7th Sunday in Ordinary Time, February 19, 2023

Love those who hate you; forgive those who hurt you

Matthew 5: 38–48

You have heard how it was said: Eye for eye and tooth for tooth.

But I say this to you: offer no resistance to the wicked. On the contrary, if anyone hits you on the right cheek, offer him the other as well; if someone wishes to go to law with you to get your tunic, let him have your cloak as well. And if anyone requires you to go one mile, go two miles with him. Give to anyone who asks you, and if anyone wants to borrow, do not turn away.

You have heard how it was said, You will love your neighbor and hate your enemy.

But I say this to you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you; so that you may be children of your Father in heaven, for he causes his sun to rise on the bad as well as the good, and sends down rain to fall on the upright and the wicked alike.

For if you love those who love you, what reward will you get? Do not even the tax collectors do as much? And if you save your greetings for your brothers, are you doing anything exceptional? Do not even the gentiles do as much? You must therefore be perfect, just as your heavenly Father is perfect.

Music Meditations

• Ubi Caritas—Taizé
• Christ In Me Arise
• Kyrie Eleison—Chris Tomlin, Matt Maher and others
• Our God Is Here
• Come Thou Font of Every Blessing

Opening Prayer

Lord, instill in my heart a desire to know you better each day, to love you more fully each day and live more freely in that love.

Companions for the Journey

From “first Impressions, 2023”, a service of the Southern Dominican Province:

Two weeks ago Jesus called his disciples to be “light for the world.” In the history of our church, right up to the present time, we have had some brilliant lights—people we call “Saints.” I am sure you have your favorites. Like Katharine Drexel, born into a rich family, but she was moved by the plight of Native Americans and African Americans. She used her vast inheritance to open schools to serve them and founded Xavier University in New Orleans for African Americans. In fact, Our Lady of Lourdes Parish in Atlanta, staffed by our Dominican friars, was founded in 1912 with money from St. Katharine Drexel. (Parishioners in the parish boast, “Our parish was founded by a saint!”) Or, Maximillian Kolbe, a Polish Franciscan Friar who volunteered to die in place of a stranger in the Nazi concentration camp in Auschwitz. Or, Dorothy Day, who worked among the poorest in American cities, was a strong advocate for peace and is now on the path to canonization. How about Damien the leper, a 19th-century priest who ministered to people with leprosy on the Hawaiian island of Molokai? After 18 years there he contracted and died of the disease.

When you look at their lives and the lives of other saints, it’s hard to believe that we are all cut from the same cloth—that they were humans like us. We display their portraits and statues in churches, name hospitals and schools after them. They were and still are, bright lights. But their outstanding lives, and public recognition, don’t let us off the hook. We can’t say, “Well, I’m no saint like Damien. I can’t go running off to the jungles to help lepers. Or, I’m no Katherine Drexel, ready to start a religious order and build schools. While we may not be stellar, brilliant lights in the world, nevertheless Jesus still would have us be light in the particular part of the world we inhabit. We cannot make an excuse and be a shrinking-violet Christian.

Some people feel quite content with their lives. They say things like, “I’m a good enough person. I’m nice to everyone. I try to help my neighbors in need.” But Jesus sets a high goal for us. After spelling out what’s expected of his followers he concludes with, “So be perfect, just as your heavenly Father is perfect.” We aren’t going to be like Damien and go off to live and work among lepers. But wherever we find ourselves, at home, in our neighborhood, on our high school playground, at the office, in the shop, each of us has a vocation to reflect God’s perfection/goodness. The goodness of God and the life of Jesus must shine through us in our surroundings. We are followers of Jesus and children of God. We can’t hide who we are. Jesus calls us to live as his followers, not just with friends and in hospitable surroundings, but even with our enemies. By no means does God expect us to be weak and treated as doormats. Quite the contrary: As we heard today—God wants to make us strong enough, so convinced of God’s love for us, that our first response to injury doesn’t have to be revenge. God wants us to be so secure in God’s love, that we can have enough detachment from material things to put relationships first in our lives.

In some families children look so much like a parent, or both parents, that outsiders seeing them together, might say, “Is that your daughter? She looks just like you.” I looked so much like my father, his friends would comment, “Joe, he’s a chip off the old block.” If we are children of our God, whom Jesus calls “perfect,” then some of that perfection should rub off on us. Thus, because we have God’s very life in us, we will show mercy; be forgiving; demonstrate generosity. And surprise of surprises… We will do good even to our enemies, loving them the way God does. Because, as Jesus says today, God makes the sun rise on the bad as well as the good, God causes rain to fall on the just and the unjust.

We have plenty of evidence that ordinary Christians can live holy lives and do extraordinary things. We probably can name some of them ourselves—people we know and admire. Some even make the news. For example: Remember some years ago, that Amish community in Pennsylvania? A deranged man took several of their daughters hostage at their school and then killed them. Not only did those Amish parents forgive him, but their holiness and convictions led them to reach out to his children and widow in sympathy and support. “Be as perfect, just as your heavenly father is perfect.” How can we live up to Jesus’s teachings? On our own, we can’t, no matter how hard we try. But we are not on our own, we are God’s children and are in God’s loving hands. We depend on our God to nourish and shape us more and more into God’s children and disciples of Jesus. That’s why we come here each week to pray for ourselves and one another for the help to live fully the life Jesus calls us to; a life that reflects the presence of God in the world: doing what God has always done, loving, healing and forgiving us. As we pray: “Give us this day our daily bread.”

Weekly Memorization

Taken from the gospel for today’s session…

But I say to you: Offer no resistance to the wicked

Living the Good News

What action can you take in the next week as a response to today’s reading and discussion?

Keep a private journal of your prayer/actions responses this week. Feel free to use the personal reflection questions or the meditations which follow:

Reflection Questions

For this section, thanks go to the Irish Jesuits from “Sacred Space” as well as the famous Jesuit theologian, Walter Burghardt, for the seeds of most of the ideas below:

• When Jesus tells his listeners to go the extra mile, to give to anyone who asks us, is He being unreasonable?
  Have I even been able to act positively on anyone of these commands?
  Was it hard?
• What is the difference between law and duty and the expansiveness Jesus is calling forth here?
  What if we did not think of this gospel as law, but as encouragement to step up our game as Christians?
  Where, in your life, could you do so?
• What does fear and anxiety as well as responsibility play in our reluctance to go all the way as Jesus did?
  What in our culture is counter to Jesus’ teaching?
• Do I use rules (which usually state the minimum we are required to do) to provide security, to protect me from risk, inconvenience, hurt or loss?
  Where do I need more generosity and freedom to respond to Jesus mission for me?
• What are the qualities that help us be more like Jesus in our responses to others?
  For example, generosity, forgiveness, patience, understanding, empathy, fearlessness, energy. Can you think of more?
  Which are the hardest to develop in ourselves?
• How hard is it to turn the other cheek?
• Do I set limits for myself as to my responses to being hurt?
  How hard is it not to retaliate?
  Does our culture despise lack of retaliation as weakness?
• Why is it our tendency to answer violence with violence?
  Can we see this in sports, politics, TV shows, everyday life at home and the workplace?
  How can we counter this?
• Love is not an emotion, it is a decision to desire another’s well-being, even if we don’t like them. Can we pray for these people without compromising our principles?
• Can we feel sorry for someone who is not able to forgive or return our love?
  How hard is it to love someone who does not love you back or who hurts you?
• Does loving and forgiving someone who hurt you mean that we are to enable this bad behavior?
  How do we achieve this first result without having the unintended consequences of the second result?
• We are called to be perfect as the Father is perfect. How possible is this? Are we bad people or cast out by God because we so often fail at this? Is the answer often to give up before we even start because we find the task too daunting or impossible?
• Think of one way to resolve a disagreement amiably … what disciplines are required of us?
• How, exactly, did Jesus love?
• What is holiness? How is this gospel about holiness?

Meditations

A Meditation in the Dominican Style/Asking Questions:

Adapted from Sacred Space, 2023, a service of the Irish Jesuits:

Jesus is referencing a 3000 year old law, the law of retaliation. It is cited in Exodus, Leviticus and Deuteronomy. ‘If any harm follows, then you shall give life for life, eye for eye, tooth for tooth , hand for hand, foot for foot, wound for wound, stripe for stripe.’ Believe it or not, this law was intended to mitigate some of the horrors of unbridled revenge and destruction that some members of one family or tribe felt honor-bound to inflict on those who injured them or theirs. However, some people took this as a matter of honor—that they must claim a life for a life, etc; they must avenge the wrongs done to them or their honor was besmirched. Jesus’ radical new “law” of love and mercy was to supplant the old law of retaliation. So for us, if we are to follow Jesus, we are required to forgive those who hurt us. We are not to “get back” or “get even.” Our honor rests not in retaliation, but in praying for and loving those who have hurt us. When we hate, we actually sink down to the level of those who hate us. We are harmed emotionally and morally by our own inability to get past the hate we have experienced. We are punishing ourselves because we have sunk to their level, and we have let another compromise our own ability to follow Jesus. Whom have I found it hardest to forgive? How did this lack of forgiveness affect the kind of person I strive to be? Do we still live in a sort of zero-sum culture, where one’s honor is compromised if bad deeds go unpunished? Do I use society’s rules to protect myself or to promote justice for others? Do I have some relationships that cause me hurt and pain? How do I deal with them? What happens between me and Jesus if I react badly? Will he forgive me?

A Meditation in the Franciscan Style/Action:

This is one of the shortest meditations, one that can be used often, and without any written guides, but one of the hardest to remember to do: Whenever someone irritates you by, say, cutting in front of you at the deli counter, or doesn’t stop at a stop sign, stop and think that she might be late for an appointment, and PRAY FOR HER. Whenever someone hurts you or fails to listen to you, stop and think that there may be there are stresses or sadness in his life that make him unable to pay attention or to be understanding and kind, and PRAY FOR HIM. It is amazing how saying a simple prayer for someone usually eliminates the need to yell at someone or tell them how affronted you are by their behavior. It is amazing how saying a simple prayer for someone can wipe out a lot of our own retaliatory and angry feelings…

A Meditation in the Dominican Style/Asking Questions:

Read the following two passages describing moments of Jesus’ arrest and crucifixion:

John 18: 19-24

The high priest questioned Jesus about his disciples and his teaching. Jesus answered, ‘I have spoken openly for all the world to hear; I have always taught in the synagogue and in the Temple where all the Jews meet together; I have said nothing in secret. Why ask me? Ask my hearers what I taught; they know what I said.’ At these words, one of the guards standing by gave Jesus a slap in the face, saying, ‘Is that the way you answer the high priest?’ Jesus replied, ‘If there is some offence in what I said, point it out; but if not, why do you strike me?’ Then Annas sent him, bound, to Caiaphas the high priest.”

Luke 23: 32-43

Now they were also leading out two others, criminals, to be executed with him. When they reached the place called The Skull, there they crucified him and the two criminals, one on his right, the other on his left. Jesus said, ‘Father, forgive them; they do not know what they are doing.’ Then they cast lots to share out his clothing. The people stayed there watching. As for the leaders, they jeered at him with the words, ‘He saved others, let him save himself if he is the Christ of God, the Chosen One.’ The soldiers mocked him too, coming up to him, offering him vinegar, and saying, ‘If you are the king of the Jews, save yourself.’ Above him there was an inscription: ‘This is the King of the Jews’. One of the criminals hanging there abused him: ‘Are you not the Christ? Save yourself and us as well.’ But the other spoke up and rebuked him. ‘Have you no fear of God at all?’ he said. ‘You got the same sentence as he did, but in our case we deserved it: we are paying for what we did. But this man has done nothing wrong.’ Then he said, ‘Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom.’ He answered him, ‘In truth I tell you, today you will be with me in paradise.’

Jesus had several responses to moral evil when it was directed at him. If this evil came through criticism of his actions, or through violence, he maintained his conviction and answered his accusers with dignity and logic, but never through physical retaliation, or even anger. He turned the other cheek. Always. Notice, too, that even at the point of death, he exhibited forgiveness and understanding, healing and inclusion. Query: How have I responded when I have been attacked or unfairly accused? Did I lash out at my accusers? Did I play the martyr? Have I ever needed to forgive someone who hurt me or those I love badly? Do I have someone in mind? How hard was it? I bring this person to mind and pray for the generosity of heart not to demand “an eye for an eye”. (Which our legal system always seems to do).

Now read a recent example of such forgiveness and reconciliation by ordinary people as described in a news article:

On October 2, 2006, a shooting occurred at the West Nickel Mines School, an Amish one-room schoolhouse in the Old Order Amish community of Nickel Mines, a village in Bart Township, Lancaster County, Pennsylvania. Gunman Charles Carl Roberts IV took hostages and shot eight out of ten girls (aged 6–13), killing five, before committing suicide in the schoolhouse. The emphasis on forgiveness and reconciliation in the Amish community’s response was widely discussed in the national media. The West Nickel Mines School was torn down, and a new one-room schoolhouse, the New Hope School, was built at another location. On the day of the shooting, a grandfather of one of the murdered Amish girls was heard warning some young relatives not to hate the killer, saying, “We must not think evil of this man. Another Amish father noted, “He had a mother and a wife and a soul and now he’s standing before a just God. Jack Meyer, a member of the Brethren community living near the Amish in Lancaster County, explained: “I don’t think there’s anybody here that wants to do anything but forgive and not only reach out to those who have suffered a loss in that way but to reach out to the family of the man who committed these acts. A Roberts family spokesman said an Amish neighbor comforted the Roberts family hours after the shooting and extended forgiveness to them. Amish community members visited and comforted Roberts’ widow, parents, and parents-in-law. One Amish man held Roberts’ sobbing father in his arms, reportedly for as long as an hour, to comfort him. The Amish have also set up a charitable fund for the family of the shooter. About 30 members of the Amish community attended Roberts’ funeral, and Marie Roberts, the widow of the killer, was one of the few outsiders invited to the funeral of one of the victims.

A Meditation in the Augustinian Style/Relationship:

Read Hosea 14:5: “I myself will love them with all my heart, for my anger has turned away from them.”

Change the words so that you can imagine God saying these words directly to you. Pick out the phrases that have particular meaning for you, and write in your own words your response to God’s generosity and forgiveness. THEN:

Think of someone in your life to whom you need to extend this same kind of forgiveness—not a patronizing “I am a better person than you, so I forgive you”—but something more akin to the words uttered in Hosea.

Literary Reflection:

This poem is a beautiful example of how parents love and forgive their children. The question is, can we say this to people who don’t love us or who have damaged us, our careers, our loved ones?

“To My Mother”

I was your rebellious son,
do you remember? Sometimes
I wonder if you do remember,
so complete has your forgiveness been.

So complete has your forgiveness been
I wonder sometimes if it did not
precede my wrong, and I erred,
safe found, within your love,

prepared ahead of me, the way home,
or my bed at night, so that almost
I should forgive you, who perhaps
saw the worst that I might do,

and forgave me before I could act,
causing me to smile now, looking back,
to see how paltry was my worst,
compared to your forgiveness of it

already given. And this, then,
is the vision of that Heaven of which
we have heard, where those who love
each other have forgiven each other,

where, for that, the leaves are green
the light a music in the air,
and all is unentangled,
and all is undismayed.

—Wendell Berry

Closing Prayer

Lord, I will try to listen to your words today, not as law-giving, but as life-giving—a message that should free me, not bind me. I pray that my words and attitudes change through the freedom you give me to let others be as they are. Let me live in your love without limit.

6th Sunday in Ordinary Time, February 12, 2023

Jesus’ interpretation of the law and what that means for us

Matthew 5: 17–37

“Do not think that I have come to abolish the law or the prophets. I have come not to abolish but to fulfill.

Amen, I say to you, until heaven and earth pass away, not the smallest letter or the smallest part of a letter will pass from the law, until all things have taken place.

Therefore, whoever breaks one of the least of these commandments and teaches others to do so will be called least in the kingdom of heaven. But whoever obeys and teaches these commandments will be called greatest in the kingdom of heaven.

I tell you, unless your righteousness surpasses that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will not enter into the kingdom of heaven.

“You have heard that it was said to your ancestors, ‘You shall not kill; and whoever kills will be liable to judgment.’ But I say to you, whoever is angry with his brother will be liable to judgment, and whoever says to his brother, ‘Raqa,’ will be answerable to the Sanhedrin, and whoever says, ‘You fool,’ will be liable to fiery Gehenna.

Therefore, if you bring your gift to the altar, and there recall that your brother has anything against you, leave your gift there at the altar, go first and be reconciled with your brother, and then come and offer your gift.

Settle with your opponent quickly while on the way to court with him. Otherwise your opponent will hand you over to the judge, and the judge will hand you over to the guard, and you will be thrown into prison.

Amen, I say to you, you will not be released until you have paid the last penny.

“You have heard that it was said, You shall not commit adultery.’ But I say to you, everyone who looks at a woman with lust has already committed adultery with her in his heart.

If your right eye causes you to sin, tear it out and throw it away. It is better for you to lose one of your members than to have your whole body thrown into Gehenna.

And if your right hand causes you to sin, cut it off and throw it away. It is better for you to lose one of your members than to have your whole body go into Gehenna.

“It was also said, ‘Whoever divorces his wife must give her a bill of divorce.’ But I say to you, whoever divorces his wife (unless the marriage is unlawful) causes her to commit adultery, and whoever marries a divorced woman commits adultery.”

Music Meditations

• Be Thou My Vision
• Come, My Way, My Truth, My Life
• Seek Ye First
• We Are Called

Opening Prayer

Lord, we have been made by you and for you. Give us openness to your words, honesty in facing our failures and hope in your understanding and forgiveness.

Companions for the Journey

From “First Impressions” 2023, a service of the Southern Dominican Province:

Those of us gathered for worship in our churches are very diverse people, from different cultural backgrounds, countries of origins, races, etc. But what binds us together is our baptism in Jesus. Whatever our differences and in whatever language we speak, we all say together, “We believe in Jesus Christ and so his way is our way.” Our basic identity is that we are a community of Jesus’ followers and we love him. Therefore, our love for him urges us to live like him.

But doesn’t hearing the Sermon on the Mount these Sundays leave you weak in the knees? How can we ever live these teachings? How will we even know how to live them? Because of his miracles and teachings Jesus had attracted great crowds. In order to teach those closest to him. He took them up a mountain. Two Sundays ago we heard the Beatitudes, the introduction to a collection of his teachings which we call the Sermon on the Mount. The Beatitudes called for profound inner change necessary for anyone wanting to follow Jesus. That kind of change is spelled out in his subsequent teachings. When we hear Jesus’ sermon, what Paul says in 1 Corinthians today is true: we are called to live, not according to the wisdom of this age, but according to God’s wisdom. That wisdom, Paul reminds us, has been revealed to us in the life of Jesus made known to us, “through the Spirit.” Through the gift of the Spirit we have come to accept Jesus Christ as God’s full revelation in the flesh. We need to remind ourselves today that the same Spirit makes it possible for us to live according to Jesus’ teaching. After all, Jesus isn’t just giving us a stricter, higher code of ethics. That’s not what makes his teachings special. Rather, through our baptism and the gift of his Spirit, we have the desire and divine power to live what we are being taught again today. That new Spirit in us is what enables us to live, as Jesus tells us, with a “holiness that surpasses that of the scribes and Pharisees.

In this gospel passage, we can hear that Jesus is calling us, not to a superficial, exterior performance of commandments, but to a far more profound response—a deeper, interior change that will enable us to do as he instructs. How discouraged his followers must have been when Jesus taught in this way! After all, the Pharisees were considered the righteous and holy ones. Jesus’ challenge though was not only to his followers, but to the Pharisees and scribes as well. Their religion was to go deeper than exterior works—the right motives had to support right behavior. His demands are high indeed! They seem impossible to achieve.

The Pharisee spent a lot of time and energy fulfilling the Law. They were of the middle class and unlike the desperately poor, who comprised most of Jesus’s followers, the Pharisees had the education and leisure to pursue purity of observance. What chance did the illiterate, overworked and burdened poor followers of Jesus have? For that matter, what chance do we have in fulfilling these teachings? And yet, Jesus calls for a holiness that surpasses those scribes and Pharisees!

From today’s gospel selection, we hear that Jesus wants to cut short, at its inception, a path that might lead to murder. So, he says to his disciples they are to control their anger. In cases of adultery, families would seek retaliation on the couple because of the shame brought down on those families, especially on the husband. To prevent adultery and the subsequent blood feud that would erupt, Jesus tells his disciples not even to think such a thing—no lusting after another. In addition, good community relations, especially among believers, would be possible if people behaved honestly with one another; if they could trust each other’s words. So, no lying.

Jesus called his disciples to exemplary behavior. Such ways of being with one another, besides forming loving relationships in the community, would also draw attention to that community and to the teachings of the one they followed—Jesus. Today Jesus is giving concrete examples of what we heard him say to his disciples last week. They are to be “salt of the earth,” “light of the world” and a “city set on a mountain.”

Note the structure for the sayings. Each begins: “You have heard of the commandment….” Then Jesus presents his unique teaching, “But I say to you….” He credits the former teaching and by giving specific examples, calls his disciples to a greater righteousness, a more exacting “law.” A “new law.” We Christians are called to a different way of living, in our relations to each other and then to the world. We seek reconciliation where there is anger and alienation. We tame our desires despite the license of the world around us. We are faithful to one another and so when we make promises, we keep them.

What will help us live the challenges Jesus places before us? Certainly we can’t do it merely by gritting our teeth and putting our nose to the grindstone. Instead, we fix our eyes on Jesus and we turn to each other in mutual love and support. Sound idealistic? Yes it does, but Jesus wouldn’t ask us to fulfill something he wouldn’t help us accomplish.

It is no wonder that our Sirach reading was chosen today. It’s part of the Wisdom tradition in the Hebrew Scriptures. According to that tradition human actions have specific consequences. We are free to conform our lives to God’s ordered ways, or not. In today’s reading, though short, the word “choose(s)” is mentioned three times. This Wisdom reading underlines our freedom and so encourages us to use it to make choices in accord with God’s wisdom. As difficult as these choices may be at times, the believer hears Sirach’s words of encouragement: “trust in God, you too will live.” We are assured that making these choices will be life-giving, for God’s eyes rest on the faithful (“The eyes of God are on those who fear God....”)

Jesus’ life showed us what the Sermon looks like when enfleshed. He is now our wise teacher who shows us the way to life and gives us his Spirit to help us to choose those life-giving ways. He teaches us about the ways that will help us choose life not death. His disciples are to continue putting flesh on the Sermon in their lives. Whatever our circumstances, people who may never read the Sermon on the Mount, should be able to learn its content by examining our lives.

Weekly Memorization

Taken from the gospel for today’s session…

Do not think I have come to abolish the law or the prophets. I have come not to abolish but to fulfill.

Living the Good News

What action can you take in the next week as a response to today’s reading and discussion?

Keep a private journal of your prayer/actions responses this week. Feel free to use the personal reflection questions or the meditations which follow:

Reflection Questions

• This teaching of Jesus seems extreme to some. Do you agree? How hard is it to live what Jesus is saying here?
• Jesus seems to be rejecting some of the more petty regulations that governed the society and religion he was part of. Are there any “rules” in our Church or society that seem petty to you?
  How would you rewrite them?
• Some very important rules of the Jewish law, which Jesus said he did not come to abolish, were, in fact, deleted as early as Apostolic times on behalf of gentiles who wanted to become followers. How do we reconcile this?
• Do I see echoes of the Jewish law in our Christian rules/laws?
  Has this passage ever been used as a “put-down” of Jewish customs, rules, and observances?
• Have there been rules you observed in childhood which no longer seem to be followed?
  How do you feel about that?
• Can someone “keep” the rules and still be unchristian in some way?
• Jesus may be talking about interior vs. exterior observance of the law, or He may be talking of the letter of the vs. the spirit of the law. Can you think of some examples of such differences in your own lifetime?
• How do the directives mentioned in this section of the gospel strengthen society?
• How much of our life is the result of our own choice or circumstances outside ourselves?
  How much is the result of our behavior?
  How much of our attitude?
• Which is harder, a law to love under all circumstances or a law made up of specific rules?
  Why are the 10 commandments mostly “do nots”? Why do we write prohibitive laws?
  What of the 10 commandments are easy? Hard? Irrelevant to you?
• Did Jesus ever break “the law”?
• The law is only good insofar as it leads to Christ. Religion is only good insofar as it leads us to God.
  Comment.
• Define “letter of the law”
  Define “spirit of the law”
• Did I ever “break a law” or “bend a rule”, either civil or religious, that I felt was a more moral thing to do than obeying a law or rule? Take for example telling the truth. Is there a time when someone or some entity is not entitled to the whole truth? How about telling the truth when it might hurt someone (do I look fat in this dress?)?
• How do I define ‘Primacy of Conscience”?
  When can this teaching be abused or used to rationalize really bad behavior?
  What are some very positive things about this teaching?
• What are some “laws” of my own culture, my own family, my workplace? Are they different from Jesus’ “laws”?
• Did the Church ever have, or does it now have, some “laws” or customs that, strictly speaking, are not strict moral imperatives, but require Catholics to follow them?
• How can we live our lives holistically and with integrity? What are the rules for that?
• How and where do we teach goodness, honesty, kindness, fairness, compassion, forgiveness, generosity? How and where do we teach the opposite?
• What would I say, in one phrase, is the heart /main law of my religion?
  Do I live it?
  Perfectly?
  How does what I do or what I say as a religious person reflect the message of Jesus?
• As a parent, or advisor, if you had to narrow down your choice of “rules” to follow or “sins” to talk about to three that you consider the most important. What would they be?

Meditations

A Meditation in the Dominican Style/Asking Questions:

Is there are hierarchy of moral laws? Are some laws non-negotiable? Are all laws equally important? Is there a difference between laws made by God and those made by humans? What do you consider the three non-negotiable? Or is every rule of law equally important? If so, what are the consequences of breaking a rule others consider minor? If you were God, what commands would you give to your people? How would your commands differ from what you perceive God has already set in place? Would you have more or fewer? Which of God’s laws are hardest for you for you to obey? And finally, are all laws an either/or proposition, or are they ideals that we strive to attain and often fail? How does this rigidity lead to over scrupulosity or despair? Pick one precept of Jesus that you find particularly difficult to deal with and pray to God for the gift of courage and forgiveness.

Literary Reflection:

Several novels by Graham Green explore the difficulties which arise for a person who feels he has forfeited redemption because he broke some big rules and therefore was unworthy of God’s love and understanding, and is tormented by sin, guilt and fear. Try reading the Power and the Glory, the story of a “Whiskey Priest” set in Mexico during the time when religion was outlawed.

A Meditation in the Ignatian Style/Discernment:

Instruct me, O Lord, in the way of your statutes, that I may exactly observe them.
Give me discernment, that I may observe your law and keep it with all my heart.

Discernment means that we form our conscience and use our heart and our brain to sort through the decisions we make each day. It is harder than simply following a set of “rules”. According to Joseph Tetlow S.J., in his commentary on the Ignatian Exercise, “we regularly have to fight out of fearful confusions and conflicts to form a right conscience. We have to wrestle out of self-centeredness and selfishness in order to give our love to each other. We try to feel our way through the prejudices and inequitable dealings we take from our own culture to think clearly and to do justly. We know that living water wells up within ourselves into eternal life; we also know that we are like the apostle Paul, who did what he meant not to do and did not do what he meant to do.” Now, how do we make sense of the tension within our humanness? This is hard. For example, we look at the “rules” and “laws” our culture and religion have imposed—some are in conflict with each other, and some are in conflict with our need to love God and one another? Scrupulosity on one hand seems safer, but can lead to being too judgmental of ourselves and others. On the other hand, rationalization is the “get-out-of-jail-free” technique we employ to excuse our bad behavior to ourselves or others. So our lifelong task is to find a balance, and a way of discerning how we should behave. So we pray for discernment:

1. for the honesty to examine what our desires are and evaluate them in terms of God’s will for us.
2. for the wisdom to understand the difference between actions that are culturally promoted or forbidden and those that come from a primal desire to please God.
3. For the courage to face the resistance to change, to get out of our comfort zone when necessary for our own good and that of others.

Are there any issues in my life that I am conflicted about? Are there any ways of behavior that are not healthy for me or for my relationships with others? How does guilt play out in my decision-making? Do I really examine and understand my motivations?

I pray for honesty, for wisdom, and for courage as I strive to align my life with what I understand to be God’s desires for me.

A Meditation in the Ignatian Style/Prayer of Consideration

From “Sacred Space”, a service of the Irish Jesuits:

Jesus is no destroyer of people’s devotions and faith. He does not abolish the faith practice of a people or a person. All the goodness of our religion and our faith is precious to him. His grace is given to each personally; each of prays differently, or with a variety of times, places and moods. ‘Pray as you can, not as you can’t;’ is one of the oldest and wisest recommendations for prayer. Prayer is entering and relaxing into the mystery of God’s love, each in our own way.

Jesus teaches by word and action, by saying and doing. His example of life is our guide and our encouragement. There is a link between what we say and what we do, and when this link is strong, we are strong in the kingdom of God. We are ‘to walk it as we talk it’. Sincerity and integrity of life is what we are called to. I make an “examen” of my life and actions of the last two days, looking at what I said and did in some detail. I consider how it is that my way of living and my world’s influence on others. I pray in thanksgiving for those places in my life in which I can imagine that I have a good influence. I ask God’s help in the areas for my example and inspiration might be better.

But Jesus lived in such a way that the words of the scriptures came to life. I think of how the scriptures come to life in me by what I do and what I say. I think of all those who have taught me, calling to mind the people who have helped me to understand God’s ways. I give thanks for them and ask for blessing. I pray that I may be such a person for those around me.

Jesus pointed to the continuity in God’s work and action. I think of the traditions and teachings that have brought me to where I am and I ask God to continue to draw me to life.

Jesus saw a continuity of God’s message as he spoke as had the prophets of old. I realize that I too have a history and tradition – some of which is known to me. I thank God for all of those whose insight builds me up.

I ask God to continue to bless me and to lead me into the wisdom that Jesus had. I pray in respect for all who teach the faith that has come to us from the apostles.

Poetic Reflection:

Often humans often lose sight of the laws of the universe, and our obligation to treat the universe with love and care. We need to remember that the laws of the universe speak God’s will. The sun “rises” and “sets”, morning and evening, day after day, year after year. Think of the delicate balance of the ecosystem and reflect on all the ways human hands have disrupted God’s order, have broken god’s laws. We have not been very good stewards of the world we were given. While it is easy to blame the mega-polluters and the corporate giants for our precarious planet, but the truth is, most of us in the developed countries do not want to trade either convenience or money to save the rain forest or endangered species, our oceans and marine life… What sacrifices or changes are you willing to make to help deal with climate change?

Denise Levertov, a late Professor of English at Stanford, and a renowned poet, has this to say:

“Tragic Error”

The earth is the Lord’s, we gabbled,
and the fullness thereof–
while we looted and pillaged, claiming indemnity:
the fullness thereof
given over to us, to our use–
while we preened ourselves, sure of our power,
willful or ignorant, through the centuries.
Miswritten, misread, that charge:
subdue was the false, the misplaced word in the story.
Surely we were to have been
earth’s mind, mirror, reflective source.
Surely our task
was to have been
to love the earth,
to dress and keep it like Eden’s garden.
That would have been our dominion:
to be those cells of earth’s body that could
perceive and imagine, could bring the planet
into the haven it is to be known,
(as the eye blesses the hand, perceiving
it form and the work it can do).

Closing Prayer

Dear Lord, help me to discern the rules by which you want me to live. I thank you for all those who have helped me understand your ways. Help me to realize that your scriptures come to life in me by what I do and what I say. I pray for all of us who are sometimes lost and discouraged. May I, personally, be an instrument of your mercy.

5th Sunday in Ordinary Time, February 5, 2023

Your contribution to the kingdom is important

Matthew 5: 13–16

“You are salt for the earth. But if salt loses its taste, what can make it salty again? It is good for nothing, and can only be thrown out to be trampled under people’s feet.

You are light for the world. A city built on a hill-top cannot be hidden. No one lights a lamp to put it under a tub; they put it on the lamp-stand where it shines for everyone in the house. In the same way your light must shine in people’s sight, so that, seeing your good works, they may give praise to your Father in heaven.”

Music Meditations

• We Are the Light—Jesse Manibusan
• Simple Gifts—Yo Yo Ma and Allison Krauss
• The Lord Is My Light—Marty Haugen and David Haas
• Canticle of the Turning-Rory Cooney
• Here I Am Lord—John Michael Talbot

Opening Prayer

Lord, it is through engagement with others that our light will shine. I need to see how important I am to the mission, even though my contribution may be small. Help me to persevere in personal time of blandness and darkness so that I can reflect and amplify the beauty of your Kingdom.

Companions for the Journey

Adapted from Sacred Living, a Service of the Irish Jesuits:

Today’s gospel is part of the famous “Sermon on the Mount” in which Jesus outlines his entire teaching. It begins with the beatitudes; with which we are also very familiar. We may be totally filled with the spirit of the Beatitudes but it will not do very much good unless their effects are clearly seen in our lives. To be a Christian it is not enough to be good; we must be seen to be so. It is not enough to ‘have a spirituality’ that fills us with a feeling of peace and tranquility. The spirituality of the Gospel is essentially outreaching. We have not only to be disciples of Christ but also need to proclaim him. So Jesus, immediately following the Beatitudes, presents us with a number of images expressing this. “You are the salt of the earth.” Salt is an essential ingredient in almost all cooked food (even sweet food) to provide taste. We all know what it is like to have soup that contains no salt; we know how much part salt plays in flavoring mass-produced fast foods. We are to be like salt; we are to give taste, zest to our environment. We do that through the specific outlook on life which we have and which we invite others to share. At their best, Christians have been very effective in doing this and have had a great impact on the values of many societies and in bringing about great changes. To be tasteless salt is to be next to useless. Salt that has lost its taste is only fit to be thrown out. At the same time, in the West we sometimes, too, put some salt on the side of our plate. That salt, however, tasty it may be, is still not doing any good unless it is put into the food. And this is an interesting feature of salt, namely, that it blends completely with food and disappears. It cannot be seen, but it can be tasted. That reminds us that we as Christians, if we are to have the effect of giving taste, must be totally inserted in our societies. We have to resist any temptation, as Christians, to withdraw and separate ourselves from the world. It is a temptation we can easily fall into and there are many places in our cities where the Church is absent nowadays. There is no salt there. In our commercial districts, in our industrial areas, in our entertainment and media centers, where is the visible Christian presence? Other images used by Jesus today include being the “light of the world” or being a city built on top of a hill. There is no way it can be hidden; it sticks out like a sore thumb. And what is the point of lighting a candle and then covering it over with a tub? You light a candle to give light so that people can see their way and will not fall. To be baptized and to go into virtual hiding is like lighting and then covering up a candle. Finally, Jesus gives us the reason for making ourselves so visible. It is so that people may see our good works? In order that we can bask in their admiration and wonder? No, but so that they will be led through us to the God who made them, who loves them and wants to lead them to himself.

It is for us today to reflect on how visible our Christian faith is to others both as individuals, as families, as members of a Christian group, as parishioners, as a diocese.

Weekly Memorization

Taken from the gospel for today’s session…

You are the salt of the earth; your light must shine before others.

Living the Good News

What action can you take in the next week as a response to today’s reading and discussion?

Keep a private journal of your prayer/actions responses this week. Feel free to use the personal reflection questions or the meditations which follow:

Reflection Questions

• What is an “everyday saint”?
  Do you feel you are one?
  What does it mean to be light for the world?
  What does it NOT mean?
• The enemy of this gospel is the feeling that we are too insignificant to matter. In my own life, how can I counteract this self-defeating tendency to be passive rather than active?
• For a lot of our religious history, we have been taught that our main mission is to avoid sin, to stay out of trouble, to perfect our interior spiritual development. Period. This gospel passage runs counter to that. How much of my life has been spent on my own personal growth and spiritual development, and how much has been spent witnessing to others?
• Walter Burghardt, S.J., has described our mission in life as “Grace on Crutches”. How does work as a metaphor for our own personal brokenness and imperfection and our role in this world?
• Is the career I find myself in utterly divorced from the directives contained in this gospel?
  How?
  Is there anything I can do to change this?
• Are there people or places in our area where a Christian witness is for all intents and purposes absent?
  Can we do anything about that?
  What are some “non-heroic” actions people can take to make God’s kingdom more present?
• Who are some of the discarded in this world for whom Christians can be salt and light?
• Often criticism and judgmentalism leach all the flavor and joy out of life. Has this been my experience?
  How do I counteract it?
• Joy is something that can actually change the world. In what everyday ways do I radiate the joy of the gospel?
• Without salt, food is tasteless and uninviting, or spoils and is discarded. Without care and concern, our world can become flat and unwelcoming, causing people’s hope and energy to wither and disappear. Despite all that we do already, many of us can do a little more. What is one thing you can do to spice up your little corner of the world?

Meditations

A Meditation in the Dominican Style: Asking Questions:

Very often, when we are confronted with the teaching of Jesus that we are to be the light for the world, we claim that we would love to do more, but we are just too busy. Life is crazy right now, etc., “I don’t have time”. Here are some problems with that statement: 1. When will you ever have more time than you do now? 2. Who, actually, has more time than you do? 3. Have you evaluated the time commitment you might have to make, or are you dismissing any time commitment at all? 4. Excuse #492: I am so messed up myself I cannot possible be a good resource for anyone else Query: Were the first apostles always models of unselfishness, maturity and piety? Query: What daily practices can I follow to sustain myself as someone for others? Excuse #493: I have so much I am personally dealing with right now; I do not have the bandwidth to take on anyone else’s needs Query: Did the first apostles not have families, economic difficulties and relationship commitments as well?

A Meditation in the Franciscan Style/Action:

Read Isaiah 58:6-10

“Is not this the sort of fast that pleases me: to break unjust fetters, to undo the thongs of the yoke, to let the oppressed go free, and to break all yokes? Is it not sharing your food with the hungry, and sheltering the homeless poor; if you see someone lacking clothes, to clothe him, and not to turn away from your own kin? Then your light will blaze out like the dawn and your wound be quickly healed over. Saving justice will go ahead of you and Yahweh’s glory come behind you. Then you will cry for help and Yahweh will answer; you will call and he will say, ‘I am here.’ If you do away with the yoke, the clenched fist and malicious words, if you deprive yourself for the hungry and satisfy the needs of the afflicted, your light will rise in the darkness, and your darkest hour will be like noon.”

Both Sunday’s gospel and the first reading fly in the face of the commonly acknowledged “truth” that it takes money and power to change the world. Instead, says Walter Burghardt, S.J. the world needs Christian disciples, not just popes or martyrs, not great orators or donors to great causes. The world needs everyday, ordinary disciples who go about their lives witnessing to the message of Jesus to forgive, to care for the lonely, the sick, the hungry , to heal those has He did. Can I say I am disciple? Why or why not? Pick one thing you can do this week to be Christ for others. And do it.

A Meditation in the Augustinian Style/Relationship:

Psalm 112: 4-9

For the honest he shines as a lamp in the dark, generous, tender-hearted, and upright. All goes well for one who lends generously, who is honest in all his dealing; for all time to come he will not stumble, for all time to come the upright will be remembered. Bad news holds no fears for him, firm is his heart, trusting in Yahweh. His heart held steady, he has no fears, till he can gloat over his enemies. To the needy he gives without stint, his uprightness stands firm for ever; his reputation is founded on strength.

Read this psalm as example of what it means to be salt and light, then write your own mini-psalm transliterating the words of the psalm into to first person (“all goes well for me who lends generously”, etc). Pray it every day this week.

Poetic Reflection:

Thomas Centolella, a former Stegner Fellow from Stanford, has written a poem about “raising ourselves to the power of ten” in order to accommodate all the needs that are out there in our world. See if it says anything to you:

“At Big Rec”

A few hours spent in the dry rooms of the dying.
Then the walk home, and the sudden rain
comes hard, and you want it coming hard,
you want it hitting you in the forehead
like anointment, blessing all the days
that otherwise would be dismissed
as business as usual. Now you’re ready
to lean on the rail above the empty diamonds
where, in summer, the ballplayers wait patiently
for one true moment more alive than all the rest.
Now you’re ready for the ancient religion of dogs,
that unleashed romp through the wildness, responding
To no one’s liturgy but the field’s and the rain’s.
You’ve come this far, but you need to live further in.
You need to slip into the blind man for a while,
tap along with his cane past the market stalls
and take in, as if they were abandoned,
the little blue crabs which within an hour will be eaten.
You have to become large enough to accommodate
all the small lives that otherwise would be forgotten.
You have to raise yourself to the power of ten.
Love more, require less, love without regard
For form. You have to live further in.

Closing Prayer

Adapted from Sacred Space:

Lord, help us to see that we are children of the light, that our lives are illumined by you, the light of the world (John 8:12). Help us to see in your light the hidden hope of glory that is in us, so we can rejoice even in the darkness of the world. Help us to be light for others, for that is our commission.

4th Sunday in Ordinary Time, January 29, 2023

The values of The Kingdom

Matthew 5: 1–12

Seeing the crowds, he went onto the mountain. And when he was seated his disciples came to him. Then he began to speak. This is what he taught them:

How blessed are the poor in spirit: the kingdom of Heaven is theirs.

Blessed are the gentle: they shall have the earth as inheritance.

Blessed are those who mourn: they shall be comforted.

Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for uprightness: they shall have their fill.

Blessed are the merciful: they shall have mercy shown them.

Blessed are the pure in heart: they shall see God.

Blessed are the peacemakers: they shall be recognized as children of God.

Blessed are those who are persecuted in the cause of uprightness: the kingdom of Heaven is theirs.

Blessed are you when people abuse you and persecute you and speak all kinds of calumny against you falsely on my account. Rejoice and be glad, for your reward will be great in heaven; this is how they persecuted the prophets before you.

Music Meditations

• Wonderful, Merciful Savior
• Blessed Are They
• Come to the Water
• You Are My Hiding Place
• Don’t Be Afraid, My Love Is Stronger
• Lead Me, Guide Me—CCAS choir livestreamed

Opening Prayer

Dear Jesus, how hard it is to remember, that beatitudes are a call of hope for me and a challenge to see the world a you see it.

Give me the insight and the courage to look at my life, imperfect as it is, and those around me, flawed as they are, and the world we all inhabit, crazy as it seems, and try to mirror your compassion for a person on the margins, even if that person on the margins is me.

Companions for the Journey

From Good Enough, by Kate Bowler and Jessica Richie:

We live in a culture of blessing. We live in a culture of #Blessed.

Partially nude bikini shot? #Blessed. Christmas card professional photo shoot where everyone is looking directly at the camera wearing matching chambray tops? #Blessed.

As Christians, we cross-stitch our blessings on pillows, hand letter them in whimsical fonts and tattoo them on our bodies, forgetting perhaps, that Jesus turned the idea of what makes us blessed upside down. His blessings would leave some people wide-eyed, and others with tears of relief running down their cheeks. (p122)

That having been said, sometimes we read those gospel beatitudes in Matthew and think that most of those don’t really apply to our everyday lives. So I am attempting here, without great theological explanation, to “translate” those beatitudes into everyday language. Here are the eight Matthew refers to in everyday language:

1. Blessed are those who are dispirited, who have lost confidence in themselves, in the world, maybe even in God, and press on anyway, hoping that by simply hanging in there, they can make a difference. Theirs is the Kingdom of God.
2. Blessed are those who mourn lost friendships, lost opportunities, lost moments they will never get back and refuse to give in to despair. Theirs is the Kingdom of God.
3. Blessed are those who don’t always think of themselves first, who let others’ issues take precedence, and work for harmony and peace and do not always have to be “right”. Theirs is the kingdom of God.
4. Blessed are those whom justice and fairness and left behind, leaving them powerless in the face of the cruelty or ignorance of others, and continue to work for a better situation, a better relationship, or a better world. Theirs is the Kingdom of God.
5. Blessed are those who are merciful, even to themselves, who know that we are all imperfect and do not judge others, and rely on the justice and mercy of God for themselves and others. Theirs is the Kingdom of God.
6. Blessed are those who know their imperfections, who know their own venal, self-serving little hearts, and work against self-serving behaviors. Theirs is the Kingdom of God.
7. Blessed are those who work to heal divisions in their family, in the world, in themselves, and extend the hand of forgiveness to even the most undeserving. Theirs is the Kingdom of God.
8. Blessed are those who stick their necks out in the boardroom or the classroom, in the kitchen or in the bedroom, who are laughed at, mocked or attacked for their naivete or their fervor, and get up and stand up for what is right.

Ok, folks, I am on a roll! Here are some extensions of those basic eight, (and there are many more you could add) which sometimes is where “Gum-chewing Christians” like myself meet our God:

1. Blessed are those who are weary, the worn out-—those at the end of their tether. They discover that God’s arms are strong enough to hold them.
2. Blessed are those who find contentment in what they have, who find joy in the ordinary, who do not covet what they cannot have. They will know that God is enough.
3. Blessed are those who struggle the best they can with the negative events in their lives. They know God sees their effort.
4. Blessed are those who do not judge or ignore those who do not seem able to cope with life, who realize that others’ problems are real, whether they exist in their minds or in reality. They have hope that God’s mercy will be theirs.
5. Blessed are those who struggle to understand that they are loveable, not because of what they do, not because of that they look like, and sometimes in spite of the kind of persons they are. They will know God’s love.
6. Blessed are those who show the wounds of living—crow’s feet from aging, lines from worry, body dysmorphia of any kind, eyes strained with fatigue, nervousness from anxiety, physical and mental disorders of any kind, those who remember we often fall short. They are beautiful in God’s eyes.
7. Blessed are those who face giving up what they love: life they have known, a family, a relationship, a career, their youth, a dream. They will know God’s comfort;
8. Blessed are the lonely. They, too, will know God’s comfort.
9. Blessed are those who try to live the here-and-now, who treasure joyous and poignant memories, and the small charms of the everyday, who look forward to living every day, even if life is imperfect. They will experience God’s true joy.
10. Blessed are they who ask for spiritual help, who are willing to trust in another. They will find help.
11. Blessed are those who are willing to start over. They will find courage.
12. Blessed are those who don’t always feel “blessed”, with curated images and postings on Instagram, who feel like they are in the back of the “favors-from-God” line, who feel like misfits, who feel afraid to speak for fear of being criticized or ridiculed, who feel forgotten and left out. They are children of God.

Luke wrote his own set of beatitudes—four blessings and four woes. Why don’t you get a little creative and write your own?

Weekly Memorization

Pick your favorite beatitude and memorize it

Living the Good News

What action can you take in the next week as a response to today’s reading and discussion?

Keep a private journal of your prayer/actions responses this week. Feel free to use the personal reflection questions or the meditations which follow:

Reflection Questions

Do I see these beatitudes as a “warning” to behave better, or as a comfort to those who have suffered from lack of fairness? Would that make a difference in how you interpret these sayings of Jesus in is Sermon on the Mount? Does poverty of spirit mean feeling sympathy for those with less? Does poverty of spirit mean feeling worthless by the world’s standards? Does poverty of spirit mean feeling worthless before God? Do any of these definitions reflect how I have felt at times? Does poverty of spirit have anything to do with utter reliance on God? To what extent do I rely on myself, my friends, my financial security, luck or talent to navigate the world? What do you hope for? Where does fullness of life with God stand on your list? What losses in your life have you experienced, but did not fully mourn those losses? Do you know anyone right now who is suffering from sadness due to loss of someone or something? What can you do to reach out? What does it mean to be meek? When is it a good trait and when is it not a good trait in someone? Have you ever stood up for some who was too meek to fight for themselves? What individuals or groups of people are disadvantaged by the world/culture they live in? Can you think of one person in your life who has been treated unfairly? By whom or what? Was there anything you could do to help? Think of someone in your life who could have been vindictive or at least suggested punishment for something you did, but instead, showed you forgiveness and understanding. How did it make you feel? Have you done the same for anyone else? Or do you hold grudges? What does it mean to be clean of heart? In what areas of your life are your motives a little “dirty”, or at least a bit self-serving? In what areas of your life have you been a victim of other’s bad intentions and actions? Is a peacemaker, in your mind, one who gives in on principles in order to avoid conflict? Is a peacemaker, in your mind, someone who listens carefully and tries not to exacerbate the situation? In what ways is it counter-cultural in our society to be a peacemaker? Have you ever suffered the consequences of speaking up for a person, or a moral value? What were they? Would you do so again? Has your Catholicism ever been a liability in your workplace or in your relationships? How did you deal with it? How might the Beatitudes serve as a good entry point for your observance of Lent? Which of the phrases in Matthew’s beatitudes appeals to you the most? Which offers the greatest challenge? How do these phrases compare with the "American Dream"? In what way is Matthew outlining the ideal community? Is this vision the same as yours? How is it different? Do I ever reflect on where I am truly blessed?

Meditations

A Meditation in the Dominican Style/Asking Questions:

Many of the famous sayings of Jesus have been arranged according to topic and grouped together in what has come to us as the Sermon on the Mount in the Gospel of Matthew. The opening words of the discourse of Jesus are considered so important, so pivotal, that scholars and spiritual leaders have spent centuries discussing their meaning and their application. There are over 8000 books available on Amazon.com alone! The beatitudes comprise sort of a keynote address, and the very first lines set the tone for the entire selection.

What if Jesus had taken his first lines from a business journal which is supposed to be a showing us how things are in the “real” world?

Those “beatitudes” might go something like this: Blessed are the rich and famous, for they shall have what they want. Blessed are they who cut their losses, and get rid of the losers, they will live to win another day Blessed are the and powerful, they will inherit the earth Blessed are the white and well educated, the world is theirs Blessed are they who cry for vengeance, they will be seen as protectors of society Blessed are they who cultivate the right people, they will go far Blessed are they who tailor their morals to meet the marketplace, they will be rewarded. Blessed are Americans for they shall have the earth's riches at their beck and call. (adapted from Siciliano)

These cynical “beatitudes” may make us wince, but they are what a lot of people in the world value and call “blessings”. I would suggest that we have been encouraged to live by them, in one way or another, since we were young. These values may have passed on to us by our parents, or in school, but for sure all the sights and sounds we see on TV ads present these worldly beatitudes by showing us the successful, young and powerful who seem to lack for nothing. But these worldly beatitudes don’t speak to our faith vision; they aren’t the ones Jesus spoke to those gathered around him. (Siciliano) And they are a reminder and a comfort for those of us who live our daily lives doing our best not to be swayed by the allure of the surrounding world we meet at school, work and even at home. We are tempted to lessen our hold on our faith, to coast along, little by little adopting and living by the standards of our world: ---To admire and strive after wealth and position ---To value the "haves" more than the "have nots" ---To seek the company of those who make us look good ---To cling to "eternal youth" ---To out-spend our neighbors on clothes and entertainment ---To fit in with the majority opinion and be silent when a word of justice is required ---To fudge truth for personal gain and convenience

The beatitudes celebrate those who “show up” each day and put their lives on the line in many small and sometimes in very big ways, for their faith. Jesus isn’t calling us to be wimps, to lie down and let the world run over us in its pursuit to pleasure and ease. He wants us challenge by our values and ways of living what the world takes for granted and calls “blessings.” We are, according to the beatitudes, people who practice unlimited forgiveness, peacemaking and patient loving, in the ways Jesus taught us by his living and dying. (Siciliano, FI 5th Sunday A)

So our questions are: First: Where am I in my present relationship with God? Are my successes, my possessions, seen as gifts from God, or do they distract me from recognizing my radical dependence on God alone? What do I hunger and thirst for? Love? Power? Comfort? Justice? Peace? Which are God’s values? Which are mine?

A Meditation in the Augustinian Style/Relationship:

Many of the Jewish psalms, are psalms of lament, reflecting the agony and separation of an oppressed and suffering people, and also capturing their collective trust in God. Like the beatitudes of Jesus, these psalms of lament are a reflection of a firm belief in God’s care for those who have suffered at the hands of the powerful. As you read Psalm 10, reflect on all the ways you have felt beleaguered in your life, and then reflect on all the ways in which Jesus has been present in your pain and sorrow. At the end, write a short 4 line psalm of your own, reflecting your hope in times of stress.

Psalm 10

O LORD, why do you stand afar off, and hide yourself in times of distress? The poor are devoured by the pride of the wicked; they are caught in the schemes that others have made. For the wicked boasts of his soulʼs desires; the covetous blasphemes and spurns the LORD. The wicked says in his pride, “God will not punish. There is no God.” Such are his thoughts. His path is ever untroubled; your judgments are on high, far removed. All those who oppose him, he derides. In his heart he thinks, “Never shall I falter; never shall misfortune be my lot.” His mouth is full of cursing, guile, oppression; under his tongue are deceit and evil. He sits in ambush in the villages; in hidden places, he murders the innocent The eyes of the wicked keep watch for the helpless. He lurks in hiding like a lion in his lair; he lurks in hiding to seize the poor; he seizes the poor one and drags him away. He crouches, preparing to spring, and the helpless fall prey to his strength. He says in his heart, “God forgets, he hides his face, never will he see.” Arise, O LORD; lift up your hand, O God! Do not forget the poor! Why should the wicked spurn God, saying in his heart, “You will not call to account”? But you have seen the trouble and sorrow. You note it; you take it in your hands. The helpless one relies on you, for you are the helper of the orphan. Break the arm of the wicked and the sinner! Pursue their wickedness till nothing remains! The LORD is king forever and ever. The nations shall perish from his land. O LORD, you have heard the desire of the poor. You strengthen their hearts; you turn your ear to give right judgment for the orphan and oppressed, so that no one on earth may strike terror again.

Poetic Reflection:

I offer you a little poem from the writer Fr. Michael Kennedy, S.J., which reflects on the difference between passive assent and true belief:

When he calls Disciples to be poor in Spirit and in many other ways On his list of things to do or to Be the reaction from the first Members he called and even Our response today is likely to Be a polite assent but no belief For like those called many years Ago we are convinced that we Live in the real world not in Some fantasy one However pious *** And yes once again We have forgotten our Experience of the Lord in A spouse or a child or a truly Welcoming community or in the Simple and uncluttered wisdom Which fills an old friend or even When we help others mourn Then finally when we do Remember our Jesus

Closing Prayer

From Sacred Space, a Service of the Irish Jesuits:

We have no portrait of you, Lord, but in the Beatitudes you show us your interior landscape, the source of your joy. This is not a set of regulations, but a vision of where true happiness lies. Let me taste the joy you promise through the Beatitudes.

3rd Sunday in Ordinary Time, January 22, 2023

We are each called to be disciple

Matthew 4: 12–23

Hearing that John had been arrested he withdrew to Galilee, and leaving Nazareth he went and settled in Capernaum, beside the lake, on the borders of Zebulun and Naphtali. This was to fulfil what was spoken by the prophet Isaiah: Land of Zebulun! Land of Naphtali! Way of the sea beyond Jordan. Galilee of the nations! The people that lived in darkness have seen a great light; on those who lived in a country of shadow dark as death a light has dawned. From then onwards Jesus began his proclamation with the message, ‘Repent, for the kingdom of Heaven is close at hand.’

As he was walking by the Lake of Galilee he saw two brothers, Simon, who was called Peter, and his brother Andrew; they were making a cast into the lake with their net, for they were fishermen. And he said to them, ‘Come after me and I will make you fishers of people.’ And at once they left their nets and followed him. Going on from there he saw another pair of brothers, James son of Zebedee and his brother John; they were in their boat with their father Zebedee, mending their nets, and he called them. And at once, leaving the boat and their father, they followed him.

He went round the whole of Galilee teaching in their synagogues, proclaiming the good news of the kingdom and curing all kinds of disease and illness among the people.

[Zebulun and Naphtali were the territories of the northernmost tribes of Israel, which the Assyrians invaded and destroyed in 721BCE, effectively wiping out the Northern Kingdom of Israel.]

Music Meditations

• The Summons—John Bell
• In Christ Alone—strongbow27
• Be Thou My Vision—Nathan Pacheco
• Jesus—Chris Tomlin

Opening Prayer

Jesus, you are calling me to change some aspects of my life that need changing, here and now. Please help me to see where I am in need of change, where I am in need of help, and where I need healing. Give me the openness to the needs of others, ignoring where THEY need to Change—and the openness to acknowledge that their changes are theirs to make. Help me to understand that my mission is to bring the good news of your love to others. This is my call. Give me the determination to follow through on answering that call.

Companions for the Journey

From Daniel J. Harrington, S.J., Professor of New Testament at Weston Jesuit School of Theology in Cambridge, MA, writing in America magazine, a Jesuit publication:

“The people who sit in darkness have seen a great light”(Mt 4:16)

Why did Peter and Andrew, James and John follow Jesus? According to Matthew’s narrative (and Mark’s), these four fishermen had no prior knowledge of Jesus. While they were at work in Capernaum one day, Jesus came along and said, “Follow me,” and they did. Answering Jesus’ call meant leaving behind their families and businesses for very uncertain futures. Why did they do it?

One answer appeals to the literary skill of the Evangelists or their sources. The utter simplicity of the narrative—Jesus calls, and the disciples follow—serves to highlight Jesus’ personal attractiveness and persuasiveness. It leads the reader to imagine how wonderful Jesus must have been to inspire such an immediate and total response on the disciples’ part. While there is much to be said for this interpretation, there may be more to the disciples’ action than that.

Today’s reading from Matthew 4 places Jesus’ call of his first disciples in a wider context. It suggests that the first disciples followed Jesus out of hope. Their hope was rooted in the past, looked forward to the future and was based in the present.

Matthew prefaces the beginning of Jesus’ public ministry with a quotation from Isaiah: “The people who sit in darkness have seen a great light.” This prophecy was first uttered some 700 years before the time of Jesus. It expressed the hope of a people threatened by powerful political neighbors, looking for some kind of salvation. Isaiah’s prophecy also expressed well the political situation of Israel in Jesus’ time—caught between capitulation to the Romans (and their local supporters) and the promises of greatness made to God’s people. How could these be reconciled? To Jesus’ contemporaries like the four fishermen and to early Christians like Matthew, Jesus seemed to be a light shining in the darkness. They saw Isaiah’s hope being fulfilled before their eyes, a hope rooted in Israel’s past.

Before recounting the call of the first disciples, Matthew provides a summary of Jesus’ preaching: “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.” The kingdom of heaven refers to the future fullness of God’s rule and its acknowledgment by all creation. It is what we pray for when we say, “Hallowed be thy name; thy kingdom come; thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven.” This was the central theme of Jesus’ preaching and activity. The first disciples looked forward to experiencing and being part of that glorious future kingdom.

Matthew follows the call of the first disciples with a summary of Jesus’ activities: teaching, preaching and healing. In the Gospels these are the ways in which Jesus manifests the presence of God’s kingdom among us. Jesus showed the first disciples how to live in their present with the hope of experiencing the future fullness of God’s kingdom. Their hope was based on the person of Jesus as their light shining in the darkness, their light of hope.

Weekly Memorization

Taken from the gospel for today’s session…

Come after me, and I will make you fishers of men.

Living the Good News

What action can you take in the next week as a response to today’s reading and discussion?

Keep a private journal of your prayer/actions responses this week. Feel free to use the personal reflection questions or the meditations which follow:

Reflection Questions

• Is there anybody in our time or in the history of the world whose charismatic qualities caused people immediately and unquestioningly follow him or her?
  Is this good or bad?
• Do I consider myself invited to work with Jesus?
  Is my response immediate, or do I lollygag and offer excuses for my slow response, or do I not really respond at all?
• Who, in our time, who are fishers of men?
• What makes Church ministry successful, effective, rewarding?
  What makes it difficult, disappointing, or stressful?
• Have I ever been invited to join someone in an enterprise which was not very well sketched out? How did I respond?
• Do we need a lot of details/reassurances, back-up plans, safety nets, etc., before we commit to an enterprise?
  Was it different for Peter and Andrew?
• What part does hope play in the decisions of the first four disciples?
  What part does hope play in my decisions?
• Does it help to have companions when you are completing a mission or task?
• What of God’s “good news” do you bring to others?
• What darkness do I perceive in this world?
  In what ways has Jesus been a light in the world’s darkness?
  In my personal darkness?
• Do I bring the light and love of Christ to my little corner of the world?
  Do I see myself as called to bring light to the darkness?
• What are my gifts (teaching, hospitality, wisdom, knowledge, empathy, healing, kindness, helping, sharing, for example)?
  Do I employ them very often?
  Do I consider that a form of preaching the “good news”?
  Why or why not?
• What are some cop-outs we employ to avoid taking a risk on Jesus and the kingdom: “not good enough, not smart enough, not brave enough, not charismatic enough, just an ordinary person with no gifts, no talent for this kind of work?”
  Do you employ any?
• What are some obstacles in my life which keep me from following Jesus?
• What does it mean: The Kingdom of God is at hand?
• The command to “repent” means to change your mind, to change your attitude, to change your life, because the kingdom of God is at hand. What do you need to change in your life to be more a part of The Kingdom?
• Describe a time when you were called to change something in your life?
  What was the impetus?
  How did you respond?
  Was it difficult?
• Do you follow Jesus?
  Why?

Meditations

A Meditation in the Dominican Style/Asking Questions:

Each of us, through our baptism, is called to announce Jesus’ presence in the world. At our baptism we were called “prophets.” What does that mean for you? Have there been experiences in your life through which the Spirit was speaking to you? Did you listen? How do you expect to hear the Lord’s voice? It is a question worth asking at this Eucharist, “How and where am I called to announce ‘the kingdom of heaven is at hand?’” We may not do it from pulpits or at public gatherings, but in one way or another, each of us must bring light to people who “sit in gloom” and are “overshadowed by death.” We are to be signs of reassurance to people who may feel forgotten. As that person in the scripture group put it, through us, people will know that God has seen their need and come to help them.

The disciples heard the call and immediately left things behind. What must we leave as we respond to Jesus’ invitation to announce the presence of God’s kingdom?—old ways of thinking? Possessions? Plans? Familiar surroundings? Security? Even if we never pack up and take to the road, as the first disciples did, we still must make changes, if we have heard and accepted Jesus’ call. Once again, we need to ask Christ to show us what changes we must make so that, like the first disciples, we can follow him and be his instruments of proclamation. Yes, we already are his followers, nevertheless, we need to hear afresh and respond again to his call. Speak Lord, your servant is listening.

So, how shall we preach “the kingdom of heaven is near” this week? As co-workers and students we could be less competitive and more cooperative; as friends or family members we could be more willing to listen to what others are saying; we could respond to people’s request for help; we could treat all people, regardless of race, gender, economic status and education with acceptance and dignity. The bottom line, in light of today’s scriptures might be: In a world where there is gloom, how can I, with Jesus’ help, be “a light to the nations?”

A Meditation in the Ignatian Style/Imagination:

Inspired by Walter Burghardt, S.J.:

Wouldn’t you have loved to be the fly on the wall when Peter went home and told his wife that he was going to stop fishing for fish and going to start fishing for people? “YOU’RE GOING TO WHAT?????” Imagine that you are the wife of Peter, who depends on his earnings as a fisherman to keep the household going financially. Are you afraid? Angry? Sad? Try also to imagine what was going through the minds and hearts of each of these four disciples as they considered the invitation from Jesus. Then put yourself in the actual event as each one told his loved ones that he was leaving—or did not do so. As romantic as this gospel story seems, it can’t have been easy for the disciples and their loved ones to give up their old way of life embrace this new enterprise. The fact that they did so is an indication of their openness to God’s call and their willingness to change.

They had the generosity of spirit to enter into this enterprise with all their hearts, with all their energy, with all their love. Christian living is not a part time job—there is no cutting corners in this enterprise. It is not enough merely to stay out of mortal sin, to keep our noses clean. If we are content with the minimum then we are part-time Christians. A full-time Christian listens to the promptings of the Spirit who speaks within our hearts, within the events of our personal histories, inviting us to make our little world a little bit better here and now—our families, our dorms and classes, our workplace. These promptings of the spirit inspire you and me to ask what God wants for our lives. Am I afraid of what the answer might be? What am I willing to give up to answer God’s call?

Poetic Reflection:

I ask myself the following, then read the following poem written by an unknown woman religious:
What was I called to yesterday? Did I respond?
What am I being called to today? Do I hear?

In the beginning was the Word. A Word who must be spoken. A Word spoken into skies. and called into hills. Spoken into rivers and fields A Word Spoken into life in flowers in birds and in every kind of animal. A Word spoken with love and breathed into the heart of man and woman that they might be ready to hear. And when the time came that all was in readiness, The Word was spoken into flesh, spoken to call his own out of the darkness and into the light. To those who would know this Word, he beckoned and still is beckoning—now—to you. Come, see where I live; spend your time with me Be my own, Be disciple. Is the question of the first who followed your question still: Teacher, where do you live in my world? The answer they heard is the same, which, in silence you will know: Come, I will take you there. I live within your heart. Your heart that I have seen, Your heart that I have known I live there, calling you beyond yourself Calling you into my own life, Calling you to the vision of my Father Calling you to be fishers of people. Calling you to be disciple.

Closing Prayer

Please help me to open myself to the light of your love and your goodness. Help me, Lord to see the dark little corners of another’s life where I might bring some light and hope. Help me to be non-judgmental, not to offer unwarranted advice or slick solutions to some very complex issues that people are facing. Help me to be kind, understanding and PRESENT to the needs of this world and those around me.