Matthew Williams – Page 13 – Meditation on Daily Mass Readings

February 27, 2021February 10, 2021

Rain is for Everyone

This is a reflection on the Mass readings of the day.

Jesus uses a beautiful comparison when He commands us to love those who are unjust, to love our enemies. He tells us that this will make us children of the Heavenly Father, for “he makes his sun rise on the bad and the good, and causes rain to fall on the just and the unjust.”

We must love the unjust and do good to them. But how do we do this good? First, we beg that same Heavenly Father, not just to send rain upon them, but also to rain extra grace into their hearts, that they may learn how beautiful that thing is that they are missing–union with God–and strive for it. A choice time to do this is when Christ’s body and blood are raised up in offering for sin to the Father at the consecration at Mass. Pray fervently to the Father at this time. Show Him His Son, and ask that by the infinite power of that Son’s sacrifice, the Father visit the hearts of sinners and convert them. He will do so if we ask, just as He answers the intercessory prayers of Our Lady, who once stood at the foot of that very same sacrifice.

But also, we must do good to those who do not do good themselves, even in little things. We should take pains to make their lives easier, more pleasant, happier in little ways. Jesus does not desire the happiness of the unjust in order that they may be converted, but rather their conversion that they may be happy. He thirsts deeply for the complete fulfillment and happiness of every human person. Even at moments when we cannot give a person that which is most valuable, we must give what we can to bring happiness in little ways–just as the Father shines His sun on the just and the unjust alike.

In the first reading, Moses proclaims great blessings to those who follow the commandments of the Lord, and the psalm says the same. Jesus’ new commandment is the Commandment of Love. Blessed are we when we follow it.

Ideas for conversation with the Lord: Ask Jesus to infuse into your heart the gift of charity, a virtue that cannot be learned but rather must be received from God as a gift. Ask Him to fill your heart with the same passion for others’ happiness that fills His own heart.

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February 26, 2021February 10, 2021

Our Just Desserts

This is a reflection on the Mass readings of the day.

“If you, O Lord, mark iniquities, who can stand?” This is what the psalm asks today.

And indeed, Jesus is very demanding in the gospel. Even anger in the heart, even verbal condemnation of another, is enough to incur God’s judgement.

And in the first reading, we learn that this judgement is the difference between eternal life and eternal death.

So what do we do, when we are aware that we sin often? “If you, O Lord, mark iniquities, who can stand?”

The Protestants decided effectively to give up in this battle, at least as concerns its critical nature for salvation. They yield to the conviction of remaining forever corrupt, but Jesus covers them with His white mantle of salvation, thereby in effect hiding their corruption from the eyes of the Father. Thus it is that God does not “mark” their “iniquities.”

But we need not give up so fast. If we look closer, we also see in the first reading:

“If the wicked man turns away from all the sins he committed,
if he keeps all my statutes and does what is right and just,
he shall surely live, he shall not die.
None of the crimes he committed shall be remembered against him.”

Even if we sin often, if we continually turn back and sincerely repent from that sin, God does not “mark” our “iniquities,” but rather slowly works in us a profound transformation, by which even the tendency to sin is profoundly weakened. This, if we stay close to Him in prayer and in the sacraments.

Indeed, Proverbs tells us, “Though the just fall seven times, they rise again, but the wicked stumble from only one mishap.”

So what is your decision? To be just, or to be wicked? If it is to be just, then hold to that with confidence, avoiding sin and returning immediately to God when you have found, like St. Paul, that you have done what you hate. (cf. Rm. 7:15)

Ideas for conversation with the Lord: Tell Jesus that your hope is not in your own virtue, but in His power, the power He exercised in saving us on the Cross. Tell Him that you embrace and accept His desire to transform you from the inside out into a profoundly holy person. Invite Him again to take over and transform your life.

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February 25, 2021February 10, 2021

No Snake is Given

This is a reflection on the Mass readings of the day.

It is lovely to have an intimate relationship with God. But what about when real, palpable danger looms? Does this loving, prayerful union transform into a bulwark of defense when you really need it?

How about when you are faced with an impossible decision, with no good outcome? Is He there for you to guide you to the impossible blessed result?

How about that loved one who is making bad decisions? Is He there to turn that person’s head around in response to your prayers?

The answer is “yes,” and this is one of the most breathtaking, dramatic aspects of the Christian life.

When you have a need, ask Him in fervent prayer–perhaps in adoration; ask His mother insistently but trustingly for help. And take comfort. For He is not expecting you to “do this for Him” alone. He is there to do it for you.

So we are assured by today’s gospel:

“Ask and it will be given to you;
seek and you will find;
knock and the door will be opened to you.
For everyone who asks, receives; and the one who seeks, finds;
and to the one who knocks, the door will be opened.
Which one of you would hand his son a stone
when he asked for a loaf of bread,
or a snake when he asked for a fish?
If you then, who are wicked,
know how to give good gifts to your children,
how much more will your heavenly Father give good things
to those who ask him.”

Such was the experience of Esther in today’s first reading. She asked for deliverance, and she received it.

So too will be your experience, if you ask in trust. You will be able to say with today’s psalm: “Lord, on the day I called for help, you answered me.”

Ideas for conversation with the Lord: Consider the worries and concerns that cause you most fear and anxiety–perhaps decisions that appear to have no good outcome, or bad situations involving loved ones that are out of your control. Beg Jesus to take control of those decisions and situations, and abandon them confidently into His hands. Tell Him you trust Him to bring them to a good conclusion, even if it seems impossible.

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February 24, 2021February 9, 2021

From Ashes to Exuberance

This is a reflection on the Mass readings of the day.

Repentance–the theme of today’s readings–is not in fashion. Not even in Christian circles.

People come to Church to feel better about themselves. And, as congregations gradually diminish, pastors scramble to meet this need.

The entire topic of salvation, therefore, is also at an all-time low in popularity in the Church. Often, it does not even come up, because the topic itself implies a risk of not being saved. When it does arise, the context is often the assumption that, because God is merciful, most people reach heaven because down deep they are “good.”

The truth is, as we see in today’s readings, while God’s unconditional love is a true and lasting foundation for personal security, part of His love is His demand that we be the best that we can be. And the Church teaches that eternal salvation depends on our embracing that demand and striving to meet it, by means of the all-powerful grace that Jesus won for us on the Cross.

Repentance appears to contrast with joy, and with personal security. On the contrary, full acceptance of ourselves in the reality of what we are as sinners, without excuses or cheap escapes, forms part of the very basis of personal security. The other part is the knowledge that the omnipotent God is investing all His resources, including great personal sacrifice, to bring us up out of sin and into the relationship of His love. We can’t do it; He can.

The quest for salvation through transformation in grace is what makes Christianity exciting, breathtaking, full of hope. The knowledge that through prayer and offered sacrifice we can “stack the deck” for others to reach their salvation in Christ is immensely consoling.

A life lived in a spirit of repentance is a life lived joyfully, courageously, realistically, and filled with hope.

Ideas for conversation with the Lord: Tell the Lord about some of your sins, and how you repent of them; tell Him how hard it is to avoid them. Full of absolute trust, ask Him to take charge of the process of your repentance and transformation; lovingly place your life, your future, and your eternal salvation in His hands.

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February 23, 2021February 8, 2021

On Target

This is a reflection on the Mass readings of the day.

One of the most powerful statements in the Old Testament, found in today’s reading, is not often quoted as such: “So shall my word be that goes forth from my mouth; it shall not return to me void, but shall do my will, achieving the end for which I sent it.”

God is not a pathetic god, sending futile groans and lamentations out into the ether, decrying all those things are not as He would like.

No, in spite of the evidence of the reign of sin, God Himself is absolute ruler, and evil only exists to the extent that God made space for freedom–including that ability for freedom to turn away from Him. Evil, as evil as it is, and as good as God is, fits into His good plan.

Thus, He is not a pathetic, sad, lamenting god in need of our help, but the absolute Lord of the universe.

This quote from the first reading tells us that when God intends something, it happens, pure and simple. He does not set a process in motion only to watch it run aimlessly and fruitlessly. The image used to illustrate this is a beautiful one. It is the image of the process that He Himself set in motion for nature: That water falls from the sky, and it serves its purpose on earth of irrigating and giving life perfectly before it returns to the sky. (It is as if the ancients understood the process of evaporation…)

So, when we are moved by the Holy Spirit, it is not in a whimsical or aimless way, but to accomplish that which He has determined is to be accomplished. That push of the Holy Spirit is not to return to God void, but is to achieve the end for which it was intended.

But in the end, what is it that God wills–that Jesus Christ, His eternal Word, has descended like rain to accomplish, before ascending again to the skies?

It just so happens that the answer jumps out at us from today’s gospel, where it is clearly written in black and white. “Thy Kingdom come. Thy will be done, on earth as it is in Heaven.” Jesus has come to save His chosen ones, those ready to use their freedom to follow Him. This is the coming of the Father’s Kingdom; this is the fulfillment of His will.

Ideas for conversation with the Lord: Ask Jesus to make you, like Him, the effective instrument of the Father, the efficient catalyst of His glorious, eternal, saving plan for humanity. Ask Him to make you a word that does not return to Him void, but does His will, achieving the end for which He sent it.

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February 22, 2021February 5, 2021

Treasure in Earthen Vessels

This is a reflection on the Mass readings of the day.

“The Lord is my Shepherd,” says today’s psalm. But in today’s first reading, St. Peter refers to other shepherds–human shepherds. He exhorts human shepherds, acting on Christ’s behalf, not to lord it over their flocks, but to lead by example.

The implication is that sometimes human shepherds do Lord it over their flocks, in contrast to the example of the Good Shepherd whom they allege to serve–and who gives His life for His flock.

Human shepherds can at times be so frustrating. Why does it seem that God goes back on His promise: “I myself will pasture my sheep” (Ez. 34:15)? Why does He send us weak human shepherds to pasture us?

The first such shepherd of the New Testament appointed by Christ is St. Peter himself. He who will deny Jesus three times, and who demonstrated on more than one occasion impetuous inconstancy, this is the shepherd whom Jesus puts in charge of shepherds, and sets as the foundation stone of His Church.

So it is that we see Peter fulfilling that charge in the first reading, exhorting the shepherds of the Church, as the first head shepherd.

Certainly, human shepherds can try out patience, with their sins, shortcomings, and weaknesses. And yet, we see the fulfillment of Jesus’ promise through history: That the human Church, in the midst of all the sins of its shepherds, leads the flock reliably and effectively to Christ, the one Shepherd, through its teachings and through the sacraments.

And after all, what is more glorious and merciful, that God should lead every individual, alone and isolated, in his heart, or that He should assume mere humans into the exalted role of leading others toward Him? What shows His omnipotence more effectively–that He should infuse only the inanimate word on the page with His Spirit, or that He should infuse living mouthpieces, however imperfect, with that Spirit in order to actively lead His flock?

“I myself will pasture them.” God fulfills wonderfully on this promise by instilling, in the most glorious, mysterious, and miraculous way, His very own supernatural charism of leadership into mere sinful mortals.

ldeas for conversation with the Lord: Think of the times that the Church, or at least those in leadership positions within the Church, have disappointed you. Then consider how much beautiful leadership you have received from other Christians, whether in your family, in your local community, or at some higher level. Even as you recognize the disappointment, drink deeply of the inspiring beauty of those whom Jesus has tasked with leading you to Him. And tell Him with all your heart how grateful you are to Him for His faithful shepherds.

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February 21, 2021February 5, 2021

More than a Pinky Promise

This is a reflection on the Mass readings of the day.

“This is the time of fulfillment,” says Jesus. The fulfillment of what? A promise? What promise?

Today’s second reading can be seen as a sort of axis around which the first reading and gospel revolve. In it St. Peter reveals profound symbolism: The ark of Noah prefigures baptism.

Both involve salvation by water, he says. In the time of Noah, water cleansed the earth of sin. It was also destructive, however.

We cannot expect the impact of baptism to be any different as it cleanses, not the earth, but our souls. What does the spiritual “water”–sanctifying grace–destroy? If we allow that grace to act and facilitate it through prayer and regular reception of the other sacraments, it destroys our old selves, those carried along by the comfortable inertia current of our sinful tendencies. It destroys selfishness which, though evil, is sweet and cherished.

But the result is a profound, radical cleansing; the result is a new person, alike to a person bathing in clear, clean water after wallowing in a swamp.

God seals His promise never to flood the earth again with the sign of the rainbow. He will never have to wipe out humanity again. His Son comes to fulfill the post-flood promise by instituting a sacrament of water that does not need to wipe away the human person in order to wipe away sin.

This is the fulfillment Jesus came to bring. And Lent is the special time to take full advantage of the waters that poured over us at baptism by taking frequent and rich advantage of the cleansing sacraments, especially Penance, and practicing self-denial to uproot the deeper sources of sin in our lives.

Ideas for conversation with the Lord: Think of the day you were baptized as a small, helpless infant (or perhaps later, as a child or adult). Imagine the water pouring gently over you in the simplest of ceremonies. Consider the profound effect this sacrament has had in your life, by introducing you into friendship with Christ. Give thanks to God for this unmerited gift, and for those (for example, your parents) who had the insight and generosity to help ensure that you received it.

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February 20, 2021February 4, 2021

The Great Physician

This is a reflection on the Mass readings of the day.

In today’s first reading, God is not reproving His people for their sins, as He sometimes does. Rather, He is offering them hope as He calls them to conversion–hope for full restoration.

And it will come to light that this hope has a name: It is Jesus Christ. Jesus, the great Physician whom we see in today’s gospel.

It is beautiful to abandon our sins wholly, over and over again, in the sacrament of confession, thus exposing our wounds to this great Physician and allowing Him to do the work that He came to do.

Of course, the placement of these readings in Lent is no accident–it is the season of conversion.

It is interesting to reflect that, in addition to our sins, we have our simple human weaknesses. Maybe we struggle with attention span. Perhaps we don’t have as much energy for the day as we would like, or the kind of mental abilities we would like for planning and analyzing. These weaknesses can discourage us sometimes as much as our sins. People can be cruel by forming judgements of us only based on our weaknesses.

Jesus didn’t come to make us different from what we are; He didn’t come to make us good at everything. But what He does promise is that He loves us as we are, as His Father has created us. He loves us with our strengths, and with our weaknesses.

And we know that this love transforms us to participate in the divine nature itself, without taking away the particularities of our human nature, or of our own individual nature.

In the act of loving us, Jesus makes our strengths twice as valuable, and our weaknesses unimportant, as frustrating as they may sometimes be. His love itself transforms the value that we bring to the welfare of others into something beyond measure.

Ideas for conversation with the Lord: Consider the weaknesses that most frustrate you. Tell Jesus that you give them to Him, and ask Him to make your life valuable for His Kingdom in spite of them–with full trust and confidence that He will do so, beyond your imaginings. Then, ask Him forgiveness for the ways you neglect and offend Him in sin, and trust there too that the great Physician heals you.

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February 19, 2021February 3, 2021

The Whole Picture

This is a reflection on the Mass readings of the day.

Sometimes we can see two artificial camps emerge among Catholics–for the purpose of this reflection, we can call them the “Here Belows” and the “There Aboves.”

The Here Belows may forget about Heaven as they pursue justice on this earth. In this, perhaps, they share much with our secular age. From every Bible passage, they may draw only lessons about rectifying income imbalances, improving health care, and promoting the causes of those traditionally underprivileged in our society–for example, minority races, women, and the materially less fortunate. They may make the error of looking to government for the solution, rather than to personal generosity and magnanimity.

The There Aboves equate religion to reaching Heaven, no matter what happens here below. They focus on practices of prayer and the sacraments, and may scrupulously follow the rules. These, however, may run the risk of arrogance and pride, and a grave neglect of charity and even simple kindness to neighbor. They may not engage in making the world a better place, except perhaps by dictating to others what rules they must follow.

Today’s first reading is a marvelous appeal to both groups. It is God who is speaking and indicating what is pleasing and not pleasing to Him–and thus, there is an implicit focus on salvation, on the eternal. But what He is emphasizing is that empty, sterile self-denial is not what pleases Him–but rather, kindness and self-giving to neighbor, particularly those less fortunate.

We may become exasperated. How can we cover all the bases? How can we be passionate about the welfare of the less fortunate to the point that we really take action for their benefit, while also keeping our eyes on Heaven, and caring even more about the eternal salvation of our brothers and sisters?

The answer is simple, albeit not easy: We must take on the Heart of Christ. He spent days healing the sick, not just as a sign, but because (as the Gospel tells us on many occasions) he was moved deeply to pity for them. At the same time, concerned for eternal salvation, He preached hard messages about seeking the narrow path, and how for the purpose of reaching Heaven, mediocrity will not do. And He did not pull punches when it came to defending the truth.

And as a criterion for being one of the “sheep” who reach Heaven, rather than one of the “goats” who are condemned, He issues one single yardstick: Kindness and care for those in need.

We cannot be a true “There Above” without developing a Heart like Christ’s, with deep concern for the earthly and eternal welfare of our brothers and sisters. And, we cannot be a true “Here Below” without developing a Heart like Christ’s, orienting everything we do for others ultimately to the aim of eternal salvation.

Let us use the greatest means available to us to develop this Christ-like heart: Prayer and the sacraments.

Ideas for conversation with the Lord: Make a bold request to Jesus to transform your heart fully to be like His: “Jesus, meek and humble of Heart, make my heart more like Yours.” Ask Him to put you through whatever purification is necessary to inflame your heart with ardent love for His people, the same love that He has.

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February 18, 2021February 3, 2021

Black and White

This is a reflection on the Mass readings of the day.

It would be nice if life were not a binary, black-and-white choice. But it is.

It is a fact that all people are a mix of good and bad; therefore, it may be said, in a sense, that all people are good. Evil is the absence of good; therefore, since all people have good in them, all people are good.

But in the end, there are only life and death; there is no in-between. And it is not people who are all bad who choose death over life. Only good people make this bad choice–because all people are, at least in part, good. And unfortunately, the good people who make this bad choice are not few.

The choice offered to the Israelites in the first reading is a binary one: life, or death. Jesus draws the same line in the gospel, and fills it with color: Only those who lose their life–that is, give it away, to God and others–will save their lives.

Ours is an age where many want to blur these lines, holding that even those who ignore God and do not live life as a gift will be saved in the end. But this belief contradicts Jesus.

Many will die this day; many who have made the wrong choice. Our mission, like Jesus, is to offer our prayers and sufferings for sinners, that God may inject into them an extra, special dose of His grace so that they may discover how desirable He is and convert to Him.

Ideas for conversation with the Lord: Ask Jesus to stir in your heart a love for the welfare, eternal and earthly, of your brothers and sisters. Ask Him to make of you a fruitful and productive offering for souls.

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