Rich and beloved

The text from psalm 32 in the Roman Catholic Lectionary today contains the phrase ‘thou dost encompass me with deliverance’. This older English offers an opportunity to consider this statement in the light of the desire of the rich man in Mark’s Gospel to move closer to eternal life. The response of Jesus to his request was to ensure him that he is loved and to recognize his journey as one who keeps the commandments. The next step is more than the young man is prepared to take at this time. The desire for deliverance was still on his terms. The Wisdom of Sirach today underlines that fullness of human life is found in the intimate communion with the Divine where forgiveness and mercy are abundant even for those who have failed to endure against the temptations of life oriented towards self and the slavery of our possessions and passions.

Trouble and the lilies of the field

The texts of the Roman Catholic Lectionary for the 8th Sunday in ordinary time explore our relationship with security, fault and our choices in life. The response of the prophet Isaiah to the attention of the Divine for humanity is to compare the attention of God to that of a nursing mother. The prophet suggests that if even the mother can forget her child, God cannot forget each of us. We are concerned about how we are remembered and perceived by others. Father Larry Gillick SJ suggests that we dress to impress and project an image. We may be protecting our inner self from ridicule or rejection. Paul addresses the Corinthians to proclaim that he is judged only by the Lord. He anticipates he will receive ‘commendation from God’ at the conclusion of his temporal service. Is this boasting? Is this the boasting of which Paul proclaims to be “boasting in the Lord”? The evidence from the totality of Paul’s writing is that he firmly credits the Lord working through the indwelling Spirit for all of his accomplishments. The Gospel of Matthew brings out Jesus teaching on the choice of his disciples to be slaves of wealth and the passions of the world or to be slave to the will of God as they strive for the experience of the kingdom of God and the intimacy of those living close to the will of the Father. Jesus asks them to consider the ‘lilies of the field’. It is not the 1963 Oscar winning movie to which he refers, but at this time a re-visit to that film may enlighten our understanding of making choices, attending to priorities and acting with the confidence of Providence and our position as delightful and unforgettable as the child at the breast.

Discernment, Discretion and a mind for thinking

The texts of the Roman Catholic Lectionary today bring some seeds to develop thoughts on the nature of the cognitive gifts which are given by God to humanity. The text from the Book of Sirach enumerates the gifts the Creator left with humanity after the expulsion from Eden. The nature of the thinking relationship with the Divine is presented in different ways. One translation describes the gift as discretion, perhaps the ability to choose, or to value options. Another uses the term discernment as the gift for thinking. This is to discern Good and Evil and or to uncover the vocation to which the Divine is calling us. The mind for thinking may seem strange in a relationship with infinity and eternity in the Divine. One writer has compared the relationship of the Father to Humanity as like that of parents or grandparents. The grandfather does not cause the child to conform to his thinking and ways, even though the argument can be made that he is drawing from decades of lie experience, but the grandparent “delights” in the development of the child as a being who will live the journey as he or she is called to do so. The temporal existence is to live and to live intensely. The discovery of our being through development is the path we are on. The life we have is the gift. We approach the opportunity for intimate relationship with the Divine through our indwelling Spirit as the children described in Mark’s “expecting everything and deserving nothing”.

Friends and Fidelity

The concept of fidelity as the strict observance of promises and duties is not as easy value to integrate into our life style. The texts from the Roman Catholic Lectionary today present some arguments to consider a path of fidelity. The Wisdom of Sirach describes the characteristics of that most valuable gift, a true friend. The passage differentiates between faithful friends who are one in a thousand and those who may sit at your table and disappear when friendship is demanding. The psalmist praised the statutes of the Lord for the great guidance they provide. The discovery, development and the deepening of true friendship is a blessing that may be easier to see to hindsight than as it happens. The declaration of Jesus in the Gospel of Mark about the fidelity expected in marriage has been difficult to achieve in practice. The call or vocation of married life perhaps requires a spiritual discernment by the friends to reassure that the power of a relationship with the Divine is also present in the preparations which the couple makes to be “happy ever after”. This insight from the resonance of the indwelling Spirit with the Spirit of the Divine offers the possibility to embark on a blessed union wherein fidelity is a treasured value and practice. Fidelity is a challenge. Challenge is the path of those seeking intimate life in true infinite relationships.

Temptations to Sin

The texts from the Roman Catholic Lectionary today confront a common attitude to sin where we depend on the infinite mercy in our relationship with the Divine to “fix up” those transgressions which we habitually fall into. It is possible that these are areas of addictive behaviour and that we have great difficulty in withdrawing our human self from the temporal pleasure or satisfaction which we deeply enjoy. The debate over the nature of sin is given some benchmarks in the Gospel of Mark today. The so called ‘personal sin’ is often argued to be victimless. The Evangelist echoes Jesus caution that our example not be an obstacle to the intimacy with the Divine sought by others. In education, we often set the disruption of the education of others in the group as the bar which differentiates some disruptive behaviour from some engaged activity. The line from Mark 9:48 “where their worm never dies, and the fire is never quenched” paints an image of desperate consequences of sin. The separation from the intimate contact with the Divine is an expected consequence of turning away from the relationship. The co-existence of Good and Evil is a mystery which requires the diminishing of one as the other increases. Farley Mowatt( No Birds Sang) wrote of his experience in the Italian campaign of WWII using the text from Mark to describe the “hell” of war. The psalmist offers a choice to the wanderer on the spiritual journey to choose the company which feeds the Good of our nature. The wisdom literature of the Book of Sirach reveals the observation of seekers that God is both mercy and wrath. A rabbi, Harold Gushner, commenting on the 23rd psalm suggests that the ‘staff and the rod’ of the Divine are not only necessary but the relationship with humanity requires that God be just and ‘deliver justice’.

Another Exorcist

The texts in the Roman Catholic Lectionary today are related to the gift of wisdom and freedom from demonic forces which oppress and imprison the spirit. When we look at North Africa and the Middle East today we see people moving painfully to freedom from decades of oppression. Surely this movement is one supported by the Spirit of Wisdom described in the Book of Sirach. The hardship of this struggle includes massacre of thousands. The Spirit of Wisdom is walking with them in these terrible times of sacrifice and discipline. Is it strange that the journey of a largely Muslim population to freedom should be a sign, in particular to Christian and Jewish believers, of the continued Presence working to bring joy, peace and salvation to the downtrodden? As the believers bow for daily prayer in the public squares of North Africa and the Middle East we may hear voices calling out to stop them from acting to dispel demonic forces and bringing choice to life. These voice are addressed by the passage from the Gospel of Mark today when the disciples of Jesus called on Him to stop “other exorcists” from acting to bring people to freedom. ‘Do not stop him; for no one who does a deed of power in my name will be able soon afterwards to speak evil of me. Whoever is not against us is for us.’ (Mark 9:39-40).

The Shepherd in the chair

The Temporal Shepherd of such a diverse and distributed flock of members of the Roman Catholic Church is one who must hear the words of the first letter of Peter in the texts from the Roman Catholic Lectionary for today. The leadership is by example and not by lording it over those whom the leader guides. We often hear calls that this group must be ostracized, funds must be taken from these people and excommunication is proper for this individual. The call to “bind”, echoing the text of Matthew’s Gospel for today, is often a reference to an offence against “Catholic teaching”. Too often this “teaching” is presented as a duality. This is “right”. The other is “wrong”. Christian teachers, like Franciscan Richard Rohr exhort believers to consider the possibilities and to behave in these issues like the Eternal Shepherd and Divine Teacher, Jesus. The authorities often tried to get Jesus to “take sides”. “Who is my neighbour?”” He who is without sin...” The intimacy with the Divine to which we are invited is described by the psalmist. Psalm 23 brings in six lines an understanding of the Shepherd to which leaders can look for Divine example. The complete surrender to the Divine will puts the leadership by “thy staff and thy rod” in such a way that “I shall dwell in the house of the Lord all my days”.

How we attach to our demons

The texts in the Roman Catholic Lectionary today encourage reflection on Wisdom, Majesty and the degree to which we hold on to the demons which keep us from communicating completely with the Divine and others. The search for wisdom is a motivator for many. The ancients personified Wisdom as female and as known only to the Lord God from whom She is wrought. The mystery of the things of life is where we live. The clarity promised by Wisdom is elusive. The Gospel of Mark relates a lengthy episode of Jesus in battle with demons who are keeping a young boy from being a full human. The process of exorcising these demons seems to require commitment from the father of the boy to increase his faith and trust in Providence and to make a real effort to move toward the Divine in his relationship. The freedom sought by the soul of humanity requires a decision to remove the enslavement we may have to stuff, power, control and distraction. Demons of this type require prayer. (Mark 9:29)

Love your enemy Radical Reasoning

The texts of the Roman Catholic Lectionary today remind us of the radical call of Christians to “Love Your Enemy”. This cannot be meant to be taken literally? The consequence might be death! Certainly the transitions in North Africa and the Middle East at this time have brought us confusion about “Who is our Enemy?” It is difficult to tell. Even more the people who might be our enemy, who might be terrorists, look the same as those peacefully giving their lives in public squares for freedom and an end to oppression. They have the same kind of names as terrorists. They love their children and families as we love ours. They pray to God in public. We understand that even the suffering of Jesus continues with them in their struggle. Who is my neighbour? Jesus answers this question in the Scripture with the parable of the Good Samaritan. (Luke 10:25-37) Who is my enemy? The text from the Gospel of Matthew today and the text from the Hebrew Book of Leviticus would indicate that our enemy is the one we love. (or need to love). The power and the Presence of the Lord God is presented to the Hebrew people as the source and the strength to obey the command to love your neighbour as yourself. Paul addresses the Corinthians to proclaim that we are the temples of the Holy Spirit the love between the Father and the Son. Our invitation to and participation in this intimacy is the Presence through which the God who loves all Creation is express in the flesh of our existence. Matthew exhorts “Be perfect as your Father in heaven is perfect!’ Father Larry Gillick at Creighton University reflects about this ending to the texts today.

Some Divine Descriptions

The journey of individuals to relate to the Divine can be guided by reflection on the texts which tell of the experience and understanding of those who came before us. The Roman Catholic Lectionary today takes us to the creation of the Covenant between Noah and God after the flood. Divine Providence gifts Noah with the ability to access all the wild life he will need for food. Some rules are understood about the practice of killing and eating game. The reasons for particular “rules” in Scripture are often debated by learned scholars. The relationship with the Divine has parameters through which the finite and the infinite can relate. Obedience to the Provident and Powerful One seems to be the path to bring this unequal relationship to its most intimate. The Gospel of Mark shows the very human Peter in a difficult dialogue with Jesus. His journey toward intimacy with the Divine has taken him to the assertion that he has chosen to abandon his prior life and he chooses to life following Jesus who he understands as the Messiah, the promised restoration of the full Covenant to Israel. He knows of the deep attraction he feels to the person of Jesus and the image of great love, compassion, power and Presence coming to death as a criminal is unimaginable to Peter. The struggle has not changed and the questions are eternal. We ponder and are left in the awe expressed by the psalmist.

Relationship Restored

William Paul Young the author of the bestselling recounting of his personal spiritual journey describes, as do the psalmists the Divine delighting in humanity. The passage today,in the Roman Catholic lectionary, from the Book of Genesis portrays God as becoming aware of Noah after the flood by the sweet smell of pleasing burnt offerings. A literal pursuit of this imagery seems to offer much confusion and difficulty. The association of humanity with “a pleasant aroma” is a interesting counterpoint to “this situation stinks”. The psalmist and Noah find themselves in a position where the only response to God is deep thanksgiving. We are sometimes in situations which transform us into new experience and challenge. When do we consider the Presence that is with us in these times? As they are unfolding?, when we can pause and look back? The human response is in both categories. We are aware, like Noah and the psalmist of a powerful sustaining love which understands our person intimately. The episode from the Gospel is the experience of a personal touch which heals and renews our vision. Jesus seems to follow a ritual to accomplish this healing. The blind man is advised by Jesus actions and words that this is a special moment of intimacy between brothers where the love and compassion of the One heals the other. “Do this in memory of Me”

The Place of the Storm

The texts in the Roman Catholic lectionary today indicate some separation between humanity and the Divine. The Book of Genesis explains the great flood for which Noah built his ark as the consequence of the decline of humanity into a state where the thoughts of their hearts were continually evil. The response of our hearts and Spirit to the events of life can precipitate a “me first” approach. “What’s in it for me?” may be at the root of the bad yeast of the Pharisees which Jesus warns against in the episode from the Gospel of mark. The psalmist understands the awesome Presence. The storm, as fierce as we have known is a pale shadow of the power of the Divine. It is in the still breeze that Genesis tells us humanity can encounter the Divine. Is there a place for the Storm?

A Day to Consider Passion

The texts in the Roman Catholic lectionary for Valentine’s Day evoke thoughts about passion. The episode from the Book of Genesis recounts the rivalry between brothers Cain and Abel. This passion is known to many families. The competition of siblings for the attention of parents and the rewards of success is a part of human experience which invites careful meditation on the Genesis account. What is this ancient text teaching about this passion and the consequence of being overcome by the passion. The psalmist identifies that the Divine attitude towards disobedience and contempt for the “Law” is not the attitude of “most people” or of ‘common sense”. Lack of discipline, slander and anger are not behaviours which honour the Divine. The human understanding is not the understanding of God. The passion in this passage is with the words of the Divine as proclaimed by the psalmist. This passion for right relationship is proper practice for believers who seek to be in intimate relationship with the Divine. Mark recounts a lack of passion in the demands of the Pharisees for a sign. It seems to be so easy for Jesus to command nature to yield a sign to this group enslaved by “mob think”. Why not set them silent by a ‘burning bush” or “water springing from a stone”. The transformation which those who see listen and live with Jesus is in the passion for living and giving which is rooted in the intimacy with the Divine through the indwelling Spirit. He sighs deeply in His Spirit.

Wisdom, Law and Love

The Wisdom of Jesus is not “how” He lived, but the “why”. He came and continues coming, respectful of our freedom, to encourage us to reverence our lives, the time we have and the lives and times we have with others. (Gillick SJ, 2011)

Larry Gillick SJ concludes his reflection on the texts of the Roman Catholic Lectionary today with the importance of reflection on the “why” of Jesus incarnation. The sense of the “Law” that western thought often has is the line between “right” and wrong”. This mental picture makes it easy for us to declare when we are not going to be excluded or punished. In commercial and political matters we can pursue the “letter of the law” to determine our guilt or innocence. The psalmist praises the “Law of the Lord” and seeks to have his senses informed by the Law and to have his heart moved to seek God with the guidance of the Law. Paul writes to the Corinthians about the wonderful life prepared for those who choose to accept the invitation to an intimate relationship with the Divine. The “Concerning Oaths, Divorce, Adultery and Anger” sermon of Jesus presented in Matthew’s Gospel is an exhortation to move the “Law” to our hearts. The impact on our relationships of Oaths, Divorce, Adultery and Anger is felt and causes distance and separation as deception, unfaithful behaviour, lust and disagreement. We make daily choices about self or other and our freedom to choose self can be a change of heart away from intimacy with the Divine and other people.

The faces of the Divine

The texts from the Roman Catholic Lectionary today show some different aspects of the face of the Divine. The dialogue with Adam and Eve in the Book of Genesis is a view of the consequence of severe disobedience to the Will of the Creator. The description of the situation of those expelled from Eden is the description of human experience. This experience is not devoid of the experience of God. The psalmist proclaims the awe and wonder with which humanity correctly views the Divine revealed in Creation and through the indwelling Spirit. The face of the Divine which is the Son is portrayed by mark as the One of compassion for the spiritual and physical hunger of people. The parable concludes with the evidence that another face of the Divine is that of Providence which is not surpassed in generosity.

The Face of Sin

The texts from the Roman Catholic Lectionary today include the episode of the temptation of Adam and Eve from the Book of Genesis. This passage is rich in opportunities to reflect on the nature of temptation and sin. Even though we usually do not consider the Serpent to be an attractive creature, we can find his argument to be attractive. The course of action he proposes seems to provide our ego with gratification and reward our cleverness. We are persuaded that this supposed transgression is not very serious. The consequence of the “knowledge of good and evil” is however quite severe. It is the tension and terror with which humanity lives. The creation and our Spirit tell us of a relationship that is marked by deep compassion, endless forgiveness and selfless unconditional love. This is not the usual experience in our daily lives. The psalmist today (Psalm 32) praises the joy of knowing the forgiveness of God for our transgressions. Christian tradition often features the prayer of Psalm 51 on Fridays, the day of Jesus crucifixion. This is a magnificent prayer of contrition and hope for forgiveness. The opening of the senses of the deaf man in the Gospel of Mark is an action in the liturgy of Baptism when as the sin of Adam dispelled from the baptized, the minister anoints the ears of the baptized to open them to continue to hear the Good News of the New Adam, Jesus.

The community of humanity

The texts of the Roman Catholic lectionary relate events which might cause reflection on the role of community in a full human life. The Book of Genesis tells of the search of the “first human” Adam for a companion and of the great joy to find flesh of my flesh and bone of my bone. The psalmist proclaims a sense of the “fear” of a God who is the director of the great blessings of a wife and children. The core unit of human existence is a community and our growth and joy is so closely tied to the love we experience and learn in that community. The texts from Mark’s Gospel hint that Jesus is seeking some solitude to pray and “get his thoughts together’. We know of the necessity of individual humans to move into solitude to hear the inner voice which may be from the indwelling Spirit. Jesus is interrupted by one from “outside the community”. The dialogue addresses the concept that the Messiah should be understood to be sent only to the children of Israel. The compassion, healing and formation of a greater community is extended to those thought as outside, unclean or Gentile. Community is the essence of a faith in a Triune Divinity as the Christian Creed proclaims “I believe in God... Father, Jesus... Son, and Holy Spirit” (Love between Father and Son)

Do and defile

The mystery of the interplay of good, evil, human and Divine is brought to mind by the texts in the Roman Catholic Lectionary for today. The reality of evil in the world is difficult to refute. We see how some are reacting to the effort of Egyptians to emerge from oppression to freedom. What does the Book of Genesis, the Biblical presentation of human origins, tell us about the origin of evil? It is not mentioned in the creation narrative except as something that humanity will only have knowledge of through disobedience to the will and command of God. This places knowledge of evil as something that was not in the Divine plan for humanity. Our inner drives bring us to ignore or oppose the direction we receive from the Divine. This direction is received during our dwelling in the intimacy which results from the resonance of our indwelling Spirit, breathed into us by God according to Genesis, and the Divine Spirit. The psalmist today proclaims the majesty of the Creator who gives sustenance and breath for life and when he recalls the breath we have death. The Gospel of Mark presents Jesus assertion that the evil which defiles human behaviour comes from within. Those desires which in the Creation narrative cause human to act as superior to God, remain within to emerge as greed, avarice and lust. Evil remains a concern.

the sixth day

God saw everything that he had made, and indeed, it was very good. And there was evening and there was morning, the sixth day. (Genesis 1)

The texts from the Roman Catholic Lectionary today take us back to Genesis and creation. After six days of creation God declares the result as “very good”. What would the assessment of the Creator be today? The psalmist proclaims the great mystery of the interest of the Divine in humanity. The witness of those living today in an intimate relationship with the Divine through the indwelling Spirit is that Providence continues to provide life, creativity and challenge to humanity. The rest on the seventh day is necessary for humans but the work of creation and recreation continues. Humanity is a key builder in the unfolding of events in the temporal universe. The Gospel of Mark points out one of the tendencies of humanity to misshape, spin, distort and alter for personal gain the traditions and practices which originally were to assist all people in working toward better relationships with one another. The “spin doctors” are always at work. The popular revolution becomes a terrorist take over when the economic interests in control of wealth are at play. Mark relates how Jesus saw it. We can see it by looking today toward Egypt.

Creation and recreation

The texts of the Roman Catholic Lectionary today bring us to thoughts of Creation and the witness of the natural world to the majesty and power of the Divine. On a brisk winter day, walking along hills, by the sea or near the lake, even in the midst of an urban environment may stimulate thought on the majesty of the encounter given to our senses. Add a chance meeting with one of the other species on the planet and the role of humans in all this is a reflection worth pursuit yet not one which will yield an answer today. We lose our sense of wonder in the why of Creation and we darken our vision and experience with discord, disagreement and doubt. The Gospel of Mark testifies to the crowds at Gennesaret seeing the opportunity to restore the wonder and the mystery through an encounter with the Divine through the healing person of Jesus. Our indwelling Spirit will be drawn to healing. We need to let go!

Salt and Light in Cairo

The texts today in the Roman Catholic Lectionary point to a core action of believing Christians to be in the world what they are, the Body of Christ. The central celebration of Christianity is Eucharistic Liturgy. The bread which is broken and the wine which is poured out are the lives which followers of Jesus aspire to live in response to the Will of the Father through the power of the Holy Spirit in resonance with the indwelling Spirit of the believer. Today in Cairo, Coptic Christians have followed Muslim believers in public prayer in ”liberation square” for those killed in the uprising in Eqypt. The Gospel of Matthew today calls for disciples of Christ to be “salt of the earth” and  “ light of the world”. Where does the power to put yourself out there as salt and light come from? Paul writes to the Corinthians that he is preaching and acting through the life in Christ crucified. The Kingdom which is based on taking on the suffering of others and activists who are prepared to be “bread broken” and “wine poured out” are living out of the place of which Paul speaks. The fast described by the prophet Isaiah is not a pious public proclamation of how good a person is by self denial. It is to act to break the yoke of oppression and to avoid the finger pointing. In the days which are to come the fingers will be raised in the Middle East. They will point to this group of “bad people” and that group of whom we should be afraid. We need to look at the images from Cairo and see people, Muslim and Christian, who are responding with the their lives to be “salt and light”. The psalmist, which is known to both Faiths, proclaims that the fear of God, the knowledge of the great power of the Divine in relationship with humanity, is the only fear that need concern us.

Shepherd on Saturday

The texts from the Roman Catholic Lectionary today use the idea of shepherd to convey the image of God. The author of the letter to the Hebrews thanks God for His Great Shepherd Jesus. The description of the Good Shepherd from the 23rd Psalm in the Hebrew Testament portrays a relationship which provides protection, peace and guidance. The shepherd models the behaviour to the followers. Just as the Good Shepherd attends to the needs of the flock, the model of care and compassion is to be practiced by the flock of the Shepherd. This is clear in the episode from mark’s Gospel when Jesus and the disciples apparently headed for that ‘well deserved rest’ find people who are like “sheep without a shepherd” and the Master and disciples begin to minister compassionately to them. The Faith of Christians is that all is possible in the power of the Divine with whom we are invited to be in intimate relationship. Living in the Kingdom is the motivation to live in the model of the King.

Hard to Hold to Hypocrisy about Democracy

The texts from the Roman Catholic Lectionary today seem to resonate with the struggle of the people of Eqypt to achieve a new start as a democracy in the Middle East. The impact of the established order on the proponents of change can be deadly. The Gospel of Mark tells us that Herod was intrigued and perhaps intimidated by the prophetic person who told it like it was, and spoke truth to power This bought execution from one who was offended by the presentation of the truth. The dictatorships in the Middle East are being challenged with the truth that freedom and democracy are values which inspire people to give their very lives to bring the fruit of `setting the captives free` to their society. Christians are advised in the Letter to the Hebrews to stick to the moral compass they have developed in intimate relationship with the Divine through Jesus. The western democracies and the State of Israel have found themselves too often forgetting that freedom is at the core of their national spirits and the supporting of dictators in the region is not sustainable if the moral core of theses societies is to be kept in tack. The irony that the freedom fighters of Egypt have more of the democratic spirit and practice than the societies who laud the attributes of the lands of the free is hard to avoid.

The psalmist proclaims present and mission

The text from the Psalms today, in the Roman Catholic Lectionary, proclaims Zion which originally was the fortification in the ancient community of Jerusalem as “Your name, O God, like your praise, reaches to the ends of the earth”, the spiritual relationship of the Hebrew people to the Divine. The Covenant calls the people to be a light to the nations in their relationship with God. The Letter to the Hebrews from the Christian Testament reveals the continuation of the relationship in intimacy with Jesus, fully human and Divine, through the communion of the indwelling Spirit with the Divine. The Gospel of Mark details the ancient mission of bringing the light of the relationship with God to all people. The disciples are to present themselves simply so that the message will be clearly supported by Providence. The choice is presented to their hosts and the seriousness of rejection of their invitation is too be marked. In modern discussions of religion and spirituality the “buffet believer” is often presented as an ideal way to select ‘a little from column A and a little from column B’ as spiritual food. The texts challenge believers to know the orthodoxy, research the tradition and mark the value of joining the journey that is recorded and reflected upon for millennia of human exploration of the Divine Mystery.

The transcendent encounter

The texts in the Roman Catholic Lectionary today celebrate the Presentation of the Lord. This was a Jewish tradition in which the child was brought to the Temple to be presented to God. The Gospel of Luke relates the impact of this Temple liturgy on two prophets, Anna and Simeon. The moment for them is one of encounter with the Transcendent. The Promise to Israel was being fulfilled. The text from the Prophet Malachi positions the fear in which the encounter with the Transcendent One is properly viewed. The presentation in the Temple is also the presentation of the Immanent One who fulfills the Promise of being always present to the faithful. The life of humanity is presented with an invitation to be intimate with the Creator. The eternal is become incarnate in temporal flesh. The infinite is entering finite time. The bounds of living are presented as reaching to intimacy with the Divine through the indwelling Spirit. What a Presentation!

Struggle in Faith

“In your struggle against sin you have not yet resisted to the point of shedding your blood"

The author of the Letter to the Hebrews in the texts of the Roman Catholic Lectionary for today reminds the faithful of the great cloud of witnesses who are examples for the faithful of the power of faith in maintaining the struggle to deepen the relationship with the Divine through the indwelling Spirit. The text in Hebrews refers to martyrs and to Jesus as examples of those who have shed blood in the movement towards bringing Good News of compassion, love and healing to people. The psalmist exudes the confidence of faith in the proclamation of deliverance to the people through Providence. Mark relates Jesus ministry through the area around the Sea of Galilee. The Presence is one which draws the hungry, needy and sick. The faith observed in the persons who encounter Jesus resonates with the healing Spirit and life and health provide support to continue the struggle to be example of the Good News in lives which are invited to be intimate with the Divine.