 51-59 Vocation to Follow into Life

Religious leaders are important to the faithful no matter what faith people are.  As Catholics we look toward the Pope, our Archbishops, Bishops and Priests.  What is the first step in being a religious leader?  It is the vocation, that calling forth by God the Father for this particular mission.  It emerges from deep introspection and discernment.  If that calling, that vocation isn’t there, then it is empty.  Many of us know people who thought they were called to the vocation of priesthood, but it was not meant to be.  Whereas we all know those whose vocations were solid and bear good fruit as our Priests and Bishops.  As Jesus said regarding them in their vocations as our religious leaders, and to us in the paths that God has lead us on, “It is not you who have chosen me, but I who have chosen you.” (Jn15:16)

In our first reading today we see clearly that God has called Abraham to be a father of all nations, to shepherd of his people, and to lead them in the path of righteousness as God’s chosen people.  As God tells Abraham, I will be “your God, and the God of your descendants after you...”  God so loves us and knows what is right for us, that he guides us into the right paths as a loving merciful Father. 

Similarly the in the Gospel today we run into the religious leaders, men called by God to lead the people,  discoursing with Jesus regarding Abraham; the leaders saying that Abraham, their father, was dead, but Jesus talking of eternal life.  The Jews do not believe what Jesus tells them.  They are convinced that life is finite, that “Abraham died, as did the prophets.” They ask Jesus if he is greater than Abraham and the prophets since he, Jesus, is telling them, “Whoever keeps my word will never taste death.”  They are filled with doubts and suspicion.  It is like something is missing from their spirituality.  Yet, here is the Good Shepherd, Our Lord, instructing and calling them and us in a Way that offers hope and life.

Pope Francis in a discussion on death reminds us, “God always gives life. He gives it to you here and he will give it to you in the next.  He is God of life, not of death…In our faith death is a consequence of human freedom.  We were by our own sins, those who opted for death, which entered into the world because we made room for disobedience to the plan of God.  Sin entered as pride before God’s plan and with it, death.” (On Heaven and Earth ch 10, p77; by Bergoglio and Skorka. Image/Random House 2013) At the same time God calls us to be closer to him and for this purpose sent his only Son for the salvation of humankind, that we might have life restored to us through him.  We are called to proclaim the wonders our God has done.  God the Father is fulfilling the covenant that he set with his people.  We are called to fulfill our covenant with him by following Christ in the Way, so that we might know the Truth when Jesus says, “Whoever keeps my word will never taste death.”  Christ Jesus was God for he tells us, “Amen, amen, I say to you, before Abraham came to be, I AM.” 

 

John 8:21-30 Called to Christ

“The seed is the word of God, Christ is the sower;
all who come to him will live forever.”

            A question I hear frequently, especially this Lent is, “Why didn’t the people listen to Jesus since he was God?”  This is a good question.  In reading the Gospel of John for the last few weeks, this idea that the Jews, God’s chosen people simply did not understand.

            This should be nothing new to the Jews or the rest of us.  Throughout the Old Testament God continuously revealed himself as a loving father in many different ways including giving Adam and Eve and all humanity a second chance of life with him; of walking with Abraham and guiding him to a covenant with him and his descendants; to the calling of the prophets in leading the people; the Commandments which he entrusted to Moses; and the leading the people out of slavery not just from the Egyptians, but again later from the Babylonian exile.   These are just some of the many examples of God’s loving guidance as Father.  Yet nevertheless, we know that the Jews continuously rejected him.

            In today’s first reading we are given the image of the seraph serpent that plagues the Jews in the desert as they complain against God wishing for their luxurious lifestyle from Egypt. This serpent is a symbol of pettiness, jealousy and impatience.  As they come to understand that he leading them out of the desert to a better life, and that they shouldn’t complain, they became ashamed and begged forgiveness.  God hear them.  He had Moses fashion a great serpent like image and held it high, like Jesus on the cross, so that all who saw and believed would be healed.

            Today we hear Jesus speak to the Pharisees.  Jesus is continuously pouring out upon the Faithful the Word.  Throughout the Gospel of John Jesus speaks and the believers hear and see, but the Pharisees do not.  Jesus is the Word, and he speaks the Word.  The Word is both a message and a person, in unison with one another, both the physical manifestation of God’s love and compassion.   To the believers who listened, he transformed their entire lives, turning them upside down, and making them fishers of men through their very lives for the greater glory of God. 

            In this last week of Lent before Holy Week, how have our lives been transformed through the Word?  What habits do we need to break to be healed by him as we gaze upon the cross? He gives us the grace we need to transform.  As we receive the Blessed Eucharist, his soul and divinity, we are called to his image and likeness.

John 5: 17-30 The Relationship Between Father and Son

In small towns like mine there is a plethora of family businesses.  It is not unusual to see three and sometimes four generations gathered at the business, or taking work home to share together there.  Father and sons, mother and daughters, or any combinations thereof work together, blending their roles, but still separate in who they are; the direction coming from the father commonly with the advice of the son/daughter considered when making decisions for the business.  There is a great deal of honor for the parents, for their knowledge, for their love, for their drive and sense of hard work.  There is a great sense of community within these families and their respective businesses. The community becomes the focus, but when an individual within it suffers or has difficulty, they community lifts them up with great love and tenderness. Employees from outside the family are commonly adopted into them through shared time and experience and invited to all family functions and receive the same care and concern as family members working for the business.   It is really a beautiful thing to witness.  Not all family businesses run like this, but the successful ones in the local area do.  The customers receive and feel the solidarity and are drawn to it.

In today's Gospel Jesus describes his relationship to the Father.  He tells us that the Father has taught him many things and that he does what his Father does: he heals the sick, he raises the dead, he restores life.  However, Jesus admits that he, although he and his Father share commonalities in their work and are in communion with each other, he is different from the Father.  "The Son cannot do anything on his own, but only what he sees the Father doing." The Son needs to be taught by the Father.  The Father can do so many more things than we can even dream.  The Father has also designated specific things to the Son and honors his son by allowing the Son only to make those decisions, "Nor does the Father judge anyone, but he has given all judgment to the Son, so that all may honor the Son just as they honor the Father."

The Father and the Son are both God, just as is the Holy Spirit.  They are the Holy Trinity, the triune God, but distinct from each other at the same time.  For the first time Jesus open speaks of himself as the Son, and as the Jews point out, that makes him equal to the Father.  That is contrary to what they know.  Jesus reminds them that he isn't there to do what they or he want, but that it is always the Father's will that surpasses not only ours, but also the Son's will.  We will hear this again in the readings soon.  Today, this week, through the end of Lent, what do you hear as God's will for you?

 

Lk 13:1-9 Parable of the Fig Tree

(If your church is holding Scrutinies, the readings will be different.)

Today our catechism classes are learning about the parable of the fig tree that did not produce fruit, but the gardener asked if he could have a year to fertilize it that it may produce fruit.  Our lives are like the fig tree in the story.  As we do good works we grow and blossom.  However, if we remain closed up and refuse to grow, we wither and die.  The children will be working on a reflection where they will think about those things that they have done for others this past week, those things for their own needs, and those things done for others because they knew it was the right things to do, meaning for God's sake.  The other part of the reflection will include notes that other classes have made for them to encourage them in their Lenten journey. 

As we go through our day, in what ways are we helping ourselves to grow and blossom through the love of God's tender nurturing and feeding? 

Matthew 23:1-12 Practice what you preach.

"Do not follow their example for the preach, but do not practice." Jesus says in today's Gospel.  People can be such hypocrites.  The Pharisees and scribes are not exception.  We use the idiom, 'Practice what you preach.' Obviously we as a people in general don't like people who make themselves the exception to the rule. 

Jesus is really calling to be aware of our actions and words.  Perhaps it is good to put on a persona of greatness in some aspects of our lives for business, but you know what, Jesus is reminding to live in reality and remember that we're just human: we all put our pants on the same way, one leg at a time.

Matthew 5:20-26 A New Heart

Today's antiphon:
"Cast away from you all the crimes that you have committed, says the Lord, and make for yourselves a new heart and spirit."  (Ez 18:31)

Jesus is calling us not just to follow the Law, but follow the spirit of the Law.  Jesus recognized that people were following the rules set for for them by the Ten Commandments, but that was it, they were missing the Spirit of the Law.  That Spirit is why we have the laws, because they were intended to help us form a good conscious, yes, to know right from wrong.  The Laws were also intended to help us form good relationships with each other as our brothers' keeper because we are all members of the world and as such our relationships are interwoven and complex.  Think about it.  Who helped to make your clothes?  You've never met them, and yet they have impacted your life significantly.  Or what about the food that you eat?  You probably haven't met most of the people responsible for it being on your plate, but they have impacted your life. 

Jesus is reminding us that yes, we can follow the Law and be good people.  However he is calling us to go beyond the letter of the Law and acknowledge that we have a greater responsibility than just what the Law calls for.  We are called into communion with each other and in doing so, with God.  When we can see the face of God in others, then we know that we are close to being who Jesus challenges us to be because our hearts are changed.  He is calling us to a new beginning.  It isn't an easy road and if we struggle today, then we always have tomorrow to try again.

Matthew 7: 7-12 the Golden Rule

Queen Esther is one of those great female heroes of the Old Testament.  The Israelites are in captivity in Babylon.  She, specifically is living in Susa.  As an orphan, her uncle, Mordechai, has raised her in the Jewish faith as his adopted daughter to be a good humble woman who loves and honors God, following the Lord’s commands.    God granted her the gifts of beauty and humility.  When she was allowed into the harem of the king, they helped her to become his queen.  When the people of Israel were persecuted and threatened to be killed by the vizier, Esther made humble supplications to the Lord in prayer for help against the coming tribulations of her people.  The Lord God heard his daughter and saved his people.  Everything about Esther seems to have been preordained to help the Lord's people, but she plays an active role in their continuation, as well as serving as an example of true feminine beauty not only outwardly, but inwardly.

In today’s Gospel, Jesus in speaking about prayer reiterates that God listens to his people.  As a loving Father he will give us what we need, what is best for us.   He also reminds us that we are to “do to others whatever you would have them do to you.  This is the Law and the Prophets.”  Jesus is giving us what some call the Golden Rule.

As we continue our Lenten path, may our humility and virtues let us shine with inward beauty and humility as we grow closer to God. 

Luke 11: 29-32 The Sign of Jonah

How many of us look for a sign of the Lord's intervention in our life.  How easily we could be these in the "evil generation looking for a sign, but none will be given except that of Jonah."  Jonah spent three days in the belly of a fish.  It was a foreshadowing of the three days that Christ would spend in the belly of the earth before his Resurrection.

We are invited like the people of Nineveh to repent because we are warned of the coming of the wrath of God to those who are not humbled, that through the Lords mercy on those who love him, we may be saved.  And how?  Through the saving act of our Lord Jesus Christ and his Resurrection on the third day.  We are called in our Lenten journey to repent, to sacrifice, to be humbled, that we may allow God to resume his rightful place in our hearts; that we allow his will to be done over our own.  In his love and mercy, he will forgive us.  Remember Christ Jesus taught us the prayer that gives us hope in this. 

Luke 4:1-13 Temptation in the Desert

"Filled with the Holy Spirit, Jesus returned from the Jordan
and was led by the Spirit into the desert for forty days..."

These lines remind us of Jesus' baptism at the Jordan when the Holy Spirit came upon Jesus and the Voice of God the Father was heard saying, "This is my son in whom I am well pleased."  The Spirit then brings him to the desert where he is tempted. 

We are all temped every one of us, even once we are baptized.  We are given the fruits of the Spirit to help us in our life's journeys.  What are these gifts from God that we should be aware of and be comfortable employing in face of temptations and life's troubles?  They are wisdom, understanding, fortitude, counsel, knowledge, piety, and fear/awe of the Lord.  These gifts can help us so much.  They helped Jesus in the temptations in the desert.  These gifts of the Holy Spirit helped to lead Jesus our of the desert.  They help us too in our tough times.  When we lose our pride and ask God for help, that is when we can be led by the Spirit the best. 

We are called to conversion and our Lenten journey should help us there.  Let the Spirit guide you in his love and mercy, through acts of kindness and charity toward others. 

Luke 9:22-25 Thursday after Ash Wednesday

for today's reading (http://www.usccb.org/bible/readings/021116.cfm)

Whomever Loses His Life for My Sake Will Save It

Today’s readings seem almost oppressive and foreboding.  Moses tells us that we must follow laws, statutes and decrees to live and grow numerous.  Jesus tells us about suffering, death, and following him with our own crosses. 

It is not always easy to follow rules.  Do we tend to see people slow down at stop lights when the light is yellow, or do people to try make the light?  How many times do we see people cross the road when they are not in a crosswalk?  How many people do we know who have received speeding or parking tickets? Rules within society are designed to help us remain safe and function together peacefully as a whole.  They serve a beneficial purpose though we may not always see it that way.

Currently among the high school/junior high group is a game called, “All Hail! Chairman Mao!” or simply “Mao.”  It is a game where the fixed rules are the ones regarding penalties.  The other rules are added by the first player each round of the card game.   Players must figure them out as they are played, and suffer the consequences for the rule violation.  It can be a frustrating game, but fun to watch each other struggle.  Sometimes players do become angry enough they don’t want to play anymore. 

If our lives were like the game of Mao and we would be ignorant of the right way to live and the wrong way.  We would be penalized for doing wrong in our ignorance.  How would we know that God loved us?  Would we love God the way we do?  Probably not.

In the first reading Moses reminds us that as God’s prophet he has laid out the two paths that our loving God has given to us, the path which if we follow the Lord’s commands, statutes and decrees, will allow us to live and grow numerous.  This is the way that God will bless us for our reciprocated love.  However, Moses says, “you turn your hearts away and will not listen, but are led astray…you shall certainly perish.”  When parents make rules within their homes for their children, it is out of love.  They want to protect, to teach their children to love and serve each other, and parents want to teach their children the path to righteousness.  Thus, when we look at the Laws of God, in this way, do we not want to obey them?  Can we not see that our Father guides us through them?  We are on a journey carrying our crosses whatever they may be, but God is providing us directions for the journey, calling us into communities that help us understand where we are being led, and will meet us at our journey’s end.

Jesus foretells of his suffering, crucifixion and death.  He states that he will be resurrected.  This was his journey, his death, his life so that we may have life.  Jesus revealed to us the fullness of God’s plan of salvation for his people, for us, because He so loves us.  We are called to acknowledge the passing of this life as merely transient, that we should be focused on what is eternal.  We are not to be afraid of death, but embrace it as a friend who will take us to the Kingdom.  Jesus said, “If anyone wishes to come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me.  For whomever wishes to save his life will lose it, but whomever loses his life for my sake will save it.”  Our Lenten journey helps us to remember our crosses, the Way that Jesus taught so that we may have eternal life, and how grateful we are that God so loves us. 

Let us pray this Lent the words of St. Benedict:  Merciful God in infinite compassion, whose creating power called us forth from the dust of the earth, in this, the acceptable time, lead us inward to be at peace with you, impel us outward to be reconciled with our neighbor, that we may embrace the sacred discipline of lent with broken, humbled hearts so come to the blessed joy of the paschal feast cleansed and renewed.  We ask this of you.  Amen.

Mt 6: 1-6, 16-18 Ash Wednesday

for today's reading http://www.usccb.org/bible/readings/021016.cfm

Today we are summoned to repentance, to reflection, to renew ourselves in God's eyes as his holy people.  Called to fasting we lose ourselves to this world and place ourselves in solidarity with Christ's suffering as we prepare for his Resurrection at Easter.  It is also a time too for us to refocus our loves upon the Lord, to renew ourselves to his laws, to do his will.

I offer you the prayer of St. Elizabeth Ann Seton:

O Father, the first rule of our dear savior's life was to do Your Will.  Let His Will of the present moment be the first rule of our daily life and work with no other desire but for its most full and complete accomplishment.  Help us to follow it faithfully, so that doing what You wish we will be pleasing to you.  Amen.