Surface involvement

The texts in the Roman Catholic Lectionary today relate a history of the inability of humanity to go deeply into spiritual experience as contemplate what the indwelling Spirit senses of Divine Presence. The Book of Exodus recounts the fickle and “stiff-necked” people like ourselves who return to our idols even in the face of evidence, experience and witness of Providence which in Exodus is exercised in the actions of Moses. The psalmist praises Moses stepping into the breach and in dialogue with the Divine obtaining the insight that God would remain true to the Covenant and would call the people back to intimacy. John relates Jesus presentation of the witnesses or truth which is revealed about His Divinity. The ‘stiff-necked” continue to inhibit the response of the indwelling Spirit to the Presence.

Intimacy is the Model

The prophet Isaiah relates the tender care that the people returning from exile in Babylon to Jerusalem are experiencing from God in this text from the Roman Catholic Lectionary today. ( Isaiah 49:15) "Can a woman forget her sucking child, that she should have no compassion on the son of her womb? Even these may forget, yet I will not forget you.” The psalmist proclaims the compassion and intimacy of the Lord to those who call on Him. In the Gospel of John the author explains the great difficulty of the religious authorities with Jesus. The claim of Jesus that he and the Father were one was beyond belief. The text continues to expound on the relationship between Father and Son which is one of the Presence of the will of the Father in the actions of the Son. The tenderness of Isaiah 49 and the closeness of the Divine to those who are bowed down, in the words of the psalmist, is physical and human. The delight of the Divine in Creation is expressed in flesh. This is truly much more than mere human awareness can easily accommodate. The indwelling Spirit, the love of Father and Son, is the language with which mere humanity is in intimate community with the Divine.

Water of Life

The image from the Book of the Prophet Ezekiel in the Roman Catholic Lectionary is of a great flow of water from the Temple bringing abundant life to the arid Arabah region. This phenomenon is experienced seasonally as the flood waters of rivers overwhelm the banks and awaken our awe at the power of Nature. As the waters recede we witness life growing on the once flooded river plains. This miracle is so tied to our daily living. It is the concern of our prayer. We are nonchalant about the usual natural cycles. We take notice and attend to our relationship with the Divine when the extraordinary or uncontrolled Nature touches our lives. The psalmist recognizes that God is “a very present help in trouble”. The Gospel of John relates another episode when Jesus demonstrates that the ‘present help’ of the Divine is not bound by human regulation. The fear of loss of control puts legalistic policies at a greater importance to some religious authorities than being present witnesses to the extraordinary intimacy of the Divine with Creation.

The Light Brings Joy

The Monday of the Fourth Week of Lent, in the Roman Catholic Lectionary, follows Laetare Sunday which marks the halfway point of Lent. Traditionally, some indications of joy are included in the liturgy on Sunday to mark a pause in the penitential observances of Lent. We call out for a pause in our lives. The need to see the light at the end of the tunnel may be expressed in our impatience for better times, better attention to our relationships or more spring weather. Isaiah reassures the people that the Lord continues to delight in them and that a New Jerusalem will be created for them as they begin the long journey from exile in Babylon. The psalmist praises the Lord for the invitation to drop the sackcloth and put on the vestments of joy. The rejoicing marks the understanding of the continued support of Providence in our life. The Gospel of John tells of Jesus return to the regions of Galilee near Cana and Capernaum. The residents have heard of the healing of the man born blind and Jesus is met with another request for healing which may be yet another demand for a sign from the cynical and critical. The encounter with Jesus by the royal official seeking healing for his son is truly the plea of one seeking to believe out of the love of father for son. The Love of Father for Son and all those who are given to the Son breaks the oppression of sickness and death with the joy of life and faith.

Choosing to be Witness to Seeing Better

The texts for the Fourth Sunday of Lent in the Roman Catholic Lectionary deal with themes of light and dark, seeing and not seeing, and belief and unbelief. God calls the Prophet Samuel to anoint the King to replace Saul. He reviews the sons of Jesse and the men who by human observation were candidates are passed over. Through Divine revelation Samuel anoints David who is the youngest, smallest and least manly of the sons. The vision of God is of the heart and the human tendency is to only see the surface and to rush to judgement based on imperfect vision. The psalmist proclaims the 23rd psalm and presents the image of the Divine Shepherd who “prepares a table before me in the presence of my enemies; anoints my head with oil; my cup overflows. Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life, and I shall dwell in the house of the Lord my whole life long” and lets the Covenant between God and His people be seen. Paul through the Letter to the Ephesians exhorts us to live as children of the Light we know in our intimate relationship with the Divine through Jesus and the resonance of our indwelling Spirit. We have access to knowledge of what is pleasing to God. Our vision of situations and people can be illuminated by our Spiritual intimacy with God. We have to be awake as Samuel was awake to the will of God. The episode from the Gospel of John is described today by Fr Larry Gillick; “There are several delightful symbols in this little play. “Work” and “light” go together. Jesus as light has come into the darkness of the world to do His thing, which is to present the Father Who sent Him and to do some deeds which will attract attention and a personal response.” (Gillick SJ, 2011) The belief of the Man born blind in the action of the One who made a clay paste for his eyes and sent him to the pool to wash it off cannot be shaken. The authorities are caught in the dilemma between “healing on the Sabbath- a violation of the Law” and the understanding that healing comes from God. The suggestion that Jesus is a “prophet’, at least with some of the vision and power of God, is an unacceptable possibility. The resolution of the man with new vision to maintain his account of his encounter with the Divine, results in his expulsion from the Temple. Holding to the experiences of Light and the faithful response in the face of criticism, ridicule and abandonment by friends and family is difficult. The choice is to recall and repeat for all the experience of “new vision” which is a consequence of the intimacy of our indwelling Spirit with the Divine.

Gillick SJ, L. (2011, April). Daily Reflection. Retrieved April 3, 2011, from Creighton University's Online Ministries : http://onlineministries.creighton.edu/CollaborativeMinistry/040311.html

Truly Looking Inside

The texts of the Roman Catholic Lectionary today invite us to us imagination to be in the dialogues we hear. Hosea is consoling the people with the promise that their relationship with God is not severed by their actions. He presents an agenda for the near future when hope will be realized and they will return to their knowledge of the Divine in their lives. Hosea expresses the fickleness of the people in words of God which also reveal steadfast desire to maintain the relationship with the people. Psalm 51 is the prayer of repentance which is rich in understanding of transgression and the passion to be reunited through the mercy and compassion of God. The phrases resonate with the indwelling Spirit as sincere longing and delightful expectation of reunion. The Pharisee and the Tax-Collector from Luke’s Gospel are presenting themselves in prayer before God. We are offered through our imagination the certainty of righteousness of the Pharisee who knows he is doing the right things and the examination of self of the tax collector who understands that his righteousness is only possible through the mercy and compassion of the Divine. The revelation of self through our relationship with the Divine is the path we are called to follow. The picture of our weakness is showing where we will encounter the joy of redemption and restoration.

The loss of focus

The phrase “jealous God” comes to mind when reflecting on the texts from the Roman Catholic Lectionary today. The prophet Hosea compares the return of the people of Israel to faith and trust in God to the blooming of rich and exotic plants with aroma and beauty providing evidence of great life. The senses are filled with the experience of the Divine. This assurance causes the prophet to wonder how and why we put the work of our hands and our ambitions and lusts ahead of our experience of Eden in the resonance of our indwelling Spirit with the Divine. The psalmist presents a dialogue with God where the questions of why we would choose other than our relationship with Providence where we can find our true direction and destiny. The evidence of our past is that we refuse the finest wheat and sweetest nourishment in favour of our crumbling and discontent. Mark relates, in the text from the Gospel, the dialogue between Jesus and a scribe wherein the commandment to choose God above all is restated and the scribe is positioned as one near the Kingdom of Heaven for his understanding of this directive to life.