Wednesday of the Fourth Week in Lent
(Isaiah 49:8-15; John 5:17-30)
No song expresses the glory of the Irish more than “Danny Boy.” It speaks of their love, their fidelity, and their religion. Danny – who is he? a son, a friend, possibly a sweetheart – leaves his homeland but cannot forget it or his people. He will return and pay his respects to both. And if that return is delayed, then the visit to his people will take the form of a prayer, an “Ave,” for the dead.
Because Christ is at the center of that prayer, the “Hail, Mary,” it would not be said in vain. Indeed, for the Irish as for all Christians, life is Christ. He enables us to love truly now and to ultimately triumph over the forces that condemn the dead to oblivion. The gospel today expresses this two-fold victory by Jesus saying that the Son gives life to whomever he wishes and that those in tombs will hear his voice and come out.
Tuesday, March 15, 2010
Tuesday of the Fourth Week in Lent
(Ezekiel 47:1-9.12; John 5:1-16)
“...I think the river is a strong brown god,” T. S. Eliot wrote in his masterpiece, The Four Quartets. The evangelist John would reverse the idea. The river is not a god, but God is like a river. In today’s gospel he portrays Jesus with all the healing power of the river Ezekiel describes flowing from Jerusalem’s Temple. The paralytic at the Sheep gate, as sorry a dolt as we find in the gospels, is saved by this God.
Hopefully we have noticed that Lent has just taken a sharp turn. Its time to contemplate sinfulness has passed. Now it sets our sights on redemption. The executor of that grace comes to us as one like ourselves but as powerful as a river. We can return to Eliot’s elegant poem for instruction: “The point of intersection of the timeless/With time, is an occupation for the saint...For most of us..., there is only the unattended/Moment, the moment in and out of time, ...These are only hints and guesses, /Hints followed by guesses; and the rest /Is prayer, observance, discipline, thought and action.” We have but twenty days to pray, observe, discipline, think, and act so that we may recognize Christ when he passes over us offering salvation.
(Ezekiel 47:1-9.12; John 5:1-16)
“...I think the river is a strong brown god,” T. S. Eliot wrote in his masterpiece, The Four Quartets. The evangelist John would reverse the idea. The river is not a god, but God is like a river. In today’s gospel he portrays Jesus with all the healing power of the river Ezekiel describes flowing from Jerusalem’s Temple. The paralytic at the Sheep gate, as sorry a dolt as we find in the gospels, is saved by this God.
Hopefully we have noticed that Lent has just taken a sharp turn. Its time to contemplate sinfulness has passed. Now it sets our sights on redemption. The executor of that grace comes to us as one like ourselves but as powerful as a river. We can return to Eliot’s elegant poem for instruction: “The point of intersection of the timeless/With time, is an occupation for the saint...For most of us..., there is only the unattended/Moment, the moment in and out of time, ...These are only hints and guesses, /Hints followed by guesses; and the rest /Is prayer, observance, discipline, thought and action.” We have but twenty days to pray, observe, discipline, think, and act so that we may recognize Christ when he passes over us offering salvation.
Monday, March 15, 2010
Monday of the Fourth Week of Lent
(Isaiah 65:17-21; John 4:43-54)
Younger Next Year is one of many books promising a longer, healthier life. Its principal idea is that a proper regime of diet and exercise decreases your “biological age” even as your “physical age” advances. Although a good mix of diet and exercise should grant almost anyone a longer life, the concept of “biological age” is, at best, subtle. One can hardly arrest the whole process of aging. Similarly, we have to think hard about what Isaiah means when he promises that there will be a time when dying at a hundred would seem a short life.
We should understand the prophet to be expressing himself poetically, not literally. That is, Isaiah is commenting upon one’s spiritual life, not physical life. He means to say that in the new creation we will maintain the glory of youth and the wisdom of the aged. Death will be of no concern for us because we will have encountered the source of eternal life.
It may be hard to believe, but the new creation has already begun. Jesus has conquered death even though its cold reality swamps us at times. Humans will be dying until Jesus comes as he promised, but physical death need not be the last utterances of a person’s existence. When we give ourselves over to him, we enter the new creation. He buoys our lives to float above the currents of sin that would destroy us. At death he will give us spiritual life in its fullness. No one can say exactly what this will be like except that it will be like Jesus’ own life. Meanwhile, we should feel younger just by giving ourselves over to him.
(Isaiah 65:17-21; John 4:43-54)
Younger Next Year is one of many books promising a longer, healthier life. Its principal idea is that a proper regime of diet and exercise decreases your “biological age” even as your “physical age” advances. Although a good mix of diet and exercise should grant almost anyone a longer life, the concept of “biological age” is, at best, subtle. One can hardly arrest the whole process of aging. Similarly, we have to think hard about what Isaiah means when he promises that there will be a time when dying at a hundred would seem a short life.
We should understand the prophet to be expressing himself poetically, not literally. That is, Isaiah is commenting upon one’s spiritual life, not physical life. He means to say that in the new creation we will maintain the glory of youth and the wisdom of the aged. Death will be of no concern for us because we will have encountered the source of eternal life.
It may be hard to believe, but the new creation has already begun. Jesus has conquered death even though its cold reality swamps us at times. Humans will be dying until Jesus comes as he promised, but physical death need not be the last utterances of a person’s existence. When we give ourselves over to him, we enter the new creation. He buoys our lives to float above the currents of sin that would destroy us. At death he will give us spiritual life in its fullness. No one can say exactly what this will be like except that it will be like Jesus’ own life. Meanwhile, we should feel younger just by giving ourselves over to him.
Friday, March 12, 2010
Friday of the third Week in Lent
(Hosea 14:2-10; Mark 12:28-34)
A number of years ago a Jesuit theologian wrote a disturbing article entitled, “The Eclipse of Love for God.” He said that what was one primary to our Christian faith -- our love for God -- is now often dismissed. Some, he said, replace the love for God with love for neighbor. Others, he continued, believe that the command to love God is only another way of stating the need to love oneself! Gratefully, the theologian advised that the commandment to love God still stands and can be fulfilled.
“How?” we might ask. Pope Benedict has suggested that we show our love for God by refraining from things that we enjoy. Foregoing desserts for God’s sake, for example, shows one’s love for Him. We also show our love for God by being faithful to prayer and worship. Many wonder how God permits catastrophes like the one that has befallen Haiti. Fervent prayer in these cases indicates that we love God and recognize his sovereignty over creation even though we do not and cannot comprehend His ways.
Jesus’ response to the scribe’s insight in the gospel is telling. He says that the scribe is “not far from the Kingdom of God” because he recognizes the necessity of loving God. Doing it – loving God above all things – will place him squarely in the heart of that Kingdom.
(Hosea 14:2-10; Mark 12:28-34)
A number of years ago a Jesuit theologian wrote a disturbing article entitled, “The Eclipse of Love for God.” He said that what was one primary to our Christian faith -- our love for God -- is now often dismissed. Some, he said, replace the love for God with love for neighbor. Others, he continued, believe that the command to love God is only another way of stating the need to love oneself! Gratefully, the theologian advised that the commandment to love God still stands and can be fulfilled.
“How?” we might ask. Pope Benedict has suggested that we show our love for God by refraining from things that we enjoy. Foregoing desserts for God’s sake, for example, shows one’s love for Him. We also show our love for God by being faithful to prayer and worship. Many wonder how God permits catastrophes like the one that has befallen Haiti. Fervent prayer in these cases indicates that we love God and recognize his sovereignty over creation even though we do not and cannot comprehend His ways.
Jesus’ response to the scribe’s insight in the gospel is telling. He says that the scribe is “not far from the Kingdom of God” because he recognizes the necessity of loving God. Doing it – loving God above all things – will place him squarely in the heart of that Kingdom.
Wednesday, March 10, 2010
Wednesday of the Third Week in Lent
(Deuteronomy 4:1.5-9; Matthew 5:17-19)
“Something there is that doesn’t love a wall,” Robert Frost wrote at the beginning of a famous poem. We might change “wall” to “law” and come up with a similar truth. Laws(like walls) can obstruct the good as well as serve it. For example, privacy laws can make clerical visits in hospitals problematic. It seems that the apostle Paul had little use for law. He wrote the Letters to the Galatians and the Romans refuting the need for Christians to be circumcised as the Jewish Law prescribes.
Still laws are necessary. They guide us in the pursuit of the good. Without some laws, at least, we would likely make repeated mistakes and hurt people in the process. We also need laws to protect us from the unscrupulous who would not allow common respect for others inhibit their desires. In the readings today both Moses and Jesus extol the Law which God has given to the Israelites. Moses believes that there are no statutes and decrees more just than those contained in Israel’s Law. Jesus finds the same Law binding until all things come to pass. Then how can Paul dismiss it so forcefully? And why do we not practice that Law today?
The Ten Commandments have always served as a guide to morality and still bind Christians. It is true, however, that the ritualistic parts of the Law have lost their force because with Jesus’ death and resurrection all things indeed have come to pass. Finally, we should not understand Paul as rejecting the Law completely but as saying that alone the Law has proven ineffectual at producing the righteousness of salvation. For that, he says, we need the grace of Christ.
(Deuteronomy 4:1.5-9; Matthew 5:17-19)
“Something there is that doesn’t love a wall,” Robert Frost wrote at the beginning of a famous poem. We might change “wall” to “law” and come up with a similar truth. Laws(like walls) can obstruct the good as well as serve it. For example, privacy laws can make clerical visits in hospitals problematic. It seems that the apostle Paul had little use for law. He wrote the Letters to the Galatians and the Romans refuting the need for Christians to be circumcised as the Jewish Law prescribes.
Still laws are necessary. They guide us in the pursuit of the good. Without some laws, at least, we would likely make repeated mistakes and hurt people in the process. We also need laws to protect us from the unscrupulous who would not allow common respect for others inhibit their desires. In the readings today both Moses and Jesus extol the Law which God has given to the Israelites. Moses believes that there are no statutes and decrees more just than those contained in Israel’s Law. Jesus finds the same Law binding until all things come to pass. Then how can Paul dismiss it so forcefully? And why do we not practice that Law today?
The Ten Commandments have always served as a guide to morality and still bind Christians. It is true, however, that the ritualistic parts of the Law have lost their force because with Jesus’ death and resurrection all things indeed have come to pass. Finally, we should not understand Paul as rejecting the Law completely but as saying that alone the Law has proven ineffectual at producing the righteousness of salvation. For that, he says, we need the grace of Christ.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)