"O my God, teach me to be generous
to serve you as you deserve to be served
to give without counting the cost
to fight without fear of being wounded
to work without seeking rest
and to spend myself without expecting any reward
but the knowledge that I am doing your holy will.
Amen (St Ignatius of Loyola) The focus of St. Ignatius was the holy will of God. Was this not the focus of Jesus? Is that not to be our focus as well? What is the will of God for us in the present moment? Many years ago I heard this rule of life. Do what you are supposed to do; the way you are to do it; when you are to do it; to the best of your ability for the love of God. Living in and embracing the present moment is the will of God. Many of us live in the past or the future and thus miss the grace of the present moment.
Seventeenth Sunday Gospel Reflections A
Jesus said: "The kingdom of heaven is like a treasure buried in a field, which a person finds and hides again, and out of joy goes and sells all that he has and buys that field.
To prevent others from stealing their valuables, people would not keep them in the house but bury them in the ground. Sometimes, they failed to tell others where they buried their treasure. Others would find it by accident.
Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a merchant searching for fine pearls. When he finds a pearl of great price, he goes and sells all that he has and buys it.
The point of these two parables is similar. Both the pearl and the field are of great value. So is the kingdom of God. If one understands this, then the person is willing to give up whatever he must to obtain it.
While the Kingdom of God is a free gift from God, my being part of the Kingdom is my free choice.
How important is the Kingdom of God to me? Is there a price too great for me to pay?
What were the decisions in my life in reference to my relationship with God that brought me great joy and peace? When did I become aware of the great treasure/the great pearl of God’s Kingdom?
The attitude of each is one of joy. Do we embrace the kingdom of God—life with God—with joy or obligation?
Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a net thrown into the sea, which collects fish of every kind. When it is full they haul it ashore and sit down to put what is good into buckets. What is bad they throw away. Thus it will be at the end of the age. The angels will go out and separate the wicked from the righteous and throw them into the fiery furnace, where there will be wailing and grinding of teeth.
This parable is similar to that of the wheat and the weeds; it stresses the final judgment of God, which will exclude evil persons from the kingdom.
What part is God asking me to play in the work of the Kingdom? Am I the fisherman casting out the net? Am I sorter, working with the good? Am I the evangelist? Am I the teacher/formator?
"Do you understand all these things?" They answered, "Yes." And he replied, "Then every scribe who has been instructed in the kingdom of heaven is like the head of a household who brings from his storeroom both the new and the old."
How attentive are we in reflecting on and praying over the scriptures so that we can better understand God’s message?
How will we respond to the Word of God this week?
"I am not sure exactly what heaven will be like, but I do know that when we die and it comes time for God to judge us, he will NOT ask, How many good things have you done in your life?, rather he will ask, How much LOVE did you put into what you did?" (Mother Theresa of Calcutta) How true this is! It is nothing other than the basic command of Jesus to us, his disciples. "By this will they know you are my disciples, by the love you have for one another." Love has been the consistent message throughout the centuries. Its lack has been the cause of much of human suffering. Doing things in love transforms both me and the action into something pleasing to God. Doing the same thing without love nullifies the action's potential for us. Today, make a conscious decision to do all in and with love.
"Often we speak about love as if it is a feeling. But if we wait for a feeling of love before loving, we may never learn to love well. The feeling of love is beautiful and life-giving, but our loving cannot be based in that feeling. To love is to think, speak, and act according to the spiritual knowledge that we are infinitely loved by God and called to make that love visible in this world. Mostly we know what the loving thing to do is. When we "do" love, even if others are not able to respond with love, we will discover that our feelings catch up with our acts." (Henri Nouwen) God loves us unconditionally and independently of our response. St. Paul tells us that when we're sinners Jesus died for us out of love. Too often we condition our love with an expectation of being loved in return. Jesus addressed this when he said don't invite to dinner those whom you expect you to invite them in return. Rather invite those who cannot pay you back. We also become offended and resentment when our love is taken for granted. How would we feel if God treated us this way? Did Jesus not say: "The measure with which you have been given, measure in the same to others." There is only one standard for love: God's.
"Jesus was broken on the cross. He lived his suffering and death not as an evil to avoid at all costs, but as a mission to embrace. We too are broken. We live with broken bodies, broken hearts, broken minds or broken spirits. We suffer from broken relationships. How can we live our brokenness? Jesus invites us to embrace our brokenness as he embraced the cross and live it as part of our mission. He asks us not to reject our brokenness as a curse from God that reminds us of our sinfulness but to accept it and put it under God's blessing for our purification and sanctification. Thus our brokenness can become a gateway to new life." (Henri Nouwen) This is true, but hard to accept when one is experiencing the pain. In the midst of the brokenness is the lie that leads us to feel abandoned by God or others. It is hard at that moment for one to see, let alone embraced the truth. To remain in the lie will deepened, not only the physical pain, but the emotional and psychological pains. What enabled Jesus to embrace the brokenness of sin, which he took upon himself, was he knew that he was the beloved Son of the Father. This was the truth. The same truth, once embraced, will set us free from the lie. No matter what the brokenness, we are always loved by God.
"Rejoice in the Lord always. Again, I say, rejoice. Let your modesty be known to all men. The Lord is near. Be anxious about nothing. But in all things, with prayer and supplication, with acts of thanksgiving, let your petitions be made known to God. And so shall the peace of God, which exceeds all understanding, guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus." (Philippians 4:4-7) Part of the patient waiting we must exercise in the spiritual life involves this admonition of St. Paul. What are the elements he points out to us? 1. Rejoice in the moment ; 2. Remembering that the Lord is present in the present moment; 3. Do not be anxious; 4. Pray with thanksgiving in our petitions; 5. His peace will guard our hearts during this time. This does not happen automatically nor come easy for any of us. It is something that develops with practice and endurance, which calls for patience on our part. But what is the alternative to this? Is it not anxiety and fear? Is it not seeking instant gratification in something here and now? We have been there many times. Now we are called to try something different.
We are called to wait with patience. What does that mean? Grin and bear it like a victim? No. Just the opposite. It means to live consciously, embracing the present moment, seeking to find in it a glimpse of the fullness of union with God, the ultimate desire of our heart. In each present moment, in each experience there is something God is revealing to us, something useful for our beatitude. We are to be patient because we see only a glimpse of the full picture. Each moment is like one piece of the puzzle of the full joy we are longing for. Each new piece that fits in this puzzle brings greater anticipation of seeing the completed picture. That is why we need patience.
"The knowledge of being loved in an unconditional way, before the world presents us with its conditions, cannot come from books, lectures, television programs, or workshops. This spiritual knowledge comes from people who witness to God's love for us through their words and deeds. These people can be close to us but they can also live far away or may even have lived long ago. Their witness announces the truth of God's love and calls us to act in accordance with it." (Henri Nouwen) Two questions: 1. Who are those who witnessed to us God's unconditional love? Have we thanked them or given God thanks for them? 2. Whom have we loved unconditionally because we have been loved so? Ask God to place in your path those need to be loved as God has loved you. Is this not God's expectation of us. "Love one another as God I have loved you"? Be a witness of God's love, so that God can welcome you into his eternal kingdom.
"If we are not to lie when we call ourselves “Christians,” we must bear witness to it by our way of living." (St. Gregory of Nyssa) How true this is! Many people are cultural Christians, who have been sacramentalized, maybe informed, but never evangelized and properly catechized. These are Christians in name alone, nut not committed to live radically their faith. These are the lukewarm disciples whom Jesus talked about or the ones whom he said he didn't know. What Jesus is looking in response to what he has done for us is a life under his Lordship, one following the lead of his Holy Spirit. There should be no distinction between our interior life and our external life, if Jesus is the Lord of our life.
"Jesus says: 'Blessed are the poor, the gentle, those who mourn, those who hunger and thirst for uprightness, the merciful, the pure in heart, the peacemakers, and those who are persecuted in the cause of uprightness' (Matthew 5:3-10). These words offer us a self-portrait of Jesus. Jesus is the Blessed One. And the face of the Blessed One shows poverty, gentleness, grief, hunger, and thirst for uprightness, mercy, purity of heart, a desire to make peace, and the signs of persecution. The whole message of the Gospel is this: Become like Jesus. We have his self-portrait. When we keep that in front of our eyes, we will soon learn what it means to follow Jesus and become like him." (Henri Nouwen) We, as disciples, are called to learn from the Master how to live and what to do. The Beatitudes both reflect the person and life of Jesus as well as a way of life to be embraced by us. They are sign posts on the path to greater holiness. Jesus freely chose to live this way of life. We are called to do the same.
Jesus proposed another parable to them. "The kingdom of heaven may be likened to a man who sowed good seed in his field. While everyone was asleep his enemy came and sowed weeds all through the wheat, and then went off. When the crop grew and bore fruit, the weeds appeared as well. The slaves of the householder came to him and said, 'Master, did you not sow good seed in your field? Where have the weeds come from?' He answered, 'An enemy has done this.' His slaves said to him, 'Do you want us to go and pull them up?' He replied, 'No, if you pull up the weeds you might uproot the wheat along with them. Let them grow together until harvest; then at harvest time I will say to the harvesters, "First collect the weeds and tie them in bundles for burning; but gather the wheat into my barn."'"
The weed plant at first looks like the wheat. As the plants mature the roots of both intertwine. The weed is both bitter and mildly toxic. It needs to be separated from the wheat prior to milling; otherwise the flour is ruined. Thus, servants would separate the grains after cutting them by spreading them on a flat surface and then removing the weed, which is a different color at that stage.
Jesus reminds us that we should not anticipate the final judgment of God by excluding even known sinners from the kingdom. God has the final judgment. Until then we much continue to share the Good News with others and to urge repentance.
Apply this to our relationship with others in the Church. Jesus calls us to be patient with those who seem to be superficial in faith and to trust that God will deal with them at the right time.
How patient are we with others?
What are the "weeds" in our life that threatens to chock off the good that is there? How are we dealing with them?
He proposed another parable to them. "The kingdom of heaven is like a mustard seed that a person took and sowed in a field. It is the smallest of all the seeds, yet when full-grown it is the largest of plants. It becomes a large bush, and the 'birds of the sky come and dwell in its branches.'"
This parable and the one following bring out the same thought: the contrast between the initial, small beginning and the tremendous growth that occurs.
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He spoke to them another parable. "The kingdom of heaven is like yeast that a woman took and mixed with three measures of wheat flour until the whole batch was leavened."
How is our spiritual journey likened to the parables of the mustard seed and the yeast?
Do we sometimes get discouraged in our spiritual journey because we do not see much progress happening? We must not be discouraged by small beginnings -- must not judge too quickly that which seems hopeless.
All these things Jesus spoke to the crowds in parables. He spoke to them only in parables, to fulfill what had been said through the prophet: "I will open my mouth in parables, I will announce what has lain hidden from the foundation (of the world)." Then, dismissing the crowds, he went into the house. His disciples approached him and said, "Explain to us the parable of the weeds in the field."
Even though to the crowds Jesus spoke to them in parables, when asked to explain by the disciples, he turns the parable into an allegory (every detail has a hidden or symbolic meaning)
He said in reply, "He who sows good seed is the Son of Man, the field is the world, the good seed the children of the kingdom. The weeds are the children of the evil one, and the enemy who sows them is the devil. The harvest is the end of the age, and the harvesters are angels. Just as weeds are collected and burned (up) with fire, so will it be at the end of the age. The Son of Man will send his angels, and they will collect out of his kingdom all who cause others to sin and all evildoers. They will throw them into the fiery furnace, where there will be wailing and grinding of teeth. Then the righteous will shine like the sun in the kingdom of their Father. Whoever has ears ought to hear.
When Jesus states the parable of the weeds the emphasis is on the need for patience until judgment time. But when Jesus explains the parable the emphasis is on how the wicked will have a fearful end.
Which of these parables has the most meaning for you? What is Jesus’ message to you through these parables?
“Think well. Speak well. Do well. These three things, through the mercy of God, will make a man go to Heaven.” (St. Camillus de Lellis) These three things reflect the basic Gospel message. We either sin in thought, word or deed or we grow in holiness in thought, word or deed. If we guard our thoughts, speak only what builds others up, and do all in love, the grace of God will draw us into the fuller life of
God. But if we allow our thinking, our words and actions to be governed by the world, the flesh and the devil, then we block the mercy of God from making a difference in our life. We need to follow then the admonition of St. Paul to the Colossians: “Let everything whatsoever that you do, whether in (thought), word or in deed, be done all in the name
of the Lord Jesus Christ, giving thanks to God the Father through him.(Col 3:17)
"Jealousy arises easily in our hearts. In the parable of the
prodigal son, the elder son is jealous that his younger brother
gets such a royal welcome even though he and his loose
women swallowed up his father's property (Luke 15:30). And
in the parable of the laborers in the vineyard, the workers
who worked the whole day are jealous that those who came
at the eleventh hour receive the same pay as they did (see
Matthew 20:1-16). But the Father says to the older son: "You
are with me always and all I have is yours" (Luke 15:31). And
the landowner says: "Why should you be envious because I
am generous?" (Matthew 20:15). When we truly enjoy God's
unlimited generosity, we will be grateful for what our brothers
and sisters receive. Jealousy will simply have no place in our
hearts." (Henri Nouwen) Jealousy results from a lack of
gratitude for the blessings God has given me as well as a lack of gratitude for what God has done in the lives of others. In each case, all is gift, which I have not deserved.
Unfortunately, the root of our jealousy is a focus on self rather than God. Whereas, gratitude focuses on God and not self. The temptation of jealousy comes from the evil one , who seeks to separate us from God. The test of gratitude is from God, who seeks to draw us closer to him and others in love.
"Nobody escapes being wounded. We all are wounded
people, whether physically, emotionally, mentally, or spiritually. The main question is not "How can we hide our wounds?" so we don't have to be embarrassed, but "How can we put our woundedness in the service of others?" When our wounds cease to be a source of shame, and become a source of healing, we have become wounded healers. Jesus is God's wounded healer: through his wounds we are healed. Jesus' suffering and death brought joy and life. His humiliation brought glory; his rejection brought a community of love. As followers of Jesus we can also allow our wounds to bring healing to others." (Henri Nouwen) First, we need to allow Jesus to heal us of our wounds. He does this through
forgiveness. He died on the cross to bring healing into those
areas of darkness within us, either as a result of our personal
sins or the sins of others against us. His healing forgiveness
frees us from the bondage of the past. Then, freed ourselves,
we can be an agent of forgiveness and healing for others. Our witness is: "See what Jesus did for me. He wants to do the same thing for you. I once was in darkness. Now, by his grace and mercy, I am in the light of freedom."
What is eternity? What is it like? Because we only know time
and space, it is impossible for us to wrap our minds around
the reality of eternity. Time and space are limited; eternity is
not. Eternity can be with God or alienated from God. As for
the former—with God—while here, we experience pain and
suffering, sadness and guilt; in eternity with God there is no
sadness or suffering, no tears or sadness. As St. Paul tells us: “Eye has not seen and ear has not heard what God has in stored for us.” What we do know in faith is that we will be in total joy and love, because we will be with the One who has called us into being, God, our All in All. Since on earth we have a choice through grace, what eternity do you want?
"Whenever you begin any good work you should first of
all make a most pressing appeal to Christ our Lord to bring it
to perfection." (St. Benedict) What would happen if we would
offer a short prayer to God whenever we begin a project or an activity? Would it sanctify our effort? Would this practice help us to keep Jesus consciously in the forefront of our thoughts and actions throughout our day? On the other hand, what happens when we don't do this? The difference should be obvious. Like anything new, it will take discipline and practice before this will become a healthy part of our life. Why not start now?
"We are not heading for an eternal void and an eternal silence but we are on our way to an encounter, an encounter with Him who created us and loves us more than mother and father." (Fr. Raniero Cantalamessa) For those who do not believe in God, death is the end. That is because they have not encountered the Beginning and the End of life, God. But for those who have encountered God, especially in the person of Jesus, life is a journey through death into the fullness of life. Knowing that, whether we will experience that fuller life eternally, will depend on our relationship with God at the moment of death.
There is a profound relationship between the spiritual life and ministry. Jesus, in his humanity, knew that he was in relationship with the Father. This intimacy was highlighted at the time of his public embrace of his call from the Father to be the promised Messiah. Jesus' response was expressed I his baptism. The Father's promised Messiah. Jesus' response was expressed in his baptism. The Father's acceptance was proclaimed in the words after the baptism. "You are my beloved Son upon whom my favor rests." Jesus was acknowledging his intimacy with the Father and the Father acknowledged this intimacy by a fresh anointing of the Holy Spirit for ministry. This intimacy was renewed and strengthened when Jesus world regularly go aside and pray for extended periods. His mission continued to be led by the Spirit with signs and wonders as his credentials. Jesus, then is our model for our spiritual life and our ministry in his name. Our ministry, to be effective, must flow from our going aside in prayer before ad with God.
"How do we welcome home our lost brothers and sisters? By running out to them, embracing them, and kissing them. By clothing them with the best clothes we have and making them our honored guests. By offering them the best food and inviting friends and family for a party. And, most important of all, by not asking for excuses or explanations, only showing our immense joy that they are with us again. That is being perfect as our heavenly Father is perfect. It is forgiving from the heart without a trace of self-righteousness, recrimination, or even curiosity. The past is wiped out. What counts is the here and now, not where all that fills our hearts is gratitude for the homecoming of our brothers and sisters." (Henri Nowen) If we expect that from others, we should extend the same to them. Many times we act out of a double standard: the way we want to be treated in contrast to the way we treat others. We have to remember what Jesus says: "The measure with which you measure will be the measure with which you will be measured."
“Spiritual life demands that you never turn back or stop
going forward; but rather that, as soon as you taste it, you
make progress day by day and, forgetting what lies
behind, strain forward to what lies ahead.” (Saint Anthony
Zaccaria) What is in back of us is sin. What is ahead of us
is greater union with God. St. Paul called the past rubbish
in comparison to the prize that he strove for, life with God.
How often we find ourselves looking back at the fleshpots
of our past life, like the Israelites, rather than at the
promised land flowing with milk and honey. How often do
we let the fear of our inadequacies paralyze us rather than
embracing the trust God calls us into during our journey.
As we keep our eyes on the prize we are able to take the
next step drawing us closer to God.
As we celebrate the Feast of the Apostle St. Thomas, we reflect
on that powerful scene in John’s Gospel. Jesus appeared to
Thomas, who had expressed his doubt that Jesus was risen.
Showing the Apostle his wounds from the crucifixion, Jesus
invited him to touch them. Thomas answered and said to him,
“My Lord and my God!” Jesus said to him, “Have you come to
believe because you have seen me? Blessed are those who have
not seen and have believed.” It is one thing to see and believe. It
is a greater grace to believe before or without seeing. Do we
believe in Jesus because of some sign and wonder or do we
believe because of who Jesus is? Thomas’ faith proclamation
reveals that though he saw a man risen from the dead, he
believed that Jesus was God. This leap of faith from the known
to the mystery of the unknown is truly a grace from God. We do
this after the consecration of the bread and wine. We see one
thing with our human eyes but believe another with the eyes of
faith. “My Lord and my God.”
