Striving for Holiness as compassion

The texts from the Roman Catholic Lectionary today inspire consideration of our behaviour as people striving for holiness.

Our #MondayMotivation comes from our daily inspiration:
For I was hungry and you gave me food,
I was thirsty and you gave me drink,
a stranger and you welcomed me,
naked and you clothed me,
ill and you cared for me,
in prison and you visited me.
- Matthew 25:35-36#loveinaction pic.twitter.com/ZDl8Kdmbtj

— CatholicCharitiesKS (@CCNEK) February 12, 2018

Chapter 19 of the Book of Leviticus describes attitudes and actions towards Jews and Gentiles.

* [19:17–18] These verses form a unit and describe different attitudes and actions towards one’s fellow Israelites. A separate passage is necessary to advise a similar attitude toward aliens (vv. 33–34). Cf. 25:39–46. The admonition at the end of v. 18 came to be viewed in Judaism and Christianity as one of the central commandments. (See Mt 22:34–40; Mk 12:28–34; Lk 10:25–28; cf. Mt 19:19; Rom 13:8–10; Gal 5:14). The New Testament urges love for enemies as well as neighbors (Mt 5:43–48; Lk 6:27–36; cf. Prv 25:21–22).

The Gospel of Matthew portrays the final judgment that will accompany the parousia.

* [25:31–46] The conclusion of the discourse, which is peculiar to Matthew, portrays the final judgment that will accompany the parousia. Although often called a “parable,” it is not really such, for the only parabolic elements are the depiction of the Son of Man as a shepherd and of the righteous and the wicked as sheep and goats respectively (Mt 25:32–33). The criterion of judgment will be the deeds of mercy that have been done for the least of Jesus’ brothers (Mt 25:40). A difficult and important question is the identification of these least brothers. Are they all people who have suffered hunger, thirst, etc. (Mt 25:35, 36) or a particular group of such sufferers? Scholars are divided in their response and arguments can be made for either side. But leaving aside the problem of what the traditional material that Matthew edited may have meant, it seems that a stronger case can be made for the view that in the evangelist’s sense the sufferers are Christians, probably Christian missionaries whose sufferings were brought upon them by their preaching of the gospel. The criterion of judgment for all the nations is their treatment of those who have borne to the world the message of Jesus, and this means ultimately their acceptance or rejection of Jesus himself; cf. Mt 10:40, “Whoever receives you, receives me.” See note on Mt 16:27.

We consider a holiness code for other bodies as we integrate what postmodern science is telling us about the nature of the universe.

Chas Kestermeier, S.J. comments that Holiness is God's affair, and our part is to ask for it and to prepare ourselves to receive that gift and to live it.

What is this process by which we seek to live with the transparency, simplicity, and self-emptiness, the holiness which God calls us to?  It is silence, it is prayer, it is fasting and humility, poverty and generosity, and it is all the gifts of the Spirit.

Don Schwager quotes an anonymous early author from the Greek church on the Gospel where Jesus separates the sheep from the goats.

"And he will separate them one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats." So then, people on earth are intermingled, and not only intermingled in that the righteous live side by side with the wicked, but they are also indistinguishable. Between the righteous and the wicked there is no apparent difference. Even as in wintertime you cannot tell the healthy trees apart from the withered trees but in beautiful springtime you can tell the difference, so too each person according to his faith and his works will be exposed. The wicked will not have any leaves or show any fruit, but the righteous will be clothed with the leaves of eternal life and adorned with the fruit of glory. In this way they will be separated by the heavenly shepherd and Lord. The earthly shepherd separates animals by their type of body, whereas Christ separates people by their type of soul. The sheep signify righteous people by reason of their gentleness, because they harm no one, and by reason of their patience, because when they are harmed by others, they bear it without resistance. He refers to sinners as goats, however, because these vices characterize goats - capriciousness toward other animals, pride and belligerence." (excerpt from INCOMPLETE WORK ON MATTHEW, HOMILY 54, the Greek fathers).

Friar Jude Winkler examines the concept of Holiness code through which we are blessed by God and bear that blessing to others. A new meaning of righteousness is declared by Jesus in Matthew’s Gospel. It is being compassionate as Joseph was to Mary.

Rabbi W. Gunther Plaut describes the
Leviticus passage as the oldest written version of the principle of the Golden Rule.

Our passage is apparently the oldest written version of the principle. When Hillel, at the beginning of the Christian era, was asked to sum up the entire Torah briefly, he replied: “What is hateful to you, do not do to your fellow.” (This negative form of the golden rule was apparently proverbial in Hillel’s time for it appears in practically the same words in the apocryphal book of Tobit (4:15).) Jesus of Nazareth, Hillel’s younger contemporary, declared that the commandment of Leviticus 19:18 is second in importance only to the command to love God (Mark 12:28-30.). In the following century, Rabbi Akiba declared it to be “the great principle of the Torah” (Sifra).

Fr. Richard Rohr, OFM, presents theology developed by Sallie McFague on the nature of the Body of God as key to an ecological holiness.

What would it mean, for instance, to understand sin as the refusal to share the basic necessities of survival with other bodies? to see Jesus of Nazareth as paradigmatic of God’s love for bodies? to interpret creation as all the myriad forms of matter bodied forth from God and empowered with the breath of life, the spirit of God? to consider ourselves as inspirited bodies profoundly interrelated with all other such bodies and yet having the special distinction of shared responsibility with God for the well-being of our planet? Such a focus causes us to see differently, to see dimensions of the relation of God and the world that we have not seen before.

Striving for an apparently unattainable goal of holiness builds our practices that make God present to people in our world.

References

(n.d.). Leviticus, chapter 19 - United States Conference of Catholic Bishops. Retrieved February 19, 2018, from http://www.usccb.org/bible/leviticus19:412

(n.d.). Matthew 25:31-46. Retrieved February 19, 2018, from http://www.usccb.org/bible/matthew/matthew25.htm

(n.d.). Creighton U Daily Reflections .... Retrieved February 19, 2018, from http://onlineministries.creighton.edu/CollaborativeMinistry/daily.html

(n.d.). Daily Scripture Readings and Meditations. Retrieved February 19, 2018, from http://dailyscripture.servantsoftheword.org/

(n.d.). Leviticus 19 | My Jewish Learning. Retrieved February 19, 2018, from https://www.myjewishlearning.com/article/leviticus-19/

(2017, December 30). 2018 Daily Meditations - Center for Action and Contemplation. Retrieved February 19, 2018, from https://cac.org/2018-daily-meditations/

Understanding starting in a desert

The texts from the Roman Catholic Lectionary mark the First Sunday of Lent with images rich in nature and invitations to contemplate the role of the deserts of our life in growth in our understanding.

Source: http://www.thinkingfaith.org/sites/default/files/styles/article_full_687/public/field/image/20170308_1desertification.jpg?itok=W-JoMYsU

The Book of Genesis describes the protective Covenant between God and the people of Israel that would be symbolized by the rainbow.

* [9:8–17] God makes a covenant with Noah and his descendants and, remarkably, with all the animals who come out of the ark: never again shall the world be destroyed by flood. The sign of this solemn promise is the appearance of a rainbow.

In the First Letter from Peter, Jesus, death in the flesh is our example for understanding new life in the Spirit.

* [3:18] Suffered: very many ancient manuscripts and versions read “died.” Put to death in the flesh: affirms that Jesus truly died as a human being. Brought to life in the spirit: that is, in the new and transformed existence freed from the limitations and weaknesses of natural human life (cf. 1 Cor 15:45).

The brief description of Jesus temptation in the desert in the Gospel of Mark has a journalistic tone drawing us to seek more understanding beyond the headline.

* [1:12–13] The same Spirit who descended on Jesus in his baptism now drives him into the desert for forty days. The result is radical confrontation and temptation by Satan who attempts to frustrate the work of God. The presence of wild beasts may indicate the horror and danger of the desert regarded as the abode of demons or may reflect the paradise motif of harmony among all creatures; cf. Is 11:6–9. The presence of ministering angels to sustain Jesus recalls the angel who guided the Israelites in the desert in the first Exodus (Ex 14:19; 23:20) and the angel who supplied nourishment to Elijah in the wilderness (1 Kgs 19:5–7). The combined forces of good and evil were present to Jesus in the desert. His sustained obedience brings forth the new Israel of God there where Israel’s rebellion had brought death and alienation.

Andy Alexander, S.J. ponders the sense that we may not be coming up with anything to think about or change in ourselves. He suggests that we might need to turn the dial up on the desert part of this Lent.

Going into the desert - stripping ourselves of all the noise and distractions (things that lean us or tend us in the opposite direction) - so that we can see more clearly, understand with greater focus, what we are really like - what we are really about. During Lent, we can see the fault lines, with our eye wide open. We can recognize where the battle for integrity really is, where the struggle for our best self is waged on a day to day basis. Each of us can give ourselves to concretely discovering the place where we teeter between doing what we know is right and good and loving, and responding selfishly, even with revenge and divisiveness. In the desert of Lent, those choice points become clearer and can result in our discovering riches Jesus is offering us in a life that is more whole and balanced, responsive to his grace, and full of self-sacrificing love.

Jaime Tatay SJ is a forest engineer and a Jesuit priest. He is the author of many articles on ecology, spirituality and Catholic Social Teaching. He writes that, during Lent, we are specially invited to imitate Jesus and go into the spiritual and natural wildernesses of our time for transformation and encounter with God. However, to accept this invitation we have to overcome several obstacles in our contemporary, noisy, hyper-connected, rapidly urbanising world.

Pope Francis, quoting Patriarch Bartholomew, seems to be pointing in this direction when he speaks ‘of the need for each of us to repent of the ways we have harmed the planet, for “inasmuch as we all generate small ecological damage”, we are called to acknowledge “our contribution, smaller or greater, to the disfigurement and destruction of creation”.’[vii]

Friar Jude Winkler offers a description of the chaos of the flood as a consequence of the chaos of sin. The protection of God in a Covenant is to address our need. Mark’s description of Jesus in the desert is primitive. Perhaps Mark is pointing to later chapters showing temptation from human sources.

Fr. Richard Rohr, OFM, expresses the hope that our very suffering now, our crowded presence in this nest that we have largely fouled, will bring us together politically and religiously.

The Earth and its life systems, on which we all entirely depend, still have the potential to convert us to a universal maturity. We all breathe the same air and drink the same water. There are no Native, Hindu, Jewish, Christian, or Muslim versions of the universal elements. The periodic table is the same in every country, or as Shakespeare and musician Mandisa expressed it, we all bleed the same. Animals do not care whether they are on the Mexican or the American side of our delusional wall.

The rainbow and the desert are spiritual symbols that stimulate meditation about understanding our relationship with God. The direct nudge from these images to seek communion with the full Creation that is the baseline Presence for all humanity.

References


(n.d.). Genesis, chapter 9 - United States Conference of Catholic Bishops. Retrieved February 18, 2018, from http://www.usccb.org/bible/genesis9:35

(n.d.). 1 Peter chapter 3- United States Conference of Catholic Bishops. Retrieved February 18, 2018, from http://www.usccb.org/bible/readings/bible/1Peter/3:18

(n.d.). Mark, chapter 1 - United States Conference of Catholic Bishops. Retrieved February 18, 2018, from http://www.usccb.org/bible/mk/1:3131

(n.d.). Online Ministries at Creighton University. Retrieved February 18, 2018, from http://onlineministries.creighton.edu/CollaborativeMinistry/

(2017, March 8). Desertification as a spiritual challenge | Thinking Faith: The online .... Retrieved February 18, 2018, from http://www.thinkingfaith.org/articles/desertification-spiritual-challenge

(2017, December 30). 2018 Daily Meditations - Center for Action and Contemplation. Retrieved February 18, 2018, from https://cac.org/2018-daily-meditations/

A paradigm for progress in reconciliation

The texts from the Roman Catholic Lectionary today connect spiritual and material feeding and reconciliation in the fullness of God of the Christ Mystery.

Table Hospitality

The Book of the Prophet Isaiah directs that we lavish our food on the hungry.

* [58:6–12] Fasting is not genuine without reforming one’s way of life. A true social morality will ensure prosperity.

In the Gospel from Luke, Levi gave a great banquet for Jesus who called Levi to follow Him.

[5:28] Leaving everything behind: see note on Lk 5:11.

Tamara Whitney shows that Jesus calls the people who are hungry for His word and he gives it.

Dr. Ralph F. Wilson offers a vivid description of Jesus enjoying the people and banquet created by Levi.

Grant MacAskill of the Theology of Work Project notes the hospitality of communal eating and suggests that lunch with colleagues, a jog or workout at the gym, or a shared beverage after work can build deeper relationships with our co-workers.

Interestingly, the hospitality of communal eating is a major part of Jesus’ ministry and suggests a concrete way by which such encounters might be hosted. The hospitality of lunch with colleagues, a jog or workout at the gym, or a shared beverage after work can build deeper relationships with our co-workers. These friendships have lasting value themselves, and through them the Holy Spirit may open the door to a kind of friendship evangelism.This raises a question. If Christians today were to host a meal with colleagues from work, friends from their neighbourhood, and friends from their church, what would they talk about? The Christian faith has much to say about how to be a good worker and how to be a good neighbour. But do Christians know how to speak about them in a common language understandable to their colleagues and neighbours?

Don Schwager reminds us that  when we bless others, especially those who need spiritual as well as physical and material help, God in turn blesses us.

When your neighbor stumbles through sin or ignorance, do you point the finger to criticize or do you lend a helping hand to lift him or her up? The prophet Isaiah tells us that God repays each in kind. When we bless others, especially those who need spiritual as well as physical and material help, God in turn blesses us.

Friar Jude Winkler connects the call of Isaiah to feed and clothe the needy with Sabbath observance. The contagion of sin fear continues today and our strength is in the Body of Christ to be the physician who does not contract the disease.

The paradigm shift modeled by Jesus hospitality resonates with Pope Francis' Amoris Laetitia as a New Paradigm in the Revolution of Mercy as presented by Cardinal Cupich at the Von Hügel Institute.

Pope Francis is tapping into a yearning the Institute is attempting to address, namely the need for a worldview of reality, a catholic - with small c - view, that connects all aspects of knowledge and practice in a differentiated unity, offering a needed corrective in an era when pressures of specialization and commodification have left work and knowledge so fragmented. Von Hügel Institute has given me a chance to take a second look at what Pope Francis is offering in Amoris, for which I thank you. Without a holistic approach to examining the questions of the day, one that connects knowing and practice, we end up with a fragmented and partial way of understanding and knowledge, which limits our practice. What emerges from this re-reading of Amoris is that the Holy Father is offering a revivified hermeneutic that involves a paradigm shift on a number of levels. He does that by connecting tradition and experience, teaching and practice in a way that better responds to the realities people face in their daily lives

Fr. Richard Rohr, OFM, offers Alana Levandoski and Julie Ann Stevens creative rendering of  “The Christ Hymn” from Colossians 1:15-20 (Common English Bible) that invites contemplation of The Christ Mystery in which “Because all the fullness of God was pleased to live in him, and he reconciled all things to himself through him”.

The path to reconciliation needed today is through living as disciples of Jesus who engage and learn in hospitable connection with all people.

References


(n.d.). Isaiah 58:6-11. Retrieved February 17, 2018, from http://www.usccb.org/bible/isaiah/isaiah58.htm

(n.d.). Luke, chapter 5 - United States Conference of Catholic Bishops. Retrieved February 17, 2018, from http://www.usccb.org/bible/luke/5

(n.d.). #13. Calling Levi the Tax Collector (Luke 5:27-32) -- JesusWalk. Retrieved February 17, 2018, from http://www.jesuswalk.com/lessons/5_27-32.htm
(n.d.). The Calling of Levi (Mark 2:13-17) - Theology of Work. Retrieved February 17, 2018, from https://www.theologyofwork.org/new-testament/mark/kingdom-and-discipleship/the-calling-of-levi-mark-213-17

(n.d.). Daily Scripture Readings and Meditations. Retrieved February 17, 2018, from http://dailyscripture.servantsoftheword.org/

(2018, February 9). Pope Francis' Revolution of Mercy: Amoris Laetitia as a New Paradigm .... Retrieved February 17, 2018, from http://www.lastampa.it/2018/02/09/vaticaninsider/eng/documents/pope-francis-revolution-of-mercy-amoris-laetitia-as-a-new-paradigm-of-catholicity-skMox0lKtoX5szfKH6QgrL/pagina.html

(2017, December 30). 2018 Daily Meditations - Center for Action and Contemplation. Retrieved February 17, 2018, from https://cac.org/2018-daily-meditations/

Fasting for the universe

The texts from the Roman Catholic Lectionary today invite us to contemplate how Lenten fasting is a discipline that is helpful in focusing our attention away from ourselves.

The compelling words of the prophet Isaiah in the first reading help us to identify a distortion of the virtue of asceticism. https://t.co/bnGC4VdFE3 #Bible #Lent

— Thinking Faith (@ThinkingFaith) February 16, 2018

In the Book of the Prophet Isaiah, a type of fasting that will be in accord with the will of God is described.

* [58:1–5] The prophet is commanded to condemn the formalism of the people, specifically their hypocritical fasting.

In the Gospel from Matthew, Jesus identifies fasting as appropriate when we are mourning loss, in particular, distance from Christ.

* [9:15] Fasting is a sign of mourning and would be as inappropriate at this time of joy, when Jesus is proclaiming the kingdom, as it would be at a marriage feast. Yet the saying looks forward to the time when Jesus will no longer be with the disciples visibly, the time of Matthew’s church. Then they will fast: see Didache 8:1.

Mary Lee Brock challenges us to look at our practices of fasting as she shares the inspiration that fasting brings to her life.

rather than feeling shame and desolation about my imperfect fasting, I become inspired by God’s wisdom in redefining a fast.  God asks us to use our fast to set free the oppressed, share bread with the hungry, shelter the oppressed, shelter the homeless, clothe the naked and not turn our backs on any of God’s children.  Reading these words in Isaiah inspires me with possibilities of how I can serve God.

Don Schwager quotes Augustine of Hippo, (354-430 AD) on the connection between fasting and charity.

"All the endeavors for fasting are concerned not about the rejection of various foods as unclean, but about the subjugation of inordinate desire and the maintenance of neighborly love. Charity especially is guarded - food is subservient to charity, speech to charity, customs to charity, and facial expressions to charity. Everything works together for charity alone." (excerpt from Letter 243, 11)

Friar Jude Winkler identifies the fasting in Trito Isaiah with disappointment and links it to the the promises in Second Isaiah. He enumerates some of our many reasons to seek the benefits of fasting in changing our heart.

Fr. Richard Rohr, OFM, puts it frankly, that “salvation” is not just about us! He quotes Contemporary Franciscan professor William Short on the goal of God for all Creation.

The end here refers to God’s purpose or goal for the whole of creation. That goal, according to Scotus, is the sharing of God’s own life, one so fruitful that it constantly seeks expression. The ultimate goal must be sharing the life of the Trinity itself. . . . The Son may be called the heart of, or the way into the Trinity.

Looking outward as we apply the discipline of fasting to our lives may generate an awareness of the need to live charitably in a universe that is not centered on our needs.

References


(n.d.). Isaiah 58:6-11. Retrieved February 16, 2018, from http://www.usccb.org/bible/isaiah/isaiah58.htm

(n.d.). Matthew 9:37-38. Retrieved February 16, 2018, from http://www.usccb.org/bible/matthew/matthew9.htm

(n.d.). Creighton U Daily Reflections .... Retrieved February 16, 2018, from http://onlineministries.creighton.edu/CollaborativeMinistry/daily.html

(n.d.). Daily Scripture Readings and Meditations. Retrieved February 16, 2018, from http://dailyscripture.servantsoftheword.org/

(2017, December 30). 2018 Daily Meditations - Center for Action and Contemplation. Retrieved February 16, 2018, from https://cac.org/2018-daily-meditations/

Spiritual guide to be disciples

The texts from the Roman Catholic Lectionary today resonate with words and phrases that describe crucial choices and conditions of discipleship.

“The same God that died upon the cross for our sins is the same God who created human beings as rational animals.” https://t.co/22SAehsNze

— St. Peter's List (@StPetersList) February 10, 2018

The Book of Deuteronomy declares the choice before Israel of life or death. In the Gospel from Luke, Jesus proclaims conditions of discipleship.

* [9:23] Daily: this is a Lucan addition to a saying of Jesus, removing the saying from a context that envisioned the imminent suffering and death of the disciple of Jesus (as does the saying in Mk 8:34–35) to one that focuses on the demands of daily Christian existence.

Some of our commentators today will underline dualistic phrases of life and good, death and evil, winning, losing, gaining, forfeiting, rejection and crucifixion, defeat and condemnation, and victory and freedom. A metaphysical structure of Emanation, Exemplarism, Consummation is also connected to a renewed life or “resurrection”.

Larry Gillick, S.J. understands Lent as a time to prepare to greet those entering the community as authentic disciples of Jesus who will not be a disappointment to the new members.

Winning, losing, gaining, forfeiting are frightening terms when applied to “life.” Here is the Lenten call. “Life” is a gift which is not gained or won. At our reception of the Eucharist we are celebrating our poverty with empty, open hands. What a dramatic gesture. What is even more dramatic is that Jesus enters that poverty and invites us to take It in for “life” and live all the moments of our days in generous gratitude.

Don Schwager reflects on the language of opposites implied in the Gospel where usually rejection and crucifixion meant defeat and condemnation, not victory and freedom as he quotes Augustine of Hippo (354-430 AD) in a dualistic exhortation of how God calls us to conversion.

"God calls us to correct ourselves and invites us to do penance. He calls us through the wonderful gifts of his creation, and he calls us by granting time for life. He calls us through the reader and through the preacher. He calls us with the innermost force of our thoughts. He calls us with the scourge of punishment, and he calls us with the mercy of his consolation." (excerpt from Commentary on Psalm 102, 16)

Friar Jude Winkler comments on the path of Life and the path of death in the dualistic text from Deuteronomy If we choose the wrong path then we are going to suffer. Sin carries in itself its own punishment. One aspect of sin is loneliness, a little bit of hell.

Fr. Richard Rohr, OFM, explains how St. Bonaventure of Bagnoregio (1217-1274) invited us into a positive notion of history as a slow but real emergence/evolution into ever-greater consciousness of a larger and always renewed life (“resurrection”).

In Bonaventure’s writings, you will find little or none of the medieval language of fire and brimstone, worthy and unworthy, sin and guilt, merit and demerit, justification and atonement, even the dualistic notions of heaven or hell, which later took over.

Christopher M. Cullen describes the Natural Philosophy of Bonaventure in metaphysical language.

According to Bonaventure, metaphysics, as a branch of natural philosophy, is concerned with the truth of “things”. But unlike physics, which investigates things insofar as they change, metaphysics goes beyond motion and quantity to investigate things simply insofar as they exist or are “beings”. This investigation involves reducing things back to the most fundamental concept, namely, being. It has three main parts: (1) how things came to be from the First Principle, that is, why there is something rather than nothing; (2) how things reflect ideas or “exemplars” in the divine mind, in other words, how things are what they are and are intelligible; and finally, (3) how things “return” to their source, or, the ultimate meaning of things. These three aspects constitute the three parts of metaphysics: emanation, exemplarism, and consummation.

Our experience of life may or may not be close to the sense of Augustine or Bonaventure yet our contemplation will help provide a direction for our preparation to be disciples of Jesus to those we “evangelize” during Lent.

References

(n.d.). Deuteronomy, chapter 30. Retrieved February 15, 2018, from http://www.usccb.org/bible/deuteronomy/30 

(n.d.). Luke, chapter 9 - United States Conference of Catholic Bishops. Retrieved February 15, 2018, from http://www.usccb.org/bible/luke/9

(n.d.). Daily Scripture Readings and Meditations. Retrieved February 15, 2018, from http://dailyscripture.servantsoftheword.org/

(n.d.). Daily Meditations Archive - Center for Action and Contemplation. Retrieved February 15, 2018, from https://cac.org/richard-rohr/daily-meditations/daily-meditations-archive/

(n.d.). Natural Philosophy : Bonaventure - oi. Retrieved February 15, 2018, from http://oxfordindex.oup.com/view/10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195149258.003.0004

Reconcile the disconnect

The texts from the Roman Catholic Lectionary for Ash Wednesday invite us to consider our disconnectedness from God and others and take action to better reflect His identity to others.

Source: https://img.washingtonpost.com/wp-apps/imrs.php?src=https://img.washingtonpost.com/rf/image_908w/2010-2019/WashingtonPost/2016/02/10/SocialIssues-Religion-Immigration/Images/iStock_000033242788_XXXLargebw1455070571.jpg&w=1484

Jesus had a body. Here's why that matters for Lent.

In the Book of Joel, the prophet reassures the people of the desire of God to protect and love his people, Israel.

* [2:18] Jealous: the Hebrew word describes the passionate empathetic bond the Lord has with Israel. The people’s wholehearted participation in Joel’s call for fasting and prayer sparks the Lord’s longing to protect and love his people Israel. This desire moves him to withhold punishment and to send the blessing of v. 14 instead.

Paul expresses in the Second Letter to the Corinthians an appeal to be reconciled with God, who invites us to a mystical exchange of attributes through our mission as ambassadors for Christ.

* [5:21] This is a statement of God’s purpose, expressed paradoxically in terms of sharing and exchange of attributes. As Christ became our righteousness (1 Cor 1:30), we become God’s righteousness (cf. 2 Cor 5:14–15).

In the Sermon on the Mount, from the Gospel of Matthew, Jesus reaffirms the rabbinic disciplines of prayer, fasting and almsgiving as paths to reconciliation as He cautions us against attitudes displayed by the Pharisees that are connected to a arrogant “commercial transaction” with God.

* [6:1–18] The sermon continues with a warning against doing good in order to be seen and gives three examples, almsgiving (Mt 6:2–4), prayer (Mt 6:5–15), and fasting (Mt 6:16–18). In each, the conduct of the hypocrites (Mt 6:2) is contrasted with that demanded of the disciples. The sayings about reward found here and elsewhere (Mt 5:12, 46; 10:41–42) show that this is a genuine element of Christian moral exhortation. Possibly to underline the difference between the Christian idea of reward and that of the hypocrites, the evangelist uses two different Greek verbs to express the rewarding of the disciples and that of the hypocrites; in the latter case it is the verb apechō, a commercial term for giving a receipt for what has been paid in full (Mt 6:2, 5, 16).

 Dick Hauser, S.J. prays to strive to become more fully Christ’s ambassador. We also pray for a renewal of Christian joy in our lives: “Give me back the joy of your salvation and a willing spirit sustain within me” (Ps 51,14).

Lent can become a joyful season for us if we open our hearts and allow the Spirit to transform our lives. In his Letter to the Galatians Paul reminds us that the fruits of the Spirit include joy -- love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, generosity, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control!

Don Schwager shares thoughts of Augustine of Hippo, 354-430 AD that Lent reveals the epitome of our whole life. St. Augustine of Hippo tells us that there are two kinds of people and two kinds of love: "One is holy, the other is selfish. One is subject to God; the other endeavors to equal Him.

" We are what we love. God wants to free our hearts from all that would keep us captive to selfishness and sin. "Rend your hearts and not your garments" says the prophet Joel (Joel 2:12). The Holy Spirit is ever ready to transform our hearts and to lead us further in God's way of truth and holiness.

Friar Jude Winkler reflects on the process described in Genesis of cutting ourselves off from God, others, and Creation. Now is the time for a day of penance and reckoning. The Jewish way of expressing ideas using exaggeration should be considered before we abandon public witness that is a symbol of our authentic conversion of heart.

Fr. Richard Rohr, OFM, exhorts us to consider that either we acknowledge that God is in all things or we lose the basis for seeing God in anything, including ourselves.

Sadly, the Catholic synthesis seldom moved beyond philosophers’ books and mystics’ prayers and some architecture, art, and music. Most Christians remained in a fragmented and dualistic world, usually looking for the contaminating element to punish or the unworthy member to expel. While still daring to worship the cosmic Scapegoat—Jesus—we scapegoated the other links in the great chain We have been unwilling to see the Divine Image in those we judged to be inferior or unworthy: so-called sinners and heretics, women, LGBTQ individuals, people from other races and ethnicities, the poor, those with disabilities, animals, non-Christians, and the Earth itself.

Our disconnectedness from God makes it difficult to be ambassadors for Christ practicing authentic prayer, fasting and almsgiving in a dualistic culture where acknowledgement of God is waning. Our hope is in the declaration of Joel that God desires to love and protect His people.

References

(n.d.). Joel, chapter 2 - United States Conference of Catholic Bishops. Retrieved February 14, 2018, from http://www.usccb.org/bible/joel/2

(n.d.). 2 Corinthians 5, 18 -21. Retrieved February 14, 2018, from http://www.usccb.org/bible/2corinthians/2corinthians5.htm

(n.d.). Matthew, chapter 6 - United States Conference of Catholic Bishops. Retrieved February 14, 2018, from http://www.usccb.org/bible/matthew6:48

(n.d.). Online Ministries at Creighton University. Retrieved February 14, 2018, from http://onlineministries.creighton.edu/CollaborativeMinistry/

(n.d.). Daily Scripture Readings and Meditations. Retrieved February 14, 2018, from http://dailyscripture.servantsoftheword.org/

(n.d.). Daily Meditations Archive - Center for Action and Contemplation. Retrieved February 14, 2018, from https://cac.org/richard-rohr/daily-meditations/daily-meditations-archive/

(2016, February 10). Jesus had a body. Here's why that matters for Lent. - The Washington .... Retrieved February 14, 2018, from https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/acts-of-faith/wp/2016/02/10/jesus-had-a-body-heres-why-that-matters-for-lent/

Perceive, desire and reason in the Light of Faith

The texts from the Roman Catholic Lectionary today offers serious contemplation of what we do with our evil desires and how faith is the light whereby we reconcile the tensions in human consciousness.

.@adamkotsko created a usefully annotated reading list about what is “political theology”, in 13 items, from Nietzsche’s 'The Genealogy of Morals' to Jared Hickman’s ‘Black Prometheus’: https://t.co/LyDTSyTUpI

— Ph. Theophanidis (@aphelis) January 21, 2018

The Letter of James alerts us to the source of temptation in our lives.

* [1:16–18] The author here stresses that God is the source of all good and of good alone, and the evil of temptation does not come from him.

Jesus confronts the lack of understanding of the disciples of the leaven of the Pharisees from the Gospel of Mark.

* [8:15] The leaven of the Pharisees…of Herod: the corruptive action of leaven (1 Cor 5:6–8; Gal 5:9) was an apt symbol of the evil dispositions both of the Pharisees (Mk 8:11–13; 7:5–13) and of Herod (Mk 6:14–29) toward Jesus. The disciples of Jesus are warned against sharing such rebellious attitudes toward Jesus; cf. Mk 8:17, 21.

Tom Shanahan, S.J. offers a prayer inspired by how frustrating it must have been for Jesus to see how profoundly the disciples misunderstood him.

Jesus, come to my misunderstandings of who you are and how I am called to follow you.  This is my desire, but it eludes me so often, and I forget your call choosing my ways over yours.  Be with me as I learn your great love and respond by acknowledging moving away from my lack of understanding.  Let me attend to your gifts of faith, hope and love and to be your messenger (disciple)to those near me.   Help me to grow in trusting you and your patience in calling me to service particularly when my eyes and ears seem not to be working effectively

Don Schwager quotes Hilary of Poitiers (315-367 AD) that the works of the law are now to be viewed in the light of faith.

"The apostles are ordered to watch out for the leaven of the Pharisees and Sadducees. They are warned not to be involved in the disputes of the Jews. The works of the law are now to be viewed in the light of faith. They are forewarned that they, into whose time and age the truth had appeared incarnate, should judge nothing except which lies within the position of hope in likeness of the truth that is revealed. They are warned against allowing the doctrine of the Pharisees, who are unaware of Christ, to corrupt the effectiveness of the truth of the gospel." (excerpt from commentary ON MATTHEW 16.3)

Kevin Cotter provides a summary of Lumen Fidei, (The Light of Faith) Pope Francis' First Encyclical, including this abstract of the introduction.

The encyclical starts with what the ancients put their faith in and proceeds to move directly to what our culture believes about faith – that it is something for the blind, those driven by emotion. But, at the same time, our culture is discovering that reason is not enough. Confusion has set in on what is good and evil, right and wrong. Faith in Jesus and love in Him gives us a new vision to see the world.

The new vision to see the world is beyond our biological nature, examined by Nietzsche, that makes experiencing and thinking outside of selfish categories impossible. David Deane of the Atlantic School of Theology comments that only through a re-orientation of this biological reality through relationship with Christ by the presence of the Holy Spirit can this be altered.

And so what my book hopes to do is say, “yes” to Nietzsche. Milbank and Benedict say, “no”. But Nietzsche is right. Our biological nature makes experiencing and thinking outside of selfish categories impossible. Only through a re-orientation of this biological reality through relationship with Christ by the presence of the Holy Spirit can this be altered. Let me say again, the question of “Reason” is most honestly understood as a question of mission. Our reasoning is contextual, only if our context is life in the triune God[4] can we perceive, desire and reason coherently. If when Benedict says ‘dialog’ he really means mission, then I agree with him. If not then I think that we must all re-read Nietzsche and ask ourselves - do I recognize this account of the self? Because if it’s true we can only be converted, not convinced.

Craig Carter teaches theology and ethics at Tyndale University College and he comments that Christian theology describes reality better than the version of modern science that begins with atheism as its presupposition.

Now, I do not believe it is actually rooted in empirically verifiable reality and I think this is the point at which N. must be challenged if he is not to triumph. But this is a question that Milbank and Hart do not take up and, (I can't believe I'm saying this) Deane and Barth do not really get to terms with either! Why? Milbank and Hart don't get to grips with N's truth claims because they opt for trying to tell a better, more convincing story than N., on the assumption that no one can prove that any story is true by means of science. Deane critiques their attempt for being insufficiently Christological, which gets us half way there, but not all the way. What seems to me to be still missing is the claim that Christian theology describes reality better than the version of modern science that begins with atheism as its presupposition.

Friar Jude Winkler draws the line from temptation to action as sin. When we buy into sin in the smallest way it will expand like leaven spreads to dough so we need to be careful and watchful.

Fr. Richard Rohr, OFM, declares that it becomes the very function of religion to put darkness and light, heaven and earth back together in human consciousness. The precise reason that Jesus is the icon of salvation is because he holds these seeming contraries together so beautifully within himself, thus assuring us we can do the same.

Heaven and earth, divinity and humanity, have never really been separate of course, but we think so. The Bible calls this perceived state of separateness “sin”; “naughty” or so-called “bad” actions proceed from this state of consciousness. The essential task of all religion is to reconnect people to their original identity “hidden with Christ in God,” as Paul says (Colossians 3:3). This happens through forgiving and thus loving what first seems to be imperfect, unworthy, excluded, separate, wrong, or sinful. This is how we reunite that which the mind had begun to punish.

Our context is life in the Triune God. Therein we can perceive, desire and reason coherently.

References


(n.d.). James 1.12-18. Retrieved February 13, 2018, from http://www.usccb.org/bible/readings/bible/james/1:12

(n.d.). Mark 8:1–10. Retrieved February 13, 2018, from http://www.usccb.org/bible/mark/mark8.htm

(n.d.). Online Ministries at Creighton University. Retrieved February 13, 2018, from http://onlineministries.creighton.edu/CollaborativeMinistry/

(n.d.). Daily Scripture Readings and Meditations. Retrieved February 13, 2018, from http://dailyscripture.servantsoftheword.org/

(n.d.). Lumen Fidei: A Summary on Pope Francis' First Encyclical - FOCUS. Retrieved February 13, 2018, from https://focusoncampus.org/content/lumen-fidei-a-summary-on-pope-francis-first-encyclical

(2009, May 16). The Politics of the Cross Resurrected: Milbank's Critique of Nietzsche. Retrieved February 13, 2018, from http://politicsofthecrossresurrected.blogspot.com/2009/05/milbanks-critique-of-nietzsche.html

(2017, December 30). 2018 Daily Meditations - Center for Action and Contemplation. Retrieved February 13, 2018, from https://cac.org/2018-daily-meditations/