Love trust and freedom

The texts from the Roman Catholic Lectionary today invite us to contemplate the freedom we experience through trust in God and our conformation to his Will that we embrace Love for all people and creation.

Freedom in trust and love

Hosea outlines living with the dedication to sincere conversion and new life.

 * [14:4] These good intentions promise a reversal of Israel’s sins: no more reliance on “Assyria,” i.e., on foreign alliances (see notes on 8:9 and 12:2), on “horses,” i.e., on human power (10:13), and on idolatry (8:4–6; 13:2). Israel will trust in the Lord alone.1

Psalm 81 exhorts if Israel repents, God will be with them once again.

* [Psalm 81] At a pilgrimage feast, probably harvest in the fall, the people assemble in the Temple in accord with the Sinai ordinances (Ps 81:2–6). They hear a divine word (mediated by a Temple speaker) telling how God rescued them from slavery in Egypt (Ps 81:7–9), gave them the fundamental commandment of fidelity (Ps 81:9–11), which would bring punishment if they refused to obey (Ps 81:12–13). But if Israel repents, God will be with them once again, bestowing protection and fertility (Ps 81:14–16).2 

In the Gospel from Mark, Jesus connects the question of the scribe to the Great Commandment.

* [12:13–34] In the ensuing conflicts (cf. also Mk 2:1–3:6) Jesus vanquishes his adversaries by his responses to their questions and reduces them to silence (Mk 12:34).3 

Barbara Dilly asks: What does the commandment to love God with all our hearts have to do with the prophet Hosea’s words about how God supports those who trust in Him? What does it have to do with the Psalmist’s reminder of our liberation?

Reflecting on these passages today helps me understand that Jesus is calling me to discern carefully where I place my trust, am I really listening to the one God, and am I responding to my faith wisely.  Who or what is my God? Am I wasting my time with burnt offerings and sacrifices to alien gods when I should be focusing my life on loving God and others? Am I really listening to God? 4 

Don Schwager quotes “The fire of God's love,” by Augustine of Hippo,354-430 A.D.

"Gravity keeps everything in its own place. Fire climbs up, while a stone goes down. Elements that are not in their own place are restless until they find it. This applies also to us. My weight is my love; wherever I go, I am driven by it. By the love of God we catch fire ourselves and, by moving up, find our place and our rest." (excerpt from Confessions 13,9)5  

The Word Among Us Meditation on Hosea 14:2-10 shares that today, just as in Hosea’s time, God continues to plead with his people to come back to him. Since Lent is all about God’s call to come home, let’s listen for his voice in the words of Hosea.

Take with you words (Hosea 14:3). God knows that the act of confessing our sins is the first step toward freedom. Naming them aloud is the best way to bring them into the light, where the Lord can free us. Isn’t this what happens in Confession? Our words of repentance have the power to unlock the chains that have dragged us down. It’s not always easy, though, to find the right words. But that doesn’t matter to the Lord.6 

Friar Jude Winkler explains how Hosea saw his love of his unfaithful wife, Gomer, as a paradigm of the love of God for Israel. We love God with heart or intellect, soul or our very life essence, mind or conscience, and strength or our physical possessions. Friar Jude notes that the scribe who set out to trick Jesus concludes that Jesus has authority and wisdom.

Fr. Richard Rohr, OFM, quotes Meister Eckhart [1], “The eye with which I see God is the same eye with which God sees me: my eye and God’s eye are one eye, one seeing, one knowing, and one love” and reflects on what David Benner calls “spirit-centered awakening.” Love, trust, and freedom are characteristic experiences of God in our transformation to living in union with One.

References

1	(n.d.). Hosea, chapter 14 - usccb. Retrieved March 29, 2019, from http://www.usccb.org/bible/hosea/14
2	(n.d.). Psalm 81 - usccb. Retrieved March 29, 2019, from http://www.usccb.org/bible/psalms/81
3	(n.d.). Mark, chapter 12 - usccb. Retrieved March 29, 2019, from http://www.usccb.org/bible/mark/12
4	(n.d.). Creighton U Daily Reflections - OnlineMinistries - Creighton University. Retrieved March 29, 2019, from http://onlineministries.creighton.edu/CollaborativeMinistry/daily.html
5	(n.d.). Daily Scripture Readings and Meditations. Retrieved March 29, 2019, from https://dailyscripture.servantsoftheword.org/
6	(n.d.). 3rd Week of Lent - Mass Readings and Catholic Daily Meditations for .... Retrieved March 29, 2019, from https://wau.org/meditations/2019/03/29
7	(n.d.). Daily Meditations Archive: March 2019 - Daily Meditations Archives .... Retrieved March 29, 2019, from https://cac.org/category/daily-meditations/2019/03/

Hard hearts in opposition

The texts from the Roman Catholic Lectionary today puts us on guard to the hardness of heart that may draw us away from our journey to truth, beauty, and goodness.

On the journey

Jeremiah addresses abuses in worship in the people of Jerusalem at the time of the exile.

Jeremiah... Abuses in Worship1

Psalm 95 is an invitation to praise God. It regularly opens the Church’s official prayer, the Liturgy of the Hours.

* [Psalm 95] Twice the Psalm calls the people to praise and worship God (Ps 95:1–2, 6), the king of all creatures (Ps 95:3–5) and shepherd of the flock (Ps 95:7a, 7b). The last strophe warns the people to be more faithful than were their ancestors in the journey to the promised land (Ps 95:7c–11). This invitation to praise God regularly opens the Church’s official prayer, the Liturgy of the Hours.2 

In the Gospel from Luke, Jesus answers the strange connection made by the people to Beelzebul.

* [11:19] Your own people: the Greek reads “your sons.” Other Jewish exorcists (see Acts 19:13–20), who recognize that the power of God is active in the exorcism, would themselves convict the accusers of Jesus. See also note on Mt 12:273 

MaryLee Brock shares “Praying and singing Psalm 95 has always been so meaningful for me: “If today you hear his voice, harden not your hearts”. I could not imagine a time when I would harden my heart to God’s voice. But now I realize that hearing the voice of God does not just happen in times of joy and gratitude and prayer.”

This Lent I pray for the grace to be open to hear the voice of God.  The first section of the prayer Teach Me To Listen by John Veltri, SJ is a wonderful meditation:  Teach me to listen, O God, to those nearest me, my family, my friends, my co-workers. Help me to be aware that no matter what words I hear, the message is, “Accept the person I am. Listen to me.”
Listening to the voice of God opens my heart to what truly matters.  Do you hear me?4 

Don Schwager quotes “God's help for our complete conversion,” by Augustine of Hippo, 354-430 A.D.

"When we transform our old life and give our spirit a new image, we find it very hard and tiring to turn back from the darkness of earthly passions to the serene calm of the divine light. We must ask God to help us that a complete conversion may be brought about in us." (excerpt from Commentary on Psalm 6,5) 5 

The Word Among Us Meditation on Jeremiah 7:23-28 comments that as anyone on a journey knows, the best way to get to the destination is to keep moving forward. That’s what makes today’s first reading so poignant. Through the prophet Jeremiah, God laments that his people have been going backward and not forward. They have turned their backs to the Lord and started walking away from him and back into the darkness of sin.

When you are faced with temptation today, keep this image in your mind. Remember that the choice is always yours: whether to take a step backward, away from your goal, or to walk forward, out of the swirling drives and urges and into the arms of your heavenly Father. Commit yourself today to continuing on with your journey of trust and love, keeping your eyes fixed on Jesus and his heavenly throne.
Remember too that the journey forward is not one you take alone. You are surrounded by the saints and angels. You have the witness, prayer, and support of brothers and sisters in Christ all over the world. Best of all, Jesus himself is always with you “until the end of the age” (Matthew 28:20).6 

Friar Jude Winkler relates that the people blame Jeremiah for judgement that has come upon them from their hard hearted turn from God. Beelzebul, the lord of the flies, is a clever word play involving Baal and the place of pagan worship. Friar Jude is alerted by the dualistic expression in the Gospel that sometimes we have to make crucial choices.

David Benner, a friend of Richard Rohr, OFM, and depth psychologist, explores what it means to grow in Christ He cites Cynthia Bourgeault and Meister Eckhart [c. 1260–c. 1328] as he observes that mystics [across all spiritual traditions] love the Divine so much that they no longer see any boundaries between God and mortals.

I have been blessed to have the opportunity to know well several people for whom union with God was not just a momentary experience but a relatively stable part of their ongoing journey. . . .


What struck me most as I related to them over time was that their ever-deepening journey into God made them more deeply human, not less human. . . . None showed an avoidance of the realities of life, and none seemed to use their spiritual experience as an escape. Although by this point they had all established a contemplative dimension to their life, they all were active in serving others in the world. This, they knew, was their home, and it was here that they had learned to meet God.7 

Our inner journey centering our prayer and seeking our true self leads us to live and be more open to listen and act in support of others.

References

1	(n.d.). Jeremiah, chapter 7 - usccb. Retrieved March 28, 2019, from http://www.usccb.org/bible/jeremiah/7
2	(n.d.). Psalms, chapter 95 - usccb. Retrieved March 28, 2019, from http://www.usccb.org/bible/psalms/95
3	(n.d.). Luke, chapter 11 - usccb. Retrieved March 28, 2019, from http://www.usccb.org/bible/luke/11
4	(n.d.). Creighton U Daily Reflections - OnlineMinistries - Creighton University. Retrieved March 28, 2019, from http://onlineministries.creighton.edu/CollaborativeMinistry/daily.html
5	(n.d.). Daily Scripture Readings and Meditations. Retrieved March 28, 2019, from https://dailyscripture.servantsoftheword.org/
6	(n.d.). 3rd Week of Lent - Mass Readings and Catholic Daily Meditations for .... Retrieved March 28, 2019, from https://wau.org/meditations/2019/03/28
7	(n.d.). Daily Meditations Archive: March 2019 - Daily Meditations Archives .... Retrieved March 28, 2019, from https://cac.org/category/daily-meditations/2019/03/