Testifying about Jesus

Thursday of the Fourth Week of Lent
Gospel: John 5:31-47
https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/040325.cfm

As we’ve learned throughout this Lenten season, Jesus is the fulfillment of the divine message that came before him. The law pointed to him, The prophets pointed to him. John the Baptist as the last prophet before Jesus pointed to him. They testified on his behalf.
In today’s gospel, Jesus shows that Jewish history and scripture were pointing to his coming. Yet, the people of Jesus’s time didn’t recognize it and see it. They put their faith in the people within their scripture, but did not put their faith in the prophet and the divine right in front of them.

God is God regardless of time and place. Oftentimes, it’s easier for us to find our faith in scripture than in what’s all around us. It’s easier to see the errors on the things right in front of us. Within literature, we’re able to bring our own ideologies and expectations to it. With its distance, we’re able to draw more from it. We are able to encounter it again and again and glean more out of it. We know that it doesn’t change, but what we get out of it changes because we’ve changed. We don’t get the chance to experience life over and over again. Each moment flows into the next and we’re in a perpetual state of now and newness. It’s hard for us to see our moments and our time as sacred as what we find in scripture, but it is.

The divine spark is alive in us and the world around us. We can choose to not see God’s activity right in front of us as those in Jesus’s time and always look backwards for God, but God does not have such limits. God is always active in the here and now. God wants to encounter us in the here and now. Scripture is good, and scripture serves its purpose, but so does God’s activity in our lives today.

As we continue to approach Good Friday and Easter, may we find God drawing near to us. Let us look up and out into the world around us and see God’s activity. Let us look inside and see the same. May we not get lost in what was so that we can see that what was still actually is.

Amen, amen, I say to you

Wednesday of the Fourth Week of Lent
Gospel: John 5:17-30
https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/040225.cfm

Throughout the gospel of John, Jesus explains his divinity. The gospel is more theological than the other books. That said, there is a lot to unpack with scriptures like today’s. What the scripture says about Jesus is also true about the parts of us that are divine. Jesus was able to give his full will to God, whereas we find ourselves limited in giving ours completely.

As this gospel reads, we can’t do anything without God. Like with Jesus, our call is to do God’s will. God loves his children. As his children, we are loved by God. God gives life and sustains life. We too can do the same. We must honor God. We must honor the divinity within ourselves and others. Whoever doesn’t honor what comes from God does not honor God.

Again it says, we cannot do anything without God. We must not seek our will, but the will of the one that sent us. To give one's will to God is a challenge. We want to hold on to control and to be seen as the active agent. But in truth, there is only one active agent. We must find that active agent alive in us and accept where it is driving us.

God, may we open ourselves to your will in our life. May we find a way to hear and accept your call. May we be driven to act as you would want us to act so that your will can be done on earth as it is in heaven. Amen.

Beyond the norm

Tuesday of the Fourth Week of Lent
Gospel: John 5:1-16
https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/040125.cfm

It’s easy for us to judge and condemn those that don’t fit our social norms and expectations. These norms don’t hold any weight with God. We all have these norms though if we like it or not. We teach our kids these norms as if they are the right thing to do, but it doesn’t take much experience in the world to see that other people live differently than us and that’s okay.

As a child of the 80s, I watched my share of TV. And for some reason, the bad guys fit certain demographics. I remember that bad guys had mustaches and facial hair. I went to a town fair in my grandparents’ town and there was a group of men with mustaches. I had to keep my eye on them because I didn’t know what they were going to do. They were highly suspect of being criminals. I felt the same way about people who smoked cigarettes and used profanity.

Now as an adult of over 27 years, I’ve had a beard over most of those years. In my twenties, I smoked a lot. I too have used my share of profanity, maybe too much in fact. God sees beyond all these surface things to the heart of it. In today’s gospel, Jesus heals a man on the Sabbath. Not only was Jesus in violation of working on the Sabbath, but he also instructed another person to break the rules. He told the man who he healed to pick up his mat and walk.

These things to us may sound ridiculous to us today, but in Jesus’s time there was a belief that the Jewish people needed to strictly follow the law. The Sabbath was a day of rest, and Jesus and the healed man were in violation. But Jesus sees beyond this. Jesus’s mission is not bound by a day. God’s work should be done regardless of the day and time. How often do we mix the message? It’s easy to see these norms within our place and time as if they are God’s truth, but they’re not. They may point us in the right direction, but they aren’t the core of God’s message especially when it drives us to look down on others and their differences in practice.

Jesus’s message ultimately is to love without limit and love without ceasing. The traditions of the Sabbath weren’t going to stop him from doing that. The love he shared wasn’t for attention, but was driven by seeing someone in need. He didn’t need to assess that it was the Sabbath when he saw someone who needed his attention and love. Given the tradition, what better day is there for him to show it! God’s love transcends our limits, even the limits we think are from him. God is always challenging us to see beyond such surface things and learn to love those who exist outside of our made-up limits.

Signs & wonders

Monday of the Fourth Week of Lent
Gospel: John 4:43-54
https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/033125.cfm

The message of Jesus transcends the miracles he performed, but the miracles he performed allowed for people to listen and hear the message. We too need some sort of divine encounter to drive our faith. Experiences of love and of suffering help open us up to God. God’s presence was always there, but we did not know it. It took a catalyst for us to recognize it. While our perception is of something new, it’s not new; it’s only new to us as now we’re rightfully equipped to see it.

God wants us to love God and to love our neighbors. Love goes beyond mere actions or external representations. Love is inside us and it is made known through external actions. External actions are reminders to us on what is underneath, but it’s not what is underneath. God is the love that is underneath.

As followers of Jesus, we are called to have both; a strong interior relationship with God that makes itself known by how we treat others. If we don’t have both, how are others going to find God? If others don’t have it, how are we to find God? Yes, we can experience God directly and through creation, but more often than not, we encounter God through each other. We are created in the image of God so we point to God. We can find God through others as they can find God through us. The God within us is made known through the love we share.

“Unless you people see signs and wonders, you will not believe.”

Obligation & freedom

Fourth Sunday of Lent
Gospel: Luke 15:1-3, 11-32
https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/033025-YearC.cfm

When it comes to our religious practices and our faith, we can get focused on what we should do. We see the world through a list of duties and obligations. We forget that we have a freedom to choose otherwise. At times too, we can look down on others who do not have this sense of obligation.

In today’s gospel, we learn of two brothers. One who lived by obligation and the other who lived by freedom. The son who lived by obligation stayed committed to the father. He kept doing what he should do. He did what he thought was expected of him and didn’t falter from it. Even in taking half of his inheritance, he stays with the father and takes care of him. He continues on with the family’s work.

The other brother lived by freedom. He took his half of the inheritance and did what he wanted to do. He may have even revolted from his upbringing. The original intent was not to sow his wild oats but to live the life he wanted without any regard for responsibility or an obligation to himself or others. Once this didn’t work out for him, he lived impoverished as a servant. From this experience, he realized the value of his father and returned back to him with the hopes of being the least of those who served him. When he arrived, his father celebrated his return and his other brother was angry.

Is your faith out of choice or obligation? The first son acted by what he thought was the right thing to do. He had a sense of duty that drove him. While he was making a choice, he lost his sense of choice. The other brother turned his back on such things. As he went astray, he learned first-hand the results of poor decisions. Then, he ultimately chose his father as he now knew it was the right thing to do because he had experienced what it was like otherwise.

And of these brothers, which one experienced resentment? Could you imagine the prodigal son having resentment after his experience? There is something gained from experience that is lost with duty. This is not to say that we should do bad things so we can learn lessons that make us appreciate God more, but we should recognize the choice with our faith. Our faith shouldn’t be an obligation but a choice. Keeping it a choice allows God to work in us and keeps us ready for more growth.

A sense of obligation can drive us to “go through the motions” with our faith. Obligation can drive us to complacency, resentment, and frustration. In realizing we always have a choice, we better recognize its value and importance. God always gives us a choice. In seeing that it’s a choice, we’re more likely to celebrate those who make the choice as well regardless of their situation or background. Choosing our faith opens us to endless possibilities with ourselves, others, and God.

Proximity to God

Saturday of the Third Week of Lent
Gospel: Luke 18:9-14
https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/032925.cfm

Luke sets the stage in today’s gospel by describing who Jesus is speaking to. Jesus was always mindful of his audience and challenged their way of thinking. In some stories, the crowd around Jesus was of a mixed group of people, that was not the case today's story. Jesus had a very specific audience so the message was more direct. He’s speaking to people who saw themselves as holy and looked down on others.
In the parable, Jesus compares the behaviors of a Pharisee and a tax collector. The Pharisees were seen as holy, disciplined thought leaders. Tax collectors were seen as secular swindlers who used their societal power to take advantage of others for their personal gain. The Pharisee positioned himself in close proximity to the holy areas in the temple, whereas the tax collector stood off at a distance and didn’t raise eyes to heaven.

The Pharisee prayed in gratitude to God for not being like others, people like the tax collector, who are greedy, dishonest, and adulterous. He then goes on further to highlight his religious practices of fasting and tithing. The Pharisee had a merit-based understanding of earning favor with God. It’s as if God maintains a log to compare people to one another. His view focused on his appearance and how he compared to others instead of focusing on doing what was right.

We too can struggle as the Pharisee did. When we think and act with the intent of making ourselves better than others, we lose sight of doing what is actually right and good. We’re not doing it for its own value, but for what it will get us. We care more about the image than the substance. This view sees others as competition. It is insecure because our value is limited to how we appear in comparison to others. 

Then we hear about the tax collector. He didn’t feel worthy to be closer to God in the Temple and didn’t even look to heaven as he prayed. He was praying to God from a distance. His God was not limited to a space but was inside of him. His prayer didn’t compare himself to others. He knew who he was. He recognized his distance from God through his sin. His prayer was very simple. He asked God for mercy and humbly and honestly saw himself as a sinner. He was genuine and prayed from the heart.

May we find a way to be honest with ourselves like the tax collector. May we see where we can fall trap to the self-righteousness of the Pharisee and find ways to move beyond it. God’s love isn’t to be earned, it’s something we must be open to receive. Our goal shouldn’t be personal transformation to earn God’s love, but to allow God’s love to transform us.

A scribe’s encounter

Friday of the Third Week of Lent
Gospel: Mark 12:28-34
https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/032825.cfm

Jesus predated the printing press by over 1400 years. So for his period of history, scribes filled the need. With the strong basis of the Jewish culture for their scripture, the scribes filled a significant role by keeping things documented. Since their job was to transcribe the scripture, they were the ones who knew the scripture the best.

When I read this gospel, I imagine the scribe truly pondering what Jesus had to say. He was listening to the short and simple words of Jesus as he scanned the full breadth of scripture in his mind. He saw connections throughout the scriptures to what Jesus had to say. I imagine him working through logical and metaphorical proofs to conclude that Jesus’s words were fully evident throughout scripture. He had an ah-ha moment about its deeper meaning and said that complete love of God and neighbor is greater than all burnt offerings and sacrifices. 

Burnt offerings and sacrifices were used to atone for sins, show gratitude, and draw people closer to God. It was a sacrament for the Jewish people. It was seen as a way of returning back to a right relationship with God; to give of one’s self and one’s possessions to reaffirm a commitment to God. It showed that God came first in one’s life or to show gratitude to God. We can see this too in our sacraments and spiritual practices today.

The scribe says that these things, sacraments, don’t carry any weight to what Jesus is saying. This is because all the sacraments and sacrifices are means, not ends; love of God and neighbor are the ultimate end. God does not need our sacraments or our personal sacrifices, God needs us to love. The sacraments point us in the direction and can help get us there, but they are not what is most important. Love is what’s important. Spiritual discipline and practices don’t mean anything unless they help us grow in love. Our actions are nothing without love. It’s love that gives them life.

May we likewise not lose ourselves in our practices. With our Lenten sacrifices, let us remember the deeper reason why we are doing it. It’s not to gain favor with God, it's to remind us that God is above all else and to connect us more deeply to one another. Jesus responded to the scribe by saying, “You are not far from the Kingdom of God.” May we too be validated like the scribe through this journey and know that we’re on our way when we grow in love.

To gather and scatter

Thursday of the Third Week of Lent
Gospel: Luke 11:14-23
https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/032725.cfm

When people are looking for something to be wrong, they will find something wrong. Once someone has dismissed someone else, it’s hard for that person to be redeemed regardless of what they do. Jesus was in that situation in today’s gospel. After performing a miracle, he gets accused of healing in the name of a demon. 

Jesus uses practical logic to defend himself. He says that a house divided against itself can’t stand. The use of the word house shows that there’s a sense of togetherness or people that should be together. A house calls to mind family, a group to which you have an intimate knowledge. A group that has remained together in good times and in bad. They have had their challenges and have stayed together. They love and take care of each other. They have experienced joy together and have been a shoulder for each other to cry on.

The house that Jesus references is the faith community. The divided house were the followers of Yahweh. The struggles with the Jewish people were caused by skepticism with one another. The Jewish people were not unified and neither were their religious leaders. Brother was against brother. People were quick to judge and dismiss others that did not fully align on their beliefs. They were looking for a reason to cast out others who did not fit their mold. 

Jesus was doing the will of God. He was not condemning people but was healing their community. Some of the people were putting themselves in opposition to Jesus. Jesus sought unity for all people, but he saw that unity requires acceptance. There was nothing that Jesus could do if they had already dismissed him. There was nothing he could do to change their mind if they were sizing him up to see if they could catch him off guard. Instead of attacking them, he calls out their actions. He didn’t dismiss them in return, he was open for the relationship and left it open for their choice.

Jesus chose to not make it adversarial, but took it as an opportunity to show them who they were. God always gives us the choice. We can always gather or we can scatter. With God, there is no option for us to overcome as in the parable Jesus shares. There may be a stronger man to conquer a defended palace, but there will never be a stronger God.

When we gather, we pull together. When we scatter, we pull apart. This goes for our relationship with God as much as it goes for our neighbor. May we find ways this season to gather. The distance we put between each other keeps us divided. Help us to embrace and not push away. Amen.

The fabric of time

Wednesday of the Third Week of Lent
Gospel: Matthew 5:17-19
https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/032625.cfm

Jesus’s gospel is built upon the foundation of the law and the prophets. It clarified their message by pointing to their source in love. Their intent was to show how to be loving in different situations. They show how to live in love with ourselves, God, and others. We don’t always get it correct. We can think that we have a better approach, but history will ultimately reveal that the one true approach was shared with us from the beginning from God and that is to love and to be loved. God’s message has always been the same, it’s our understanding of it that changes. May we continue to find clarity through our faith.

Mary’s journey

Solemnity of the Annunciation of the Lord
Gospel: Luke 1:26-38
https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/032525.cfm

Today is the solemnity of the annunciation of the Lord. This day is exactly nine months before Christmas. It’s the day of Jesus’s incarnation. God became man around the same time of the year that he died. Some followers in the early church believe it was the same day, March 25th. This day is recognized both as the incarnation and death of Jesus.

It was also the day that Jesus received his name and the day that his mother, Mary, found out about him and his purpose. Gabriel lets her know that she is to bear a son and that she is to name him Jesus, or Yeshua in Hebrew. Yeshua means “God saves.” His name predicts his mission. Gabriel goes on to explain that he will be great and called the Son of the Most High. He will be holy. He will be a bringer of salvation. Gabriel’s speech goes on from there to speak of his kingdom and reign. It is very clear that it’s an earthly reign in that he’ll have the throne of David and will rule over the house of Jacob, or Israel, forever. 

Mary was humble and had a simple life. While her ancestors were rulers and kings, she was not. But, she was devout in her faith. The concept of Jesus ruling must have been a shock to her. Similar to the story of David, Jesus was to come from humble beginnings as well. Gabriel concludes by saying, “Nothing is impossible for God.” For Mary, it’s at this moment that she learns that she will have a son, he will be a miracle virgin birth, he  will be holy, and he will rule over Israel forever. That’s a lot for someone to process.

She lived her life alongside Jesus as his mother. Each of those days, she lived fully and faithfully in the mystery. She did not know what the next day would bring, but she was there to witness the revelation of the divine that had grown in her womb. She raised him with Joseph. She took care of him in his time of need. She was present for his ministry. After thirty-three years since the annunciation, she was at Golgotha witnessing her baby boy process to the cross to be crucified.

Mary, the mother of God, remained with him through it all. She is the mother of Jesus, the bringer of our salvation.

Hometown prophets

Monday of the Third Week of Lent
Gospel: Luke 4:24-30
https://bible.usccb.org/ybible/readings/032425.cfm

In a recent interview, a politician spoke about the hierarchy of love and said that one should take care of one’s family first, then one’s community, then one’s nation, and then the broader world. We can all agree that a family shouldn’t neglect a sick member when the rest are healthy. A family shouldn’t disregard a struggling member to celebrate the successes of another. A family shouldn’t stop looking for a lost member because they have each other. A family shouldn’t team-up to mistreat one of its members.

For Jesus and other prophets, they believed that their family and community were greater than just those they grew-up with or those within their vicinity. For them, family and community were universal. They were driven to witness to a broader audience who were in more need than the community they found themselves born into. Jesus talks about how Elijah was called to a widow in Sidon, a Samaritan city, and Elisha was called to cleanse lepers in a foreign city. Their message went beyond just the Jewish people and was focused on those that hadn’t heard the message; those that were in need of the message and ready to receive it. Their goal was not one group thriving over another but how all can thrive together.

Jesus worked to elevate those on the fringe of society, the outcasts, and those overlooked by his community. He focused on the foreigner, the condemned, the sick, and the unclean. The Nazarenes wanted Jesus to focus strictly on them, to be loyal to them above all else, to elevate them above all others. He was blessed with certain gifts, why wasn’t he going to use them to make the people of Nazareth great?

For Jesus there isn’t a need to have losers to have winners. For Jesus, there’s no one unchosen, if all are chosen. His message was to let outcasts know that they were chosen as well, not through assimilation, but through already-existent love. With a lot of society today making it about choices between groups, we much remember the message of Jesus. We are all part of one family. Caring for Palestinians isn’t antisemitic. Caring for immigrants isn’t unamerican. Saying black lives matter, isn’t saying others aren’t. God’s love is unconditional, not hierarchical and without borders. Let’s start living like it and act the same.

Repentance for the Kingdom

Third Sunday of Lent
Gospel: Luke 13:1-9
https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/032325-YearC.cfm

On the surface, today’s gospel is about personal repentance. We don’t know what will happen so we must repent and always be at the ready. Our eternal soul is more sacred than our temporal body. Our life could be taken at any time. Therefore, we must always be ready.

Jesus might be sharing something deeper than this. What if Jesus is talking about the kingdom of God? The kingdom is fully established when all are with God bearing good fruit; when we all take care of each other. Our world is not fully in the kingdom yet, and it certainly wasn’t in Jesus’s time. At the beginning of today’s gospel, Jesus references two events: one where lives were lost by government sanctioned murder and one where lives were lost by vaulty architecture.

Our reality is grim because of our sin, by what we’ve done and what we’ve left undone. For us to bring about the kingdom, we must fully repent and change our ways. We must actively strive to make God’s kingdom a reality. We must strive to not only redeem ourselves, but redeem our culture and our world. Repentance goes beyond us individually, it goes for all of us collectively. Complete redemption only occurs when it occurs for all. This was Christ’s goal and should be the goal for us as followers continuing the mission.

The parable of the fig tree is about the kingdom as well. Our world is the fruitless tree that has the potential to bear fruit (become the kingdom). The potential is there, but how we are collectively living is not producing fruit at all. In the parable, we are the gardener. Regardless of how helpless the world may seem, we are to keep faith that it always has potential. The world may deserve to be cut down because of how we have neglected it; that’s why we are called to save it. The arc of history is the kingdom of God. We are called to bring it to fruition.

Draw near

Saturday of the Second Week of Lent
Gospel: Luke 15:1-3, 11-32
https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/032225.cfm

Today’s gospel starts with one group drawing near, and another group complaining. I imagine an audience of outcasts finally finding someone who is not one of them accepting them. Jesus didn't just welcome them, he celebrated their presence. They loved it. They liked Jesus so much that they were brought close to him. They leaned in to listen to what he had to say, but the religious leaders didn’t like this so much.

In the world, there is only so much material to go around. Some of us will have and some will have not. Some of us will be good stewards of these materials and others will squander them off. Some of us will be winners and some of us have to be losers for the others to win. The winners eat the best food, wear the best clothes, garner attention, have material wealth, and are loved and accepted by all. Losers don’t have such things. They didn’t earn it and surely don’t deserve it. The winners are evidently better or they wouldn’t be winners. This is what Jesus observed about perspectives around him and is the stage he sets for his story. The Pharisees saw themselves as winners and the tax collectors and sinners as losers. There were the chosen people and the unchosen. There were the clean and the unclean; the holy and unholy. You were either for or against God; devout or undevout.

In the parable, the father gives the inheritance to both brothers. The older brother stays with the father and continues to grow what he has according to the family’s trade. The younger brother wastes his on self-gratification. The older brother has a significant reason to be angry at the end of the story. Not only did his brother blow his inheritance, his father is now using part of his inheritance in celebration of his scrupulous younger brother. What has he done to earn that? The younger brother squandered his share away, why should he be entitled to any part of his older brother’s portion? It wasn’t if he came upon bad luck, he blew it. He deserves what his behavior has earned, less than nothing.

But in this parable, Jesus is showing that the tax collectors and the sinners are also children of God. Like a good parent, God is going to celebrate the return of his children. The Pharisees, the tax collectors, and the sinners are all siblings. Like siblings there may be times when they are competitive, but deep down, they should want what’s truly best for one another. There is not a separation between the chosen and the unchosen; all are chosen. God’s love isn’t earned, it’s unconditional.
But it is quite the challenge, when you see the celebration of others who you think deserve suffering for their behaviors, but weren’t their behaviors suffering enough? Choosing the righteous path is its own reward. May we remember the words of the father as if they are from God, “'My child, you are here with me always; everything I have is yours. But now we must celebrate and rejoice, because your sibling was dead and has come to life again; he was lost and has been found." May we recognize that God is with us always and may we be ready to celebrate with our brothers and sisters upon their return. May we see each other as God sees us.

Prophetic voice

Friday of the Second Week of Lent
Gospel: Matthew 21:33-43, 45-46
https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/032125.cfm

Prophetic voices within a tradition have a tendency to initially be rejected before they become the new tradition. Prophetic voices are means of change. These voices, inspired by God, help to right the way of humanity’s relationship with God. We have a tendency to falter, not just as individuals, but as communities. Within humanity, it is easy for individuals to rise up, organize, and lead. Once these individuals are in respected positions, they can fall trap to the evils of power and greed. Religious institutions are not immune to this. The Old Testament is full of stories about these abuses of power. In the New Testament too, we see Jesus’s conflict with the Pharisees and their abuse of power.

When we reflect on the actions of prophets like with some Catholic saints and reformers like Martin Luther, they don’t tend to be received well by the ruling class. Prophets voices challenge the status quo when power dynamics are not kept in check.

We all are vulnerable to the abuses of power when we wield it and receive it. Once certain levels of power are gained by a person, they are compelled to do what it takes to maintain it. To stand-up to power can lead to rejection, separation from one’s community, becoming a victim of violence, and numerous other atrocities. Most of the prophets in the Old Testament feared for their lives at the hands of those they were asked to witness to.

Jesus was and is a prophetic voice. He is the rock and foundation that his followers and their followers would build upon. He is the cornerstone of the faith to come. That said, he was rejected by the builders of his tradition, the religious leaders of his day. The kingdom that Jesus wants to build goes beyond any earthly institution. This kingdom is given to those who produce its fruits. People that produce God’s fruits will be included. Jesus didn’t focus on a new institution, but on people. He wants people to be the kingdom through building the kingdom. The kingdom is not bound to titles or hierarchies of power but is created through serving one another through love.

With power there is domination and subjugation. God’s kingdom is not built on such things. God’s kingdom is built on mutually sharing the load. God’s kingdom is for those who produce its fruits, not those who seek to consume them. May we always seek to serve rather than to be served. Let the rock that has been rejected become our cornerstone.

God’s helps

Thursday of the Second Week of Lent
Gospel: Luke 16:19-31
https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/032025.cfm

At the end of today’s gospel, Jesus says that if the rich man’s family didn’t listen to Moses (the law) or the prophets, nothing will convince them. Jesus was speaking to the Pharisees. They were focused on following the law for the law’s sake, not the deeper spirit behind it. Their strict interpretation of the law would have aligned more with the rich man. Their interpretation of the law was to avoid the unclean, and Lazarus was unclean. The Pharisees would have also recognized that the rich man had received glory from God for God had rewarded him with wealth. Whereas, Lazarus was in a horrible state because of something he must have done or because someone in his family must have greatly sinned.

In the story, Jesus specifically calls the suffering man Lazarus. The name Lazarus means “God has helped” or “God’s help.” The Pharisees would have picked up on this and recognized the juxtaposition at the beginning of the story. In life, it didn’t appear that God was helping Lazarus, but God did try to comfort Lazarus. Lazarus was in the position of receiving aid from the rich man. The rich man had the resources that Lazarus needed or at least the resources to improve his situation, but he did not share them. As Jesus’s story explains, the dogs even tried to comfort Lazarus but not the rich man. The opportunity was with the rich man to act on behalf of God for Lazarus and he chose not to. 

For Jesus, the message from the law and the prophets is simply to love God and love your neighbor as yourself. That can be broken down into a long list of rules, but its source goes beyond any set of rules. God’s law of love transcends how we can break that down into rules to live by. The rules do not transcend the source. If the rules cause you to go against the source, then they are not serving their intended purpose.

Today’s gospel is a parable, not a literal story about heaven and hell. Lazarus was in a position of need in his life. What he needed was right there with the rich man. Instead of seeing his possessions as belonging to God and him needing to steward them, he enjoyed them as his own. God’s creation is enough for all of us, but we don’t treat it as such. It’s only enough for us if we share it. If we treat creation as God intended, there is plenty for all. God’s kingdom could be fully here today if we all lived like it. It’s not about a reward of heaven but striving to make heaven through how we live and treat one another. When we see suffering in the world, it’s a reminder that there is work to be done and God is calling us to do it.

Essence formed by experience

Solemnity of Saint Joseph, Spouse of the Blessed Virgin Mary
Gospel: Matthew 1:16, 18-21, 24a
https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/031925.cfm

If Jesus was only fully God and not fully human, it wouldn’t have mattered who his parents were as his actions would have been ultimately divine regardless of the circumstances. To think of Jesus as being fully human, there was a need to have the right parents, or the right community raising him. We know that as human beings, we are developed by both nature and nurture. It’s not just what’s in our essence, but how that essence is formed through experience. The community we are raised in and the experiences we have help mold and shape our essence to make us who we are. We are dynamic and refined overtime through our experience. We are a combination of our nature, our nurture, and the choices we make in our free agency. Regardless of our nature and our nurture, we always have the right to choose otherwise.

The community raising us makes a significant difference in our formation. Jesus was no exception to this. Given the purpose of his mission and the person he was going to become required a certain nature and nurture coming together. In today’s gospel we learn about Joseph. We learn that he was a righteous man who was unwilling to expose his fiancee to shame. He was devout and compassionate. He was principled in how he lived, but he wasn’t going to use those principles to tear others down, even one he assumed cheated on him. He was humble and lived with honor.

We see these traits in Jesus as well. Jesus stayed true to his purpose, his principles, and his devotion. He met people where they were at and treated them with compassion and mercy. He didn’t hold their past sins against them, but focused on how they could be transformed. You can see Joseph in the practices of Jesus, because Joseph helped form Jesus into the person he would become.

May we choose to do the good as Joseph did and help mold those around us to the glory of God.

Truth beyond recognition

Tuesday of the Second Week of Lent
Gospel: Matthew 23:1-12
https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/031825.cfm

It’s easy for us today to dismiss the good in a person for their sins or behaviors. There is a lot of hypocrisy. We are all guilty of it. We are not fully who we are in our highest moments or in our lowest moments. We may know the right thing to do, but not fully live it. We put on blinders when it comes to ourselves and are quick to dismiss the good in others when their behaviors don’t live up to that good.  But truth transcends the shortcomings of the speaker.

In today’s gospel, Jesus emphasizes that truth is truth. Listen and be mindful of the good that others speak, but don’t follow their misguided behavior. We shouldn’t dismiss their good because of their misguided behavior. Deep down, we all know the good better than we live it. We all need to be mindful of how we are not living it. Jesus explains ways in which religious and spiritual people can slip up in their practice. He highlights:

• Preaching without practicing

• Burdening others while not being willing to contribute

• Pursuing recognition

• Seeking positions of honor

• Desiring grand titles

He also provides a means to avoid these temptations. Instead of seeking greatness, be a servant to others. Your greatness is determined by how you serve others. Instead of seeking to be exalted, humble yourself. It is in humbling yourself that you will be exalted. Jesus isn’t saying this in a cause and effect way. If you focus on humble service, the exaltation and recognition becomes meaningless. In fact, you’ll be able to see that you are already exalted and recognized as a child of God. When focusing on doing what is right, the act itself is the reward. It is not about exaltation or recognition; it is about what you do in service to God and others.

Judgement free zone

Monday of the Second Week of Lent
Gospel: Luke 6:36-38
https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/031725.cfm

Jesus calls us to put into the world what we want to get out of it. If you bring anger, you will experience anger in return. If you bring hate, you will find hate. There are actions that are harmonious and others that are discordant, both of which lead to an identical response.

Jesus tells us to stop the discordant actions of judgement and condemnation. These actions are adversarial and are returned with more adversarial actions. As with discordant actions,  harmonious actions work the same way. Forgiveness and generosity will be reciprocated with more forgiveness and generosity.

While this cause and effect can happen to us directly (and it often does), it also ripples out to innocent bystanders. When we are condemned and judged, it makes us more prone to condemn and judge others regardless if they were involved. Similarly, when we experience kindness from others, it makes us more prone to show kindness to the next person we encounter. Even if we don’t experience the reciprocation of kindness directly, the fact that we put it out in the world, is leading to more kindness.

As this gospel starts, we are called to be merciful as God is merciful. We are to see this paradigm for what it is and respond with mercy. As we encounter judgement and condemnation, we should double-down on forgiveness and generosity. We have it within us to be the needed change in the world, that is why we are here. Absorb the hate and respond with love and you will help the world grow in love.

Fulfilment of tradition

Sunday of the Second Week of Lent
Gospel: Luke 9:28b-36
https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/031625.cfm

Jesus and three of his disciples went up a mountain to pray. Throughout Old Testament scripture, people connected with God on top of mountains. It was where God gave Moses the law. It was on top of a mountain where Elijah went to hide and reconnect with God. God came to Elijah in a whisper after he had encountered great winds, fire, and earthquakes. Ultimately, both Moses and Elijah received direction from God on top of mountains. Moses is associated with the law and Elijah is one of the prophets. The law was the foundation to the Jewish faith and covenant to God and the prophets were sent to help guide people back to God.

So here the disciples were with Jesus on top of a mountain praying. The disciples fell asleep. They were not prepared or aware of what was about to come. They were awoken to a transformed Jesus speaking with Moses and Elijah about what he is to accomplish when he goes to Jerusalem. This visit was bringing together key moments in Jewish history in one place: Moses as the foundation of the law, Elijah as the continued revelation of the prophets, and Jesus as the Messiah who is the fulfillment of God’s work through them. Together they discuss what is about to come. You have the ancient past, the past, and the present talking about the future. Moses and Elijah are getting to share in the moment as the disciples bear witness.

Peter tries to get Moses and Elijah to stay, but their time has already been served. Their work was still with them and still part of them through Jesus, the fulfillment of their tradition. Then God speaks, “This is my chosen Son; listen to him.” As the people were to follow the law and the prophets, Jesus is the one to follow now; heed his words and take on his practices.

We too now are part of this tradition and carry the work of our ancestors with us if we recognize it or not. Let us not fall asleep, but stay awake for the glories that God is to show us. May we see the stage that was set throughout history for us to receive our call. We are all connected throughout history. May we do what we can in our own time to set the stage for those to come after us. As with Moses, Elijah, Jesus, and the disciples, we are called to lay down the foundation for and bring forth the kingdom of God. May we respond to our call as they did in the way that God uniquely calls us.

Habits of love

Saturday of the First Week of Lent
Gospel: Matthew 5:43-48
https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/031525.cfm

A theme that keeps coming up during the gospels this lent is how Jesus is calling us to imitate God. In today’s gospel, Jesus emphasized that God treats all equally. The sun shines and the rain falls equally on the bad and the good and the just and the unjust. Jesus says that this fair and equal treatment of others is perfection.

The concept of vengeance has no place. Neither does only showing kindness to those who have not crossed you. Jesus calls us to love our enemies and want what is best for them. Sin and mistreatment of others is a sickness that we must cure ourselves from and assist others with as well. We don’t love our enemies because of their scorn and mistreatment, we love them because we know that they have the divine spark within them needing to be activated and habitualized. At our core, we are all created in the image and likeness of God.

God wants all of us in God’s kingdom. That means all of us; even our enemies and those who have sinned against us. Everyone has the opportunity for reconciliation. We are all more than our actions in one moment, but our actions can be symptoms of our present state. The pattern and habits shown by our actions reflect what and who we are at our core. We all have the divine spark and we all have the ability to shy away from it. We always have the capacity to change for the good. God is in us always wanting to come alive and transform us for the better. In loving our enemies, we recognize that aptitude in others as we recognize it in ourselves as well. God is never done with us. We must work for, pray for, and hope for the salvation of all as Jesus has shown us.