Second Sunday in Lent, March 5, 2023

Listening to Jesus; a Lenten journey with Jesus

Matthew 17: 1–9

Jesus took Peter, James, and John his brother, and led them up to a high mountain by themselves. And He was transfigured before them; His face shone like the sun and His clothes became white as light. And behold, Moses and Elijah appeared to them, conversing with Him. Then Peter said to Jesus in reply, “Lord it is good that we are here. If you wish, I will make three tents here, one for You, one for Moses, and one for Elijah.” While he was still speaking, behold, a bright cloud cast a shadow over them, then from the cloud came a voice that said, “This is My beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased; listen to Him.”

When the disciples heard this, they fell prostrate and were very much afraid. But Jesus came and touched them, saying, “Rise, and do not be afraid.” And when the disciples raised their eyes, they saw no one else but Jesus alone.

As they were coming down from the mountain, Jesus charged them, “Do not tell the vision to anyone until the Son of Man has been raised from the dead.”

Music Meditations

Pleni Sunt Coeli et Terra--by Gjeilo, sung by Phoenix Chorale How Great Thou Art- Chris Rice Holy, Holy, Holy-Hillside The Lord is My Light and My salvation –John Rutter

Opening Prayer

Jesus, there is a time for silence and a time to speak. Help me, during this Lenten season, to cultivate a silence that is free from distractions and obligations, and truly open to your word. Help me to see you as God’s beloved, and help me to see myself as God’s beloved.

Help me to hear you and see you in ways I have never been able to do. Especially help me to see you in those around me—in those who love me and those who don’t; in those whom I find admirable and those whom I don’t.

Companions for the Journey

From "First Impressions", by Jude Siciliano (Second Sunday of Lent A 2011)

As I've traveled over the years, I've been to mountains: tall ones, like the Rockies and the Sierra Nevada mountains in the West; lesser, but still magnificent ones in Vermont, North Carolina, West Virginia and upper New York State. I've always been thrilled at the top of these mountains by the clear air, strong wind and spectacular views. Standing on a mountaintop also gives me a sense of security because of the solid mass beneath my feet. It's a religious experience, it seems to me, to climb a mountain and let your mind and emotions flow with the experience.

Did the three apostles Peter, James and John have some of those feelings when they got to the top of that "high mountain" with Jesus? After they got there, as if being on the mountain with him weren't enough, they had the experience of the Transfiguration! It's a dramatic story and appears at a key moment in Matthew's Gospel.

Some people, after a conversion experience, or when they come to a deeper awareness of the joys and peace that accompany a life centered on Christ, have a "mountaintop experience," similar to the one Peter, James and John had. But sooner or later we need to come back down to earth and face the cross that comes with living out the life of discipleship.

An authentic Christian life involves choices: will we accept the standards of living proposed by the world in its insatiable appetite for success, power, possessions, fame, etc? Or, will we choose Jesus' way of service, peace-making, self-denial, etc.? If we accept Jesus' way, we will also be accepting the suffering that accompanies it.

Jesus invites us to take up his cross and the suffering that inevitably come with it. But he isn't glorifying suffering just for the sake of suffering. There is a kind of suffering that is redemptive. For example, the suffering that comes with a commitment to justice for others. In this redemptive suffering comes the power to love even when resistance and hate are directed our way. With redemptive suffering also comes strength and perseverance as we work to help others who are unfairly treated by our society.

Like Peter, we like to live in a fantasy world where everything is exciting and upbeat. We want to hold on to good times and happy feelings. The downside is that we tend to deny bad news, if we can.

Jesus asks us to take up his cross: to live in loving relationships with others, even when opposed and taken advantage of; to respond in love to enemies; to serve and embrace, as our sisters and brothers, the poor and outcasts; to practice peacemaking in a world of violence, etc. In other words, to give our lives as Jesus gave his, for the sake of new life. Jesus was transfigured on the mountain and his disciples saw his glory. Through his death and resurrection, he transfigured the cross by revealing it as the means to new life for those who would take it up to follow him.

There is one small and tender moment in today’s gospel that should give hope to us this Lent; we who are trying to pick up our cross to follow Jesus. When the disciples heard the voice from the cloud they, “fell prostrate and were very much afraid.” Then, Matthew tells us, “Jesus came and touched them, saying, ‘Rise and do not be afraid.’” This is a detail only Matthew tells. In the gospel Jesus’ words and touch have been healing, empowering and life-giving. The Transfiguration depicts the disciples, weak humans like us, falling prostrate and afraid before the divine revelation about Christ. But Jesus’ touch and encouraging words give us all the courage, desire and ability to renew our commitment to follow him this Lent. Jesus tells us this Lent, “Rise up and do not be afraid.”

Weekly Memorization

Taken from the gospel for today’s session…

This is my beloved Son in whom I am well-pleased. Listen to him.

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

Have you ever had a “mountaintop” experience that left a deep impression on you? Have you ever heard yourself being called “my beloved son”, or my beloved daughter? Have you ever had a religious experience that left a deep impression on you? How did it affect your daily life? Did it cause you to make any significant change? What have been some "events of grace" in my own life? Did I recognize them at the time? Is it hard, in everyday lives, to hear Jesus? Where do you go to get away from noise and distractions? We can ask ourselves in Lent: Do we listen to Jesus? Do we understand what discipleship asks of us? What is Jesus saying to me in the people and events of today? Do I really believe his words: “Do not be afraid”? For some people, God and religion inspire a lot of fear. Why is that? When you have had glorious, “mountaintop” experiences, how hard was it to come back to “real” life? Did you try to prolong or memorialize the experience as the disciples did? Like the disciples, we are attracted by what we see of Jesus on the mountain and resistant to what he says about the cross. Going up the mountain to get a glimpse of glory is one thing; going up on the cross is quite another! Are we willing to include in following Jesus both realities: the glory of the Transfiguration and the glory of the cross? We identify any situation that brings pain and loss to our lives as our “cross.” What has been a particular "cross" I have had to deal with or bear in life? What are the risks involved in listening to Jesus? Do we often, using such stories at the transfiguration, emphasize the divinity of Jesus at the expense of recognizing his humanity? What is the danger in that? In my own spirituality, which image do I prefer? What holds me back from more fully responding to God’s call for me? What can I do this Lent to begin to respond to that call? Do I listen to Christ by listening to other people in my life---really listening? Do I listen to Christ in the scriptures, more often than once a week?

Meditations

A Meditation in the Ignatian Style/Imagination:

Read Matthew 17: 1-9 (The Transfiguration). Imagine that you are Peter, and you have been invited by Jesus to accompany him to the top of this mountain for prayer. Put yourself completely in his shoes for this entire experience, trying to be present in the event as he was. Take time to sit with each question as you insert yourself into the events of that day with Jesus: What are you expecting as you set out on this experience? At what time of day do you start out? What is the weather like? What do you see? Smell? Hear? Is the journey easy or tiring? What do you four chat about along the way? How long after you all reach the top do you see something happening to Jesus? How do you react when you see Jesus transformed right in front of your eyes? Are you frightened? Exhilarated? Confused? What expressions or reactions do you see on the faces of James and John? What do you think when you see Jesus conversing with Moses and Elijah? How do you know that is who they are? Why do you suggest building three tents? When a cloud envelops all three of them and you hear a voice, do you know who is speaking? Is it because in your Jewish culture no one looked directly on the face of God, and because your stories of Moses tell you that God spoke to him from within a cloud? Why are you afraid when God speaks the words telling you that Jesus is God's son and you are to listen to him? In what instances up until now have you been too dismissive of what Jesus was telling you about what his mission is, what his fate will be, and how you are to be conducting your life--about your mission? How do you react when Jesus quietly comes upon you and touches you, telling you not to be afraid? Are you less afraid? Have you recovered and reverted to your first sense of wonder and awe? Are you apprehensive? Why do you think Jesus tells you to speak of this event to no one until after his resurrection from the dead? Do you even get what he means by talking of being raised from the dead? Has he spoken of his death before now? Did you believe him? ********* Sit with this experience for a few moments, then imagine a transformative or exceptional experience in your own life. Recall if you fully understood what was happening while it was happening, and what you have learned about yourself and about life after having some time to digest the meaning of the experience. T.S. Eliot, in "Four Quartets", writes: " We had the experience, but missed the meaning". Have you taken time in your own life to process an event which was pivotal in some way? Try to recall such an event, and see if you can hear Christ speaking to you in the aftermath of that experience. Were you listening? Are you listening now?

A Meditation in the Augustinian Style/Relationship:

Read Isaiah 42:1-9.  “Here is my servant, whom I uphold,  my chosen one in whom I delight; I will put my Spirit on him, and he will bring justice to the nations. He will not shout or cry out, or raise his voice in the streets. A bruised reed he will not break,  and a smoldering wick he will not snuff out. In faithfulness he will bring forth justice;      he will not falter or be discouraged till he establishes justice on earth.     In his teaching the islands will put their hope.”  This is what God the Lord says— the Creator of the heavens, who stretches them out,     who spreads out the earth with all that springs from it,     who gives breath to its people,     and life to those who walk on it: “I, the Lord, have called you in righteousness;     I will take hold of your hand. I will keep you and will make you     to be a covenant for the people     and a light for the Gentiles, to open eyes that are blind,     to free captives from prison     and to release from the dungeon those who sit in darkness. “I am the Lord; that is my name!     I will not yield my glory to another     or my praise to idols. See, the former things have taken place,     and new things I declare; before they spring into being     I announce them to you.” We all know that this passage is taken by Christians as a reference to Jesus. But if we are followers of Jesus, if we Listen to Him, then it should apply to us as well. In your journal, write your own response to the Lord who calls you "my chosen" and says that the lord's spirit is upon YOU, that YOU have been given as a covenant to God's people. How do you respond to this awesome honor/task? Speak from your heart about your desire to follow in Jesus' footsteps.

Poetic Reflection:

Thomas Merton, OSCO, a monk, mystic and poet, saw transfiguration everywhere. In this following meditation from Thomas Merton, A Book of Hours, edited by Kathleen Degnan, Psalm, adapted from Merton’s book New Seeds of Contemplation,( pp 30-31 excerpted) reflects the joy and total exuberance of God’s presence in our natural world: Psalm/ transfiguration/transformation/Nature The forms and individual characters of living and growing things of inanimate beings, of animals and flowers and all nature, constitute their holiness in the sight of God. Their inscape is their sanctity. It is the imprint of His wisdom and His reality in them. The special clumsy beauty of this particular colt on this day in this field under these clouds is a holiness consecrated by God by His own creative wisdom and it declares the glory of God. The pale flowers of the dogwood outside this window are saints The little yellow flowers that nobody notices on the side of that road are saints looking up into the face of God. This leaf has its own texture and its own pattern of veins and Its own holy shape, and the bass and the trout hiding in the deep pools of the river are canonized by their beauty and their strength. The lakes hidden among the hills are saints. and the sea too is a saint who praises God without interruption in her majestic dance. The great, gashed, half naked mountain is another Of God’s saints. There is no other like him. He is alone in His own character; Nothing else in the world ever did or ever will imitate God In quite the same way. That is his sanctity. But what about you? What about me?

Closing Prayer

Adapted from Sacred Space 23, a Service of Irish Jesuits:

Jesus, transfiguration is about you and about us. When we are with you, we are with the divine; when you are with us, you are with the human.

Your love, grace, sacraments, and compassion can transfigure us. And when we look around us and see as you see, we find there are others in our loves capable of transfiguration. Help me to be present in prayer to your light and brightness; allow me to know that the light given to me at Baptism is never extinguished. Help me to light the lives of others.

First Sunday in Lent, February 26, 2023

When the temptation comes to mistrust God and God’s promises, how do we react?

Matthew 4: 1–11

Then Jesus was led by the Spirit into the desert to be tempted by the devil.

He fasted for forty days and forty nights, and afterwards he was hungry.

The tempter approached and said to him, “If you are the Son of God, command that these stones become loaves of bread.”

He said in reply: “It is written: ‘One does not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes forth from the mouth of God.’”

Then the devil took him to the holy city, and made him stand on the parapet of the temple, and said to him, “If you are the Son of God, throw yourself down. For it is written: ‘He will command his angels concerning you’ and ‘with their hands they will support you, lest you dash your foot against a stone.’”

Jesus answered him, “Again it is written, ‘You shall not put the Lord, your God, to the test.’”

Then the devil took him up to a very high mountain, and showed him all the kingdoms of the world in their magnificence, and he said to him, “All these I shall give to you, if you will prostrate yourself and worship me.”

At this, Jesus said to him, “Get away, Satan! It is written: ‘The Lord, your God, shall you worship and him alone shall you serve.’” Then the devil left him and, behold, angels came and ministered to him.

Music Meditations

• Walk and Follow Jesus—John Michael Talbot
• O Lord Hear My Prayer-—Taizé
• Lord, I Need You—Matt Maher
• Be With Me Lord—Marty Haugen
• My Trust Is in You—david g (Nigerian Gospel song)
• On Eagle’s Wings—Josh Groban (Walkers to Heaven)
• Whom Shall I Fear—Chris Tomlin in “Burning Lights” (Praise and Worship hymn)

Opening Prayer

Lord, you know my weaknesses and vulnerabilities; you know what might convince me to stray from trust in your care, or take the easy way out of a situation that is uncomfortable. Help me to understand that, just as metal is tested and forged in fore, my mettle is tested and strengthened when I face my weaknesses head on and do not give in to them. Keep me strong in faith and hope in your goodness.

Companions for the Journey

From Living Space, a service of the Irish Jesuits:

The Gospel of today’s Mass always features the temptations of Jesus in the desert. It clearly links with the Lenten themes of fasting, penance and reconciliation with God and with our brothers and sisters.

In the First Reading, there is a striking contrast between Jesus in the Gospel, and our First Parents in the Garden of Eden. The Second Reading connects the two events: it was the sin of our First Parents which brought about the coming of Jesus to restore our relationship with God. “Oh happy fault!” (O felix culpa!) as the liturgy of the Easter Vigil says of that first sin. The weakness of our First Parents brought about the coming of Jesus and all that he means to us for our lives. It is an example of how even behind unpleasant and, in fact, evil happenings God’s love can be found at work.

It is not necessary for us to understand either the Garden of Eden story or Jesus’s experience with Satan as being strictly historical. These stories are primarily vehicles to communicate important truths to us.

Today’s Gospel story follows immediately on Jesus’ baptism and endorsement by his Father as his “Beloved Son” to whom we are to listen. Note that Jesus is led into the desert by the Spirit of God. The purpose clearly is not to lead him to do evil, but as a testing of his fitness for his coming mission. Will he fail like our First Parents or like the Israelites of old? Or will be prove himself worthy of the mission he has been given? The testing will be done not by God directly, but by the Evil One, the Tempter. It is pictured as taking place in a barren region between Jerusalem and the Dead Sea. Jesus, like Moses before him, had fasted for 40 days. He is alone in the wilderness without food. He is hungry, weak and vulnerable. Now is the time for the Tempter to move in.

Who is Jesus?

Each of the three temptations touches on Jesus’ identity as the Son of God, which had been revealed during his baptism. “This is my Beloved Son in whom I am well pleased.”

The Tempter then begins, “If you are the Son of God, why not use your divine powers to turn these large, flat stones at your feet into bread?” God fed the Israelites with manna in the desert. Surely he will feed his own Son? Why have powers and not use them? Why not take this opportunity to prove that you really are the Son of God?

It is important to realize that all temptations – and these tests are no exception – come to us under the guise of some kind of goodness. No sane person chooses the purely evil unless some positive benefit is seen to come from it. In each of the three tests today, Jesus is being led to do something which would seem to enhance his mission as Lord and Savior. In responding to the Tempter, Jesus will not just use his own words, but each time quote a saying from the Hebrew Testament. In this first test, Jesus rejects the offer by saying that “it is not on bread alone that we live”. True happiness does not consist in satisfying material wants, in having many things, but in identifying ourselves fully with the vision of life which God gives us through Jesus. Further, for Jesus to have changed the stones into bread would have been to show a lack of trust in the providential care of his Father, who will see that he has all he needs for his life and mission.

Testing

Satan’s next approach is to bring Jesus to the highest point of the Temple in Jerusalem. This is God’s very dwelling place. Surely here he will take care of his Son. “If you are the Son of God, throw yourself down.” Jesus has just shown his trust in God by not changing the stones into bread. Now here is a chance really to prove that trust.

Two things would happen: First, God will not allow Jesus to be hurt. Now it is the Tempter himself who cleverly quotes Scripture: “He will command his angels concerning you, and they will lift you up in their hands, so that you will not strike your foot against a stone.” God promises his providential care in the normal course of our lives, but he never promises supernatural intervention, when we do something unreasonable. “God takes care of those who take care of themselves.” St Ignatius of Loyola is said to have advised: “Do things as if everything depended on God and nothing on oneself and, at the same time, as if everything depended on oneself and nothing on God”.

Second, if Jesus jumps and is miraculously saved, everyone will know his divine origin and will believe in him! Jesus quotes the Scripture back again, “Do not put the Lord your God to the test.” Real faith is total trust; it is not, as Scripture scholar William Barclay says, “doubt looking for proof”.

Showdown

After the failure of the first two attempts, Satan now drops all pretense. He brings Jesus to a high mountain and shows him all the kingdoms of the world. All this can be Jesus’, if he falls down and worships the Tempter. Is not this what Jesus wants: to bring all the kingdoms of the world into his own Kingdom? Is that not the purpose of his whole life?

This is, of course, an impossible bargain. It would make no sense for the whole world to submit itself to Jesus as Lord, and then for Jesus himself to submit to the Evil One. Yet, it is a bargain we constantly try to make: to belong to God and to go to any lengths to get the things we want: material wealth, success, a recognised standing in the eyes of others, etc.

Jesus will put it differently later on:

What does it profit someone to gain the whole world and lose their real life? What can one give in exchange for the deep relationship with God for which we were born? Jesus absolutely rejects the offer: “Away from me, Satan!” It reminds one of the words said to Peter who tried to deflect Jesus from the way he had to go and was told: “Get behind me, Satan!” Symbols of real tests.

In fact, these three tests are really symbols of real tests that we find in the life of Jesus.

Jesus did produce large quantities of bread on two occasions, but not for himself but rather to feed the hungry.

He rejected calls from his opponents to prove who he was by performing some striking signs. He said the only sign would be his own death and resurrection.

After one of the feedings (as told in John’s gospel), he had the crowd at his feet and they wanted to make him king. Instead, he fled to the mountains to pray to his Father and packed his ambitious disciples off in a boat and into a storm which gave them something else to think about – survival!

Jesus passes all three tests and will continue to do so all during his life right up to the moment of his death. In the garden of Gethsemane, he will beg to be spared the horrors of his Passion, but will then put aside his own fears of suffering and death and accept his Father’s way. On the cross he will make the despairing cry, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?”, and soon after, in total submission, say: “Into your hands I surrender my life.”

The way of the Father is the only way that will lead him – and us – to the life that never ends and when all tears will be wiped away.

Weekly Memorization

Taken from the gospel for today’s session…

“Get away, Satan! It is written: ‘The Lord, your God, shall you worship and him alone shall you serve.’”

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

• The Latin word used in the first verse is “tentaretur”, which is literally translated “test”.
  What, for you, is the difference between temptation and test?
  In what way does “testing” help us understand our strength and weaknesses and help us to grow?
  What would be the benefit of “testing” for a very human Jesus as he was starting his mission in life?
• Do I see the devil as my inner voice calling me to be other than I know God wants me to be because I am seduced by comfort, impressed by power and unwilling to believe in God’s care and forgiveness?
• Jesus’ time in the desert was meant to be a retreat from all the noise and distractions around him as he prepared for His mission.
  What things or persons, in my life, are a distraction from following Jesus more fully?
  What would help me return to following Jesus more fully?
• Jesus’ temptations looked like a good thing for him to accept, both for himself and for us. Have I ever experienced the pull to do or achieve something that is good for myself or others even though there was a cost, in moral terms?
  Have I ever been tempted to do the wrong thing for the right reasons?
• Do you think Jesus had to deal with real temptation in his life?
  If yes, what kind of temptation?
• In general, does society expect people to use their position for their well-being?
  Do you know people who make an effort not to use their position for their own benefit?
  How do you sort out the path of virtue here in your own life?
• What are some common temptations that we might be prey to?
  Are you aware of an area of your life where you seem to experience temptation or struggle?
  Are you also aware of sources of grace or support that God has places around you to help you deal with those temptations/struggles?
  What have you learned about how God is present to you through your area of temptation/struggle?
• How many of Jesus’ temptations were identity temptations? (if you are the son of God, if you are the Messiah)
  How many of my temptations are identity temptations?
• Are you aware of signs God places in your life that let you know that God is trying to speak to you?
  If not, have you ever thought of looking for some?
  Are you open to that possibility?
  What form might they take?
• Do our problems or struggles stir up feelings of God being close to us or distant from us?
  At moments like these does reflecting on Jesus’ own suffering and death strengthen us?
• From Sacred Space: a service of the Irish Jesuits:
  Jesus was tempted by the devil to put three values above the love of God: pleasure (bread standing for food, money, other such comforts), power (all the kingdoms of the world), and security (presuming on God to work miracles for him). What are my temptations, the indulgences that pull me from God?
• Is the power of evil real?
  Where do you encounter it?

Meditations

A Meditation in the Dominican Style/Asking Questions:

Sometimes we read this story of Jesus temptation in the desert as if it were a one-time thing, that the lure to evil was vanquished once and for all. But upon reflection we realize that there were several other times in his life when Jesus was tempted to back down, or to take the easy way out. Here are just a few:
When His family was embarrassed by his teaching and preaching
When people clamored for more and more healings, more and more miracles
When Lazarus was dying and He had to finish His mission where he was
When Peter begged him not to go to Jerusalem that last time
When He was seized in the garden
When He stood before the leaders or Pilate after his arrest
When He was dying on the cross

So with us, the same old temptations keep coming back to haunt us and torment us, even when we have said “no” in the past. Can you think of any recurring temptations that crop up again and again? How did you deal with them? If you succumbed to a temptation, did this cause you to give up on yourself, or did you hit the “restart” button and resolve to handle things better the next time? Do you believe, in the deepest part of your heart, that God understands when we fail? Do I understand when others around me fail? If not, what is forgiveness all about?

A Meditation in the Ignatian Style/Imagination/Consideration:

Read Matthew 4: 1-11 (The testing in the desert).

Forty days in a desert. Just imagine it. What does it look like? How hot is it during the day? What sounds are there? Does it smell? Are there any animals? Are you hungry? What do you do all day?

Night in the desert: the lonely sounds of an animal in the distance. Are you cold? Afraid? Lonely? Bored?

This is the time when Jesus was most vulnerable, and so He was tempted. Jesus was tempted to use his talents to provide for his own needs; He was tempted to test God’s love; and finally, He was tempted to forsake his trust in God in return for earthly power. How did he react? Are these temptations at all like our human temptations? Have you ever been so tempted? Have you been able to turn to God in these times of temptation? Has God been a source of strength and comfort? Close with a personal prayer thanking God for the strength you have been given to trust during the dark times.

(by Anne Greenfield, from Songs of Life: Psalm Meditations from the Catholic Community at Stanford)

A Meditation in the Dominican Style/Raising Questions:

Adapted from Songs of Life: Psalm Meditations from the Catholic Community at Stanford, by Anne Greenfield:

Let us never forget that the ordinary way to contemplation lies through a desert without trees and without beauty and without water. The spirit enters a wilderness and travels blindly in directions that seem to lead away from vision, away from God, away from fulfillment and joy. It may be almost impossible to believe that this road goes anywhere at all except to a desolation full of dry bones—the ruin of all our hopes and good intentions. (Thomas Merton, New Seeds of Contemplation, p. 235). What desert are you experiencing at this time in your life—love, creativity. Friendship, family, compulsions, insecurities? How is this wilderness experience inviting you to place your trust in God? Do you trust in the Spirit enough to give yourself totally to God? What have you held back? What are you afraid of? Speak to Jesus, who has been there too, and ask for his strength and his faith in the Father’s care.

Poetic Reflection:

Read the words by Thomas Merton and the meditation questions that follow. Can we imagine that Jesus may have had some of the same thoughts during those long 30 days in the desert?

MY LORD GOD, I have no idea where I am going.
I do not see the road ahead of me.
I cannot know for certain where it will end.
Nor do I really know myself, and the fact that I think that I am following your will does not mean that I am actually doing so.
But I believe that the desire to please you does in fact please you.
And I hope I have that desire in all that I am doing.
I hope that I will never do anything apart from that desire.
And I know that if I do this you will lead me by the right road though I may know nothing about it.
Therefore, will I trust you always though I may seem to be lost and in the shadow of death.
I will not fear, for you are ever with me, and you will never leave me to face my perils alone.

In his book Thoughts in Solitude Merton reveals that he is unsure about the journey, that he cannot see clearly ahead, that he does not know for certain where the journey will end or who he himself is. When Merton wrote these words he had lived through seventeen years of monastic discipline and contemplative prayer as a Cistercian. It is helpful for us to reflect that if such a man could be confused or insecure, there is little reason to blame ourselves for our own perplexity.

Pause now and in silence consider these points:
1. To know the outcome of the journey is to trust God less.
2. If the Spirit leads us, the journey is not ours alone.
3. A journey of clarity and ease cannot reach a God of mystery and love.
4. The experience of uncertainty brings us closer to our companions on the journey.
5. No matter how unsettling the journey may be at times, God will not permit us to be lost.

(from A Retreat with Thomas Merton by Anthony Padovano, p.10)

Closing Prayer

Sometimes it is so hard, God, not to be tempted by the values of this world and the needs of those around me. It is very hard not to put my needs first when I am tired, lonely, discouraged and upset. It is also hard to think of my mission as serving others, not always serving myself. How do I learn balance? How do I learn peace? How do I learn to place my trust in you?

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.