Generosity Service and Humility

The texts of the Roman Catholic Lectionary today explore the conflict between our own desires and jealousy and Life in communion with God. The letter of James reminds us of the opposite directions of the Will of God and the desire in the world to acquire all we can for ourselves and our self gratification. The battle against these tendencies, or demons, is best fought from the position of humility. The degree to which we realize our position before the Divine and celebrate with thanksgiving the life we know is the measure of our preparedness to accept the direction of the Spirit to move beyond our desires and jealousy and draw near to God as James is inviting us to do. The psalmist is calling on the justice of God to rectify the wrongs he witnesses in society. We can emphasize with that prayer. Our challenge is to seek mercy over justice. This request to God is nurtured in humility. In the text from the Gospel of Mark, Jesus again refers to the Son of Man (see Daniel 7 and the Suffering Servant of Second Isaiah) being killed by human hands and then rising from the dead. The deep mystery of this assertion seems to be ignored by the disciples who are immersed in the discussion of their greatness before God. Jesus redirects their orientation to service. Friar Jude Winkler describes the "welcome" of the child, the least of the community as the "service" of the least. This humility is necessary to be the full servant of Jesus, God and humanity.

Accomplishment and Arrogance

The texts today from the Roman Catholic Lectionary illuminate a challenge to people who have acquired specialized knowledge or ability. A letter of James asks the wise and those with understanding if they are giving witness to a good life by applying their wisdom with simplicity, in peace and mercy without hypocrisy or partiality. Friar Jude Winkler indicates that some learned people may use their special knowledge to control, divide and "lord it over" others. The gift of wisdom and ability is to be used in service. The disciples, in the episode from the Gospel of Mark, bring a boy to him who is exhibiting behaviour of one possessed. Jesus perceives that perhaps the inability of His disciples to heal this boy is routed in the absence of faith, or trust in the will of God, in the events so far. Jesus responds to the doubts of the father of the boy by challenging the lack of faith of the man. The response of the father is our proper response. "Help my unbelief!". We live in a society of right and wrong, ready and not prepared, good and evil. We look to have the right amount of faith, charity, mercy and forgiveness. Am I there yet? is often the cry of our times. On the other side we seek credit and results after minimal efforts. The father breaks free from the attempt to determine if he has sufficient faith to pass with the movement toward God seeking mercy and grace. This is our position before the Divine. God loves and is Present to us. In the position of communion with God, we are healed. Our arrogance, which may be rooted in our special knowledge or ability, is an obstacle to being a witness to the Love of God working in us. We listen to Jesus tells us about prayer.

What we see and hear

The episode from the Gospel of Mark in the Roman Catholic Lectionary today concludes with "we have never seen anything like this" (Mark 2:12). Fr Larry Gillick reflects on this passage by considering the statement of the CS Lewis character in The Magician’s Nephew, (one of the Chronicles of Narnia), which is "For what you see and hear depends a good deal on where you are standing and also depends on what sort of person you are". The witnesses to the healing of the paralytic saw and heard a different event. Friar Jude Winkler notes that even though we might "see" forgiveness of sins as easier than healing the paralysis, the Scribes and some who consider their sinfulness to be to great or too inconsequential to God for Divine intervention may "hear" different messages than the invitation to rebirth through forgiveness. This invitation to rebirth is extended to the exiles in Babylon as the prophet declares that God is standing in the position where He sees the transgressions of the people and hears their doubts in Babylon, yet chooses to blot out their sins and not remember. The account we give of an accident we witness depends on where we stand and the bias we may have in our mind for "drivers who turn left on this street". We look out at the people of God and , like Jesus, see the faith which is healing their lives and the lives of those with whom they have contact or we see the people who threaten our authority and control with "new" understanding. We may, like Paul, as in the comment from Friar Jude,  deflect our personal upset with a situation by withdrawing to a position that gives us a new perspective and we may choose to send a letter or email rather than invite a face to face confrontation. Where are we standing?

Two very different times

The Texts from Roman Catholic Lectionary today present sharp contrast between two human experiences in our relationship with the Divine. The Letter of James recalls the power for evil which is associated with how we use our tongue. We know the regret of "I wish I had not said that". Friar Jude Winkler reminds us of the effect of a word of praise or a word of condemnation on young people. That "memory trigger" is not far away from most adults too who can be transported back to the time of those terrible words. The Gospel of Mark is the episode where Peter, James and John are transported to the mountain top with Jesus. This very experience, as Friar Jude points out is given today to people on the spiritual journey. Like Peter, James and John we become aware of parts of the puzzle which were hidden to us. The impression we take away from these mountain top experiences is rich. Friar Jude steps through some of the richness presented to the disciples which enlightened them with links to the Law and the Prophets, the Presence in the cloud and many references to the Jewish tradition. The connection of Jesus to their lives and tradition was opened more clearly to them. The effect of making ourselves the authority and speaking our mind from ego and pride is known and referred to by James. The gift of the transcendent experience given by the Spirit reveals our humble understanding and opens us to listen and see the wonders in the people and creation around us. Praise God for marvelous course correction! Amen

The Promised Life

The discussion about faith and works is presented by James in the passage from his second letter from the Roman Catholic Lectionary for today. The surrender of our fear and concern to God is faith. We trust in His will for our lives. We are invited to live intimately with God through the Holy Spirit. Can it be more than this? What work can I do to earn this? The answers are yes there is more and no it is gift and it is undeserved, unmerited and we cannot work to achieve it. The more is living as Christ. This brings us compassion, patience, mercy and forgiveness. The action and work which follows from our holy gifts is the righteousness which makes our lives a witness to Love. Works are the consequence and fulfillment of faith. The Life in the Way will invite us to abandon the practices which cause us to turn away from the direction prompted by the Spirit. When we serve ourselves we show distance from the Divine to the world. Mark, in the Gospel passage, sees those in his time who are presenting an attitude of being ashamed of Jesus Way through adulterous and sinful actions. We are cautioned about our loss of intimacy with God, the fruit of faith, and our possible return to fear in the dark

An uncommon sense

The texts today from the Roman Catholic Lectionary can make us uncomfortable about the allure and apparent goodness of comfort. The second letter of James comments on the deference which is shown in the community gatherings to the wealthy. Friar Jude Winkler points out that today the wealthy donor or patron of the activities of the parish is treated differently from the poor member of our communities. He refers to studies which indicate our vision of the "good" person is too often associated with characteristics of having wealth, being a winner and being white skinned. These attitudes tempt the disciples of Jesus not to strive to see with the eyes of God, Who chooses the poor, outcast, weak and unlikely to be King David or Peter the Rock. Jesus confronts the common sense of Peter that the "Son of Man" will be a great and powerful Messiah, a King or General who will bring them comfort, with allusion to the Suffering Servant leader of the Book of Isaiah who will give everything for the salvation of the nation and the world. The temptation in Peter's mind to move to power and glory is firmly rejected by Jesus. The psalmist declares the point of view from which there is better clarity about those in relationship with the Divine. They are the humble who have been delivered from fear to love. 

On two levels

The texts today in the Roman Catholic Lectionary reach us in and about two levels.  Friar Jude Winkler points out the two messages in the letter of James. The first identifies gossip as a sordid and wicked practice which needs to be combatted with attention to listening and reluctance to speak. The second level addresses the deeper level of relationship to God which is characterized as being a doer and not just one who talks the talk. The psalmist praises those who walk the walk which involves rejecting behaviour which brings scandal and as James concludes in the end of his passage those who attend to the needs of the poor, excluded and dispossessed. Francis of Assisi encouraged the faithful to preach the Good News and if necessary, use words. The life of the disciple is the level of witness which is not always easy. Friar Jude points to the healing of the blind man in the Gospel of Mark today in two stages as being about the two stage conversion of the apostles. The first stage of love and attraction, which we know, is the relationship with Jesus which makes us feel great and supercharged. It brings us pleasure. As the apostles approached Calvary with Jesus they came to a second level of relationship through struggle and death to self which completes their journey to full restoration of sight. The second half of life, referred to by Richard Rohr, is that level of living in relationship with God where the battles with ego and self service can be won more than lost through the power of the indwelling Spirit in resonance with the Holy Spirit.