Tuesday, March 11, 2014

Tuesday of the First Week of Lent

(Isaiah 55:10-11; Matthew 6:7-15)

The Sermon on the Mount in Matthew’s gospel comprises what scholars call a parenesis.  This Greek term means a spiritual exhortation with a program of moral imperatives.  The section begins with Jesus explicating the goal of life, which is always happiness or beatitude.  It proceeds with his heightening the Law of Moses to embrace the imperatives of a truly God-like lifestyle.  After elaborating the goal and the way of life, Jesus indicates in today’s gospel the assistance that is necessary to proceed.

Addressing God confidently by calling Him “Father,” the “Lord’s Prayer” beseeches God to create an environment where one may act righteously.  In a world where God’s name is revered, His kingdom is realized, and His will accomplished, walking an extra mile and loving one’s enemy do not seem like such daunting tasks.  Then the prayer asks for more specific aids: bread, both the natural and supernatural kinds; forgiveness of faults, which plague people even in a truly just society; and liberation from trials that may unravel the entire good one has endeavored to produce.

Many of us say the “Our Father” rather unthinkingly throughout the day.  It is good that the words pass through our heads so frequently because when we find ourselves in dire need, they will direct us to where our help come from.  It is also eminently beneficial that we reflect on the words once in a while so that we may realize how we need our Father’s assistance if we are going to act like Him.

Monday, March 10, 2014

Monday of the First Week of Lent

(Leviticus 19:1-2.11-18; Matthew 25:31-46)

Fr. Henri Nouwen was perhaps the most noted spiritual writer in English during the last quarter of the twentieth century.  In his final years he often wrote of L’Arche, the movement uniting in community persons with severe disabilities with caregivers.  In one essay Fr. Nouwen described his service in an L’Arche community to an almost helpless youth named Adam.  Although a priest for decades with an unparalleled appreciation of the spiritual life, Nouwen learned from the young man the meaning of today’s gospel.

 Adam may not have had many alternatives; nevertheless, he allowed Nouwen to take care of him.  He evidently maintained his composure even when he was in pain from his caretaker’s awkward assistance.  In any event Adam proved himself like Jesus in that in being helped, he brought his helper a “peace that the world cannot give.”  The lessons were simple and yet profound.  First, Adam revealed to the author that what is truly important is a human person’s being not his success.  Second, Adam showed that what makes a human person an image of God is not the mind that comprehends reality but the heart that lets go of preoccupation with self to embrace another in love.  Finally, Adam demonstrated the importance of community since, like everyone else, he needed others to survive but, unlike most people, he was unable to hide that truth.

During Lent God invites us to find His Son in others.  The more we assist suffering people, the more we will recognize that it is Jesus whom we are caring for.  In so doing, he lifts us from our own misery to the joy of his company.

Friday, March 7, 2014

Friday after Ash Wednesday

(Isaiah 58:1-9a; Matthew 9:14-15)

Some wonder about the need to fast.  They point to Isaiah’s critique of Judah’s fasting in the first reading today and say working for social justice is what God requires.  For them serving sandwiches in a soup kitchen is a much better practice of Lenten piety than not eating ourselves.

But fasting is an age-old way of expressing love.  Through it one lays aside attention to her own needs, to assist others.  People deny themselves of sleep – a form of fasting -- to attend to a sick friend through the night.  Others do not eat as a kind of social protest to express solidarity with a group suffering persecution.

We do not fast –at least for religious reasons –as an exercise of our endurance.  No, we attach fasting to a felt need like expressing compassion for a group in distress or showing love for God.  We rightly see fasting along with almsgiving and prayer as part of a three-stranded rope that supports the heaviest tension.  We fast and pray.  We fast and give our food (or the money saved by not eating) to the poor.  In these ways we please God and neighbor.

Thursday, March 6, 2014

Thursday after Ash Wednesday

(Deuteronomy 30:15-20; Luke 9:22-25)

“Choose life.”  We have all seen bumper stickers with this anti-abortion message.  No doubt, people who feel burdened by an unexpected pregnancy find the message ironic.  To them life is being liberated from the responsibility of a child so that they may pursue their own felt needs.  Life, then, is one of those simple words with a range of meanings. 

In the reading from Deuteronomy today, Moses exhorts the Israelites to “choose life.”  He has in mind God’s righteousness that promises to benefit both individual and community.  By following God’s commandments not only the present generation but future ones as well will thrive.  As is his wont, Jesus radicalizes Moses’ message.  He says in today’s gospel that life comes when we choose to surrender ourselves to God’s love as he does.  This may mean even a renunciation of biological life, but his promise is for  unimagined, eternal in God.

We have chosen Jesus’ way to life.  But have we been faithful to that selection?  During Lent we test ourselves and make all necessary adjustments to renew the choice.  We can foresee ourselves safely back on the road to full life by Easter and happily partaking of it in the resurrection of the dead.

Wednesday, March 5, 2014

Ash Wednesday

(Joel 2:12-18; II Corinthians 5:20-6:2; Matthew 6:1-6.16-18)

As silver tarnishes with time, we lose our baptismal innocence.  Our appetites deceive us in wanting more pleasure, power, or prestige than our due.  Our minds also can lead us astray.  Often we think that we might do a little evil in order to achieve a significant good.  This is the justification for artificial contraception.  But the resultant harm often enough lies beneath the surface and may not reveal itself for eons.  In any case, sin not only destroys us inwardly through the loss of innocence, but our downfall like silver that has lost its shine also results in others not being drawn to God.  In the second reading St. Paul asks us to reverse the process.

Paul could hardly be more attention-grabbing than when he writes that Christ became sin to save humans from their sinfulness.  He is not implying that Jesus was a kind of Robin Hood himself doing evil in order to bestow something good on humanity.  Rather he is saying that Jesus was executed as a criminal at the hands of a totally corrupt humanity represented by the jealous Jewish leaders, the brutal Roman authority, and the cowardly disciples.  Paul tells the Corinthians that they have been spared the necessity of such errant behavior.  They only have to take advantage of the gift by recognizing their sins.

The same is our task during Lent.  We first ask ourselves what sins are weighing us down – lust, harsh judgment, perhaps lying and cheating.  Then we confess our faults in the Sacrament of Reconciliation.  Finally, we use the rest of the forty days doing a penance that sets us on the road to reform.