5th Sunday: The Love and Majesty of God

Click Here for the Sunday Mass Readings - 5th Sunday in Ordinary Time (Year C):

If someone gave you the opportunity to get in the way of God's plan, or say "no" to His plan outright, undoubtedly you would refuse the offer.  I have yet to meet someone of good will and sound mind who consciously attempts to obstruct or even pervert the plan of God in his life.  Happily, most of the human race can stand under the banner of "men and women of good will".  This is no guarantee, as we will see in this Sunday's readings, that we will not be tempted to back down from the greatness to which God calls us. 

This Sunday's readings lead us to reflect on different dimensions of God's plan for each and every human person.  His plan is one of majesty and glory which calls us to set out into deep, uncharted waters.  All of us have some notion of God or another, but no one expects what God really has in store for man.  We cannot imagine His love nor the greatness of His plan for us.  When we catch a glimpse of it we are reduced to awe and fear.  This was Isaiah's reaction in the first reading and the reason St. Peter asked Christ to leave him in today's Gospel.  The miracles of Christ and the work of God exceed our human capacity to understand - God is greater than the human mind, and more expansive than man's limited experience.

The second reading gives us a further perspective of the revelation of God: in the person of St. Paul it offers us an image of the interior transformation that this experience can bring about in the human person.  The reading differs from the other two insofar as we are not dealing with the actual moment in which God revealed Himself to Paul.  Instead we see the effects this revelation had on Paul years after it took place; we see the mature fruit that the revelation of God's majesty and plan bore in the depths of Paul's being.  We see a man of exceedingly mature and humble faith - sure signs that someone has really experienced and felt the awesomeness of what God has in store for him.

Paul, just as Isaiah and Peter, felt his entire existence unravel at the revelation of God's love and majesty, but we can also perceive in the second reading how this became the source of Paul's humility, faith, and apostolic zeal.  He was able to get over and move beyond himself, beyond his embarrassment at persecuting Christ, and was able to accept the majesty of God's plan for him, notwithstanding all the evil he had done.  Paul did not pretend he had never sinned, but as we hear in the second reading, he freely acknowledged both the calling of God and his own unworthiness: "For I am the least of the apostles, not fit to be called an apostle, because I persecuted the church of God."  With the profound understanding of God's love and will, and an equally profound understanding of his own unworthiness (which he never allowed to become an obstacle to accomplishing God's plan), Paul arrives at a simple conclusion: "But by the grace of God I am what I am, and his grace to me has not been ineffective."  This conclusion represents an inner reconciliation between God's love and Paul's own unworthiness.

Let us never fear the awesomeness of God's love and plan, but welcome it in humility and faith, and "set out into the deep," as John Paul II often encouraged us - moving beyond our comfortable shores for the glory of God and the salvation of our brothers and sisters.  May we never accept the temptation to look first to ourselves or our unworthiness, but may our gaze remain fixed on Christ and the greatness of His plan.

We will have several opportunities this coming week to continue pondering the interior transformation that Christ calls all of us to through a personal encounter with Him.  God bless you and have a beautiful Sunday.

The Source of Our Vocation

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We have two beautiful readings given to us in today's Mass.  The first is Solomon's prayer to the Lord; a prayer that comes from the depths of Solomon's heart, asking the Lord for the wisdom needed to accomplish the task God had placed before him.  Solomon does not ask for wealth, more power, or fame, nor the heads of his enemies on a platter, unlike Herodias' daughter in yesterday's Gospel.  Instead, Solomon's prayer for wisdom reveals the inner depths of his heart: he is wholly given over to doing God's will, and wants the wisdom which comes from God in order to do it well.  God is pleased with this prayer and He responds to Solomon's request: "The LORD was pleased that Solomon made this request.  So God said to him: 'Because you have asked for this – not for a long life for yourself, nor for riches, nor for the life of your enemies, but for understanding so that you may know what is right – I do as you requested.'"  What is more, God would not allow Himself to be outdone in generosity, so He adds, "in addition, I give you what you have not asked for, such riches and glory that among kings there is not your like."

In the Gospel Jesus takes the apostles to a deserted place so they may rest - an essential element for all who seek first the kingdom of God.  We need to rest.  The modern day concepts of "productivity" and "progress" (concepts which very few stop to really ponder) cannot be equated to the Gospel concept of "fruitfulness".  We need to work hard in our day to day life, but we also need that rest which will strengthen us to continue the work of God in our lives (whether that means working in the world, in an office, at home with the kids, studying in school, or something else).  Without that rest the "work of God" quickly degenerates into the "my work" and begins to bear little fruit.  Rest means both physical and spiritual; it involves every dimension of the human person.  Most everyone understands what physical rest implies (NB: sitting in front of the t.v. all day actually makes you more tired and drains you of creative energy), but spiritual rest means being with God, spending time with Him, not avoiding Him.

Today's Mass readings give us a nice conclusion to our extended meditation on the prophetic office of Christ, and the "prophetic vocation" we have received by the simple fact that we have been baptized.  We not only noted the fact that Solomon turned to God to ask for wisdom, but before He turned to God in prayer Solomon's heart was already set like flint on accomplishing the will of God in his life.  Solomon lived the Gospel precept "seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be given you besides" (Mt 6:33), and we saw how this came to fruition in Solomon's life - God did not allow Himself to be outdone in generosity.  When we give ourselves over to living as disciples and witnesses of Christ in whatever the circumstances of our life happen to be, God opens for us the hidden treasures of His kingdom.  Finally, if we are to do the will of God, and do it well, we need to find the source of our strength in God; to rest in Him through prayer, listening, and adoration.  To drive home this last point I will close with an analogy Father Raniero Cantalamessa, the preacher of the Pontifical Household, made in one of his meditations for Pope Benedict during this past Advent.  It was made with particular reference to priests, but can be applied to anyone who follows Christ, first and foremost the priest:

"As in God the whole external work of creation, flows from his intimate life, 'from the incessant flow of his love,' and as all the activity of Christ flows from his uninterrupted dialogue with the Father, so all the works of a priest must be the prolongation of his union with Christ. 'As the Father sent me, even so I send you,' also means this: 'I came into the world without separating myself from the Father, you go into the world without separating yourselves from me.'

When this contact is interrupted, it is as when the electric current is cut off in a house and everything stops and is in darkness or, if it is a question of the water supply, the faucets no longer give water. One hears said sometimes: how can one be tranquil and pray when so many needs claim our presence? How can one not run when the house is burning? It is true, but imagine what would happen to a squadron of fire fighters that ran, to the sound of a siren, to extinguish a fire and then, arriving at the site, remembers that they have not even a drop of water in the tanks. This is how we are, when we run to preach or to another ministry empty of prayer and of the Holy Spirit."

God is Our Refuge and Strength

Click Here for the Mass Readings for Today:

It is early Friday morning here in Rome and the jet lag is waning.  Today's post is a continuation of the topic we picked up last Sunday - the prophetic office of Christ, and the prophetic vocation that each person receives in baptism.  The Sunday readings are meant to set the tone for the week, and so when we read the weekday readings in the light of Sunday's readings not only do different dimensions of the same topic come to the fore, but we absorb the grace of Sunday's Mass more profoundly and enter into a prolonged contemplation of the mysteries presented to us in Sunday's liturgy.  Through the few posts I have been able to put up this week I am attempting to show you not only the methodology but also the richness of the Sunday readings and how they can be pondered from different points of view throughout the week.

In today's first reading we hear of King David's greatness.  We hear how David loved and glorified God in many ways, and how God was his strength and refuge.  This is a theme that repeats itself in Sacred Scripture - the one who places his hope in God is not disappointed; he receives strength from God and is able to endure any hardship that results from doing God's will.  We saw this also in Sunday's first reading when God told the prophet Jeremiah, "they will fight against you but not prevail over you, for I am with you to deliver you."  

Jesus taught the apostles to trust in God's providence by sending them out to announce the good news two by two with only the bare necessities.  These were the instructions we heard in yesterday's Gospel: "He instructed them to take nothing for the journey but a walking stick – no food, no sack, no money in their belts."  In this way the disciples would be free to focus on seeking first the kingdom of God and learn from experience how God provides.  As we know, the disciples will return later to Jesus overcome with awe at how powerfully God was able to work through them.

In today's Gospel we hear once again of Jesus' prophetic office: some think Jesus is John the Baptist raised from the dead, others think He is long expected prophet Elijah, and others think He is simply another prophet.  The Gospel then moves into the story of John the Baptist's beheading - a sign of the suffering Jesus will eventually endure precisely because He has come to announce the Kingdom of God.

At this point we can draw together the various elements related to Jesus' office of prophet, and also their relevance for our lives as disciples of Christ.  First, we see that being a witness to Christ and proclaiming the Gospel with our lives and words brings about resistance; when we live out the prophetic vocation we received through baptism we become, like Jesus, a sign of contradiction to the world.  Just as we read in Sunday's Gospel, some will reject Christ and the Gospel (some do so explicitly, but many others in a less obvious fashion).  At this point we recall what we said above: God is our strength in hardship and our refuge, and He will always provide what is necessary for us when we strive to do His will and seek first the Kingdom of God.  Discipleship does not mean we will be immune to suffering or harm - Jesus spoke continuously of the cross - but when we strive to draw close to God He will draw close to us and console us in ways we have never imagined, both interiorly and also through the goodness of other people.  So, while faithfulness to the grace of our baptism and our prophetic vocation is not easy, it is a blessed life, and God will continually strengthen and console us in many unforeseeable ways.  It is a blessed life worth living.  May all of us grow in appreciation for the gift that God has bestowed on us in our baptism, and for the Kingdom of God that He is building within us and within the world.  God bless you.

Prophetic Witness

Click Here for Today's Mass Readings:

"As he [Jesus] was getting into the boat, the man who had been possessed pleaded to remain with him.  But Jesus would not permit him but told him instead, 'Go home to your family and announce to them all that the Lord in his pity has done for you.'  Then the man went off and began to proclaim in the Decapolis what Jesus had done for him; and all were amazed."

These were the closing words to today's Gospel passage.  A man who had been possessed and tormented unceasingly by a multitude of demons, and doomed to wandered daily among the tombs of the dead, encounters Jesus and discovers a freedom, peace and rest he probably despaired of ever obtaining.  That's a scene to make one think twice about keeping company with demons.

The point I wish to underline, following the theme of prophecy which Sunday's readings presented to us, is that here we have a man who pleads with Jesus to be allowed to be one of His intimate friends - to remain with Him as the apostles did - and Jesus gives him another task: he is to return home to his family and announce all that the Lord has done for him.  St. Peter, who had witnessed this event, would later echo the greatness of this vocation in one of his letters: "you are 'a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people of his own, so that you may announce the praises' of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light." (1 Peter 2:9)  Some times we can ask ourselves rather despairingly, "what good can I do at work or even at home?"  The words of Jesus and St. Peter resound in reply in every age: "Announce to them all that the Lord in his pity has done for you."  This "announcement" consists above all in a transformation of life through a living encounter with Jesus Christ; hearing and responding to His voice which calls us out of the darkness of sin (and therefore interior torment) into the light of His peace.  This is the prophetic witness that all of us are capable of giving, and that all baptized Christians are called to give, no matter who we are or what our state in life.  Just like the man in the Gospel, you don't have to be one of the Twelve apostles to be able to give witness to Christ.  It doesn't even take a high school diploma to be able to give such a witness, it only takes your "yes" and a joyful, mustard seed-like faith.  Jesus transformed lives through others, even through a man whose life was ruled by demons.  What we proclaim is not a series of dry facts, nor worse, ourselves, but a living experience of the resurrected Christ who has called us out of darkness into His own wonderful light.  This is the prophetic witness that has the power to change lives because people sense the proximity of Christ's work and presence in one who abides joyfully in His light.