Not seeing our blindness

The episode today from the Gospel of Luke in the Roman Catholic Lectionary tells of the blind beggar who hears the crowd moving by and calls out to determine who is passing. The passers-by inform him that Jesus is moving through. He calls out in a determined manner, not in search of the alms, which he needed to continue his existence, but in a faith filled appeal to be changed and to know again full life. When this exercise of faith, trust persistence and courage is compared to the assimilation of the Jewish tradition by the Greek conquerers described in the texts from Maccabees we see an abandonment of the relationship with God through the Covenant for the false security of integration and acceptance of the way of the conquering power. The blindness of the people allowed the deception of the Hellenization of Israel to be perceived as progress, yet the historians record that many were killed and enslaved by the Greek masters. Some chose to maintain their sight and vision of the relationship with God and they became martyrs. We need to be stirred from our patterns like the blind beggar so that in the sight of faith we may recognize those deceptive promises and popular movements, today, which threaten our desire to maintain our relationship with God. We can avoid blindness as we call out in faith.

Money, gifts and faith

The talent of people is a theme running through the texts from the Roman Catholic Lectionary today. One point of view to consider is the effect or consequence of the wise use of charisms, treasure and faith. Friar Jude Winkler offers the reflection that the male oriented society in which the passage from Proverbs praises the "good wife" concentrates on her ability to make her husband successful and noticed in the community. The fruit of her activity in which the husband trusts her deeply is the success of his mission. When the passage from Proverbs is related to the parable of the Ten Talents from Matthew's Gospel, Fr Larry Gillick, SJ, understands the role of our works is to present a sign of the Works of God to Whom goes the praise for the actions. As we grow into the position of intimate marriage in our relationship with the Divine, we become the "capable wife" of the Proverbs. The psalmist reflects on the fruit of this "successful marriage" in the abundance of children gathered around the table. This image is one which the "New Evangelization" can work towards when a great harvest of the children of God are gathered around the table of the Lord. The evangelist requires some trust that efforts to bear fruit are the will of God especially when the Master appears to have gone on a journey. In the Gospel of Matthew, Jesus is using the Parable to instruct His disciples that faith is a gift from God and it is not equally distributed among people. The trust in God is necessary to for all faith to bear fruit. Without that trust, the talent or faith is wasted and the disciple servant, who may have been paralyzed by an immature understanding of his relationship to the Master, is judged not to be ready to enter into the joy of the Master. The invitation to work in the vineyard requires change. We cannot expect fear of consequence, not being ready for the "day of the Lord", or the "judgement of the Master" to motivate us to the necessary intimacy where we trust that we can move like Abraham and Mary into areas and actions which are beyond merely human talents and charisms. 

The chips are down

The texts from the Roman Catholic Lectionary today encourage reflection on the patience we have when "the chips are down". The Book of Wisdom reminds the readers of the deliverance from the slavery of Egypt which was accomplished by God and the faith of the people that they would be protected and led to a Promised Land.  The psalmist proclaims praise to God for the delivery of the people of God from Egyptian slavery to the be faithful to the promise to Abraham. The passage from Luke is a parable where Jesus relates how the patience and persistence of widow seeking justice led to her moving the unjust judge to decide in her favour. The middle east culture often uses exaggeration to make a point. The action of the "unjust" judge is compared to the Divine justice which does not hesitate to respond to the petitions of the faithful. When does the response take effect?  The parable declares that it comes quickly. The tension between the desire of the faithful person and the will and desire of God to lead us to the fulfillment of His Promises may translate into time for the movement toward the intimacy with the Divine which best resolves our need and at the same time as we petition and move toward this deeper intimacy we experience the grace of faith to fuel our patience and persistence.

Missing the message

The texts from the Roman Catholic Lectionary today point to how we often miss the message. The Book of Wisdom presents the case of those who experience awe at the wonders of the universe that they observe in nature.  Rather than explore this experience to search for the Creator of the vista we pause to glorify what the senses tell us. The psalmist proclaims that the knowledge of the Divine is in the events and experiences of our daily life. The resonance between commuters rushing home on a busy city street presenting the miracle of human diversity and energy and the indwelling Spirit of God is a contact point with the Divine. In the Gospel from Luke Jesus answers questions about when the Kingdom of God will be a reality. He advises that the opportunity to be in the Kingdom involves loosing the life we cling to and being open to a call to change which we may witness in the lives of those close to us. Responding to the call to the Kingdom is responding to the deep homesickness which draws us to God, not moving into this deeper intimacy leaves us as a sickly corpse.

Wisdom Love and Suffering

The texts from the Roman Catholic Lectionary today explore the path and pattern of experience of Presence in life. Luke relates in the Gospel the response of Jesus to the Pharisees question about the timing of the coming of the kingdom of God. The Kingdom of God is among you is Jesus proclamation. The faith tradition of the Pharisees includes the understanding of the emanation of God described in the first reading as Wisdom. The details of the attributes of Wisdom reveal that the Pharisees must have lost this intimate relationship with the Divine. The psalmist expresses the praise and thanksgiving which are the fruit of the experience of faithfulness and enlightenment which is life in the Kingdom of God. Jesus presents a path to the deeper relationship with God which many in His time and many today reject. The path to the intimacy is given by Jesus and it involves death to self. Richard Rohr after 40 years as a Franciscan and 30 years as a priest offers the wisdom of two paths to greater intimacy with God. In his recent books, The Naked Now and Falling Upward he declares that deep love and deep suffering are two paths which will open our wisdom to the Presence of the Kingdom of God.

Our place of worship

The Gospel of John today from the Roman Catholic Lectionary relates the events of Jesus clearing the merchants from the Temple in Jerusalem. He shows displeasure at the use of His Father's House as a market place. We recognize that the human spirit responds to and is attracted to "spiritual places". The Celtic Church has celebrated "thin places" where the realm of the temporal comes close to the realm of the infinite. Jesus directs the attention of the Temple authorities to the Temple of the indwelling Spirit which is our body.  Paul, in the letter to the Corinthians proclaims that we are God's Temple and when we gather together we become God's building. The Christian Church celebrates the Presence of Christ in the gathered Assembly. The text from the Book of Ezekiel relates the life that flows from a "living Temple" which gathers and distributes the life of the Presence of the Divine to all who are open to see the invitation to "go with the flow".

Excellent Expectations

The Book of Wisdom from the Roman Catholic Lectionary for today reveals the understanding that the expected path of people is to be aware of their relationship to the Divine and to find in that relationship the love which invokes trust and reveals truth. The expectation of those who know their place in God is that the grace and mercy of God will live with them for eternity. The psalmist echoes the experienced truth that the Lord is near to the broken hearted and saves the crushed in spirit. From the position of slave as Luke outlines in the Gospel today, we acquire a proper humble perspective that the best we can do, in our relationship with the Divine, only what is expected of creature when aware of Creator.