Wednesday, February 17, 2016

Wednesday of the First Week of Lent

(Jonah 31-10; Luke 11:29-32)

Liberal newspapers focus on inequality as the greatest domestic threat.  They constantly report a growing income gap between rich and poor.  Now they say that life expectancy between the two groups is also widening significantly.  They tend to overlook, however, other evidence of moral decline.  They are not especially concerned about drug use and pornography.  If they examine all the evidence, they could hardly but conclude with Jesus in today’s gospel.  They would have to admit, “…this generation is evil...”

Jesus is pictured as reacting to the people’s rejection of him.  Although he heals the sick and preaches with compelling stories, he cannot form a mass movement of disciples.  When he dies, his apostles will convert myriads of pagans into believers.  At the end of time descendants of these converts will show the Jewish people that they were wrong to ignore Jesus.

We like to think of ourselves as faithful followers of Jesus, but we may be imposters.  To be true disciples we have to pay him more than lip service and even than attendance at weekly Eucharist.  We truly follow Jesus when we seek out the troubled and assist them carry their burdens.

Tuesday, February 16, 2016

Tuesday of the First Week of Lent

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

People speak of “storming heaven.”  They mean that they will say prayer after prayer until they receive what they request.  Evidently they think of God as remote and apathetic to human need. Perhaps they have the wicked magistrate of the Lucan parable in mind.  But Jesus is clear in that image that God is much better than the corrupt judge.  In today’s passage from the Gospel of Matthew he gives us a truer way to approach God.

Jesus tells his disciples that the way to secure answer to prayers is to forgive others’ offenses.  There may be something circular at play here.  If one can forgive others’ sins, that person seems to have already achieved sanctity – the final aim of all prayer.  But there is more to prayer than that.  Prayer connects a person with God so that her mind expands to see God’s will.  She gives up her narrow view of reality and finds God working in more efficacious ways.

Saintly theologians say that we cannot alter God’s will.  At the same time they encourage us to pray.  They say that prayer changes us.  That fact alone improves the situation for all.

Monday, February 15, 2016

Monday of the First Week in Lent

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

The Scripture readings today strike a balance between negative and positive actions.  Leviticus emphasizes the former with a list of “You shall not(s).”  The gospel, on the other hand, accentuates the positive.  It predicts Jesus reminding the nations at the end of time that they are being judged on what they did for the little people of the world.  If they fed the hungry, clothed the naked, and visited the imprisoned, they will be judged worthy of salvation.

We might ask which is more important, to avoid doing what is wrong or to do what is right?  In medicine, at least, an answer to this question seems to emerge.  The Hippocratic Oath, which physicians have taken for centuries, clearly sides with the need to avoid evil.  After promising to offer dietetic measures to heal the sick, budding physicians swear not to do a series of evils: hasten death, induce abortion, and molest patients or householders whom they visit. 

It is fair to conclude that avoiding harm is essential but insufficient.  If love is the supreme virtue, it entails that we act positively toward others.  If we cannot do anything directly to support them, then we should at least pray that their needs be met.  During Lent we redouble efforts to examine our lives daily with two questions in mind.  We ask ourselves, “What evil have I done today?” and “What good have I failed to do?”

Friday, February 12, 2016

Friday after Ash Wednesday

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

Abraham Lincoln’s “Second Inaugural Address” has been acclaimed as his greatest speech.  Yet it criticizes the nation in a way that would be unthinkable today.  It says, “(God) gives to both North and South this terrible war as the woe due to those by whom the offense came.”  This means that as both northern and southern states profited by slavery, God has now punished both sides.  But the speech goes beyond recalling the sins of the nation.  It also hints of reform by indicating the resolve to settle the costs of the war “with malice toward none, with charity for all.”  However so much the “Second Inaugural” demonstrates Lincoln’s skill as an orator, it shows him as a prophet in line with Isaiah in today’s first reading.

The prophet declares God’s frustration with the offerings of the people.  He sees them as manipulative of God’s love, not submissive to God’s dominion.  He chastises the people for quarrelling over whose sacrifice is sufficient rather than showing communal remorse for sins committed.  But the tenor of the prophecy is ultimately not negative.  It also describes the sacrifice that pleases God.  It calls the people beyond individual displays of asceticism to communal solidarity with the suffering. 

We might ask ourselves then if any fasting is desirable.  The answer to the query should be self-evident.  Not only does the Church prescribe an acceptable fast for Lent, but Jesus indicates its appropriateness in today’s gospel.  But we must remember not to fast to show off individual ability to endure hardship.  No, we fast to recognize our common need for God’s mercy.

Thrusday, February 11, 2016

Thursday after Ash Wednesday

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

When Mexican forces besieged the Alamo, the commander of the fortress was William Travis.  He knew that the situation was dire.  According to a popular legend, he drew a line in the ground with his sword.  He then told the Alamo’s defenders that they had a choice.  He said that they could either leave the compound or they could cross the line he had drawn and fight the Mexicans until death.  In the readings today both Moses and Jesus figuratively draw such a line in the sand.

In the first reading Moses gives the Israelites a clear option.  They may choose life by fulfilling the Lord’s commandments in the land which they are about to enter.  On the other hand, they may ignore the commands, worship foreign gods, and find themselves perishing.  Jesus’ option is similar.  His disciples may either imitate his self-denial in pursuit of divine love, or they may follow their own often selfish instincts. 

Each Lent we are to renew our decision to follow Jesus.  Like athletes training for the Olympics, we follow him by disciplining our bodies.  We want them to respond effortlessly to the promptings of his Spirit.  Of course, it is hard at first.  Not drinking coffee or daily kneeling down to say the rosary seems like self-inflicted torture.  But we soon realize that the sacrifices have palpable benefits and that they do not last very long.  More importantly, we come to realize that Jesus supports us.  We don’t find Lent the drudgery that some imagine.  Rather we come to know it as the springboard of life.