Contemplate Contrast

The texts from the Roman Catholic Lectionary today challenge us to accept a struggle with dualism as part of our transformation that is witness to the Love of God for all people.

Community Contrast

The Reading from the Letter of Paul to the Romans contrasts Humanity’s Sin through Adam with Grace and Life through Christ.

* [5:12–21] Paul reflects on the sin of Adam (Gn 3:1–13) in the light of the redemptive mystery of Christ. Sin, as used in the singular by Paul, refers to the dreadful power that has gripped humanity, which is now in revolt against the Creator and engaged in the exaltation of its own desires and interests. But no one has a right to say, “Adam made me do it,” for all are culpable (Rom 5:12): Gentiles under the demands of the law written in their hearts (Rom 2:14–15), and Jews under the Mosaic covenant. Through the Old Testament law, the sinfulness of humanity that was operative from the beginning (Rom 5:13) found further stimulation, with the result that sins were generated in even greater abundance. According to Rom 5:15–21, God’s act in Christ is in total contrast to the disastrous effects of the virus of sin that invaded humanity through Adam’s crime.

* [5:12] Inasmuch as all sinned: others translate “because all sinned,” and understand v 13 as a parenthetical remark. Unlike Wis 2:24, Paul does not ascribe the entry of death to the devil.

* [5:20] The law entered in: sin had made its entrance (12); now the law comes in alongside sin. See notes on Rom 1:18–32; 5:12–21. Where sin increased, grace overflowed all the more: Paul declares that grace outmatches the productivity of sin. (Romans, CHAPTER 5, n.d.)

Psalm 40 is a thanksgiving combined with a lament.

* [Psalm 40] A thanksgiving (Ps 40:2–13) has been combined with a lament (Ps 40:14–17) that appears also in Ps 70. The psalmist describes the rescue in spatial terms—being raised up from the swampy underworld to firm earth where one can praise God (Ps 40:2–4). All who trust God will experience like protection (Ps 40:5–6)! The Psalm stipulates the precise mode of thanksgiving: not animal sacrifice but open and enthusiastic proclamation of the salvation just experienced (Ps 40:7–11). A prayer for protection concludes (Ps 40:12–17). (Psalms, PSALM 40, n.d.)

In the Gospel of Luke, Vigilant and Faithful Servants are recognized.

* [12:35–48] This collection of sayings relates to Luke’s understanding of the end time and the return of Jesus. Luke emphasizes for his readers the importance of being faithful to the instructions of Jesus in the period before the parousia. (Luke, CHAPTER 12, n.d.)

Jay Carney comments that Romans 5 narrates the theological equivalent of a Hollywood blockbuster. In just seven verses, today’s first reading captures the crux of Paul’s gospel of salvation.

What struck me today is how the two Adams reflect two distinct ways of living out our humanity in the world. The First Adam offers a way familiar to any observer of the powerful men and women of our own day – insecure, self-seeking, avaricious, aiming to transcend all limits “to become like gods” (Genesis 3:5). Yet the First Adam’s ambition is also his undoing: the divine thread is severed, and he ends up painfully tilling and dying in the soil from which he was formed (adamah in Hebrew literally means the “earth-man” or “dust-man”). Jesus, the New Adam, offers a different way: righteous obedience to the Father’s will exemplified in self-sacrificial service for and with others. This is symbolized in Luke’s gospel by a master waiting on servants who have faithfully waited for him. (Carney, n.d.)

Don Schwager quotes “The true meaning of 'loins girded and lamps burning',” by Cyril of Alexandria (376-444 AD).

"The girding of our loins (Luke 12:25) signifies the readiness of the mind to work hard in every thing praiseworthy. Those who apply themselves to bodily labors and are engaged in strenuous toil have their loins girded. The lamp apparently represents the wakefulness of the mind and intellectual cheerfulness. We say that the human mind is awake when it repels any tendency to slumber off into that carelessness that often is the means of bringing it into subjection to every kind of wickedness. When sunk in stupor, the heavenly light within the mind is liable to be endangered, or even already is in danger from a violent and impetuous blast of wind. Christ commands us to be awake. To this, his disciple also arouses us by saying, 'Be awake. Be watchful' (1 Peter 5:8). Further on, the very wise Paul also says, 'Awake, O sleeper, and arise from the dead: and Christ shall give you light' (Ephesians 5:14)." (excerpt from COMMENTARY ON LUKE, HOMILY 92) (Schwager, n.d.)

The Word Among Us Meditation on Luke 12:35-38 comments that life lived to the fullest is one in readiness to serve the Lord. He is always at work, and he is always giving us the opportunity to join him in that work.

Whatever Jesus calls you to, you can be sure of one thing: the more time you spend serving him, the less you will fear him. Because you’ll be working alongside him, you’ll see how loving and compassionate and patient he truly is! Then, when you finally do meet him, you’ll also be surprised by how generous he is. The One you have been serving for so long will serve you (Luke 12:37). He’ll have you rest your tired bones and treat you to the wonders of his heavenly banquet!

“Jesus, my Master, help me to be ready and willing to serve you every chance I get!” (Meditation on Luke 12:35-38, n.d.)

Friar Jude Winkler comments that Adam's sin brought death into the world and Jesus’ death brought life into the world. Life is better than death and the power of grace is more than the power of our guilt. We may have trouble with self forgiveness and trust in forgiveness from God. If we are ready for Christ  to come, the Gospel indicates the Master will reward us. In a Jewish teaching manner we ponder that He will serve us and later we will serve Him. Friar Jude reminds us of the importance of being aware of the maxim “nothing left unsaid; nothing left undone.”

Fr. Mike Schmitz focuses on our reading of 1 Maccabees today. Fr. Mike highlights the establishment of the new independent sovereign nation of Israel in the land of Judah. We learn how Simon takes command and enforces the law all around the land. Fr. Mike reminds us that even today, Christians are governed by Jesus himself and ultimately to belong to him. Today's readings are 1 Maccabees 13, Sirach 32-33, and Proverbs 23:17-21.

Father Richard Rohr, OFM, introduces spiritual writer Katie Gordon who shares how her life has been shaped by living alongside Benedictine nuns.

Where, once upon a time, nuns in habits observed the Grand Silence, there is now laughter ringing through the rafters from the kids in the daycare program on the first two floors. On the grand wooden staircase once meticulously cleaned with toothbrushes by the sisters, the kids now run up and down, speaking the several languages of the migrant communities represented in the program. Just upstairs, there are offices for several ministries that evolved out of the sisters’ faithful presence in the city, including a soup kitchen and food pantry, an online monastery of contemporary seekers, and an association of monasteries sharing resources across the globe. These might hardly be recognizable to the original sisters who settled here in the 1850s to educate German immigrants, but they are nonetheless extensions of the same call to community and ministry, yet in a new era of need. (Rohr, n.d.)

We seek Wisdom from the Spirit as we work with the tensions in human relations to build communities of care and compassion.

References

Carney, J. (n.d.). Daily Reflection. Creighton Online Ministries: Home. Retrieved October 21, 2025, from https://onlineministries.creighton.edu/daily-reflections/daily-reflection-october-21-2025 

Luke, CHAPTER 12. (n.d.). USCCB. Retrieved October 21, 2025, from https://bible.usccb.org/bible/luke/12?35 

Meditation on Luke 12:35-38. (n.d.). Word Among Us. Retrieved October 21, 2025, from https://wau.org/meditations/2025/10/21/1412070/ 

Psalms, PSALM 40. (n.d.). USCCB. Retrieved October 21, 2025, from https://bible.usccb.org/bible/psalms/40?7 

Rohr, R. (n.d.). Daily Meditations — Center for Action and Contemplation. Center for Action and Contemplation. Retrieved October 21, 2025, from https://cac.org/daily-meditations/ancient-wisdom-ever-new/ 

Romans, CHAPTER 5. (n.d.). USCCB. Retrieved October 21, 2025, from https://bible.usccb.org/bible/romans/5?12 

Schwager, D. (n.d.). When the Master Knocks - Open at Once. Daily Scripture Readings and Meditations – Daily Scripture Readings and Meditations. Retrieved October 21, 2025, from https://www.dailyscripture.net/daily-meditation/ 

Good and Evil

The texts from the Roman Catholic Lectionary today challenge us to consider our role as heirs to the knowledge of good and evil in working with the Spirit to renew the face of the earth.

Knowledge for our Choice

The reading from the Book of Genesis, introduces the Yahwist Account of Creation and the Garden of Eden.

* [2:4] This is the story: the distinctive Priestly formula introduces older traditions, belonging to the tradition called Yahwist, and gives them a new setting. In the first part of Genesis, the formula “this is the story” (or a similar phrase) occurs five times (2:4; 5:1; 6:9; 10:1; 11:10), which corresponds to the five occurrences of the formula in the second part of the book (11:27; 25:12, 19; 36:1[9]; 37:2). Some interpret the formula here as retrospective (“Such is the story”), referring back to chap. 1, but all its other occurrences introduce rather than summarize. It is introductory here; the Priestly source would hardly use the formula to introduce its own material in chap. 1.

The cosmogony that begins in v. 4 is concerned with the nature of human beings, narrating the story of the essential institutions and limits of the human race through their first ancestors. This cosmogony, like 1:1–3 (see note there), uses the “when…then” construction common in ancient cosmogonies. The account is generally attributed to the Yahwist, who prefers the divine name “Yhwh” (here rendered LORD) for God. God in this story is called “the LORD God” (except in 3:1–5); “LORD” is to be expected in a Yahwist account but the additional word “God” is puzzling.

* [2:5] Man: the Hebrew word ’adam is a generic term meaning “human being.” In chaps. 2–3, however, the archetypal human being is understood to be male (Adam), so the word ’adam is translated “man” here.

* [2:6] Stream: the water wells up from the vast flood below the earth. The account seems to presuppose that only the garden of God was irrigated at this point. From this one source of all the fertilizing water on the earth, water will be channeled through the garden of God over the entire earth. It is the source of the four rivers mentioned in vv. 10–14. Later, with rain and cultivation, the fertility of the garden of God will appear in all parts of the world.

* [2:7] God is portrayed as a potter molding the human body out of earth. There is a play on words in Hebrew between ’adam (“human being,” “man”) and ’adama (“ground”). It is not enough to make the body from earth; God must also breathe into the man’s nostrils. A similar picture of divine breath imparted to human beings in order for them to live is found in Ez 37:5, 9–10; Jn 20:22. The Israelites did not think in the (Greek) categories of body and soul.

* [2:8] Eden, in the east: the place names in vv. 8–14 are mostly derived from Mesopotamian geography (see note on vv. 10–14). Eden may be the name of a region in southern Mesopotamia (modern Iraq), the term derived from the Sumerian word eden, “fertile plain.” A similar-sounding Hebrew word means “delight,” which may lie behind the Greek translation, “The Lord God planted a paradise [= pleasure park] in Eden.” It should be noted, however, that the garden was not intended as a paradise for the human race, but as a pleasure park for God; the man tended it for God. The story is not about “paradise lost.”

The garden in the precincts of Solomon’s Temple in Jerusalem seems to symbolize the garden of God (like gardens in other temples); it is apparently alluded to in Ps 1:3; 80:10; 92:14; Ez 47:7–12; Rev 22:1–2.

* [2:9] The second tree, the tree of life, is mentioned here and at the end of the story (3:22, 24). It is identified with Wisdom in Prv 3:18; 11:30; 13:12; 15:4, where the pursuit of wisdom gives back to human beings the life that is made inaccessible to them in Gn 3:24. In the new creation described in the Book of Revelation, the tree of life is once again made available to human beings (Rev 2:7; 22:2, 14, 19). Knowledge of good and evil: the meaning is disputed. According to some, it signifies moral autonomy, control over morality (symbolized by “good and evil”), which would be inappropriate for mere human beings; the phrase would thus mean refusal to accept the human condition and finite freedom that God gives them. According to others, it is more broadly the knowledge of what is helpful and harmful to humankind, suggesting that the attainment of adult experience and responsibility inevitably means the loss of a life of simple subordination to God.

* [2:17] You shall die: since they do not die as soon as they eat from the forbidden tree, the meaning seems to be that human beings have become mortal, destined to die by virtue of being human. (Genesis, CHAPTER 2 | USCCB, n.d.)

Psalm 104 praises God the Creator and Provider

* [Psalm 104] A hymn praising God who easily and skillfully made rampaging waters and primordial night into a world vibrant with life. The psalmist describes God’s splendor in the heavens (Ps 104:1–4), how the chaotic waters were tamed to fertilize and feed the world (Ps 104:5–18), and how primordial night was made into a gentle time of refreshment (Ps 104:19–23). The picture is like Gn 1:1–2: a dark and watery chaos is made dry and lighted so that creatures might live. The psalmist reacts to the beauty of creation with awe (Ps 104:24–34). May sin not deface God’s work (Ps 104:35)! (Psalms, PSALM 104 | USCCB, n.d.)

In the Gospel of Mark, Jesus refers to the Tradition of the Elders about Evil.

* [7:17] Away from the crowd…the parable: in this context of privacy the term parable refers to something hidden, about to be revealed to the disciples; cf. Mk 4:10–11, 34. Jesus sets the Mosaic food laws in the context of the kingdom of God where they are abrogated, and he declares moral defilement the only cause of uncleanness.

* [7:19] (Thus he declared all foods clean): if this bold declaration goes back to Jesus, its force was not realized among Jewish Christians in the early church; cf. Acts 10:1–11:18. (Mark, CHAPTER 7 | USCCB, n.d.)

Maureen McCann Waldron (2015) asks: “What do I need to change about myself to free myself and open my heart more to God?

How often am I selfish or jealous?  How often do I judge others harshly?  Can I be more patient with my children and less abrupt to my co-workers?  I suspect I would be better off eating chocolate (something that goes into my mouth) and focusing this Lent on holding off on my arrogance and judgments of others (something from deep in my heart). (McCann Waldron, n.d.)

Don Schwager quotes “The cycle of bitterness broken by forbearance,” by Tertullian, 160-225 A.D.

"Let us, then, his servants, follow our Lord and patiently submit to denunciations that we may be blessed! If, with slight forbearance, I hear some bitter or evil remark directed against me, I may return it, and then I shall inevitably become bitter myself. Either that, or I shall be tormented by unexpressed resentment. If I retaliate when cursed, how shall I be found to have followed the teaching of our Lord? For his saying has been handed down that one is defiled not by unclean dishes but by the words which proceed from his mouth ( Mark 7:15)."(excerpt from ON PATIENCE 8)

[Tertullian (160-225 AD) was an early Christian writer and theologian from Carthage in the Roman province of Africa. He was a noted early Christian apologist who defended Christianity and the practice of Christians against the reproaches of the pagans. He promoted the principle of freedom of religion as an inalienable human right and demanded a fair trial for Christians before they were condemned to death.] (Schwager, n.d.)

The Word Among Us Meditation on Mark 7:14-23 clarifies “concupiscence”. It’s a word we don’t hear very often in our world today, but it remains an important reality for us to understand. The Catechism defines it as “an inclination to evil” that stems from the first sin of Adam and Eve—a sin that wounded our human nature (405). Jesus acknowledges our inclination to sin in today’s Gospel when he lists the many kinds of evil that can dwell in the human heart.

Jesus came to give us a new heart and a new spirit. Every day we have the opportunity to ask the Lord to cleanse whatever has defiled us and protect us from the temptations that arise from concupiscence. This is the reason Jesus came to earth. This is the reason he offered himself up on the cross for us. So let’s allow the Great Physician to do his healing work in us!

“Lord Jesus, I need your healing touch on my heart! With David I pray, ‘Wash away my guilt; and from my sin cleanse me’ (Psalm 51:4).” (Meditation on Mark 7:14-23, 2025)

Friar Jude Winkler compares the Yahwist (950 BCE) and the Priestly (550 BCE) creation passages in Genesis. The Yahwist passage is anthropomorphic and God breathes life into “adama” the clay of the earth. Jesus declares the need to look into the human heart for the source of evil in contrast to observance of dietary laws.

James Finley introduces mystic theologian Howard Thurman (1899–1981) who describes the freedom each of us possess to experience the divine. The claim of the mystic is, at last, that you don’t need anything to bring you to God. You don’t need a mediator. You don’t need an institution. You don’t need a ceremony or a ritual. God is in me, and the ladder from the earth to sky is available. So, I can ascend my own altar stairs wherever I am, under any circumstances, and the key to the understanding of the experience, and to the experience itself, is never in the hands of any other human being.

Mystics are men and women, who, through mystical experiences are touched by the realization that down in the deep-down depths of things, God is welling up and giving Herself away in and as every breath and heartbeat. They taste that oneness, and in moments, when we taste that oneness, we’re like a momentary mystic. The mystics are teachers, because they bear witness that it’s possible to be habitually established in that oneness, instead of merely experiencing a little, momentary flash of it—God resting in us resting in God. (Finley, n.d.)

We ponder the extent of our knowledge of good and evil and invoke the Spirit to guide our self examination and example to the people we encounter on our journey.

References

Finley, J. (n.d.). God in You. Center for Action and Contemplation. Retrieved February 12, 2025, from https://cac.org/daily-meditations/god-in-you/ 

Genesis, CHAPTER 2 | USCCB. (n.d.). Daily Readings. Retrieved February 12, 2025, from https://bible.usccb.org/bible/genesis/2?4 

Mark, CHAPTER 7 | USCCB. (n.d.). Daily Readings. Retrieved February 12, 2025, from https://bible.usccb.org/bible/mark/7?14 

McCann Waldron, M. (n.d.). Daily Reflection Of Creighton University's Online Ministries. Creighton University's Online Ministries. Retrieved February 12, 2025, from https://onlineministries.creighton.edu/CollaborativeMinistry/021225.html 

Meditation on Mark 7:14-23. (2025, February 12). The Word Among Us. Retrieved February 12, 2025, from https://wau.org/meditations/2025/02/12/1202519/ 

Psalms, PSALM 104 | USCCB. (n.d.). Daily Readings. Retrieved February 12, 2025, from https://bible.usccb.org/bible/psalms/104?1 

Schwager, D. (n.d.). Out of the Heart Come Evil Thoughts. Daily Scripture Readings and Meditations – Daily Scripture Readings and Meditations. Retrieved February 12, 2025, from https://www.dailyscripture.net/daily-meditation/?ds_year=2025&date=feb12