Out of the Depths I Cry: Homily for the 5th Sunday of Lent

  

Ez 37:12-14

Ps 130

Rom 8:8-11

Jn 11:1-45

 

These are extraordinary, almost overwhelming  readings that deserve prolonged meditation. 

                                  

Ezekiel begins with a promise:  “Thus says the Lord God . . .  I will open your graves and have you rise from them.”  The commentary on this passage in The Jewish Study Bible is succinct:  “Traditional Jewish exegetes find here the idea of the resurrection of the dead before the day of judgment, a fundamental belief of rabbinic Judaism ascribed to Moses.”   Obviously the resurrection of the body was not a new or exclusively Christian belief.  In fact belief in the resurrection of the dead separated the Pharisees and the Sadducees.  We will reiterate our belief in the resurrection of the dead shortly in the Creed and yet again as we renew our baptismal promises at the Easter Vigil. 

 

Paul comments on the cost of sin and announces good news: Although the body is dead because of sin, if Christ is in us the spirit is alive because of righteousness.  What more could we want? 

 

Psalm 130—De profundis—is one of the most beautiful and evocative of the 150 hymns in the entire psalter. 

 

De profundis clamavi ad te, Domine:

Domine, exaudi vocem meam.

 

Out of the depths I cry to you, Lord.  Lord, hear my voice.   

 

We call to the Lord out of the depths of sin. We call from the tombs in which we find ourselves again and again.  We call to the Lord who hears our plea; the Lord who forgives our sins. 

 

The readings and psalm prepare us to hear the cinematically detailed story of Lazarus. It is not only the story of Lazarus.  It is our story.  It is the revelation of being brought from death to life in Christ through the forgiveness of sins—until  the final resurrection of the dead. 

 

Jesus, fully human, weeps at Lazarus’ tomb.  Jesus, fully God commands Lazarus to come forth from that tomb.   Jesus, fully human, wept over Jerusalem as he weeps over us.  Jesus, fully God, called the son of the widow of Nain to rise from his stretcher and the daughter of the official to get up from her bed, just as he calls us to eternal life.  In his commentary on this Gospel Jesuit Fr. Stanley Marrow points out the fundamental difference between Lazarus and the others who were brought back to life only to have to die again later; and Jesus, who rises from the dead never to die again.  If one were forced to choose only two words to describe the difference they would be reanimation and resurrection. 

 

Lazarus, the widow’s son, and the young girl were reanimated for a period of time, only to die later; not unlike the modern analog of cardiac resuscitation or the miracles wrought daily in hospitals throughout the world.  They are temporary stays.   Only Jesus came back from the dead never to die again. 

 

If Lazarus is us so is Martha.  The same Martha who complained to Jesus about Mary now makes a profound act of faith,  “Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died.  But even now I know that whatever you ask of God, God will give you.”   And then  the climax of this narrative: “I am the resurrection and life; whoever believes in me will live, and everyone who lives and believes in me will never die.” 

 

It is not that we will not die to this life.  Jesus is not promising that we won’t suffer. Our deaths may come quickly without time to prepare.  Our deaths may come at the end of a slow but easy passage from this life; a deep sigh at the end and nothing more.  Or we may die after a prolonged period of pain, suffering, and decay.  It is not ours to choose.  What Jesus is promising is that, in Stanley’s words, “the eternal life which we possess here and now cannot and will not be interrupted even by death.” 

 

We cry to the Lord out of the depths of our souls.  The Lord answers with kindness and plenteous redemption. 

 

What more could  we want? 

 

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The photos are all black and white conversions from a ten-day visit to Vietnam after tertianship in Australia.  I can still see the provincial's face who, as we were discussing tertianship asked, "Do you want to stop in Hawaii on the way home?"  My reply?  "No.  I've never wanted to go to Hawaii.  Can I stop in Viet Nam.  It would take too long to explain why asking to go to Viet Nam was one of the best decisions I could have made.  

 

 

Fishermen killing time until high tide.   At low tide the sand extends for hundreds of yards and the boats are stuck.  

Vietnamese scholastics playing volleyball during recreation. 

 

A bike ride along the ocean.

This anonymous kid saw my camera and began hamming it up

 

Fr. Jack, SJ, MD 

 

Rejoice O Jerusalem: Homily for Laetare Sunday

  

1 Sm 16;1B, 6-7, 10-13A

Eph 5:8-14

Jn 9:1-41

 

"Laetare Jerusalem:

et conventum facite omnes

qui diligitis eam:

gaudete cum laetitia,

qui in tristitia fuistis . . ."

 

"Rejoice oh Jerusalem

and all who love her.

Be joyful, all who were in mourning . . ."

 

The name Laetare for the fourth Sunday of Lent derives from the first Latin word of the entrance antiphon, Laetare. Rejoice.  In one of the many essays he composed during 40 years teaching at Georgetown, the late Jesuit Father Jim Schall wrote: "Laetare Sunday is traditionally called a respite.  It makes us begin to feel the nearness of the Passion and the Resurrection, but with a reminder that even amid the Lenten fast and the coming remembrance of the Crucifixion,we are not to forget that Christianity is a religion of joy."  

 

Father continues, "Christianity is called the most worldly of the religions. . . . because it is a religion engaged with the world and in the world, but it is not of the world.  Christianity transcends the world, it goes beyond the world it goes beyond the universe. It will not cease when the world ends or when the universe involutes on itself."

 

We will be reminded on the Feast of the Annunciation in eleven days, that because of Mary’s fiat  “May it be done to me according your word,”  Christianity will continue beyond the end of the world just as those words will echo eternally beyond the end of the universe.

 

Schall then makes a further observation,

 

"Christianity is also the happiest religion since it knows this world is not all there is. There is something precious beyond the world.  The world is not a bad place. if we don't expect of the world more than it can give, or if we don't see the world for what it is not."

 

Paul’s instruction to the Ephesians is that they see the world for what it is and what it is not.  “Take no part in the fruitless works of darkness, rather, expose them. . .   Live as children of the light, for light produces every kind of goodness, and righteousness, and truth. . . . “

 

The task of the Church is to expose the works of darkness: the works of darkness in the abortion clinic, the works of darkness in state legislatures that are passing bills to allow killing the sick elderly before their time, and the works of darkness, the pure evil, of those who encourage and assist in the psychological, surgical and hormonal abuse of confused children who lack independent decision-making capacity.

 

“Awake, O sleeper, and arise from the dead, and Christ will give you light.”  Christ gives us the same light that he gave the man born blind,

 

Laetare Sunday reminds us that we are approaching the magnificent liturgies of the Sacred Triduum. The Easter Vigil on Holy Saturday begins with the blessing of the fire from which the paschal candle is lit.  As he incises the candle before lighting it, the priest says the words that explain our faith in one sentence:

 

"Christ yesterday and today

the beginning and the end.

Alpha and Omega;

all time belongs to him,

and all the ages;

to Him be glory and power,

through every age for ever."

 

Soon our mourning, will be replaced by dancing.  It will not be the short respite of Laetare Sunday but the unfettered joy of Easter, a joy we will carry forth despite the realities of life impinging on us. The darkness of death will be overwhelmed by the light of eternal life. 

 

Like the man born blind in today's Gospel, we will see with unclouded vision.  Unlike the man born blind, we will not be confused about who gave us our sight. 

 

"Laetare Jerusalem:

et conventum facite omnes qui diligitis eam:

gaudete cum laetitia . . . "

 

Rejoice Jerusalem  . . . . Rejoice.

 

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A Sunday I always look forward to for what it meant in childhood.  Not a major celebration thing but always looked forward to it.  

 

Photos are from St. Joseph Trappist Abbey, indeed I will be there this coming Saturday. 

 

Almost the entire church using a 7 mm lens. Because of the blue stained glass it is difficult to take and process a color photo of the church.  Black and white conversion works great.  The blue cast actually make adjusting the shadows much easier. 

Entrance to the monk's choir from the cloister.

The cavernous sacristy.  On Sunday there will be a large number of dusty rose vestments on the vesting table.  The vestments at Spencer are expensive (see Holy Rood Guild) but worth every penny and then some.  They will last forever.  And, as they have no images, focusing on excellent fabrics and beautiful trim, they never go out of style.  

 

Fr. Jack, SJ, MD 

 

Water, Water, Everywhere: Homily for the 3rd Sunday of Lent

  

Ex 17:3-7

Ps 95:1-2,6-7,8-9

Rom 5:1-2, 5-8

Jn 4:5-42

 

The Gospel for this Third Sunday of Lent is long.  It is as detailed as a movie script  and is packed with possibilities for preaching.  Indeed, it would take very little effort to give a 45-minute homily on the gospel alone.  It is a daunting set of readings for the listener. 

 

The episode of the woman at the well is a response to the first reading in which, despite the gift of manna, quail, and their freedom, the Israelites complained, argued, bullied Moses, and demanded that God give them water. Moses asked God what to do.  In answer to his plea, God instructed him to strike the rock with the same staff he used to part the waters.  Moses did as told. Water flowed. 

 

The gospel continues the theme of water and thirst, Jesus asked the Samaritan woman for water.  Given the social context of the Ancient Near East this was a radical act on Jesus' part.  Jews did not speak to Samaritans.  They certainly did not ask them for a favor.  A Jewish man speaking with a Samaritan woman was unthinkable.  The scene was set for a radical teaching.

 

In last week's gospel of the Transfiguration God revealed his Son's divinity to the apostles through a voice from a cloud. This week Jesus reveals his divinity to the Samaritan woman in his own words.  He reveals the gift, the giver, and conditions for receiving that gift, conditions that the Israelites failed to uphold. 

 

The two conditions for the Samaritan woman--and for us--to receive the gift of eternal life are:  First, to recognize our need for the gift and the one who brings it:  “If you knew the gift of God. . . .”  That need cannot be met by anyone or anything else. 

 

Asking for a gift is humbling. It is the humility underlying prayer, particularly the prayer of the Mass. When we ask for a gift we admit our need for it.  We admit our dependence on the gift and our dependence the One who can give it to us.  However, humble is a state that humans try to avoid at all costs.  

 

The second condition is to understand the true nature and value of the gift.  The Samaritan woman misunderstood that.  “Sir, give me this water, that I may not be thirsty, or have to keep coming here to draw water.”   She assumed that Jesus was offering her respite from her daily routine, that He would free her from life’s discomforts and banish all suffering.  

 

Like the woman at the well, we assume, if not demand, that in one way or another, Jesus' put an end to all our troubles or better yet, prevent them from happening.  We imagine further, that our problems  will be resolved to our satisfaction in the way we want and without pain, suffering, or any effort on our part.

 

But Jesus did not come into the world to take us out of it.  He did not come to spare us the pain of living on this earth,  or to free us from the limitations of being flesh and blood. 

 

He came to experience and endure those limitations with us, from the moment of his birth until his passion and death. He came to experience our pain, suffering, and limitations so as to give us the waters of eternal life. As stated so powerfully in the final verse of the first reading from Paul's Letter to the Romans, "But God proves his love for us in that while we were still sinners Christ died for us."  That statement, in  itself, is another homily.

 

The  Liturgy of the Hours begins every day with Psalm 95, today's responsorial psalm.  Listen to the first verse again. "Come, let us sing to the Lord, and shout with joy to the God who made us, let us approach him with praise and thanksgiving, and sing joyful songs to the Lord."

 

That is the only way to respond to the gift and to the Giver. 

 

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For the moment winter seems to be coming to an end.  Am waiting for the "onion snow" which the Amish considered a sign that it was now safe to plant the onion sets.  According to mom the onion snow was  by very large snowflakes, the kind that make a sound when they hit the ground.  Am ready for it.  Still making up for some of the cancellations due to the snow.  

 

The photos are three from a file titled "Images of Aging"  

 

Retired Vietnamese Sisters of St. Paul of Chartres in My Tho, Vietnam.  Spent three days with them after tertianship.  The motherhouse is in the Meking Delta not far from one of the points at which many made escape attempts.  Wish I could have heard their stories. 

An elderly couple in the adoration chapel at the National Shrine of the Immaculate conception in D.C.  

Three generations in Taipei, Taiwan  not far from the Chiang-kai Shek performance center.  

 

Fr. Jack, SJ, MD 

 

 

This is My Beloved Son: Homily for the 2nd Sunday Lent Gn 12:1-4a

  

Gn 12:1-4a

Ps 33

2 Tm 1:8b-10

Mt 17:1-9

 

The Lord said to Abram: "Go forth from the land of your kinsfolk and from your father's house to a land that I will show you."

 

The opening verse of the first reading draws us into the beginning of God's covenant with Abram whose name God later changed to Abraham which means The Father of Many Nations. It is a foundational statement for the Jewish people. Thus, it is a foundational statement for us.  It is a vocational mandate to Abram who was told "Go forth and I will show you." It is a vocational mandate for us when Jesus said: "Follow me."  And just as Abram chose to go as the Lord directed him, we are faced with choosing whether or not to heed Jesus’ mandate.

 

The commentary on this passage in the Jewish Study Bible is fascinating. It tells us the Lord singled out "one Mesopotamian who was in no way distinguished from his peers. So it is for those called to follow Christ. 

 

Consider Mary and Joseph.  Neither was distinguishable from any other Ancient Near Easterner of the time. Neither was distinguished by birth or any other rank. It would be reasonable to call them peasants.  And yet, they were chosen by God to go into unknown realms in obedience to His will, just as Abram did many generations earlier.

 

The narrative of Jesus' Transfiguration is proclaimed twice a year: August 6 on the Feast of the Transfiguration, and on the second Sunday of Lent.  The Transfiguration appears in Matthew, Mark, and Luke with relatively little difference among the three accounts.  Despite this commonality it remains within the realm of mystery. The Transfiguration can never be less than a mystery of faith. It is difficult to comprehend, at least in part,  because it pulls us outside of normal daily life.  It pulls us away from what we know and can understand. Today's Gospel forces us to confront an event that cannot be explained beyond the words luminous mystery. Jesus’ transfiguration simultaneously points us towards a mystery and draws us into a different mystery. It is disorienting.  The Transfiguration is beyond historical reconstruction, scientific explanation, or even geographic specificity. Like many of the mysteries of our faith, the Transfiguration, offends the sensibilities of many "modern" people because it appears irrational, impossible, and supernatural. It is all of the above. It must be.

 

Create the scene in your mind. Enter into the action as if you were stepping into a movie. Join the three apostles as a fourth witness.  Observe how Jesus is speaking with Moses and Elijah. Where are you standing?  What do you see?  What do you hear?  What do you feel?  Do you collapse with the apostles when you hear God’s voice saying, "This is my beloved Son with whom I am well pleased; listen to him."

 

Stay in the scene and turn your attention to Peter. Peter began to speak without thinking what he was saying. Was it fear, anxiety, awe, excitement, all, some, or none of the above? For any of us to claim that we would have responded differently, that we never would have behaved like Peter, would be absurd, dishonest, and breathtakingly arrogant.  Despite the popular sport of apostle bashing, a sport that is enthusiastically played in academic theological circles, none of us would have responded differently than the babbling Peter.  Most likely, we would have acted worse. Perhaps by pulling out a cell phone equivalent and tweeting selfies to the guys down the mountain.  (Yo', Elijah,  squinch in a tad.  Lighten up guys.  C'mon, smile.)

 

As the tension increased the voice of  God the Father confirmed Jesus' identity: "This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased."  After confirming Jesus' identity God the Father gave the apostles, and by extension each of us, a mission: "Listen to Him." 

 

Interpreters do not agree on the meaning of God’s command to listen to His beloved Son. Does it refer to the earlier prediction of His passion and death? Does it refer to living in accordance with His teaching?  Does it refer to something else?  Today the command is unmistakably clear.  We know that Jesus suffered and died. That historical reality removes ambiguity and uncertainty.  We are to listen to His teaching. We are to listen to the teaching that was given to us through His words and actions.

 

Jesus' words and actions, His teachings and miracles, and His mode of life can never be separated to create our own version of who Jesus was and is.  Any, “theology,” that understands Jesus as a sort of nice guy and itinerant wisdom teacher who said some radical things but discounts or denies the miracle narratives gives us an inauthentic two-dimensional Jesus who is not worth paying attention to.  A theology that focuses only on the miracles and the supernatural does the same thing. Both are equally useless.

 

As we listen to Jesus and take His teaching to heart we allow it to transform us through His triple presence: in the assembly of people, in the proclamation of scripture and, most critically and palpably, in the reception of the True Body and Blood of Our Lord.   As we allow that transformation we move that much closer to sharing in the glory manifest in the radiantly transfigured Jesus, with whom the Father is well-pleased.

 

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Fresh out the camera photos.  Taken at St. Joseph Trappist Abbey in Spencer, MA.  I visit there monthly.  Today was glorious.  Was scheduled for last weekend but the weather was iffy.  Turns out it was good decision to cancel.  The road were fine until making the turn to the Abbey at 8:30.  The word needed work.  It would have been a real challenge last week.   

 

A small stone structure.  No idea what it is for.  Is empty but photogenic. 

One of the many fields.   The sun is behind that tree trunk.  Otherwise it would have been blindingly bright. 

Looking out from near the infirmary

A very small medallion embedded in stained glass.  Looks much larger in this shot than it actually is. 

The room I use as my office.  The sun was intense such that mid-afternoon the temp was intolerable and I had to open one of the windows.

The view from that office. 

 

 Fr. Jack, SJ, MD

Come Let Us Worship the Lord: Homily for the 1st Sunday of Lent

  

Gn 2:7-9; 3:1-7

Ps 51:3-4,5-6,12-13,17

Rom 5:12-19

Mt 4:1-11

 

“Come let us worship the Lord who for our sake endured temptation and suffering.”  

 

The Divine Office begins with this antiphon every morning during Lent.  Temptation and suffering characterize the human condition, and help define what it means to be human.  The antiphon also reminds us how Jesus was like us and how we are unlike Him.

 

The word temptation has generally negative associations for many English speakers who wrongly tend to equate temptation with sin.  However, the Latin, Hebrew, and Greek  roots of the word are neutral, and include trying, proving, or testing.  That is the sense of temptation as used in today’s Gospel.  Satan tested Jesus' fidelity to the Father.  Temptation tests our fidelity to God and His law.

The familiar first reading recounts the fall.  Adam and Eve were put to a test.  Did they trust God or did they not?  Were they willing to obey or were they not?  That they ate of the tree in the garden illustrates how we sin: easily impulsively, casually, and quickly,  oftentimes at the slightest provocation.  Note, an apple is not mentioned in the narrative but it is a good metaphor for the sin of Adam and Eve. It is a good metaphor for our tendency to sin.  Think about it.  

 

An apple as an image, has multiple advantages over other fruits such as an orange, a banana, or a mango. An apple is quick, easy, and convenient. No need to peel.  Small enough to hold, large enough to share.  No need to cut or peel, just bite down and enjoy.  No one just grabs a pineapple and bites into it.  Some sins, particularly those that the Church considers mortal, require planning and a lot of work.  Committing adultery requires deviousness and time.  Robbing a Bank of America branch requires risk.  Performing a late-term abortion requires considerable training.  Selling fentanyl on a street corner requires finding buyers in addition to the seller being morally depraved.

 

How often do we sin simply because the opportunity is there,  because we want something,  because, as the unfortunate 60’s motto proclaimed “If it feels good do it.”  It wasn’t an apple that did us in.  It was human freedom. Adam and Eve couldn't handle it any better than we do today.

 

The last verses of the narrative tell us of the shame and embarrassment that are the personal cost to the sinner, especially when caught in that sin.  Augustine described that kind of guilt in his Confessions.   We are sinners because we are free to choose and free to act on that choice.  Dealing with the consequences is a second layer.

 

Adam and Eve were given free will, a gift that is exclusive to human beings.  Only humans have insight into the meaning of their decisions. Only humans possess the ability to plan into the future. The awareness of potential outcomes and the ability to weigh multiple choices are gifts limited to humans.  They are part of human freedom.  How we manage that freedom is tested daily.

 

Human freedom is not freedom from restrictions, rules, and responsibility.  Human freedom is freedom for not freedom from.  Freedom is not the ability to adopt an individual or idiosyncratic attitude towards this or that.  It is the freedom of self-understanding.  It is the possibility of saying yes or no to oneself. Human freedom is the opportunity to reject sin or to choose it.  Human responsibility demands living with the results of that choice.  Adam and Eve chose, they chose wrongly, but they remained free.  We have the same freedom.  In his full humanity, Jesus had the same freedom. This is where he was both like us and unlike us.  He was like us in being tempted and tested. He was unlike us in not sinning, in not failing the test.

 

Each of the temptations Satan presented were tests of Jesus’ willingness to rely on God. 

 

We just heard, “He fasted for forty days and forty nights, and afterwards he was hungry” Satan did not approach Jesus until He was vulnerable. Similarly, Satan dangles temptation in front of us when we are vulnerable,  be it through hunger, fatigue, disorientation, anger, sorrow . . . the list is long.

 

Satan tempted a hungry Jesus with bread.  “C’mon, take care of yourself.  You can be self-sufficient.  Just do it.”   The temptation to self sufficiency,  to taking care of number one, looms large in our lives.  

 

The second temptation was to put God to the test.  “Hey Jesus, it’s a quid pro quo.  You jump and the Father saves you as promised. If not, well you lose.”  God is not a puppet master who pulls our strings to make us dance. Nor is God a marionette whose strings we can control through prayer or an ultimatum. There is no quid pro quo with God.

 

Finally, Satan presented Jesus with the classical Faustian bargain.  “Sell your soul.  Look what I will get you.  Power.  Prestige.  Money.  Control.  You too can have the most toys when you die.” 

 

The responsorial, Psalm 51, was the great penitential psalm known as the Miserere.  Read it slowly at home.  Let the words sink in.  Allow it speak to you. 

 

"I acknowledge my offenses."

 

"A clean heart create for me O God."

 

"Give me back the joy of your salvation."

 

"O Lord, open my lips, and my mouth shall proclaim your praise." 

 

And then recall the antiphon:

 

“Come let us worship the Lord who for our sake endured temptation and suffering.”   

 

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Have been spending some time trying (underline thrice) to organize photo files.  Doubt it will ever truly happen but I try.  Doing so, particularly when I hit a random file is a reminder of things, places, or times I would have forgotten.

 

Sunset over the Hudson River and Catskill Mountains from the motherhouse of the Carmelite Sisters for the Aged and Infirm.  I go back a long time with them.  Gave a retreat there a few years ago.

The morning sun hitting a window in Port Lincoln, Australia.  Was drawn by the shadow of the dress form. 

Early morning light at the Franciscan Church in Ljubljana.  I was concelebrating Mass that day and thus arrived early.  Had the camera in my brief case.  

Organist at the Friday night community Mass in St. Mary's Jesuit Residence Chapel here at BC.

Reflection of flowers planted in front of  St. Mary's Hall.  The glass is old and, depending on positioning gives wonderful distortions.  

Fr. Jack, SJ, MD
   

I’m Gonna’ SUE: Homily for the 6th Sunday in Ordinary Time Sir 15:15-20

  

Sir 15:15-20

Ps 119 1-2, 4-5, 17-18, 33-34

1 Cor 2:6-10

Mt 5:17-37

Free will.  Choice.  Options.

Past.  Present.  Future.

Decision.  Action.  Result. 

Fear.  Love.  Consequences.       

 

These are some of the layers in today's readings that can be meditated upon without exhausting the possibilities.  And they can make us uncomfortable as we consider what they mean for us.

Choice is the great gift of human free will.  It is also its greatest challenge to being human.  The ability to choose among options, to understand the reasons for that choice, and how that choice will affect us in the future,  sets us apart from every lower animal.  Only humans have free will.  Only humans are free to make choices.  Only humans can take into account the past, present, and future when faced with a choice.  Lower animals function on instinct.  They are driven by a combination of instinct, memory traces of past experience, and immediate need.  But they can never know the long range effect of a choice.  

The human brain is much more powerful than that of any animal. Only humans can use memories and knowledge accrued in the past, to make decisions in the present, while having some idea of the future consequences of those decisions. Animals do not possess that ability.  They never will. 

We heard in Sirach "If you choose you can keep the commandments . . . "  That is a strong statement that places a burden on us.  "IF you choose

you can keep the commandments"  implies, 'if you choose you can violate the commandments.' Free will allows us to choose to sin.  It allows us to choose death. It allows us to choose evil.  Free will allows us to reject God.

"The eyes of God are on those who fear Him." 

Fear of God. Fear of the Lord.  In English the word 'fear' is a problem in this context.  It sets off an automatic train of thought that includes anxiety, terror, panic, punishment, pain, and physical sensations, such as rapid heart beat and sweaty palms.  But fear has other functions in our lives. 

Fear is a critical part of love.  Without fear there can be no love.  The meaning of fear in the context of love is different.  It is a reverential fear. It is a fear that moves a person to seek and follow God's will not to avoid punishment but because of love for Him.

How often has fear of hurting someone we loved kept us from sin?  How often have we chosen the good instead of evil, because we did not want to disappoint someone who loved us? Think parent,  spouse,  long time friend, or  mentor?  How often have we chosen not to sin because we feared violating another's trust or breaking someone's heart?   That is reverential fear. It is not fear because of punishment, hellfire and gnashing of teeth. It is fear of offending or hurting someone who loves us. It is fear of sinning against  the One who loves us.

Today's Gospel continues the Sermon on the Mount.  Unlike the comforting promises in the beatitudes we hear some hard truths.  The poor, those who mourn, the peacemakers, the meek, those who were declared blessed in the beatitudes, are now given instruction in what it means to follow Jesus.  

The blessed are reminded that even if poor or mourning they  have responsibilities.  Sin is not mitigated because of poverty. Sin is not excused

because one is powerless. Jesus is telling his hearers that there are no actions without consequences.  The only difference between the sins of the poor and oppressed compared to those of the wealthy and powerful is the matter of budget and status.

Nothing we do occurs in a vacuum.  Every action has an effect. Every time we choose for something we choose against other things.  Every time we choose a course of action we close other courses of action.

“Settle with your opponent quickly while on the way to court.”

In the U.S. the law suit is as close to a weapon of mass destruction as any nuclear warhead.  The situation has reached a point of absurdity. Over 70% of medical malpractice lawsuits are dropped or dismissed without a hearing or settlement on the basis of being frivolous. “I’m gonna sue” could easily replace “In Pluribus Unum” on American currency. This begs the question of why calling one’s brother, or anyone else, a fool deserves the fires of Gehenna? Why is anger so strongly decried in this Gospel?

It is decried because just as it is easier to settle a case out of court than to go to trial, it is easier to stop anger when it is a thought than it is to interrupt a murderous impulse as one’s hands are around the other’s neck. It is easier not to commit adultery when not in a hotel room or a parked car with someone other than a spouse.  It is easier for an alcoholic not to drink when he or she does not enter a bar or hold a cold one on a hot day. 

Jesus is telling us to be alert to the first signs of temptation if we wish to avoid sin.  There IS a point of no return when we choose evil over good, when we choose death over life or when we choose to follow the Evil King rather than Jesus, the Good King 

The Psalms were written centuries before the beatitudes.  We just heard a beatitude from Psalm 119: "Blessed are they who observe the Lord's decrees, who seek him with all their heart."

Thus we pray with another verse of the same psalm: "Give me discernment, that I may observe your law and keep it with all my heart."

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Photos are from Lyon, France, a most beautiful place.  I prefer Lyon to Paris by miles.  The pics are from the Church of St. Georges which has an indult to celebrate the traditional Latin Mass exclusively.  It was a short distance   across a footbridge to the church.  I went there often in part because of my schedule. 

As a public service.  No meat on Ash Wednesday which is in three days or on Fridays during lent.   

 

Rose window at the back of the Cathedral.

One of the candle stands in the cathedral

Candles at St. Georges

Stained glass overlooking the altar at  St. Georges.

The crucifix overlooking the altar.  I have not seen so much yellow stained glass.  The light was very warm.  

Fr. Jack, SJ,MD