Don't Look Back

Gospel: Luke 9: 57-62

"No one who sets a hand to the plow and looks to what was left behind is fit for the kingdom of God."

So much of our lives is looking in the rearview mirror.  We perseverate on our past sins, not trusting in God's mercy and creating despair for ourselves.  We hold grudges across the years, creating endless strife with others and within ourselves.  We long to live in another time - 1962, 1952, 1342 - imagining ourselves in other ages, other costumes to the neglect of the needs of our own times and the people in our own lives.  

The image of an ancient plowman is instructive for us, one still relevant today.  The person at the plow cannot look backwards; they must look ever forwards or disaster befalls both the crops and the one driving the plow.  The same is true in our spiritual lives.  We hit obstacles we did not see because we were not looking in the right place.  We create disasters for ourselves and others because our attention was in the past and not in the present.  

The spiritual life is a pilgrimage, and in such a journey there is only one direction to go - forward.  A pilgrimage never goes backwards.  The pilgrim is about the end goal - the kingdom of heaven - and the present moment of the journey.  The pilgrim is about helping others along the journey as well - not encouraging them to go backwards, but always encouraging others forward.  The goal is ahead of us, not behind us.   

Of Feasts and Focus

Gospel: John 1: 47-51

In today's Gospel Jesus tells Nathaniel he will see angels attending to the Son of Man, and yet in John's Gospel not a single appearance of an angel occurs.  The other Gospels note the presence of angels throughout the infancy narratives and at the empty tomb.  These three angels - Michael, Raphael, and Gabriel - are mentioned in various places in the scriptures, fulfilling important roles of being messengers and intercessors.  

Today's feast has a fractured history.  Each angel had a separate feast day until they were merged together in recent times, this date being chosen as it is the anniversary of the dedication of an ancient basilica to St. Michael.  If one still follows the calendar of 1962 the feasts of this day and many others are not the same as the normative calendar of the Church.  Never before in the history of the Western Church has this been the case in the Roman Rite.

All of this should not distract us from our fundamental task of following the Lord Jesus, to discover him as Nathaniel did in an ordinary encounter under a tree or in a myriad of other ways in life.  It is to accept the invitation of Jesus to follow him along the Way where angels tread alongside unawares.  We need not look for them or obsess at finding their presence among us.  It is enough to know they are there, walking with us on the way to the reign of God. 

Ignoring the Message

Gospel: Luke 9: 46-50

Jesus has repeatedly told the disciples that he will be arrested and executed by the religious leaders and worldly powers.  He states quite clearly that to be the Messiah of God is to serve others and to suffer.  Naturally the disciples respond by arguing about who is the most important among them, who has the authority and power.  Jesus again has to rebuke them, reminding them that service to others is the criterion of importance in the kingdom of God.

No sooner does Jesus finish that lesson to the disciples that they come upon someone healing and showing mercy to others in Jesus' name, and they want to rebuke this man because he is not part of their club.  Once again Jesus has to rebuke them, for they are more interested in exercising control and power over others than they are in extending mercy to others.  Despite the repeated rebukes and the example Jesus provides, the disciples continue to ignore the message.  

It should come as no surprise when this dynamic of ignoring these lessons of Jesus continue unabated from that time to the present.  When apologetics about primacy, authority, and membership take precedent over the mission of mercy to which Jesus calls us, we repeat this Gospel scene again and again.  The Lord's rebuke echoes to this very day, inviting us back to the mission to heal others, liberate people from their demons, and nourish them at table. 

A Tale of Two Tables

Gospel: Matthew 21: 28-32

A man had two sons.  Both sinned, but one regretted it and changed his behavior, doing what was required.  The other son did not.  Jesus ate with two different sets of people: tax collectors and prostitutes at one table, and scribes and Pharisees at the other.  Both sets of people were sinners, but one group regretted their sins and worked to live otherwise, while the other group did not as they saw themselves as sinless.  They talked about being faithful, but their actions, or lack of actions, said otherwise.

Notice the conversation at each table.  At the one, the tax collectors and prostitutes are talking with Jesus and listening.  There is authentic encounter, an opportunity for transformation.  At the other table, the Pharisees and scribes are talking to Jesus and talking about the sins of others.  Here there is no real encounter, no opportunity for transformation.  At that table there is only room for oneself, everyone else being unworthy to be in our presence, even the Lord Jesus.

How similar we are to the Scribes and Pharisees!  How often do we speak of faith but do not practice it.  How often do we speak of the sins of others, excluding others from the table, but do not see our own sin.  Regardless of our theological and liturgical bent the Lord's table more often is that of the Pharisee and Scribe, that of the son who did not do his Father's will, than we care to admit.  May today be our prayer of the Publican - Lord, be merciful to me, a sinner. 

What Must Happen

Gospel: Luke 9: 43-45

It is relatively early in the public ministry of Jesus.  In the eyes of the disciples everything is going very well.  Jesus and his followers have been going from town to town healing people, feeding them at table, freeing them from their demons.  Large crowds are following them wherever they go.  Surely Jesus is the Messiah.  In no time at all Israel will be restored and they will be in power in the restored kingdom.  How could it be otherwise?

But Jesus continually tells them that he will be handed over to the authorities and be executed?  How could this be true? Sure, here and there they have had disputes with Pharisees and other religious authorities, but look at all the good that is being done!  Look at the crowds and how popular Jesus is with them!  Surely the religious and political leaders see the good, see the popularity.  They would not dare execute Jesus!

Yet, Jesus will be right.  The authorities will indeed arrest him and execute him.  Jesus realized what should be obvious to us all by now: those in authority do not care about the good done for people or popularity based on this good.  They care only about their own power, privilege, and influence.  Jesus' good deeds and popularity threatened those things.  So Jesus must die.  We struggle to accept it, but this is the way of the world, the way of the cross, the way to the empty tomb. 

Looking for Answers

Gospel: Luke 9: 18-22

Yesterday's Gospel portion saw Herod musing about Jesus.  Today Jesus asks his disciples what people are saying about him.  They reply with the same answers Herod had in his musings - John the Baptist, Elijah, an ancient prophet.  These are the answers from the palace - our mental palaces or ideological ones.  Now Jesus asks his disciples what they think - who do you say I am?  Peter gives the reply:  You are the Messiah, the Son of God.

This answer is fraught with danger and Jesus warns them to tell these answers to no one.  The title Messiah will lead to trouble with the religious leaders of the day, prompting them to seek the death of Jesus.  The title Son of God is a virtual death sentence from the Roman authorities who see in that title a direct challenge to the authority of the emperor.  For this reason Jesus tells his disciples that he must suffer and be put to death.

This answer proved a challenge for Luke's audience who lived in a time when they were being expelled from synagogues and threatened by Roman authorities.  If we take these titles seriously we will find trouble from religious and political leaders who have their own Messiah complexes and claims to absolute authority in the world.  For the way of the Messiah is one of service and mercy to others, not domination and control over people.   

Musings about Jesus

Gospel: Luke 9: 7-9

Herod is curious about Jesus.  He has heard a lot of things from various places about Jesus.  Herod considers a variety of theories.  He hears from some that John has been raised from the dead.  Others say Jesus is Elijah or one of the prophets.  Herod keeps trying to see Jesus, but from behind the walls of his palace, not out in villages where Jesus is.  When Herod finally does see him, Jesus is under arrest and will say nothing at all to Herod.  

How similar we are to Herod!  We have proposed all sorts of theories and theologies about Jesus.  We have reconstructed and re-created his life - all of which carefully crafted to suit our preconceptions and biases.  We have spun all these webs from within the safety of our own palace walls.  We say that we are eager to encounter Jesus, as long as it is in a warm fuzzy experience or in the tabernacle where we have placed God in a box.  

Jesus is found in the villages outside our palace.  He is healing sick people, liberating people from their demons, feeding people at table.  Jesus is the sick person, the prisoner, the poor and marginalized, the immigrant and refugee, the average person on the street - all people we seek to avoid.  Today is a day for us to leave our palaces both physical and mental in order to find Jesus in the same places we found him in the Gospels.

To Cure and Heal

Gospel: Luke 9: 1-6

Jesus sends out his disciples to undertake a simple mission - to cure people of their infirmities and heal them of diseases of all kinds.  The mission is the same one in which Jesus has been engaged, a mission that involves direct encounter with people in their homes, the marketplaces of villages, the fields and seashores where they work, and on the margins where outcasts are consigned.  In short, Jesus goes out and meets people wherever they are in order to heal and cure.  

In this work we have no permanent home and no possessions either.  We are to be utterly dependent on the hospitality of others and the providence of God.  Does all this resemble in any way the work of the modern church?  Nowadays the focus of "mission" is filling pews and financial coffers, and we have a great dependence on a vast array of possessions that we find necessary to complete the "mission."  We measure success of the mission in attendance data and financial reports.

This Gospel portion strikes the modern person as quaint.  We do not take it seriously at all.  Yet the original disciples and the early church did take it seriously, for it was the way Jesus himself lived and undertook his mission while on earth.  When we replace direct encounter with others with performative liturgy and mass media people become an abstraction and transactional agents rather than images of God and the neighbor we are called to be with in their hopes and fears, in their joys and sorrows. 

What Matters

First Reading: Proverbs 21: 1-6, 10-13   Gospel: Luke 8: 19-21

Today's readings dispel two very popular false beliefs in religion.  The first is the idea that our sacrifices and liturgical performances are the most important things in the spiritual life - that these are the key to salvation.  The first reading reminds us that it is doing good, being merciful and loving to the poor and needy is what matters most in the life of religion.  Our sacrifices and liturgies only matter if they help a person to do good and show mercy to others.

The second false idea is that lineage back to Jesus, either through blood lines or some unbroken tradition, is what matters in our salvation.  Jesus rejects this idea, stating quite plainly that what matters is doing the will of God - performing the deeds of mercy and loving kindness toward others - is what matters in life.  These blood ties and apostolicity only prove ancestry.  They say nothing at all as to whether you are a good person or not.  

A great many people who put their trust in liturgical finery and tracing links back to Jesus malign the poor and marginalized, create large numbers of migrants and refugees that they then spurn and reject.  So many who talk of the Real Presence of Jesus in the Eucharist deny his presence in other human beings.  The primary presence of God on earth and God's primary temple is in every human being.  To show mercy and loving kindness to others is the authentic liturgy and worship of God in the world.

Table Reservations

Gospel: Matthew 9: 9-13

Jesus comes upon the booth of a tax collector, whereupon Jesus invites the man to follow him.  This invitation might be shocking enough were it not followed by Jesus entering the man's home, dining with his fellow tax collectors and their array of prostitutes.  The scene is just too much for the Pharisees to handle, and so they complain loudly about Jesus eating with sinners and inviting them to follow him in his religious ministry.  

The reader is mindful of the fact that not so long ago Jesus dined in the house of a Pharisee where a prostitute had been, and the Pharisee had violated Jewish hospitality law by not providing the proper washings for guests.  The Pharisee is perfectly fine with finding a place for himself and other Pharisees at table with Jesus, but he cannot accept the presence of another group of sinners he finds objectionable eating with the Lord at table.

We like this story because we think it inclusive, but only for ourselves and those like us.  When pressed to consider other people at table with the Lord whom we find objectionable, we raise our voice in protest.  Even those claiming to be inclusive either exclude others from the table of the Lord or excuse themselves from that table because they cannot be with those they find objectionable.  Today's feast and Gospel portion present us with an opportunity for examination and deep change in our attitudes and practices.

The Daily Wage

Gospel: Matthew 20: 1-16

"You too go into my vineyard, and I will give you what is just."

There are two ideas of what is just in the world.  The first is given by the laborers in the story who have worked all day.  They argue that they should be paid more because they worked more.  This understanding is the standard one at work in our world.  It is the one argued by the chaplains to capitalism that dominate most churches, who would argue that this story and many like it that Jesus tells about justice are only to be taken in a spiritual sense and not in an economic or ethical sense.  

The second view of justice is the one offered by Jesus and the landowner in the story.  It is to provide for the daily needs of people so that they might have their daily bread to live.  It recognizes that the economic systems of our world are unjust and favor the rich.  The day laborer system common in this story and many parts of the world creates many vulnerable people on the margins.  Wage theft is common in this system.  This story and lesson Jesus offers is not merely a spiritual one.  It is also ethical and economic.  

The justice of God is one that promotes a living wage and meets the needs of people in all aspects of their life - economic and spiritual.  It is a teaching found throughout the early teachings of Christianity, in the medieval teachers like Aquinas, and in the constant and consistent teachings of papal documents since the late 1800s.  May we today follow in this tradition and be like the landowner of the story, who is among his workers, knowing, understanding, and meeting their needs.   

Openness to God

Gospel: Luke 8: 4-15

To hear the word of God is not a mere physical activity of the senses.  To hear in the spiritual sense is to be open to God in one's life.  For the Christian, to be open to God is to be open to the teaching and example of Jesus who invites us to a life of mercy and loving service to others.  This invitation from God comes from our encounters with others in the world, people in need and on the margins who are in desperate need of love and mercy - need for healing, liberation, and nourishment.

We will be tempted to hardness of heart that is not open to love and mercy.  We will be tempted by the life of pleasures and self-interest that ignores the needs of others in the world.  These are the rocky ground and thorny briars of power, influence, and wealth that close off our openness to the voice of God, to the mercy and love that were the life of Jesus on earth.  Jesus invited us to this way of life for us to live in our own time and place.

We believe that God is love, that mercy is God's greatest attribute.  Very often this belief is centered on ourselves, that this love and mercy is for us - and it certainly is.  But that is only half the equation.  The other half is the fact that God invites us to extend this same love and mercy to others.  It is our response to this invitation to which we must be open, and it is our response to this invitation that alone is the basis of our judgment before God. 

Naming Women

Gospel: Luke 8: 1-3

Luke is the only Gospel writer who names the women who accompany Jesus in the ministry, and for him naming is a significant component to discipleship.  Peter, Andrew, James, and John are identified when Jesus calls them, as was Levi.  Luke goes on to name the Twelve as well, and here he names the women of the group in a way that is equal to the naming of men in these previous passages that identify those called and engaged in the ministry of Jesus.

This naming continues the Gospel's profile of women in the prominent roles of salvation history.  Elizabeth, Mary, and Anna play significant roles in the opening chapters, overshadowing the men in these scenes.  Peter's mother-in-law is made the ideal of discipleship and response to the healing of God, an example against which all other encounters will be measured.  Now we have these women engaged in the work of Jesus fully identified, placed side by side with men in the work of healing, liberation, and feeding of others.

It is obvious what all this means for us in the life of the Christian community.  While people in the world have great needs of infirmity, grief, addiction, and hunger that need attention, the Church will respond with yet another study commission on who can minister and who cannot in various roles.  Let us - all of us - instead just be about the work of Jesus.  Let us go into the world and bind up wounds, lift people up, free them from their demons, and feed them in their needs.      

The Greater Sin

Gospel: Luke 7: 36-50

This interaction between Jesus, a Pharisee, and a prostitute contain a great deal of irony.  The Pharisee objects to the woman's presence in his own house, first irony, and her interaction with Jesus.  In the mind of the Pharisee her sinfulness is greater than any other, and he cannot believe that someone allegedly a prophet would interact with her and even allow her to touch him by washing his feet.  No man could be a legitimate prophet and allow such a thing.

Jesus asks the Pharisee who is more grateful for their debt forgiven - the one with a greater or lesser sin - and the obvious answer is the one with a greater sin.  Now comes the second irony.  Jesus implies that it is the Pharisee who is guilty of the greater sin.  One so zealous for the law neglected the laws of hospitality.  He did not provide Jesus with the required ablutions before a meal at table.  It is the self-righteous hypocrite who is the greater offender than the prostitute.  

The one who is self-righteous and hypocritical is so by choice.  The prostitute is coerced into the profession either through the machinations of men who exploit her or through poverty that forces her to make a living somehow.  Jesus has compassion on her situation, extending mercy to her, and so should we.  He has little room for hypocrisy and self-righteousness, and neither should we.   Yet Jesus eats at the table of the self-righteous and hypocrite, keeping the relationship open to possible transformation.  And so should we.

Underlying Motives

Gospel: Luke 7: 31-35

Today's Gospel portion reveals our hypocrisy and hidden motives behind judgments we make about matters of the spirit.  The judgments we make are largely superficial about externals, and they are often contradictory in nature.  We mock John the Baptist's fasting; we belittle the feasting of Jesus.  But our judgments have little to do with their culinary habits or even their exterior appearance.  Our unspoken motives run much deeper than we care to admit.

John the Baptist called us to repentance.  Jesus came to invite us to a life of extending mercy and love for others.  We want to do neither of these things.  We have made peace with our sins over the years and comfortable with who we are.  We have established biases and resentments toward others that we would rather not set aside to care for others and extend mercy to them.  We cannot say these things aloud.  So we invent other reasons for not following the messages of John and Jesus, contradictory though they may be.

We so desperately want the world to change while simultaneously not wanting to change anything about ourselves.  If we will not repent of our sins and end our animus toward others, we cannot expect others to do so.  So, neither we nor they change and make progress in the life of the spirit.  The world goes on as it has always done.  We will put John and Jesus to death again and again in many different ways and in the many we consign to death each day.   

Reimagining the Scene

Gospel: John 19: 25-27

John is the only Gospel that records Mary and the Beloved Disciple present at the crucifixion of Jesus; the other three Gospels are united in their accounting that Mary Magdalene and other women were at the cross.  John is not interested in historical accuracy in this scene.  The interest is in making a theological point about the event of Jesus' death and what it all means in the grand scope of salvation history to the very beginning.

John places Mary and the Beloved Disciple at the cross - a woman and a man before a tree.  Two streams flow around them leading to a garden.  Jesus entrusts the woman and the man to each other in a relationship of mutual care.  John has recreated the Garden of Eden.  This event of Jesus' death has restored humanity to its original innocence, restored the relationships of mutual trust and care among human beings.  

The Way of Jesus leads us to death to self, and in so doing leads us to the innocence of Eden before the Fall.  The death of the self leads to restored relationships among human beings.  The death of Jesus is not cosmic magic.  It is an event we must live within ourselves, putting our own selves upon the gibbet of the cross.  We might weep at the death of the self until we realize where it leads - a new way of life free of conflict with others, full of the innocence of our original creation.   

Salvation, Not Condemnation

Gospel: John 3: 13-17

Today's Gospel portion reminds us that the cross of Jesus is not an occasion for condemnation but rather is the means and vehicle for salvation.  Yet, how often is the cross used to condemn.  Many have used it to condemn the Jewish people, blaming them perpetually for the death of Jesus.  Others will use the cross to condemn unjust structures and systems of oppression in its conspiracy to put Jesus to death.  How often has the cross through history been used to coerce, threaten, and frighten others!

Yet we are reminded here that Jesus came not to condemn but to save. In fact, on this very cross Jesus will forgive all who put him to death, uttering not one word of condemnation.  Instead, he prays Psalm 22 as a means of comfort, a psalm that ends with these words: "All the ends of the earth will worship and turn to the Lord; all the families of nations will bow low before you."  It is not a prayer of condemnation Jesus utters, but one of hope and a promise of salvation.

When we wear the cross about our necks, we take upon ourselves this posture of the Lord himself.  It is for us an instrument of forgiveness, of hope and promise of salvation for all people.  If we brandish the cross as a threat or menace to others, we do so to our own condemnation and judgment.  We abuse the symbol of our faith and hope and love.  Let our prayer today be that of the ancient Christians: "O crux ave spes unica" - O hail Cross, our only hope.   

Debt Forgiveness

Gospel:  Matthew 18: 21-35

The ideas of forgiveness of sins and forgiveness of financial debts were intrinsically tied together in the religion of Israel.  The various laws and mechanisms for the remission of debts went hand in hand with the notion of forgiving others of offenses and sins.  Throughout the Gospels Jesus continues that linkage and makes it fundamental to the Way, making it the foundational principle of the prayer he taught us and in today's parable.

In modern Christianity we have separated this link.  We focus only on forgiveness of sin but not at all to financial debt forgiveness.  In fact the modern Christian would hear nothing of this idea of debt forgiveness, wanting nothing more than to trap poor nations in cycles of debt, along with student loan borrowers and those trapped by payday lenders.  The modern Christian creates immigrants, migrants and refugees with economic exploitation and wars, only to condemn these poor folk who seek help.  

To be sure we can and should spiritualize this principle.  We ought to forgive all sorts of people in our lives, from the unknown people to us who cut us off on the road to the aisle hog in the grocery store to the family member or friend from whom we are estranged.  We have been forgiven by God from a great debt, and we ought to forgive both the sins and offenses of others as well as the financial debts and burdens of the poor and marginalized whom we have helped to create.  

Walking, Not Talking

Gospel: Luke 6: 43-49

A religion that began as a religion of the Word has over time becomes the religion of the words.  From creedal statements to elaborate wrote prayers to an endless profusion of hymns that all evoke lovely thoughts and feelings.  Add to that the endless theological tomes and endless words of apologetic and we have a vast array of words that, in the end, are just fancy ways of saying "Lord, Lord" without ever actually doing the work of Jesus.

After all, it is much easier to conduct Bible studies and prayer services than to sit with a dying person and their family members.  It is much easier to write a sermon or plan a liturgical service than it is to visit the imprisoned.  It is much easier to write books than it is to walk with the person struggling with addiction or being with an immigrant family living with constant fear in a hostile country that claims to be Christian but is ruled by cruelty.  

Jesus never wrote a book, nor plan a liturgical service.  Jesus spent the bulk of his time being with those who were sick and dying, providing comfort and healing.  He went out to those gripped by demons of all kinds and helped people become free of those demons.  He sat at table with all sorts of outcasts and his enemies, providing nourishment of body and soul.  That is the religion of the Word.  It is far more authentic than the religion of words.   

The Country of the Blind

Gospel: Luke 6: 39-42

"In the country of the blind, the one-eyed man is king." So ends this famous short story about a nation of blind people all claiming knowledge and encouraging others to follow them.  Even the person with partial sight has no legitimate claim to knowledge and wisdom.  The story is an allegory on our human condition, for the entire world is composed of the blind seeking to control other blind people with illusions of knowledge they do not possess.  

In this illusion we claim to see the faults of others and the way to illumination when in reality we do not.  We become very adept at examination other people's consciences while ignoring our own.  Yet, the only path to illumination and sight is the admission of our own faults and healing of our own infirmities.  It is the recognition of our utter dependence on God who alone is the source of illumination.  It is, in the process, a turning away from all these other false lights who distract us from the Way.

In becoming aware of our collective blindness, perhaps our theological and political claims and allegiances might become more tempered and humble.  In the recognition of our collective dependence on a source outside ourselves for healing and insight, we might be less judgmental and more merciful toward others.  May our solidarity be rooted in this mutual need for help and for one another as we journey together to the kingdom of God.

The Pursuit Of the Good

Gospel: Luke 6: 27-38

Modern Christianity has had a false belief for a long time that religion is about the pursuit of our own happiness and self-interest.  We are told to pursue the acquisition of graces and merit so that we might save our souls and achieve eternal happiness.  It is an entirely egoistic enterprise where we engage in our own enterprises.  Such a religion is attractive to a populace convinced since the Enlightenment that our own self-interest is all there is to consider.  The problem is that it does not conform to the Gospel message.

In today's Gospel portion Jesus teaches us to love our enemies, to forgive others, and to give generously to those in need.  There is no mention of rewards or merits or the like.  We are to do so for their own sakes, because it is the nature of the good to do so.  To love one's enemies is a direct affront to our notions of self-interest and ego.  The religion of Jesus is not about the pursuit of happiness.  It is the pursuit of the good for its own sake and for the sake of others.  

We can invent a whole host of theologies and practices and call them Christian, even though they are not.  We have been doing so for a long time.  These self-inventions make us feel good and conform to our false beliefs about self-interest and egoism.  Or we can follow the teaching and practice of Jesus in cultivating a life lived for the good, a life lived for others and their good.  In all things the way of Jesus is our model to follow in authentic Christian living. 

Woe to the Rich

Gospel: Luke 6: 20-26

Modern Christianity cannot abide the words of woe Jesus addresses to the rich throughout the Gospels.  Modern Christianity depends for its existence on catering to the rich and powerful.  They are necessary for the ongoing maintenance of the vast array of buildings, even more so to maintain the clergy in the life of comfort to which they have become accustomed.  The collar and cowl, once worn to be in solidarity with the slave and the poor, are now symbols of power and privilege.  

So what is done with these words of Jesus warning the rich of the peril of their souls for the neglect and exploitation of the poor?  The first strategy is to ignore the words and pretend they do not exist.  Plan B is to denounce anyone who references them as communists and socialists in a never ending attempt to intimidate and drive off this threat to their power and wealth.  The poor are then condemned as lazy and most unworthy of help.  

Today is the feast of Peter Claver, a man who dedicated his life to care of the poor and exploited.  He provided material and spiritual care for African slaves brought to the new world.  He condemned slavery and pled with masters to care for and release those in bondage.  Peter Claver followed the example of Jesus in today's Gospel portion.  Let us imitate the example of this saint, who followed the Lord Jesus in his care for the poor and marginalized in our world, rejecting wealth and privilege. 

Family Trees

Gospel:  Matthew 1: 1-16, 18-23

In today's Gospel portion we are presented with the family tree of Jesus.  The creator of said ancestry chart goes to great lengths to show that Jesus is both a descendant of Abraham and a descendant of David.  In order to do so, the construction departs from the traditional method of tracing these origins through male ancestors by adding two women to the family tree in order to make it work.  Some generations are skipped entirely in order to maintain the neat 14 generations between significant figures and events.

It all seems like a lot of work to get to Joseph, who is not even Jesus' biological father.  So, why all the fuss?  Jesus is adopted by Joseph, and according to the ancient laws of ancestry the adopted child inherits the lineage of the father.  They now belong to that household and ancestry regardless of actual biological origins.  What is more, that heritage and inheritance can never be taken away.  An adopted child could not be disowned in ancient societies.  

We are all adopted children of God in the same way that Jesus was adopted by Joseph.  Regardless of our bloodlines and family trees, we have all been adopted into the family of God.  We cannot be disowned.  We are part of this great heritage and so heirs of God's kingdom.  We need not have any fear.  We need not spend time creating lineage charts and the like.  Our relationship with God is secure.  The family of God is a safe house for all who accept their adoption.  

Looking to Blame

Gospel: Luke 6: 6-11

In today's Gospel portion, Jesus enters a synagogue for the third time.  The first two encounters did not go well.  In the first instance in his hometown the audience wanted to kill him for saying that God cares for and heals all people.  Last time, he helped a man become free from the demon that possessed him, which made Jesus a suspicious figure.  Now today we find a group coming to find fault with Jesus, looking for something with which they can condemn him.

So, Jesus heals a man with a withered hand.  This action of doing good was apparently forbidden because it was an act of work on the Sabbath, a rule which apparently is more important than doing good to others.  But no matter what Jesus did nor did not do, this group of people would find fault with something he did or did not do or say.  We have seen this dynamic in our own life and in our world.  We cannot and do not find any good in anyone we have deemed unclean in our eyes.  

The suspicions and animus we have toward others prevent us from seeing Jesus in those people.  It prevents us from seeing the good in other people.  Perhaps in spending a Sabbath in the hive mind of our particular congregations, might we instead visit a nursing home, or a hospital ward, or people in prison, and seek to find Jesus present in other people.  The encounter might prove to be a source of healing for them, and for us as well.

A Corrective Lesson

Gospel: Matthew 18: 15-20

Today's Gospel portion provides us Christians today with a rebuke on our own behavior.  The first is how much we ignore this passage.  We go from offense to the airing of grievances openly and excommunication immediately.  Little attempt is made to make amends or mend fences in disputes.  The images of culture war and social justice warriors lends itself not to reconciliation and amendment, but to total warfare and victory at any cost.  

The second is related to the first.  In our readiness to treat opponents as Gentiles and tax collectors - in making them pariahs and the unclean - we utterly ignore how in fact the Lord Jesus himself treated Gentiles and tax collectors.  He ate at table with them.  He healed them, their family members, and their servants of illnesses of all kinds.  He freed them from the demons that oppressed them.  Jesus treated them with loving kindness and mercy.  

The culture war folk and social justice warriors are products of a Christianity that has focused on creating communities of like minded individuals that in turn create suspicion and animus toward anyone not in those institutions.  Jesus, however, went from place to place encountering people of all types, meeting them where they are at, and providing for their needs.  The Way of Jesus is to carry a towel and basin for washing feet, not a sword or gun to harm others.   

Feed the People

Gospel: Luke 6: 1-5

The Pharisees criticize the disciples of Jesus for performing work on the Sabbath in order to eat by shelling the wheat husks and eating them.  Acts of work, of course, are forbidden on the Sabbath in the Law.  The reply of Jesus is a telling one.  He gives the example of David and his cohorts who ate the showbread reserved only for the priests, a violation of ceremonial law, but not a violation of the Sabbath commandment regarding work.  This response is telling.

Jesus is making a broader point on how feeding people is the greater priority of the Law than Sabbath laws or even ceremonial laws of the Temple.  The Sabbath is important, to be sure, but more important is the care of human beings who lack food and other basic necessities.  Ceremonial ritual is also important, but when human beings are starving and thirsty, lacking clothing and shelter, then the rituals of the sanctuary take a backseat to the needs of others.  

We take great pride in our ornate religious structures and elaborate liturgies - places we exclude many from having access to the food of heaven because of our own laws designed not to bring people closer to God but to create a state of superiority over others.  The showbread is not for us alone, but for all people who hunger.  The body of the Lord was given for all, the Lord Jesus fed all at the field of multiplication.  It is for us to imitate the Lord and to feed all who hunger. 

Standard Deviations

Gospel: Luke 5: 33-39

In every religious tradition there is always a group that sets itself as the standard around which all others must conform and submit.  Their behaviors and attitudes are the ones by which all other people are judged.  Such is the case in today's Gospel portion where the Pharisees and followers of John the Baptist state that they fast and pray, making the behavior of Jesus' disciples unacceptable in their view because the disciples are not doing what these self-proclaimed guardians do.  

In our own time such groups are prominent.  They call themselves "Bible believing Christians" and "Faithful Catholics".  They have selected a few things from the scriptures and tradition that are acceptable to them - ignoring a great amount in the process -  and have made it the alleged "non-negotiables" of faith life.  Their own behaviors and attitudes are then used to judge all other people.  Hypocrisy does not bother them since they are the self-proclaimed guardians and criteria of belief and practice.  

The only standard and criterion of faith is the Lord Jesus himself.  The Christian life is a constant reading and reflection on the Gospels of Jesus in order to pattern our lives on his alone.  We deviate widely from The Way when we set ourselves or others up as the standard of faith.  Jesus alone is the Way of authentic faith and living.  Today is a day for us to commit to a daily meditation on the Gospel so that we might be illumined and divinized by the life of the Lord Jesus.

Going Fishing

Gospel: Luke 5: 1-11

Anyone who has ever gone fishing knows the enterprise is utterly unpredictable.  One day could be very successful with a large catch of fish, while another day will yield nary a bite.  Success cannot be predicted in advance, nor can any meaningful planning for such be undertaken.  Even the most seasoned anglers will be frustrated at a day of no catches, and great rejoicing ensues at a great catch of fish or at the catch of a very large one.  It is the nature of things in the world of fishing.

In today's Gospel portion the disciples spend all night fishing without success.  We can hear and appreciate the frustration and disappointment in Peter's voice when he explains this to Jesus.  In spite of this night of failure, Jesus tells him to try one more time.  Overcoming his fatigue and incredulity, Peter and the others try one more time, and they catch so much fish they are stunned.  They see in this event a sign that has them put their faith in Jesus.

A good fisherman has faith in good times and in bad.  The angler's faith is not dependent on the whims of the fish but on a complete acceptance of whatever takes place on the waters.  So it must be in our life of faith.  We are graced with blessed moments of success that are often rare, and God is present in those moments to be sure.  But God is also present in the moments of drought and lack of success.  Authentic faith is present in both moments.   

A Model Response

Gospel: Luke 4: 38-44

Following the events in the synagogues, Jesus then goes to Simon Peter's house where he heals his mother-in-law of an ailment.  Her response to the healing becomes the model against which all other responses to healing are examined.  Peter's mother-in-law simply rises from her sick bed and serves others.  She does not go about "witnessing" or "testifying", telling others about her healing.  She simply gets to the work of serving others.  

From there, Jesus goes out to towns and villages throughout Galilee healing people of their infirmities, liberating people from their demons, and feeding people at table.  In these journeys we will encounter many people who encounter Jesus, most are nameless like Peter's mother-in-law.  In every encounter Jesus tells people who are healed not to talk about it to anyone.  Jesus invites them to follow him in the way of service - all things found in this healing at Peter's house.  

These encounters throughout the Gospels invite us to reflect on our own encounters with Jesus and with others.  Have we followed the model of discipleship in this unnamed woman, or are we like so many in the Gospels who do not listen to Jesus, creating frenzied crowds rather than authentic responses of humble service to others?  Each passage of the Gospels, each encounter with another person, invites us to this reflection and response.   

Demons Among Us

Gospel: Luke 4: 31-37

Jesus goes from the synagogue of Nazareth to the synagogue in Capernaum where again he is invited to teach.  While there in the synagogue a man possessed by a demon is present, and no one in the congregation is surprised.  He is a fixture in the community.  At one point they may have been concerned for him, but over time with the apparent inability to heal him everyone simply took his condition for granted.  The man and his demons were a fixture in the community.

Their shock comes when Jesus delivers the man from his demons.  The man had been in this state for so long that everyone just thought he could not be helped, and here Jesus comes and does so.  It may be that many in the past tried to help this man but were unable to do so.  Whatever approach they took to do so simply did not work.  It may be that some refused to help the man - that he was "too far gone" in order to restore him to full health.  The approach of Jesus was immediate and effective.  

How often do we accept as given the conditions of people oppressed by various demons in their lives!  How often do we consign people to their fate, saying they are "too far gone" and incapable of being helped!  Jesus sees no person as beyond help or care.  This scene in the synagogue will be replayed time and again with people of many conditions in many places.  Many will tell him not to help certain people, others will be written off by the crowd or the disciples.  But Jesus will ignore them all and find a way to help those in need.