The texts from the Roman Catholic Lectionary today warn us of the danger of losing our practice of love and justice in decisions to align ourselves with selfish and evil intent.
Choose justice and love
The reading from the Prophet Jeremiah identifies abuses in Worship among the Israelites.
they stiffened their necks.1
Psalm 95 is a call to Worship and Obedience.
* [Psalm 95] Twice the Psalm calls the people to praise and worship God (Ps 95:1–2, 6), the king of all creatures (Ps 95:3–5) and shepherd of the flock (Ps 95:7a, 7b). The last strophe warns the people to be more faithful than were their ancestors in the journey to the promised land (Ps 95:7c–11). This invitation to praise God regularly opens the Church’s official prayer, the Liturgy of the Hours.2
In the Gospel of Luke, Jesus explains the nature of Beelzebul.
* [11:19] Your own people: the Greek reads “your sons.” Other Jewish exorcists (see Acts 19:13–20), who recognize that the power of God is active in the exorcism, would themselves convict the accusers of Jesus. See also note on Mt 12:27.3
Tom Quinn comments that crowds, once moving in a negative direction, tend to draw bystanders along. Crowds have not changed too much in our time.
During lent, I have considered how God moves in my life. On reflection, I find that I do not wait for a miracle to “force” me to notice God. I believe that God surrounds all of us with miracles; I thank God for them. I am certain that God is reflected in miraculous ways in all things. I have become increasingly aware that the limitless scope and complexity of our surroundings provide a path to the divine. If we consider that life itself exists in any being, we are aware of something miraculous.4
Don Schwager quotes “God's help for our complete conversion,” by Augustine of Hippo, 354-430 A.D.
"When we transform our old life and give our spirit a new image, we find it very hard and tiring to turn back from the darkness of earthly passions to the serene calm of the divine light. We must ask God to help us that a complete conversion may be brought about in us." (excerpt from Commentary on Psalm 6,5)5
The Word Among Us Meditation on Psalm 95:1-2, 6-9 notes that today’s psalmist offers us a different strategy: soften your heart! No matter where we are in our journey with the Lord, we could all be more open, pliable, and yielding to him and to each other.
So choose a hymn or song of worship today and sing it out. As you do, kneel down or lift your hands or even dance! Recall all that God has done for you, and thank him. As you open your heart to the Lord in worship, he will make your heart of stone into a heart of flesh. “Lord, I worship you! Keep my heart soft so that I can hear you today.”6
Friar Jude Winkler notes the assessment of Jeremiah about the disobedience of Israel and their deserved punishment. Baal in the town of Zebul is changed by the people to Beelzebul. Friar Jude reminds us of the goal of Lent to prepare a place for Christ.
Fr. Richard Rohr, OFM, introduces scholars Marcus J. Borg (1942–2015) and John Dominic Crossan who refer to Paul as a “Jewish Christ mystic,” and explore what the phrase “in Christ” meant to Paul. They view Paul’s mystical teaching on the gifts of the Spirit, from 1 Corinthians 12–14, as an extension of his identity transplant “in Christ.” They reflect on the implications of Paul’s reflections on love, “And now faith, hope, and love abide, these three; and the greatest of these is love” (13:13).
For Paul, love in this text is radical shorthand for what life “in Christ” is like—life in the “new creation,” life “in the Spirit,” life animated by a Spirit transplant. As the primary fruit of a Spirit-filled life, love is about more than our relationships with individuals. For Paul, it had (for want of a better word) a social meaning as well. The social form of love for Paul was distributive justice and nonviolence, bread and peace. Paul’s vision of life “in Christ,” life in the “new creation,” did not mean, “Accept the imperial way of life with its oppression and violence, but practice love in your personal relationships.”7
The prompting of the Spirit guides us to address division in society with the practice of healing love and justice.
References
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