February 1, 2009: 4th Sunday in Ordinary Time

The readings at first seem oddly unrelated, but I think that maybe what ties them together is the idea of “Promise and Fulfillment.” God’s ancient promise of “a prophet like Moses” to accompany the people in difficult times (given in the first reading) is “fulfilled” in the Gospel reading, where even the unclean spirits can recognize “The Holy One of God.” It’s important to remember that Moses had received his commission because the people were “afraid” to go up onto Mt. Sinai, themselves. And it is often “fear” that keeps us finding our peace in God—fear that we won’t be good enough, or smart enough, or pious enough. The point of the Gospel is that the Power of God working through His Christ can cast out that fear that would alienate us from God and each other. So, what is it that keeps “you” from feeling fulfilled in God? What are you afraid you don’t have? Let’s pray for trust in the One Who supplies all needs and casts out all fear.

January 25, 2009: 3rd Sunday in Ordinary Time

Do you feel God has given you a “call” to either draw closer to Him, or to go forth to do something in His Name? In the readings this weekend we “overhear” two “calls” of God: one given to the prophet Jonah, the other by Jesus to the first disciples. We know from the part of the Book of Jonah NOT read in today’s reading that he didn’t particularly like the call he got, and, in fact, tried to escape it—to no avail. Probably the disciples found Jesus’ call just as distasteful. Why? Well, the Sea of Galilee area was a hot bed of revolution, and had been for decades. Several major revolutionary movements could be traced to that rambunctious area. The disciples Jesus called were probably preparing themselves to be revolutionaries of some sort. What they became, through the call, was indeed revolutionary, but probably not what they would have envisioned. This is a weekend to simply ask God what he wants of each one of us—that to which He is calling us—and we should never make that prayer without accompanying it with a prayer asking for the strength to follow through in fulfilling it.

January 11, 2009, The Feast of the Lord’s Baptism

The waters of the River Jordan marked the “very edge” of the nation. Beyond them was pagan territory. Some at the time of Jesus believed that “blessing” ended at the Jordan, and beyond it was chaos and curse. Such a belief did not arise from prejudice so much as a conflict of values. When we think of the values of “the world,” we think of profit and power; when we think of the values of the “people of God,” we think of charity and selflessness. Do you see the conflict? The Jordan represented more than a “time zone change” does to us, today. It represented a change in loyalty, in identity, and in life’s goal and purpose. Jesus moved to the “very edge” of chaos to begin the inner healing of the nation, for it had, without realizing it, begun to absorb those very foreign values as its own. We meet Him waist-deep in the water, Divine Dove descending, as we watch the work of God commence, a work which will win back the sinners to make of them saints. Let us pray that that same Power which touched the lives of characters in the Gospel will touch us too, transforming our tendency to sloth and sinfulness into an impulse to sanctity.

January 4, 2009, Feast of the Epiphany

The wise men “departed for their country by another way;” so ends the Gospel of the Epiphany. That tells us something of the character of the wise, doesn’t it? They aren’t bound by the past when it no longer serves. There is a place for honoring Tradition, for, think about it: without “Tradition” there would be no celebration of the Feast of the Epiphany! Yet, the feast itself celebrates the creativity of these three wise travelers to choose a different route to home, for only if they choose a different route will they reach home in peace. Are you finding yourself in some way “stuck,” right now? Do you feel the need for change? If so, you are in the right place as you pray at the Epiphany Altar. Let us ask the God of Wayfarers to guide each of us, by routes old and new, through our present difficulties to true freedom and joy.