Reflection for the 6th Week of Ordinary Time, Part 2

Thursday – A Covenant

After the flood, God made a covenant with the Noah and his descendants and with every living creature. God would never again destroy the world by a flood as He had done. As a sign of the covenant and a reminder of His love, He set a rainbow in the sky.

God is always a father. Often He has to discipline His children, as He did when He sent the flood over the earth. But He never wants the total destruction of humanity, no matter how sinful we human beings can be. He wants to teach us and guide us to new life, to share in His life and love, and to bring the rest of the world along with us.

When we see a rainbow, then, we should not think about the symbolic value many in the modern world have tired to impose upon it (for that agenda is decidedly against God's will). Instead, we should remember the covenant, the family bond, that God has made with humanity and with all of creation. The rainbow is a sign of God's love and the order God has given to the world and to human life, and it is a reminder that we must follow His moral law if we are to be truly happy.

Friday – Designs and Plans

Today's Responsorial Psalm begins

“The Lord brings to nought the plans of nations;
He foils the designs of peoples.
But the plan of the Lord stands forever;
the design of His heart, through all generations.”

God's designs and plans and our human designs and plans are often very different. Look at today's first reading, for example. The people designed a tower that would reach all the way up to Heaven. They planned a grand city and thought that they could make a name for themselves and become wealthy and famous and self-sufficient.

But God had another plan. He confused the people's language and brought all their grand designs to nothing, for He knew that without Him they had nothing. They needed to learn that lesson, too. God's designs and plans were best, and they stood fast.

In the Gospel, we also see the contrast between God's designs and plans and those of human beings. Jesus says,

“Whoever wishes to come after Me must deny himself,
take up his cross, and follow Me.
For whoever wishes to save his life will lose it,
but whoever loses his life for My sake
and that of the Gospel will save it.
What profit is there for one to gain the whole world
and forfeit his life?
What could one give in exchange for his life?”

We humans wish to avoid the cross; Jesus tells us to embrace it. We humans plan and design constantly in order to save our lives; Jesus tells us to let go. We humans scheme to get as much out of the world as we can; Jesus reminds us that the things of the world are valueless in the perspective of eternity.

God's designs and plans stand forever. Our human designs and plans come to nothing unless they conform with those of God.

Dear Lord, conform all our designs and plans to Yours. May we always desire Your will and Your will alone. Amen.

Saturday – Terrified

Peter, James, and John were truly terrified at the Transfiguration. After all, Jesus, Whom they thought they knew so well, was suddenly very different, very strange, very awful in the true sense of the world. He stood before them shining, dazzling white, revealing a glimpse of His hidden divinity. He was the same Jesus, but He was also so much more.

Then Moses and Elijah appeared and started conversing with Jesus. Talk about an experience out of the realm of anything normal! Two of the greatest figures in salvation history suddenly stood right before the three disciples.

But it didn't end there. Just as Peter finished making his suggestion about three tents (he really didn't know what to say but didn't realize that he didn't have to say anything at all), the cloud enveloped them, and a voice spoke out of it: “This is My beloved Son. Listen to Him.”

Of course the disciples were terrified. In the days of Moses and Elijah such an event would probably mean certain death for any mortal who happened to be that close to the Living God.

But things were quite different now. The Living God was walking among them, and with the Transfiguration, the terrified disciples were now just beginning to understand that.

Reflection for the 6th Week of Ordinary Time, Part 1

Monday – Cain and Abel

Cain and Abel both presented offerings to God. Abel took one of the very best firstlings from his flock and presented it with the greatest reverence. Cain brought some of his produce, not necessarily the best, and perhaps a bit grudgingly.

God accepted Abel's offering with favor, but He rejected Cain's. God could see their hearts. He knew the spirit in which the gifts had been given.

Cain was angry and resentful, but God reminded him that he could do well and hold up his head if he really wanted to. It was his choice.

Cain did not so choose. He decided to remain angry and, worse, to take his anger out on his brother in the most violent way. In a jealous rage, Cain killed Abel and buried his body in a field.

Did Cain think that God wouldn't know what had happened? If so, he didn't know God very well at all. God pointedly asked Cain where his brother was but only to push him to admit his crime.

Then God gave Cain a punishment that perfectly fit his crime. If Cain was so possessive of his produce to the point of begrudging it to God and then killing his brother, then God would take his produce away from him. God told Cain that the soil would no longer give him its fruits. Cain, who had so heartlessly planted his brother in a field, would be a wanderer over the earth, uprooted, without family, and all because he had refused to give his best to God and resented someone else who had.

Tuesday – Enthroned

My Lord, Who sits enthroned as King over the whole world, rule my life.
I give myself to You; I fall at Your feet in worship.
My Lord, Who sits enthroned as King over the whole world, enter into my heart.
I belong to You; fill me with Your presence.
My Lord, Who sits enthroned as King over the whole world, pour out Your grace upon me.
I reach out for Your healing touch; cleanse me from all sin and fear.
My Lord, Who sits enthroned as King over the whole world, take me home to Heaven.
I want to be with You for all eternity; bring me closer and closer to You.
Amen.

Wednesday – A Strange Healing

It was a strange healing. Jesus stood before the blind man. He took spittle and put it on the man's eyes. Then He lay His hands on the man and asked, “Do you see anything?”

The man must have hesitated a bit before he answered. He could see something all right, but he couldn't quite put his finger on what. Finally he settled on, “I see people looking like trees and walking.” People looking like trees and walking? Huh?

Jesus didn't seem phased by the man's reply. He simply placed His hands on the man's eyes again. When He took them off, the man could see everything clearly. He was completely healed.

What happened here? Couldn't Jesus heal the blind man the first time around? Had He failed somehow?

Of course not! Jesus had proven the contrary many times before and after. We must assume, therefore, that this strange healing had a purpose behind it and a lesson for us. Perhaps the answer lies in faith. Jesus often said that faith contributes to people's healing. If they have faith, they can be healed. If not, they close themselves off to receiving the healing power that Jesus wishes to pour out upon them. He does not heal them without their consent and cooperation. 

Perhaps this blind man had some faith but not quite enough. Perhaps he started to cooperate with Jesus but then got cold feet or started doubting. Maybe he was taken aback by Jesus putting spittle on his eyes and started to wonder what that was all about and to close his heart. Maybe he needed a little jolt like seeing people who looked like trees to recall him to the task at hand. Maybe he could see enough to notice Jesus smiling at him with a knowing expression.

At any rate, the blind man had faith in the end. He was healed. He had opened himself completely to Jesus and His healing touch, and he completely received his sight, perhaps even more spiritually than physically.

Reflection for the 5th Week of Ordinary Time, Part 2

Thursday – Persistence

The Syrophoenician woman in today's Gospel had persistence. There's no question about that. Her daughter was suffering, and she would go to any lengths to get Jesus to help.

Even when Jesus appeared to deny her request, the woman kept going. Jesus even said to her, “Let the children be fed first. For it is not right to take the food of the children and throw it to the dogs.” Many people would have taken great offense at this and stomped off in a huff. But the woman didn't give up so easily. Instead, she responded, “Lord, even the dogs under the table eat the children's scraps.”

With these words, the woman cleverly passed Jesus' test. She revealed the depths of her persistence, faith, and humility. Jesus must have smiled when He granted the woman's request: “For saying this, you may go. The demon has gone out of your daughter.”

Friday – Confession and Forgiveness

Psalm 32 tells the story of confession and forgiveness. The psalmist begins with a beautiful truth:

“Blessed is he whose fault is taken away,
whose sin is covered.
Blessed the man to whom the Lord imputes not guilt,
in whose spirit there is no guile.”

Then he tells his hearers how they can obtain such a blessing. At first, he says, he tried to hide his guilt from God, but his sin weighed so heavily upon him that he began to waste away both spiritually and physically.

Finally, he cried out to God, confessing his sin, laying all his faults before the Lord, exposing the whole measure of his guilt. And God forgave him. It was as simple as that. God wiped out the sins and took away the guilt.

Then the psalmist was safe. He snuggled into God's sheltering arms, finally free and fully protected. And he was quick to advise others to confess their sins that they, too, might partake of God's generous, loving forgiveness.

Saturday – A Prayer

Jesus, You had pity on the crowds that flocked to You; have pity on all those who are seeking You today.

Jesus, You multiplied the bread and fish to provide a meal; may everyone have enough food today.

Jesus, You allowed Your disciples to distribute the bread and fish to the people; use us as Your instruments to distribute Your blessings today.

Jesus, You taught the crowd and Your disciples an important lesson about generosity; may we, too, learn that lesson today.

Amen.

Reflection for the 5th Week of Ordinary Time, Part 1

Monday – Healing

In today's Gospel, we hear about Jesus healing many people in Gennesaret. They swarmed around Him, carrying the sick on mats and setting them as close to Jesus as possible. Even those who merely touched the tassel on His cloak were healed.

Think about how amazing that is. Dozens, perhaps even hundreds, of people were cured with just a touch.

We might wonder why Jesus would do this, and we might even feel just a little jealous. Healings like this happen so much more rarely these days. But we must remember that Jesus heals people physically only when it will spiritually benefit them and/or those around them. During the days Jesus walked on earth, He was establishing a new kingdom and a new covenant. He worked miracles to demonstrate His power and the divine legitimacy of what He was doing.

We, on the other hand, live in the established kingdom and are members of Jesus' covenant family. Our spiritual needs are different. We have centuries of witnesses. We have the sacraments. We have Scripture. Jesus still does miraculously heal people, more frequently than we might think, but He still does it only for spiritual reasons. If physical healing will benefit a person spiritually, Jesus will heal that person. But if physical suffering will actually carry a greater benefit, Jesus will allow it in order to heal a person spiritually. Spiritual healing always outweighs physical healing. We may not be able to discern that or fully understand it, but we must trust that Jesus knows exactly what He is doing and that He will provide the exact kind of healing we need the most.

Tuesday – Image and Likeness

We are created in the image and likeness of God. Isn't that amazing? We are endowed with reason that we may understand the truth and discern right from wrong. We have free will that we may decide for ourselves how we will think, speak, and act. We possess the gifts of imagination and creativity that we may write stories, play music, and produce beautiful works of art. We can know, love, and worship God within the measure of our human nature, and we even have the potential to share in God's very life by and through His grace.

Yes, we are created in the image and likeness of God, and that makes us human beings different from any other of God's creatures. Isn't that truly amazing?

Wednesday – One Prohibition

God gave our first parents one prohibition. Just one. It wasn't even a difficult or burdensome one. All they had to do was avoid eating the fruit of one tree in a garden overflowing with beautiful, delicious fruit. How hard could it be to deny themselves just one thing?

We know the answer to that question, of course; it was an emphatic “very hard,” and nearly every human being has suffered the consequences of our first parents' sin ever since.

But we ought to pause for a moment before we criticize our first parents too strongly. Their sin should make us examine our own consciences. Do we obey God's prohibitions, or do we ignore them and go our own way? Do we appreciate the beautiful gifts we have, or do we want more, often what we can't or shouldn't have? Do we deny ourselves anything, or are we self-indulgent? Are we any different from our first parents? What would we have done if we had been the ones standing before that tree in the Garden of Eden?

Reflection for the 4th Week of Ordinary Time, Part 2

Thursday – God Presented to God

When Mary and Joseph presented the forty-day-old Jesus in the Temple according to the requirements of the Law, they were actually presenting God to God.

That sounds strange, doesn't it? But it's true. God had suddenly entered His Temple, just as the prophet Malachi predicted although Malachi would never have expected Him to come as a tiny Baby.

Simeon recognized Him, though. While he might not have completely realized the divinity of the Child, he certainly understood that this One was the long-awaited Messiah, the glory of Israel and the light of the whole world.

Anna, too, saw in that little Baby the redemption the people of Israel had been expecting for so long, and she proceeded to tell everyone who would listen that He had arrived at last.

Yes, God was presented to God in the Temple that day, the Son to His Father, the Messiah to the One Who sent Him to save the world.

Friday – The Girl

The girl did what she was told to do. First, she performed a dance for her father, Herod, and his guests. They were delighted, if more than a bit tipsy, and her father offered her grand gifts, even up to half his kingdom.

But the girl didn't know what to ask for. Perhaps she didn't really care. Perhaps she wanted to maximize her advantage but wasn't sure how to do that. Perhaps she didn't know how to think for herself. In any case, she went to her mother with the question “What shall I ask for?”

The girl's mother, Herodias, knew exactly what to ask for. Something, or rather someone, had been bothering her for quite some time. John the Baptist, who was a prisoner of Herod, was always going on about how Herod and Heriodias should never have been married, for Heriodias had once been the wife of Herod's brother. It was irritating, and Heriodias saw the perfect opportunity to end that annoyance. She told her daughter to ask for the head of John the Baptist.

The girl went back to her father and did just that, adding a little twist of her own. “I want you to give me at once on a platter the head of John the Baptist,” the girl commanded. At once? On a platter? Perhaps the girl had a malicious streak of her own.

Herod was stuck. He didn't like it, but he had no choice. His offer had backfired on him. He actually rather liked John and didn't want to kill him, but a promise was a promise. He sent off an executioner, and a little while later presented his daughter with the head of John the Baptist. The girl immediately handed it over to her satisfied mother.

We never hear about the girl again in Scripture, but other sources tell us that Salome (her actual name) was married twice and had several children. Like as not, her marriages were political in nature, and she probably had no choice in the matter. We may wonder if she turned out like her mother. We may wonder if somehow she was able to find happiness. We may wonder if she ever came to regret her request for John the Baptist's head.

Saturday – A Sacrifice of Praise

Lord, I offer You a sacrifice of praise. I raise my mind to contemplate the wonders of Your being. I step out of my cares and worries and focus my attention on You. I sing out how amazing You are, how awesome in the true sense of the word. I give You thanks for all You have done for me, are doing for me right now, and will do for me in the future. I recognize Your grace working and active in my life, and I embrace it. I let go of myself, even if just for a little while, and cling to You with my whole being. Lord, I offer You a sacrifice of praise. Amen.

Reflection for the 4th Week of Ordinary Time, Part 1

Monday – The Crazy Man

The man had been crazy for so long that no one could remember what he had been like sane. He lived among the tombs, essentially testifying to the deadness of his life. Indeed, he was more dead than alive, more beast than human. He howled day and night, and no chain could hold him, nor any man hope to control his wild fury.

Until, that is, a different sort of Man arrived on the scene. The demons who possessed the crazy man recognized Jesus immediately. They made the man run to Jesus, fall down before Him, and cry out, “What have You to do with me, Jesus, Son of the Most High God? I adjure You by God, do not torment me!”

Bystanders witnessing this scene were astounded, and they whispered frantically among themselves. “Son of the Most High God?” “How could this crazy man know Jesus?” “Look at him, falling down there!”

Jesus calmly asked the demon's name and received the response “Legion,” for many demons inhabited the man's body. Then, He unceremoniously sent all those wicked spirits directly into a herd of swine, which promptly dashed over a cliff and drowned in the sea.

The crazy man was no longer crazy. He sat peacefully at Jesus' feet, clothed and calm, perfectly in his right mind. He wanted to remain with Jesus, but Jesus told him to go home to his family and return to his normal life. But the man never forgot what Jesus, what God, had done for him, and he proclaimed it to everyone he met with a heart and mind now filled with gratitude and love.

Tuesday – The Great Cloud of Witnesses

Isn't it amazing that we are surrounded by a great cloud of witnesses? Who are these witnesses? They are the holy people of every time and place, the saints and the saints-in-training who testify to us of God's love and mercy.

They might be the daily Mass crowd at the local Catholic Church who pray so fervently. They might be the volunteers at the local food shelf who see themselves as God's instruments in serving the poor. They might be the catechism teachers who learn right along with their students as God guides them all closer to Him.

They are certainly the canonized saints of the Church who pray for us that we might make it home to be with them for all eternity. They are also the saints who are in Heaven but have not been officially canonized. They, too, pray for us, perhaps even more-so, for they include some of our dearest loved ones. They are even the souls who are still being purified in Purgatory, who pray for us as they gratefully welcome our prayers for them.

Indeed, we are surrounded by a great cloud of witnesses who never cease to strengthen our faith, bolster our hope, and show us God's love in action. Thanks be to God!

Wednesday – God Remembers

God remembers who and what we are. The psalmist assures us of this when he says, “He remembers that we are dust.”

That might sound a little harsh to us. Dust? We're more than dust, aren't we? Yes, we are because God has breathed soul and spirit into us, but we are also body and therefore from the earth.

We are fragile, weak, and sinful creatures. We often do the exact opposite of what we should do. As fallen human beings, we tend toward sin, and without God's grace, we have no chance of ever overcoming our sinful desires and habits.

God remembers all of this. He knows us perfectly, and that's a good thing because He takes our weakness, our earthiness, our dust, into consideration and deals with us according to who and what we are. He freely provides His grace to help us. He gives us chance after chance to repent when we fail to grasp His grace and use our reason and free will to make good choices. He continually offers us kindness, compassion, and mercy.

Aren't we lucky that God knows us so well and loves us so much anyway?

Reflection for the 3rd Week of Ordinary Time, Part 2

Thursday – Measures

In today's Gospel, Jesus tells us, “The measure with which you measure will be measured out to you...”

This ought to prod us to ask ourselves some questions about what kind of measure we're using.

Do we use the measure of love or the measure of apathy? Note that love here means willing the absolute best for another person and trying to help him or her attain that absolute best. It is not mere emotion or fluffy good feelings. It is not always affirmation. Sometimes the best way to love people is to tell them they're on the wrong path and to refuse to support their journey along that path. Apathy here is simply not caring; it is more of an opposite to love than hate will ever be.

Do we use the measure of generosity or the measure of selfishness? Do our hands open out to others or clutch tightly to what is ours?

Do we use the measure of forgiveness or the measure of grudges? Jesus once told His disciples that they should forgive seven times seventy times. He meant that to apply to us, too. We who seek forgiveness ought to be quick to give it.

So which measures do we use day to day? We must all remember Jesus' words: “The measure with which you measure will be measured out to you...”

Friday – Endurance

“You need endurance to do the will of God and receive what He has promised.”

Lord, grant me endurance in times of suffering and hardship.
Lord, grant me endurance to carry out Your will day by day.
Lord, grant me endurance to obey Your moral law.
Lord, grant me endurance to persevere in prayer.
Lord, grant me endurance to love even when it is difficult.
Lord, grant me endurance to walk the path You have set out for me no matter where it leads.
Lord, grant me endurance to remain close to You always.
Lord, grant me endurance to make it all the way home to Heaven.
Amen.

Saturday – The Response of Faith

Today's readings focus on faith, “the realization of what is hoped for and evidence of things not seen.”

Abraham had great faith. When God told Abraham to leave his homeland and set out for a country he didn't know, he went. When God told Abraham that his descendants would be like the stars in the sky, he believed even though he and Sarah had no children yet. When God told Abraham to sacrifice his dear son, Isaac, the heir to all God's promises, he took a knife and his son and headed up the mount of sacrifice, believing that God would either stop him or even go so far as to raise Isaac from the dead. Abraham must have questioned sometimes. Perhaps he even doubted now and then. But his choices always came down on the side of faith.

The disciples in the Gospel, however, lacked Abraham's faith. Jesus was sound asleep when the wind came up and threatened to capsize their boat. They became so terrified that they began to despair, positive that they would die at any moment. They screamed at Jesus to wake up: “Teacher, do You not care that we are perishing?” But of course Jesus cared, and they weren't really perishing. With a word, Jesus calmed the wind and the sea. Then He turned to the disciples and asked, “Why are you terrified? Do you not yet have faith?” We don't get their answer, but it would have to have been an honest no.

Today, then, as we reflect on faith, we must ask ourselves whether our response is more like that of Abraham or more like that of the disciples.

Lord, increase our faith. Amen.