God is Steadfast Love

June 30: Monday of Week 13 of Ordinary Time, Year A-II:

Amos 2:6-10,13-16; Psalm 50:16-17, 18-19, 20-21, 22-23; Matthew 8:18-22

To surrender to Jesus expressing himself through us in ministry.

“For [the] crimes of Israel… I will not revoke my word.” Amos 2:6

Today’s readings are a good transition. They both show God and Jesus in the “prophet” role, focused on the mission of witnessing to the objective truth, even when it is harsh. In Amos God warns about the consequences of sin (but still promises steadfast love: “I will not revoke my word”). In the Gospel Jesus calls those who would follow him to be realistic about what it costs. But for the next week the Gospels show Jesus in the, ministering mode of “priest,” where the focus is on nurturing and healing persons with merciful love. This is a transition we all must make. Our focus on mission as “prophets” must open to include our ministry as “priests.” These reflections will help you.

Prophets announce the Good News of liberation through a lifestyle that “raises eyebrows” by its nonconformity wth cultural values. To fulfill their mission, prophets must be willing to “break” with the culture and stand alone.

This must be balanced by the priestly focus on ministry to persons. Priests form community through mercy and acceptance, “tempering the wind to the shorn lamb.” Christians denounce sin only as friends of sinners. Otherwise we fail to “be Christ.”

Prophets need dedication to the mission of bearing witness. Priests need surrender to Jesus wanting to minister by expressing love in and through their bodies.

PRAY: “Lord, teach me to love.”

PRACTICE: Be gentle with everyone. 

In Our Hearts

June 28: The Immaculate Heart of Mary:

The same readings as for Saturday of Week 12 of Ordinary Time, Year A-II:

Lamentations 2:2, 10-14, 18-19; Psalm 74:1-2, 3-5, 6-7, 20-21;

except for the Gospel: Luke 2:41-51 instead of Matthew 8:5-17

A thought for those who want to reveal the risen Jesus in their lifestyle.

“Why were you looking for me? Did you not know…?” Luke 2:49

Jesus’ first disciples were John and Andrew. When Jesus walked by and they started following him, he turned and asked, “What are you looking for?” (John 1:38). It’s the question he asks every person born into this world. It is the starting point of our lives.

When Jesus was separated from his parents and found again in the Temple, he asked: “Why were you looking for me? Did you not know that I must be in my Father’s house?”

All of us who became Christ’s body through Baptism are “his Father’s house.” He said, “Those who love me will keep my word, and my Father will love them, and we will come to them and make our home with them” (John 14:23). We are never separated from Jesus. He is always with us and in us, acting through us. We are living one life together like a vine with its branches (John 15:1-5). When we look for him, we look in our hearts.

The more we are undivided—unmixed, “pure”—in heart, the more consistently we “keep his word.” Mary’s heart was “immaculate,” “pure,” “full of grace,” because she was totally surrendered, without reserves, to letting God act with her, in her and through her in all she did.

PRAY and PRACTICE:  Keep saying the WIT prayer: “Lord, act with me, act in me, act through me.” Keep yourself aware of Jesus in your heart.

Heart to heart

June 27 Feast of The Most Sacred Heart of Jesus - :

Deuteronomy 7:6-11; Psalm 103:1-2, 3-4, 8, 10; 1John 4:7-16; Matthew 11:25-30

instead of: Friday of Week 12 of Ordinary Time, Year A-II:

2Kings 25:1-12; Psalm 137:1-2, 3, 4-5, 6; Matthew 8:1-4

A thought for those who want to reveal the risen Jesus in their lifestyle.

“We have come to know and to believe in the love God has for us.” 1John 4:16

We can serve God out of fear or love. Those who don’t serve him at all neither fear God nor love him. Scripture calls them “fools” (Psalm 14:1; Romans 1:22).

“Fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom” (Psalm 111:10). This is not “being scared of God.” Subtract the emotion of “fright” from “fear” and you get perspective—a sense of proportion that recognizes the distance between God’s Being, Goodness and Truth, and that of all creatures, including ourselves. “Wisdom” is the habit of seeing everything in perspective; in the light of God as the “ultimate end” and purpose of everything we do.

“Fear of the Lord” became distorted in the Church. Religion was taught as laws backed up by punishment. Catholics had more fear of Hell than love for God. So Jesus called the world through Saint Margaret Mary (1694) to focus on his heart; to see everything in the light of his love, revealed in his humanity. “Devotion to the Sacred Heart” spread through the Church and gave us a new perspective. If we embrace it, every interaction between ourselves and God is heart to heart.

To understand better, Google ”Heart of the Matter” in America Magazine (November 10, 2008).

PRAY: “Lord, show me your heart.”

PRACTICE: Whenever you feel anxious or distant from God, picture Jesus showing his heart. Respond with yours.

Life is Change

June 26: Thursday of Week 12 of Ordinary Time, Year A-II:

2Kings 24:8-17; Psalm 79:1-2, 3-5, 8, 9; Matthew 7:21-29

A thought for those who want to reveal the risen Jesus in their lifestyle.

“ When Jesus had finished saying these things...” Matthew 7:28

Today’s Gospel concludes the first of five “discourse sections” in Matthew’s Gospel. They all end with “When Jesus had finished…” (see 7:28, 11:1, 13:53, 19:1, and 26:1).

After Jesus presented his New Law in the Sermon on the Mount, “the crowds were astonished at his teaching, for he taught them as one having authority, and not as their scribes.” The scribes just passed down, unchanged, the teaching from the past. Jesus revised and perfected it on his own authority.

The modern-day “scribes” are teachers who uncritically echo the “official” (but not infallible) teaching of the Church common in their time. They passed down to generations of Catholics approval of slavery, torture, racial discrimination, war, and innumerable ways of exploiting the poor. The “scribes and Pharisees” were the worst enemies of Jesus. They still are today.

Pope Francis criticizes those who “feel superior to others because they remain intransigently faithful to a particular Catholic style from the past…. a supposed soundness of doctrine or discipline” that is not… really concerned about Jesus Christ or others” (Joy of the Gospel 94).

The “prophets” speak with the “authority” of the Holy Spirit. They are faithful to the authentic past, but also open to new interpretations and insights from scholarship, reason, and prayerful reflection on their groundlevel experience of the world around them. They understand the New Law.

PRAY: “Put your law into my heart.”

PRACTICE: Open your mind to change.

What is Good Fruit?

June 25: Wednesday of Week 12 of Ordinary Time, Year A-II:

2Kings 22:8-13, 23:1-3; Psalm 119:33, 34, 35, 36, 37, 40; Matthew 7:15-20

A thought for those who want to reveal the risen Jesus in their lifestyle.

“Every good tree bears good fruit.” Matthew 7:17

Jesus both promises we will bear fruit, and warns that if we don’t, we are not united to the vine (John 15:5). This is a guideline for identifying good and bad prophets. But first we have to recognize good and bad fruit.

“Good fruit” is a way of life that embodies the New Law of Jesus. “Bad fruit” is anything less than that; for example, a good human life, a life that is “sub-Christian” because based on the “old law” of the Ten Commandments, a life acceptable to ordinary “good people” in our culture.

Jesus said, “If you belong to the world, the world will love you as its own. Because I have chosen you out of the world, the world hates you” (see John 15:19). Christians who “fit in” are not Christian.

We will not find “prophets” among those who “put on fine clothing and live in luxury.” Or “in royal palaces” (Luke 7:25). Or in the offices of auto- isolated administrators.

It is significant that Pope Francis refuses to wear the traditional finery of the hierarchy or to live in the papal palace. He wears a white cassock and lives in the Vatican guest house. He says, “Evangelizers take on the ‘smell of the sheep’” (Joy of the Gospel 24).

“By their fruits you will know them.” If we can distinguish “good fruit” from bad.

PRAY: “Lord, keep me one with you.”

PRACTICE: Prune your life. 

Called and Sent

June 24: Birthday of John the Baptizer

Isaiah 49:1-6; Psalm 139:1-3, 13-14, 14-15; Acts 13:22-26; Luke 1:57-66, 80

instead of Tuesday of Week 12 of Ordinary Time, Year A-II:

2Kings 19:9-11, 14-21, 31-36; Psalm 48:2-3, 3-4, 10-11; Matthew 7:6, 12-14

A thought for those who want to reveal the risen Jesus in their lifestyle.

“The Lord called me from birth.” Isaiah 49:1

Each of us was called, consecrated, anointed and empowered by God in Baptism to be a prophet. We are all sent to announce the Good News, to “prepare the way of the Lord.”

We received what is called the “messianic anointing” when the minister of Baptism anointed us with chrism, saying, “As Christ [Greek for the Hebrew “masiah,” or “anointed”] was anointed Priest, Prophet and King, so live as a member of his body.” Those words redirected our life.

Now we share in Christ’s mission as Prophet, in his ministry as Priest, and in his responsibility as King to “make all things new” by establishing the reign of God over every area and activity of human life (Revelation 21:5).

The first duty in our “job description” is to bear witness through a lifestyle that “raises irresistible questions” that cannot be answered without the Gospel (Pope Paul VI, Evangelization in the Modern World, 21). Before we say, do, buy, sell, use or seek anything, we ask, “How does this bear witness to the values of Christ?” That is our mission as “prophets.”

Jesus sent us his Spirit “as the first fruits of his life for those who believe in him, so that we might live no longer for ourselves, but to bring his work to perfection in the world and sanctify creation to the full” (see Eucharistic Prayer IV).

PRAY: “Lord, make me generous.”

PRACTICE: Seek guidance from the Spirit.

The Test of Perspective

June 23: Monday of Week 12 of Ordinary Time, Year A-II:

2Kings 17:5-8, 13-15, 18; Psalm 60:3, 4-5, 12-13; Matthew 7:1-5

A thought for those who want to reveal the risen Jesus in their lifestyle.

“The measure with which you measure will be measured out to you.” Matthew 7:2

Paul wrote: “Those who are unspiritual do not receive the gifts of God’s Spirit, for… they are unable to understand them because they are spiritually discerned” (1Corinthians 2:11). Those who are not trying to follow the New Law of Christ cannot judge or understand those who are.

Rational humans live carefully-measured, rational human lives. Divine humans live the unmeasured passion of Christ’s divine love.

We should mistrust the judgments of everyone infected by the three evils rejected in the first session of Vatican II, and that Pope Francis has been denouncing ever since his election: legalism, clericalism, triumphalism. Those who focus on the law (legalists) are blind to the Spirit. Those who relish priestly power and prestige (clericalists) have abandoned the path of Christ. Those who want the Church to mirror in art and architecture, dress, pomp and protocol “The glory that was Greece / And the grandeur that was Rome” (triumphalists) are still mired in pagan idolatry. We should suspect their views as distorted and their decisions as corrupt; especially when they persecute the prophets.

Pope Francis prefers “a Church which is bruised, hurting and dirty because it has been out on the streets, rather than a Church which is … shut up within structures which give us a false sense of security” (Joy of the Gospel).

PRAY: “Lord, let me share your passion.”

PRACTICE: Be uncomfortable with affluence and prestige.

The Bread of Life

June 22: Feast of Corpus Christi: the Body and Blood of Christ

Deuteronomy 8:2-3, 14-16; Psalm 147:12-13, 14-15, 19-20; 1Corinthians 10:16-17; John 6:51-58

instead of the Twelfth Sunday of Ordinary Time, Year A:

Jeremiah 20: 10-13; Psalm 69:8-10, 14, 17, 33-35; Romans 5:12-15; Matthew 10:26-33

A thought for those who want to reveal the risen Jesus in their lifestyle.

“My flesh is true food, and my blood is true drink.” John 6:255

Shouldn’t it “raise irresistible questions”—or raise eyebrows, at least—when non-Christians see Catholics genuflecting before the tabernacle and coming forward to receive a piece of bread at Mass as if it were the most precious object on earth?

One convert became Catholic after seeing his next-door neighbor, an old lady, coming out early every morning to walk to Mass. The clincher came when he saw her actually crawling up a hill through snow on her hands and knees to get there! “Witness” begins when our life stops making sense without the Gospel.

Franz Werfel said about Lourdes in The Song of Bernadette, “For those who believe, no explanation is necessary. For those who do not believe, no explanation is possible.”

Reversing the question, what explanation is possible when those who do believe do not bother to come to Mass on Sunday and receive the Bread of Life? Or even daily, if their schedule allows it?

Do they really believe that all who eat this bread “remain in me and I in them?” Have life because of me?” Will “live forever”? It isn’t evident.

What of priests who routinely deny Communion to good people because they “appear” to be in “mortal sin”? Jesus said, “Feed my sheep!” Are they doing that? With love?

PRAY: Google “Anima Christi” and pray it.

PRACTICE: Never miss a chance to participate in Eucharist and receive Communion.

A Matter of Choice

June 21: Saturday of Week 11 of Ordinary Time, Year A-II:

2Chronicles 24:17-25; Psalm 89:4-5, 29-30, 31-32, 33-34; Matthew 6:24-34

A thought for those who want to reveal the risen Jesus in their lifestyle.

“No one can serve two masters.” Matthew 6:24

Authentic Christianity involves—and requires—a very simple choice: do we live by Jesus’ New Law or by the attitudes and values of our culture?

Saint Paul says it like it is: “You are slaves of the one whom you obey, either of sin, which leads to death, or of obedience [to Christ], which leads to righteousness” (Romans 6:16). We can choose our master, but we can’t choose whether to have one. Even the “personalists” who glory in non-conformity are slaves to their own passions and blindness. Only Jesus can promise, “If you live by my words, ‘you will know the truth, and the truth will make you free’” (John 8:32).

Obeying Jesus means accepting his teaching about what we should worry about and work for. This includes the fundamentals: our life; what we will eat, drink or wear; how long we will live; and what might happen to us next. “Do not worry about tomorrow; tomorrow will take care of itself.” That is, God will take care of it: “Your heavenly Father knows what you need.”

We bear witness to the Good News when we obviously really believe God will provide for our needs, are clearly placing our trust in him, and visibly loving and caring for others in a way that shows we are not worried about what will happen to ourselves.

PRAY: “Jesus, make me free.”

PRACTICE: Make every decision a conscious choice for Christ.

A Matter of Attitude

June 20: Friday of Week 11 of Ordinary Time, Year A-II:

2Kings 11:1-4, 9-18, 20; Psalm 132:11, 12, 13-14, 17-18; Matthew 6:19-23

A thought for those who want to reveal the risen Jesus in their lifestyle.

“Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth.” Matthew 6:19

Taken literally, these words of the New Law abolish all bank accounts and investments. But Jesus is teaching an attitude.

If affluence—or even financial security—is a priority for us, we don’t have the mind of God. Jesus says, “Strive first for the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well” (Matthew 6:33). Our Father is rich; we don’t have to be.

Being “rich” is not having a lot of possessions; it is thinking we own them. Jesus said, “If you wish to be perfect [live by God’s life], go, sell your possessions, and give the money to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; then come, follow me.” We “sold everything” when we were baptized, by “presenting our bodies as a living sacrifice to God” (Romans 12:1), to live henceforth only as Christ’s body, his physical presence on earth. By this we dedicated (gave) all we had or ever would have totally to God’s service, which always includes care for the poor.

Our lifestyle should reveal unambiguously that this is our attitude toward money and possessions. If not, we cannot be witnesses to the Good News.

And if we are not, what real value does our life have?

It’s all a matter of attitude.

PRAY: “Lord, let me live by your light.”

PRACTICE: Do a “spiritual audit” on your use of money.

Christ’s Priorities

June 19: Thursday of Week 11 of Ordinary Time, Year A-II:

A thought for those who want to reveal the risen Jesus in their lifestyle.

Sirach 48:1-15; Psalm 97:1-2,3-4, 5-6, 7; Matthew 6:7-15

“This is how you are to pray.” Matthew 6:9

We know Jesus did not teach the Our Father as a set of words to memorize and recite, because in Luke 11:4 the words are different. But the basic content is the same. In this prayer Jesus lists his priorities in life. If we make them our own, we will pray well.

That is why—and how—we should pray the Our Father at the beginning of every day, using it consciously to set our priorities as soon as we awake. The words remind us what we are living for and what we should work for; what we should set our hearts on throughout the day.

First, that the Father be known and loved: “Hallowed be thy Name!” Then that his Kingdom be established and his will done as completely on earth as in heaven. Our “daily bread” is Jesus himself; our all-encompassing desire is for the “wedding banquet of the Lamb,” when all will share the Bread of heaven in a communal meal, perfectly reconciled with God and each other: all forgiven, all forgiving all.

We “have received a spirit of adoption, through which we cry: Abba! Father!” As sons and daughters of the Father “in the Son,” we love the Father as Jesus does, and make his desires our own. The heart of Jesus is the heart of all prayer.

PRAY: “Jesus, teach me to pray.”

PRACTICE: Recite the Our Father thoughtfully as soon as you awake.

A Matter of Perception

June 17: Tuesday of Week 11 of Ordinary Time, Year A-II:

A thought for those who want to reveal the risen Jesus in their lifestyle.

1Kings 21:17-29; Psalm 51:3-4, 5-6, 11, 16; Matthew 5:43-48

“Love your enemies.” Matthew 5:44

God cannot command a contradiction in terms—like, to draw a square circle, or to love people we see as enemies. So this new teaching is more about identification than love. If we see ourselves as “children of our heavenly Father,” we will see others as our brothers and sisters; even if, from their side, they are acting like enemies. Then we can love them as family, not enemies.

God doesn’t treat anyone as an enemy. He “makes his sun rise on the bad and the good,” because he sees us all as his children, no matter what we do. We must do likewise: greet and pray for everyone., seek relationships, and want everyone “to be and to become all they can be.” This is the definition of love.

By “grace” we share God’s life. God’s life is interaction between Father, Son and Spirit—the communal passion of one shared being, understanding and love. So the goal of Christian life and action is that “all may be one” and “come to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God,” one with God and each other as the Father, Son and Spirit are one ” (John 17:21; Ephesians 4:13).

This is to “be perfect, just as your heavenly Father is perfect.” That is the New Law.

PRAY: “Lord, let me see so I can love.”

PRACTICE: See and deal with everyone as your brother or sister.

Nonviolence

June 16: Monday of Week 11 of Ordinary Time, Year A-II:

A thought for those who want to reveal the risen Jesus in their lifestyle.

1Kings 21:1-16; Psalm 5:2-3, 4-6, 6-7; Matthew 5:38-42

“Offer no resistance to one who is evil.” Matthew 5:39

Echoing Peter (Matthew 16:22), John Paul II taught Christians can “resist evildoers” by killing them in self-defense, in wars, and, if necessary, to prevent murderers from killing again. But, quoting today’s Gospel, he also teaches that to renounce the right to self-defense is an act of “heroic love which… transfigures the love of self into a radical self-offering, according to the spirit of the Gospel Beatitudes.” He says, “The sublime example of this self-offering is the Lord Jesus himself.”

 

Since John Paul proclaimed repeatedly that “Jesus’ way of acting and his words, his deeds and his precepts constitute the moral rule of Christian life,” and that “Christ’s example, no less than his words, is normative for Christians,” he is obviously proposing this heroic love as the normal standard of virtue for Christians—as the New Law of Jesus does. He just doesn’t call it an obligation (Gospel of Life, 55-57; Splendor of Truth, 18-20, and “World Day of Peace” address, January 1, 1993, parag. 5).

The New Law unequivocally forbids war, the death penalty and killing in self-defense. These are contrary to God’s way of thinking and acting. Jesus set the example. To live by this New Law—or even affirm it in words—is to raise questions only the Gospel answers. This is to bear prophetic witness, which is the first step in evangelization..

PRAY: “Lord, teach me your ways.”

PRACTICE: Speak up for nonviolence. Practice living it.

Though Many, Be One

June 15: Feast of the Most Holy Trinity

Exodus 34:4-6, 8-9; Canticle: Daniel 3:52, 53, 54, 55; 2 Corinthians 13:11-13; John 3:16-18

instead of the Eleventh Sunday of Ordinary Time, Year A:

Exodus 19:2-6; Psalm 100: 1-2, 3-5; Romans 5:6-11; Matthew 9:36 to 10:8

A thought for those who want to reveal the risen Jesus in their lifestyle.

 “Live in peace, and the God of love and peace will be with you.” 2 Corinthians 13:11

God not only gives existence to all things; God is in all things, expressing in some way his own existence, his own being, in and through them. In everything that is, we should look for the good, the true and the beautiful—and know we are seeing the self-expression of God.

God is One. His “Nature”—what he is—is infinite. It cannot be duplicated or divided. But as Person—who he is—God is Father, Son and Spirit. There is no difference in what each one is—each has everything the others have—but as who they are they are different because of the relationship each has with the others.

Relationships match interaction. In God, each Person is his relationship with the others and interacts accordingly. Humans form relationships by interacting with others.

Our interactions make us “who” we are as persons. God creates us as “humans”—what” we are—by giving us all the same nature. We create ourselves (or “complete ourselves”) as “persons”—“who” we are—by the way we choose to interact with God, other people, and the world.

If we constantly seek unity and peace, we create ourselves to be like “the God of love and peace.”

This reveals and bears witness to God’s divine Life in us.

PRAY: “Holy Spirit, make us one.”

PRACTICE: Seek unity and peace—with everyone, in everything.

The Good, the True, the Beautiful

June 14: Saturday of Week 10 of Ordinary Time, Year A-II:

A thought for those who want to reveal the risen Jesus in their lifestyle.

1Kings 19:19-21; Psalm 16:1-2, 5, 7-8, 9-10; Matthew 5:33-37

“Anything more is from the Evil One.” Matthew 5:37

When we back up our words with an oath, we are saying our word alone cannot be counted on. So we swear “by” something sacred to us. Jesus says this is to deny—implicitly, at least— that our words are divine. Every word we speak should be like the words of God. And just as sacred.

Our words should not only be worthy of trust; they should be worthy of God.

God keeps his promises: “So shall my word be that goes out from my mouth… it shall accomplish that which I purpose…” (Isaiah 55:11). What we promise, we must do our best to accomplish, relying on God’s help.

God is One: never two-faced, double-dealing or duplicitous. He doesn’t use “spin” or double-meaning language.

God is the Good, the True, the Beautiful. He doesn’t speak “bad words,” false words, or ugly words. Neither should we.  

Jesus said, “The words I have spoken to you are spirit and life” (John 6:63). We should speak lifegiving words, inspired by the Holy Spirit. Words that communicate faith, give hope, express love.

PRAY the “WIT prayer” constantly throughout the day: “Lord, do this with me, do this in me, do this through me. Let me think with your thoughts, and speak with your words, and act as your body on earth.”

PRACTICE: Every morning, make the Sign of the Cross on your lips. Consecrate your speech to God.

An Undivided Word

June 13: Friday of Week 10 of Ordinary Time, Year A-II:

A thought for those who want to reveal the risen Jesus in their lifestyle.

1Kings 19:9, 11-16; Psalm 27:7-9, 13-14; Matthew 5:27-32

“If your right eye causes you to sin, tear it out.” Matthew 5:29

God is One. He is “pure”—unmixed and undivided—in thought, word and deed. His “Yes” is pure yes—forever.

Sex is a language. All authentic sexual actions are the expression of self-gift—total and forever. Once God says  “Yes” sexually—with and through someone who is his body on earth—that yes can never be reversed. To take it back or divide it between two living persons at the same time is “adultery.”

God cannot speak a partial yes. Or desire with a partial desire. He loves only with his whole heart and gives himself totally or not at all. When God in his body on earth makes a sexual desire his own, it is desire for total gift. And he desires with his whole being.

If we give our will’s consent to desiring only physically or emotionally, without the approving participation of our intellect enlightened by faith; or to desiring in a way that is human but not divine, we are divided. We are mixing yes and no. We are impure.

The New Law calls us to think and act like God. It does not make precise rules about concrete actions. Christ’s words about marriage are the only teaching in the Sermon on the Mount that we have interpreted literally and made into Canon Law (Church law).

PRAY: “Lord, you have the words of eternal life.”

PRACTICE: Act with your whole self.

An Undivided Word

June 13: Friday of Week 10 of Ordinary Time, Year A-II:

A thought for those who want to reveal the risen Jesus in their lifestyle.

1Kings 19:9, 11-16; Psalm 27:7-9, 13-14; Matthew 5:27-32

“If your right eye causes you to sin, tear it out.” Matthew 5:29

God is One. He is “pure”—unmixed and undivided—in thought, word and deed. His “Yes” is pure yes—forever.

Sex is a language. All authentic sexual actions are the expression of self-gift—total and forever. Once God says  “Yes” sexually—with and through someone who is his body on earth—that yes can never be reversed. To take it back or divide it between two living persons at the same time is “adultery.”

God cannot speak a partial yes. Or desire with a partial desire. He loves only with his whole heart and gives himself totally or not at all. When God in his body on earth makes a sexual desire his own, it is desire for total gift. And he desires with his whole being.

If we give our will’s consent to desiring only physically or emotionally, without the approving participation of our intellect enlightened by faith; or to desiring in a way that is human but not divine, we are divided. We are mixing yes and no. We are impure.

The New Law calls us to think and act like God. It does not make precise rules about concrete actions. Christ’s words about marriage are the only teaching in the Sermon on the Mount that we have interpreted literally and made into Canon Law (Church law).

PRAY: “Lord, you have the words of eternal life.”

PRACTICE: Act with your whole self.

Be Like God

June 12: Thursday of Week 10 of Ordinary Time, Year A-II:

A thought for those who want to reveal the risen Jesus in their lifestyle.

1Kings 18:41-46; Psalm 65:10,11,12-13; Matthew 5:20-26

“But I say to you, whoever is angry….” Matthew 5:22

If we follow the New Law of Jesus, our “righteousness” (morality) must “surpass that of the scribes and Pharisees.” Otherwise we “will not enter into the Kingdom of heaven.”

The scribes taught and the Pharisees practiced the morality most of us grew up with. The Pharisees were “straight arrows.” They kept all the laws. Jesus says that is not enough.

Jesus changed the goal of the law. The Ten Commandments were laws for living peacefully with others in community. For example, “You shall not kill,” or injure, by word or action, another’s body, spirit or reputation. That is a “sin” because it diminishes the quality of human life on earth. And it provokes revenge and blood-feuds (see Genesis 4:13-23).

But the goal of the New Law is not community with other people; it is communion with God—in mind and heart and will, as well as in action. Jesus says whoever is angry with another—that is, just thinks about another without love—is already sinning, because that makes us unlike God. Christians must live by the law of God's life because by Baptism we have received “grace,” the gift of sharing in the divine life of God. Now we know what God meant when he said: "be holy because I, your God, am holy" (see Leviticus 11:45).

The New Law shows us how.

PRAY: “Lord, put your Law into my heart.”

PRACTICE: Think divine. Act divinely.

Law of the Spirit

June 11 Feast of St. Barnabas, Apostle

Acts 11:21-26, 13:1-3; Psalm 98:1-2, 4, 5, 8, 11; Matthew 5:17-19

instead of Wednesday of Week 10 of Ordinary Time, Year A-II:

1Kings 18:20-39; Psalm 16:1, 2-3, 3-4, 5-6; Matthew 5:17-19

A thought for those who want to reveal the risen Jesus in their lifestyle.

“I have come not to abolish but to fulfill.” Matthew 5:17

Jesus said his New Law is not meant “to abolish but to fulfill” the morality people already knew.

The Ten Commandments are rules for authentic human living. They bring out the best in human nature. But they are rules for sub-Christian behavior. The New Law teaches super-human behavior.

The Ten Commandments make sense. Anyone who walks by the light of reason will follow them. Deuteronomy 4:8 rightly boasts: “What other great nation has laws and regulations as fair as this body of laws?” But the New Law of Jesus is beyond human understanding: “For God’s foolishness is wiser than human wisdom.” And beyond human will power: “God’s weakness is stronger than human strength.”

Those who are “unspiritual” cannot grasp the New Law. They “do not receive the gifts of God’s Spirit, for they are foolishness to them, and they are unable to understand them because they are spiritually discerned” (1Corinthians 1:25; 2:14).

The New Law cannot be spelled out. As “prophets” consecrated by Baptism, Christians are “ministers of a new covenant, not of letter but of spirit; for the letter kills, but the Spirit gives life” (2Corinthians 3:6). The New Law calls us to “let the same mind be in us that was in Christ Jesus” (Philippians 2:5) and apply it creatively to circumstances.

PRAY: “Lord, send forth your Spirit, and renew the face of the earth!”

PRACTICE: Practice thinking like Christ.

Salt and Light: “Your light must shine before others.” Matthew 5:16

June 10: Tuesday of Week 10 of Ordinary Time, Year A-II:

A thought for those who want to reveal the risen Jesus in their lifestyle.

1Kings 17:7-16; Psalm 4:2-3, 4-5, 7-8; Matthew 5:13-16

Salt brings out the taste in food. Christ’s New Law gives a new “taste” to human behavior beyond our imagining. It gives guidelines for living on the level of God. The New Law shows what human nature is capable of when enhanced by grace, the “gift of sharing in the divine Life of God.”

If Christians just live good human lives, not doing anything bad, and being nice to everyone, that is not news. We don’t bring out or reveal anything in human nature that wasn’t already known. The salt has “lost its taste.” But when we visibly live a divine, a “superhuman” morality as “prophets,” we are Good News to the world.

Jesus is “the light of the world.” When “the Word became flesh and lived among us,” we “saw his glory,” the glory of the Father’s only Son. Now that glory shines in us, to whom he “gave power to become children of God.” Jesus says to us today, “You are the light of the world.” But only if we live visibly by his New Law.

“The [old] law was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ.” That is the Good News. Christian “prophets” who reveal “grace and truth” in their lives are the ”salt of the earth” and “light of the world.” (See John 1:1-18; 8:12).

PRAY: “Lord, let your face shine in me.”

PRACTICE: Think and act on the level of God.

The New Law: "...for theirs is the Kingdom of heaven.” Matthew 5:3

June 9: Monday of Week 10 of Ordinary Time, Year A-II:

A thought for those who want to reveal the risen Jesus in their lifestyle.

1 Kings 17:1-6; Psalm 121:1-2, 3-4, 5-6, 7-8; Matthew 5:1-12

Jesus introduces his New Law with a series of statements that contradict our basic assumptions. He calls us fortunate if some recognized inadequacy convinces us we haven’t “got it made.” This is to be “poor in spirit.” Jesus says it opens us to accept the “kingdom of heaven.”

  

Jesus says those who “mourn” are blessed, because if we are afflicted by what is wrong with the world, and frankly face our own sins and anxieties, we will be “comforted” by truth that gives solid and lasting peace. Do we believe that?

Do we really believe the most “blessed” people on earth are those whose main preoccupation in life is getting holy? More than getting educated, being successful, financially secure?

The New Law of Jesus begins where the rules for good human living leave off. It gives shocking guidelines for people whose only goal in life is to let Jesus live in them and continue his mission on earth. No one else can understand or accept the New Law. They are guidelines for thinking like Jesus; that is, like God.

To “bear witness” as a Christian is to live visibly in a way so inexplicable without the Gospel that our lifestyle raises eyebrows. This is to be a prophet. This is “pre-evangelization.” We “evangelize” by answering the questions raised by our actions.

PRAY: “Lord, let me ‘live and give’ the Good News.”

PRACTICE: Re-read the Beatitudes, open to challenge.

We are sent

June 8: Pentecost Sunday:

A thought for those who want to reveal the risen Jesus in their lifestyle.

Acts 2:1-11; Psalm 104:1, 24, 29-30, 31, 34; 1Corinthians 12:3-7, 12-13; John 20:19-23

We are sent

“As the Father has sent me, so I send you.” John 20:21

“They were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in different tongues, as the Spirit enabled them to proclaim…” Come, Holy Spirit, fill the hearts of your faithful…

“Tongues as of fire… came to rest on each one of them…”  “Peace be with you… Receive the Holy Spirit. Whose sins you forgive are forgiven them…” And enkindle in us the fire of your divine love.

“No one can say, ‘Jesus is Lord,’ except by the Holy Spirit… To each individual the manifestation of the Spirit is given for the good of all.” Lord, send forth your Spirit, and our hearts will be regenerated.

“‘As the Father has sent me, so I send you’… In one Spirit we were all baptized into one body… and we were all given to drink of one Spirit.” And you will renew the face of the earth!

PRAY: 

“Come, Holy Spirit, fill the hearts of your faithful,

And enkindle in us the fire of your divine love.

Lord, send forth your Spirit, and our hearts will be regenerated,

And you will renew the face of the earth!”

“O God, by the light of the Holy Spirit you instruct the hearts of your faithful.

Grant that by the same Holy Spirit we may always do what is right and just,

And always rejoice in his consolation

through Christ our Lord.”

PRACTICE: Say this prayer every day. Live it.

The Spirit gives assurance

June 7: Saturday of the 7th week of Easter:

A thought for those who want to reveal the risen Jesus in their lifestyle.

Acts 28:16-20, 30-31; Psalm 11:4, 5, 7; John 21:20-25

“It is on account of the hope of Israel that I wear these chains.” Acts 28:20

Paul in prison had the assurance of a clear conscience. He knew he was suffering for what he believed, and he knew that what he believed was true. There is peace and strength in that.

By the “Gift of the Spirit” our religion becomes an experience of inner, personal identity. We don’t just profess what we have been taught; we know what we know. The light of the Spirit gives us conviction in our hearts. Our moral choices are based on a firmness and freedom of personal, individual conscience.

Paul had written earlier, “I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor rulers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.”

Why? Because he could say with certitude, “I am speaking the truth in Christ—I am not lying; my conscience confirms it by the Holy Spirit” (Romans 8:38).

Those who just “conform” to the beliefs and practices of their religion will also conform to their culture. They may “draw the line” at some things, but basically they will live by the light and values of this world. Conformism doesn’t produce non-conformists.

The Spirit does.

PRAY: “Holy Spirit, make me free.”

PRACTICE: Renew the Church and the world through nonconformity.

Witness is Martyrdom

June 6: Friday of the 7th week of Easter:

A thought for those who want to reveal the risen Jesus in their lifestyle.

Acts 25:13-21; Psalm 103:1-2, 11-12, 19-20; John 21:15-19

“He said this signifying by what kind of death he would glorify God.” John 21:19

When the first Christians received the “Gift of the Spirit,” they frequently showed it by speaking in other languages, in “tongues” and “prophesying” (Acts 2:4, 19:6). To the witness of the apostles, “God added his testimony by signs and wonders and various miracles, and by gifts of the Holy Spirit” (Hebrews 2:4); for example, “gifts of healing… the discernment of spirits… the interpretation of tongues” (1Corinthians 12:9).

We still see these signs today, but they are not the normal evidence of the “Gift of the Spirit.” That gift is evident—and experienced—whenever people are empowered to act in a way that cannot be explained by just human motivation; for example the martyrs’ acceptance of death.

“Martyr” is simply the Greek word for “witness.” Over time, we began to reserve it for those who bore extraordinary witness by dying in testimony to their faith. But we are “martyrs” whenever we suffer—or consciously risk suffering—because we are living visibly by the values of Jesus. People are “martyred” by their peer groups, professional associates and employers; by any and everyone they threaten by not conforming to the culture. An authentically Christian lifestyle raises eyebrows. And it can raise hackles as well.

When God gives us courage to do this, we experience the “Gift of the Spirit.”

PRAY: “Jesus, give me courage. You have overcome the world.”

PRACTICE: Dare to be different.

Communion in the Spirit

June 5: Thursday of the 7th week of Easter:

A thought for those who want to reveal the risen Jesus in their lifestyle.

Acts 22:30, 23:6-11; Psalm 16:1-2, 5, 7-8, 9-10, 11; John 17:20-26

“I have given them the glory you gave me, so that they may be one, as we are one.” John 17:22

The Father and Son live “in the unity of the Holy Spirit.” Although each of the Three Persons has everything the others have, we say that the Father is in some way the source of Being and Goodness, the Son, as “Word,” the source of Truth, and the Spirit, as Love, the source of Unity.

Likewise, we say God’s Church has being and goodness from the Father, truth from the Son as Word, and unity from the Spirit of love—although we know that in everything they do for us, the Three Persons always act together and are never separated.

Our communion with each other as a Christian community is a “common union” of sharing in the same divine life, acting through the gifts of faith, hope and love. Most deeply, we are united, not by professing the same human words in our “Profession of Faith,” or by conforming our human behavior to the same set of laws, but by sharing together in the invisible mystery of the same divine Life, the same divine Light, the same divine Love.

When that common sharing becomes visible in words and actions recognizable as inspired by the “Gift of the Spirit,” then we experience “communion in the Holy Spirit.”

PRAY: “Lord, make us one in spirit through your Spirit.”

PRACTICE: Look for signs of divine life in everyone.

Joy in the Spirit

June 4: Wednesday of the 7th week of Easter:

A thought for those who want to reveal the risen Jesus in their lifestyle.

Acts 20:28-38; Psalm 68:29-30, 33-35, 35-36; John 17:11-19

“…so that they may share my joy completely” John 17:13

Jesus came that we might “have life, and have it to the full” (John 10:10). We don’t experience “life to the full” until we have “joy in the Spirit.” What is that?

It is “the joy of salvation” (Psalm 51), which, together with “righteousness and peace” is a characteristic of the “Kingdom of God” (Romans 14:17). It is “joy and peace in believing,” when we “abound in hope by the power of the Holy Spirit” (Romans 15:13). It is a joy “inspired by the Holy Spirit” when we “receive the word” and “in spite of persecution” become “imitators of the Lord” (1Thessalonians 1:6).

Joy “in the Spirit” comes with righteousness, when we believe in God’s word, hope by a power that comes from God, and imitate the Lord in spite of what it costs us. And it is packaged with peace.

To experience “life to the full,” and “share Christ’s joy completely,” all we need to do is let the Holy Spirit empower us to believe God’s words, hope in his promises, and love others as Jesus loves us. We can have “joy in the Spirit”—in spite of any pain, suffering or loss—if we respond to everything with faith, hope and love.

When we have that joy, we are witnesses to Christ’s life within us.

PRAY: “Lord, send us your Spirit. May we always rejoice in his consolation.”

PRACTICE: Believe. Hope. Love. In action.

Boldness in Witness

June 3: Tuesday of the 7th week of Easter

A thought for those who want to reveal the risen Jesus in their lifestyle.

Acts 20:17-27; Psalm 68:10-11, 20-21; John 17:1-11

“I consider life of no importance to me, if only I may… bear witness to the Gospel of God’s grace.” Acts 20:24

The Gift of the Spirit gave Paul “boldness” to “bear witness” to the Good News of Jesus Christ. We experience the Gift of the Spirit when we speak in a way that expresses, or act in a way that embodies, the attitudes and values of Jesus; especially when we are afraid of the reaction we may provoke.

We shouldn't be simplistic. If we sense people will misunderstand what we say or do, or that they are just too closed-up to hear the message, we might be less direct. Jesus said not to “cast pearls” uselessly in front of people who will just “trample them under foot and turn and maul you” (Matthew 7:6). It is love not to lay on people things they aren't prepared for. But we should be motivated by love, not fear. The “Gift of the Spirit” helps us overcome fear, and we experience the gift when we do.

This might be something as ordinary as making the Sign of the Cross in public. Who says it’s not “politically correct”? If people are free to express their disrespect in front of us by saying “Jesus Christ!” as a swearword, we are free to respond by expressing our respect in front of them. Freedom is a two-way street.

PRAY: “Lord, let your Spirit speak in me and through me.”

PRACTICE: Act against fear.

The Gift of the Spirit

June 2: Monday of the 7th week of Easter:

A thought for those who want to reveal the risen Jesus in their lifestyle.

Acts 19:1-8; Psalm 68:2-3, 4-5, 6-7; John 16:29-33

“Did you receive the Holy Spirit when you became believers?” Acts 19:2

If you were asked, “Have you received the Holy Spirit?” how would you answer? With a “catechism yes”? Or could you speak from experience?

Paul obviously thought it was important. And so should we. If we did not learn about the “Gift of the Holy Spirit” in the teaching and preaching we have heard, and if we have not experienced that gift, our experience of Christianity is incomplete.

Perhaps we have experienced the “Gift of the Spirit” without recognizing it.

As a preview of things to come, notice these key words the New Testament uses to describe the work of the Holy Spirit. See if you resonate to any of them:

Power...  witness… boldness...  other languages… tongues… prophesy...  hope...  love… conscience… joy… peace...  communion...  conviction… renewal… signs… wonders...  miracles…

Add the “fruit of the Spirit” in Galatians 5:22: “love, joy, peace, patient endurance, kindness, generosity, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control.”

Isaiah 11:2 says of the Messiah: “The Spirit of the LORD shall rest on him, the spirit of wisdom and understanding, counsel and might, knowledge and fear of the LORD. The Catechism of the Catholic Church (no. 1831) calls these “gifts of the Spirit” and adds “piety.”

Have you experienced all of these?

PRAY: “Lord, send forth your Spirit and our hearts will be regenerated.”

PRACTICE: Mull over the texts above, just to “get in the spirit” of what the Spirit does. More explanation follows.

“This mystery”

June 1: Feast of the Ascension instead of Seventh Sunday of Easter: 

A thought for those who want to reveal the risen Jesus in their lifestyle.

Acts 1:1-11; Psalm 47:2-3,6-7,8-9; Ephesians 1:17-23; Matthew 28:16-20.

“You will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes upon you, and you will be my witnesses.” Acts 1:8

In Acts Jesus promises the “power” (dynamis) of the Holy Spirit so his apostles can be witnesses. In his letter to the Ephesians Paul speaks of “the surpassing greatness of Christ’s power (dynamis) for us who believe.” In Matthew’s Gospel Jesus says “All authority (exousia) in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go, therefore, and make disciples of all nations.”

The power to bear witness comes from “the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory,” and from Jesus himself, through the Holy Spirit, and depends on faith. The authority to make disciples and incorporate them into the body of Christ by Baptism comes from Jesus “seated at the right hand of the Father.” As Christians we act “in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit.” We act as God, with the power of God, in the name of God.

Yes, that is awesome.

We have to accept our lives as a mystery and live them as a mystery: as “this mystery, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory” (Colossians 1:27). This is what it means to bear witness as a prophet.

We are witnesses when the way we live is inexplicable without the power of the Holy Spirit.

PRAY: “Lord, empower me by your Spirit.”

PRACTICE: Dream the impossible dream.