Friday, March 9. 2018

Friday of the Third Week of Lent

(Hosea 14:2-10; Mark 12:28-34)

Jesus’ “first commandment” in today’s gospel originates in the Book of Deuteronomy.  It is taken from a famous passage known by its first words, “Shema Yisrael” – “Hear, Israel”. The passage then dictates the commandment that Jesus cites and concludes by saying that the words should hang “as a pendant on your forehead.”  Probably the author never intended a literal pendant, only that Jews would fix the command firmly in their minds.  But, as in many things religious, some fanatics started to wear headbands with receptacles carrying the written words.  There is challenge enough with loving God with all our heart, soul, mind, and strength.

To love God with all our heart means to love Him unreservedly.  We cannot love Him in this way if we are going to love at the same time contrary things.  We cannot love God and at the same time look at pornography.  The soul is the seat of supernatural life.  To love God with all our soul is to love Him so that we may have the fullness of supernatural life in heaven.  It is to love Him by carrying out His will that we forgive and assist others in need.

When we love God with all our mind, we take care to learn more about Him.  We read books and magazines that help us understand His ways.  And when we love God with all our strength we make sacrifices for Him.  Our added prayer and fasting during Lent are signs of a strong love for God.

Thursday, March 8, 2018

Thursday of the Third Week of Lent

(Jeremiah 7:23-28; Luke 11:14-23)

In today’s first readings Jeremiah accuses the people of Jerusalem of turning their backs on God.  They have not been faithful to the Covenant that they have made with the Lord.  The judgment could hardly be more severe.  According to Jeremiah, they no longer even pretend to be faithful; they do not even say the word.  The situation has not really improved by Jesus’ time.  He sees the same hardness of heart shown toward God’s ways of justice and mercy.  The people seem to refuse to accept Jesus as God’s prophet in order to follow their own preferences.

The same offense may be found in our society although, perhaps, magnified.  Faithfulness to one’s baptismal promises is now considered a betrayal of self.  Of major importance are the values that one chooses to recognize himself.  Forget about one’s culture, family background, even previous choices, one must do what he thinks is necessary to do at the moment. 

Faithfulness is an all-encompassing virtue.  It acknowledges one’s readiness to live in the ways that we have professed.  But we are not only faith to principles; we are also faithful to the people or the person who has imparted those principles.  For us Christians this means faithfulness to the Lord Jesus.  We promise to do as he commands because we know that he will provide our deep and lasting happiness. 

Wednesday, March 7, 2018

Wednesday of the Third Week of Lent

(Deuteronomy 4:1.5-9; Matthew 5:17-19)

The Scripture readings may remind us of the story of the wise man and the robber.  Once a wise man was traveling through a forest when he was stopped by a robber demanding the most valuable thing the wise man was carrying.  Without hesitating a second, the wise man opened his bag and pulled out a diamond as big as a grapefruit.  The robber took the diamond and went his way.  Later that same day, the robber returned.  He said that the wise man must have in his possession something more valuable than the big diamond.  Otherwise he could not have possibly given the diamond away so easily.  That something was what the highwayman now wanted from the wise man. 

Of course, the wise man had wisdom to know that the most important things in life are not riches.  They are spiritual realities like faith in God, a good character, and the moral virtues.  In today’s first reading Moses reminds the Israelites how valuable is the Law that God has given them.  He tells them that if they keep the Law, other nations will come to admire them.  In the gospel Jesus states that he has come not to take away Moses’ Law but to fulfill it.  He will perfect the law by emphasizing the need to love one’s neighbor from the heart.  Personal righteousness is always more than providing resources to the needy; it is caring for them from the heart.  This heart-felt care is like the “something more valuable” that the wise man possessed. 

We have to find effective ways of showing our care for the needy.  Monthly contributions to organizations that feed the homeless or provide social services for the poor may be the best we can do.  But it is better to dedicate some time ourselves to helping others in great need.  In this way we will form relationships with the poor so that we can love them from the heart.

Tuesday, March 6, 2018

Tuesday of the Third Week of Lent

(Daniel 3:25.34-43; Matthew 18:21-35)

Last week the governor of Texas commuted the sentence of a man who killed his mother and brother.  The man was supposed to be executed, but with a recommendation of the Board of Pardons and Parole and also the petition of the killer’s father, the sentence was changed to life in prison.  Anti-death penalty supporters considered the change of sentence as a victory for their movement.  Perhaps death penalty proponents saw it as a step backward.  It would be better to review the decision through the lens of today’s gospel than as an ideological war.

Jesus is urging his followers to forgive those who repent of their crimes not superficially but “from the heart.”  He wants them to rejoice in the conversion of a sin as well as to love their enemies.  However, he does not show tolerance for the person who receives forgiveness but does not show it to others.  Such people, he might say, have to learn the hard way if they are to learn at all.

We have to take our lives seriously.  They are not games which we play over and over winning sometimes and losing other times until we die.  Rather our lives are more like a long educational process in which we will hopefully become loving people like our teacher and Lord Jesus. If the man whose sentence was commuted has not learned to forgive offenses against him, a long life in which he dies in bed will be no better than a short life in which he dies at the hand of an executioner.  He will never reach the goal in life which is, again, to love like Jesus.

Monday, March 5, 2018

Monday of the Third Week in Lent

(II Kings 5:1-15ab; Luke 4:24-30)

The first two and a half weeks of Lent deal with penance to make up for our sins.  We emphasized the need for prayer, fasting, and works of charity to overcome our egotistical desires.  The third week of Lent opens another perspective.  Now we have to ask ourselves if we are giving proper testimony to Jesus.  Today’s readings confirm Jesus as a prophet.  Do we see him in that way?

Naaman almost missed his opportunity for being cured of leprosy.  He wanted to dismiss the advice of the prophet Elisha who told him to just wash in the Jordan River.  Fortunately, his servants were able to convince him that he had little to lose by complying with the prophet’s order.  In the gospel passage the people of Nazareth do not have such good advice available.  They reject Jesus’ claim of being appointed by God to bring comfort to the oppressed.  Indeed, they are about to kill him for claiming to be a prophet.

Placing faith in Jesus is a risky venture.  We may not lose our lives or our fortunes, just the consideration of being “one of the guys.”  Accepting Jesus as a prophet means to stand with him by visiting the sick or greeting a child with a severe deformity.  It may also mean objecting to a slander that someone makes or questioning the standing opinion that is based on hearsay.  Former Vice-President Joe Biden speaks favorably of rival Jesse Helms when both men were in the Senate.  He says that they were able to accomplish much for their country because they refused to denigrate each other as some of their political allies would have had them do.