Thursday, March 13, 2014

Thursday of the First Week of Lent

(Esther C12:14-16; 23-25; Matthew 7:7-12)

Why do people pray? The age-old question is probably made more by unbelievers than by believers. Still, the faithful need to ask themselves if they think that they might change God’s will by their efforts.  Is He not changeless?  If so, then why bother to seek His helpim??

Yet prayer is the most urgent of Christian actions.  Christians cannot help but pray because it is the Holy Spirit that is prompting them to pray from within.  Their prayers do not change God, but through their prayers God is changing them.  First, He moves them to seek His help.  Then they discover resources within themselves to meet the demands they face.  Finally, they find possibilities outside them at every turn to help them.  It has been wisely said that God’s posture toward pray-ers does not change with their prayer.  It always remains one of pure love.

In today’s gospel Jesus urges his disciples to pray for what they need.  The first reading pictures the Jewish Queen Esther of Persia doing that as she prepares to meet with her husband, the king of Persia.  Her prayers lead to the salvation of her people as she unmasks the maliciousness of its persecutor.

Wednesday, March 12, 2013

Wednesday of the First Week of Lent

(Jonah 3:1-10; Luke 11:29-32)

The Book of the Prophet Jonah has become one of the most popular readings of the Old Testament.  For one thing it has a short, fascinating narrative.  For another, it highlights the contemporary value of tolerance for other peoples.  Also, as today’s gospel relates, Jesus used the story to teach about his own mission.

Jesus refers to the great conversion that takes place with Jonah’s preaching.  A city-state perhaps as large and as notorious as Mexico City today is imagined.  Jonah might have been a reluctant preacher, but evidently his words had great power.  He inspired everyone to change heart and conform to God’s ways.  There are no historical records that such a repentance ever took place in Nineveh or anywhere else.  Nevertheless, Jesus intends that his own preaching cause such a dramatic turnabout in Israel.

God can so change us with no effort on our part.  But more often we become more kind and holy through our cooperation with God’s grace.  In any case we should ask God’s assistance so that the change be inward and not just outward, that it be permanent and not just temporary.

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.