Lk 7: 36-8:3 God so loves us

Have you ever thought about what it would have taken for this woman to enter into the house of this politician and come before an honored guest to wash his feet with her hair and perfumed oil?  A group was discussion this very story and the awe for this woman was great because she had to have been prominent herself, or had connections to be able to bribe her way into the house.  That fact that she was known as a sinner has the implication that perhaps her sin was great and that it was permissible given her position in society.  These are just speculation. 

She kisses the feet of the lord.  She has shown hospitality to a man who is not really welcome as a guest, and one who the host has insulted by not offering the customary foot washing as required by the rules of good hospitality.  She has done all these things with such great love, not simply out of requirement. 

Jesus puts a story of two debtors to Simon Peter, one who owes more than another, and yet both debts are forgiven, who would love more the one forgiving the debt.  Peter answers, the one who had more to be forgiven.  It is amazing the number of people who come to church seeing God who have spent their whole lives apart from him, and how wonderfully he is to forgive their sins as much as one who has always lived a good and righteous life.   We should be happy for each other that we are all called to the Banquet.  We are all challenged to remember that we are all loved equally by our Heavenly Father.  We are challenged to help each other, and not to feel jealous of each other, or be judging if someone is greatly thankful to the Lord for his goodness; it is just their way of acknowledging the gift they have been given.  We have all been given gifts, we just need to look and bring them with us to the foot of Christ and honor and adore him through our gifts.

Mt 5:27-32 Tear, throw away, cut it off

Jesus uses very harsh poignant language in today's reading.  To go against one's very nature is so incredibly hurtful.  In marriage the idea is that two become one.  To commit adultery is to go against one's self, to harm one's self.  True, there is the aspect of marriage of adultery, but one can also look at it as not being true to one's self, which is what calls us to live rightly in communion with God. 

There is a song called Trading My Sorrows by Darrel Evans that  reminds us that we ought to hear the Lord, not in the great sounds of the world around us or the rushing of the wind, but in that still small voice, where the Lord encourages us to be true to ourselves and him by turning toward him, and saying "Yes Lord."  When we do we trade our sorrows and shame for love and forgiveness.  We are not abandoned but lifted up.  The Lord reminds us not to commit adultery, so we must strive not be adulterous toward God by placing things before him, or before our commitment to doing right by ourselves, or others.  At the end of our lives, we don't answer to other people.  No, we meet God alone and have to answer for own words, actions, behavior.  How can we do this if we are pretending to be someone that we're not?  We must be ourselves, the people God intended.  There is great hope in this, and peace.  In being true to ourselves, it will lead us to a deeper connection and unity with the Lord, for it is only in him that we find ourselves.

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. 

Mark 6:14-29 Martrydom of John the Baptist

for today's reading (http://www.usccb.org/bible/readings/020516.cfm)

“The blood of martyrs is the seed of Christianity.”  ~Tertullian

What is it that the saints knew that gave them such a peace of mind in the midst of their tribulations?   Today is the feast of St. Agatha, born into a distinguished family, who was tortured and eventually martyred (to be venerated as a virgin martyr since Christian antiquity) for her steadfast faith which contributed to her refusal of the illicit invitation of a suitor. We also learn today about John the Baptist who professed our faith too, and was held captive, probably tortured, and likewise martyred.  What caused them to remain calm amidst the tumult?  St. Ambrose helps us to understand, “The Lord is very near, there is no need to worry: the Lord is always near to anyone who calls on him in truth, with right faith, with firm hope, with perfect love. He himself knows what you need before you ask it of him: he is always ready to give his faithful servants whatever help they need. When bad things happen to us we should not be greatly worried, because we should know that we have God close to us as our defender. The Lord is close to those with contrite hearts; those with a broken spirit he will save. Many are the tribulations of the just; the Lord will free them of all their troubles. If we fight to fulfil and keep his precepts, he will not be slow to give us the aid he has promised.”

Martyrdom was a fulfillment of a life lived in love and service to the Lord. From the moment he leapt in his mother’s womb, to the point of his death, John the Baptist’s whole life pointed to Christ.  It was in Christ that he found perfect happiness. Perhaps we have been persecuted ourselves for our Christian way of life. Sometimes extraordinary witnesses are called to offer a greater witness to this Way of life.    Our communion antiphon today reminds us, “Blessed are they who have kept the Word with a generous heart, and yield a harvest through perseverance.” (Lk 8:15)  Let us join St. Agatha and John the Baptist in shaping our lives to point to Christ. 

Luke 2:22-40 Feast of the Presentation of the Lord

for today's readings (http://www.usccb.org/bible/readings/020216.cfm)

Today's readings speak of the messenger(s) that come before the Lord proclaiming him to the people. Who instructs Simeon to act out as the prophet?  Or even Anna to know and announce that here is the Christ child?  It is the Holy Spirit.  The Spirit animates both of them.  Simeon, who is promised that he would behold the virgin with the Christ Child before he dies, utters a prayer, in Latin called the Nunc Dimittis.  (This is the prayer used at the end of compline, or the evening prayer for the Liturgy of the Hours.)

Simeon is like Elizabeth and Zachary, the family of the Virgin Mary.  He is pious, aged, and looking for the fulfillment of God's promises to the people of Israel.  It is through the grace of God that Simeon comes to know and welcome the Lord to the temple and acknowledge Jesus as the Messiah, the Comforter of the people, the king chosen by God to reign over his people.  The Holy Spirit is offering hope as well as a light into the divine mystery of God made manifest as our Savior.  Through Simeon gives a more complete picture of the Old Testament predictions of the Messiah.  Anna too through her charisms of the Holy Spirit us the same idea, that here indeed is the Messiah come to fulfill the prophesies of the Old Testament.  She praises God and proclaims the infant to those who longed for the redemption of Jerusalem.  Anna and Simeon are witnesses to the Truth, prophets of God proclaiming, exhorting, and comforting the people awaiting the Messiah.   They represent the link between the Old Covenant and the celebration of the New Covenant made through Christ.

Mark 2: 23-28 Picking the Grains of Wheat

Have you ever judged anyone before learning about their circumstances?  Sometimes this happens to each of us.  This happens within today's Gospel, and even the first reading (1 Sam16:1-13 where Samuel is seeking for God's anointed one, not the strong and mighty, but the young inconspicuous boy, David.) In today's Gospel the scribe watches Jesus picking the wheat and eating it on the Sabbath.  Based on his strict religious laws, he is judging Jesus and the disciples.  The scribe isn't looking at them with the love, compassion and understanding that they laws could originally have held, especially if he understood how hungry they were carrying nothing for food and wandering for days without shelter overhead.  No, the scribe looks upon them in judgement with the rigidity of the old law. 

Jesus on the other hand reminds the scribe of how David long ago ate what was apportioned to the priests even though it was unlawful because he and his companions were hungry.  Then he makes a further statement, "The Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath. That is why the Son of Man is lord even over the Sabbath."  The Sabbath is that day set aside for rest and worship.  Yes, what Jesus and the disciples was doing was considered work, but it was necessary so they did not starve.  Jesus' point is that it was necessary for life and thus overruled the law.  The Sabbath was created to remind all of human kind to give thanks to their creator, and that is why the Son of Man, God made manifest is ruler of the Sabbath.

Luke 3:15-16, 21-22 Baptism of the Lord

There was once a woman who asked whether she should have her child baptized.  The woman's mother wanted the grandbaby to be baptized, but the mother and father didn't follow any faith, and the mother especially struggled because she had been raised Catholic and her first husband, who was a devout Catholic, had been killed in a tragic accident; In some ways she still blamed God.  In the end the mother decided that she did not live her faith; that she would allow the child to be raised in a home devoid of religion and he could decide for himself when he was an adult whether he would pursue faith.  The grandmother, when he was an infant, took Holy Water from the Jordan River and claimed him for Christ in the hope that if he should die, he would have the hope of attaining heaven through God's mercy.

In light of today's Gospel where we hear of the Glory of the Father descending with the Holy Spirit upon the Son, that cleansing, that holiness, and rich blessing, knowing that this is similar to the baptism that we experience when we are baptized into Christ, it is almost unfathomable that parents struggle to decide to baptize their children; this however is due in part to our current age of secular relativism.  God is not bound my time or current human philosophies.  We need to look to the Eternal and the meaning of our sacraments, instead of whether we find them convenient. Jesus was baptized with water and the Holy Spirit.  "The Lord himself affirms that Baptism is necessary for salvation.  He commands his disciples to proclaim the Gospel to all nations and to baptize them." (Catechism of the Catholic Church 1257.    Let us pray that we do not prevent the little ones from coming to the Lord. 

Luke 7:18b-23

In today's Gospel we hear that disciples of John the Baptist have been sent to inquire of Jesus if he "is the one that is to come."  It is a curious thing.  People have been mistaking John as the Messiah, but he knew that he was not.  John freely admitted that to his own disciples that he was not the Messiah and sent them to seek the one greater than he.  John, like many others, was awaiting the Messiah.  Jesus never answered the question, but told them to report what they saw: healing of body, mind, and spirit; cleansing of lepers; and giving new life to the dead. "The poor have had the Good News proclaimed to them.  And blessed is the one who takes no offense at me." 

In Jesus' words there is almost a reply to (Isiah 45:21b-25) when the Lord spoke, " Turn to me and be safe, all you ends of the earth, for I am God; there is no other..to me every knee shall bend; every tongue shall swear saying, "Only in the Lord are just deeds and power.  Before him in shame shall come all who vent their anger toward him..."

How amazing to behold these things! to be able to go back to John and tell him what they have seen and that Jesus completes the words of Isiah.  It is incredible.  It is interesting to think too that Jesus doesn't have to reply.  He simply is.  It reminds us of the Old Testament accounts of Moses interacting with God, and being told simply "I am who am."