Mk 11: 11-26 Have Faith in God

Today is a long Gospel reading.  Jesus is at the temple, looks around then leaves.  He curses the fig tree outside Bethany, then returns the next day to Jerusalem, to the temple where he drives people out and overturns tables.  The following morning as Jesus and the twelve return to Bethany the disciples notice the fig tree that Jesus cursed had withered.  Jesus uses the withered tree as a teaching lesson in faith for the disciples; teaching that what we ask for in prayer will be given; teaching the importance of forgiveness of sins of others so that our sins may be forgiven by the Father.

There can be much written of, but those last three thoughts:
-have faith
-pray for what you need, believing it is possible
-forgive, that you may forgiven

These are ultimately what Jesus preaches again and again.  Do we not hear these same ideas when we pray the Our Father?  In it we profess our faith, our belief in God in the Father.  We petition him for what we need, our daily spiritual bread.  We pray that we may forgive others, and that God will forgive us.

When we say the Lord's Prayer today, let us think more clearly on the meaning of each of the words that we are saying, and not as something that we have simply memorized.  Let us reflect on the meaning of each word.  Amen.

John 20:19-31 Divine Mercy Sunday

"Peace be wish you," Jesus says as he appears to the disciples within the locked room.  He shows them his hands and side, proof of his death and of his Resurrection.  He says to them again, "Peace be with you.  As the Father has sent me, so I have sent you."  He breathed on them (the imparting of the Holy Spirit) and said to them, "Receive the Holy Spirit.  Whose sins you forgive are forgiven them, and whose sins you retain are retained."

This is the Mercy of God.  Our Lord and Savior came to die for the salvation of mankind.  Through the power vested through him, those whom he specially appointed those that followed after him, whom we call priests, have this power of life or death within their grasp: the power to forgive sins and lead us to everlasting life, or to allow the person to retain the sins that belong to death.  They are sent out, as Christ Jesus tells us, with the power of the Holy Spirit, to heal us and bring us life.  We are called to meet Christ within them to be healed through that Merciful give of the Sacrament of Reconcilliation.  Let us welcome God's gift of Divine Love and Mercy at each opportunity, and spend time today giving thanks to our Merciful Lord.  Amen.

John 4:43-54 Your Son Will Live

Today's Gospel is a beautiful faith story about the royal official whose son is dying and begs Jesus to save the boy.  The man believed and the boy was saved.  As the man came home he is met with servants who tell him the exact hour that the boy began to feel better and it was about the same time that Jesus told the father that the boy would be saved.  The entire household is then comes to believe in and follow Jesus.

Today's readings are in line with the hope from Laetare Sunday.  They express that happiness for is to come.  The child was dead, but now he's brought to new life.  Not only the boy, but the father and all the household are called to a newness of life within Christ.  Isiah tells us today: "Thus says the LORD: Lo, I am about to create new heavens and a new earth; The things of the past shall not be remembered or come to mind. Instead, there shall always be rejoicing and happiness in what I create;
For I create Jerusalem to be a joy and its people to be a delight" (Is 65:17-19)  God is good.  He creates life, not destroys it. 

What about miracles though?  Everyone seems to want one at some point, not a small one, but a big one.  There is a video of  Archbishop Fulton Sheen, the Robert Barron of his day, where Sheen speaks of going to Lourdes, France and waiting for a miracle, but none occurred.  At least that was what he thought initially.  Miracles come in different forms.  When we ask for God to intervene in our lives, we usually want a particular outcome.  We forgot that God, who sees all, will respond in the way that we need most, even if it is not apparent at first.  For some that starts with an inner healing before it is outwardly manifest.  For others it is a deep forgiveness of ourselves for past wrongs and reconciling with God that can bring us to a newness, a fullness of life.   Through faith God can and does perform many miracles in our lives.

Lk 16:19-31 The Rich Man and Lazarus

Just as innocently as a child we can find ourselves in situations where our pride and greed get the better of us.  Once is not a bad thing.  However, we need to be cautious that they do not become bad habits which eventually will turn into great sins. 

In today’s Gospel Luke gives a beautiful contrast between the rich man and Lazarus.  The rich man has a lavish lifestyle and has fallen into bad habits which become a bane to him, prohibiting him from seeing that they are truly sinful.  He exhibits what we would consider the cardinal vices: pride, greed, lust, envy, gluttony, wrath and sloth.  Thus for these he is condemned to suffering eternally.  As we hear in Jeremiah, “Thus says the LORD: Cursed is the man who trusts in human beings, who seeks his strength in flesh, whose heart turns away from the LORD.”     

Lazarus on the other hand was a poor man who spent his days in the doorway of the rich man.  Seeing Lazarus across the chasm with our father of faith, Abraham, the rich man begs Abraham to send Lazarus over so the Lazarus could drop some water on his tongue to refresh him.  The rich man even in death hasn’t fully learned.  Abraham must explain to him that Lazarus was a good faithful man.  In fact we can almost imagine him the very opposite of the rich man exhibiting in his difficult life the Cardinal virtues:  prudence, justice, temperance (meaning restriction or restraint), and courage (or fortitude), faith, hope, and charity. 

Why are we given these two men as examples?  Jesus wants us to understand the correct way of living the way that Our Father wants us to live in our covenant with him.  For the rich man he had Abraham to explain and show him the error of his way.  For us, we have Christ.  And he reminds us, “If they will not listen to Moses and the prophets, neither will they be persuaded if someone should rise from the dead.”  Let us not be hard headed like the rich man, but prayerfully ask the Lord his mercy and forgiveness that we may one day be ushered through the door of Heaven, just as poor Lazarus who sat patiently at the door waiting to be asked in. 

(Side note: Cardinal comes from a Latin word meaning hinge.  They are the hinge upon which the door swings good or bad.)

Mark 1: 14-20 Repent and Believe

Jesus comes to us with the call, "This is the time of fulfillment.  The Kingdom of God is at hand.  Repent, and believe in the Gospel."  We are like the barren desert, dry, parched, waiting for the promise of water which will renew us.  Jesus comes today to fulfill that promise.  The Kingdom of God is at hand.  He is the fulfillment of that hope of water come to bring drink to the thirsty.  Real repentance is possible.  If we follow Jesus the Christ, we can become more than we could ever imagine.  That barrenness within us has been filled.  We are filled with a Presence and new life, we become the true Presence for which we were made.  It is not just for the Apostles, but for each of us.  He is calling, "Come after me..." 

Luke 3:1-6

In today's Gospel we hear about all the big name political players at Jesus' time: The Emperor, the kings, the high priests of the temple, and other rulers.  One expects that the coming Savior would be born and proclaimed from among them.  Instead the reading, as the convention in the Gospels, is to turn everything upside down.  From the lonely desert a prophet to the people from the Lord God comes quoting Isiah, "Prepare the way of the Lord, make straight his paths. Every valley shall be filled and every mountain and hill shall be made low.  The winding roads shall be made straight, and the rough ways made smooth, and all the flesh shall see the salvation of God."

John is preparing us for the coming of the Savior.  Those who are elevated will be humbled, difficulties will cease when one realizes the straight path, the Way to the Kingdom.  All will come before the Lord in judgement and be witness to the salvation of the world.  Do we hear the prophet's words?  Are we preparing for the coming of the Lord?  How do we help others in our families and communities prepare as well?