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Archive for the ‘Social Justice’ Category

Faith, Generosity, and the Lessons of Sacrifice

Posted in Ordinary Time, Reflections from Other Writers and Speakers, Reflections on Scripture, Social Justice, tagged , , , , , , , , on November 6, 2024| Leave a Comment »

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Readings for November 10th:

  1. 1 Kings 17:10–16
  2. Psalm 146:7, 8–9, 9–10
  3. Hebrews 9:24–28
  4. Mark 12:38–44

What this week’s readings say to me:

This week’s readings call us to:

  • Have hope, and be unafraid.
  • Share what you have.
  • Trust that when you give to God or give to others in God’s name, God will give back far more. You will receive more than what you gave.
  • Do your part, and when you do, give your best.
  • Be welcoming.
  • Be introspective.
  • Broaden your vision, and look beneath the surface of what’s around you.
  • Follow those who follow strive to live the practices described above.
  • Remember that only Christ — God incarnate — can live them perfectly.
  • Remember that Christ can help us do the same on the other side of death.

What I’m saying (to the readings and beyond) this week:

When I think of the messages from this week’s readings and the ways I just presented them, they seem wise. These messages read as reasonable lessons to live by.

But this week’s readings include uncomfortable, even disturbing details. I find myself wrestling with God about these details and the message their inclusion sends.

In the first reading, I notice Elijah asks a woman for the last bit of food she has. She doesn’t seem to be able to get the raw materials to make more meals once these materials are gone. She figures that she and her son will die once they’ve eaten all they have left.

Now I understand that the lesson is that they can give all they have left to Elijah. God will see their generosity and faith and will respond to it by providing for them. The same goes for the woman in the gospel passage who puts all the money she has into the treasury.

Maybe another teaching of these readings is that God is generous, even when people are less so. God is generous even when people forget God.

Maybe a third teaching is not to give for appearances’ sake only. Serve causes that are just by doing more than what is comfortable or convenient.

But I hesitate to suggest that God wants people to leave themselves none of the necessities for life. I do more than hesitate when I read the first reading and the gospel passage. If I’m honest, the examples these two readings set make me angry. These readings present a God who asks everything of God’s people.

And I suppose God does, giving everything back that the people can imagine and more. Christ did die for us. He died so that I, you, and whoever the ubiquitous “they” are could live forever with Him.

I don’t feel the need to pretend. Giving everything to God and in God’s name is a big ask. I can imagine the widows in both the Old Testament passage and Gospel passages experiencing anger before they gave. If not anger, they might have felt anxiety and doubt. They might have questioned whether they were acting with wisdom. As I imagine them wrestling with these emotions and then acting in spite of them, I’m reminded of a famous quote:

“Courage is not the absence of fear, but rather the assessment that something else is more important than fear.”

President Franklin D. Roosevelt

I think a modified version is true as well. Faith is not the absence of doubt or fear but acting in spite of the doubt and fear.

I think it’s valuable not to rush past the parts of these passages that trigger uncomfortable feelings. I believe it’s important to reflect on the “giv[ing] until it hurts.” It can be helpful not to skip to the parts in the passages that describe God giving in return. This can be helpful because we can’t fast-forward past the challenges in our own lives. But we can acknowledge them for what they are. And we can trust that God is with us as we navigate them.

Outside of these passages, we don’t know what the giving back is going to look like. Who will give us what we need? We don’t know what we’re going to go through before we receive or when the receiving is going to come.

I take comfort that most faith communities wouldn’t expect members to give until they had literally nothing left. Some ask this only when the members must choose between loyalty to a faith community and loyalty to another community. I’m not going to pretend like I’m comfortable with faith communities asking their members to make this choice. I’m also not going to pretend I’m comfortable with God asking people to make this choice.

I believe in a God who is personal and is the source of everything, including who each of us is. How can I betray the source of who I am, who each of us is?

Here’s a glimpse behind the curtain of this blog in case I haven’t made something clear before. I write most posts over the course of a week. After writing the previous paragraph, I went on about my day. Then, I remembered a verse. It says Jesus came so we could “have life and have it more abundantly” (John 10:10). After he remembered this verse, I remembered how the passage from Hebrews 4 November 10th ends. It says:

Just as it is appointed that human beings die once, and after this the judgment, so also Christ, offered once to take away the sins of many, will appear a second time, not to take away sin but to bring salvation to those who eagerly await him.

Hebrews 9:28

Calling to mind these verses remind me that God doesn’t want suffering. God desires to save. It’s injustice that creates suffering, and sometimes standing against injustice means a person acting with justice suffers. Jen Frazer, OSB reflects on this perspective.

What someone else is sharing about this week’s readings:

In the end what meaning should we take away from these readings? It is the very generosity of our two widows (in the first reading and in the Gospel) that highlights their social oppression. Even if the sacrifice is unjust, God who knows our hearts honors that sacrifice as the act of love that it is. God is on the side of the oppressed because they are in need of God’s protection.

Jen Frazer, OSB, in her reflection on the Mass readings for November 10th

This week’s prayer:

May I give for no other reasons than for love of God and neighbor. Help me to trust in Your presence wherever there is also injustice. Help me to experience that all things work “for good of those who love God” (Rom. 8:28). Amen.

Work cited (but Not Linked to)

The New American Bible Revised Edition, Kindle edition, Fairbrother, 2011.

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Divine Love Engages and Challenges the Senses

Posted in Ordinary Time, Reflections from Other Writers and Speakers, Reflections on Scripture, Social Justice, tagged , , , , , , on August 16, 2024| Leave a Comment »

Photo by Thays Orrico on Unsplash

Readings for August 11:

  1. Proverbs 9:1–6
  2. Psalm 34:2–3, 4–5, 6–7 (and 9)
  3. Ephesians 5:15–20
  4. John 6:51–58

What this week’s readings say to me:

The first reading presents wisdom as a nurturing homemaker, someone who provides shelter and food. Perhaps the extended metaphor of the passage says something about how practical wisdom is necessary for meeting basic needs and how having basic needs met is necessary for a person to grow in “understanding” (Prov. 9:6).

This week’s psalm, the same as last week’s, continues to call us to recognize that God provides for our physical, emotional, and spiritual needs. God doesn’t run out all the means to provide for all of these needs. Ever.

Maybe because I focused on some of the psalm verses last week, the psalm refrain stands out to me more than the verses this week: “Taste and see the goodness of the Lord (Psalm 34:9). It invites us to use our physical senses — particularly taste and vision — to receive “the goodness of the Lord . . .” (Psalm 34:9).

Now there’s the old cliché “seeing is believing.” While it is cliché, it’s also often true for people. So it’s powerful to be able to see concrete signs of God’s goodness around us. How can the way each of us lives offer those concrete signs, not just by showing compassion, helping people see it, but by helping people experience it with their other senses.

Think what a powerful sense taste is. It’s inextricably linked to smell. Think of what emotions can be invoked by the taste and smell of a meal that reminds a person of a past special occasion. Without smell, it’s very difficult, if not impossible to taste. Think of how powerful it is to smell or taste something that you smelled or taste in the past not long before becoming sick. Given the power of these associations, the psalm refrain says to me that truly engaging with God and what God gives involves all the senses. This reality is why the celebration of the Eucharist and other sacraments engages all the senses.

This week’s epistle urges readers and listeners to engage all the senses as well and to be careful to engage all of them in the movement of the spirit, and the pursuit of wisdom, rather than dulling the senses with activities that make it more difficult for the spirit to move within and among us.

The Gospel passage reminds readers that Christ’s message engages all the senses, and in doing so, challenges them. To the crowds, he says that he’s bread, and that whoever eats this bread “will live forever” (John 6:51). The crowds see a man speaking to them. They were already wondering how this could be, and he was going to challenge them even further (John 6:52). He goes on to say that “the bread that [He] will give is [His] flesh for the life of the world and that “[w]hoever eats [His] flesh and drinks [His] blood remains in me and I in him” (John 6:51 and 56).

Christ had to give all of himself — body, blood, soul, and divinity, “for the life of the world” and for every individual in the world who will receive that life (Jon 6:56). Receiving that life in its fullness will involve all the physical senses — taste, touch, sight, and hearing — of individuals open to receiving it. It will also engage the mind and the spirit. It will challenge all of these by inviting them to enter into what self-preservation instincts tell us to run away from.

What someone else is sharing about this week’s readings:

Sarah Hart’s reflection on this week’s readings looks at different ways to “remain in” Christ, as the Gospel passage asks us to do, with none of the ways of doing so being separate from each other or less essential than another (John 6:56).

Beyond this week’s readings:

Thinking about how important smell is for taste and how important engaging all the senses is to relationship with God and others reminds me of a phrase from last week’s excerpt from Ephesians about being “imitators of God,” liv[ing] in love” (Eph. 5:1-2). This way of living that Christ modeled is described as making oneself a “sacrificial offering to God for a fragrant aroma” (Eph. 5:2).

This week’s prayer:

Lord, grant me the grace of courage to remain in You as You remain in the Father. Help me not to turn away when You challenge me with what You offer and with Your vision for the Kingdom of God. Amen (John 6:56-58).

Work cited:

Confraternity of Christian Doctrine, Inc. ” 20th Sunday in Ordinary Time — 18 Aug. 2024: Readings at Mass.” The New American Bible, 2001. Universalis for Windows, Version 2.192, Universalis Publishing Ltd., 30 July 2024, https://universalis.com/n-app-windows.htm.

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The Spirit Is in the Details (As Well As in the Familiar Themes)

Posted in Ordinary Time, Reflections from Other Writers and Speakers, Reflections on Scripture, Scripture Readings, Social Justice, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , on July 27, 2024| Leave a Comment »

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Readings for July 28th:

  1. 2 Kings 4:42–44
  2. Psalm 145:10–11, 15–16, 17–18
  3. Ephesians 4:1–6
  4. John 6:1–15

What this week’s readings say to me:

I’m used to hearing that this week’s readings are about the following:

  • God’s providence
  • God’s power over nature, demonstrated differently than in the calming of the storm
  • Christ feeding His spiritual family members his own Body and Blood, an ongoing act of love that comes to us from His apostles because He extended it to them on the night of his Last Supper.

And it is all of the above, but I feel prompted to highlight what else stood out to me as I read the passages this time around:

A man came from Baal-shalishah bringing to Elisha, the man of God, twenty barley loaves made from the firstfruits, . . . . Elisha said, “Give it to the people to eat.” But his servant objected, “How can I set this before a hundred people?” . . . . And when they had eaten, there was some left over, as the LORD had said.

2 Kings 4:42-44

This passage and the New Testament one tell me that questions and doubts are only obstacles to God to the extent that they keep a person from acting with faith. In both passages, people act as God inspires them to do, and God works with what they give. God keeps his promises and gives more than the people hope for.

The eyes of all look hopefully to you,
and you give them their food in due season . . .

Psalm 145:15

This verse reminds me that God’s timing may be different from mine. It doesn’t say God will give me what I want right now. Instead, it says God will give me what I need in due season — when the timing is best for me and for the overall plan.

Brothers and sisters: I, a prisoner for the Lord, urge you to live in a manner worthy of the call you have received, with all humility and gentleness, with patience . . .

Ephesians 4:1-2

This excerpt relates to how God provides for us by giving Himself because we need God’s humility, gentleness, and patience to allow God to provide for us in other ways. God doesn’t force-feed us. Instead, God waits for us to be open to receiving Him.

Trusting in God, who isn’t limited by our sense of time and timing also takes patience.

Feeding others from the gifts we have received, in other words, making Christ visible in what we do, requires the virtues mentioned in this excerpt as well.

“’Gather the fragments left over, so that nothing will be wasted.'”

John 6:12

In addition to reinforcing the lessons of the Old Testament passage, the New Testament passage includes the above instruction. Not only does God give us more than we hope for in due season, but also we must be careful not to waste the abundance we receive. What we don’t waste can meet future needs.

What someone else is sharing about this week’s readings:

Dr. Alice Prince points out that the virtues highlighted in this week’s epistle don’t just make room to receive God’s abundance. God’s abundance is one of those proverbial two-way streets. Receiving God’s abundance helps us experience and practice those virtues.

Beyond this week’s readings:

It’s easy enough to quote Scripture passages as evidence that God provides. I even posted last week about the ways I’ve noticed God providing for me lately. Even so, I know there are plenty of situations in which it doesn’t seem like God provides. I listed some of those situations at the end of last week’s post. I find myself asking, “Lord, if you can use five loaves and two fish to feed more than 5,000 people, why aren’t you making sure everyone in Gaza, the U.S. or everywhere else in the world has enough to eat right now? Don’t you care about food insecure and starving people anymore?

Faith tells me the answer is “yes.” But I wonder how often humans get in the way of God’s providence. I know that too often what’s left over gets wasted and doesn’t make it to the people who need it.

This week’s prayer:

May we never interfere with God’s providence. May we participate in it instead. And may we never waste what we have to share, in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Amen.

Work cited:

Confraternity of Christian Doctrine, Inc. ” 17th Sunday in Ordinary Time — 28 July 2024: Readings at Mass.” The New American Bible, 2001. Universalis for Windows, Version 2.191, Universalis Publishing Ltd., 21 July 2024, https://universalis.com/n-app-windows.htm.

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Perspectives on Working in the Vineyard

Posted in Ordinary Time, Reflections from Other Writers and Speakers, Reflections on Scripture, Social Justice, tagged , , , on October 8, 2023| Leave a Comment »

Photo by Jonathan Farber on Unsplash

This week’s readings:

  1. Isaiah 5:1–7
  2. Psalm 80:9, 12, 13–14, 15–16, 19–20
  3. Philippians 4:6–9
  4. Matthew 21:33–43

What this week’s readings say to me:

This week’s readings use the imagery of the vineyard to illustrate what cooperation with and lack of cooperation with God looks like. The first reading looks at the vineyard of Divine will and work from God’s perspective, while the second looks at this vineyard from the perspective of a child of God. The third reading, the epistle, gives advice on how to cooperate with God, saying:

. . . whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is gracious, if there is any excellence and if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things.

Phil 4:8

The tenants in the Gospel parable don’t live by instruction like that given in Philippians 4:8. They seem to be impatient, greedy, and even violent in their pursuit of what they want.

What someone else is sharing about this week’s readings:

Carmen Ramos reflects on this week’s readings by focusing as much on the experience of the servants in the parable as on the experience of the tenants. She closes her reflection with some questions to bring to prayer. These questions, which follow are helpful for living the lessons of this week’s readings.

Beyond this week’s readings:

You have been given the gift of dignity; you have a purpose in this world. Do you acknowledge it?

You are baptized; you have a stake in this Church. Will you claim it?

Were you rejected for speaking the truth? You are an heir to the Kingdom. Will you build it?

Carmen Ramos

To me, it feels easiest to answer “yes” to the first question, but am I fully understanding and responding to what my purpose is? Probably not. As the days grow shorter, I feel like I have less energy to recognize and to live that purpose and to feel like I have that “stake in this Church.” This experience seems ironic — even as I don’t think I’m alone in having it — because wouldn’t it make sense for harvest time, more than any other time, to bear fruit?

Have I been “rejected for speaking the truth?” Maybe sometimes, but when I was rejected, was I really speaking the truth, or was I instead speaking fear or anger masquerading as the truth? And when did I let fear keep me from speaking at all?

Lord, energize me with the Spirit so that I say “yes” to helping to “build” the Kingdom Ms. Ramos reminds me about. Energize me so I can get to work on the action that accompanies that “yes.” Help me to remember that what the epistle encourages me to think about isn’t always easy or pleasant, and yet these things are sources of truth. They can be the sources of energy behind my “yes and the actions that accompany it. Amen.

Work cited

Confraternity of Christian Doctrine, Inc. “Sunday 8 October 2023 27th Sunday in Ordinary time: Readings at Mass.” The New American Bible, 2001. Universalis for Windows, Version 2.181, Universalis Publishing Ltd., 8 Aug. 2023, https://universalis.com/n-app-windows.htm.

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Timing Makes a Difference in Where We Follow Jesus

Posted in Reflections on Scripture, Social Justice, Who Am I in God, Who is God, tagged , , , , , , , , , on June 18, 2023| Leave a Comment »

Photo by Thomas Bormans on Unsplash

This week’s readings:

  • Exodus 19:2–6a
  • Psalm 100:1–2, 3, 5
  • Romans 5:6–11
  • Mark 1:15

When I read the first reading, the Old Testament reading, I thought, It’s easy to zero in on the last sentence of the passage: “You shall be to me a kingdom of priests, a holy nation (The New American Bible, 2001 Edition, Exod. 19:6). It seems we humans are naturally tempted to put ourselves in God’s “in crowd” and to assume that others who aren’t part of our group are not a part of that “in crowd.”

But Isaiah, sacred scripture to both Christian and Jewish people, says that “The Servant of the Lord” is “a light to the nations,” not to just one group or one nation” (The New American Bible, 2001 Edition, 42:6a). And the second-to-last sentence of this week’s Old Testament reading gives me a different way of thinking about who belongs to God than Exodus 19:6a does. “If you hearken to my voice,” it says, “and keep my covenant, you shall be my possession, dearer to me than all other people, though all the earth is mine (The New American Bible, 2001 Edition, Exod. 19:5). What matters to God is that we “hearken to [the Lord’s] voice,” that we resolve again and again to do what that voice asks of us, to share it, and so offer back to God what God has given to us.

When our response to God falls short of what’s best, God is there to renew the covenant by reminding us of what He has done and inviting us to reenter into the covenant with Him. He has never abandoned it; it is we who have done that, not allowing God to possess us. He doesn’t prevent us from wriggling out of His embrace when we find it uncomfortable, even though “all the earth is [His],” and “[h]is kindness endures forever,/ and his faithfulness to all generations” (The New American Bible, 2001 Edition, Psalm 100:5). God wants everyone to enter the Divine flock, so much so that “Christ, while we were still helpless, yet died at the appointed time for the ungodly” (The New American Bible, 2001 Edition, Romans 5:6).

Considering that He went so far as to die, in the words of Romans “for the ungodly,” His instruction to His disciples “not to go into pagan territory” seems incongruous (Matt.10:5). It seems even more confusing when we recall that Jesus praised that faith of a Roman centurion and “stated that, in heaven, many Gentiles will dine together with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob” (Matt. 8: 10; qtd. in Newman). (Check out the source I just linked to. It gives great background on Jewish-Gentile relations in biblical times and what the New Testament says about Jesus’ perspective on Jewish-Gentile interactions. Furthermore, after the resurrection, a disciple and apostle—Paul—discerned that he was called to do the opposite of Jesus’ instructions in Matthew 10.5. (See Galatians 2:7.)

The contrast between Jesus’ instruction in Matthew 10:5 and the inclusion of Gentiles in His teaching on other occasions, as well as Paul’s ministry to non-Jewish people, reminds me that who, what, when, why, and how are key questions to ask when seeking to do God’s will and to follow in Jesus’ footsteps. The mission of each follower of Christ and each person of goodwill has certain things in common. And yet, each person’s vocation is different in some ways than the calling anyone else receives. In addition, what we shouldn’t do in one moment may be something that we should do at a different time. These lessons bring to mind Ecclesiastes 3:1-8, the verses that, in the King James Version, start with, “to every thing, there is a season . . . “The translation I usually turn to begins these verses with “There is an appointed time for everything (Ecc. 3:1-8, The New American Bible Revised Edition).

So as I conclude my time sitting with this week’s readings for now, I’m reminded that God’s timing isn’t my timing, and my timing may not coincide with God’s.

Lord, help me to get out of my own way. Help me not to get in the way of Your work, the work of giving all of Yourself, the work of true love. Help me to remember that when I don’t get in Your way, when I instead imitate You in word and deed, I’ll be on the path of growth and of helping others grow, as this week’s readings remind me that God wants me to do by allowing Him to guide and to care for me. Amen.

Works cited

The Bible. King James Version, Bible Gateway, n.d. Accessed 13 June 2023, https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Ecclesiastes%203&version=KJV.

The Bible. The New American Bible Revised Edition, Kindle edition, Fairbrother, 2011.

Confraternity of Christian Doctrine, Inc. “Sunday July, 2 2023: Readings at Mass.” The New American Bible, 2001. Universalis for Windows, Version 2.179, Universalis Publishing Ltd., 26 Feb. 2023, https://universalis.com/n-app-windows.htm

Newman, John. “Jesus and the Gentiles.” New Hope Community Development of Acadiana, 21 Sept. 2020, http://newhopelafayette.org/jesusandthegentiles/.

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The Signs and Wonders of Faith, Joy, Gratitude, Sincerity, and Generosity

Posted in Easter, Reflections on Scripture, Social Justice, Uncategorized, tagged , , , , , , on April 15, 2023| Leave a Comment »

Photo by Helena Lopes on Unsplash

This week’s readings:

  • Acts 2:42–47
  • Psalm 118:2–4, 13–15, 22–24
  • 1 Peter 1:3–9
  • John 20:19-31

As I rejoin Jesus’ first followers, they have been praying behind locked doors, huddling in fear. In their time with Jesus, they’ve experienced hope, joy, grief, and fear. These experiences are repeated and shared in Christian life, and indeed, in human life.1 Peter reflects this reality, acknowledging, “now for a little while you may have to suffer through various trials, so that the genuineness of your faith . . . may prove to be for praise, glory, and and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ,” the perfect union with others in Him that is Heaven (1 Peter: 7). This union in its fullness won’t be revealed now, but is “ready to be revealed in [that] final time” (1 Peter: 5).

There are times, even prior to that perfect union, when the pouring out of Divine Love becomes apparent in overtly supernatural ways. One such occasion is when Jesus comes through that locked door into the room where the apostles are praying and breathes the Holy Spirit onto them. (To read a story based on John’s account of when the apostles received the Holy Spirit, follow this link to a post I wrote around this time last year.) Another comes later in the same chapter when Jesus comes again through the locked doors and shows Thomas his wounds (John 20: 26-28).

The other account of the descent of the Holy Spirit is in Acts. In Acts 2:4-11, The Spirit allows the apostles to speak languages they haven’t previously known. In my my imagination, they not only speak these languages but do so enthusiastically, animatedly — to the point where observers think they must be drunk (Acts 2: 13).

But they aren’t. What’s happened is the Holy Spirit has given the disciples what they need to fulfill their calling. They have new skills and greater understanding of what they’ve experienced. The Holy Spirit has replaced their grief and confusion with faith, joy, and generosity. The reading from Acts tells me, “All who believed were together and had all things in common; they would sell their property and positions and divide them among all according to each one’s need” and that “[e]very day they devoted themselves to meeting together in the temple area into breaking bread in their homes” (Acts 2: 44-45). The reading adds, “They ate their meals with exultation and sincerity of heart, praising God and enjoying favor with all the people” (Act 2:46-47). This description doesn’t paint a picture of a reserved or sedately appreciative people. These people are overflowing with qualities that draw others to their community.

I read that “many signs and wonders were done through the apostles,” but it stands out to me that I read this after I read that the first Christians “devoted themselves to the teaching of the apostles . . . to the communal life, to the breaking of the bread and to the prayers” (Act 2:42-43). It’s after I read this summary of what early Christian life was like that I’m told “Awe came upon everyone, and many signs and wonders were done through the apostles” (Acts 2:43) The passage doesn’t focus on these “signs and wonders” (Acts 2:43). Instead, it focuses on the wonders that come forth from the soil, along with the gifts of generosity, sincerity, faith, community, and joy. These qualities are just a few of the facets of God’s mercy. It isn’t made visible only through a single supernatural event. It “endures forever”(Psa. 118:4). It works in acts of sincerity, faith, gratitude, generosity, and joy and has immeasurable power to bring people along on a journey toward God.

Lord, I ask that the gifts of your Holy Spirit shine forth from me and from the communities in which I share so that they may draw everyone to You. Amen.

The Bible. The New American Bible Revised Edition, Kindle edition, Fairbrother, 2011.

Confraternity of Christian Doctrine, Inc. “Sunday July, 2 2023: Readings at Mass.” The New American Bible, 2001. Universalis for Windows, Version 2.179, Universalis Publishing Ltd., 26 Feb. 2023, https://universalis.com/n-app-windows.htm

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Good Words Need the Cross to Do Their Work

Posted in Reflections on a Verse, Reflections on Scripture, Social Justice, Verses to Meditate On, tagged , , , , on January 26, 2023| Leave a Comment »

Photo by Kane Reinholdtsen on Unsplash

For Christ did not send me to baptize but to preach the gospel, and not with the wisdom of human eloquence, so that the cross of Christ might not be emptied of its meaning.

1 Corinthians 1:17

This verse from the readings for this past weekend is the one that grabbed my attention. It did so because it left me with questions.

What does Paul have to say to me with the words “Christ did not send me to baptize but to preach the gospel” (1 Cor. 1:17)?

He did baptize people, didn’t he? Verses 14 through 16 say he did. So why does he say Christ didn’t send him to baptize? It seems to me that he provides the answer in verse 13. One question in that verse reminds the flock in Corinth it isn’t in his name that they come together. It isn’t in his name that they share what they have with those who have less. It isn’t in his name that they forgive one another and love and pray for those who persecute them. It isn’t in his name that they share their spiritual gifts. Rather, it’s in Christ’s name that they do all these things, as it was in Christ’s name that they were baptized, not in Paul’s. Christ worked through earthly leaders of the Church in Corinth to baptize people. None of those leaders were acting on their own behalf.

This first part of the verse also reminds me that while different members of Christ serve different functions within his mystical body, (for example, some regularly baptize new members, while others normally don’t) all members are called to preach the gospel — and not just with words. Conveying the limitations of language seems part of the message of the verse’s second half: “and not with the wisdom of human eloquence, so that the cross of Christ might not be emptied of its meaning”[italics mine] (1 Cor.1:17).

Even Christ’s words, by themselves, didn’t keep sin and the suffering that resulted from having the final say. The words themselves didn’t unite to himself and to one another anyone who wanted to be united. His death on the cross and the resurrection that followed made that possible. He carried our wounds and our weaknesses to the fullest extent he could — to the point of death. He was victorious after he offered his life on the cross. But in the final hours of that pre-resurrection life, when he spoke at all, he didn’t tell parables or give sermons as he once had. He spoke in short phrases.

Jesus’ words prepared hearers to receive the union with the Divine that he would offer through his body on the cross and through His Spirit on Pentecost.

The words themselves didn’t complete the adoption, yet they paved the way for the proceedings. Nevertheless, despite the important role words sometimes play in bringing us closer together as members of Christ’s family, and of the human family Paul writes that “human eloquence” can empty the cross “of its meaning (1 Cor. 1:17).

How can this happen?

One answer is that words themselves are a means of dividing the people, ideas, and objects they represent into categories that separate one thing from another. Language distinguishes between an apple and an orange, between people from one tribe or place and another. Language defines an “us” and a “them.” It names God and the elements of God’s creation. Such differentiation has its place because recognizing our differences can help us learn from each other and grow in humility. Certainly recognizing that we are not God can help with the latter.

But problems arise when we let ourselves believe that the ways we are different from other people make us better than them. This belief won’t let us celebrate others as the unique reflections of God that they are. Problems also arise when we get so focused on the challenges that our differences present that we don’t recognize what we have in common. Third, problems arise when we focus so much on our separateness from God that we don’t grow in our relationship with God. These problems are some forms sin can take.

The effects of sin are the opposite of the effect of the cross of Christ, which has the power to close the painful gaps we create between ourselves and others and between ourselves and God. Is this closure complete? No, because each of us has to receive healing (the reception of which sometimes means carrying crosses of our own) so that we can share it again and again. Also, this healing is not complete because we haven’t yet reached the end of time as we know it.

And there’s another reason besides the frequent divisiveness of “human eloquence” that can empty the cross “of its meaning” (1 Cor. 17). Human eloquence can have this effect when it isn’t supported by action — which is not to say that words cannot be actions in and of themselves. Sometimes words can help us comprehend the full meaning of actions. Yet they can also be attractive but devoid of meaning. Presenting an eloquent argument in favor of one solution to a problem doesn’t, in fact, solve the problem. For that to happen, someone has to put the solution into action. Talking about giving someone a meal or a drink of clean water is not the same as actually providing it. Eloquent prayers and reflections by themselves are empty unless they are accompanied by actions. And yet, it can feel so much easier to talk about doing something and to tell someone else to do something than to participate in doing it myself

Lord, help me to recognize how I can be an answer to prayers today. Amen.

The Bible. The New American Bible Revised Edition, Kindle edition, Fairbrother, 2011.

Confraternity of Christian Doctrine, Inc. “Sunday July, 2 2023: Readings at Mass.” The New American Bible, 2001. Universalis for Windows, Version 2.179, Universalis Publishing Ltd., 26 Feb. 2023, https://universalis.com/n-app-windows.htm

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Harmony Means More Than a Beautiful Sound

Posted in Reflections on Scripture, Social Justice, Who is God, tagged , , , on December 9, 2022| Leave a Comment »

Photo by Michael Maasen on Unsplash

This week’s readings:

  • Isaiah 11:1–10
  • Psalm 72:1–2, 7–8, 12–13, 17
  • Romans 15:4–9
  • Matthew 3:1–12

Also cited:

  • Isaiah 40:4
  • 1 Corinthians 12:4
  • Philippians 2 2

I want to go to the place described in Isaiah 11:1-10. The passage describes what a kingdom united to one on whom “the spirit of the Lord shall rest” will look like (Isa. 11:2). I’ve just quoted a single verse from the passage, but the excerpt in its entirety offers such beautiful imagery. Read the entire passage. If you’re like me, you’ll come away feeling all kinds of warm fuzzies.

In case you don’t have time to look the passage up right now, I still want this post to make sense, so I’ll summarize the verses. The Anointed One is wise, humble, and just. He “lifts up” every valley and makes every hill “low” (Isa. 40:4). In other words, he smooths everything out. His virtues effect eternal peace among and within all that is. The psalm further expands on the presentation of what this peace will look and feel like.

So does the third reading, even though it doesn’t paint an idyllic picture of the future and instead instructs the members of the early Christian community in Rome about how to conduct themselves. They are to look to the Scriptures for “encouragement that [they] might have hope” as they endure successive present moments that fall short of the promises that the first two readings make (Rom. 15:4).

When I first heard the third reading this time around, I don’t think I actually got its message. I found it difficult to see Paul’s instructions as part of fulfilling those promises. Romans 15:5 says to “think in harmony with one another, in keeping with Christ Jesus that with one accord you may with one voice glorify the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.” The source of my struggle was that between most recently hearing this reading and returning to it as I prepared to write this post, I remembered it including a verse that tells Christians to be “of one mind.” These aren’t the words I’m seeing either in publications of the Sunday Readings or in my Bible. Nevertheless, a quick Google search for where “of one mind” appears in the New Testament letters brings up Philippians 2:2, whose message is very similar to Romans: 15:5.

I’m glad the epistle for this week was the passage from Romans and wasn’t a passage including Philippians 2:2. My gut reaction is that the instruction to be “of one mind” means that to be united with God and with each other means to agree about everything, to be essentially the same person, or maybe to be multiple robots produced by following one blueprint. But contrary to this (lack of) understanding, Paul assures the flock in Corinth that “there are different kinds of spiritual gifts but the same Spirit” (1 Cor. 12:4).When I went back to Romans 5:5 in light of this message, I noticed that the verse wants us to be in “harmony with one another. [Italics mine]”

Here’s what I’ve learned from my time in school and church choirs about what it means to be in harmony: it means one singing part blending with another so that the parts enrich each other’s qualities. When I hear a choir, my ears don’t perceive the parts as separate components unless I work hard to distinguish the individual parts. Instead, I perceive the components as one, rich sound that would be missing something without each part. Harmony fills out a musical competition, giving it movement, depth, and nuance. A musical composition without harmony sounds thinner and flimsier than one with it.

Applying my limited musical knowledge and skills to the third reading reminds me that being in harmony doesn’t mean that we must never disagree, nor does it mean that we should all be the same. Rather, it means being open to each other’s gifts. Being open to each other’s gifts is essential for each of us to reflect who we are in God. We can think differently and be different from each other and still “[w]elcome one another” (Rom. 15:7). We don’t have to distance ourselves from those who are different from us. To “welcome one another” is not to let fear disrupt the harmony God wants us to enjoy with each other and with Him. It is to recognize the truth that God works through each of us because of our differences — differences that, when employed for “produc[ing] good fruit,” blend to make one sound that’s all the richer for being layered (Mat. 3:8).

The Bible. The New American Bible Revised Edition, Kindle edition, Fairbrother, 2011.

Confraternity of Christian Doctrine, Inc. “Sunday July, 2 2023: Readings at Mass.” The New American Bible, 2001. Universalis for Windows, Version 2.179, Universalis Publishing Ltd., 26 Feb. 2023, https://universalis.com/n-app-windows.htm

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Needs—Both Visible and Invisible

Posted in Reflections on Scripture, Social Justice, tagged , on September 28, 2022| Leave a Comment »

Photo by Lewis Guapo on Unsplash

A while back, I heard someone say that we don’t have poverty today like that which existed when Jesus walked in the Holy Land. I thought, “That’s not true.” Even if we look only at people in the US and say that life below the poverty line in this country is better than the circumstances the Lazarus of Luke 16:19-31 finds himself in while he lives, there are still too many people who don’t know where their next meal is coming from and can’t afford life-saving treatment or preventative medical care. This is unacceptable. We’re the stewards of God’s gifts, and part of being a steward means taking care of the lives that intersect with ours. In one way or another each of our lives intersects with every other life. Each one is a gift from God.

“Loneliness and the feeling of being unwanted is the most terrible poverty”

St. Teresa of calcutta

One of the wonderful qualities of the parables is that they contain enough details and yet are universal enough to speak to people who receive them in a variety of times, places, and circumstances. The parable in Luke 16:19-31 is no exception.

Yes, it’s important to be on the lookout for the members of the human family who lack the material necessities of life, and to share what we have to meet those needs. That is one of the messages of this parable.

Yet, as I’ve heard and read the story again this week, I’ve found myself zeroing in on certain details I haven’t before. I found myself noticing just how near Lazarus is to the rich man. I’ve also noticed the statement “Dogs even used to come and lick his sores” (Luke 16:21). I suspect this detail would be repulsive to a first-century audience. The possibility of this reaction underscores how unaware human beings can be of each other’s needs — so unaware that a repulsive action from an animal demonstrates greater attention than a nearby human does. Meanwhile, some readers and listeners today might say it’s not surprising the dog showed more care for Lazarus than the rich man did.

But this lack of surprise at human obliviousness and/or callousness doesn’t have to feel so familiar. We can appreciate how God shows love for us through all of creation even as we look for ways to share God’s love with the world around us. We can choose to be conscious and proactive conduits of that love.

And not only by tending to the needs of those who lack material necessities. We can reach out to our brothers and sisters who are reaching out to us for companionship. As St. Teresa of Calcutta said, “Loneliness and the feeling of being unwanted is the most terrible poverty” (qtd. in Brenninkmeyer). We can also respond to our brothers and sisters who turn to us for guidance. As Lisa Brenninkmeyer reminds us, we can strive to be more aware of and to meet the needs of those closest to us.

I’d like to wrap up this post with the prayer she used to close a reflection for September 25th. You can listen to that reflection here. It comes from her collection of daily devotions entitled Be Still, which I’m listening to through the Hallow app.

Dear Lord,
Take the blinders of my eyes so I see the needs around me. Help me to see the interruptions in my day as opportunities to serve. I may never see how significant these little acts of kindness are, but You see. You know. And that is enough. Amen

Lisa Brenninkmeyer

Works cited

The Bible. The New American Bible Revised Edition, Kindle edition, Fairbrother, 2011.

Brenninkmeyer, Lisa. “September 25.” Be Still Devotional, Hallow, 25 Sept. 2022, https://hallow.com/prayers/1008598/. Accessed 28 Sept. 2022

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When the Truth Is Hard to Hear

Posted in Disability, Reflections on Scripture, Social Justice, tagged , , on August 18, 2022| Leave a Comment »

Photo by Seth Doyle on Unsplash

Do you think that I have come to establish peace on the earth? No, I tell you, but rather division.

Luke 12:51

Jesus follows this question and answer by giving various ways his message is going to divide the very units of society I’d like most to see unified — families. What verse 51 says is difficult enough to hear, but then, with the part about relatives, Jesus says to me, “There is no part of your life I won’t unsettle if you follow me.”

Because I’m someone prone to anxiety, and because I’m someone who depends on others to do for me what others do for themselves, the declarations of Luke 12:49-53 are the epitome of what I don’t want to hear. My first instinct is not to alienate anyone.

I hate controversy. I hate conflict. As someone whose “normal” has always looked and felt different than the “normal” of those around me, I just want to belong and be accepted. As someone whose brain sends garbled signals to my body, with the result being that all my muscles try to work at once, I want to be still and to relax. I want to sit on the outside of the of the events of life that range from the inconvenient to the tragic, infuriating, and horrific.

I know that my mental and physical conditions actually don’t make me different from other people in my desire not to make myself or others uncomfortable. My conditions just make this desire all the more intense — too often paralyzing. Still, I don’t think I’m alone when I acknowledge that there have been plenty of times when I wish I hadn’t been afraid to speak up. There have been plenty of situations I look back on and wish I hadn’t been afraid to stand out. There have been so many times when maintaining or earning approval felt more important than acting on what my spirit said was right. The fruits of these moments of silence and inaction haven’t been peace. Instead, my insides have churned. I may not have been divided from others, but I was divided within myself. That’s the opposite of peace.

Despite these experiences, there have been more and more times, especially as I’ve gotten further away from my teens and twenties that I have spoken out — even if I still don’t speak about my own convictions and act on my own words as often as I would like.

When I do engage in uncomfortable conversations, they usually happen with the people I’m closest to, and I don’t think I’m alone in this experience. I open up first to the people I feel are most likely to continue the relationship with me even after I tell them something they don’t want to hear.

What happens when I venture into these conversations? Yes, my heart races, I sweat, and I blush. But how do I feel once I’ve said what I needed to say? Calm. Why? Because I’ve been honest. I haven’t suppressed what matters to me. I’ve allowed myself to experience God’s peace, which is rooted in love, truth and justice. And as I heard in the homily this weekend, God’s peace means more than “getting along.”

Does this deeper understanding of peace mean I should act with violence, or that I should go through life starting arguments? No! God desires that everything I do be rooted in love, truth, and justice. And neither adopting a confrontational tone by default, nor resorting to violence is rooted in these building blocks of peace.

Work cited

The Bible. The New American Bible Revised Edition, Kindle edition, Fairbrother, 2011.

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