Rectify and rejoice

The texts from the Roman Catholic Lectionary today offer contemplation of the role of seeing in our faith journey.

Seeing the Presence

The Letter to the Ephesians sets an expectation of how faithful Christians we be seen as they act in their daily life. These actions may need some rectification.

* [5:1] Imitators of God: in forgiving (Eph 4:32) and in loving (as exhibited in how Christ loved us).

In the Gospel from Luke, Jesus sees the crippled woman on the Sabbath and acts, overriding traditional Sabbath practice, to heal her.

* [13:15–16] If the law as interpreted by Jewish tradition allowed for the untying of bound animals on the sabbath, how much more should this woman who has been bound by Satan’s power be freed on the sabbath from her affliction.

Eileen Wirth reflects that by the act of SEEING, Jesus teaches us that compassion begins with noticing the plight of people in need.

If we’re overwhelmed by distant tragedies, we can all find plenty of needs in our communities – maybe visit someone you know in a nursing home or volunteer at a homeless shelter. The opportunities to think globally and act locally are endless.
This must be what St. Paul means when he admonishes us to “Live as children of light.” May all of us try to live in such light!

Don Schwager quotes “Jesus overcomes death and destruction”, by Cyril of Alexandria (376-444 AD) who stresses that we see Jesus as Son, human and Divine.

"The incarnation of the Word and his assumption of human nature took place for the overthrow of death, destruction and the envy harbored against us by the wicked Serpent, who was the first cause of evil. This plainly is proved to us by facts themselves. He set free the daughter of Abraham from her protracted sickness, calling out and saying, 'Woman, you are loosed from your infirmity.' A speech most worthy of God, and full of supernatural power! With the royal inclination of his will, he drives away the disease. He also lays his hands upon her. It says that she immediately was made straight. It is now also possible to see that his holy flesh bore in it the power and activity of God. It was his own flesh, and not that of some other Son beside him, distinct and separate from him, as some most impiously imagine." (excerpt from COMMENTARY ON LUKE, HOMILY 96)

The Word Among Us Meditation on Luke 13:10-17 reminds us that much Jewish thinking at the time made a correlation between illness and sin (John 9:2). God rewarded a virtuous person with good health and punished sinners with misfortune of every sort, including disease.

Think of your most challenging situation. Is it too hard for Jesus? Absolutely not! Is there a sin too big for Jesus to forgive? No. Is he punishing you for some past misdeed? Of course not. So follow this woman’s lead. Go to Jesus, in the “inner synagogue” of your heart and the sanctuary of your Church. Be where he is so that he can see you, touch you, and set you free.

Friar Jude Winkler nudges us to be aware of our call to live a virtuous life that is witnessed by the people we encounter daily. The conflict in the synagogue is between the role of rules and mercy in living the life of virtue. Friar Jude comments on the very important role of women in the Gospel of Luke.

Fr. Richard Rohr, OFM, comments that we cannot attain the presence of God because we’re already in the presence of God. What’s absent is awareness. Little do we realize that God’s love is maintaining us in existence with every breath we take. As we take another, it means that God is choosing us now and now and now and now. We have nothing to attain or even learn. We do, however, need to unlearn some things.

All spiritual disciplines have one purpose: to get rid of illusions so we can be more fully present to what is. These disciplines exist so that we can see what is, see who we are, and see what is happening. What is is love, so much so that even the tragic will be used for purposes of transformation into love. It is God, who is love, giving away God every moment as the reality of our life. Who we are is love, because we are created in God’s image. What is happening is God living in us, with us, and through us as our unique manifestation of love. And each one of us is a bit different because the forms of love are infinite.

Our perception of virtuous life and our intimacy with God may now involve rules about practices even as we seek “our daily bread” of life that is contained in Presence.

References
(n.d.). CHAPTER 5 1So be imitators of God* as beloved childrena 2and live .... Retrieved October 29, 2018, from http://www.usccb.org/bible/ephesians/ephesians5.htm
(n.d.). Luke chapter 13 - United States Conference of Catholic Bishops. Retrieved October 29, 2018, from http://www.usccb.org/bible/luke/13
(n.d.). Creighton U Daily Reflections .... Retrieved October 29, 2018, from http://onlineministries.creighton.edu/CollaborativeMinistry/daily.html
(n.d.). Daily Scripture Readings and Meditations. Retrieved October 29, 2018, from https://dailyscripture.servantsoftheword.org/
(n.d.). 30th Week in Ordinary Time - Mass Readings and Catholic Daily .... Retrieved October 29, 2018, from https://wau.org/meditations/
(n.d.). Daily Meditations Archives - Center for Action and Contemplation. Retrieved October 29, 2018, from https://cac.org/category/daily-meditations/