One More Wake-up Call

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creation, defense, Genesis, hear, Herod, Jesus, Mark Divine, Noah, Pharisees, see, The Sophia Center for Spirituality, understand, voice

The lectionary readings for today are a little scary. In the first (from Genesis 6&7) God is lamenting that he created humans at all because of how wicked they have become. The only solution, God thinks, is destruction of all humans. animals and birds. “For I am sorry that I made them,” God says. Thank heaven that Noah showed up as the one shining creation, enough to save the world because “he did what God commanded him.”

In the gospel the disciples misinterpret a warning from Jesus to watch out for the leaven of Herod and the Pharisees. Because he used the word “leaven” to describe their wickedness, the disciples thought that Jesus was upset because they had forgotten to bring enough bread for all of them to eat. (MK 8:14-21) When Jesus realized their conclusion, he reacted with what sounds like uncharacteristic vehemence and frustration in a torrent of questions: Do you not yet understand or comprehend? Are your hearts hardened? Do you have eyes and not see, ears and not hear? Do you still not understand?

Most of the time I do not consider God to depend on our strength or weakness, wickedness or upright behavior, perceptiveness or lack of understanding. I consider God (and Jesus while he lived among us) to be all knowing and loving, forgiving us everything. These readings have not changed my opinion but they do seem to have the effect this morning of making me want us to do better. It isn’t enough today for me to wring my hands at the political climate in our country and the world. And how many more “active shooters” will it take before I add my voice – not just in my home but to my Congressional representatives – about gun control? What is the purpose of reading these texts every morning if I simply put them aside and go on with my day? I don’t think it’s just up to me to save the world but if I’m not willing to make a little noise in God’s defense, how can I expect anything to change?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Good Example

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compassion, good deeds, imperfections, Jesus, lessons, Matthew, mercy, mistakes, Pharisees, Pope Francis, sacrifice, sin, sinner, The Sophia Center for Spirituality

I remember the day, early in his papacy, that Pope Francis said, “I am a sinner” in public. The quote, as we say now, “went viral.” It’s rare to have a public figure admit during an interview or a widely attended speech that s/he has imperfections. We all know that none of us is perfect but admitting it to the world – especially using the word sin to describe our actions – is not a common practice. At first I was dismayed about his admission because I think that religious people tend to focus more on sin than on giftedness and good deeds. I grabbed onto Barbra Streisand’s line that “there are no mistakes, just lessons to be learned” and used it to talk about sin from that perspective. I still think we either overplay our imperfections sometimes or try to hide them by prevaricating (i.e. “skirting around the truth or delaying giving an answer, especially to avoid telling the whole truth”) but being able to follow the Pope’s example can be very freeing. If we are honest enough to offer our true selves to others we may find that we are accepted in spite of ourselves because nobody else is perfect either!

In today’s gospel (MT 9:9-13) we meet St. Matthew, as Jesus approaches him and says, “Follow me.” At this, the Pharisees were indignant because tax collectors (Matthew’s job) were described in the same breath as “sinners.” They asked the disciples why Jesus was associating with such people. I always wish that Jesus hadn’t jumped in to answer that question; I would just like to know what his disciples would have said. But Jesus heard the question and said, “Those who are well do not need a physician, but the sick do. Go and learn the meaning of the words, I desire mercy, not sacrifice. I did not come to call the righteous but sinners.”

Pope Francis talks a lot about mercy, sometimes in the same sentence with the word “sinner.” In that way – as in so many more – he seems so close to doing what Jesus did, in being who Jesus was, to teach us all the compassionate reach of God to all of us. Ought we then do the same for one another? For ourselves?

 

 

 

 

 

Of Gnats and Camels

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camels, fidelity, fully human, gnats, hypocrites, injustice, Jesus, judgment, love, Matthew, mercy, Pharisees, Philippians, The Sophia Center for Spirituality, tithes

Sometimes in reading the gospels I am really convinced that Jesus was, as St. Paul tells us in the letter to the Philippians, fully human. On some occasions, Jesus gets really frustrated, as today in Matthew 23:23-26, when he takes the “Pharisees and hypocrites” to task for their behavior. No one could miss his point, but some of the images he uses to make those points are downright funny! I can just see him gathering steam as he goes into his condemnatory statement. Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, he says. You pay tithes of mint and dill and cumin (really lightweight spices) and have neglected the weightier things of the law: judgment and mercy and fidelity. But these you should have done, without neglecting the others. Sounds like a reasonable speech so far, but wait for it…Here comes the punch line in case they missed the point: Blind guides, who strain out the gnat and swallow the camel!

Just picture trying to take that sentence literally. Imagine the exasperation that caused Jesus to resort to such an extreme. It was the injustice of the powerful toward the “lowly ones” that he saw, not unlike some of what is going on today in many quarters. Some days, when the weather is so muggy that bugs abound, I need to remind myself to keep my mouth closed when I’m outside so I don’t inadvertently swallow a bug. It’s more of a mentally unpleasant experience than a difficult physical one but always distasteful nevertheless. Multiply it maybe a thousand times or more to get the size of a camel and it’s easy to see the extent of injustice of which Jesus speaks. No one should be allowed that level of power over another, and Jesus knew it.

May we call out injustice wherever we see it in our society. May we also beware of swallowing camels in our dealings with each other and even try to avoid the gnats of everyday living as we choose to walk the path where the constant measure of things is love.

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Weight of Evidence

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condemn, discernment, guilt, innocence, Jesus, John, judge, judgment, justice, law, Nicodemus, Pharisees, psalm 7, The Sophia Center for Spirituality

Both the psalm and the gospel in this morning’s lectionary remind me of a basic principle of law in the United States of America, i.e. “innocent until proven guilty.” We are still in chapter 7 of John’s gospel where people are divided about Jesus. As yesterday, they are convinced he cannot be the messiah because he comes from Galilee but the guards say to the authorities, “No one has ever spoken like this man!” The Pharisees are still resistant asking, “Have any of the authorities or the Pharisees believed in him?” (as if position alone yields probity.) It is Nicodemus that enters then and asks my question: “Does our law condemn a man before it first hears him and finds out what he is doing?” Would that this question always be raised at moments of personal and/or public judging in our lives!

The psalmist turns the job of judging over to God, as in psalm 7 he cries out: Judge us, judge me, judge everything and all that’s in your care. Weigh me on the scale of innocence, according to your law, and as you establish justice, bring evil to an end. For this I know, you are the source of justice done, the fairest judge of all. You know what’s in the human heart to the very secrets of the soul. You are also the great protecting one, you shield the good, defending all that’s true. (vs. 8-11)

The faculty of judgment in the manner of discernment is essential to our lives in assessing what is beneficial and what is not – from what we ought to eat, to wear, to spend our money on, etc. When judging moves into the public arena, however, where we begin to assess the intelligence, worthiness of respect, good character – or any other quality – of another person or the rightness in a situation, we ought to be sure we have spent the time and energy it takes to really make an informed judgment. And, in truth, we would be better off leaving that kind of judgment to God, letting love be the measure of our lives. I will try today to notice how quickly I move to judgment in my thoughts throughout the day and I will try to keep those thoughts to myself for the benefit of all!

Take a Deep Breath

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busyness, deep breath, heart, listen, Luke, mind, Pharisees, Sabbath, slowing down, The Sophia Center for Spirituality

One of the things I am most grateful for about the process of the 3-day meeting that I am attending is the schedule. We gather from 9AM to 4PM with a 20-minute break in the morning and the same in the afternoon, as well as an hour for the noon-day meal. There is little possibility that we will complete our agenda but, as our charge has a goal of total completion in mid-2017, we are not anxious about the progress. Since most of us were experiencing some level of jetlag yesterday (perhaps continuing today) and because the mental energy expended is considerable, this schedule seems a wise way to proceed. I have had a number of conversations already about the busyness of our “normal lives” and how difficult it is to find “time off” on a regular basis.

This morning at the beginning of chapter 6 of Luke’s gospel, we find the disciples of Jesus walking through a field on the Sabbath. Because they are hungry, they begin to pick the grain and are immediately criticized by the Pharisees (Where did they come from??) for breaking a Sabbath law about such a “work” task. Jesus responds with the example of David entering the temple and taking the bread reserved for the priests to speak to the necessity of doing what is necessary when circumstances warrant it. The goal of Sabbath rest was and is always to take time to remember God, giving thanks for our lives, and to connect with the deepest part of ourselves. That can take many forms, some of which might be a necessary letting go of perfection because of lack of time or ability to complete a task. Other times we may be called to do something out of the ordinary, perhaps what seems selfish, in order to get out of our minds and into our hearts – taking care of our “being” which is in need of rest.

In a multicultural society such as ours in the United States it is impossible to designate a “Sabbath Day” – or even a common hour – so we need to make a personal decision about how we will achieve such a time of renewal on a regular basis. Today is a good day to wake up to the possibility – and the necessity – of slowing down enough to hear God’s call to us. It starts with a deep breath…

Of Rigidity and Willingness

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common sense, God, Jesus, law, love calling, Matthew, mercy, Pharisees, Pope Francis, The Sophia Center for Spirituality

Today Jesus speaks about law and common sense. It’s the gospel about being hungry on the Sabbath and walking through a field of grain. (MT 12:1-8) As the disciples begin to pick the heads and eat the grain, the Pharisees start complaining that the law says it’s unlawful behavior on the Sabbath. It strikes me as interesting that there are Pharisees in this band of followers. Either they are being drawn to Jesus (and still unable, it seems, to let go of the rigidity of the law) or they are spies, planted to gather evidence against Jesus as a blasphemer. Whatever the reason, it gives Jesus an opportunity to teach a lesson. He quotes the Scriptures about David and his companions going into the temple on the Sabbath and eating the bread of offering as evidence that God’s law supersedes human law and that sometimes conditions call for different behaviors; we should not be slaves to disciplines that have been given for our good but sometimes grow into practices that need to be put aside for good reason. His charge to the Pharisees is to learn the deep meaning of the axiom, “I desire mercy, not sacrifice.” Jesus is not suggesting disregard for the law but, when necessary, response to a higher law. The example of the Good Samaritan comes to mind. If everyone followed the law of separation in that case, the Samaritan would have died at the side of the road.

It’s easy for us to say, “Well, of course the priest – or anyone who passed by on the other side of the road – should have helped the man.” I think, however, that we might consider laws in our own lives that some of us would never think of disobeying in our quest for perfection. It’s difficult, if you have been raised in a religious household learning all the tenets of your faith, to allow exception in cases where love must overcome obedience – where mercy is called for. In his book, A Church of Mercy, Pope Francis says the following:

God always thinks with mercy: do not forget this. God always thinks mercifully…God thinks like the Samaritan who did not pass by the unfortunate man, pitying him and looking at him from the other side of the road, but helped him without asking anything in return – without asking if he was a Jew, a pagan or a Samaritan, whether he was rich or poor: he asked for nothing. He went to help him; God is like this. (p. 73)

Today I will try to notice where I experience unwillingness to bend inside myself and what would be the cost of letting it go if love is calling me beyond myself.

In and Out

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humility, Jesus, Luke, motivations of the heart, openness, parable, Pharisees, prodigal son, Scribes, sinners, The Sophia Center for Spirituality, welcoming

I know the parable of the Prodigal Son; I have read and pondered many different interpretations of that familiar story (LK 15:1-31). This morning when I saw it in the day’s readings, however, I found myself asking why Jesus told this story in the first place. The first sentence answered my question. Tax collectors and sinners were all drawing near to listen to Jesus,, but the Pharisees and scribes began to complain, saying, “This man welcomes sinners and eats with them.”

This sentence makes me smile for the sound of immaturity coming from the very people who were supposed to be leaders in the community and who were obviously thinking that they were the ones on whom Jesus should be showering his attention. More importantly their question makes me wonder how the “in crowd” (Scribes and Pharisees) or Luke, for that matter, knew who the sinners were. I presume they were judging on the rules set down in Torah, but what about the inner laws, the deeper intentions and motivations of the heart? Can we really know these depths of another person unless they, themselves, reveal them to us? What are our own faults and addictions that are known only to ourselves – or perhaps not even to ourselves? Better not to judge what we cannot be sure of – or even what we think we know perfectly well. “The sinners” as well as those outcast tax collectors were most likely drawn to Jesus because of his welcoming demeanor and openness to them. A little humility might have helped the Scribes and Pharisees join the crowd and find the richness therein.

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How Can I Help?

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christians, Jesus, miracles, persecution, Pharisees, prostitution, Sabbath, Sisters of St. Joseph, St. Agnes, The Sophia Center for Spirituality, trafficking women

Today, as the Pharisees continue their attempts to trap Jesus in his disregard for the law (healing the man “with the withered hand” on the Sabbath) the Roman Catholic Church celebrates a 12-year old girl, saint and martyr for the faith. The story of Agnes  dates from the third century before Constantine ended the persecution of Christians. Legend has it that Agnes was a beautiful young girl whom many men were interested in marrying. Her refusal prompted one very disgruntled suitor to tell the authorities that Agnes was a Christian, whereupon she was sent to a house of prostitution, tortured and put to death. This situation put me in mind of all the girls and women around the world who are being sold into slavery by sex traffickers or who live in other abusive situations (even in this country) that we would protest as unlawful and morally untenable. There are many organizations and individuals whose outrage at these horrible situations have moved them to action on the part of such victims. My own community of the Sisters of St. Joseph is so committed. I am grateful for that and consider it my moral duty to continue to educate myself and others to these atrocious conditions, to pray for women the world over and to join as I am able in actions that will eradicate such unjust and horrific practices in our time.

Rest Much?

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24-7, deep breath, grand silence, Jesus, Mark, Pharisees, rest, Sabbath, silence, St. Augustine, The Sophia Center for Spirituality

In my early days of religious life, we didn’t talk much. Occasionally at meals, each evening for the hour after dinner, as necessary in our college classes…but silence was the order of the day, so that we could be “recollected” – always mindful of God. There were degrees of silence as well. During the nine o’clock hour at night we observed “strict silence” as we were preparing for bed and from 10:00PM to morning prayers we entered into the “Grand Silence” which was total and profound, where God was our only companion. Even then, however, should there be an emergency (a real and serious emergency like the “call an ambulance” type) we were dispensed from what seemed the most hard and fast rule.

The gospel for this morning (MK 2:23-28) calls for that same kind of discernment. One of the laws of the Sabbath, the day of the week commemorating God’s rest after the work of creating, was a proscription against picking grain on that day. Obviously the point was to refrain from usual labor for one day a week. But the Pharisees, ever the sticklers for the rules, remonstrated with Jesus who, it seemed to them, never paid attention. The response could have been a simple “They were hungry” but Jesus gave a broader lesson in his explanation. “The Sabbath,” he said, “was made for [man], not [man] for the Sabbath.” That sounds like the rationale for “breaking grand silence” and is clearly logical.

My sense of what has happened over these many years, however, in our culture where stores are open “24-7” and workplaces sustain three shifts of eight hours, is a gradual loss of silence and the meaning of Sabbath. On many days I meet people in whom I experience a growing hunger for some sort of return. Where might we find the silence that we seek – and when? Church or temple is a start…but turning inward, taking a deep breath or two that encompasses the vast reaches of our consciousness, might be just the thing to begin again to find God in the silence, not just on one day of the week but always. “God is closer to us than we are to ourselves,” St. Augustine said. Why not close our eyes and rest in that presence?

Of Imperatives and Prepositions

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among, behold, Jesus, Luke, Mother Cabrini, Pharisees, Pope Leo XIII, The Sophia Center for Spirituality

The Pharisees asked Jesus a lot of questions and he had some stunning answers to some of them. Today’s gospel text is a good example. “When will the Kingdom of God come?” was the question. (LK 17:20) No one could have expected the comeback: “The Kingdom of God cannot be observed and no one will announce, ‘Look, here it is’ or ‘There it is.’ For behold, the Kingdom of God is among you.”

The two words that interested me as clues about this answer were behold and among. In addition to seeing, the verb behold has intimations of watching and witnessing. It’s used most often as an imperative, a command, especially to call attention to something. The preposition among means in the company of, amid, in the middle of, surrounded by, in or through the middle of. (You get the idea.) So it seems that with these two words, Jesus is trying to say that unless we pay attention to what’s already going on around us, we may miss the manifestation of the Kingdom of God.

Today, Catholics (especially Italian – and other – Americans) are celebrating the feast of Frances Xavier Cabrini, an Italian immigrant who became a US citizen in 1909 and was declared, therefore, the first American saint in 1946. Mother Cabrini was definitely all about beholding the Kingdom of God. Since her early childhood in Italy she wanted to be a missionary to China (even though she had a great fear of drowning that never left her!) but Pope Leo XIII urged her to go west instead of east, landing her and six of her Sisters in New York City to work with Italian immigrants. In 35 years she founded 67 institutions dedicated to serving the poor, the abandoned, the uneducated and the sick. She worked among the people and was a clear manifestation of the Kingdom of God to the People of God who needed hope to sustain their faith in new and daunting surroundings.

So today, everywhere I go, I hope to pay attention to beholding the Kingdom of God because I do believe it is truly among us, surrounding me at every step.