The battle rages and we know it

The psalmist in the texts from the Roman Catholic Lectionary proclaims the understanding of humanity of the Divine that "You are good and do good". Paul frames for the Romans how the law of the commandments cited as guidelines to life in the psalm is rejected by the passions off the flesh. The energy of life eros is essential to our movement in growth. This passion can lead the body to great extremes of taking care of the desires of the flesh so that we become slaves of this force. Paul exhorts us through his experience to be slaves to our relationship with the Father through Jesus and the Holy Spirit. Our life energy in Divine intimacy fulfills our destiny as children of God. The peace and joy in this intimacy are the signs that we have made the correct choice. The signs of our difficulty are not obscure. In the Gospel of Luke, Jesus reminds us of how capable we are to recognize the signs of drifting in our journey. Our life experience, in the world, has taught us to know how to avoid damage to our ego and avoid what we consider to be unnecessary humiliation. We can use this sense of self preservation to move away from the attacks of the passions of the flesh as Paul so deeply witnesses today.

The two ways

The psalm today from the Roman Catholic Lectionary is Psalm 1. The psalmist presents a choice for people to model their lives after the righteous or after the wicked. This dualism  shows the  possible directions for our spiritual journey. We spend our time between being slaves of sin and slaves of righteousness as Paul declares in the Letter to the Romans. The Gospel of Luke presents clarification from Jesus that there is tension and conflict between people who are moving in different directions. The inability of people to move in both directions, toward greater intimacy with the Divine in relationship with Jesus through the Holy Spirit and toward greater satisfaction of the ego and our self serving addictions causes division from those who do not share our decision to move in one of the directions detailed by the psalmist and emphasized by Jesus. 

We know how we have been delivered

The texts today in the Roman Catholic Lectionary invite us to explore more deeply our relationship with the Divine through the grace of God, in Jesus, through the Holy Spirit. Paul reminds us that we are not slaves to the Law but we need to be slaves of the grace which has called us into relationship with God. That relationship compels us to fight against our selfish passions causing us to be servants of sin. The psalmist recalls for Israel and us the life events in which we already know that the Lord has kept us from disaster. We echo the proclamation that "our help is in the name of the Lord who made heaven and earth". In the Gospel of Luke, Jesus tells the story of two slaves who behave badly when their master is absent. The slave who knew his master and understood the directions he was supposed to follow is treated more harshly than the slave who had not completely understood how he was supposed to behave. The intimate relationship with the Divine informs more of the nature of God than the "knowing of"contact. The experience of living in grace requires deeper awareness of the offense possible to that Grace.

Harvest from few workers

The texts from the Roman Catholic Lectionary today give some insight into evangelism and the role of the evangelist in the process. The personal instructions to Timothy from Paul in the passage from the second letter to Timothy reveal the disappointments and abandonment experienced by Paul who is popularly considered the greatly "successful" Apostle to the Gentiles. The human needs that the evangelist shares with all are cited. This is a bit of a counterpoint to the instructions to seventy disciples in the Gospel of Luke where the purse, bag or sandals are not to be the concern of those on the mission. The psalmist speaks of how the works of the Lord will make known to the people the glorious splendor of the Kingdom of God. This knowledge will become experience of graciousness, justice, kindness and truth. The disciple must live the experience of the Divine and that peace which is in the intimate relationship with God will resonate with people who will become the rich harvest. The disciple lives in and with faith. The Lord calls the Harvest from those who have their indwelling Spirit awakened.

Choose to trust the promise to Abraham

Paul exhorts the Romans and us today in the texts from the Roman Catholic Lectionary to have the trust of Abraham in God that the promise of a relationship with the Divine through Jesus Christ will be our becoming righteous before God. The canticle is from the Benedictus or the Song of Zechariah in praise of God over the birth of his son, John the Baptist who will herald a mighty Saviour who will remember the Covenant and the oath sworn to Abraham. We are called by our baptismal vows to choose to be the prophet today who makes the experience of the realization of the promise of an intimate relationship with God through Jesus Christ and the resonance of the Holy Spirit with the indwelling Spirit evident in our society. The Gospel selection today is a parable where Jesus tells the tragic story of the rich man who was led away from a spiritual relationship by over concern for material wealth. His choice was to be a prophet of the good life which results from attention to wealth management. We have recent evidence that such devotion to wealth puts you in the 1% who are being shown as those who have been lead astray by greed which has had very negative consequences for the other 99%. The grain barns will tumble down but the Promise to Abraham is eternally available to those who trust and are justified by Faith.

You call it

The Text today in the Roman Catholic Lectionary from the Gospel of Matthew tells of how the Herodians and the Pharisees attempted to trap Jesus with a question about the legality of paying taxes to the empire of the oppressor, Rome.  Jesus uses the coin of the realm, the denarius, to make the point that the obligation we owe the civil authorities and the obligation we owe to God are different. The Book of the Prophet Isaiah tells of the action of God to liberate the captives in Babylon through the political and military power of the Persian, Cyrus who eventually subdued Babylon and issued an Edict of Restoration for the Jews to return to Jerusalem. The civil authorities are capable of good and bad initiatives. Paul addresses the Thessalonians with thanksgiving to God for the way they have witnessed to the presence of the Holy Spirit through their word and action. The movements in the society around us which are rendering unto God that which is holy, good, compassionate and loving are worthy of our support, thanksgiving and praise for the power of God, as echoed by the psalmist. Rushing to judgement of people, political parties or movements because of their image may be missing the point the Jesus is teaching today.

Based on Grace

The texts from the Roman Catholic Lectionary today emphasize the fundamental importance of grace, the free and loving action of the Divine in our growth in relationship with God. Paul refers to the promises made by God to Abraham with are for all peoples and not just those "under the Law". Observance of the Law is not the path to being righteous with God. The faith of Abraham which gave him the trust to "hope against hope" is both a gift of God and the means by which Abraham is in right relationship with God. The psalmist praises the joy and and singing of the people who have been saved by the graciousness of the Lord. In the Gospel of Luke, Jesus tells the disciple to be courageous as they acknowledge Him to others. The Holy Spirit, the love between the Father and Son which resonates with our indwelling Spirit sustains our witness and give us words to speak to those who attack the Son of Man. This Spirit like Grace itself is the nature of God.