Fishing for people

The Gospel of Matthew from the Roman Catholic Lectionary today presents the episode of Jesus calling His first disciples. The desire of the Divine for intimate communion with humans is put into action on the ground through this example. This desire is within the context of the gift of free will. The creature is invited to intimacy with Creator and the decision must be made to accept the journey to holiness by following Him. The power of the example and model of Jesus is evidenced in the immediacy of the response of the fishermen. "They left their nets and followed Him". This response is one which might be expected of a person, as Richard Rohr describes in Falling Upward, in the second half of life of their spiritual journey where ego and career have been replaced in our passions with the vision of the possibility of the experience of the simple beauty of love in an environment which presents many daily opportunities for encounter and intimacy with God. This "wisdom" is gift of God. It is evidenced in the observation of the psalmist that the day, night and the majesty of the heavens declare this knowledge of the Divine without words. The particular instruction of Paul to the Romans may seem to be unnecessary if the "revelation" is in the universe and people around us. The action of calling disciples and preaching, as St Francis suggests, with the model of a life to which people will be attracted is catalyst to move for those who continue to fish and need the option of leaving their nets to be offered to them.

Vision of a Peaceful World

The vision of Isaiah in the texts today from the Roman Catholic Lectionary of a shoot from the stock of Jesse living in the world with qualities of the Spirit of God; wisdom, understanding, counsel and knowledge of the Lord is used in Advent to focus our thinking on Jesus. The psalmist envisions a time when a king of the people has the power from God to deliver the needy and take pity on the weak while enjoying the praise of all the nations. The realization of these dreams has escaped society to this date. Where is the Spirit of God in the people which is the Source of the movement for this change? The Gospel of Luke   reveals Jesus, who is often known as the one from the stock of Jesse to whom Isaiah refers, thanking the Father that the foundations of wisdom and peace have been hidden from those normally thought to be wise and intelligent and are revealed to infants! Richard Rohr, in his book Falling Upward, refers to the spiritual second half of life as being blessed with a second childhood where the indwelling Spirit is able to throw off the ego building movements of the first half of life and continue the journey more aware and in pursuit of the simple and beautiful. In this second journey, we may become the "elder" who ironically is spiritually aware of what we do not know except that meaningful life is found in the poor, meek,  peacemaking and humble "infants" to whom the Father has chosen to reveal the Son.
 

Join the many from east and west

The passage today in the Roman Catholic Lectionary from the Book of Isaiah evokes that deeply held desire within humanity to go to a place where we may learn and live the ways of the Divine. We envision this "new Jerusalem" as a place where nations have beaten their swords into ploughshares and their spears into pruning hooks and where our preparations are no longer based on the conquest and defeat of our neighbours. The psalmist echoes the commitment to living in a different way in the proclamation of peace and the desire to seek the good of the other. In Jesus time, the "other" certainly was the Roman occupier. In the Gospel of Matthew, written for the Jews of Jerusalem, Jesus acts to bring into the lived experience of those following Him the will of God that "many will come from the east and the west and will eat with Abraham and Isaac and Jacob in the kingdom of heaven". The faith of the Centurion is presented by Jesus as being greater any one in Israel. We have the opportunity to retrieve much from these texts. How do nations move today toward the "new Jerusalem"? Do those coming from the east and the west have difficulty in our society because they wear different religious clothing, observe a different "Holy Day" and are confused with the paradox of exclusion, commercial excess, greed and competition in the society which is supposed to be preparing to celebrate the Incarnation of the Divine in human form? Time to wrestle with our way to Jerusalem? 

Fitting in the missing part

The Roman Catholic Lectionary opens on a new Liturgical Year today, the first Sunday of Advent, with texts which bring us in touch with parts of our Christmas preparation which may be missing. The passage from the Book of Isaiah is set in time after the return from the Exile in Babylon. The people of Israel know that a large part of their life is empty. They have returned to their homeland but they have not returned to the intimacy they have experienced with God. The human tendency is assess blame here is evidenced in the suggestion that it is God's fault that the intimacy is missing. We do often wait to move toward the Divine with the thought that if God wants me closer, He can make it happen! The irony of this is discovered by the Israelites of 3rd Isaiah as they perceive that movement toward God is the gift of God which is not refused when sought and only through the meeting of wills of creature and Creator can the Potter work the clay. Our sense of distance from the Divine and Christmas can be obscured in the activity of the pre Christmas season which so often shortens or eliminates the necessary waiting from which our desire to experience "God is with us" is sharpened. The Church uses this time to remind us of the finite nature of our human life. The call to remain faithful to our action in the Body of Christ which makes Jesus Present to the world around us will be our method to "stay awake" for the time which will mark our return to God with Jesus.

Destruction has its Day

The texts today from the Roman Catholic Lectionary on the last day of the Liturgical year offer us meditation on the destruction which we see around us and the challenge of facing the end of life of our own body. Friar Jude Winkler reminds us, in his reflection today, that apocalyptic literature like the Book of Daniel and the Book of Revelations, in the New Testament is often about the persecution happening in the time of the author but is set in some future time. The message for those experiencing persecution now is that it is temporary. It will come to an end and the power of evil will not overcome the transcendent relationship of intimacy with God offered to those confronting intense difficulty. The Gospel of Luke advises us to maintain our link in relationship with God as that is the strength we need for whatever challenges may spring upon us in end days of our "liturgical journey" in time and space.

Observing the fig tree

The end of the Liturgical Year is approaching. The Lectionary of the Roman Catholic Church uses passages today from the Book of Daniel and the Gospel of Luke to encourage us to look around to see that our inheritance as children of God is triumph over the oppressors of our freedom and to live in intimacy with God. Friar Jude Winkler teaches that the references in Daniel to the four great beasts is about the four kingdoms which dominated the land of Israel prior to the 1st Century BCE. These oppressors will be judged and defeated by God who will restore Israel to dominion in the region. The signs of the collapse of empires are visible for the informed observer to see. In the Gospel of Luke, Jesus refers to the folk knowledge by which we use the changes in the nature we observe to tell us of the change of seasons. The part of our spiritual journey in these bodies will end. We are aware of some of the signs. We should use this knowledge to maintain our attentiveness to the prompting of the Spirit as our compass to following the path of intimacy with the Divine. 

Patterns and Predictions

The Roman Catholic Lectionary today, as we near the end of the Liturgical Year, presents the story of Daniel in the lions den and the prediction in the Gospel of Luke concerning the destruction of Jerusalem and the signs of the coming of the "end times". We are very concerned with what the future will bring. The work we do and our responsibilities to family and others necessitate that we plan to meet future requirements for our service as spouse, dad, bread winner, financial manager, friend and so on. The faith attitude with which we face the challenges and our attempt to fit the events into the spiritual journey to beauty and simplicity, regardless of the surface or first appearance, will allow us to be the tranquil Daniel as he confidently joins the lions in the Den. The impact on evangelization of our choice to trust can be profound as the proclamation of King Darius was in the text. The signs of the coming "end times", cited in the Gospel of Luke, are sadly visible on many days when we look at the continued distress, fear and foreboding which people experience daily. Our response is not to look sky ward and stop our lives in anticipation of the "Son of Man coming in a cloud", but to be the Presence of the Divine here and now so that redemption may begin today.

Second Half Wisdom

The texts today from the Roman Catholic Lectionary resonate with the description of the spiritual journey in the book Falling Upward by Richard Rohr. The episode from the Book of Daniel reveals the wisdom of Daniel and the esteem with which "elders", those who have the wisdom perspective of the "second half of life", a term used by Rohr, are regarded in many societies. The consequence of following the invitation of the Divine to a greater intimacy and vision of the beauty and simplicity of the Great Life Journey is isolation from those who continue to prefer competition over cooperation, war over peace, exclusion over inclusion, law over spirit, action over patience. The advice of Jesus in the Gospel of Luke is to endure and wait patiently for the Wisdom, insight and words which will fill and satisfy the thirst of our souls for the "Truth".

Temporal Kingdoms cause concerns

The texts today from the Roman Catholic Lectionary offer a opportunity to see our spiritual journey to transcend time and space with the background of the events which mark our temporal existence. Daniel has great value to his captors because of the authority and clarity with which he is able to create an image of the succession of rulers of the people. We continue today to seek and be enticed by those who can give us some hint of the future. It may be a horoscope, some "Celtic fore runner", a dream sequence or the clarity of the statistician or demographer. When Jesus addresses the events which will precede the end of the earth in the text from the Gospel of Luke, we are both encouraged and disappointed. The pattern of human existence and tragedy which He recounts is our experience today. Scholars of the humanities will confirm that humanity has always struggled  with power, oppression, greed and natural disaster. The other constant in our history is the desire to know the answers to the great questions of Why and What and Who which arise as we ponder the meaning of our existence and our thirst for intimacy with the Presence which is transcendent of human folly and errant direction.

Practice is powerful

The texts today from the Roman Catholic Lectionary invite reflection on the role of religious practice in the lives of believers. The noble men of the Book of Daniel, Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah, are brought to the court of the conquering power and plan to continue the Jewish dietary practices in the face of great potential personal danger. Providence is in play as they find a way to convince the official in charge of their care to substitute allowed vegetables for the "unclean" food of the court. We may question the concern of the God of the Universe for the maintenance of "Kosher" or "Halal" or "meatless Friday" food choices. The practice of the dietary restrictions is the sign to the wider community that the believer is honoring a commitment or a Covenant or a closeness in intimate relationship with the Divine. As Jesus comments in the Gospel of Luke, the Widow's Mite, is two small coins given from the resources she needs to survive to pay her portion to the practice of supporting the Temple. The power of her understanding of the deep giving of self that she presents puts flesh on the desire of Israel that the Lord God be in intimate relationship with the people and be the love of our entire body and soul. Our being is sustained in the gracious love of God. Our practice makes this tangible.

Sheep Shepherds and Goats

The texts today from the Roman Catholic Lectionary celebrate the Solemnity of Christ the King. The leadership of the people of God is described in the reading from the Prophet Ezekiel and in the well known Psalm 23 as shepherd-like. The consequence of such leadership for the people is the security and certainty of the dominance of goodness and mercy in our relationship with God. The action required to bring this will of the Father that the scattered, lost and strayed be brought back to the attention and care of the community has, according to Friar Jude Winkler, been neglected by the kings of Israel, in the Exile time of Ezekiel. The leaders who have used their position to enrich themselves will be replaced by a Covenant relationship between the weak, lost and injured and the Presence of God. Fr Larry Gillick, SJ, carries the theme of investment from recent Gospel readings to the Latin origin of the "vest" which Jesus wears and shares with those mentioned in the "Last Judgement" texts from the Gospel of Matthew. The distinction is made in this Gospel between sheep and goats. Friar Jude explains the behavior observed in these animals by the herds people of Matthew's day. Sheep graze and drink while maintaining the life of the grass and stream. Goats destroy the grass roots and muddy the stream as they take care of their needs to the exclusion of others. This battle between providing for ourselves and being food, drink, comfort and security for others in whom Jesus is invested is on going. The proclamation of Paul that even our tendency to self aggrandizement will be defeated as Jesus reign as King puts all his enemies under His feet encourages us to complete this liturgical year and look forward to grow more aware next yearof our membership in His Kingdom.

Snared in the work of our hands

The texts today from the Roman Catholic Lectionary present a reminder that our cleverness to seek gain and advantage for ourselves is path which requires much energy and effort. The First Book of Maccabees details the last days of Antiochus Epiphanes which are marked by a life sapping depression and illness which are a consequence of the fear of the king as his empire begins to collapse. The psalmist praises the work of the Lord which has caused the enemies of Israel to be "shared in the work of their own hands".  This theme will be presented to us as the Christmas season arrives and we revisit Dicken's "A ChristmasCarol" and see how Scrooge has become trapped in the persona of one driven by greed. The Sadducees, in the Gospel of Luke attempt to trick Jesus by a legalistic question about life after the resurrection. Their position is that there is no resurrection and they are seeking to expose the error of those who do not hold their position. Jesus brings them to the proclamation of Moses concerning Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. The texts which the religious authorities know refer to the Patriarchs in the present tense when Moses encounters God at the burning bush. The scribes, who are the opponents of the Sadducees, praise Jesus answer probably more for the silencing of the questioners than for its insight into the Divine Plan. The journey to praise of the simple and beautiful works of the Creator does not detour to self aggrandizement.

Holy Places are essential

The texts from the Roman Catholic Lectionary today mark the commemoration of believers of Sacred Locations where communion with the Divine is experienced. The First Book of Maccabees details the cleansing and dedication of the Temple after the Macabeen rebels had recovered it from the armies of Antiochus Epiphanes. The celebration of this rededication is today known as Hanukkah. The passage from First Chronicles presents the praise for God which overwhelms David. This intimate connection with God is the experience of many. It may be in the Holy Place where nature reveals the sheer majesty and beauty of the Creator. It may be in the eyes of the infant looking out to the world with great expectation at his parent or grandparent. It may be that "still quiet voice" which whispers in the leaves by the water. In the Gospel of Luke, Jesus is angered by those who have made the sacred space of the Holy City into a bizarre. The reverent atmosphere which Holy Ground requires is absent. Our Christian understanding of our membership in the Body of Christ as "Temples of the Holy Spirit" is the meditation which needs to produce fruit of cleansing and rededication of our Holy Space. We have to seek the experience of David as we encounter the Presence of the Creator in all people.

Standing up for the relationship

The texts today from the Roman Catholic Lectionary give us the opportunity to consider the depth of our relationship with the Divine. The decision of Mattathias in the episode from the 1st Book of Maccabees is to act in "righteous anger" against the attempt of the occupying powers to have the Jews renounce their Covenant by sacrifice at the pagan altar. His response is in the pattern of Moses and results in the exile of the Jewish faithful to the hills in the wilderness. The words of the psalmist offer praise for the protection of God for those who endure sacrifice to maintain the Covenant. The text from Luke's Gospel has Jesus comment on the focus of the crowd on the provision by Jesus of food and healing to them which seems to be drawing them away from embracing the deep intimate relationship which He offers even to the extent of accepting betrayal to the authorities, who seek His death, by those to whom He offers satisfaction of their spiritual hunger and righteousness through healing of the offense they may have provided to God. We are challenged to open our eyes  and ears to  revelation of how we could move away from the distractions to a deeper level of intimacy with God.

God does have a plan

The texts from the Roman Catholic Lectionary today challenge us to consider the nature of the plan of the Creator for the universe and our role in that plan. This may seem to be an enormous undertaking but Friar Jude Winkler today provides the background research to set the stage of belief in the resurrection and the necessity of martyrdom for the passage from Maccabees and the Stoicism in Matthew's background for his sensitivity to the realization of the plan of God in real time and places like Jerusalem. In our time the understanding that the love of God with our entire being, including "body and soul", is being replaced with more of a limited commitment to give. "God cannot expect me to..." is frequently our attitude. This does not seem to be the understanding of those put to death in the first reading. Jesus continues His journey to Jerusalem where the Will of the Father will bring Him into conflict with the authorities and to His death. The parable from the Gospel advises that when we know to a greater or lesser degree what the Will of the Father is for us, we show our involvement in the relationship of unconditional love with God by attending to the work and activity that is our vocation and for which we are amply provided with resources. Our prayer like the psalmist is that God will hear, protect and remain visible to us.

Salvation is witnessed

The texts today from the Roman Catholic Lectionary invite some consideration of what Richard Rohr writes in Falling Upward that we can enter the "second half of life" with a new journey toward greater intimacy with the Divine. This new journey is a return home to the simple and beautiful. The decision of Eleazar in the passage from the second book of Maccabees to be tortured to death instead of eating the flesh of animals sacrificed to idols  is a decision to put the elder duty of role model at the forefront of his following the Will of God which is the journey to a new relationship with God deeper than the one which he feared he would loose by rejecting the call to be a martyr. The approval of his friends is one of the "deaths" he experiences in the saving of his life through loosing it. In the Gospel from Luke, Jesus calls Zacchaeus into the second half journey by inviting Himself to visit Zacchaeus house and initiate the response of loosing wealth, former friends and position of influence as Jesus proclaims that the new journey bringing Zacchaeus into deeper relationship with God is "salvation has come to this house". Both these Scripture texts are the evidence of the proclamation of the psalmist that "Deliverance belongs to the Lord; may your blessing be on your people!"

Not seeing our blindness

The episode today from the Gospel of Luke in the Roman Catholic Lectionary tells of the blind beggar who hears the crowd moving by and calls out to determine who is passing. The passers-by inform him that Jesus is moving through. He calls out in a determined manner, not in search of the alms, which he needed to continue his existence, but in a faith filled appeal to be changed and to know again full life. When this exercise of faith, trust persistence and courage is compared to the assimilation of the Jewish tradition by the Greek conquerers described in the texts from Maccabees we see an abandonment of the relationship with God through the Covenant for the false security of integration and acceptance of the way of the conquering power. The blindness of the people allowed the deception of the Hellenization of Israel to be perceived as progress, yet the historians record that many were killed and enslaved by the Greek masters. Some chose to maintain their sight and vision of the relationship with God and they became martyrs. We need to be stirred from our patterns like the blind beggar so that in the sight of faith we may recognize those deceptive promises and popular movements, today, which threaten our desire to maintain our relationship with God. We can avoid blindness as we call out in faith.

Money, gifts and faith

The talent of people is a theme running through the texts from the Roman Catholic Lectionary today. One point of view to consider is the effect or consequence of the wise use of charisms, treasure and faith. Friar Jude Winkler offers the reflection that the male oriented society in which the passage from Proverbs praises the "good wife" concentrates on her ability to make her husband successful and noticed in the community. The fruit of her activity in which the husband trusts her deeply is the success of his mission. When the passage from Proverbs is related to the parable of the Ten Talents from Matthew's Gospel, Fr Larry Gillick, SJ, understands the role of our works is to present a sign of the Works of God to Whom goes the praise for the actions. As we grow into the position of intimate marriage in our relationship with the Divine, we become the "capable wife" of the Proverbs. The psalmist reflects on the fruit of this "successful marriage" in the abundance of children gathered around the table. This image is one which the "New Evangelization" can work towards when a great harvest of the children of God are gathered around the table of the Lord. The evangelist requires some trust that efforts to bear fruit are the will of God especially when the Master appears to have gone on a journey. In the Gospel of Matthew, Jesus is using the Parable to instruct His disciples that faith is a gift from God and it is not equally distributed among people. The trust in God is necessary to for all faith to bear fruit. Without that trust, the talent or faith is wasted and the disciple servant, who may have been paralyzed by an immature understanding of his relationship to the Master, is judged not to be ready to enter into the joy of the Master. The invitation to work in the vineyard requires change. We cannot expect fear of consequence, not being ready for the "day of the Lord", or the "judgement of the Master" to motivate us to the necessary intimacy where we trust that we can move like Abraham and Mary into areas and actions which are beyond merely human talents and charisms. 

The chips are down

The texts from the Roman Catholic Lectionary today encourage reflection on the patience we have when "the chips are down". The Book of Wisdom reminds the readers of the deliverance from the slavery of Egypt which was accomplished by God and the faith of the people that they would be protected and led to a Promised Land.  The psalmist proclaims praise to God for the delivery of the people of God from Egyptian slavery to the be faithful to the promise to Abraham. The passage from Luke is a parable where Jesus relates how the patience and persistence of widow seeking justice led to her moving the unjust judge to decide in her favour. The middle east culture often uses exaggeration to make a point. The action of the "unjust" judge is compared to the Divine justice which does not hesitate to respond to the petitions of the faithful. When does the response take effect?  The parable declares that it comes quickly. The tension between the desire of the faithful person and the will and desire of God to lead us to the fulfillment of His Promises may translate into time for the movement toward the intimacy with the Divine which best resolves our need and at the same time as we petition and move toward this deeper intimacy we experience the grace of faith to fuel our patience and persistence.

Missing the message

The texts from the Roman Catholic Lectionary today point to how we often miss the message. The Book of Wisdom presents the case of those who experience awe at the wonders of the universe that they observe in nature.  Rather than explore this experience to search for the Creator of the vista we pause to glorify what the senses tell us. The psalmist proclaims that the knowledge of the Divine is in the events and experiences of our daily life. The resonance between commuters rushing home on a busy city street presenting the miracle of human diversity and energy and the indwelling Spirit of God is a contact point with the Divine. In the Gospel from Luke Jesus answers questions about when the Kingdom of God will be a reality. He advises that the opportunity to be in the Kingdom involves loosing the life we cling to and being open to a call to change which we may witness in the lives of those close to us. Responding to the call to the Kingdom is responding to the deep homesickness which draws us to God, not moving into this deeper intimacy leaves us as a sickly corpse.

Wisdom Love and Suffering

The texts from the Roman Catholic Lectionary today explore the path and pattern of experience of Presence in life. Luke relates in the Gospel the response of Jesus to the Pharisees question about the timing of the coming of the kingdom of God. The Kingdom of God is among you is Jesus proclamation. The faith tradition of the Pharisees includes the understanding of the emanation of God described in the first reading as Wisdom. The details of the attributes of Wisdom reveal that the Pharisees must have lost this intimate relationship with the Divine. The psalmist expresses the praise and thanksgiving which are the fruit of the experience of faithfulness and enlightenment which is life in the Kingdom of God. Jesus presents a path to the deeper relationship with God which many in His time and many today reject. The path to the intimacy is given by Jesus and it involves death to self. Richard Rohr after 40 years as a Franciscan and 30 years as a priest offers the wisdom of two paths to greater intimacy with God. In his recent books, The Naked Now and Falling Upward he declares that deep love and deep suffering are two paths which will open our wisdom to the Presence of the Kingdom of God.

Our place of worship

The Gospel of John today from the Roman Catholic Lectionary relates the events of Jesus clearing the merchants from the Temple in Jerusalem. He shows displeasure at the use of His Father's House as a market place. We recognize that the human spirit responds to and is attracted to "spiritual places". The Celtic Church has celebrated "thin places" where the realm of the temporal comes close to the realm of the infinite. Jesus directs the attention of the Temple authorities to the Temple of the indwelling Spirit which is our body.  Paul, in the letter to the Corinthians proclaims that we are God's Temple and when we gather together we become God's building. The Christian Church celebrates the Presence of Christ in the gathered Assembly. The text from the Book of Ezekiel relates the life that flows from a "living Temple" which gathers and distributes the life of the Presence of the Divine to all who are open to see the invitation to "go with the flow".

Excellent Expectations

The Book of Wisdom from the Roman Catholic Lectionary for today reveals the understanding that the expected path of people is to be aware of their relationship to the Divine and to find in that relationship the love which invokes trust and reveals truth. The expectation of those who know their place in God is that the grace and mercy of God will live with them for eternity. The psalmist echoes the experienced truth that the Lord is near to the broken hearted and saves the crushed in spirit. From the position of slave as Luke outlines in the Gospel today, we acquire a proper humble perspective that the best we can do, in our relationship with the Divine, only what is expected of creature when aware of Creator.

How pervasive a Presence!

The texts today from the Roman Catholic Lectionary present Presence of God as the all encompassing "unified field" of the universe. This appreciation which Richard Rohr, in his latest book "Falling Upward", associates with deep time awareness is proclaimed in the Book of Wisdom as a kindly Spirit which has filled the world and holds all things together. The condition of our "receiver", a model Rohr uses in his book "The Naked Now" is presented by the Wisdom author as having an impact on the quality of our perception of the Presence. The foolish, distrustful, insincere and those caught up in their addictions have damaged receivers. The psalmist reminds us of God who is part of our most insignificant actions and aware of our intimate thoughts is at our side always prepared to lead us and hold us in relationship. The Gospel from Luke parallels the Presence with the advice that we need be wary of acting against the Will of God, in particular, if we show others ways in which they may be lead away from intimacy with the Divine. Always those who are aware of the Presence have the directive to be forgiving as God is forgiving. The faith which is the fruit and the necessary component of acting in accord with Will of God is Present in sufficient quantity to accomplish the mission.

Is wisdom rare?

The texts from the Roman Catholic Lectionary today present an opportunity to reflect on wisdom. The Book of Wisdom personifies wisdom as a desirable aspect of our relationship with God. She is found by those who seek her. We do turn to the Divine for wisdom and our experience is that we do encounter her on our paths and in our thoughts. The letter of Paul to the Thessalonians is one of the earliest Christian texts. Paul addresses the coming of the Lord as an early concern of this community. Friar Jude Winkler suggests that perhaps a member of the community has died and the survivors need to understand the situation of their friend when Jesus returns. The early Church expected Jesus to return within their life times. The liturgical year is drawing to a close and the Church brings us liturgy and Word to encourage reflection on the end times. The Gospel of Matthew contrasts the situation of those who are prepared to enter into the deep relationship with Jesus, the bridegroom with those who appear to be missing the opportunity. Wisdom is presented as the quality of the prepared bridesmaids who have used their resources to acquire enough of the valuable oil to see them through. The ill prepared have apparently decided not to use their resources to prepare to be able to see the bridegroom and as a result will not be able to accompany him into the wedding. The message of Matthew advises that we do not know when the end of our earthly lives will happen. It is never too early to prepare our lamps for that time.

Mastering our service

The Gospel of Luke from the Roman Catholic Lectionary today brings us close to the tension between the use and proper treatment of wealth, especially that of others, and the declaration of Jesus that we cannot serve two masters; "God and wealth". The conclusion of the Gospel passage today reminds us that the thinking of God and people are not the same. The psalmist positions humanity in the proper role of praising and proclaiming thanksgiving for the mighty acts of God which we witness daily. Does this vast difference in power and impact on the universe take away our responsibilities for wealth management?  The "prosperity gospel" may require professional wealth management as a prudent action to maximize our ROI!  One danger may be that the object becomes the "best return" on our financial investment rather than the investment in the love of people which is the work of God. The letter to the Romans which concludes with the passage today praises the action of God through the obedience of faith to send those proclaiming the Good News to the Gentiles who, according to religious authorities, were not the chosen ones. The action plan for using our time, treasure and talent needs to be exercised through trusting our faith in our relationship with Jesus through the resonance of our indwelling Spirit with the Spirit of God to use our resources in the service of one Master.

Contrast and contradiction

The texts in the Roman Catholic Lectionary today initially present some contradiction to our usual assumptions. Paul writes to the Romans about the success he has had in his missionary work. He refers to his boasting about his work. The context of this passage is explained in the commentary today by Friar Jude Winkler. Paul is planning to go to Jerusalem and he is appealing for the support of the community in Rome to present himself in the best way to the Church in Jerusalem who may have reservations about him based on his former life as persecutor of the Way. In the Gospel of Luke, Friar Jude explains that Jesus is using the appreciation of Middle East culture for cleverness to create the contrast between how people are clever about making their way in the world and doing all the clever things to succeed, yet they do not apply similar strategic thinking to the mission of the spiritual journey. We need to deal with a tension between attending to the will and direction of God, as we perceive it, and be open to respond with trust and yes to the prompting of the Spirit and the requirement that Jesus and Paul illustrate today to make use of the strategic skills we have developed in human relations and getting along in the world for the greater victory through the "right hand and holy arm" of God which the psalmist proclaims will be seen by all the ends of the earth.

Of course, we loose!

The spiritual journey includes our path through life and death as Paul speaks to the Romans in the text today from the Roman Catholic Lectionary. The psalmist addresses the natural human fear of death with the proclamation that the Lord is my light and my salvation. Richard Rohr, in Falling Upward, emphasizes the necessity of death to self in the completion of the spiritual journey toward transcendent intimacy with the Divine. The Gospel of Luke in Chapter 15, Rohr writes, contains 3 stories of loss. The sheep, a coin and a son are lost.  He comments that these parable are about loosing something, searching for it with some effort, finding it again and rejoicing about the return of the lost. This seems to be the necessary path of spiritual growth. We are always loosing, searching and regaining. The advice of the psalmist as we move through these phases is to believe that we shall see the goodness of the Lord and to be strong and let our hearts take courage especially when we are at the stage of anticipating loss or struggling to find the lost part of our relationship with God. Paul cautions against judgement of our neighbours who may be in the necessary struggle portion of their current search. We trust that they like we will regain the state where "every tongue shall give praise to God"

Faithful and Falling Upward

Today the Church commemorates the faithful departed and the texts from the Roman Catholic Lectionary are familiar to us who have attended liturgies to mark the passing of friends and family. In his recent book, Falling Upward, Franciscan theologian Richard Rohr addresses the second half of our spiritual journey when we are dismissing the ego which got us through the first phase of the journey and we are accepting the answer of Jesus in the Gospel of John today that the grain of wheat must die to bear much fruit. As part of this change in our approach to growing in intimacy with God through Jesus Christ and the Holy Spirit we enter an experience of a second journey where as Rohr puts it, relative to yesterday's texts, that life based on the 8 Beatitudes replaces life driven by the Ten Commandments. We are aware of both the human death to self and the resurrection of intimacy in our relationship with the Divine. This is the intimacy about which Job proclaims that he knows that his Redeemer lives ! The psalmist echoes the praise of the second half journey which is aware through experience of the steadfast love and compassion of God. With Paul we stand today in anticipation of the moment into which we have already entered by intimacy and transcendent Presence when the life of all from all time will be known to us as resurrection

Seeking and seeing

The texts today from the Roman Catholic Lectionary on the feast of All Saints point to the state and the struggle of those who pursue an intimate communion with the Divine. The psalmist seeks to answer the question of who shall stand in the holy place. The state of being in that place is one of clean hands and a pure heart. How can broken and tempted flesh get there? The text from Revelation is a vision of those who have been robed in the white garments of pure hearts through being washed in the blood of the Lamb. It is not a triumph of our sheer will power that moves us to the resonance of our indwelling Spirit with the Spirit of God but the love of God, proclaimed in the first letter of John, which empowers us to live as the Beatitude people of Matthew's Gospel  who are poor in spirit; knowing our broken-ness, comfort for those who mourn; from our experience of the Comfort of the Spirit, meek; as we seek humility and death of our ego, desiring righteousness; for the peace which surpasses when we are aligned with the Will of the Father, merciful; for our very being is sustained by His mercy, moving toward a pure heart; which removes the veil through which we see darkly, peacemakers; as He sought to reconcile Jew and Gentile, persecuted in the tension between being in a relationship with the Divine in a world which does not know Him and receiving consolation that the choice to respond to the invitation to seek the face of God is authentic as evidenced by the reaction of the original sin in the world.