Humbly exalted

The title given to the passage from Psalm 78 in the Roman Catholic Lectionary today, God’s Goodness and Israel’s Ingratitude, is a theme which applies to the relationship with the Divine from at least the time of Moses to our present day. The complaining of the Israelites, in the desert about the lack of what they perceive to be their rights and privileges echoes in our society through deep concern for “my rights”. Too often the “my” is taken to be a greater value than the “we”. The healing of the community by God in the text from the Book of Numbers is accomplished through the actions Moses who according to Friar Jude Winkler prayed to God for those who had treated him very badly. The hymn from the Letter to the Philippians is the means whereby Paul proclaims the depth of the goodness of God in the self limiting action of Jesus fully Divine and fully human, to be incarnated in the flesh and give Himself fully to humiliation, suffering and death to mark the mission of God as Love for all. The Gospel from John is the encounter between Jesus and Nicodemus where the understanding of God as judge is replaced by the proclamation of the intention of God to bring us to relationship with Him. Friar Jude notes the glorious presentation of Love in this Gospel is the Love seen on the Cross and the mission of the followers of the Way is to “wash feet” in humble service with an attitude of thanksgiving and forgiveness that makes this love possible even towards those who hate us.

Learning the spiritual journey

The Roman Catholic Lectionary today offers texts which encourage us to consider the changes we undergo as we move in our spiritual journey. The psalmist praises God for the relationship which has resulted from his choice of God as his portion and cup. The difference between the apparent singular choice of God and the transformation of the person through time by attraction to aspects of the life of holy people who we encounter in our lives is one of timing. The attractive force of the Divine is constantly there. Our encounter with oratory, exegesis, and theology as that which marked the life of Saint John Chrysostom may accelerate the process of moving as in the letter of Paul to Timothy to knowing the grace of the Love of God overflowing in our being. The Gospel from Luke today reminds us that we are disciples and people who continue to learn about ourselves and our relationship to God. Humility is a help against hypocritical proclamation of our insight and understanding which may be more for our self aggrandizement than the attraction of others to the fullness of Life.

Living great creation

The world which the texts today from the Roman Catholic Lectionary inspire us to be part of is reason for the praise of the psalmist for the great goodness of God. The response to these exhortations to forgiveness, compassion and love of enemy is a challenge for believers. The Creation of God is a world where this is the life of people. Jesus is clear in the Gospel of Luke today that the attitude which Paul encourages among the Colossians is the Way we are to treat our enemies. We have enemies. Sometimes, as Rev James Martin SJ notes, we have some understanding of the conflict with an enemy. In that case, we need seek forgiveness and reconciliation. In other cases, we don’t know why the relationship of enemy exists between us. An early sermon by Rev Martin LutherKing Jr identifies hatred which can exist between people for which we are not responsible. The path to understanding this challenge to love those who hate us begins in prayer and thanksgiving. Father James comments on the revelation of the other which prayer for that person will bring to our consciousness. The social and personal consequences of living with the destructive emotions of hate and revenge are cited by both Rev Martin and Rev Martin Luther. The prodigal son will be the subject of the Biblical texts on Sunday. The father who forgives and rejoices at the return of the son who hated him is our model and our understanding of the position of God toward our own wanderings and offensive behaviour.

Reversals and renewal

The life of the believer and the blessings which accompany that life are outlined in the texts today from the Roman Catholic Lectionary. Paul exhorts the Colossians to live in the life which is renewed by the experience of intimacy with Jesus and which rejects conflict with others, dishonesty and self gratification in favour of a universal shift to acceptance and forgiveness as a community is built for all people in Christ. The psalmist is thankful for the works of God. The Body of Christ described by Paul is this work of the Father. The praise of God as faithful in all His Words and gracious in all His Deeds is witnessed in the flesh of those living in intimate relationship with the Divine. The Gospel from Luke makes a clear picture of the reversal of culture which Rick Malloy, S.J asserts is Jesus mission to bring about the Kingdom of God as a new social order, a world wherein all values are reversed and the first shall be last and the last first. Blessings from God, living in the intimacy experienced in Colossae and praised by the psalmist is in lives of the poor, hungry, mourning and those hated by society. Scholars note that the fuller account and the more prominent place given the Beatitudes in St. Matthew (Matthew 5-7) are quite in accordance with the scope and the tendency of the First Gospel. Luke expresses the life of the Beatitude people in contrast to those who reject the offer of life. Matthew offers much food for thought and poetic setting for the majestic pattern of full free life of the believer guided by the Word of the Beatitudes.

Deep evidence of life

The manifestation of Jesus in the lives of those who are called to follow Him is celebrated in the letter of Paul to the Colossians from the texts of the Roman CatholicLectionary today. The believers to whom Paul writes have experienced a transformation of their lives which is described as a spiritual circumcision in which they are permanently identified as belonging to the Body of Christ. This change transcends our human experience and is living in the fullness of freedom from our own passion for privilege, power, position and self gratification. The nature of our Creator praised by the psalmist as slow to anger and steadfast in Love becomes intimate to our being through our life in the Body of Christ. The Gospel from Luke refers to twelve among Jesus who have been developing an intimate relationship with Jesus, through their calling as disciples, who follow Jesus as He preaches, teaches and heals. The Presence of Jesus moves the crowd to thanksgiving like that of the psalmist and Paul which begins the healing of trust in God and abandonment of our faith in the flawed philosophies, ideas and movements of humans. Felix Just, S.J., Ph.D presents scholarship to show the development of “twelve, whom he also named apostles” as a mission to be emissaries of Jesus after a period of growth as disciples through which the intimate relationship the Word made flesh establishes the attitude of praise, thanksgiving and surrender which presents Jesus to others. This apostolic person is not a member of a select group in the sense of the Twelve tribes of Israel but is a way of identifying those who are most open to be Christ in their environments.

He is present

The RomanCatholic Lectionary today looks at the action which comes to life when we are aware of the Presence of God in the Body of Christ. Paul as a prisoner in Rome writes to the Church in Colossae about his situation in captivity from where he rejoices in the suffering he has and is enduring as he continues his mission from Jesus to bring the Word of love to all. The power which drives Paul and which draws deep Love from saints like Peter Claver is that mystery of the Divine which transcends time and linearity. The Presence is. Jesus continues to be the Will of the Father toward Creation. The trust of the psalmist in deliverance and salvation from God, the tireless evangelism of Paul, and the instruction of Jesus to the man with the withered hand to receive Divine healing in the synagogue on the Sabbath, from the Gospel of Luke today, are manifestations of this Love without bound in time and place. The great mystery for which Paul and saints spend themselves is that God is with us in full component of our lives, joy, trust, faith, anguish, anxiety, hope and suffering. Let us rejoice!

Large Soul in God Bearer

How can I do it? Is the question which rises from the texts today in the Roman CatholicLectionary. The psalmist prays for God to prosper the work of our hands. FatherLarry Gillick SJ indentifies a human trait to be overly concerned with “enoughness”. This tension is the one that manifests itself in the over doing of events and concern about success for which we are over invested and ever seeking to do enough. The Gospel from Luke on the cost of discipleship uses language which Father Larry confirms is as strong in the original Greek as it is in English. The theme of the supremacy of Love of God in the lives of those people who accept Covenant and relationship with the Divine is the foundation proclaimed by Moses for Israel to “hear”. (Deuteronomy 6:4-9).  The “new year” prayers of Rosh Hashanah are recited at this time to seek the Presence of God in living another season. This commitment to put God first needs to be renewed as we find ourselves, like Solomon, seeking the human resource to sort it all out. The struggle to be open to “big soul generosity” is noted as the prayer of St Ignatius to find and act on the will of God. Our “puzzlement” like that of Solomon is the state of struggling with being a disciple of Jesus. Father Larry concludes, reflecting on our mission as salt of the earth, “We do not do enough, feel enough, forgive enough, but we keep living, loving as we can and that keeps our salt from being thrown out. We cannot follow Jesus well enough, but we don’t throw ourselves away either, because we are not doing that well enough. “Large-soulness” is the gift of Wisdom which builds and wins and keeps us salty”.