Stiff Necks of Division

The texts from the Roman Catholic Lectionary today challenge us to be renewed in our conviction in the love of Christ for all humanity in contrast to forces of division that are rooted in evil.

Division is not Divine

The reading from the Prophet Jeremiah condemns Abuses in Worship.

o. [7:23] Jer 11:4; Lv 26:3, 12.

p. [7:24] Jer 17:23.

q. [7:25] 2 Chr 36:15–16; Bar 1:19.

r. [7:26] Jer 19:15; 2 Chr 30:8. (Jeremiah, CHAPTER 7 | USCCB, n.d.)

Psalm 95 is a Call to Worship and Obedience.

* [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. (Psalms, PSALM 95 | USCCB, n.d.)

The Gospel of Luke contrasts Jesus and 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 12:27.

* [11:22] One stronger: i.e., Jesus. Cf. Lk 3:16 where John the Baptist identifies Jesus as “mightier than I.” (Luke, CHAPTER 11 | USCCB, n.d.)

Kimberly Grassmeyer is watching all of the political goings-on that are causing very real pain across our precious at-risk common home - from well-intentioned workers losing their jobs to children starving for want of Aid that is sitting unused in warehouses - her spirit and her heart are divided, too.

Both readings today struck me, in this state of mind, as reminding me of how we all fall short.  Whether we are not Listening to the voice that calls us beloved, or we are not loving our neighbors: "...house will fall against house", or we are hardening our hearts in fear (as I fear that I am), we are falling short of God's desires for us.  So the best I can do is to first, heed the gentle command of the Responsorial Psalm:" If today you hear his voice, harden not your hearts", and then second, to trust in God's invitation of the listed Verse: "...return to me with your whole heart, for I am gracious and merciful."  

I pray today that my frustrations, anger, broken heart and anguished spirit can be softened and healed by our loving God, if I but stop and listen, and allow my God to enter in.  May we each find space amid the madness for God's presence and peace, today and every day.  Amen. (Grassmeyer, n.d.)

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) (Schwager, n.d.)

The Word Among Us Meditation on Jeremiah 7:23-28 comments that few of us will ever experience hardships as difficult as Jeremiah’s, but we can still feel as if our efforts to serve God are useless. Maybe our attempts to convince one of our adult children to return to Mass go unheeded. Maybe our contributions to our parish Bible study or small group appear to bear little fruit. Or maybe our persistent prayer for an ailing relative seems to go unanswered.

Don’t give up! Like Jeremiah, you might not see the full effects of your actions right now, but they are still making a difference. Your ability to persevere and overcome obstacles with grace and humility may be quietly inspiring someone else to turn to the Lord. Your example of prayerful faith might be gradually softening a resistant heart.

One more thing: regardless of the fruit you may or may not be seeing right now, know that the Lord sees your efforts. He sees your devotion to him. And he rejoices in it. He will honor your work for him—even, like Jeremiah, in ways and places you can’t even imagine now!

“Father, give me the same perseverance you gave to your prophet Jeremiah!” (Meditation on Jeremiah 7:23-28, n.d.)

Friar Jude Winkler notes the condemnation by Jeremiah of the conduct of the people of Israel who have turned against God and the reference to punishment to bring them back. Jesus refers to Beelzebul, the “Lord of the Flies” as he drives out demons in Luke’s Gospel. Friar Jude reminds us of the Jewish teaching technique of searching for the truth between two opposite assertions.

Fr. Richard Rohr, OFM, introduces community activist Rosemarie Freeney Harding (1930–2004) who describes her experience of contemplative awareness—what she calls “the Light”—and how it sustained her throughout her life. Freeney Harding honors numerous paths that can lead to the deepened spiritual grounding that “the Light” provides: 

I do believe that whole experience put me on a path. And the Light stayed with me a long time. It gave me a sense of security and deep internal connectedness to God, I would say. All these journeys I’ve been on, these spiritual practices and traditions—from the Mennonites to Bawa Muhaiyaddeen and the Dalai Lama—the meditation, the prayers; I’ve been trying to sustain what the Light gave me. What it awakened and showed me. I guess that’s what the definition of “spirituality” is for me: whatever sustains us like the Light sustained me for years. Is it similar to the Light? Is it the Light?   (Rohr, n.d.)

We ponder the frustration of Jeremiah and the challenge in the Gospel as we implore the Spirit to guide us through the experience of opposition to our mission of love, hope, and faith in Providence. 

References

Grassmeyer, K. (n.d.). Daily Reflection Of Creighton University's Online Ministries. Creighton University's Online Ministries. Retrieved March 27, 2025, from https://onlineministries.creighton.edu/CollaborativeMinistry/032725.html 

Jeremiah, CHAPTER 7 | USCCB. (n.d.). Daily Bible Readings. Retrieved March 27, 2025, from https://bible.usccb.org/bible/jeremiah/7?23 

Luke, CHAPTER 11 | USCCB. (n.d.). Daily Bible Readings. Retrieved March 27, 2025, from https://bible.usccb.org/bible/luke/11?14 

Meditation on Jeremiah 7:23-28. (n.d.). Word Among Us. Retrieved March 27, 2025, from https://wau.org/meditations/2025/03/27/1235634/ 

Psalms, PSALM 95 | USCCB. (n.d.). Daily Bible Readings. Retrieved March 27, 2025, from https://bible.usccb.org/bible/psalms/95?1 

Rohr, R. (n.d.). A Light That Sustains. CAC Daily Meditations. Retrieved March 27, 2025, from https://cac.org/daily-meditations/a-light-that-sustains/ 

Schwager, D. (n.d.). God's Kingdom Has Come upon You. Daily Scripture Net. Retrieved March 27, 2025, from https://www.dailyscripture.net/daily-meditation/?ds_year=2025&date=mar27 

Wisdom and Support

The texts from the Roman Catholic Lectionary today challenge us to seek the gift of Wisdom to guide our choice of preparation and action as disciples of Christ in our environment.

The Gift of Wisdom

The reading from the Book of Sirach proclaims rewards of Wisdom.

* [4:11–19] The Hebrew text in vv. 15–19 presents wisdom speaking in the first person, as in chap. 24. The precious fruits of wisdom—life, favor, glory, blessings, God’s love—arouse desire for her (vv. 11–14). Her disciples are like ministers (v. 14) and judges (v. 15), whose descendants have her for their heritage (v. 16). They enjoy happiness and learn her secrets after surviving her tests (vv. 17–18). Those who fail her are abandoned to destruction (v. 19). (Sirach, CHAPTER 4 | USCCB, n.d.)

Psalm 119 praises the Glories of God’s Law.

* [Psalm 119] This Psalm, the longest by far in the Psalter, praises God for giving such splendid laws and instruction for people to live by. The author glorifies and thanks God for the Torah, prays for protection from sinners enraged by others’ fidelity to the law, laments the cost of obedience, delights in the law’s consolations, begs for wisdom to understand the precepts, and asks for the rewards of keeping them. (Psalms, PSALM 119 | USCCB, n.d.)

In the Gospel of Mark, the disciples encounter another Exorcist.

* [9:38–41] Jesus warns against jealousy and intolerance toward others, such as exorcists who do not follow us. The saying in Mk 9:40 is a broad principle of the divine tolerance. Even the smallest courtesies shown to those who teach in Jesus’ name do not go unrewarded. (Mark, CHAPTER 9 | USCCB, n.d.)

Maureen McCann Waldron comments that throughout the New Testament, we can imagine Jesus shaking his head at his disciples who “get in wrong” missing the point of his stories and actions. We are all called to spread the good news Jesus brought. Jesus asked us to love one another and to spread his teachings by the example of our lives. 

I haven’t been asked to drive out demons. But can’t I work on my own demons of jealousy and envy?  Can I decide today to love my family better, to be kinder to the neighbor who always wants to talk too long?  To stop judging those who are different than me?

Loving Jesus, take my hand today as I try to follow your teachings more closely.  Help me to open my heart to those around me who are part of my life.  And especially let me see those on the margins who are not ‘inside my circle’ and too easy for me to pass by or ignore.  You gave me your example of how to live and love others.  Let me follow it today. (McCann, 2025)

Don Schwager quotes “Encouraging good works done in Christ,” by Augustine of Hippo, 354-430 A.D.

"We ought not be disturbed because some who do not belong or do not yet belong to this temple, that is, among whom God does not or does not yet dwell, perform some works of power, as happened to the one who cast out devils in the name of Christ (Mark 9:38, Luke 9:49). Although he was not a follower of Christ, Christ ordered that he be allowed to continue because it gave a valuable testimony of his name to many... The centurion Cornelius also saw the angel that was sent to him to say that his prayers had been heard and his alms accepted (Acts 10:3-4), even before he was incorporated into this temple by regeneration." (excerpt from LETTER 187, TO DARDANUS 36) (Schwager, n.d.)

The Word Among Us Meditation on Mark 9:38-40 comments that Jesus is not about exclusion. His kingdom is open to everyone equally. No one gets special access or receives special treatment. Quite the opposite, in fact. If anyone is the “greatest,” it’s the “one who serves” (Luke 22:27). It’s the one who welcomes little children (Mark 9:37) and who feeds the hungry, visits prisoners, and clothes the naked (Matthew 25:35-36). In other words, it’s the ones who strive to be like Jesus, who “did not come to be served but to serve” (20:28).

Jesus told his disciples, “Whoever is not against us is for us” (Mark 9:40). Anyone who works to liberate people—emotionally, spiritually, physically—is doing God’s work. The world is hurting too much for us to worry about who is and who is not part of our group. The only real question is whether we are joining Jesus in his work of salvation.

“Jesus, give me your heart of humility and love and service.” (Meditation on Mark 9:38-40, 2025)

Friar Jude Winkler comments that the Sirach passage is a continuation about Wisdom. She tests people to see if they are willing to surrender to God’s will. If we choose foolishness we suffer foolishness. If we are wise, we know and serve God. Jesus asserts that driving out demons is not a monopoly. Friar Jude reminds us if we see good we should celebrate not meditate on hidden motives or association. God works in many ways.

Fr. Richard Rohr, OFM, introduces scholar Wendy Farley who writes about the Rhineland mystic Mechthild of Magdeburg.

Mechthild uses royal imagery for God (empress, queen, or lord). But because she conceives of power as a form of love, she understands monarchical metaphors in a distinctive way. God’s majesty and omnipotence are qualities related to the divine desire for intimacy with humanity. For Mechthild, it is not sheer power that makes God divine. It is love. This play between love and power is evident in the preface of Mechthild’s book, where God claims authorship of the book. “I made [gemachet] it in my powerlessness [unmaht], for I cannot restrain myself as to my gifts.” [2] This is a paradoxical way of describing divine power. Even God is powerless to contain God…. God is powerless to stop giving gifts to humanity. Because the divine nature is love, to do so would require the unmaking of divinity itself.  

Theologians such as Augustine and [Martin] Luther struggle to understand how to reconcile love and justice or divine omnipotence and human agency. This is in part because they think of power as coercive or univocal agency. But for Mechthild, God’s desire for humanity is incompatible with sheer omnipotence, not because God has less power but because it is a different kind of power. God renounces power as “might,” in favor of love…. (Rohr, n.d.)

We contemplate the role of our membership and participation in groups in society and implore the Spirit for the Wisdom that retrains our openness to others and their needs.

References

Mark, CHAPTER 9 | USCCB. (n.d.). USCCB. Retrieved February 26, 2025, from https://bible.usccb.org/bible/mark/9?38 

McCann, M. (2025, February 26). Creighton U. Daily Reflection. Online Ministries. Retrieved February 26, 2025, from https://onlineministries.creighton.edu/CollaborativeMinistry/022625.html 

Meditation on Mark 9:38-40. (2025, February 26). The Word Among Us. Retrieved February 26, 2025, from https://wau.org/meditations/2025/02/26/1210968/ 

Psalms, PSALM 119 | USCCB. (n.d.). USCCB. Retrieved February 26, 2025, from https://bible.usccb.org/bible/psalms/119?165  

Rohr, R. (n.d.). Mechthild of Magdeburg: God’s Power Is Love. Center for Action and Contemplation. Retrieved February 26, 2025, from https://cac.org/daily-meditations/mechthild-of-magdeburg-gods-power-is-love/ 

Schwager, D. (n.d.). Any One Who Does a Mighty Work in My Name. Daily Scripture Readings and Meditations – Daily Scripture Readings and Meditations. Retrieved February 26, 2025, from https://www.dailyscripture.net/daily-meditation/?ds_year=2025&date=feb26 

Sirach, CHAPTER 4 | USCCB. (n.d.). USCCB. Retrieved February 26, 2025, from https://bible.usccb.org/bible/sirach/4?