Habits and Hope

The texts from the Roman Catholic Lectionary today exhort us to ponder the power of the habits and security concerns to distract us from actions that rely on faith and Providence to bring us fullness of life.

Bread of Life

The Reading from the Book of James presents Temptation and Trial.

* [1:12] Temptation: the Greek word used here is the same one used for “trials” in Jas 1:2. The crown of life: in ancient Palestine, crowns or wreaths of flowers were worn at festive occasions as signs of joy and honor. In the Hellenistic world, wreaths were given as a reward to great statesmen, soldiers, athletes. Life: here means eternal life. He promised: some manuscripts read “God” or “the Lord,” while the best witnesses do not specify the subject of “promised.”

* [1:13–15] It is contrary to what we know of God for God to be the author of human temptation (Jas 1:13). In the commission of a sinful act, one is first beguiled by passion (Jas 1:14), then consent is given, which in turn causes the sinful act. When sin permeates the entire person, it incurs the ultimate penalty of death (Jas 1:15).

* [1:16–18] The author here stresses that God is the source of all good and of good alone, and the evil of temptation does not come from him.

* [1:17] All good giving and every perfect gift may be a proverb written in hexameter. Father of lights: God is here called the Father of the heavenly luminaries, i.e., the stars, sun, and moon that he created (Gn 1:14–18). Unlike orbs moving from nadir to zenith, he never changes or diminishes in brightness.

* [1:18] Acceptance of the gospel message, the word of truth, constitutes new birth (Jn 3:5–6) and makes the recipient the firstfruits (i.e., the cultic offering of the earliest grains, symbolizing the beginning of an abundant harvest) of a new creation; cf. 1 Cor 15:20; Rom 8:23. (James, CHAPTER 1 | USCCB, n.d.)

Psalm 94 is a lament of an individual who is threatened by wicked people.

* [Psalm 94] A lament of an individual who is threatened by wicked people. The danger affects the whole community. Calling upon God as judge (Ps 94:1–2), the Psalm complains about oppression of the holy community by people within (Ps 94:3–7). Bold declarations of faith follow: denunciation of evildoers (Ps 94:8–11) and assurance to the just (Ps 94:12–15). The Psalm continues with further lament (Ps 94:16–19) and ends with strong confidence in God’s response (Ps 94:20–23). (James, CHAPTER 1 | USCCB, n.d.)

The Gospel of Mark presents The Leaven of the Pharisees.

* [8:15] The leaven of the Pharisees…of Herod: the corruptive action of leaven (1 Cor 5:6–8; Gal 5:9) was an apt symbol of the evil dispositions both of the Pharisees (Mk 8:11–13; 7:5–13) and of Herod (Mk 6:14–29) toward Jesus. The disciples of Jesus are warned against sharing such rebellious attitudes toward Jesus; cf. Mk 8:17, 21. (Mark, CHAPTER 8 | USCCB, n.d.)

Margo Minnich comments that the words of James pull our attention away from the illusion of self-sufficiency and reorient our hearts towards God, the true source of all that sustains us. In Ignatian spirituality, this moves us toward the grace of faith as we trust that God will indeed provide and gratitude as we open our eyes to God’s continuous work in our lives.

The miraculous feedings of the crowds were never just about bread and fish. They were signs that God provides for us. We do not need to be dependent on our own limited resources, but on God’s limitless love for us. Jesus calls the disciples and us to remember and trust. 

Today, we can prayerfully reflect on where we are experiencing scarcity or insecurity in our lives. Is it a scarcity of time, energy, clarity, or hope? We can remember what “miracles” God has done in our own lives and we can ask God for the gift of faith that He will continue to provide for us. (Minnich, n.d.)

Don Schwager quotes “Heed the truth of the Gospel,” by Hilary of Poitiers (315-367 AD).

"The apostles are ordered to watch out for the leaven of the Pharisees and Sadducees. They are warned not to be involved in the disputes of the Jews. The works of the law are now to be viewed in the light of faith. They are forewarned that they, into whose time and age the truth had appeared incarnate, should judge nothing except which lies within the position of hope in likeness of the truth that is revealed. They are warned against allowing the doctrine of the Pharisees, who are unaware of Christ, to corrupt the effectiveness of the truth of the gospel." (excerpt from commentary ON MATTHEW 16.3) (Schwager, n.d.)

The Word Among Us Meditation on Mark 8:14-21 comments that like the disciples, we can focus on our immediate needs and problems, which can keep us from hearing the Lord as he seeks to teach us the eternal truths of his kingdom.

Of course God is concerned about your daily needs. But don’t let them be the only things you bring to him in prayer. Take time to listen to him, to hear him on his terms. Remember: he wants to reveal his heart to you. He wants to share his thoughts with you. He wants to give you his perspective on your life.

So listen for God’s voice today. Even if all you “hear” at first is silence, know that he is present to you. Rest in him; wait on him. Let his word become the bread that sustains you.

“Lord, give me ears to hear your voice.” (Meditation on Mark 8:14-21, n.d.)

Friar Jude Winkler comments that James speaks about temptation. It is not sent by God but originates in pride, jealousy, and entitlement. Reflect on God as a parent who gives everything we need. The disciples miss the meaning of the leaven of Pharisees. Jesus is not referring to the bread that they forgot to bring. The teaching of the Pharisee is dangerous because if their teaching is accepted in the smallest way, it may take hold. Friar Jude warns about the leaven, today, of mass media and our need to sort it out to make sure we are on God’s path.

Stephen Copeland recounts how the stories of the desert fathers and mothers have inspired modern Christians to take contemplative practice more seriously. Twentieth-century authors like Thomas Merton and Henri Nouwen helped to reclaim the importance of this desert form of Christianity, forging a path for laypeople to experience the transforming way of contemplation, which had long been reserved for monastics and religious.

 Richard Rohr writes about why this ancient tradition still matters: “It is a unique window into how Jesus was first understood, before the church became an imperial, highly organized, competitive religion.” [2]

A core principle of the desert—and something worth considering while cultivating our own inner freedom—was the notion of apatheia. Author Laura Swan explains: “Apatheia is purity of heart. The ammas [desert mothers] teach us to intentionally let go of all that keeps us from the single-minded pursuit of God: feelings and thoughts that bind us, cravings and addictions that diminish our sense of worth, and attachments to self-imposed perfectionism. Apatheia is nourished by simplicity grounded in abundance of the soul.” [3]

Such letting go can feel like emptiness. It can feel disorienting, crazy, nonlinear—terrifying even—as if we are like the desert fathers and mothers, leaving behind the comforts of the city for the vast emptiness of the desert. This powerful metaphor invites the disruption of our own unhealthy patterns, as we interrupt the ways that we are being controlled (sometimes unconsciously) by the ways of the world and our false selves to make room for something deeper to be born within us: For aspects of the true self to be discovered. For our awareness of the divine within us to grow. For love to expand. For the same spiritual truths that arose in the desert centuries before to dwell and deepen within our souls. (Copeland, 2025)

We invoke the Spirit to alert us to programs and policies that may be leaven of pride, jealousy, and entitlement tempting us away from the “Bread of Life”.

References

Copeland, S. (2025, March 13). Inner Liberation. Center for Action and Contemplation. Retrieved February 17, 2026, from https://cac.org/daily-meditations/inner-liberation/ 

James, CHAPTER 1 | USCCB. (n.d.). Daily Readings. Retrieved February 17, 2026, from https://bible.usccb.org/bible/james/1?12 

Mark, CHAPTER 8 | USCCB. (n.d.). Daily Readings. Retrieved February 17, 2026, from https://bible.usccb.org/bible/mark/8?14 

Meditation on Mark 8:14-21. (n.d.). Word Among Us. Retrieved February 17, 2026, from https://wau.org/meditations/2026/02/16/1500523/ 

Minnich, M. (n.d.). Daily Reflections. Creighton Online Ministries: Home. Retrieved February 17, 2026, from https://onlineministries.creighton.edu/daily-reflections/daily-reflection-february-17-2026 

Psalms, PSALM 94 | USCCB. (n.d.). Daily Readings. Retrieved February 17, 2026, from https://bible.usccb.org/bible/psalms/94?12 

Schwager, D. (n.d.). Beware of the Leaven of the Pharisees and Herod. Daily Scripture Readings and Meditations – Daily Scripture Readings and Meditations. Retrieved February 17, 2026, from https://www.dailyscripture.net/daily-meditation/ 

Neighbours and Life

The texts from the Roman Catholic Lectionary, today, challenge us to reevaluate our assessment of who we fail to treat as neighbours.

Care for our Neighbours

 

The Reading from the Book of Jonah tells of his deliverance to attend to the will of God.

* [1:1] Jonah, son of Amittai: a prophet of this name lived at the time of Jeroboam II (786–746 B.C.).

* [1:2] Great city: exaggeration is characteristic of this book; the word “great” (Heb. gadol) occurs fourteen times.

* [1:3] Tarshish: identified by many with Tartessus, an ancient Phoenician colony in southwest Spain; precise identification with any particular Phoenician center in the western Mediterranean is uncertain. To the Israelites it stood for the far west.

* [1:14] Aware that this disaster is a divine punishment on Jonah, the sailors ask that in ridding themselves of him they not be charged with the crime of murder. (Jonah, CHAPTER 1, n.d.)

The Response from Jonah is a song of thanksgiving.

* [2:3–10] These verses, which may have originally been an independent composition, are a typical example of a song of thanksgiving, a common psalm genre (e.g., Ps 116; Is 38:9–20). Such a song is relevant here, since Jonah has not drowned, and the imagery of vv. 4, 6 is appropriate. (Jonah, Chapter 2 |USCCB, n.d.)

In the Gospel of Luke, Jesus recalls the Greatest Commandment and presents the Parable of the Good Samaritan.

* [10:25–37] In response to a question from a Jewish legal expert about inheriting eternal life, Jesus illustrates the superiority of love over legalism through the story of the good Samaritan. The law of love proclaimed in the “Sermon on the Plain” (Lk 6:27–36) is exemplified by one whom the legal expert would have considered ritually impure (see Jn 4:9). Moreover, the identity of the “neighbor” requested by the legal expert (Lk 10:29) turns out to be a Samaritan, the enemy of the Jew (see note on Lk 9:52).

* [10:25] Scholar of the law: an expert in the Mosaic law, and probably a member of the group elsewhere identified as the scribes (Lk 5:21).

* [10:31–32] Priest…Levite: those religious representatives of Judaism who would have been expected to be models of “neighbor” to the victim pass him by. (Luke, CHAPTER 10, n.d.)

Suzanne Braddock reviewed the cast of characters and asks:

Who do I see as the victim in my life, in today’s society? The homeless encampment I pass on my way to daily Mass? The woman refused care for her children so she can work to provide food for them? The one passed over for a job unjustly? The one shot in our society bent on revenge?

  Who do I see as the priest? The one to whom rules trump charity? (touching human or animal blood makes one ritually impure)

     Who do I see as the Levite? Probably the same rules held him back. What rules do I use to avoid acts of charity?

       Who do I cast as the Samaritan? Who do I see as “foreign, other, to be avoided, despised”?

         What figure in politics, my society, my religion could be cast as the victim, priest, Levite, or Samaritan?

A poor immigrant seeking safety is found bloody and near death by the side of the road. She looks dark-skinned, or maybe it’s just the blood. Too scary. I pass by. Don’t want to get involved. Miraculously, she rises, picks up her cross, looks at me with compassion, embraces me, and moves on. (Braddock, 2025)

Don Schwager quotes “God desires to be our neighbor,” by Augustine of Hippo, 354-430 A.D.

"God our Lord wished to be called our neighbor. The Lord Jesus Christ meant that he was the one who gave help to the man lying half-dead on the road, beaten and left by the robbers. The prophet said in prayer, 'As a neighbor and as one's own brother, so did I please' (Psalm 34:14 ). Since the divine nature is far superior and above our human nature, the command by which we are to love God is distinct from our love of our neighbor. He shows mercy to us because of his own goodness, while we show mercy to one another because of God's goodness. He has compassion on us so that we may enjoy him completely, while we have compassion on another that we may completely enjoy him. (excerpt from CHRISTIAN INSTRUCTION 33) (Schwager, n.d.)

The Word Among Us Meditation on Luke 10:25-37 asks who is the ultimate “Good Samaritan,” the greatest “neighbor” who tends to our wounds and rescues us at great personal expense?

It’s Jesus! Notice the delight Jesus takes as he describes the tenderhearted care the Samaritan lavishes upon the wounded man. He’s describing himself! Like the Samaritan, Jesus is eager to heal us. Undeterred by our condition, he tends our wounds, brings us to a place of shelter, and provides for our ongoing needs.

This is marvelous news! Jesus has not passed you by. So let him see your wounds. Allow him to wash you and heal you in his generous mercy. Receive his tender care. As you do, your heart will be filled with love and gratitude, and you will do just the thing that Jesus says will bring you eternal life: you will imitate your “Good Samaritan” and “go and do likewise” (Luke 10:37).

“Lord, thank you for not turning away from me. Help me to ‘do likewise’ and become a ‘neighbor’ to the wounded people around me.” (Meditation on Luke 10:25-37, n.d.)

Friar Jude Winkler notes that, in the first reading, Jonah is called to go to Nineveh, the capital of Assyria, a cruel conquer of Israel. God stopped the boat with a storm and they found Jonah responsible and he was thrown overboard and he was swallowed by fish and after three days vomited on the shore. The sign of Jonah is a three day “burial” like Jesus and also the immediate conversion that occurs in Nineveh. A scholar quizzes Jesus about the most important Law. Friar Jude connects the “Shema” cited by Jesus as heart to intelligence, being to our soul under attack, strength to physical possessions, and mind to conscience. and the Good Samaritan defines “neighbour” for the scholar. The Jerusalem to Jericho road is very dangerous. The Priest and Levite were afraid of ambush or ritual impurity. The hero, an impure Samaritan. is the true neighbour. Friar Jude underlines Jesus' recognition of the one with mercy. The Gospel of Luke reaches out to the anawim, the poor ones of Yahweh.

Fr. Mike Schmitz offers a brief recap of today’s chapter from Nehemiah, identifying the difference between those who were able to live in Jerusalem and those who were not. He explains the ancestral gifts that each tribe of Israel received and applies this concept to the vices and virtues of our families, as well as our freedom to adopt or reject them. Today we read from Nehemiah 11, Esther 8, 16, and Proverbs 21:17-20.

Fr. Richard Rohr, OFM, introduces Brian McLaren who reflects on Jesus’ Parable of the Rich Fool (Luke 12:15–21) as a critique of our reliance on money for security.

Every system of self-centered civilization with its barns and banks for hoarding will inevitably collapse, the story of the rich fool reminds us. Meanwhile, … the divine ecosystem of interdependence and sharing, the holy and harmonious arrangement of life in which wildflowers and ravens live and thrive … it goes on. That’s where to put your heart. That’s where to invest your inner energies:  

Do not be afraid, little flock, for it is your Father’s good pleasure to give you the kingdom. Sell your possessions and give alms. Make purses for yourselves that do not wear out, an unfailing treasure in heaven, where no thief comes near and no moth destroys. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also [Luke 12:32–34]….

So, Jesus says, liquidate your capitol in the fragile, failing human system. Reinvest your energies in the larger-than-human system of life. That’s why loving your neighbors, especially your poor neighbors, is so important. Better to have less stored in your bank account and more given to those in need. Better to be poor in money and rich in generous relationships…. If you love God and neighbor, you love what matters … unlike the rich fool, who loved only himself and his money….  (Rohr, n.d.)

We seek the inspiration of the Spirit to translate the emphasis in Luke’s Gospel of Jesus call to be merciful and caring to the anawim to action in our environment.

References

Braddock, S. (2025, October 6). Daily Reflection October 6, 2025 | Creighton Online Ministries. Creighton Online Ministries. Retrieved October 6, 2025, from https://onlineministries.creighton.edu/daily-reflections/daily-reflection-october-6-2025 

Jonah, CHAPTER 1. (n.d.). USCCB. Retrieved October 6, 2025, from https://bible.usccb.org/bible/jonah/1?1 

Jonah, Chapter 2 |USCCB. (n.d.). Daily Bible Readings. Retrieved October 6, 2025, from https://bible.usccb.org/bible/jonah/2?3 

Luke, CHAPTER 10. (n.d.). USCCB. Retrieved October 6, 2025, from https://bible.usccb.org/bible/luke/10?25 

Meditation on Luke 10:25-37. (n.d.). Word Among Us. Retrieved October 6, 2025, from https://wau.org/meditations/2025/10/06/1402296/ 

Rohr, R. (n.d.). Daily Meditations — Center for Action and Contemplation. Center for Action and Contemplation. Retrieved October 6, 2025, from https://cac.org/daily-meditations/redefining-security/ 

Schwager, D. (n.d.). Go and Do Likewise. Daily Scripture Net. Retrieved October 6, 2025, from https://www.dailyscripture.net/daily-meditation/?ds_year=2025&date=oct6