Matthew Williams – Page 16 – Meditation on Daily Mass Readings

January 28, 2021January 19, 2021

It’s a Shame

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

One common theme in today’s readings is courage: Courage, not to be afraid to place the lamp of grace within us on a lampstand; courage to “approach the assembly” (engage with the Church) and not hold back.

The letter to the Hebrews encourages us to trust absolutely in the cleansing power of Christ, and to approach His Church confidently on that basis. In the gospel, Jesus admonishes us not to hide the light we have been given, but put it on a lampstand for the enlightenment of all.

And if we look at our hesitation to follow these teachings, at our fears, we see that their root cause lies precisely with the root cause for Adam and Eve’s rush to cover themselves after the Fall. It is our sin that makes us see our nakedness, our vulnerability; it is sin and sin alone that awakens and feeds the roaring beast that is our insecurities.

This beast is too fierce for us to vanquish on our own. But there is a silver lining to this limitation. We, who experience all to often how we lack the strength to overcome our insecurities, get to witness a miracle all our own, no less potent and wondrous than the miracles of healing that Jesus worked in the Gospel. We get to see Jesus melt our insecurities like wax, when we have a consistent, daily prayer life and vibrant relationship with Him. And if those insecurities return in some form or at some prompting, we get to witness His awesome action to resolve them yet again in our hearts.

Ideas for conversation with the Lord: Identify as best you can the insecurities you are feeling right now, and lay them at the feet of Jesus. Tell Him that you would gladly suffer them for the rest of your life in gratitude to the sacrifice He has made for you, and as a participation in that sacrifice. Tell Him that you reject the fearful lies that they suggest. And then, trust Him to protect your heart from their threat.

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January 27, 2021January 19, 2021

Many Layers

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

The mystery of the priesthood is multi-layered and rich. We have the exalted, eternal reality that we hear about today: Christ, the High Priest, entering into the everlasting sanctuary, offering Himself eternally, once and for all, for the expiation of sins.

Then we have the reality that the priest offers at the altar each day, in imitation of the Last Supper, where the bread and the wine are truly transformed into the body, blood, soul, and divinity of the Savior. Once again, all the intensity of love for the welfare of His disciples is present, as it was at that first Mass. And that same reality re-presents the sacrifice of Calvary itself, where the High Priest performs the self-offering that becomes that definitive eternal offering for the forgiveness of sins.

We can think of the priestly act of Christ as a response to sin; we can think of Jesus, as it were, clawing His way back to a good place for humanity with His sacrifice, with great effort.

But it is well to remember that, while God never wills sin itself, the entire drama of Christ’s sacrifice was planned by God from eternity, before Adam ever took his first step in the garden, before the serpent came calling. For God was not content with the level of union Adam shared with Him in Eden. He desired a much more intimate union, one that would come from the full mutual gift of self. And this exalted union is what Christ achieved so neatly, BOTH from the human and the divine perspective, on the Cross, and re-constitutes continuously in eternity.

Ideas for conversation with the Lord: In the midst of the evil surrounding us each day, tell Jesus that you trust in the divine plan; that even the evil that occurs winds up paradoxically as an ingredient so effective for the fulfillment of His plan, that it almost appears necessary. Just as Adam’s sin was the catalyst that led to our glorious Savior. Tell Him that you trust in Him, and lean confidently on Him.

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January 26, 2021January 19, 2021

The Flame

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

There is something charmingly simple about today’s readings, on the memorial of Sts. Timothy and Titus. In the first reading from the letter to Timothy, Paul adjures his friend to stir into flame the gift of God: The spirit of power, and love, and self-control.

Interesting to note that Paul, in his great awareness of the difference between the New Covenant and the Old Covenant, does not admonish Timothy to follow all the specific guidelines he set out the last time they were together, or some such. He urges him to stir up the flame the gift of God, the Holy Spirit, the pledge of the New Covenant.

We have a mirror image of the first reading in today’s gospel, where Jesus states that the key to a close relationship with Him is to do the will of His Father.

And the will of God is precisely what St. Paul states: To invite the Sweet Guest into our souls, the Holy Spirit, and to listen closely to His promptings, allowing His purifying flame to ignite within us an ardent love of God and neighbor.

Ideas for conversation with the Lord: The famous and awe-inspiring prophet Elijah was taken up to Heaven in a chariot at the end of his life. Just beforehand, he asked what his disciple Elisha might like from him. Elisha boldly replied, “A double portion of your spirit.” (cf. 2 Kings 2:9) Be bold enough to ask Jesus for a double portion of His Holy Spirit. Will He deny you? “What father among you would hand his son a snake when he asks for a fish? Or hand him a scorpion when he asks for an egg? If you, then, who are wicked, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will the Father in heaven give the holy Spirit to those who ask him?” (Lk. 11:11-13)

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January 25, 2021January 15, 2021

Flash of Light

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

How envious we may feel of the early communities visited by St. Paul, who benefitted from such a holy and zealous apostle, an apostle who spoke the truth fearlessly, without inhibitions.

We can also feel envious of Paul himself, who so fully embodied Jesus’ instruction in today’s gospel: “Go into the whole world and proclaim the Gospel to every creature.” Perhaps we wish we were as courageous, direct, and uninhibited as Paul.

But today’s first reading helps us remember that Paul wasn’t always Paul. He was Saul the persecutor of Christians, until Jesus Himself took initiative in his life and completely turned it around. It is Jesus’ action in his life, not his own action, that defines Paul.

We are called to evangelize, to tell the world about Jesus. We can feel like we’re not carrying our weight in this regard, and we may be right. But the solution is not to begin parroting the actions of St. Paul. The solution is to beg Jesus Christ and the Holy Spirit to take hold of our lives and fill us with the wisdom and boldness to proclaim the Gospel to every creature. Only through their action will we become the sort of apostles we would like to be.

Then, we can pray also that God send more and more apostles like Paul into this jaded world of ours, to bring souls back to Him.

Ideas for conversation with the Lord: Confidently, without shame, ask Jesus to make you a better apostle. Ask Him to fill you so completely with His joy and with love for Him that you feel truly and deeply compelled to share Him further, like St. Paul.

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January 24, 2021January 15, 2021

Gone…like That

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

“Teach me your ways, O Lord,” says the psalm of today. And the readings point out some of the key areas where we need that instruction.

The message from the brief second reading from 1 Corinthians teaches us the Lord’s ways in an area too seldom heeded by Christians of today. The reading explains how we must live in the world, and make use of it for what it is worth, but NOT drink deeply of it in an attempt for satisfaction–for the world is passing away so quickly, that (so to speak) it is as good as gone already.

We panic because of fear of socialism, we panic because of fear of fascism, we panic over fear of illness–we have a duty to build a society that is just as possible, but we panic too much because we are not heeding this message from today’s second reading. One thing is to get involved productively in politics. It is quite another to lose our serenity over it. “For the world in its present form is passing away.”

In the first reading, Jonah proclaims repentance to the Ninevites, and they repent. Well may we repent for focusing excessively on worldly goods and ills, without the peace and serenity that come from knowing that we are in the hand of Providence even more truly than we are treading on terra firma.

And today’s gospel affirms the message: “The kingdom of God is at hand.”

As people of the world, even good people, sell their souls in political rage and worldly pursuits of satisfaction, let us focus on that which doesn’t pass: God’s total gift of self to us, and ours to Him in gratitude.

Ideas for conversation with the Lord: Tell Jesus again that you give Him yourself, your whole self, with all your imperfections and all your loving effort to be more like Him. And, give Him that gift that He especially treasures: The gift of your trust. Tell Him that you trust in Him completely, as Lord of time, history, and the universe, to provide for you and for the world itself, despite the chaos and madness we sometimes perceive around us.

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January 23, 2021January 13, 2021

Underrated

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

There is a humorous contrast of one element of today’s Scripture passages relative to all the rest. It is not the first reading, which speaks of the wonderful effectiveness of the sacrifice of Jesus Christ, the one eternal High Priest. It is not the psalm, which celebrates the entry of that High Priest into His glory.

It is not the gathering of the crowd in the gospel, clamoring to get close to Jesus, the great healer, who as High Priest saves people even from their physical illnesses.

Rather, it is that last line in the gospel, where Jesus’ relatives try to seize Him because they think He is “out of His mind.”

Have you ever felt misunderstood? Have you seen your good intentions misinterpreted? You are in good company.

The King of Splendor, the great High Priest whose entire human existence was focused on the unmerited salvation of mankind, found himself considered to be nuts, by His own family members.

Ideas for conversation with the Lord: Jesus’ entire sojourn on earth was continuously filled with the misunderstanding and scorn of lesser hearts and minds. Think of times when you have been misunderstood, or slighted. Offer to Jesus those moments, past, present and future, as part of your overall gift of self to Him. Ask Him to transform you by His saving grace into a person who can contribute through your self-offering to His saving mission.

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January 22, 2021January 13, 2021

Out with the Old, In with the New

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

In today’s first reading, the author of the letter to the Hebrews makes a case to Israel for the New Covenant established in Jesus Christ, the one eternal High Priest. The author make an argument for the need of a New Covenant, indicating that the original covenant with Israel was temporary and imperfect.

This would have been a new message to many in Israel, who foresaw the coming of the Messiah as the crowning of the old covenant, rather than the establishment of a new one. But as we understand from the letter to the Hebrews, the old covenant, while foreshadowing the new, was itself ultimately inadequate and destined to be replaced. It was fundamentally different from the New Covenant, because the human side of the bargain was to live by the laws God gave to Moses. The basis for the New Covenant is fundamentally different: It is the merit of the human blood poured out as a sacrifice for the atonement of sins, effective in washing away those sins because the human making the sacrifice is also God.

So, where the fundamental basis for the old covenant is the faithful fulfillment of the Law, the fundamental basis for the New Covenant is mercy and grace brought by Christ. The part each of us plays in the New Covenant is therefore also fundamentally different. Our role is not a legalistic one–compliance with the Law–but rather the continual gift of ourselves to our Savior in loving acceptance of, and gratitude for, His unmerited grace and forgiveness.

Once again, we see in today’s gospel all these heady concepts made wonderful, concrete reality. Jesus is in the midst of laying the groundwork for the embodiment of the New Covenant, the Church, by calling his first apostles, who will be the foundations stones of that structure.

Ideas for conversation with the Lord: Ask Jesus to help you not to become confused, thinking that His Covenant is still one of servile compliance. Ask Him to help you make a sincere and total gift of yourself, in your prayer and in your action and life.

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January 21, 2021January 12, 2021

The Center of It All

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

As we put today’s first reading and gospel together, we realize that the climactic moments of Jesus’ ministry where he heals great numbers of the sick, disabled, and possessed only make sense in the shadow of the Cross. And, the Cross only makes sense in light of His role as the great, eternal High Priest.

In the gospel we see Jesus pressed from every side as the afflicted clamor to get close to Him for healing. It is a very vivid, earthy picture, where we even see Him order up a boat in case he needs a little physical distance.

Yet this very earthy seen is part of a glorious plan that, per the first reading, ultimately plays out for eternity in Heaven, where the great High priest has entered once and for all, offering Himself as the definitive sacrifice.

One can say that, as omnipotent as God is, and by inclusion of course therefore Jesus Christ Himself is likewise, He set up such an inviolable and permanent respect for man’s freedom, that to release us from the consequences of that freedom, He felt the need to offer Himself up in atonement.

It is this act of atonement, Jesus’ death on the Cross, that reaches back and overshadows with its power the incredibly potent scene in today’s gospel, of the transmission of saving healing. The power to save man from the consequences of his sin comes from the Cross.

And it is that same act of atonement, the one we see by its effect present in today’s earthy scene, that is offered eternally by the great High Priest, Jesus Christ, to His Father for us all.

Not only the gospel, but all of salvation history, from the moment Adam sinned to the end of time–indeed, all of history–revolves around the saving act of Jesus’ death and Resurrection. And, with the great High Priest offering that sacrifice for eternity in heaven, eternity itself revolves around the very same axis.

Ideas for conversation with the Lord: One can never meditate too much on the Passion, death, and Resurrection of Jesus Christ. But today, perhaps meditate on these mysteries in in a new light: The light of how they stand center stage in both time and in eternity as the apex moment of the grand plan that God designed for man at the beginning. Then, chat with Jesus, great High Priest and yet your intimate friend, and ask Him to help your life to fit into that plan in just the manner that He wishes.

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January 20, 2021January 12, 2021

The One High Priest

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

The first reading of today adds gravity, solemnity, and context to today’s gospel.

The wondrous letter to the Hebrews beautifully points out Old Testament foreshadowing, preparation, and grounding for Jesus Christ’s role as the one eternal High Priest, that is, the One who offers the definitive sacrifice to the Father in effective, saving atonement for sin.

Today’s reading shows how the Old Testament priest Melchizedek prefigures Jesus. Melchizedek is not of known lineage–he appears to be without beginning–and his priestly order is said to last forever. So, no beginning, no end, symbolic of Jesus’ real eternal High Priesthood. Christ’s role could not be more pivotal, more regal–and it is eternal.

Then, in today’s gospel we consider this eternal High Priest in his real embodiment in flesh, in time. Here is all that time-independent, everlasting priestly greatness found within the confines of time and space, in that finite mode of being which is humanity.

And what is this great High Priest in the flesh doing? He is carrying out His saving priestly ministry; He is bursting through all the stifling artificial limitations created by man, to heal and to save. And as the unloving religious authorities of His day try to stop Him, He glares at them in anger and grieves at their hardness of heart.

This Jesus is so loveable! He is the very embodiment of love and mercy, and He cuts through all the miserable circumstance around us to fill us with His saving grace and effective healing.

Ideas for conversation with the Lord: Contemplate our great High Priest: All the splendor of eternity, combined “impossibly” but really with all the confines and limitations of our human condition. He lived within the same misery created by original sin that we live in, and showed us the way to remain peaceful within it, and confront it. As you consider the full stature of what He is, ask Him to transform you with His sanctifying grace so that your union with Him will cause a mirroring in your life of His divine-human reality.

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January 19, 2021January 12, 2021

The Pledge

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

Life is overwhelming; if we take its responsibilities seriously, it is more than we can handle. But while remaining diligent, we need to take our responsibilities in stride. Because Jesus has pledged to take care of us, and this extends to our responsibilities as well.

Today’s first reading from the letter to the Hebrews points out what perhaps should be obvious: That God is always faithful to His oaths. He fulfills what He promises to do. He swore on Himself to provide descendants as numerous as the stars for Abraham, despite the apparent impossibility. Even though it didn’t seem to make sense, Abraham believed God, and patiently waited for the promise of the birth of his heir to be fulfilled.

But then, what has God promised to us? In the Gospel, Jesus promises us the care of the Father when He talks about how much more valuable to the Father we are than the exquisitely-attired lilies of the field, how we are much more valuable than many sparrows, how every hair on our heads is counted (cf. Mt. 6:25-34)… And He sealed this oath with His own blood.

So, God has promised, with the same solemnity of His promise to Abraham, to look after our every need. Sometimes we look at the world around us, at the apparently random tragedies and misfortunes that befall people, and we become scared. Perhaps we doubt God’s Providence, or perhaps we allow ourselves to think that God does not take care of some people because they have not earned His care with a good life.

This is a cruel lie. We do not earn His care. Rather, He wants to give it as a free gift; we either allow Him, or we do not. Many do not; they shut Him out of their lives. Now, the act of allowing Him to care for us is our obedient “yes” to Him. And, that is a “yes” given to Him in both our prayer and our life. But in the end, we earn nothing.

If we place our relationship with God as our top priority, the providential gift of His care will exceed all our desires and expectations–we can rely on it. It is not that difficulties, misfortunes, even tragedies will not befall us. Rather, these will come from the providential story He has written for our lives, fitting right in as key elements for bringing us to fuller happiness in Him.

As today’s psalm says, “The Lord will remember His covenant forever.”

Ideas for conversation with the Lord: Talk to God about the ways you have not completely relied on His Providence in the midst of life’s ups and downs, but have been carried away by the fear of the moment. Ask Him to give you the only thing He asks from you: Trust, complete trust in His Providence.

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