Faith or Bravado?

Gospel: John 13: 21-33, 36-38

Today's Gospel portion demonstrates the illusions of faith we so often carry with us and that need removal in our lives.  We begin with the statement of Jesus that one will betray him.  At hearing this each disciple - and us - all say: "Surely, it is not I, Lord!"  Even when the betrayer is revealed the rest of the disciples are entirely clueless as to what is happening, still immersed in their own religious bravado, only to be repeated when they all state that they will die for the Lord.

This second boast is followed by Jesus telling their leader that he will deny him three times that very night.  Meanwhile, the rest of the braggarts - yes, we too - will abandon the Lord and hide in fear.  How often do we boast of our fidelity to the Lord, only to find ourselves rejecting him in the person of our neighbor whom we would malign and dehumanize!  How often do we leave people abandoned to the bloodlust of the crowd wanting death and deportation!  

Today's Gospel scene is a reenactment of the Pharisee and Publican at prayer in the Temple.  So often religion is the bravado of the Pharisee and our disciples today, and so rare is it the Publican's humility that we do not even find that humility in a single person in the upper room.  Today is a day for us to reflect on that scene once again and to find the humility we need to own our bravado and have that be what is crucified within us this week.  

Respecting the Poor

Gospel: John 12: 1-11

Today's Gospel portion contains the favorite passage of those who look to neglect and malign the poor, giving them justification to live to excess and not provide for the needs of the poor.  They overlook the fact that the text contains the general posture of the Christian is care for the poor, even if Judas himself were not sincere about it.  This particular event is an exception to the rule; it is not the rule of the Christian life itself.  

Emphasizing that point is the story of the rich man and Lazarus where the rich man neglects the needs of poor Lazarus and finds harsh judgment on himself.  At the same time, the story of the repentance of Zacchaeus shows the proper posture of the rich Christian who finds himself a thief of the needs of the poor.  He gives his ill-gotten gains to the poor and then some!  Care for the poor is the standard operating procedure for the Christian disciple.  

As we approach the end of Lent we may find that we have not done much to care for the poor as we ought.  Time still remains for us to do so in what remains of Lent and beyond.  During the Triduum we will be attending to other things and that is necessary.  Once completed, however, we must return with renewed vigor to the care of the poor among us, the immigrant, migrant, and refugee - and putting an end to the wars that create such conditions in our world.  

Entering the Scene

Gospel: Matthew 21: 1-11

Many homilists today will tell us that this crowd that welcomes Jesus into Jerusalem will in five short days turn on him and call for his execution.  But this is false.  They are two distinct crowds of people.  From all three accounts of today's event it is clear that today's crowd is a crowd of Jesus' disciples and followers who are making pilgrimage to Jerusalem for the feast of Passover.  They have organized this symbolic event to make a point.  The Good Friday crowd is organized by the religious leaders intent on putting Jesus to death.  

What point is being made with this parade? Jesus enters the city of peace on animals signifying peace. He does not come on a war steed seeking domination and armed conflict.  He comes in the spirit of peace to bring that peace to all.  Throughout his ministry Jesus entered a town providing healing, freedom from demons, and nourishment.  He told his disciples to go from town to town extending their peace to the place.  The entire ministry and posture of Jesus is one of peace extended to all.  

Symbolic events are important for us to make.  We must recognize they are performative and will not immediately result in what we hope for.  Yet their value lies in what posture we wish to have before the world.  Today's event, if we enter into it ourselves, is to put us in the posture of peace so that we might have that peace in the upcoming scenes of the passion we will encounter, that we might enter into them, see the choices that lay before us in them, and to endeavor to be that posture of peace in all we do each day.

 

A Fateful Choice

Gospel: John 11: 45-56

The religious authorities of Jesus' day are afraid that if everyone follows him that the Romans will come and destroy the nation.  It is unclear why they have this belief.  Certainly there were people calling for Jesus to be made king, but he rejected such a title at every turn and showed no indications of desiring political power or influence.  Jesus in his teachings offered no overt political message, showing no partiality in the people he cared for in his work of healing, liberating, and feeding.  

Yet, this fear of the religious leaders will lead to a fateful choice later this week at Jesus' trial.  They will decide between Jesus and Barabbas.  The choice is an ironic one for two reasons.  The first is that Barabbas means "son of the father" and he was in fact a political revolutionary.  In choosing Barabbas over Jesus, they choose the path of violence which leads to yet another irony in causing what they claimed to have feared - destruction of the nation at the hand of the Roman Empire.  

We too have this same choice to make.  We can choose the path of Barabbas with the excessive attention on politics and power, a path of violence that leads to destruction.  Or we can follow the path of Jesus which is the path of mercy and care for others, a path of providing healing for those ailing, liberation for those gripped by their demons, and nourishment for those hungry in body and spirit.  Set before us is life and death, a blessing and a curse.  May we choose life. 

Doing the Good

Gospel: John 10: 31-42

It is undeniable that Jesus performs many good deeds for people throughout Judea and Galilee.  People are healed, liberated from their sins, and fed in their hunger.  And yet the religious authorities want to put him to death.  Jesus appeals to the good deeds in defending himself against his detractors.  What they find more important than good deeds is their theology - they claim he blasphemes in calling himself God's son, even though Jesus rightly notes that the tradition states we are all children of God.

How often is it the case that we place theology over the practice of good deeds in the life of religion! We denigrate the good work of others because they do not belong to our tribe, attend the liturgy we attend, or subscribe to our theological school.  No matter that they are caring for the sick and poor better than we are! All of that is somehow negated by theology in our petty worlds.  We would rather see people suffer than for our theology to be crossed.  

And therein lies the rub.  It isn't really about theology either.  It is about our power, status, influence, and ego.  Jesus is a threat to the religious authorities of his day because he threatens these things, even though he is not seeking power at all and he does these good things to genuinely help others.  Following Jesus will always be a threat to religious leaders for the same reasons.  The world cannot understand people who do not want power and who only wish to do good for others.

Avoiding the Issue

Gospel: John 8: 51-59

Throughout the Gospels we find portions that begin with a certain question or issue, only to be entirely neglected in the remaining portion.  Today we have such a scenario where Jesus talks about keeping the word of God.  The religious leaders with whom he speaks changes the topic to Jesus' identity and origins.  How adept we human beings are at avoiding a topic we would rather not address and create an entirely new topic and issue that has no relevance to our lives!

We too avoid this topic of Jesus.  We would rather retreat into abstract theology rather than address the issue of keeping God's word.  When we do attempt to address this issue, we invent a host of things completely foreign to the Gospel: the recitation of some credal formula, membership in a particular group, allegiance to some liturgical form or political agenda.  These become our pat answers, none of which correspond with anything Jesus himself actually did or taught.  

We avoid the issue and create vicarious false answers because keeping God's word is to accept the invitation to follow him.  We would rather not.  Jesus puts us in uncomfortable situations encountering people in dire needs of illness, possession, and hunger.  He bids us to do as he did - to heal, liberate, and feed others - to be agents of mercy and love in the world in very uncomfortable places and situations.  Today let us not avoid the issue, let us not create false answers to it.  Let us follow the Lord Jesus in his example and mission. 

The Announcement

Gospel: Luke 1: 26-38

So much art and homiletic on this feast runs afoul of the reality of the actual event itself.  Mary was a resident of a small, poor village, engaged to a poor laborer.  Yet, the art surrounding this scene has her in royal regalia in a palatial home.  Our homiletics often misses the real existential angst of a young woman being asked to bear a child not belonging to her betrothed.  Joseph accepting the child as his own spares Mary severe consequences.  Mary accepts real hardship in accepting this mission from God.

And yet this feast is not really about an event of many centuries ago.  It is about our own acceptance of the bearing of Christ within us.  God comes to each one of us, asking if we will bear the Christ within us and bring him forth into the world through deeds of mercy and loving kindness.  That announcement to us brings with it the same hardships and the same angst as it did for Mary in her own life.  For to bear Christ is to bear his cross as well.

It is for this reason that this feast often falls within the season of Lent, so near to the events of Holy Week.  If we accept the announcement of the angel in our lives, then we must accept the path of the cross this upcoming week.  Let us bear Christ within us, bringing him forth into the world through deeds of healing, liberation, and nourishing of others.  Let us bear the cross that accompanies him with patience and joy, forgiving our betrayers and persecutors and deniers as Jesus himself did. 

You Will Look for Me

Gospel: John 8: 21-30

It is often said that the aim of religion and spirituality is the quest for God.  We undertake a search that takes us to many places - through religious texts, to shrines and temples, amid various theologies and schools of thought, and even membership in various religious communities.  Some claim to have found God in one or more of these places, while others go from place to place not finding what they are looking for in any of these places.  Jesus here says that you will look for me but die in your sins.  

It is recorded that in the beginning God created human beings and declared them to be made in his image and likeness.  We later read that human beings are temples of the Holy Spirit.  We have looked for God in all sorts of places - all of which are places created by human beings, and yet we fail to look for God in the one place God created - within ourselves an within one another.  We go about killing one another claiming to defend where we claim God dwells in these places of our invention.  So we die in our sins.  

So perhaps this Lent we search for God within the depths of our own hearts and in the companionship of other people whom God as created as a divine image.  We might find God in these other places, but only if we recognize the fact that they will only point us back to the place within and to the presence of others where God truly dwells and communicates fully to us.  Only then will the tomb be opened and the presence of the Lord fully known to us.

Put Down Your Stone

Gospel: John 8: 1-11

A woman caught in adultery is brought before Jesus.  The crowd has stones at the ready for her execution.  Her guilt is not in question.  The religious leaders ask Jesus to pass judgment, to take part in her execution.  Jesus will have none of it.  He writes on the ground, causing the crowd to drift away in silence.  He then tells the woman he does not condemn her, and encourages her not to commit this sin again in the future.

In the book of Ezekiel, we read time and again the following statement:  "As I live, says the Lord, I swear I take no pleasure in the death of the sinner, but rather in the sinner's conversion."  Throughout his ministry and most poignantly in this scene, Jesus exhibits this mercy and patience of God.  Time again he extends mercy and forgiveness.  He repeatedly invites to table fellowship prostitutes, tax collectors, Pharisees, and his own disciples who betray, deny, and abandon him.

Meanwhile, we who claim to be Christian have callous hands from holding the stone of execution, always waiting to hurl it at someone.  We cling to and defend a death penalty system Jesus clearly rejected here.  We do precious little to extend mercy, forgiveness, and restoration to those who have offended.  The stone in our hand is our heart.  Let us lay it down and allow the Lord to soften it so that we may be people of mercy, compassion, and forgiveness just as he was. 

God Has Helped

Gospel: John 11: 1-45

The raising of Lazarus is a curious story and we wonder what to make of it.  Jesus raises the man from the dead, only to have him die again.  Imagine dying twice in a lifetime!  One wonders what the point of the miracle was to be.  Was it merely an antic of apologetic to demonstrate power and get people to believe in Jesus?  This seems unseemly and unbecoming of an authentic spirituality.  Lazarus merely becomes a pawn in a game and not a person as an end in himself with dignity.  

It is perhaps best to see ourselves in Lazarus, just as we are to do in the Samaritan woman at the well and the man born blind.  Jesus tells his disciples that Lazarus is asleep and we must go and wake him.  We too are asleep, dead in our tombs of self-interest and egoism.  Our spiritual death can only be cured by an appeal from the Lord: arise! Unbind him.  We hear this voice of the Lord and come out of the depths of our tomb and slumber.  

We are now awake, alive again.  The name Lazarus means 'God has helped.'  God has helped us to arise and break free from our self-interest and ego.  We have been given a second chance at life again.  How will we respond to this gift? We do not know how Lazarus spent that time, but that is not important.  What is important is our own life and how we will now spend it.  Will we spend it as we did before, or will we follow the Lord in a life of mercy and care for others? 

Excessive Certitude

Gospel: John 7: 40-53

In today's Gospel portion we find religious leaders who are convinced of the identity and origins of Jesus.  Without ever speaking with him, they have determined through hearsay and their knowledge of the law and scriptures who Jesus is and who he is not.  They make a determination and decree, ending all conversation and debate on the matter.  When shown that their methods are in contradiction to the law they claim to uphold, they resort to name calling and condemnation.

If all of this sounds familiar and reminiscent of Christian behavior throughout the ages, it is because this phenomenon occurs when we institutionalize religion, when we attempt to take a fundamental experience of God and place it in a box, seeking to control it.  We seek certitude in the very thing that cannot be circumscribed and understood - the very mystery of God.  Our inability to sit with the mystery leads us to insecurity, false certitude, and violence against anyone who does not agree with us.

Instead of making sand castles of false certitudes this Lent, let us just sit at the seashore and contemplate the vastness of the ocean, the infinite grains of sand, and recognize that here in this scene is the mystery of God that dwells among us.  Rather than seeking to shape the sand into our own image and likeness, let us just let it be and allow ourselves to be absorbed into the mystery of the Lord, and to let that mystery transform and shape us.   

Going to the Feast

Gospel: John 7: 1-2, 10, 25-30

The Feast of Booths, or Sukkot, is an autumn harvest festival in Judaism.  It celebrates both the harvest as well as the Exodus story.  It is a festival of hospitality where people share their food at table with others.  At the time of Jesus this festival was one of the pilgrimage feasts where people would come from all over to Jerusalem for the celebration of the festival.  It is for this reason that we find Jesus in Jerusalem in today's Gospel portion and not in the familiar region of Galilee.

Yet, Jesus attends the feast secretly for two reasons.  The first is that there is a plot to put him to death.  The irony of a festival of hospitality being the backdrop of a plot to kill Jesus is one of the many ironies of the Gospel.  Yet Jesus has more important reasons for going secretly.  He has repeatedly taught his followers to seek the lowest places at festivals, to not put on airs and public displays of false piety so as to be noticed.  HIs quiet presence at the festival is entirely consistent with Jesus' other actions and statements.

As we approach the great festival of the Triduum we might well consider our own posture and demeanor.  Are we going to attend the feasts in order to be seen, or are we attending them so that we might encounter the Lord in an authentic way and to be transformed by their narratives? A little bit of Lent still remains for us to practice our comportment for the upcoming festival days and how we might enter into them with humility and an open heart.

Searching for the Lord

Gospel: Luke 2: 41-51

In the return trip to Galilee from Jerusalem, Mary and Joseph discover that Jesus is not part of the caravan, so they went in search of him back in Jerusalem.  They eventually find him in the Temple area talking with religious scholars.  They are distressed and upset, saying as much to Jesus.  They tell him of their grief and anxiety in searching for him, and they wonder aloud why he has done this to them.  All of these emotions are perfectly normal parental feelings.

Jesus' response is somewhat shocking.  Why were you looking for me? I am where I should be - in my Father's house.  Why would you look anywhere else?  Mary and Joseph do not understand this answer, and neither do we.  We imagine and declare that Jesus can only be found in the Temple, in the structures of religion that we have constructed with our own hands. We assert this is what Jesus meant in saying these things to his parents.  But this is false.  

God did not build a temple made of stone.  God made countless temples of divine indwelling in creating human beings.  This is where God dwells and where we can find Jesus.  We discover him within our own hearts and in the presence of other human beings we encounter each day.  It is here where the conversation with God takes place, where the Lord can be found.  We search in vain if we seek the Lord in buildings and institutions of our own making.  Joseph and Mary find him in the silence of their own home, their own heart.  That is the meaning of today's feast. 

Hearing the Voice

Gospel: John 5: 17-30

Jesus states that whoever hears the voice of God will rise and live.  We often take this statement to mean that the physically dead will rise, and that is one possible interpretation.  Another interpretation heard less often is that these words refer to us, that we are the ones who are dead inside, and that upon hearing the voice of God our spirits are raised from their tomb in order to live the life they were created and destined to become.  

Consider how many of us are entombed within a life of self-interest and egoism.  We are so concerned about the pursuit of wealth, influence, and accolades that we have become dead to the life of the spirit.  We are consumed with the affairs of everyday living and things of the earth that we have unwittingly created a tomb that has encased the spirit within us, incapable of the life of love and mercy for which it was created to become.

But the voice of God calls us out of this tomb of the ego, and if we hear and heed that voice we can come forth from the tomb just like Lazarus.  And this is the entire point of all Jesus' miracles: that we might live and be free to cultivate the life of the spirit, to become agents of love and mercy in the world once freed from our tombs and prisons.  This is the journey of Lent, the journey that takes us to the tomb, our realization of being dead, and coming out risen anew to live a new life of grace. 

A Day of Healing

Gospel: John 5: 1-16

Once again we find Jesus healing someone on the Sabbath, and once again the religious authorities of the day protest this action.  They argue that to heal someone on the Sabbath is an act of work that goes against the law of not working on the Sabbath day.  So, once again, rather than rejoicing in the good fortune of the man who has been cured of his ailment, the religious authorities are upset at him and at Jesus for this act of healing and mercy.  

The religious authorities then and now forget the actual purpose of the Sabbath day.  It is in itself a day of healing and restoration.  Six days of labor take a toll on body and soul.  The Sabbath day is designed to heal both body and spirit.  Rather than violating the law, Jesus in fact acts in the best tradition of the Sabbath day in what was intended for people to experience - refreshment, rest, and healing of body, mind, and spirit.  

When religious authorities perseverate on the minutia of Sabbath observance - what is work, what is not - and when they repeatedly seek to find fault with anything and everything others do - they themselves violate the Sabbath.  For now it becomes not a day of rest and healing for body, mind, and spirit, but rather one of pain and difficulty, just like the other days of the week.  May all our days be ones where we seek to heal others in body, mind, and spirit.   

Our Common Fear

Gospel: John 4: 43-54

A royal official asks Jesus to heal his son.  Jesus is irked by the request, bemoaning the fact that unless people see signs and wonders they do not believe.  We are taken aback by Jesus' impatience.  But consider: Jesus will heal this person and many others, some being spared even death.  What do all these people have in common?  They are now all dead, and this boy Jesus will heal today will live to die another day, just as we all will.  

And yet we search the world for miracles - apparitions, miraculous healings, incorrupt corpses, rosaries turning to gold, and all sorts of things.  Why? We claim to have faith, but do we? Are these things necessary for us to believe? If that is the case then we do not have authentic faith. If we need such things and a strong man in government to protect our tribe to boot, then we have not faith at all.  We instead have an elaborate cult of insecurity.

Authentic faith is not afraid of life or death.  It doesn't need the miracles to know the presence of God, nor does it need a strong man government.  The authentic person of faith needs God alone for their assurance and security.  Death is not to be feared but rather embraced as any other fact of life, for God is present in death and in life.  Lent is a time to face the reality of death for ourselves, to do away with our insecurities that lead to false faith, and to embrace the wood of the cross to follow Jesus toward our own tomb.   

The Blame Game

Gospel: John 9: 1-41

Jesus heals a man born blind.  The response of everyone in this story is astounding.  The disciples encounter this man, and their main concern is figuring out who sinned in having this man with such a fate - even blaming him, as if an unborn child could sin! The religious authorities blame Jesus for healing the man because it was on the Sabbath, and eventually they too blame the man born blind, expelling him from the rolls of synagogue membership.  

In no instance did anyone other than Jesus care directly for the man and provide for his need.  Everyone was looking to blame someone for something.  No one rejoices in this man's healing save for Jesus.  We might find this strange were it not so common in the world of religion.  How often do those in religion seek to condemn, blame, and focus on all sorts of things that are not the care of others and rejoicing in their healing and restoration.  

Today's story of the man born blind falls on Laetare Sunday - praise Sunday.  This reading reminds us to imitate the Lord Jesus in focusing on the needs of those who need healing, liberation, and nourishment, and to give praise to God and to rejoice with those who have received healing, liberation, and nourishment.  This is the way of authentic religion, the way we seek in our Lenten journey to the empty tomb.   

Mercy, Not Sacrifice

Gospel: Luke 18: 9-14

In Psalm 51 we learn that God desires a humble and contrite heart rather than sacrifices offered in the Temple.  The prophet Micah states that to act justly, love mercy, and to walk humbly with God is the path of authentic religion, not the offering of sacrifices.  Throughout the Old Testament we find this same sentiment repeated again and again.  Yet, the religion of sacrifices continues unabated, it being easier than the path of authentic religion.  

In today's Gospel portion we see the tax collector model the authentic path, standing in the court of the Gentiles begging for God's mercy.  By contrast we find the false religious path in the Pharisee who offers no prayer at all, vainly standing before the holy of holies.  His prayer is to look down upon others, smugly praising his sacrifices and obedience to the minor aspects of law that do not involve interaction with other human beings.  

The false religion of the Pharisee is political religion of our time: thank God I'm not a Democrat; thank God I'm not a Republican.  But the way of authentic religion is to acknowledge our own sin, to seek God's mercy, and to extend mercy to other people.  The way of authentic religion is the way Jesus taught and modeled in his own life.  Lent is our time to return to the authentic way of mercy, and to set aside the path of false religion of self-righteousness.   

What Must I Do?

Gospel: Mark 12: 28-34

A scribe asks Jesus - what's the first of all the commandments? Jesus, in his usual manner, gives two, not one: love God, love neighbor.  In reality these two commandments cannot be separated; they form one cohesive whole.  For one cannot love God without loving one's neighbor, and to love one's neighbor means loving everyone - one's enemies as well as one's family and friends, to love the stranger as well as one familiar to us.  

God does not need sacrifices, temples and churches, ornate furnishings for elaborate liturgies.  None of this shows one's love for God.  Very often these are acts of the ego rather than acts of devotion.  But to love and show mercy to others is what represents love for God, or rather our attempt to bring God's love and mercy to the world in the same way that Jesus himself had done - providing healing for those ailing, liberation from those possessed by their demons, nourishment for those hungry in body and soul.  

Lent is a season of focus for us to become more dedicated to this central tenet of Christian living - to love God by loving other people.  We fast in order to identify with the needs of the poor.  The fast inspires us to almsgiving and direct care of others.  And our prayer is to become more loving in imitation of the Lord Jesus, that our hearts grow more merciful each day, more expansive in our care for others in our world today.   

Rejoice in Good

Gospel: Luke 11: 14-23

It is customary that when something good happens to a person that we rejoice and celebrate the good with that person, and if a good happens to us we invite others to celebrate with us.  However, in today's Gospel portion we get the opposite.  A man is freed from his demon at the hand of Jesus, but rather than rejoice people bewail the event, and they make irrational assertions against Jesus.  The poor man has a good thing happen to him, and no one to rejoice with him.

We might find this scene unusual were it not for the fact that this is the norm in the world of religion.  Rather than rejoice in the good work each one is doing and experiencing, instead we find the armies of competing apologists attack one another with endless fury.  Instead of focusing on the fundamental work of Jesus in healing, liberating, and nourishing people, instead the focus of religion is on attacking one another in the endless attempt at selling timeshares in pews, in keeping the collection plate full.  

Today we are reminded of what is important in the world of religion - to care for others and to rejoice with others when they experience healing, freedom from their demons, nourishment at table.  Today is a day to walk away from the pugilism of the apologists, ignoring their invective, and look to the good of the works of mercy to which we are called to undertake in walking authentically with the Lord Jesus on our journey through life. 

Fulfilling the Law

Gospel: Matthew 5: 17-19

Jesus comes to fulfill the Law of Israel.  He does so by providing laser focus on what the purpose and end of the law is, and that is to love others.  The law does not exist to exclude or to condemn.  It exists solely to have human beings love one another.  That is the entire teaching of Jesus, one that he exhibited as he went from place to place doing good to others - by healing those were sick, liberating those enslaved by their demons, and nourishing those hungry in body and spirit.  

Jesus then invites other people to this work, and gives us a framework of how to show love and mercy to others.  We are to feed the hungry, give drink to the thirsty, clothe the naked, give shelter to the homeless, visit those sick and imprisoned, and provide welcome to the immigrant, refugee, and migrant.  All of these activities can be found in various places in the law of Israel, and they now become the central focus of the law of love.  

Church campuses exist in great numbers, but are these above deeds of love the central focus of their existence? Imagine if they were.  Imagine if church operations were about these things and not selling time shares in pews for an our per week.  Imagine if every Christian were engaged in these works of love and mercy.  It would certainly be a different Christianity than the one that exists now, and perhaps a different world too.  

Showing Mercy

Gospel: Matthew 18: 21-35

The modern Christian revels in the idea that God has forgiven them of all their sins, that the blood of Jesus has washed them all away.  Leaving aside the fact that such is true for every human being, the idea throughout the Gospel is that if God has shown mercy to us in forgiving us of our sins that we must show mercy to other people.  In short, the mercy of God is not so much a gift to us as much as it is an obligation on our part to be merciful to others.

How are we doing in showing mercy to others? The modern Christian is the apologist of every act of war and violence on other nations, defenders of unjust death penalty and incarceration systems, advocates for cruel and barbaric mass deportation policies and violence against immigrants, migrants, and refugees whom they created with the above unjust wars.  Moreover, any suggestion of forgiveness of medical and student debt is derided by the modern Christian.  

This parable suggests that the mercy shown to all may be withdrawn if we ourselves do not show mercy to other people.  This idea should give us pause and lead us to reconsider our actions and attitudes above.  In Lent we fast not for ascetic purposes but to identify with the poor of the world, to see the world through their experience so that we might show mercy and generosity to them as we are charged to do by the teaching and example of the Lord Jesus. 

Chosen People

Gospel: Luke 4: 24-30

Human beings have an ego problem, individual and collective.  In the category of the latter, we imagine ourselves a privileged species in the whole of the universe, singularly made by God, singularly sentient - the only one in the cosmos.  Not content with that, we then imagine that a particular race or religion is the chosen people of God, the one true community of God's elect where salvation alone exists, whom God loves exclusively.  These ideas have done untold harm to humanity and the earth.

However, in today's Gospel Jesus goes to the synagogue in his home town to refute this idea.  He reminds them that God's gifts of mercy have extended to people outside the privileged race and religion of Israel.  He calls to mind the fact that all people are made in God's image and likeness, and thus all are loved by God.  God's mercy and love are not just for one people but for all.  That we find this message offensive reflects how far we are from the teaching and example of Jesus.

We all want to feel special and privileged, and in so doing we often demean and harm others in the process.  Not content with being loved by God as all people are, we create tiers of heaven and castes on earth that only seek to exclude others and giving us justification to harm other people.  In reminding people that everyone is loved of God and that all have received mercy, we face the same violence against ourselves as Jesus did.  That is the Lenten journey.

The Encounter

Gospel: John 4: 5-42

Jesus enters a Samaritan town and asks a woman for a cup of water.  The woman is shocked, for he is Jewish and what he asks for is forbidden and unclean.  She is a Samaritan, a bitter enemy and foreigner to the Jewish people.  Moreover, she is a public sinner.  The woman is at the well at noon because of this fact, and we discover in the conversation that she has had five husbands and now lives with a sixth man.  This entire scenario is utterly unbelievable to her.

And yet Jesus engages in conversation with her.  He does not condemn or castigate her.  He simply has a conversation.  Jesus has no set script, no agenda.  He simply talks to her, and in the course of the conversation she comes to a dramatic transformation.  Her understanding of Jesus grows - beginning first with a racial slur, then moving to "sir", then "prophet", then "Messiah".  By the end of two days both she and the entire town will declare Jesus to be "savior of the world."  All from a simple conversation.

What transformations could we effect in the world if we simply had conversations with other people, authentic encounters with no script, no agenda.  What realizations could be had in such engagements.  This is the way of Jesus, and this must be our way in our interactions with other people.  But how few of us wish to do this.  How many people are on our no-fly list - people we would not break bread with or talk with, even in our own families!  This Lent, let us imitate the Lord Jesus in this story. 

Welcoming the Estranged

Gospel: Luke 15: 1-3, 11-32

Today's Gospel portion begins with a consistent complaint of the Pharisees regarding Jesus, bewailing the fact that he eats with sinners and welcomes them.  In response, Jesus tells them the story of the Prodigal Son, a story about a young man who wanted his father dead in desiring his inheritance early.  He then goes on to spend the money in profligate living, eventually winding up tending swine, an unclean sinful profession in the Jewish world.  

Despite the depravity of this man's sinful life, his father goes out in search of him, eventually finding the son.  The father had already decided to bring his younger son home with him; he did not need his son's apology which the boy had not yet fully made as intended.  Much to the chagrin of the older son, this father brings home his wayward son and throws a lavish celebration party for him, eating at table with this sinner just as Jesus does time and again.

If this is the image of God Jesus presents to us, and if this is the example of God Jesus himself models for us in his own actions, then we too must welcome the stranger and the estranged, breaking bread with them as our regular course of action.  We must never ever refuse a person admittance to the table.  And we must have as our singular mission that of this father, going about seeking out the estranged and reminding them of their welcome and place in the family of God.

Forgetting Our Place

Gospel: Matthew 21: 33-46

Christian apologists have often taken this parable as a cudgel against Judaism, arguing that the kingdom of God has been taken away from them and given to the Christian church now for stewarding since Israel was not faithful to God and killed Jesus the Messiah.  In their minds the entire project of God is a replacement theology wherein everything promised to the Jewish people is now given over to the Christian church, that we are now the chosen people of God.

Yet the parable can equally apply to the Christian church as well.  Consider how Christianity has become a religion of oppression of others - the defense of unjust wars and attacks on other people, creating poverty and refugees.  It has become a religion defending the bloodshed of capital punishment, the demeaning of the poor and marginalized, the demonization of the immigrant, refugee, and migrant.  Christianity has become the very thing it claimed to be against and claimed not to be.  

The parable is about each one of us and our relationship to the mystery of God and the mystery of the kingdom.  We are tenants entrusted with a precious charge; we are not its owners and we are no greater than anyone else because everyone has received the same gift and same charge.  The kingdom is within each one of us, and it is for us to cultivate it to our use and for the benefit of others, not to lord it over others.  We are not special and chosen.  We are all vessels of clay carrying a treasure of great price. 

The Great Divide

Gospel: Luke 16: 19-31

For those who love to speak of God's judgment on people, there is a great distance between the things they want judged and the things Jesus mentions for judgment.  The modern Christian is fixated on issues of sexuality, condemning those who are poor, immigrants, migrants, and refugees.  They condemn communists, freemasons, Muslims, people of color, liberals, and anyone not belonging to their particular denomination and liturgy of preference.

Meanwhile, today's Gospel of Lazarus and the rich man reinforces the picture of judgment Jesus provided in Matthew 25 wherein the criteria of judgment was in whether we provide food to the hungry, drink to the thirsty, clothing to the naked, housing to the homeless, care for the prisoner and sick, and welcome to the immigrant, migrant, and refugee.  The rich man does none of these things, for which he finds himself in a place of eternal torment.  He is forever without a name.

Christianity is not about creating poor people and refugees through constant war on other people as the modern Christian thinks.  The way of Jesus is about care for the poor and marginalized, the sick and imprisoned, the immigrant, migrant, and refugee.  The way of Jesus is going about from place to place doing good - healing those who are sick, liberating those who are possessed, and nourishing those who are hungry.  It is there where our judgment lies.   

The Great Disconnect

Gospel: Matthew 20: 17-28

The disconnect between disciples and Jesus takes place in two acts.  In the first, Jesus tells his disciples that they are going to Jerusalem where he will be arrested, tortured, and executed by the political and religious leaders of the day.  The disciples, oblivious to what Jesus is saying, argue among themselves over who is the most important among them, who will reign in Jesus' kingdom on his right and left when that day comes.  

Come we now to act two.  Jesus tells us that he is not about kingdoms, that to be great is to serve others which was his mission.  For the past two thousand years we who claim discipleship have spent our time attempting to build kingdoms, waging wars against others, executing people, creating untold poverty and masses of refugees whom we then will deny help - all "in Jesus' name."  Herein lies the greatest blasphemy and the taking of God's name in vain.  

Jesus is not about kingdom building or lording over others.  He came to serve, going about healing, liberating, and nourishing people in deeds of love and mercy.  He encouraged us to take up a towel and basin to wash the feet of others, and bade us to put away the sword.  The kingdom of God is a kingdom of love and mercy in service to others.  It is not one of wars, executions, and exploitation.  The Way of Jesus is the road to the cross, not to the mansion.   

False Fronts

Gospel:  Matthew 23: 1-12

Come we now to the next two events in the false religion Olympics.  The first match is the jockeying for power and influence, currying favor with the rich and powerful of the world.  Note the zeal and ardor in which religious leaders seek influence and even seats of power in the world of government and finance.  Pay heed to the titles they insist on people using to abuse religious authority in coercing others to pinch incense to the emperor.  

The next event is in the fashion category - the wearing of religious finery for all to see and in yet another attempt to demonstrate religious authority and endorsement of the worldly powers they seek to woo.  Note the robes, sashes, hats, and various colors, parading before television cameras in a desperate attempt to be seen by others on the local and national news.  And if you missed it, fear not, for they will post it on social media, blogs, and the outlets of religious media empires.  

In these Olympian contests it is vain to reference today's Gospel portion.  The religious apologists have already an answer to justify the displays and jockeying.  But if we seek to follow the Lord Jesus who wore no such fineries, rejected all titles, and sought no favor with the rich and powerful, then our path is that of the desert.  It is the path of divestment, humility, and the firm determination to serve others by bringing healing, liberation, and nourishment to others in deeds of love and mercy. 

Repenting Slowly

Gospel: Luke 6: 36-38

Consider the various events in spiritual Olympics.  In the category of judging other people our rates are incredibly fast.  We can go from rumor to accusation in record time.  But in the next event of accusing oneself of sin our times are quite slow and often uncompetitive.  In the area of our claims to knowledge of the actions and character of others we are remarkable adept, but in the contest of knowing our own actions and character we are quite agnostic.  

We rush to war at the slightest provocation.  We prepare the gallows to satiate our bloodlust.  We erect our stockade fences, install our security cameras, and fortify our homeowners associations because everyone is suspect but ourselves, and every barrier necessary to keep me from an encounter with the other.  It is worth wondering whether sentient life in other parts of the universe look at the behavior of humans and construct ways to shield themselves from us.  

We would not survive the judgment we heap upon other people, though we absolve ourselves so readily all the same.  The audience and appetite for attacks and condemnations is vast while the confessional line remains predictably short and unpopular.  Is Lent merely an exercise in doing deeds of self-satisfaction and personal self-fulfillment, or is it rather about repentance, reform, and conversion of ourselves so that we might be more loving and merciful, more like the Lord Jesus in our words and deeds? 

Listen to Him

Gospel: Matthew 17: 1-9

We have heard these words before - listen to him - at the waters of the Jordan when Jesus was baptized.  Now we hear them again on the mount of the transfiguration.  We hear these words again and again in the depths of our conscience, in the heart of faith as we journey through this vale of tears.  Throughout our lives these words continue to speak to us and sometimes haunt us as we reflect on our thoughts, words, and actions, on what we have done and what we have left undone.

For the most part we have not heeded these words.  We continue to find ways to hate our neighbor, to think, say, and do horrible things to untold numbers of people in the world.  From the wars we justify to the executions we celebrate, from the degrading prison systems to the abuse of the poor and marginalized, the immigrant, refugee, and migrant - we find untold opportunities to do other than what Jesus had done and taught.  And we create apologetic to maintain the claim that we are followers of Jesus.

But today we seek to ascend Mount Tabor so that we might be transfigured and changed anew.  Jesus spoke to Moses and Elijah about his violent death, not to plan that of others.  When we take on the mantle of non-violence, the burden of the cross, then we are transfigured as well.  We become the mercy of God on earth, extending healing, liberation, and nourishment to others as Jesus did, rejecting the path of violence for the path of mercy and love.  Let that be our Lenten journey today and evermore.