Link to Mass Readings: http://www.usccb.org/nab/051511.shtml
“For the promise is made to you and to your children and to all those far off, whomever the Lord our God will call.”
Grace is more powerful than sin. In the first reading, Peter stands with the rest of the Apostles, and addresses the people of Jerusalem. The same people who cheered for the crucifixion of Christ just a short time ago, he stands in front of. To these people he says, “Repent and be baptized, everyone one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins.” Not even killing God is too big for forgiveness.
This is what the Easter season is about, the power of the resurrection. Everyone is called to share in it, to take into their life the Life of Jesus. When the Lord is our shepherd, our cup overflows, “Even though I walk in the dark valley / I fear no evil; for you are at my side.” His Life is neverending, and when we share in that we have more than is sufficient to meet every test. Sunday is a feast day, and the Easter season is a celebration: the time of renewal is at hand and we have won!
Not that victory is easy. The world is relentless is trying to convince that we have in fact lost, that God is not the way, the truth, and the life or that we aren’t worthy of forgiveness. These are lies. Jesus bore our sins on the cross that we might live for righteousness, that with His grace we might be like God. Let no one take that away from us.
The parable of the sheep and the sheepfold and the gate is confusing. It is easy to see how the Pharisees did not understand. But if Jesus is the gate through which the sheep enter and are saved, then who are the shepherds who lead them out? The shepherds are the ministers of the Church, who come in the name of Jesus to help guide sinners to salvation.
We should be wary of who tries to lead us out. We have been saved by a shepherd who knows us and calls us by name. We will hear a lot of voices in our lives calling our names, trying to get us to follow them. It is very easy to be distracted from Jesus. But we have been given a shepherd, and it is our responsibility to listen to His voice in our hearts and in our lives. We must try hard to know the shepherd, because it is not always easy to know if He is speaking to us. But He is always there, gently calling us to Himself.
We have been given guides to help know Him; his word in Scripture, the Church and the Tradition that has been passed down. The lives of His saints stand as models for us, and above all the life of His Son. If anyone tries to take us away from these things, reject them. “A thief comes only to steal and slaughter and destroy; I came so that they might have life and have it more abundantly.”
Let us embrace the Life given to us this Easter season, and show the world the overflowing grace of our Lord Jesus Christ.
Showing posts with label 4th. Show all posts
Showing posts with label 4th. Show all posts
Sunday, May 15, 2011
Sunday, April 3, 2011
Fourth Sunday of Lent
Link to Mass Readings: http://www.usccb.org/nab/040311.shtml
“If he is a sinner, I do not know. One thing I do know is that I was blind and now I see.”
What do we see? Throughout the readings today is the whether or not we can see, and what is visible. In the Gospel, a man born blind is cured; in the first reading, it is not the man who most looks like a king who is chosen. We are reminded today that God sees with eyes that are better than our own, and if we want to see the truth we have to stop trusting ourselves, and trust God instead.
In the first reading, Samuel has to anoint the next king of Israel from among Jesse’s sons. His first thought is for Eliab, who looked the part. But God rejects him, and has Samuel anoint David instead, who we are told is handsome, and makes a splendid appearance. The difference between the two, though both look great, is that man sees the appearance, but God looks into the heart. Eliab was not fit to rule, though he looked like he should. But David, this was the one whose heart God judged fit for His kingdom.
Who do we judge as righteous because of what we see, or judge as sinful? The first reading reminds us not to judge people for ourselves, but to leave that up to God. We are so quick to judge people as saints, or sluts, greedy or selfless. We cannot see the hearts of people, so we should not be too quick to judge in either goodness or evil.
How then, shall we know who is a child of God? In the Gospel, the Pharisees know the law of Moses, and condemn Jesus as a sinner because He broke the law in their eyes. But they are blind, even though they say “they see,” because they don’t notice the Son of God right before their eyes, they are so concerned with judging Him. But the blind man, he knows that God does not listen to sinners. He doesn’t know Jesus from Adam, but knows that Jesus came, and “that I was blind and now I see.”
Paul tells us that we should live as children of light, for “light produces every kind of goodness and righteousness and truth,” but that the works of darkness are fruitless. Like the blind man, Jesus comes to us in our unbelief and darkness. But He brings us into the light, wakes us from the dead, and though we did not know Him before we can now say “I was blind and now I see.” And because we can say that, we know where Jesus comes from. We know He is from God, is God, because of the light He brings into our lives that multiplies itself in goodness, and righteousness, and truth.
Test everything by the light. Expose everything to the light of day. Let no secrets be whispered behind another’s back, or temptations struggled with alone in the dark. We know that we can see not because of our own efforts, but because Christ healed us. We should therefore bring everything into the light, for everything that becomes visible is light. Our sins can be transformed into strengths if we share them with each other in the light of faith.
Lent is the time! We have been healed, from darkness to light, and this season we remind ourselves keep darkness away from us. Because as we prepare ourselves, Jesus is making His way towards Jerusalem, towards the cross. Today Jesus tells His disciples “We have to do the works of the one who sent me while it is day. Night is coming when no one can work. While I am in the world, I am the light of the world.” The death of Jesus is coming, coming, and for three days the night will reign. But soon, after comes the Resurrection, and light of Christ will remain in the world until the end because we will keep in there for Him.
“If he is a sinner, I do not know. One thing I do know is that I was blind and now I see.”
What do we see? Throughout the readings today is the whether or not we can see, and what is visible. In the Gospel, a man born blind is cured; in the first reading, it is not the man who most looks like a king who is chosen. We are reminded today that God sees with eyes that are better than our own, and if we want to see the truth we have to stop trusting ourselves, and trust God instead.
In the first reading, Samuel has to anoint the next king of Israel from among Jesse’s sons. His first thought is for Eliab, who looked the part. But God rejects him, and has Samuel anoint David instead, who we are told is handsome, and makes a splendid appearance. The difference between the two, though both look great, is that man sees the appearance, but God looks into the heart. Eliab was not fit to rule, though he looked like he should. But David, this was the one whose heart God judged fit for His kingdom.
Who do we judge as righteous because of what we see, or judge as sinful? The first reading reminds us not to judge people for ourselves, but to leave that up to God. We are so quick to judge people as saints, or sluts, greedy or selfless. We cannot see the hearts of people, so we should not be too quick to judge in either goodness or evil.
How then, shall we know who is a child of God? In the Gospel, the Pharisees know the law of Moses, and condemn Jesus as a sinner because He broke the law in their eyes. But they are blind, even though they say “they see,” because they don’t notice the Son of God right before their eyes, they are so concerned with judging Him. But the blind man, he knows that God does not listen to sinners. He doesn’t know Jesus from Adam, but knows that Jesus came, and “that I was blind and now I see.”
Paul tells us that we should live as children of light, for “light produces every kind of goodness and righteousness and truth,” but that the works of darkness are fruitless. Like the blind man, Jesus comes to us in our unbelief and darkness. But He brings us into the light, wakes us from the dead, and though we did not know Him before we can now say “I was blind and now I see.” And because we can say that, we know where Jesus comes from. We know He is from God, is God, because of the light He brings into our lives that multiplies itself in goodness, and righteousness, and truth.
Test everything by the light. Expose everything to the light of day. Let no secrets be whispered behind another’s back, or temptations struggled with alone in the dark. We know that we can see not because of our own efforts, but because Christ healed us. We should therefore bring everything into the light, for everything that becomes visible is light. Our sins can be transformed into strengths if we share them with each other in the light of faith.
Lent is the time! We have been healed, from darkness to light, and this season we remind ourselves keep darkness away from us. Because as we prepare ourselves, Jesus is making His way towards Jerusalem, towards the cross. Today Jesus tells His disciples “We have to do the works of the one who sent me while it is day. Night is coming when no one can work. While I am in the world, I am the light of the world.” The death of Jesus is coming, coming, and for three days the night will reign. But soon, after comes the Resurrection, and light of Christ will remain in the world until the end because we will keep in there for Him.
Sunday, January 30, 2011
Fourth Sunday in Ordinary Time
Link to Mass Readings: http://www.usccb.org/nab/013011.shtml
“The Lord shall reign forever;
Your God, O Zion, through all generations.”
It’s almost obvious to us the saying “Nice guys finish last.” Even the readings today, written thousands of years ago, take for granted that those who lie, cheat, and steal are those who succeed. The world is run by people who have pressed for every advantage over those who have followed the rules and tried to be kind. Nothing has changed in all our long history from that time until now.
But they are not God’s people. “Seek the Lord, all you humble of the earth,/ who have observed his law;/ seek justice, seek humility.” Those who obey God are God’s people, and He is the God of justice. He keeps faith forever, secures justice for the oppressed, and sets the captives free. While the readings assume that we know the evil often succeed ahead of the good, they remind us of this fact: The Lord is powerful, and keeps faith with His people. There will be justice.
The Beatitudes affirm this. Those who are weak, but follow God, will find satisfaction. The Lord will not let us suffer forever. Whether in this life or the next, God will remedy our injustice with justice, and our sorrow with joy. It is our part now to have faith, and to believe in the victory He has already won for us.
We think it such an awful thing to be weak. But God has chosen the weak things to shame the strong, the foolish to shame the wise. We believers are not often the CEOs or presidents, the PhDs or millionaires. But God has chosen us, because we have room for Him. It is the weak who are blessed, because they lack and God provides.
In love, there is both giving and receiving. We often would rather give than receive, be strong rather than weak. But there is both in love, and without both there is not love. People who “have everything” do not want to receive; they want to give, of their opinion, of their will, of their influence. They don’t “need” anything, and thus are not open to God. But the weak are. The ones who mourn, who hunger and thirst for justice, who are poor in spirit, who are merciful, who suffer evil spoken falsely against them: all these need God. They are open to receiving from God, and so will be satisfied.
When we are weak, we receive God into our lives. When we are strong we feel we don’t need Him. We should encourage ourselves to be weak, to be vulnerable, to leave room for God in our lives It is hard to be weak. But He is the God of forever, faithful and loyal to the people who have chosen Him; He has promised us we will not suffer forever.
There is balm, in Gilead. There is ease for our suffering in God. Do not be afraid to lean on Him, because He remembers us in our pain. Do not be afraid to need Him. Because in our weakness He has chosen us to be proof of His power in the world, to reduce to nothing those who are something, so that no human being might boast before God.
“The Lord shall reign forever;
Your God, O Zion, through all generations.”
It’s almost obvious to us the saying “Nice guys finish last.” Even the readings today, written thousands of years ago, take for granted that those who lie, cheat, and steal are those who succeed. The world is run by people who have pressed for every advantage over those who have followed the rules and tried to be kind. Nothing has changed in all our long history from that time until now.
But they are not God’s people. “Seek the Lord, all you humble of the earth,/ who have observed his law;/ seek justice, seek humility.” Those who obey God are God’s people, and He is the God of justice. He keeps faith forever, secures justice for the oppressed, and sets the captives free. While the readings assume that we know the evil often succeed ahead of the good, they remind us of this fact: The Lord is powerful, and keeps faith with His people. There will be justice.
The Beatitudes affirm this. Those who are weak, but follow God, will find satisfaction. The Lord will not let us suffer forever. Whether in this life or the next, God will remedy our injustice with justice, and our sorrow with joy. It is our part now to have faith, and to believe in the victory He has already won for us.
We think it such an awful thing to be weak. But God has chosen the weak things to shame the strong, the foolish to shame the wise. We believers are not often the CEOs or presidents, the PhDs or millionaires. But God has chosen us, because we have room for Him. It is the weak who are blessed, because they lack and God provides.
In love, there is both giving and receiving. We often would rather give than receive, be strong rather than weak. But there is both in love, and without both there is not love. People who “have everything” do not want to receive; they want to give, of their opinion, of their will, of their influence. They don’t “need” anything, and thus are not open to God. But the weak are. The ones who mourn, who hunger and thirst for justice, who are poor in spirit, who are merciful, who suffer evil spoken falsely against them: all these need God. They are open to receiving from God, and so will be satisfied.
When we are weak, we receive God into our lives. When we are strong we feel we don’t need Him. We should encourage ourselves to be weak, to be vulnerable, to leave room for God in our lives It is hard to be weak. But He is the God of forever, faithful and loyal to the people who have chosen Him; He has promised us we will not suffer forever.
There is balm, in Gilead. There is ease for our suffering in God. Do not be afraid to lean on Him, because He remembers us in our pain. Do not be afraid to need Him. Because in our weakness He has chosen us to be proof of His power in the world, to reduce to nothing those who are something, so that no human being might boast before God.
Tuesday, December 21, 2010
Fourth Sunday in Advent
Link to Mass Readings: http://www.usccb.org/nab/121910.shtml
What if we received everything we wanted?
Sometimes I think we ask for success, or love, or responsibility, and don’t know what it is we’re asking for. Sometimes we ask for a miracle, and when it comes we don’t know how to deal with a Power that can make it happen. God is powerful, and Christmas reminds us of that.
In the first reading, King Ahaz of Judah is about to be overrun by his enemies. God sends Isaiah to tell him this will not come to pass, and tells Ahaz to ask for a sign that he might be assured of what God has promised. But Ahaz is afraid, and says “I will not ask! I will not tempt the Lord!” What he means, is that he is afraid to acknowledge God.
It is the same when Jesus was born. The world was in the grip of sin, and crying out to God for deliverance. Israel was waiting for the messiah, and God delivered him. God gave John the Baptist to proclaim him, and had Jesus fulfill all the prophecies that spoke of him coming. But when Jesus came, he was rejected. The world was comfortable in their sin, and afraid to accept Jesus and what he represented; holiness and the kingdom of God established on earth.
But this is the power of God, that Jesus came. We asked for salvation, and here He is in all His power and glory. The readings this Sunday remind us of the power and inevitability of God. Next week we will celebrate the arrival of God on earth, foreshadowing the victory over death and the final return of the King of Heaven. By the promise of His birth, we know Jesus will come again.
The victory is here, and the celebration almost upon us. Now is the time for the obedience of faith, for us who are called to belong to Jesus Christ. Paul reminds us of our obligation: we have called for Him, and He is here! Let us love Him with all our hearts, all our souls, all our strength, and all our minds.
What if we received everything we wanted?
Sometimes I think we ask for success, or love, or responsibility, and don’t know what it is we’re asking for. Sometimes we ask for a miracle, and when it comes we don’t know how to deal with a Power that can make it happen. God is powerful, and Christmas reminds us of that.
In the first reading, King Ahaz of Judah is about to be overrun by his enemies. God sends Isaiah to tell him this will not come to pass, and tells Ahaz to ask for a sign that he might be assured of what God has promised. But Ahaz is afraid, and says “I will not ask! I will not tempt the Lord!” What he means, is that he is afraid to acknowledge God.
It is the same when Jesus was born. The world was in the grip of sin, and crying out to God for deliverance. Israel was waiting for the messiah, and God delivered him. God gave John the Baptist to proclaim him, and had Jesus fulfill all the prophecies that spoke of him coming. But when Jesus came, he was rejected. The world was comfortable in their sin, and afraid to accept Jesus and what he represented; holiness and the kingdom of God established on earth.
But this is the power of God, that Jesus came. We asked for salvation, and here He is in all His power and glory. The readings this Sunday remind us of the power and inevitability of God. Next week we will celebrate the arrival of God on earth, foreshadowing the victory over death and the final return of the King of Heaven. By the promise of His birth, we know Jesus will come again.
The victory is here, and the celebration almost upon us. Now is the time for the obedience of faith, for us who are called to belong to Jesus Christ. Paul reminds us of our obligation: we have called for Him, and He is here! Let us love Him with all our hearts, all our souls, all our strength, and all our minds.
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