Friday, March 10, 2017

Friday of the First Week in Lent

(Ezekiel 18:21-28; Matthew 5:20-26)

At the beginning of “Paradise Lost” John Milton claims his intent is to “justify the ways of God to men.”  He is needed after reading the passage from Ezekiel which says that God might condemn a person after making just one false move.  As school children will ask, would a man really be damned to hell after failing to attend mass one Sunday morning and then being hit by a dump truck on the way to the store to buy ice cream?

O.k., the example is frivolous, but the question remains crucial.  How can it be said that a person might not be judged on the totality of her actions but for one malicious deed?  As always, the best way to address the issue is to defer to Jesus.  Today’s gospel is taken from his Sermon on the Mount where he presents his New Law or righteousness.  He says that people will not be judged so much on their outer actions as on their heart’s intentions.  A man may bow before another not out of esteem but in deception.  His action will be judged as wanting.  A woman may say nice things to another one day and gossip about the person the next.  Her words will convict her of duplicity.

In any case we need to be slow about judging others.  The human heart is often so twisted by life’s contingencies that it does not know what it desires. And then there is God’s overwhelming mercy!  We pray that everyone will be saved as we try to purify our own intentions.  In these ways we trust that God will not condemn us.

Thursday, March 9, 2017

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??

Prayer is the most urgent of Christian actions.  Christians cannot help but pray because it is the Holy Spirit that is prompting them to do so.  Their prayers do not change God, but through their prayers God is changing them.  First, prayer enables them to see that God has at his disposition myriad ways of improving an undesirable situation beyond what they have considered.  Then in prayer they discover how God may want them to address the challenge at hand.  Finally and most importantly, prayer aligns them with the only true order of things: not theirs but God’s is to be done.  It has been wisely said that God’s posture toward those who pray 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 doing that as she prepares to meet her husband, the king of Persia.  Her prayers will lead to the salvation of her people as God unmasks the maliciousness of their persecutor.

Wednesday, March 8, 2017

Wednesday of the First Week in Lent

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

There was a time within the memory of many living today when most Catholics would eat meat only once a day and fast between meals during the Lent.  Of course, they never ate meat on Fridays at that time.  The communal Lenten penance provided a sense of solidarity among the people much like what is indicated in today’s first reading.

Although there is no historical record of an Israeli prophet converting Nineveh or even of a city so large that it would take three days to transverse, the narrative from the Book of the Prophet Jonah provides readers with a profound religious truth.  It tells them that God expects them to acknowledge not only that they have sinned individually but also that their faults have caused others to sin.  As a result there is need that they help one another overcome sinful ways.  They should fast and pray together so that God might forgive their sins and bring the nation true peace.

We fast during Lent for various reasons.  We want to show remorse for our sins by denying ourselves some pleasures.  We also want to show our love for the Lord who has provided us with the goods of creation.  We also want to help one another live a life of moderation – very much in need today.  Doing so we demonstrate that it is not created things but the Creator who gives our lives permanence and peace.

Tuesday, March 7, 2017

Tuesday of the First Week of Lent

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

A pastor had an idea to raise funds for his parish life center.  He would give any parishioner ten dollars for a project so that they could give it back with another ten dollars.  Putting responsible people’s entrepreneurial minds to work can produce remarkable results.  Needless to say, the parish life center was built.  In today’s first reading we hear how God puts His word to work with wonderful results.

The reading comes from the second part of the Book of the Prophet Isaiah, often called Deutero-Isaiah.  This book tells of the people Israel suffering in Babylon and their liberation through Cyrus of Persia.  However, the one God is the hero of the work.  He directs all action through His efficacious word.  Today’s passage describes that word as rain from heaven producing abundant fruit.

We should never doubt God’s word and should pray daily to see it change our lives.  We will find that God acts in our best interests.  Whether or not we receive exactly what we seek, God will share with us His Holy Spirit.  This gift more than compensates for anything that we find wanting.

Monday, March 6, 2017

Monday of the First Week of Lent

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

Mother Teresa often called the poor “Jesus in disguise.”  Her reason for doing so can be found in today’s gospel.  Jesus himself identifies with the hungry, the sick, and the imprisoned.  The poor certainly suffer a disproportionate incidence of these conditions.

But often in economically advanced societies the poor are well overweight.  They eat too much of the wrong foods, and they do not get enough exercise.  What can be done for them?  Certainly people can model healthy eating and exercise habits and also encourage the poor to follow them.  Advertising paid with public funds might also remind people of a healthy lifestyle.  Public policy that provide opportunities for the poor to improve their living habits may be crafted as well.

Above all, we must identify with the poor.  We not only have to see them as like Jesus but as our brothers and sisters.  Then with both our physical and creative resources engaged, we will work out ways that will remove them from jeopardy.  In these ways we will find ourselves called into the Father’s kingdom.