Sacred place and people
Gospel: Jn 4:5-42
https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/030324-YearA.cfm
Jesus challenged the limited thinking of his time. At the well with the Samaritan woman, he broke the social standards that were in place in his day. Not only did he speak to a Samaritan woman, he asked her to share water with him. The societal norms would not permit such a conversation. There was a perceived notation of difference between them. Both the Samaritan woman and Jesus call it out. She was a Samaritan and he was a Jew. He was a man and she was a woman. They worshipped and communed with God differently. She worshiped her God on the mountaintop where as Jesus’s Jewish tradition saw Jerusalem as the holy place.
Jesus breaks these social norms through his actions and words. For Jesus, his God was no longer limited to the Jewish tradition. Samaritans and Jews could commune together. God was not limited to the mountaintop or Jerusalem, but God meets us where we are at. There wasn’t one God for the Jewish people and other gods for other groups of people, but there was one God for all people.
God is truly universal. Jesus didn’t call for the people’s conversion. He shared the good news, and they listened. They offered their community to him and he stayed with them. In tearing down the social barrier, the Samaritan town opened themselves up and welcomed Jesus and his disciples.
Jesus challenged the norms of his day to welcome people from different cultures and social classes. Like in Jesus’s time, we have social and religious differences that can keep us apart. We can keep a distance from strangers or people who live differently from us. Jesus pushed those of his time to see each other as equals; equal in the eyes of God and equals with each other. How can we do the same today?
Entitlement
Gospel: Lk 15:1-3, 11-32
https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/030224.cfm
Gifts are different than entitlements because with entitlements there is a sense from the receiver that they are owed. In today’s gospel, we learn of two sons, both of whom had a sense of entitlement when it came to their father’s gifts. They each thought that they were more deserving. The first son wanted his inheritance now. He thought that he was deserving enough to receive it before its allotted time. He was so deserving that he abandoned the giver. The other son felt entitled to more because he was unlike his brother and did not squander his father’s inheritance. He was more deserving because he stayed with his father. He deserved more because he was right.
It is easy to fall into a sense of entitlement. We can look at what others have and feel that we deserve the same. Even when we have what we need, we can get frustrated that someone else has more. We can get angry that someone else should have less because they are less deserving than us.
Now, there are societal sins that can lead to these things, and we must always fight against all forms of discrimination. The fallacy comes when we see or think we are more deserving or others are more deserving. We can also be guilty of supporting systems of oppression that keep groups of people subordinate to others. These are ways that we overlook that we are all equal in the eyes of God and that we are all created in the image of God.
In today’s gospel, we could think that there isn’t equality with God as the first son received more. It’s not fair because the second son earned more from their father for he was loyal and did what was expected of him. This gospel pushes us to think differently. There is equality with God, but it may not easily be seen in our limited view of material things.
God’s equality is in love for each of us. God doesn’t love any of us more or any of us less than anyone else. God doesn’t measure by material things as material things are to be freely given and shared. With God there is equality, and we must strive to make a world with the same. We are called to share and be in communion. Amen.
God’s harvest
Gospel: Mt 21:33-43,45-46
https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/030124.cfm
It is easy to dismiss the parable of the tenants as being explicitly about the chief priests and elders, but what if it’s about us as well? All we have and all that has been given to our care is like a vineyard from God. God gives us the supplies we need to do what we do. Yes, we may do the tending, but we are still only tenants for the Divine and therefore the harvest is God’s.
Like the tenants though, we can too easily take the harvest as if it’s our own. We overlook that the soil, the seed, the sun, the water, and the rest of what we need is provided by a different source. We make our claim to the harvest through our competitive natures, our sense of entitlement, our lack of generosity, and our lack of concern for the needs of others. We earned it, right?
All we have in life was given to us by God. We are called to share it. People come our way in life needing our love and resources like those sent to vineyards for part of the harvest. God calls us to be present for them and not cast them away. The stone the builder rejected has become the cornerstone. God comes to us in unexpected ways and through unexpected people.
For the Kingdom of God is given to them who produce its fruits. It’s not just a good harvest, but how it is shared. We are called to be both good stewards and to share the harvest with others as if it were given to us to share.
Prosperity
Gospel: Lk 16:19-31
https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/022924.cfm
In Jesus’s time, there were a lot of people who believed that those who lived a life with riches and success were seen as having good favor with God. It is as if God rewards the good with earthly success and privilege. The Pharisees believed that the Jewish captivity by the Romans was due to the Jewish people not living up to their part of the covenant with God. If the Jewish people lived by the covenant fully then God would restore Israel. During this time, there was also the belief that sickness and poor health were caused by the sin of an individual or of one’s family.
The gospel today shows a different way of thinking by telling the story of a person who is sick and destitute in life receiving glory in heaven and a person with great privilege in life having difficulty in the next. It’s those who are truly in need and marginalized by society that recognize that they need God. Having the mentality that we earned or inherited our privilege separates us from God and from others. The idea that we are better than others or more deserving than others has us lose sight that we are all in this together.
In this gospel too, we learn that the poor man with sores is named Lazarus. We don’t learn of the name of the rich man. How often is this the case? We focus more on the names of celebrities, athletes, and the extremely wealthy. Jesus is showing us to shift our way of thinking. We should know those most in need more personally. We should be elevating those in need, not revering those of great achievement.
Being grateful for the gifts that God has given us is to freely share them with others. As God is generous, we are called to be generous. We should seek the glory of all with what we have to give. With every gift, there is a responsibility to share, but it is so easy for us to look at our possessions as ours because we’ve earned them. This doesn’t just apply to our possessions, but our health, our relationships, our reputation, our role in society, etc. It applies to anything that we can use to say that we are better than someone else or more deserving than someone else. It is too easy to fall trap to the rich man mentality and overlook the Lazarus in society.
Who may be a Lazarus in your life that you overlook that needs your presence and attention? How can we create a world that doesn’t overlook the marginalized in society? We are all deserving of God’s love as we should all share God’s love with others.
Changing the paradigm
Gospel: Mt 20:17-28
https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/022824.cfm
As we’ve been going through this Lenten journey, I find myself reflecting on these gospels through the lens of Matthew 5:45: “...for God makes the sun rise on the bad and the good, and causes rain to fall on the just and the unjust.”
It’s not about power and prestige; it’s about what you do. We shouldn’t constantly put labels on others for being good and bad or just and unjust. Yes, we should strive for more justice and more goodness, but this should not be a comparative analysis. We are not earning anything by being more just or being more good, we are bringing the Divine Will into being. This Divine Will goes beyond our ego and is applies to all. It is a return to the image in which we were created. We are the ones who have turned our back on that by not seeing the Divine image in ourselves and others.
We should not act with justice and goodness for an eternal reward for us individually but should be doing it for the abundant goodness for all. None of us earn our salvation, but we all contribute to the salvation and the damnation of all by how much we teardown and build up the Kingdom. We are responsible for the inequalities we see in the world. We can overcome these inequalities by taking a servant approach and focusing on what we can do and not on what makes us better or separate from someone else. We are not earning a higher position in heaven; we are striving for a world of equality and generosity.
Love transcends our desire to be “better than.” Let’s strive to see others as “equal to” and find ways to live and love more generously.
Corruptibility
Gospel: Mt 23:1-12
https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/022724.cfm
We humans struggle with and fight for power. Power itself can be very corruptible. Even with the scribes and Pharisees of Jesus’s time, those who were given the authority to lead the people religiously, were easily corrupted. Jesus says that we shouldn’t dismiss the insights of their message and that we shouldn’t follow their example. Not all of their message was divine, but the parts that they spoke that were, should not be dismissed because of their hypocrisy. We see this a lot today in our culture and our society as well. A person is not entirely a reflection of who they are on their best and worst days.
This gospel is a cautionary tale of how easily we are corrupted by the power dynamics within our society. Religious institutions do not escape this tendency for corruption. Power leads to hypocrisy, subordination, vanity, and entitlement. It seeks social privilege over others and fights for a sense of being better than other people. It’s as if life itself is a competition. In merit-based cultures, we have a sense that we are entitled to more because we sacrifice more or because we are more strategic, more creative, more athletic, better looking, smarter, more holy, more generous, put forth more effort, etc. Every time we use the word “more” we are comparing. We are putting together a hierarchy. Yes, we may have comparable differences, but those differences do not make one of us more deserving than another. We are all created in the image and likeness of God and are therefore equally entitled.
We created the inequalities we see in the world through these stories we tell ourselves. We need these comparisons to justify our reality and make ourselves feel better about ourselves. How much better off would we be, if we could see the equality between us? Jesus gives us a means to this at the end of today’s gospel, “The greatest among you must be your servant. Whoever exalts himself will be humbled; but whoever humbles himself will be exalted." We must approach each other with a servant attitude. We must approach each other as if they are just as deserving as we are because they are.
Let us pray. God help us to see that we are all equal and deserving of your love and grace. Help us see your divine image in ourselves and others. Free us from the corruption of ourselves and others. Help us discern your message in the world beyond our limited perspective and desires. Lead us to see the world through your universal lens. Amen.
Reflecting the Divine
Gospel: Lk 6:36-38
https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/022624.cfm
Today’s gospel is both a call to action and a shifting of our perception of God and what it means to be human. The passage starts with Jesus saying that we should be merciful as God is merciful. It then describes additional behaviors we should take on: stop judging, stop condemning, forgive, and live generously (“for the measure with which you measure will in return be measured out for you”).
These behaviors for Jesus are the behaviors of God. This passage demonstrates how Jesus sees God. He understands God to be free of judgment, free of condemnation, full of mercy, full of forgiveness, and generous. With God there is abundance, with us and the separation we put between us and God, we create scarcity; scarcity for ourselves, for others, and for the rest of creation. The social dimensions and impacts of our sin go beyond what we may see on the surface. What we put into the world is what makes the world; not just for ourselves, but for all people and creation. We are all accountable for the world we live in.
To make the Kingdom of God a reality, we must live the Kingdom of God. Living the Kingdom is contained in today’s gospel: show mercy, stop judging, stop condemning, forgive, and be generous. This is not about what we earn or what we deserve. It’s not an equation where good things will happen to me if I put good out there. Instead, it’s about making all of creation better. If we put good out there, good things will be out there. The more good we put out there, the more that that good will be perpetuated. While our sins have a social component, so does our goodness. If we all live according to this gospel, we would all live in abundance.
What can you change or do today to be a ripple of good in the world?
Chance encounters
Gospel: Mk 9:2-10
https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/022524.cfm
At any moment we can be visited by God. God is always present with us, but we are often not aware of that presence. At moments when we do, we can be moved to great awe and want to hold onto that moment. Those moments though transcend a concept of time, so when we get overly focused on holding onto it, we lose it.
We can also keep ourselves too busy, hyperfixated on what we need or want to do, that we miss what God is showing us right now. We can get so obsessed with things that went wrong in the past that we can’t see how God is calling out to us at this place and time. It’s too easy to overlook what is always there waiting to be seen.
Where we find God can be shared as it can all be an individual experience. We all have different things that may resonate with us more easily as we are all created differently. There may also be things that we share with others. We can find ourselves more easily growing in community with individuals who have similar insights as we can also be moved by those who recognize the beauty we miss.
God is reaching out to us and trying to meet us where we are at. At times we can share in that experience and other times it may just be a special encounter just for us. Even in today’s gospel, only three of the disciples were present. That doesn’t mean that Jesus loved or cared for the rest less than those who were present, but each of us has our own experiences and encounters.
How is God currently present in your life, but possibly overlooked? How can you make more room for God?
Love beyond the ego
Gospel: Mt 5:43-48
https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/022424.cfm
In today’s gospel, Jesus calls his followers to go beyond societal standards when it comes to loving others. It is easy to love friends and family, but Jesus calls us to love not just them, but our enemies and those who persecute us as well. He calls us to take the divine perspective, not our own isolated individualized perspective. We need to see the world beyond ourselves to the divine perspective where we are all equal and deserving of God’s love.
Jesus wants us to see past the construct that there must be retribution for our actions. When we wish for bad things to happen to those who have wronged us, we are missing the point. When we have hope that people will get what’s coming to them on the day of judgment, we are missing the point as well. God has not given up on anyone, so why should we? Now if someone is harmful or toxic to you, it may be best for you to sever that relationship, but that doesn’t mean that you should wish them harm.
Our hope should always be in reconciliation and not in retribution or damnation. This is seen in the parable of the lost sheep where the shepherd leaves the flock to find the lost sheep. God doesn’t abandon us when we go astray or leave us to the wolves. If it was that way, there would be no redemption and we would all be damned. Think of all the things we do both intentionally and unintentionally that cause harm to others. We are all the enemy that is deserving of love.
God has the sun rise on the bad and good, and the rain falls on the just and the unjust. God is not keeping score. God is seeking our reconciliation, our redemption, and our relationship. God wants us to want the same, not just for ourselves, but for those that we may find the least deserving.
Make peace with your enemies.
Reconciliation
Gospel: Mt 5:20-26
https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/022324.cfm
Today’s gospel is a challenging one. Jesus shows us that the law goes beyond the Ten Commandments. He says that not only is murder wrong, but so is becoming angry with our neighbor, calling them foolish, or thinking of them as worthless. This is much more difficult to follow.
He then goes beyond this level of scrutiny. He says that religious practices to find forgiveness are not enough; we must reconcile with those we’ve wronged directly. How much more of a challenge is that? Think of all the times we passively get angry with other people. It would be quite a challenge to find all of them and reconcile with them. Plus, isn’t it so much easier to find forgiveness in church attendance, confession, and prayer? Can’t we just ride it all off because Jesus already died for our sins? These things are all well and good, but we are called to more.
God’s forgiveness and mercy are not earned, but that doesn’t mean that we shouldn’t make it right with those we’ve wronged. Jesus is calling us when at all possible to reconcile with others. We will get angry from time to time and we should talk it out with others. When we think others are worthless or foolish, we need to pause and remember that they too were created in the image of God. In all situations, we should strive to reconcile with neighbors we’ve wronged quickly.
It’s easier to think of the supernatural aspects of forgiveness; it is more challenging to choose to live it. What is something you’ve done to wrong someone recently? What can you do to reconcile with them? Try it out, you may just be surprised to see their response.
Who do you say that I am?
Gospel: Mt 16:13-19
https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/022224.cfm
During Jesus’s time, the people of Israel were looking for the Messiah or thinking that he already come. With the captivity they were experiencing, they felt that they needed redemption. The disciples gave Jesus lots of examples of what people were thinking. Jesus then asks “But who do you say that I am?” Peter quickly responds by calling him the son of the living God. It is with those words that Jesus says that Peter will be the rock on which he will be his church.
When it comes to our faith, we can be quick to analyze and explain our faith, that is not what God seeks. It was in this simple understanding of Peter that Jesus gave him authority. Peter didn’t recite a creed or write a book of theology, he simply said that Jesus was the son of the living God. Jesus did not give credit for this knowledge to Peter but said that it was provided to him by God.
There is beauty found in the simple and direct. True knowledge goes beyond words. It is not our knowledge that saves us, but our relationship. Help us to slow down and find beauty in the simplicity of faith like Peter.
History repeating
Gospel: Lk 11:29-32
https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/022124.cfm
History repeats itself, but yet is always different. In today’s gospel, Jesus compares himself to Jonah. Jonah reluctantly shared God’s message with the Ninevites. Hearing his message the Ninevites changed their ways by ending their violence, repenting from their other sins, and fasting.
Unlike Jonah, Jesus was a willing prophet. Like Jonah, he came to witness to the misguided in the world so that they may repent. There was still hope that the people in Jesus’s time would change their ways, but it would not be on their terms or expectations. They wanted to be saved by their Roman captivity. He was there to share the good news with them, heal the sick and ailing, and feed the hungry. He wanted them to transform their worldview and go beyond their present understanding of suffering and duelist thinking. They were so worried about their oppression from outside forces that they overlooked the needs of those around them. The salvation that Jesus offered went beyond that of freedom from the Romans; it’s a liberation that makes the Roman occupation seem meaningless.
We have a lot of people in our time who think about how evil our present generation is, but look around and you can find God’s work present. It may not always be how or from whom we’d expect it, but that’s God’s way of helping us transform and grow. He calls us all to go beyond our limited thinking to love more and follow in his example. He is calling us to be that transforming force in the world.
The Lord’s Prayer
Gospel: Mt 6:7-15
https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/022024.cfm
The Lord’s prayer, or the Our Father, is less of a petition to God and more of a reminder to us.
“Our Father who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name..”
We start the prayer with a showing of reverence. It is a reminder to us that God transcends God’s creation. God is beyond this reality while participating in it. We recognize God as the beginning and the end.
“..thy Kingdom come, thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.”
Prayer is an exercise in shifting our mindset from our individual will to that of God’s. While we often petition the Lord with prayer by asking for things, prayer is a space for us to share our desires with God so that God can transform them into the Divine Will. We communicate our wants to open ourselves up to the wants of God. It humbles us to recognize what is in and outside of our control. While we may do our part, we are uncertain of the outcome. There are other variables beyond ourselves.
This part of the prayer is a reminder to us of the now and the not yet of the Kingdom of God. We have the hope and faith that God’s Kingdom will come into reality once we all participate fully in the Divine Will. We have faith and hope that God’s Kingdom will come to fruition in reality as its potential is there under the surface. Our participation in it will make it so. While we put the onus on God, and God is ultimately the onus, God calls us to participate in it.
“Give us this day our daily bread…”
We are asking God to take care of our true needs in this present time as it uses the words “day” and “daily.” Not all of the things we think we need are actually needed at this specific moment. My concerns and worries are not in the present moment but are reflections on the past and fears about hypothetical futures. This prayer calls us to be in the present and seek God’s support.
This is a call to action, as our actions can take away from or provide the daily needs of others. The prayer overall uses “we” language and not “I” language. This calls us to see beyond our individual needs to the universal. This prayer grounds us both in the moment and the universal community.
“...forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass against us.”
God wants us to participate in the Divine Will. If God is forgiving, we too must be forgiving. If we seek God to provide for our needs, we must provide for the needs of others. God seeks and desires a relationship with us and our participation in God’s mission. We are called to forgive, and in turn, we’ll be forgiven. We must learn to forgive both ourselves and others.
“Lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil.”
We are asking God to help us not fall into temptation while also asking for deliverance from evil when we do. We are all fragile and vulnerable to sin. It is easy for us to turn back on God and to sever our relationship with God, others, ourselves, and the rest of creation. Here we ask for God’s assistance both in avoiding sin and healing when we do.
The Lord’s Prayer reminds us of the greatness of God and calls us to participate in the Divine by:
Living in the present moment (Not wallowing in the past or worrying about the future);
Shifting our mindset from our ego to universal thinking;
Forgiving others and ourselves;
Freeing ourselves from sin;
Trusting in God’s healing.
The Lord’s Prayer is a contemplative call to action. May we all grow in relation and the virtues therein.
Divine music
Gospel: Mt 25:31-46
https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/021924.cfm
What does Jesus mean when he speaks of the kingdom of God? It’s not something otherworldly, but something we participate in right now. God is seeking partners and active participants. God is seeking a relationship with us through our sharing in the mission. God is calling us to care for God’s creation which includes all of nature and one another.
This gospel is like a band or a symphony where the music must be in sync with all of the players. Our goal is to get to a point where we all play together in the divine melody of life. To do that, we must help each other out in our time of need. We must find ways to help others play music with us. We must learn to adjust to play as a cohesive whole. Even if our playing is perfect, it doesn’t matter if the rest of the symphony is not. We must help bring everyone along. Perfection is not in isolation, it’s in community. God is calling us to this. At times, we’ll be the discordant sound. Even when we are not the discordant sound, it is our mission to help others find the divine melody and provide for their needs so that we can play together. We do this through feeding the hungry, providing drink to the thirsty, welcoming the stranger, providing shelter for the homeless, clothing the naked, feeding the sick, and visiting those in their time of need and abandonment.
As far as it goes with the sheep and the goats, Jesus’s message goes beyond labeling them as people. We all have attributes of both the sheep and the goats. We have the parts of us that choose to support others and parts that do not. None of us are fully sheep or fully goats as far as the metaphor goes. We must always strive to further listen and adopt the guidance of our shepherd. Don’t look for who are the sheep or the goats, but become someone who is more loving and leads others to do the same by loving them.
Formation
Gospel: Mk 1:12-15
https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/021824.cfm
Life tends to mold and change us. Like Jesus’s time in the desert, we have times when we are compelled to go outside of our comfort zone. In these moments, we face temptation as we also find people to support and guide us along the way. All of this prepares us for what is to come next. It allows us to grow into transformed persons who take on new challenges. It gives us the tools we need to live our mission or our calling. It helps us become more actualized human beings.
We don’t do this alone, our experiences are intertwined and interconnected whether we see it or not. In the gospel of Mark, Jesus’s and John the Baptist’s missions were interconnected. John laid out the foundation that Jesus was to build upon. Each of them had their role and their time to be the face and voice of that mission. Jesus needed his time to prepare and the world needed its time to prepare for the gospel that was to come.
Like with Jesus, we too are being formed. We too have our place in time. We too are interconnected in our journey. May we find the courage that Jesus did through his time in the desert to spread the gospel of a God who is merciful to us and wants us to grow and be transformed in love. May God give us the strength to carry on the mission.
Conversion
Gospel: Lk 5:27-32
https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/021724.cfm
What does it take for conversion? In today’s gospel, we learn of Levi, a tax collector, who left everything behind to follow Jesus. At the point of his conversion, he wanted to share his newfound relationship with Jesus with his friends, and his fellow tax collectors.
From the perspective of the Pharisees and scribes, Jesus was hanging out with greedy individuals who took advantage of the marginalized in society. On the surface, it all appeared as it was; it was what society judged it to be. A tax collector was a bad person, and a group of tax collectors was even worse. They were stereotyped for the role that they provided to society. Some of these stereotypes could have been for good reason and some of them may be self-fulfilling prejudgments.
As one goes through a conversion experience, the world may not see it that way. It may take the world time to catch up, and the world may never catch up. There may still be judgment from your community, your family, and strangers for who you’ve been or what you may have symbolized to them. Even your religious institution may fall trap to this. What good is it to change if the world still sees you the way you were? Conversion requires resilience and open-mindedness. We must be disciplined to sustain our change and keep ourselves open to additional changes to come. Conversion is not a one-moment experience. God is always working on us.
Joyful encounter
Gospel: Mt 9:14-15
https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/021624.cfm
When I was a child, I was told that heaven was where we would worship God for eternity. In heaven, we’d sing hymnals all day and keep telling God how awesome and amazing he was. It was pretty off-putting. I voiced my concern, and at times, I was told, “Yes, it’s all that, but you’re going to like it because everyone is going to get along there will be no suffering.” To be honest, it didn’t seem like the best trade-off. If you praise God for eternity, you won’t suffer. It was very disconnecting, and to think it was for all eternity! It didn’t seem like something I wanted to sign up for.
Then, we read scripture like today and read more about what Jesus said. Being with God is to be a celebration. It’s like spending your time with your closest friends. It is experiencing joy like at a perfect wedding banquet. An encounter with God is one of joy. We fast in recognition of our separation from God or to help us return to our union after putting something above God. To experience God is an experience of joy. God is with us when we suffer, when things are mediocre, and when we are happy.
While Lent is a season for fasting, it is also a season to get more deeply connected to God. Allow yourself to experience joy.
Transcending the ego
Gospel: Lk 9:22-25
https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/021524.cfm
It is so easy that it’s almost natural for us to keep ourselves separated from the Divine will. Separation from the Divine will is not merely about how well we’ve avoided or given into sin. That may be part of it, but God is not keeping score on what we perceive as sin. We have social constructs about what is right and what is wrong, what is socially acceptable and unacceptable, what we expect or do not expect out of life. With all this judgmental thinking, we tear ourselves and others down.
In the first part of today’s gospel, Jesus speaks of how he will suffer and be rejected by the elders, chief priests, and the scribes. The ones that will persecute him are the ones who are respected for their experience, those respected for religious authority, and those that were most knowledgeable of scripture and doctrine. They are all external forces in positions of power and societal influence.
In the second part of the scripture, the gaze is moved from external to internal. To follow Jesus, one must deny oneself, take up one’s cross, and lose one’s life. We are called to self-emptying. We do this by transcending the shameful and conceited perspective of our ego and facing our reality and situation with love.
In both regards, following God is freedom. It’s a freedom beyond the internal and the external power dynamics that plague us. It’s living life on the terms of the creator beyond your perception of not being worthy, being better than anyone else, or even placing yourself somewhere in the middle. In living for God we go beyond all that and become one. We become who we were intended to become: inclusive and loving of God, self, others, and creation.
Ash Wednesday
Gospel: Mt 6:1-6,16-18
https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/021424.cfm
Today is the first day of Lent. Today’s gospel prepares us for the Lenten journey. It showcases how we should approach almsgiving, prayer, and fasting. These actions should not be taken for recognition from others. The goal is not to appear pious but to be pious. I would go beyond that and say that these actions are motivated to help us grow in our relationship with God, others, and ourselves. If we are proud of these actions, they lack the right intent. If we are doing it for recognition, we are missing the point. These actions are transformational and unifying and connect us to our Divine source.
Almsgiving reminds us that our treasures are not our own, but they have been given to us to steward. To steward them is to share them. This almsgiving can be financial, but it can also be giving of our time and talents without the expectation of something in return. It can be realizing or changing our behaviors because we realize the impact it has on others and nature. Almsgiving transforms us into becoming more humble by seeing what is ours is actually ours to share. It helps us see the world beyond me and them to see all as part of a unifying us.
Prayer is a time we set aside for direct presence with God. As it is said at Ash Wednesday services: “All come from dust and from dust we shall return.” If all material things shall be lost; we should invest our time in what is eternal. Prayer connects us to our eternal source. It helps us see beyond our ego to the needs of others. It helps us see beyond our perspective to see things in a new way.
Fasting helps us reassess our priorities and allows us to see beyond our habits and our quests for gratification. Falling into routines and a static way of seeing the world is easy. Fasting allows for us to see the world from a new vantage point. It allows us to see new possibilities. There is more to reality than our own views. Things can be different. Things can be better. Things can be more appreciated. Fasting transforms us to go beyond ourselves.
This Lent consider how you can grow in love by your practice of almsgiving, prayer, and fasting. Remind yourself that It is not glory or perfection that you seek, but furthering your relationship with God, yourself, and others.
MLK: Kingdom Builder
Gospel: Mk 2:18-22
https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/011524.cfm
Today is Martin Luther King Jr. Day and what a great gospel to be read on such an occasion. This gospel calls to mind Martin Luther King Jr.’s Letter from Birmingham Jail. Like Jesus, Martin struggled with the religious elite of his day telling him that his actions were not prudent to tradition and that he must slow down. In the letter, Martin addresses white moderates for being more concerned with order than with justice.
In the parable of the old wineskins, Jesus calls this struggle to our attention. Old wineskins are a metaphor for being bound to the law and not the spirit behind the law. It is accepting the status quo and focusing more on order over justice. It focuses more on keeping the peace than doing what is right. When someone brings change or challenges the fallacy of the status quo, it’s like pouring new wine into old wineskins; it breaks apart and deteriorates and you are left with a necessary mess. You also need new wineskins or a change in the established system.
Followers of Christ are called to bring the Kingdom of God to fruition. I would argue that this is more universal and we are all called to make this Kingdom a reality. Each of us probably has a different understanding of what this means. It is easy to say that a person brings the Kingdom by being more holy. A person brings on the Kingdom by sinning less. A person brings the Kingdom by taking care of their soul, sharing their faith, and leaving it up to God to save others’ souls. This is all well and good, but our involvement is so much more than that; we are the body of Christ. The Kingdom of God comes to fruition when we all live sinlessly and for each other. By sinless, I mean that all of us live in right relationship with God, ourselves, each other, and the rest of God’s creation. We provide for the needs of others in their time of need, and they provide for us in our time. Does it sound impossible? Yes. Is it impossible? No.
Jesus was an example for us which gives us hope that we can put in the work too. And by the grace of God, we will. This is the goal of human history for us to live in peace with God, ourselves, each other, and the rest of creation. Living in peace goes beyond just getting along, it means that you want what is best for the other. The Kingdom of God may seem something otherworldly and we often make it just that by putting it in the language of heaven and occurring after death. But what if God is calling us to bring it now? And what if God gave us the tools to do it? Martin and Jesus both believed it was possible and that the resources are available.
I believe Martin’s and Jesus’s dreams are the same. Martin was a Kingdom builder and we are still struggling to bring his message to fruition sixty years later. Jesus had a vision too and we are still struggling with it almost 2000 years later. Let us not have their efforts be in vain; let us take charge in our time and have the faith, hope, and love to move us closer or get us to the full actualization of the Kingdom.