A spiritual DNA for alms, prayer, and fasting

The texts from the Roman Catholic Lectionary today offer contemplation of the contrasts between a transactional approach to our relationship with God and our being led by the Spirit to discovery of our essence as the image of God.

A heritage of relationship with God

In the Second Book of Kings, Elisha seeks to inherit a double portion of the Spirit of Elijah including the power to call on God for miraculous events.

* [2:9] Double portion of your spirit: as the firstborn son inherited a double portion of his father’s property (Dt 21:17), so Elisha asks to inherit from Elijah his spirit of prophecy in the degree befitting his principal disciple. In Nm 11:17–25, God bestows some of the spirit of Moses on others.

In the Sermon on the Mount from the Gospel of Matthew, Jesus declares how to practice almsgiving, prayer and fasting, as recommended by the rabbis when seeking forgiveness and reconciliation with God.

* [6:1–18] The sermon continues with a warning against doing good in order to be seen and gives three examples, almsgiving (Mt 6:2–4), prayer (Mt 6:5–15), and fasting (Mt 6:16–18). In each, the conduct of the hypocrites (Mt 6:2) is contrasted with that demanded of the disciples. The sayings about reward found here and elsewhere (Mt 5:12, 46; 10:41–42) show that this is a genuine element of Christian moral exhortation. Possibly to underline the difference between the Christian idea of reward and that of the hypocrites, the evangelist uses two different Greek verbs to express the rewarding of the disciples and that of the hypocrites; in the latter case it is the verb apechō, a commercial term for giving a receipt for what has been paid in full (Mt 6:2, 5, 16).

Keith Krell, a senior pastor, explores the concept from Matthew 6 of a receipt for what has been paid in full as he underlines that we need to do the right thing in the right way.

The word translated “in full” (apecho) is a technical term for commercial transactions and means to “receive a sum in full and give a receipt for it.”20 When you seek to impress people you are not giving but buying, and you get what you paid for. [Take out a receipt.] This receipt shows that I made a purchase at Jack In The Box and received some “food” (if you can call it that). I paid for my food. I received it in full and consumed it. End of story. This is equally true when I seek to impress people instead of God. I am paid in full with no hope of any future reward.

Julie Kalkowski suggests that knowing God is watching even we think others are not can help nudge us into doing the right thing.

We are all called to use the gifts God has blessed us with to serve others.  What a lucky girl I was to be close to two very different grandmothers who did just that. It wasn’t a competition for them, they were just following an old prayer about being “the hands and feet of Jesus”.  And that is how we build God’s kingdom here and now, one quiet kindness at a time.

Don Schwager offers that the Lord rewards those who seek him with humble and repentant hearts. He renews us each day and he gives us new hearts of love and compassion that we may serve him and our neighbor with glad and generous hearts. Seek him expectantly in prayer, with fasting, and in generous giving to those in need.

What is the sure reward which Jesus points out to his disciples? It is union with God our Father. In him alone we find the fullness of life and happiness, truth and beauty, love and joy. Saint Augustine of Hippo (354-430 AD) wrote the following prayer in his Confessions: When I am completely united to you, there will be no more sorrows or trials; entirely full of you, my life will be complete.

Word Among Us Meditation on Matthew 6:1-6, 16-18 teaches that fasting is just as valuable today as it was in Jesus’ time.

It gives us more time to turn to the Lord in prayer. The physical hunger we feel can help put us in touch with our spiritual hunger for Jesus. It confirms Jesus’ teaching that we don’t live on bread alone “but by every word that comes forth from the mouth of God” (Matthew 4:4). Even better, tuning in to the Lord through fasting puts us more clearly in touch with his love, his desires, and his peace. These spiritual rewards far outweigh any temporary feelings of discomfort from hunger

Friar Jude Winkler makes connections between Elijah, Joshua and Moses. The trio of Enoch, Elijah, and Moses were thought to have special understanding of heaven by apocalyptic authors in the centuries before and after Jesus life. Friar Jude looks at the tension between doing “in secret” and being set upon a lampstand as a witness to Christ.

Fr. Richard Rohr, OFM, emphasizes that searching for and rediscovering the True Self is the fundamentum, the essential task that will gradually open us to receiving and giving love to God, others, and ourselves, and thus to live truly just lives.

The single and true purpose of mature religion is to lead you to ever new experiences of your True Self. If religion does not do this, it is junk religion. Every sacrament, every Bible story, every church service, every sermon, every hymn, every bit of priesthood, ministry, or liturgy is for one purpose: to allow you to experience your True Self—who you are in God and who God is in you—and to live a generous and just life from that Infinite Source.

Ave Maria Press questions Dan Horan, OFM, about the links between the True Self of Thomas Merton and Franciscan spirituality.

Ave Maria Press: Thomas Merton is known for his insight into the “True Self.” In your book you trace this concept back to a Franciscan perspective. Can you explain the connection there?Dan Horan, OFM: The origin of and the theological foundation for Merton’s notion of the “True Self” can be traced back to the original work of a medieval Franciscan friar named John Duns Scotus. Scotus argued that what makes something a particular or individual thing was not external or extrinsic to that thing (as many other theories held), but that everything is particularly loved into existence by God with a unique, inalienable, and unrepeatable identity that is really identical with a thing’s very existence This “principle of individuation” (the technical term) of Scotus is called haecceitas in Latin (meaning “this-ness”), which Merton refers to during his studies of the tradition and around the time he begins working on what will become his book New Seeds of Contemplation in which the “True Self” concept first appears..

Religious experience leads us to ever new experiences of your True Self. Our almsgiving, prayer and fasting is energized by our spiritual DNA in the image of God.

References

(n.d.). 2 Kings, chapter 2 - United States Conference of Catholic Bishops. Retrieved June 20, 2018, from http://www.usccb.org/bible/2kings/2

(n.d.). Matthew, chapter 6 - United States Conference of Catholic Bishops. Retrieved June 20, 2018, from http://www.usccb.org/bible/matthew6:48

(2010, March 23). 7. Secret Service (Matthew 6:1–18) | Bible.org. Retrieved June 20, 2018, from https://bible.org/seriespage/7-secret-service-matthew-61-18

(n.d.). Creighton U Daily Reflections - OnlineMinistries - Creighton University. Retrieved June 20, 2018, from http://onlineministries.creighton.edu/CollaborativeMinistry/daily.html

(n.d.). Saint Romuald, Abbot (Optional Memorial) - Mass Readings and .... Retrieved June 20, 2018, from https://wau.org/meditations/

(n.d.). Daily Meditations Archive - Center for Action and Contemplation. Retrieved June 20, 2018, from https://cac.org/richard-rohr/daily-meditations/daily-meditations-archive/

(2014, October 14). Author Spotlight: Dan Horan, Author of The Franciscan Heart of .... Retrieved June 20, 2018, from https://www.avemariapress.com/news/2014/10/14/author-spotlight-dan-horan-merton-and-st-francis/