Beyond Our Expectation

The texts from the Roman Catholic Lectionary today challenge us to openness to the Spirit to expand our understanding and experience of God in our lives.

Unexpected revelation

 

The reading from the Second Book of Kings describes the healing of Naaman.

* [5:12] Wash in them and be cleansed: typical of the ambiguity in ritual healing or cleanliness. The muddy waters of the Jordan are no match hygienically for the mountain spring waters of Damascus; ritually, it is the other way around.1

 

Psalm 42 expresses a longing for God and His help in distress. Psalm 43 is a prayer to God in time of Trouble.

* [Psalms 42–43] Ps 42–43 form a single lament of three sections, each section ending in an identical refrain (Ps 42:6, 12; 43:5). The psalmist is far from Jerusalem, and longs for the divine presence that Israel experienced in the Temple liturgy. Despite sadness, the psalmist hopes once again to join the worshiping crowds.2

 

In the Gospel of Luke, Jesus experiences rejection at Nazareth as “no prophet is accepted in the prophet’s hometown”.

* [4:25–26] The references to Elijah and Elisha serve several purposes in this episode: they emphasize Luke’s portrait of Jesus as a prophet like Elijah and Elisha; they help to explain why the initial admiration of the people turns to rejection; and they provide the scriptural justification for the future Christian mission to the Gentiles.3

 

Scott McClure comments that today's readings speak to the reality of a world of the unexpected. This is fitting, isn't it? After all, God has proven himself to be a God of the unexpected. In this way, the created world is the apple that doesn't fall far from its Creator, the proverbial tree.

When faced with such unexpected (and unwelcome) circumstances, our reflex can be to hurl [them] down headlong as Jesus' audience was aiming to do to him. We shy away from tension, don't we? It can be uncomfortable, even unbearable, to face the unexpected; to face what challenges us, what we think and what we feel. But this is precisely where Jesus calls us to be. He doesn't come to smooth everything over for us or to shield us from difficulties. Instead, he calls us to trust in him and to place our hope in him. As we hear in the Psalms today, I hope in the Lord, I trust in his word. This Lent, let us welcome where God comes to us in the unexpected, and let us place our trust in him when we meet it.4 

Don Schwager quotes “Could anyone refuse to love our God?”, by Augustine, Bishop of Hippo, 354-430 A.D.

"Fulfill the commandments out of love. Could anyone refuse to love our God, so abounding in mercy, so just in all his ways? Could anyone deny love to him who first loved us despite all our injustice and all our pride? Could anyone refuse to love the God who so loved us as to send his only Son not only to live among human beings but also to be put to death for their sake and at their own hands?"5

 

The Word Among Us Meditation on 2 Kings 5:1-15 comments that one “simple” avenue for healing is the sacraments, which “give growth and healing to Christ’s members” (Catechism, 798). In the Sacrament of the Anointing, God gives special grace to restore and strengthen us when we are tried by illness (1510–11). In the Sacrament of Reconciliation, God can heal us of every kind of sin, whether jealousy, anger, or resentment, and bring us peace as we are reconciled to him (1496). And in the Sacrament of the Eucharist, Jesus can fill us with grace, strengthen our love for God and neighbor, and help us let go of harmful behaviors (1323, 1394).

Not all of us need physical healing, but everyone needs spiritual healing. This week, set aside any disdain for the “simple cure” and your own thoughts of how God ought to heal. Let nothing keep you from the grace he offers in the sacraments. Consider going to daily Mass or Confession. Trust your Father to meet you there with the balm of mercy and grace and the strength to be made whole. Trust him to provide that simple cure. “Lord, I need your healing today.”6

 

Friar Jude Winkler discusses the likely nature of Naaman’s skin disease. The contradiction of a simple act to solve a complex problem delays the response of Naaman. Friar Jude notes that Jesus' reference to the faith of pagans requires Him to pass through the angry crowd.

 

Fr. Richard Rohr, OFM, describes the paradoxical impact that Paul’s revelation of Christ had for him. His way of thinking and being changed completely. Meeting the Risen Christ on the road to Damascus changed everything for Paul. He experienced the great paradox that the crucified Jesus was in fact alive! And he, Paul, a “sinner,” was in fact chosen and beloved. This pushed Paul from the usual either/or, dualistic thinking to both/and, mystical thinking.

The truth in paradoxical language lies neither in the affirmation nor in the denial of either side, but precisely in the resolution of the tug-of-war between the two. The human mind usually works on the logical principle of contradiction, according to which something cannot be both true and false at the same time. Yet that is exactly what higher truths invariably undo (for example, God is both one and three; Jesus is both human and divine; bread and wine are both matter and Spirit). Unfortunately, since the Reformation and the Enlightenment, we Western, educated people have lost touch with paradoxical, mystical, or contemplative thinking. We’ve wasted five centuries taking sides—which is so evident in our culture today!7

 

The mystery and marvel of full life on our journey testifies to the benefit of attention to the unexpected prompts of the Spirit.

 

References

1	(n.d.). 2 Kings, CHAPTER 5 | USCCB. Retrieved March 21, 2022, from https://bible.usccb.org/bible/2kings/5
2	(n.d.). Psalms, PSALM 42 | USCCB. Retrieved March 21, 2022, from https://bible.usccb.org/bible/psalms/42
3	(n.d.). Luke, CHAPTER 4 | USCCB. Retrieved March 21, 2022, from https://bible.usccb.org/bible/luke/4
4	(n.d.). Creighton U Daily Reflections - Online Ministries. Retrieved March 21, 2022, from https://onlineministries.creighton.edu/CollaborativeMinistry/032122.html
5	(n.d.). Daily Scripture Readings and Meditations. Retrieved March 21, 2022, from https://www.dailyscripture.net/daily-meditation/?ds_year=2022&date=mar21
6	(n.d.). The Word Among Us: Homepage. Retrieved March 21, 2022, from https://wau.org/meditations/2022/03/21/335161/
7	(n.d.). Daily Meditations — Center for Action and Contemplation. Retrieved March 21, 2022, from https://cac.org/a-tug-of-war-with-truth-2022-03-21/

 

The Temple and Trouble

The texts from the Roman Catholic Lectionary today challenge us to pray to discern the Will of God for our journey.

Time for the Temple

 

The reading from the Prophet Haggai exhorts the people to trust Providence to restore the future glory of the Temple.

* [2:6–9] These verses emphasize that the total fulfillment of God’s promises to Israel is on the horizon. Such an eschatological event, which will shake the nations (v. 6; cf. v. 21), finds an echo not only in the political revolts in the Persian empire in 521 but also in the formative events of Israel’s history (Ex 19:18; Jgs 5:4; Ps 68:8–9) when God intervened on behalf of the Israelites. The bringing of treasures of all the nations (v. 7) to Jerusalem recalls the visionary passages of Isaiah of the pilgrimage of all nations to Jerusalem (Is 2:2–4; 60:6–9).1 

Psalm 43 is a prayer to God in times of trouble.

* [43:3] Your light and your fidelity: a pair of divine attributes personified as guides for the pilgrimage. As in Ps 42:9 the psalmist prays that these divine attributes lead him back to Jerusalem and ultimately to God’s presence in the Temple.2 

The Gospel of Luke proclaims Peter’s Declaration about Jesus  and how Jesus foretells His Death and Resurrection.

* [9:20] The Messiah of God: on the meaning of this title in first-century Palestinian Judaism, see notes on Lk 2:11 and on Mt 16:13–20 and Mk 8:27–30. * [9:23] Daily: this is a Lucan addition to a saying of Jesus, removing the saying from a context that envisioned the imminent suffering and death of the disciple of Jesus (as does the saying in Mk 8:34–35) to one that focuses on the demands of daily Christian existence.3 

Eileen Wirth comments that Jesus sets a powerful example of how we must confront our own moral challenges.

Like Jesus, Mother questioned authority when she thought it was merited and that also had an indelible impact on her children. As a reporter, I did a lot of stories about people who had suffered injustices and to this day, I instinctively feel a duty to help underdogs, if possible. Still, standing up can be difficult. Even those of us who take pride in being mavericks like to do what people in our social circles approve of, such as getting vaccinated or refusing to do so. People in my milieu tend to shun anti-vaxxers (if they know any) but I keep reading that the opposite is true in other groups. We’re all sensitive to criticism such as Jesus faced. So let’s examine our lives and try to find ways to exhibit moral courage in the ordinary things we do. Blessings to all who find it within themselves to do so.4 

Don Schwager quotes “Peter confesses that Jesus is God's Anointed Son and Savior of all,” by Cyril of Alexandria (376-444 AD).

"You see the skillfulness of the question. He [Jesus] did not at once say, 'Who do you say that I am?' He refers to the rumor of those that were outside their company. Then, having rejected it and shown it unsound, he might bring them back to the true opinion. It happened that way. When the disciples had said, 'Some, John the Baptist, and others, Elijah, and others, that some prophet of those in old time has risen up,' he said to them, 'But you, who do you say that I am?' Oh! how full of meaning is that word you! He separates them from all others, that they may also avoid the opinions of others. In this way, they will not conceive an unworthy idea about him or entertain confused and wavering thoughts. Then they will not also imagine that John had risen again, or one of the prophets. 'You,' he says, 'who have been chosen,' who by my decree have been called to the apostleship, who are the witnesses of my miracles. Who do you say that I am?'"(excerpt from COMMENTARY ON LUKE, HOMILY 49)5 

The Word Among Us Meditation on Haggai 2:1-9 comments that the Temple was ultimately restored, and it stood for several hundred years afterward. Certainly, the Jewish people experienced God’s glory there. But Haggai’s prophecy also hinted at something greater than God dwelling in a physical building. It was foreshadowing the promise that God would fill us with his glory. Together, as “living stones,” we make up the Church (1 Peter 2:5). God’s presence dwells in each of us, and the clearer it shines forth from each of us, the brighter the glory of the Church becomes.

When you go to Confession, you are doing your part to restore God’s temple, the Church. After you make your confession, stay in church for a while and thank God that he has cleared away everything that blocks you from him. Rejoice that you carry his presence within you. Resolve that you will share that presence with the people you encounter. And remember that you are an essential part of the glory of God shining through the Church. “Lord, may your light shine in me today!”6 

Friar Jude Winkler comments that the people imagined the Temple of Solomon as Haggai encouraged them to do their best and let God do the rest. Jesus frequently prays to discern the Will of the Father in Luke’s Gospel. Friar Jude reminds us of Jesus' self reference as the Son of Man resonating with The Book of Daniel and the Suffering Servant of Isaiah.

 

Fr. Richard Rohr, OFM, introduces  Sallie McFague (1933–2019), a renowned scholar in the theological disciplines of ecology, economics, and feminist Christianity. In her book Blessed Are the Consumers, she calls consumerism “the most successful religion on the planet” with catastrophic results for humanity and our planet. However, she also suggests a way forward.

I have been struck by . . . the rather shocking practice of self-emptying, of what the Christian tradition has called “kenosis” [see Philippians 2:5–8]. . . . I believe it suggests an ethic for our time, a time that is characterized by climate change and financial chaos. These two related crises are the result of excess, our insatiable appetites that are literally consuming the world. . . . We are living way beyond our means at all levels: our personal credit cards, the practices of the financial lending institutions, and the planet’s resources that support all of us.7 

We are challenged to look to Jesus and the Cross when we discern that efforts today are too often in support of the success of ourselves in our consumerism culture.

 

References

1 (n.d.). Haggai, CHAPTER 2 | USCCB. Retrieved September 24, 2021, from https://bible.usccb.org/bible/haggai/2  2 (n.d.). Psalms, PSALM 43 | USCCB. Retrieved September 24, 2021, from https://bible.usccb.org/bible/psalms/43  3 (n.d.). Luke, CHAPTER 9 | USCCB. Retrieved September 24, 2021, from https://bible.usccb.org/bible/luke/9  4 (n.d.). Creighton U Daily Reflections - Online Ministries. Retrieved September 24, 2021, from https://onlineministries.creighton.edu/CollaborativeMinistry/092421.html  5 (n.d.). Daily Scripture Readings and Meditations. Retrieved September 24, 2021, from https://www.dailyscripture.net/daily-meditation/?ds_year=2021&date=sep24  6 (2021, September 23). Meditation: Haggai 2:1-9 - The Word Among Us. Retrieved September 24, 2021, from https://wau.org/meditations/2021/09/24/202646/  7 (n.d.). Daily Meditations Archive: 2021 - Center for Action and Contemplation. Retrieved September 24, 2021, from https://cac.org/curbing-our-appetites-2021-09-24/

One Flock One Shepherd

The texts from the Roman Catholic Lectionary today invite contemplation of how our surrender to the voice of the Spirit in our interior life may open us to the consolation and support of the Good Shepherd in our work to bring justice to the communities to which we are connected.

Community Action

The reading from the Book of Acts is Peter’s Report to the Church at Jerusalem concerning Gentiles being baptized.

 * [11:1–18] The Jewish Christians of Jerusalem were scandalized to learn of Peter’s sojourn in the house of the Gentile Cornelius. Nonetheless, they had to accept the divine directions given to both Peter and Cornelius. They concluded that the setting aside of the legal barriers between Jew and Gentile was an exceptional ordinance of God to indicate that the apostolic kerygma was also to be directed to the Gentiles. Only in Acts 15 at the “Council” in Jerusalem does the evangelization of the Gentiles become the official position of the church leadership in Jerusalem.1

Psalm 42 expresses a longing for God and for His help in distress. Psalm 43 is a prayer to God in time of trouble.

 * [Psalms 42–43] Ps 42–43 form a single lament of three sections, each section ending in an identical refrain (Ps 42:6, 12; 43:5). The psalmist is far from Jerusalem, and longs for the divine presence that Israel experienced in the Temple liturgy. Despite sadness, the psalmist hopes once again to join the worshiping crowds.2

In the Gospel of John, Jesus declares his Love to people as One Flock with One Shepherd.

 * [10:16] Other sheep: the Gentiles, possibly a reference to “God’s dispersed children” of Jn 11:52 destined to be gathered into one, or “apostolic Christians” at odds with the community of the beloved disciple3

Cindy Costanzo comments that Jesus as shepherd provides undeniable love, nourishment, shelter and protection... Jesus is not exclusive but inclusive and welcomes everyone …”I have other sheep that do not belong to this fold….these also I must lead, and they will hear my voice, and there will be one flock”. Jesus embraces us all, we belong and do not have to earn the love and protection provided. Contemplate the following questions, and listen for the response.

 What does it mean to be a sheep in Jesus flock? Do I trust the Good Shepherd to watch over me? Do I listen and know the voice of my Good Shepherd? Have I spent enough time in silence and alone to recognize my Good Shepherd’s voice? What is my response to the Good Shepherd?
Where have I been a Good Shepherd? Where have I walked away “like the hired hand” when I was needed? Where are the wolves in our lives? Busyness, achievement, needing approval, being in control, anger and resentment? Where have I not accepted others, discriminated against others, shunned others and not welcomed them to my fold? When have I resisted sharing my faith, my gifts from God with others?4

Don Schwager asks “Do you know the peace and security of the Good Shepherd who watches over his own?”

 The Old Testament often speaks of God as shepherd of his people, Israel. The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want (Psalm 23:1). Give ear, O Shepherd of Israel, you who lead Joseph like a flock! (Psalm 80:1) We are his people, and the sheep of his pasture (Psalm 100:3). The Messiah is also pictured as the shepherd of God's people: He will feed his flock like a shepherd, he will gather the lambs in his arms (Isaiah 40:11). Jesus says he is the Good Shepherd who will risk his life to seek out and save the stray sheep (Matthew 18:12, Luke 15:4). He is the Shepherd and Guardian of our souls (1 Peter 2:25).5

The Word Among Us Meditation on Acts 11:1-18 comments that Peter walked them through all the steps that God took him through to make this monumental decision. Let’s see if we can apply Peter’s approach to any decisions we might be facing.

1. God shapes us in prayer
2. He introduces a new idea. 
3. He confirms his word. 
4. He gives us the opportunity to test it out. 
5. He shows us the fruit of our decision. 
Peter’s receptivity to the Holy Spirit opened the Church to millions of people, including us. Who knows what God has in store as each of us follows his leading?6

Friar Jude Winkler provides some background about Cornelius, “the god fearer” and the head of the family baptized by Peter. Two groups in Jerusalem had different requirements for Gentiles who were baptized. Friar Jude comments that Jesus extends the Hebrew tradition of Good Shepherd leadership to being willing to die for the flock.

StAnthonyCompanions · May 4, 2020

Fr. Richard Rohr, OFM, observes that without an interior life and a love of justice, most communities just serve themselves. “We who live in the United States have to look out for this in particular. We’re rather narcissistic as individuals and as a society, always looking out for “Number One,” whether it’s our self, our child, our church, our race, or our political party. But that is clearly not the kind of community Jesus created!” He was always moving beyond the boundaries of his own kinship circles.

 When we named the “Center for Action and Contemplation,” we deliberately put action first. We learn and are healed by committing ourselves to others, especially those at the margins. At one time this type of service was mostly an act of faith, but now we have evidence to back it up: serving others is a healing balm to our own souls. [1] Faith and science support each other on this, as does Step 12 of Alcoholics Anonymous. [2] We do not fully have it until we hand it on to others.7

Our motives to create communities of justice and cooperation point to good shepherd actions that may be energized by the inspiration and support of the Spirit.

References

1	(n.d.). Acts, chapter 11 - United States Conference. Retrieved May 4, 2020, from http://www.usccb.org/bible/acts/11
2	(n.d.). Psalms, chapter 42 - United States Conference. Retrieved May 4, 2020, from http://www.usccb.org/bible/psalms/42
3	(n.d.). John, chapter 10 - United States Conference. Retrieved May 4, 2020, from http://www.usccb.org/bible/john/10
4	(n.d.). Daily Reflections - OnlineMinistries .... Retrieved May 4, 2020, from https://onlineministries.creighton.edu/CollaborativeMinistry/daily.html
5	(n.d.). Daily Scripture Readings and Meditations. Retrieved May 4, 2020, from https://dailyscripture.servantsoftheword.org/
6	(2020, May 4). 4th Week of Easter - Mass Readings and Catholic Daily .... Retrieved May 4, 2020, from https://wau.org/meditations/2020/05/04/171483/
7	(2020, May 4). Action and Community — Center for Action and Contemplation. Retrieved May 4, 2020, from https://cac.org/action-and-community-2020-05-04/