Harken meditate and see the vindication

The texts from the Roman Catholic Lectionary today invite us to adopt the open disposition of listening and contemplation as our path to awareness of God.

The stream of life

The Book of the Prophet Isaiah exhorts the exiles in Babylon to harken to the messages of God.

Psalm 1 urges us to choose the good over the bad.

* [Psalm 1] A preface to the whole Book of Psalms, contrasting with striking similes the destiny of the good and the wicked. The Psalm views life as activity, as choosing either the good or the bad. Each “way” brings its inevitable consequences. The wise through their good actions will experience rootedness and life, and the wicked, rootlessness and death.

In the Gospel from Matthew, Jesus exposes the contradictions in the response of the audience to the His actions and those of John the Baptist.

* [11:16–19] See Lk 7:31–35. The meaning of the parable (Mt 11:16–17) and its explanation (Mt 11:18–19b) is much disputed. A plausible view is that the children of the parable are two groups, one of which proposes different entertainments to the other that will not agree with either proposal. The first represents John, Jesus, and their disciples; the second those who reject John for his asceticism and Jesus for his table association with those despised by the religiously observant. Mt 11:19c (her works) forms an inclusion with Mt 11:2 (“the works of the Messiah”). The original form of the saying is better preserved in Lk 7:35 “…wisdom is vindicated by all her children.” There John and Jesus are the children of Wisdom; here the works of Jesus the Messiah are those of divine Wisdom, of which he is the embodiment. Some important textual witnesses, however, have essentially the same reading as in Luke.

Tom Lenz interprets the reading from the Gospel as Jesus commenting on the behaviors of the people and pointing out two observations – people are often too critical of others, and they never seem to be satisfied.

We have our opinions regardless of the circumstance, and are often angry and critical when the outcomes do not match our wishes. It’s easy to see this in childish behavior, which is probably why Jesus compares them to children. But, adults can show the same behavior, just in different context. Jesus gives another example of how we are often critical of others, just for the sake of being critical. John did not eat – so something must have been wrong with him. Jesus did eat – and something was wrong with him, too. It’s a “no win” situation. How often do we do this in our daily lives?

Don Schwager asks what can make us spiritually dull and slow to hear God's voice?

Like the generation of Jesus' time, our age is marked by indifference and contempt, especially in regards to the things of heaven. Indifference dulls our ears to God's voice and to the good news of the Gospel. Only the humble of heart can find joy and favor in God's sight

The Word Among Us Meditation on Matthew 11:16-19 comments that Jesus didn’t let their rejection get the best of him. According to him, “Wisdom is vindicated by her works” (Matthew 11:19).

Wisdom has even more works and miracles in store for us! Just as Jesus wanted a deeper connection with the people of his day, he longs for a closer relationship with us. Every time we pray, we have the opportunity to touch the hem of Jesus’ garment and experience his presence in our hearts. Every time we reach out to someone who is hurting, we have the opportunity to vindicate Jesus’ words by our acts of love and kindness. We can make a difference for them because we are letting God make a difference in us. And if we don’t feel much in prayer on a given day, we can always let God’s past work in our lives vindicate the wisdom of our persevering

Friar Jude Winkler recalls the names of God as mercy and faithfulness as he considers the second Exodus described in the Book of Isaiah. Our minds may be made up about how God should act. Friar Jude advises that we be ready to be surprised and hear the message in different ways by being open to God.

A Post by Franciscan Media comments that in the life and writings of John of the Cross is a crucial word for us today. We tend to be rich, soft, comfortable. We shrink even from words like self-denial, mortification, purification, asceticism, discipline. We run from the cross. John’s message—like the gospel—is loud and clear:  Don’t—if you really want to live!

But as agony leads to ecstasy, so John had his Ascent to Mt. Carmel, as he named it in his prose masterpiece. As man-Christian-Carmelite, he experienced in himself this purifying ascent; as spiritual director, he sensed it in others; as psychologist-theologian, he described and analyzed it in his prose writings. His prose works are outstanding in underscoring the cost of discipleship, the path of union with God: rigorous discipline, abandonment, purification. Uniquely and strongly John underlines the gospel paradox: The cross leads to resurrection, agony to ecstasy, darkness to light, abandonment to possession, denial to self to union with God. If you want to save your life, you must lose it. John is truly “of the Cross.” He died at 49—a life short, but full.

Fr. Richard Rohr, OFM, adds that if we do not discover a prayer practice that “invades” our unconscious and reveals what is hidden, we will actually change very little over our lifetime. This was much of the genius of John of the Cross (1542–1591) who, in a highly externalized Spanish Catholicism, spoke from personal experience of darkness, inner journeys, and the shadow self. He was centuries ahead of the modern discovery of the unconscious, and thus many of his fellow Carmelites considered him heretical and dangerous.

If your prayer goes deep, “invading” your unconscious, as it were, your whole view of the world will change from fear to connection, because you don’t live inside your fragile and encapsulated self anymore.
In meditation, you move from ego consciousness to soul awareness, from being fear-driven to being love-drawn. That’s it in a few words!

Wisdom is vindicated by her acts and our meditation in prayer is a opportunity to hear Him clearly invite us to His Way.

References

1	(n.d.). Isaiah, chapter 48 - United States Conference of Catholic Bishops. Retrieved December 14, 2018, from http://www.usccb.org/bible/isaiah/48
2	(n.d.). Psalms chapter 1 - United States Conference of Catholic Bishops. Retrieved December 14, 2018, from http://www.usccb.org/bible/psalms
3	(n.d.). Matthew chapter 11 - United States Conference of Catholic Bishops. Retrieved December 14, 2018, from http://www.usccb.org/bible/matthew/11
4	(n.d.). Creighton U Daily Reflections .... Retrieved December 14, 2018, from http://onlineministries.creighton.edu/CollaborativeMinistry/daily.html
5	(n.d.). Daily Scripture Readings and Meditations. Retrieved December 14, 2018, from https://dailyscripture.servantsoftheword.org/
6	(n.d.). Meditations - The Word Among Us. Retrieved December 14, 2018, from https://wau.org/meditations/
7	(n.d.). Saint John of the Cross – Franciscan Media. Retrieved December 14, 2018, from https://www.franciscanmedia.org/saint-john-of-the-cross/
8	(2017, December 30). 2018 Daily Meditations - Center for Action and Contemplation. Retrieved December 14, 2018, from https://cac.org/2018-daily-meditations/