The texts from the Roman Catholic Lectionary today encourage us to trust Providence as we seek the best lives for ourselves and others.
Door Opened
The reading from the Book of Esther is Esther’s Prayer.
The Greek version of the book dates from ca. 116 to 48 B.C. (see note on F:11). In the present translation, the Greek additions are indicated by the letters A through F. The regular chapter numbers apply to the Hebrew text.1
Psalm 138 offers Thanksgiving and Praise to God.
* [Psalm 138] A thanksgiving to God, who came to the rescue of the psalmist. Divine rescue was not the result of the psalmist’s virtues but of God’s loving fidelity (Ps 138:1–3). The act is not a private transaction but a public act that stirs the surrounding nations to praise God’s greatness and care for the people (Ps 138:4–6). The psalmist, having experienced salvation, trusts that God will always be there in moments of danger (Ps 138:7–8).2
In the Gospel of Matthew, Jesus teaches about Asking, Searching, Knocking, and The Golden Rule.
* [7:9–10] There is a resemblance between a stone and a round loaf of bread and between a serpent and the scaleless fish called barbut. * [7:12] See Lk 6:31. This saying, known since the eighteenth century as the “Golden Rule,” is found in both positive and negative form in pagan and Jewish sources, both earlier and later than the gospel. This is the law and the prophets is an addition probably due to the evangelist.3
Maureen McCann Waldron comments that in speaking of this gospel Pope Francis noted, “That’s an almost incredible guarantee that our prayers will always be heard.” But, Francis continued, “He doesn’t tell us ‘Ask and you’ll get whatever you ask for.’ He instructs us to seek but he doesn’t tell us exactly what we’ll find. He tells us to knock but he doesn’t say what will be waiting for us on the other side of the opened door. But he promises us that our prayers will be heard and God will respond.”
I can knock on the door, I can seek and ask for the help to love more generously. If I can pray with that every day in Lent and make that my Lent commitment, that will deepen my experience of Lent and my own relationship with Jesus. Loving God, I want to do everything myself, but like Esther, I realize I have no help but you. Please give me the strength and courage to be more loving and open in all of my relationships this Lent. Give me a listening heart to hear you speak to me when I knock.4
Don Schwager quotes “The gift of being good,” by Augustine, Bishop of Hippo, 354-430 A.D.
"He who has given us the gift of being gives us also the gift of being good. He gives to those who have turned back to Him. He even sought them out before they were converted and when they were far from his ways!" (Commentary on Psalm 103, 2)5
The Word Among Us Meditation on Matthew 7:7-12 comments that maybe we set out to find peace or fulfillment on our own when we might do better to wait for God to guide us. Later we realize that if we had taken time out to ask, seek, and knock, we would have found something far deeper, something that doesn’t ebb and flow with our circumstances.
What do you need the Lord to help you with? Go ahead and ask him for it. Tell him that you’re willing to wait for his wisdom and his timing. As you do, you’ll find him eager to fulfill your needs and to further the plan he has for you in just the way he has intended. He really does want to bless you! “Lord, open my eyes to your wisdom and generosity. Thank you for being not just a good provider but a Father who wants the very best for me and for those I love.”6
Fr. Richard Rohr, OFM, writes about the role of prophets and priests in the process of collective transformation. Prophets remove our illusions and help us see reality clearly, which for those of us in settled institutions often feels like a loss of security. Priests lead us on a path of returning to meaning and transcendence. Religious scholar Diana Butler Bass writes of Christianity’s tension between the pastoral and the prophetic when it comes to upholding the institutional status quo.
The history of Christianity can be told as a story of the tension between order and prophecy. Jesus came as a prophet, one who challenged and transformed Judaism. A charismatic community grew up around his teachings and eventually formed into the church. The church organized, and then became an institution. The institution provided guidance and meaning for many millions. And then it became guarded, protective of the power and wealth it garnered, the influence it wielded, and [the] salvation it alone provided. Many of the people in the church did not seem to notice, but some did. What the church taught seemed at odds with their experience of life or God. . . . They questioned the way things were done. They experimented with new ideas and spiritual practices. . . . They bent the rules and often broke them. The established church typically ignored them, sometimes tolerated them, often branded them heretics, tried to control them, and occasionally killed them. When enough people joined the ranks of the discontented, the institutional church had to pay attention. In the process, and sometimes unintentionally, the church opened itself up for genuine change and renewal.7
As we journey with the Spirit, our needs are addressed as God opens doors for us to invite us to the fullness of life.
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