The Great Storm

Gospel: Matthew 8: 23-27

This Gospel story is often called the Storm at Sea, and indeed we find such in the story.  The disciples and Jesus are in a boat at night, and a storm of nature comes upon them.  But that's not the real storm.  The real storm is the one that exists within the hearts of Jesus' disciples.  They are frightened and distraught.  They scream and plead for help, all the while Jesus is asleep during both the storm of nature and the storm raging within his disciples.

When Jesus wakes up, he rebukes his disciples, not the storm.  He addresses the real storm in this story:  you all lack faith.  You are troubled by this trifling natural storm, and why? Either you will survive the storm and all will be well, or you will die.  Why are you afraid to die?  If you had authentic faith you would have no such fear, for you would be in union with God continually, a union that casts our all fear and darkness in our lives.  

Jesus then rebukes the natural storm, and the natural storm goes away.  However, this does not dispel the storm that exists within Jesus' disciples.  That storm will die down for now, but that storm still lurks within them - and us.  How often do we lose our perspective and composure.   How little it takes for us to be in the rage of the storm within.  Let us attend to our souls and be at peace with God and with one another, seeking to calm the storm within.  

Pillars of Faith

Gospel: Matthew 16: 13-19

Today's feast is about two people who are examples of faith, two men who find their way to Rome and meet their deaths at the hands of the Empire.  It is for this reason that their feast is celebrated together on this day in the Western Church.  For these two individuals were two of the most noteworthy members of the first group of Christians to face martyrdom at the hands of the Roman Empire.  For both, such an outcome for their lives was most unlikely earlier in their lives.

Peter was a fisherman from Galilee. He comes to follow Jesus, but struggles time and again in his faith.  He has moments of great insight, but also moments of great doubt and failure.  Yet, in the end he lays down his life for others, like his Lord and Master.  Paul was an avid persecutor of the Christian movement, but finds his way to faith through a personal experience and support from the community he persecuted.  Struggling with his own trials, Paul too will suffer the fate he had once imposed on other Christians.  

Saints are not perfect people.  That's what makes them fascinating and worth knowing.  They become little lights for us that help point the way to the ultimate Light of God in our lives.  Once discovered, this divine illumination, this divinization, transforms our own lives as it did for Peter and Paul.  It too can lead us to great works of faith and mercy, and yes perhaps great witness in death to this faith and the Light that is our Way and Life.   

A Wide Circle

Gospel: Matthew 10: 37-42

Some might read this Gospel portion and conclude that our circle of concern for others is limited to prophets, the righteous, and those who are disciples of the Lord Jesus.  In this interpretation our circle of concern is limited to those close to us - family and friends, fellow church goers, those of our own nation.  This interpretation justifies the mistreatment of foreigners, the marginalized, and those regarded as unclean in our society.  This interpretation would be wrong.

The Gospel of Matthew begins with the Beatitudes and an application of them in the Sermon on the Mount.  When the Sermon on the Mount ends, Jesus descends the mountain and heals a leper, the most marginalized member of society.  Next, Jesus heals the slave of a Roman centurion, a person with no status at all in society in the employ of the hated foreigners who occupy Israel.  The actions of Jesus suggest that we too must serve those whom Jesus himself served.

When Jesus related the Parable of the Good Samaritan, he asks us: which one was neighbor to the one in need? - keeping in mind that such is the way to eternal life.  The one who was neighbor was the foreigner, the enemy of the man attacked by robbers.  Our commitment to show mercy and care to others is for all people, not just a few.  For all are made in God's image and likeness, all are another Christ, all are temples of the Holy Spirit, all are our brothers in sisters in one human family.

Breaking Boundaries

Gospel: Matthew 8: 5-17

These first actions after the Sermon on the Mount are significant.  In yesterday's Gospel portion Jesus heals an utter outcast and untouchable - a leper.  Today Jesus has compassion on the slave of the hated Roman occupiers, a person with no status in society in the employ of one even more reviled and unclean than a leper in foreign oppressors.  Yet, Jesus demonstrates that the love and mercy of God are for all people without distinction.  

But then Jesus does something remarkable.  He heals Peter's mother-in-law, and she becomes the first to serve the needs of others in the ministry of Jesus.  For upon being healed, she gets up to serve others.  The word used in the text is diakonia.  Peter's mother-in-law in effect becomes the first deacon of the community of Jesus, demonstrating model discipleship: the healed - the ones who have received mercy - are then to heal and show mercy to others.  

Meanwhile the modern church continues to create categories and criteria of worthiness in terms of who should be cared for, and who can serve in various ministerial roles.  The limitations of our care for others stand in stark contrast to the unlimited mercy Jesus extended to others.  The exclusivity of our ministry cliques clash with the boundlessness of Jesus in allowing everyone to serve.  If the growth of the church is anemic, it is due to our lack of love and mercy, not in the availability of God's grace. 

Showing the Way

Gospel: Matthew 8: 1-4

The Sermon on the Mount is completed.  Jesus comes down from the mountain in order to put the Beatitudes into practice in the world.  His first encounter is with a leper who approaches him begging to be healed.  The crowd is disgusted and appalled.  Lepers were the ultimate outcasts of society, the most unclean of the unclean.  No one would have any contact or association with a leper, no mercy or quarter shown to them.  Lepers were so due to sin in the eyes of the world at that time.  

Yet this encounter is the perfect opportunity for Jesus to demonstrate to his audience the radical meaning of all he taught on the mountaintop.  Jesus does not shrink from the encounter; he embraces it.  He has compassion and empathy for the leper which leads to an act of mercy in healing the leper of his ailment.  The Beatitudes are being applied right away, starting with the most marginalized member of society in ancient times.  

Jesus invites the leper into the world of the Beatitudes in inviting him to practice meekness.  Do not tell anyone about this healing.  Go instead and show yourself to the priests so that you may be restored to a place in society.  Offer a gift of thanksgiving to God for this great mercy.  But tell no one about it.  Go instead to have empathy for others, to extend mercy and loving kindness as it has been extended to you.  That is the invitation we have all received - we the spiritual lepers that we are. 

The Will of God

Gospel: Matthew 7: 21-29

At the conclusion of the Sermon on the Mount Jesus ends with an uncomfortable truth: merely using the name of Jesus does not make one Christian.  How often is the name of Jesus invoked for unjust actions?  How often is the name of Jesus used to do good things but the one invoking Jesus' name really wants the attention and fame of performing the deed, having little care or regard for the person being cured or freed from their demons?  How often is the name of Jesus a mere prop in the showmanship of the preacher?

Once again, the Beatitudes must inform all we say and do.  The values of poverty of spirit, meekness, purity of heart, thirst for justice, peacemaking, mourning with and for others, and patient suffering are the criteria for Christian discernment and action.  Invoking the name of Jesus without these values is at minimum an act of little value and at worst an act of blasphemy.  The use of a name in the ancient world is one not to be taken lightly or cavalierly. 

Only the one who does the will of God is righteous, and the will of God is the work of mercy, the work of the Beatitudes.  This is the way of the Lord Jesus, who embodied the Beatitudes in all his words and deeds.  The Beatitudes and the example of Jesus are the standards of the Christian, not that of Moses, Joshua, Plato, or anyone else.  Let the Beatitudes and the way of Jesus be our method of examination and discernment in all we do. 

Breaking Tradition

Gospel: Luke 1: 57-66, 80

Today's feast is remarkable in the vast break with tradition for its time that the event represents.  First, Elizabeth announces the name of her son would be John.  The audience is shocked: no one in your family has this name - you can't choose this name.  They turn to Zechariah in the hope that he would overrule his wife, but instead he confirms the name for their child would be John.  Family and friends were simply aghast at such a breach of tradition.

But there is more: the fact that Elizabeth announces the name of the child is remarkable.  Ordinarily that was the task of the husband.  Yet, Elizabeth was the one who received the name from the angel.  She would be the one to announce the name.  Naturally, no one would believe a woman about the name or anything else, so ironically they turn to the man who did not believe the message of the angel to make the decision about the name.  

There remain institutions that insist preaching is reserved to the ordained, and ordination reserved to men.  Yet, the larger tradition says otherwise.  Elizabeth and Mary announce the names of their children.  The Samaritan woman proclaims the Lord Jesus to her town.  Mary Magdalene announces the Resurrection of Jesus.  That the Lord be proclaimed authentically is far more important than who does so.  Today's feast reminds us of this reality. 

The Narrow Door

Gospel: Matthew 7: 6, 12-14

In ancient times large cities typically had four large gates at the four directionals.  The large gates were intended for trading caravans bringing provisions and wares to the city, as well as for the military bringing loot and large weaponry.  In short, the wide gates were designed for large groups of people who have a great many possessions.  These were the gates of commerce, the gates of the military, and the gates of the wealthy in those days.

At the same time, cities also had narrow gates of entry, a space that was wide enough for just one person who had few possessions.  These gates were designed for individual travelers and pilgrims who packed very lightly as they went from place to place.  While the wide gates were closed at night, the narrow gates were accessible at any time day or night.  This background gives us great insight into the meaning Jesus intends for his audience.

The Way of Jesus is not the way of commerce or conquest.  It is not the way of many possessions and riches.  It is the narrow way of simplicity of life, of detachment from all things.  The Way of Jesus is the way of the Beatitudes - poverty of spirit, meekness, purity of heart, thirst for justice, peacemaking.  This is the narrow way of Jesus, not narrow minded thinking.  Today is a day for us to reflect on how we might follow this narrow way in our lives. 

A Severe Judgment

Gospel: Matthew 7: 1-5

Those zealous for obeying God's commands find it easy to obey God when it comes to committing genocide or the prospect of killing one's own child, yet will create endless loopholes in the commands Jesus gives in the Sermon on the Mount.  As we have seen throughout the sermon, the values of Jesus are at odds with those of the modern Christian who then retreats to the Old Law and the comfort they find in the endless violence therein.

The command here not to judge is rooted in the Beatitudes of meekness, mercy, and the empathy of mourning with and for others.   The meek is so because they are conscious of their sins, ever seeking to place oneself in a more humble position as a result.  They are empathetic with others, mourning with them, understanding the weakness and frailty of others.  This enables them to show mercy toward others, avoiding judgment and offering deeds of mercy instead.  

The Way of Jesus is indeed a challenge, but instead of retreating to the old ways of the endless cycles of vengeance and violence, let us instead support one another on this way of the Lord through deeds of mercy and loving kindness.  Instead of judging one another for falling short, let us invite each other to the Lord's table for nourishment of body and soul.  This is what the Lord Jesus himself did while on earth, eating with everyone and encouraging them along the way to the kingdom of God.

Acknowledging Jesus

Gospel: Matthew 10: 26-33

We have been conditioned to believe that acknowledging Jesus before others has to do with making a public confession or profession of faith.  But this is false, as in another place Jesus tells us that not everyone who says "Lord, Lord" will enter the kingdom of heaven.  In fact, acknowledging Jesus before others has very little to do with what we have created in these creeds and screeds that have become so popular in modern Christianity where words have little if any meaning.  

To acknowledge Jesus is to affirm the dignity and worth of every human being as another Christ.  To acknowledge Jesus before others is to see Christ present in other people - in all people: the stranger and foreigner, the poor and marginalized, the prisoner, the enemy.  In seeing Christ in others and in affirming that dignity in others, we then come to treat others with love and compassion, mercy and kindness -for that alone is the criteria for judgment before God.

Many today make these public confessions and creedal statements, claiming to believe in Jesus.  Yet, these same folks wage endless wars on countless people, creating poverty and migration that they themselves will then deny help or care.  They demean the poor, the immigrant, the prisoner, and the foreigner.  They justify violence and degradation directed toward these others.  Such is not acknowledging Jesus.  Such is choosing for Barabbas.  

Why Worry?

Gospel: Matthew 6: 24-34

A great source of worry and suffering is identified by Jesus here as our possessions and our attachment to them.  Consider all the worry and time we spend on curating our stuff.  We fill our houses with stuff.  Many have storage facilities filled with more stuff.  We protect our stuff with alarm systems, locks, stockade fences, and firearms.  Yes, we would be willing to kill another person over our stuff.  The spiral downward in the spiritual life is directly tied to our possessions and attachments.  

But now consider the one who lives simplicity and voluntary poverty.  She is not attached to possessions.  She is not worried about the incessant curating and protection of the things of mammon.  She is truly free in the deepest sense of the word, far more free  than the one with many possessions and attachments.  The one with many possessions has to spend even greater amounts of money to protect their stuff, while the person of simplicity, poverty, and detachment does not.  

Here again this teaching is fundamentally linked to the Beatitudes - poverty of spirit, meekness, purity of heart, thirst for justice.  For the person of justice knows that having many possessions is intrinsically unjust and theft from those who lack basic necessities.  To give away our excess is not charity; it is justice.  Our detachment from the things of mammon is a posture of justice and the common good.  Today is a day for us to commit to this justice and the common good.

Sharing the Treasure

Gospel:  Matthew 6: 19-23

What is this heavenly treasure of which Jesus speaks?  The context of this passage makes it clear that the treasure is the mercy of God, the very topic that preceded this passage.  This treasure we can not earn or achieve; it is something freely given to us by God.  Its value cannot be measured by any human standard or monetary specie.  For without this mercy we cannot enter the kingdom of heaven. We can not know peace within ourselves and among one another.  

So often we are told that this heavenly treasure is "merit" or indulgences, both of which are foreign concepts to the New Testament.  Yet we create such things because we have control over them.  They are things we can earn.  They are also things we have for ourselves and not to be shared.  But the mercy of God is not to be kept to ourselves.  It is a treasure meant to be shared with others, given away freely to everyone we encounter.  

When we discover this pearl of great price, we sell all that we have, i.e. material possessions lose their importance for us.  We have all received this treasure of mercy; the task of the spiritual life is for us to be aware of this gift, to have a spirit of gratitude for it, and to set about sharing this gift with everyone we meet through the works of mercy.  The example of the Lord Jesus provides us the Way in which to carry out this life of mercy in the world.   

The Words Jesus Gave Us

Gospel: Matthew 6: 7-15

A Christian would never admit that they pray like pagans.  After all, we pray in Jesus' name and in the Spirit!  Yes, well, leaving that aside, the words of Jesus today indicate otherwise.  Jesus gives us a simple prayer, around which sacramental Christians have constructed elaborate liturgy with endless prayers, and non-sacramental Christians have adorned with the rambles of spontaneous prayer and a sermon series on the book of Judges.  How often Christians compete on length of service as if that were the criterion for worship and Christian life.

Jesus tells us to pray simply and briefly.  The essence of our prayer is to be the one thing necessary - mercy.  We are in need of God's mercy for our sins, and we ourselves need to be merciful as the sole criterion to receive mercy and for being a Christian at all.  For, if we have mercy in both senses we have all that we need.  We have the burden of our sins lifted, and we have the peace of God's kingdom within our own hearts as people of mercy directed to all.  

If mercy be not the center of our prayer life and moral striving, ours is then a false Christianity, one that is of bloodlust and power.  But mercy was the entire ministry of Jesus, who came to be the incarnation of God's mercy in the world, the one who invites and anoints others to be the mercy of God in the world.  So, today we pray to be merciful not only so that mercy might be shown to us, but because it is the first of the Beatitudes, the way to peace in the world, the essence of God's very life among us.   

Dropping the Selfie

Gospel: Matthew 6: 1-6, 16-18

In our modern age we cannot even have dinner without taking a selfie and posting it to social media to show everyone what we are eating.  Why we think this is important is elusive to reason, but we persist in the practice.  The modern age is one of omnipresent media and self-promotion.  Social media gives us the opportunity to create an array of personae, all of them false, to display to the world.  We become a vast array of AI identities that are ironically self-created.  

So come we now to the core Christian activities of prayer, fasting, and almsgiving.  Public prayer is itself a competitive sport, with categories for length, cadence, and eloquence, not to mention the vast array of religious costume to accompany it.  Ash Wednesday did not occur if we did not post a selfie with ashes and an account of our Lenten fasts.  And who can resist a photo with a big check showing how much we gave to a cause or raised for our parish?  We are awash in self promotion in the very things we ought not.  

Here again we have convinced ourselves that Jesus is talking about other people and not us.  And herein lies a subtle Anti-Semitism for the other people we think Jesus is talking about are Jewish.  Not us Christians.  We think what we do above doesn't apply.  But it does.  Today is a day for us to do away with the selfie, with the self-promotion, and the need to be seen.  Today is a day for us to do the work of the kingdom solely because it is good and not for self-gain or our egos.  

Infinite Love

Gospel: Matthew 5: 43-48

Here is a commandment of Jesus no one tries to fulfill: love your enemies.  We make all sorts of excuses as to why we cannot love an enemy.  We would rather break up families than attempt to keep this commandment.  We would rather be apart from one another rather than share a meal around the table.  All sorts of noble reasons are offered from the political to the theological differences.  Yet they all fail to follow the command of the Lord.

Consider the table of the Lord.  We find any and every reason to exclude someone from the Lord's table.  And yet consider the Lord at table while on earth. He ate with all of his enemies.  He dined with tax collectors and prostitutes.  He ate with the Pharisees and lawyers who opposed him.  He ate with the one who betrayed him, the one who denied him thrice, and the ones who abandoned him.  Yet, we somehow find a way to not share the Lord's table, let alone our own, with so many people.

How easy we find it to start wars, to execute someone, or to deport another person.  None of these things did the Lord command us to do.  None of these things Jesus ever did while on earth.  Yet those who claim his mantle somehow find it easier to do these things rather than follow the command of the Lord and love our enemies.  Today is a day for us to repent, to find concrete ways of loving our enemies small and great, to fulfill the Lord's command and example. 

Applying the Beatitudes

Gospel: Matthew 5: 38-42

The modern Christian will defend the lex talonis as one that was merciful compared to its day.  They will utterly ignore the fact that Jesus entirely disposes of the law in this passage, replacing it with the Beatitudes of mercy, meekness, and justice.  The follower of Jesus is to give beyond what is asked, to reject violence and vengeance entirely, and to care for those who are in need and those gripped by crippling debts.  

Yet, the modern Christian will be the first to defend any and every war and appeal to violence.  They will mock the poor and have no sympathy whatever for those in the chains of debt.  They will come to the defense of the usurer instead of their victims.  As in so many instances, the modern Christian bears no resemblance whatever to the teaching and example of Jesus.  The same Lord who stood between the adulterous woman and her accusers stands between us and our intended victims as well.

Today is a day for us to apply these Beatitudes to our daily lives and attitudes.  Rather than forming our attitudes about others from the media, let us instead encounter others directly - those from other countries, other religions and ways of life - like Jesus did.  The Lord invites us to be generous with those in need and in debt.  Consider all the possessions we have in our homes that we do not need and give them to those who do.  This is the way of the Beatitudes, the way of Jesus. 

What We Are to Do

Gospel: Matthew 9: 36 -10: 8

In today's Gospel portion Jesus calls people to carry out the mission he himself has been undertaking in every town and village.  It is to go about healing people of the infirmities they have; liberating people from the demons that hold them bound; and feeding people at table wherever we go.  Those are the three fundamental tasks of every disciple whom the Lord calls to the work in his vineyard in every part of the world in every time.  

What is more, the disciple is called to live a life of simplicity.  This work cannot be undertaken with the burden of many possessions.  The work cannot be done in elaborate episcopal palaces or clad in the fineries of office.  For this work takes place among the people - where they live, where they work, and where they congregate.  The work requires that we go out to meet people where they are at, not to sit confined in cathedrals amidst golden liturgical wares and statuary.  

People in need cannot wait for listening sessions, paid consultants, and endless meetings of ecclesiastical bodies to make decisions and action plans.  We do not need expensive programs on discipleship to tell us what to do.  Today's Gospel passage gives us all we need.  Let us go forth into the world healing people, liberating them, and feeding them as the Lord Jesus had done, living simply and humbly among those we serve and care for. 

 

On Honesty

Gospel: Matthew 5: 33-37

How often do we hear people begin a sentence with "Truthfully" or "Honestly" or "I'm not gonna lie."  Does this mean that sentences we utter that do not begin with such qualifications are dishonesties?  What do we mean when we use such language?  We love to create elaborate language for our utterances.  Consider the time people spend writing wedding vows, or the angst of the politician deciding on what Bible upon which to take an oath - and yet the promise itself?

This is Jesus' point in today's Gospel portion.  Our speech must be simple, direct, and honest.  Let it be yes if we mean yes, and let it be no if we mean no.  If we are setting about to construct elaborate prose and poetry before either of those words it often means we are looking to obfuscate or equivocate.  If we spent as much time discerning the actual honesty of our answer - yes or no - as we do on creating the smokescreens for them, we would be much better off spiritually.

So, today is a day for us to put away the verbal filler and extensions.  It is a day for us to reflect on the meaning of our words and intentions, to take up the way of simple speech that is honest and direct.  When confronted with the temptations of the world - its power, wealth, and influence - let us be people of the no.  When invited by the Lord to extend mercy and love in the world, let us be people of the yes.  The Christian life is really that simple. 

Where the Heart Is

Gospel: Matthew 11: 25-30

Where your treasure is, there also is your heart.  Consider where the heart of Jesus is continually present throughout the Gospels.  It is in the care of the sick and lame.  It is in the liberation of those in the grip of demons.  It is in the feeding of people who are hungry.  These are the things that Jesus is about.  These are the things that Jesus talks about and sends out his disciples to do in the world.  The heart of Jesus is a heart for the poor and marginalized.  

In today's Gospel portion he tells an oppressed people that his labor and yoke are easy and light - this to a people weight down by oppressive work just to survive due to an oppressive political and religious system.  Jesus' burden is light because we are all encouraged to help one another with the burden.  It is not because of some cosmic magic that the burden lightens.  It is because each one of us takes up the burden of others, because we are in solidarity with one another caring for the common good of all.  

If we find life burdensome it is perhaps because Christians are not living this solidarity in the world, that they have preached self-interest and individualism in contradiction to the Gospel.  Consequently our world has less solidarity, less concern for the common good.  Today is a day for us to take up the burden of others, to lighten the load others bear.  Today is a day to recommit to solidarity with others and the common good.  Today is a day for our heart to beat in unison with the heart of the Lord Jesus. 

Offer Your Gift

Gospel: Matthew 5: 20-26

Modern Christianity has found all sorts of ways around the commandment of not killing others.  We first posit that the word is really 'murder' and not killing.  We then come to justify any and every act of warfare, capital punishment, abortion, and explain away the countless mass shootings and murders as collateral damage for our alleged right to own a gun.  We have created so many loopholes around this commandment that it no longer has any meaning or force in our world.

Now, consider how Jesus applies the Beatitudes to the commandment.  Not only are we not to physically kill another, but also we are not to harbor anger or use derogatory language against another person.  When our posture calls us to mercy, meekness, purity of heart, and peacemakers, the teaching of Jesus in today's Gospel portion rejects the loopholes we have placed around the fifth commandment, and it enjoins us to a greater discipline and duty to loving our neighbor than previously recorded.

The modern Christian has a choice to either follow the teaching of the Lord Jesus, or to continue to follow political and church leaders who harbor anger and use vitriolic language against others in justifying the countless acts of violence and killing they employ.  The Lord commands us to put away our sword; he rejects our desire to cast down fire upon a Samaritan town; he rebukes our use of the sword and heals our victim.  Today is a day for us to repent of our lust for killing and vitriol, and to follow the Prince of Peace. 

Fulfilling the Law

Gospel:  Matthew 5: 17-19

In today's Gospel portion Jesus speaks of fulfillment of the law, a fulfillment which comes in the giving of the Eight Beatitudes.  The challenge in any legal system lay in prioritization of which law was more important in a given situation.  The other challenge is found in determining to what extent and how far the law applies in a given case.  The endless debates and legalism left the practitioner confused and without a means of discerning what ultimately should be done.

The Beatitudes, however, give us both a means to prioritize what is most important in the law, and it gives us a way to discern the extent and scope of our moral duty.  The Beatitudes give priority to mercy, meekness, purity of heart, peacemaking, and striving for justice.  What is more, the Beatitudes do not merely deal with external actions, but they also encompass our internal dispositions and intentions in performing actions.   

Throughout the remainder of the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus will take certain precepts of the law and then apply the Beatitudes to them in order to provide us examples of how this prioritization and discernment takes place.  After the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus will embody the living out of the Beatitudes in his own life that provide us with the life of a person who embodies mercy, meekness, purity of heart, peacemaking, and striving for justice so that we might do so in our lives.

Seeing is Believing

Gospel: Matthew 5: 13-16

We regard salt as good for the different things it does.  Salt acts as a preservative so that food might be saved.  It also acts as seasoning to make foods taste better.  The same is true with respect to light.  Light is good because it enables us to see in the dark, that we might find things that are lost, find our way when lost, and offering us a sense of security and safety when the dark frightens us.  Salt and light do many good things for us human beings.  

In a similar way, we human beings must be salt and light.  We must do good things for others in the same way salt and light do.  We must be saving instruments as salt is to food.  We must illumine the light of others to help them when they are lost or afraid.  We must embody the Beatitudes by being merciful, meek, pure of heart, peacemakers, and striving for justice in the world.  To be good in the world is not so much about avoiding sin, but more so about doing positive good for others.  

Jesus says we are to let our light shine before others so that they may see our good works and give glory to God.  Perhaps the reason why so few people give glory to God is because they do not see good works in those claiming to be followers of Jesus.  If they see us not about the Beatitudes and the works of mercy, but instead about the striving for power, influence, and wealth, then the lack of faith is understandable.  Today is a day to be salt and light so that others may give glory to God. 

A New Commandment

Gospel: Matthew 5: 1-12

For far too long we have attempted to live a Christian life based solely on the commandments to the neglect of the Beatitudes and the Sermon on the Mount.  This omission is not accidental, but rather intentional.  For the Beatitudes and Sermon on the Mount challenge us to a way of life that seeks perfection and a greater holiness, while a mere adherence to the commandments enables us to define downwards the moral law to a minimalism that runs contrary to the Gospel.

Consider  how we celebrate the fact that we have not killed another person ever in our life, adhering to the letter of the fifth commandment.  But the Beatitudes go deeper: do we have murderous and hateful thoughts about our neighbor? Are we meek and merciful? No.  We canonize ourselves for not committing adultery with another person.  But our lustful thoughts about other people suggest we are not pure of heart and far from holiness and perfection.  

We love the legalism of the commandments and the many loopholes and exceptions we can create in order to exonerate ourselves for our killing, adulterating, lying, and the like.  We hear little of the Beatitudes because they convict us of our casuistry and minimalism and much more besides.  Today and the coming days to follow, let us challenge ourselves to live the Beatitudes, to apply them to our life as Jesus does throughout the Sermon on the Mount, and imitate the Lord Jesus in living the Beatitudes in our life. 

For the Life of the World

Gospel: John 6: 51-58

The Bread of Life discourse in John's Gospel is presented within the context of Jesus feeding a large crowd with bread and fish, a discourse wherein Jesus refers to how God fed Israel in the desert with bread and quail.  Jesus now offers himself for the life of the entire world as spiritual food that is to accompany the material food we are to provide for people as well.  The mission of the disciple is to distribute both bread and fish for people's material needs, and the bread of heaven for people's spiritual needs.

The distribution of the Lord's body proceeds along the same lines as the distribution of the loaves and fish.  Jesus commanded the disciples to feed the people.  He did not command them to undertake a series of interrogations as to whether someone was worthy or not.  He did not ask us to look for reasons to exclude others from the table of the Lord.  He told us to feed others.  The table of Jesus was open to all right to the very end, and the offering of himself was for the whole world, not a select few.  

As we celebrate this feast of Corpus Christi, we are invited to reflect and discern ways that we can feed people with the material food they need, and how we might feed people with the Eucharist in their spiritual need as well.  Today is a day for us to discern how we ourselves might be the body and blood of Christ poured out for others in our work of mercy and care for others in the world.  Today is a day for us to become what we eat, to do what we say we believe.   

The Model of Discipleship

Gospel: Mark 12: 38-44

The Roman collar worn by most priests in the west has its origin in the ancient Roman Empire.  It was the neck band worn by slaves.  The Roman clergy adopted it to identify with and be in solidarity with the slave class of their day.  Similarly, the robes of the monk and friar were originally the simple garb of a beggar, adopted by the monk and friar as they were literal beggars, living the life of poverty to be in solidarity with the poor of their day.

Needless to say, not a single cleric of our day wears these items for these intended purposes.  Nowadays, these religious garbs are worn to exhibit the status and power of the clerics, who gather among themselves to shop around at the finest houses of religious garb for these wares.  Yet, if one were to ask a cleric of our days, somehow the words of Jesus regarding religious attire seems to apply only to the religious leaders of his day and not to Christian clergy of this or any other time.  

Jesus points us to the widow as the person to imitate in our life: to have little, to possess no status in society, and to give generously what little we have to care for others.  We are not be like the rich and powerful, nor are we to be like the professional religious class and their fineries.  Our model in discipleship is a poor, powerless woman, not rich and haughty men.  For it is the poor who will possess the kingdom of God, and the meek will inherit the earth.  

Questions

Gospel: Mark 12: 35-37

In today's Gospel portion Jesus gets the opportunity to ask a question of the religious authorities regarding the central belief about the Messiah in the understanding of his day.  The question stumps the scribes and other religious leaders.  In our own day we may not find this issue particularly important or central to faith at all, but this short scene of the Gospel highlights an important element of faith life that is not only overlooked but very often discouraged and suppressed.  

Throughout the Gospels we find Jesus questioning religious leaders and the larger tradition regarding the law and authentic faith practice.  He sets about the task of challenging hypocrisy not to dismantle religion altogether but to find a path to a genuine life of faith.  The questions Jesus poses are to purify our faith.  His questions encourage us to ask similar questions and to challenge hypocrisy within our own religious traditions and faith life.  

Needless to say, the religious authorities of Jesus' time did not appreciate the questions and challenges, just as in our own time and in every age religious leaders do not appreciate questions, calling out hypocrisy, and challenges to their authority.  But a healthy faith must be allowed to question in a healthy way, to pursue truth and an authentic spiritual life.  Suppressing and discouraging the questions only leads to loss of faith and interest in religion.  Creating a culture of healthy conversation and questioning in pursuit of truth and goodness is the way of the Lord Jesus. 

A Loaded Question

Gospel: Mark 12: 28-34

On the surface, today's Gospel portion seems to be a break in the trials of Jesus in Jerusalem we have been observing.  A scribe comes up to Jesus with a question on what the most important commandment is in the law.  The conversation between Jesus and the scribe appears amiable, and apparent agreement on the answer to the question is evident.  Jesus even tells the scribe that he is not far from the kingdom of heaven.  But perhaps he is further away, as are we...

The question about the greatest commandment is the most debated one in Judaism.  There are more than six hundred commandments in the law - which one holds priority?  The answer Jesus gives on the law of love was not controversial.  Many other rabbis had the same answer to the question.  The difference is in the scope of one's circle of concern and care regarding the term neighbor.  For Jesus it includes enemy and friend, stranger and family.  Few others had this interpretation.

This scope of Jesus' love is shown throughout his ministry to others.  He refused no one who came to him.  He provided care for people of all genders, races, creeds, and backgrounds of all types.  Jesus even cared for the untouchables of his day - lepers and those possessed by demons.  Did the scribe hold to this vision?  Do we?  Jesus will lay down his life for all people and forgive all people from the cross.  If we claim to be followers of Jesus, this must be our vision and mission as well. 

The Trials of Jesus

Gospel: Mark 12: 18-27

In the Gospel of Mark, when Jesus is in Jerusalem he is put through a series of trials by various groups.  Yesterday, it was the Herodians and Pharisees who seek to find fault with Jesus.  Today, it is the Sadducees who come to interrogate Jesus and find something wanting in him.  Jesus affirms the resurrection of the dead, a direct contradiction to the teaching of the Sadducees.  They concocted an elaborate thought experiment in an attempt to trap him, but Jesus was forthright and openly rejected their teaching.

The Herodians had found fault with Jesus because he had not openly come out to support the Roman occupation.  The Pharisees find fault with Jesus for various interpretations of the law, as well as in not openly condemning the Romans.  The Sadducees now find fault with Jesus for his views on the resurrection.  In a few days Jesus will come before the chief priests and Pilate who will find a way to put him to death.  

How often do we put others on trial in this same way, seeking any and every occasion to condemn someone? We often engage in this activity with public figures and people in the news, but also entire groups of people - foreigners, migrants, refugees, immigrants, and entire nations of peoples.  Our advanced degrees at Social Media University make us experts in every subject and thus entitled to our judgments of others.  We sit in judgment of Jesus a thousand times a day, executing him in countless ways.

Powers of the World

Gospel: Mark 12: 13-17

The Herodians represent the powers of the world, those who curry favor with the Herods and Caesars who wield political power.  The Pharisees represent the powers of institutional religion and its laws and rules.  On paper these two are rivals and enemies, and often in fact they are as they seek more power for themselves.  But in the one thing that matters they are allies: both oppose Jesus and seek to trap Jesus and ultimately to destroy him.  

Each is looking to see what decision Jesus makes.  Will he choose Caesar and the power of the world, or will he choose the religious law and the power of institutional religion?  Both walk away disappointed as he chooses neither.  The choice Jesus makes is the one he has made his entire life:  he chooses God alone.  On the surface that may appear to support the powers of religion, but it does not.  God and institutional religion often have little to do with one another.  

To choose for God is to entrust oneself to our very source of being and existence.  It is the recognition that all that we have comes from God, that nothing comes from Caesar, and that what Caesar claims as his and what institutional religion claims as theirs comes from God alone.  Jesus is put to death by the collusion of state power and institutional religion, as have so many others in our world.  But God raised up Jesus, and will raise up those who make the same choice as Jesus.  

Unfaithful Stewards

Gospel: Mark 12: 1-12

We have grown accustomed to reading today's parable as an indictment on the religious leaders and institutions of Jesus' day, and no doubt this was the intent of the author, understood clearly by the original audience.  No doubt it is true that the religious leaders and institutions of Jesus' day rejected the prophetic voices sent to them, neglected the needs of the vineyard, and conspired to put to death Jesus, seen as the son in this story.  

However, we are much less likely, much less comfortable, seeing this parable as about our own stewardship of the vineyard.  We would rather not talk about the many prophetic voices we have rejected, the many people we have killed who are images of God, other Christs, temples of the Holy Spirit.  We shut our ears when people talk of the abuse and scandals they have experienced at the hands of today's religious institutions and leaders, or the neglect of the vineyard and the largesse of the so-called stewards.

As with so many other things, it is much easier to examine the consciences and behaviors of others rather than our own.  The parable, that sermon about sin - they are about that person over there, not me.  But they are about me. My stewardship has not been any better than that of the original audience of this Gospel.  Today is a day to take stock of our own stewardship, to repent of its failures, and to begin anew more faithfully and lovingly to its care.