Nobody’s Perfect!

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Ancient Songs Sung Anew, chosen, Corinthians, God's grace, humility, Isaiah, Luke, Psalm 138, St. Paul, The Sophia Center for Spirituality

Beginning with the Prophet Isaiah today, we have laments in every age about our imperfections. He starts us off by describing a vision of God seated on “a high and lofty throne” with angels all around and proclaims, “Woe is me, I am doomed! For I am a man of unclean lips!” What follows is testimony to God’s willingness to choose him – even in his weakness – and to cure him. (IS 6:1-8) Similarly in the second reading, St. Paul acknowledges that he was not fit to be called an apostle because he had been diligent in persecuting Christians. “By the grace of God,” however, he acknowledges that “I am what I am and God’s grace has not been ineffective.” (1COR 15: 1-11). Finally we have Simon Peter doubting the effectiveness of the directive Jesus gives to the fishermen who have been all night at their task and caught nothing. Perhaps his saving grace was that although he expressed his doubt about going back out “into deep water” and lowering the nets again, he said to Jesus, “but at your command I will lower the nets.” You know the story (LK 5: 1-11). The nets were almost breaking with all the fish! Peter’s response: to fall at the knees of Jesus and say, “Depart from me, Lord, for I am a sinful man.” In each of these cases, the imperfect servant comes to know a sort of greatness in humility.

The lesson in each of these readings is captured in Psalm 138, tucked in the center of it all. “Your right hand saves me…your kindness, O Lord, endures forever…” Lynn Bauman’s translation of this psalm gives a beautiful expression of encouragement to us, letting us know that in spite of our human frailty God is just waiting to give us what we need.

For when I spoke your sacred name, your word of answer swiftly came as source of all the strength I know within. O peoples of this earth, know this, you too can hear this voice and speak the name. You too can know the music of this song revealing God’s beauty in fullest splendor. For though God is high beyond this earth, as swift as wind God stoops to hold the lowly close, the proud afar…(Ancient Songs Sung Anew, p.354)

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Antony of Egypt

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Antony of Egypt, humility, mercy, pray, righteousness, spirituality, The Sophia Center for Spirituality

Today is the feast of one of the great Desert Fathers, a man living an amazingly long life (251-356), whose legacy is greatly revered by those seeking a depth of spirituality. At the same time, Antony’s words are often quite matter-of-fact and “down-to-earth” and occasionally sound even humorous in our day (although most likely unintentionally). Here are three examples.

A brother said to Abba Antony, “Pray for me.” The old man said to him, “I will have no mercy upon you, nor will God have any, if you yourself do not make an effort and if you do not pray to God.”

Abba Antony said, “I saw the snares that the enemy spread out over the world and I said groaning, “What can get through from such snares?” Then I heard a voice saying to me, “Humility.”

Abba Pambo asked Abba Antony, “What ought I to do?” and the old man said to him, “Do not trust your own righteousness, do not worry about the past, but control your tongue and your stomach.”

A Way to Live

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compassion, forgiveness, gentleness, give thanks, gratefulness, humility, kindness, patience, peace of Christ, St. Paul, The Sophia Center for Spirituality, word of Christ

Because I think that the second lectionary reading for today in many Churches is perhaps the most precise and concise advice for living – not only for Christians for whom St. Paul wrote it, but for all (at least in some adapted way), I offer it this morning without additional comment. May we all ponder Paul’s words and hope for a world where they are truly lived.

Brothers and sisters: Put on, as God’s chosen ones, holy and beloved, heartfelt compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience, bearing with one another and forgiving one another, if one has a grievance against another; as the Lord has forgiven you, so must you also do. And over all of these, put on love, which binds the rest together. And let the peace of Christ reign in your hearts, since as one body we have been called to this peace. And be thankful. Let the word of Christ, rich as it is, dwell in you, as in all wisdom you teach and admonish one another, singing psalms, hymns and inspired songs with gratitude in your hearts to God. And whatever you do, in word or in deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God through him. (COL 3:12-17)

Postscript

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Advent, authenticity, charity, courage, faith, forgiveness, honesty, humility, Joyce Rupp, kindness, Lent, loyalty, mercy, patience, Prayer Seeds, qualities, reflection, respect, The Sophia Center for Spirituality, understanding

As travelers begin homeward journeys after celebrating Thanksgiving and those of us who enjoyed blessed companionship at home find ways to re-prepare turkey and “fixins,” Joyce Rupp offers a prayer. It is only one paragraph but holds a wealth of reflection should we accept the invitation of the 13 qualities that could take us far down a road of spiritual growth. Practicing one a week for 13 weeks would take us to the cusp of Lent. One a month, if the starting line was December 2, would span 2019 in fine style as a response to the holiday we have just observed. Why not write each one on a post-it note or index card and display it on the refrigerator or the inside of the exit door to your home and watch for how it affects things during its turn as your practice? What can we lose? What will we most certainly gain?

Sower of Seeds, you have placed in our hearts the potential for many gifts of your love to grow and ripen. Charity, authenticity, mercy, honesty, humility, forgiveness, loyalty, patience, understanding, courage, kindness, faith, respect, and other qualities reflective of your goodness dwell in our interior fields and garden…(Prayer Seeds, p. 181)

Once More With Feeling

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Brother Curtis Almquist, humility, identification, judgment, love, love is the answer, perception, reject, The Sophia Center for Spirituality

I feel as if I’m getting boring in this daily task, as everything seems to move toward the same message, no matter where I am or what the day portends. It’s as if everything is conspiring to have me see that in everything every day love is truly the answer. No matter how it is expressed, underneath every message is that truth. I found it this morning in a message from a website that shows up in my mail every day. On this day, when I will be in a day-long meeting with about a hundred Sisters of St. Joseph, I am happy to have it with me, just in case…

Humility: The discovery of the grace of humility is a movement toward a spirit of identification. It’s to presume, in some deep way, “I am this other person.” And rather than to use our judgment to reject or condemn, to use that perception of this other as an insightful invitation for mercy. Someone who has a way of getting under our skin in some significant way probably belongs there. (Brother Curtis Almquist)

 

 

 

 

 

 

Pope Saint John XXIII

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gratitude, holiness, humility, humor, Job, Pope John XXIII, saint, Second Vatican Council, The Sophia Center for Spirituality

Today we celebrate Pope John XXIII, canonized (some would add “finally!”) by Pope Francis in 2014. The website franciscanmedia.org opens today’s reflection with a wonderful sentence: “A shy, retiring man with a wonderful sense of humor, Cardinal Angelo Roncalli became our beloved Pope St. John XXIII.” It is well known that he was elected by the College of Cardinals as a stop-gap pope to give them time to “get the politics ironed out for a more permanent candidate.” The Holy Spirit had other plans, however, as John XXIII rocked the Church by calling the Second Vatican Council, an aggiornamento (updating) that changed the face of Roman Catholicism for all time.

We remember Pope John for that cataclysmic event (1962-1965) as if he had never done anything in his life before, but here are a few of his credentials that should have alerted people to his fitness for the “job” of Pope even before the Council.

He was the eldest son of a farm family, simple and not interested in the limelight but rather proud of his down-to-earth roots. Having served as a stretcher bearer in World War I, he experienced war firsthand. After ordination to the priesthood he became a canon lawyer, secretary to his bishop, history teacher in the seminary and publisher of the diocesan newspaper in Rome. Subsequently, he was Italy’s national director for the Society for the Propagation of the Faith while also teaching in the seminary. He served as a papal diplomat in Bulgaria, Turkey and France. During World War II he became acquainted with Orthodox Church leaders and with the help of Germany’s ambassador to Turkey, helped save an estimated 24,000 Jewish people. As a cardinal, he was the Patriarch of Venice and a residential bishop, finally being elected Pope in his 78th year. As pope, He worked with political and religious leaders around the world and was deeply involved in efforts to resolve the Cuban missile crisis. He enlarged the membership of the College of Cardinals, making it more international, and wrote important encyclical letters to the world, most famously about the Church: Mater et magistra (Mother and Teacher) and the world: Pacem in terris (Peace on Earth).

It could be said that all of those credentials, so wonderfully documented at www.franciscanmedia.org, are overshadowed by his holiness and humility. Although it is useless to quantify such qualities, we would do well to think on these things and pray in gratitude for this saintly friend of God who served his Church and the world so well.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Clare of Assisi

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contemplation, humility, light, love, poverty, presence of God, St. Clare, St. Francis of Assisi, The Sophia Center for Spirituality, vision

St. Clare of Assisi, whom we celebrate today, was a great example of the adage “Behind every good man, there is a good woman.” While he did not see her often, St. Francis counted on her holiness and wisdom to shore up his determination in times of doubt and difficulty. Clare was a clear mirror of the presence of God for Francis and for those women who followed her to the convent of San Damiano, and he was the same for her. She was a woman of great strength and perseverance who believed that she was the one who knew best what should be written in a rule for women in a religious order. Although she easily accepted the rule that Francis has written in the early days, after the death of Francis she continued for 27 years to submit a revised rule to bishops and popes until she finally received and signed a constitutional document of her own two days before her death on August 11, 1253.

Living in the freedom of poverty and the humility of a cloistered community, motivated by love alone, Clare wrote to a younger woman to encourage her in her living of religious life:

Happy, indeed is she to whom it is given to share the sacred banquet, to cling with all her heart to Him Whose beauty all the heavenly hosts admire unceasingly, Whose love inflames our love, Whose contemplation is our refreshment, Whose graciousness is our joy, Whose gentleness fills us to overflowing, Whose remembrance brings a gentle light, Whose fragrance will revive the dead, Whose glorious vision will be the happiness – of all the citizens of the Heavenly Jerusalem.

Praise be to God for this wonderful woman!

 

 

 

 

 

 

What Does God Want?

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Hebrew Scriptures, humility, integrity, justice, Micah, offerings, released, slavery, social justice, The Sophia Center for Spirituality

This morning’s first reading from the prophet Micah is one of the more familiar texts from the Hebrew Scriptures used in prayer services at events, especially if the audience is considering a social justice agenda. Chapter 6, verse 8 even appears on posters and is a great summary in answer to the question: “What does God ask of us?” It’s succinct, broad-based and even lyrical in its construction in most translations.

This is what the Lord asks of you, only this: to act rightly, to love justice and to walk humbly with your God.

If you’re looking for a “nutshell” answer to how to live life on earth, it’s probably one of the best. This morning, however, I started paying attention to all of Micah’s message which included verses 1-4 and 6-8. Micah is representing God, “entering into trial with Israel” to question the nation’s disregard of all the things God has done on their behalf. “I brought you up from the land of Egypt…released you from slavery…” God sounds really disappointed. (“What have I done to you? How have I wearied you? Answer me!”)

But then the tone shifts and it’s Micah asking the questions about what offering would be enough to satisfy God; burnt offerings? a first-born child?…What is enough to make recompense? Surprisingly maybe, it’s nothing like that. We need offer nothing but our best selves: persons of integrity, humility and justice, to the God who has loved us into life. Does that God not deserve the best effort of our hearts?

 

 

 

 

 

Your Sins Are Forgiven

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courage, faith, forgive sins, forgiveness, heal, healing, humility, Jesus, Matthew, paralyzed, recognition, sinner, The Sophia Center for Spirituality

The gospel holds a question that I have never before stopped to consider in the way I heard it today. As I reflected, I noticed even a lot more in the short passage that led me to a deeper place. In MT 9:1-8, Jesus has just returned to “his own town” where he encounters a paralyzed man, brought to him on a stretcher by people who obviously have faith in his power to heal. There is no conversation; Jesus just saw their faith and immediately said, “Courage, child, your sins are forgiven.”

I probably wouldn’t have thought much about the encounter in this very familiar passage but a second look at the entire event gave me much more to ponder. When the scribes who were in hearing distance thought to themselves that Jesus was speaking in a way that could be called blasphemy (speaking sacrilegiously about God or sacred things), Jesus knew what they were thinking and asked them, “Why do you harbor evil thoughts? Which is easier, to say, ‘Your sins are forgiven’ or ‘Rise and walk?’ My guess is they were quite surprised that he was reading their thoughts.

My original intent in writing about this passage was to consider the question just raised by Jesus. I wondered what the scribes would have answered if Jesus had given them a chance. He did not do that, however, but indicated that his purpose was to show his “authority on earth to forgive sins” rather than his ability to heal the body. Most likely because they were not at a level of development to understand what that meant, he then told the man to “rise, pick up your stretcher and go home.” The conclusion of the passage illustrates a lack of understanding on the part of the whole crowd of who Jesus really was, noting that “when the crowds saw this they were struck with awe and glorified God who had given such authority to men.”

So what is my point? In a sense it is the thought I started with: a consideration of internal and external healing. We are living in a time when the consciousness of the connection of body, mind and spirit is evident in the literature of mainstream culture as well as in spiritual circles. Meditation is touted as essential to health and wholeness as is physical exercise. Healing of memories is as important as dealing with present-day conflicts. The soul and the body are both in need of healing. Jesus was talking about the former while observers were waiting for the cure of the latter.

My wondering has now come full circle. My question to myself was: If I were the paralyzed person to whom Jesus said, “Your sins are forgiven,” would I be shocked and resistant at being judged a sinner (and thereby, probably not cured) or would I recognize the need for forgiveness and let that be enough, whether or not my body was freed from paralysis? It’s a question of humility and recognition, it seems, as well as a trust in God’s unconditional love that takes more than a quick look inside to answer honestly.

 

 

 

 

 

Be Careful What You Ask For!

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bigger picture, humility, James, John, listening, love, Mark, Matthew, prayer, prestigeattention, The Sophia Center for Spirituality, trust, wisdom, Zebedee

Today we have an appearance of those two outspoken disciples, James and John, the sons of Zebedee. We first meet them in the gospel of Matthew as they are with their father preparing their nets for fishing. As with all the others who left what they were doing to follow Jesus, one wonders about the reaction in their family. We never meet the father again but their mother shows up in the gospel of Matthew asking for privilege for her sons (MT 20) and today we have Mark’s rendition of that event (MK 10:32-45) where the brothers speak for themselves. It’s a rather shocking passage but maybe understandable if you consider the haughty behavior of their mother recorded elsewhere. Asking Jesus that they be “seated one at your right and one at your left in your glory” is not at all in keeping with the humility expected of the closest followers of Jesus. Even worse is the fact that Mark pairs that conversation with Jesus telling the Twelve what was going to happen to him in Jerusalem – his suffering, death and resurrection.

Maybe James and John weren’t really listening closely or maybe they just skipped over the suffering and death part because it seemed too impossible to consider, but their response held nothing of care for Jesus. It was all about the prestige they were hoping for as his companions.

While we admit that Mark’s is the shortest gospel and that it was written at least 30 to 40 years after the events described, one must wonder at the reasoning behind the juxtaposition of the two scenarios in this one passage. Was it a call for humility, pointed out by bad behavior? A call to attention, perhaps, so that we don’t miss the messages we are being given even in the everyday? Did it really happen as Mark told it, or were the brothers embarrassed by the arrogance of their mother in Matthew’s rendering? Certainly this is all conjecture but it does give one pause.

For me today it’s all about our approach to God in prayer. Awareness of “the bigger picture” of our lives, humility, trust and love ought to guide our desires as we do not speak for ourselves alone but for the good of the whole. Ultimately, wrapping all of our prayer in a mantle of surrender to the wisdom of God will assure what is best for us, even if we can’t see it in the present. And that, it seems, is the only way to live.