Matthew Williams – Page 2 – Meditation on Daily Mass Readings

June 26, 2021June 25, 2021

Letting God

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

Why is it so hard simply to believe that God will keep his word?

Today’s readings are all about faith. We see some examples of people who are slow to believe. In the first reading, Sarah chuckles in disbelief as the messengers of God predict her childbirth. In the gospel, Jesus refers to those of the house of Israel who lack faith.

But we also see examples of great faith and trust. Abraham’s faith wins him great blessings from God, and the centurion in the gospel–notably not one of God’s people, not an Israelite–demonstrates not only great humility before Christ in declaring his unworthiness to receive Him, but also great faith and trust that Jesus can cure his servant without even being physically present.

And in both of these readings, the strong faith of one benefits others. Abraham’s faith wins for him the blessing of a son–and the same blessing even for his disbelieving wife Sarah. In the gospel, the centurion’s faith wins the salvation of his servant from paralysis.

Heroic faith casts a broad glow; it illuminates and benefits the lives of others, who may not possess such faith.

But again, why is it so hard simply to believe that God will keep his word? Why do we so often fail to demonstrate the faith of Abraham, and fail to bring God’s blessings upon us, like the centurion?

It runs fully against our nature to place our understanding of the protagonist role in our lives in God, rather than ourselves. We so dearly want to achieve accomplishments that we can be proud of, and conversely, how ashamed we are of our shortcomings and failures. Also, we are embittered by other humans’ lack of love, to the point that the bitterness blurs our view of God’s infinite love

Faith requires a radical shift of mentality. It is not about our accomplishments; it is about what God can do and wants to do, and indeed has already done in us. It is not about our failures; it is about our lives offered to Him daily as a gift, with all their foibles and warts. It is not about others’ mistreatment of us; it is about God’s tender care for us.

Those who realize this mentality shift in their lives attain limitless blessings from God, in this life and eternity.

Ideas for conversation with the Lord: Ask Jesus for the only thing He asks of you: Trust. Ask Him to fill your life with the certainty expressed in Mary’s Magnificat, which becomes the psalm response for today: The Lord has remembered his mercy.

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June 25, 2021June 24, 2021

Light in Darkness

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

The entire history of salvation consists in God’s action to undo, with the most delicate respect for man’s freedom, the damage that man has done to himself through sin.

In today’s readings, we see God reversing physical maladies introduced into the world with original sin: infertility in the case of Sarah in the first reading, and leprosy in the gospel.

And the joy this brings is represented in the psalm: “See how the Lord blesses those who fear him.”

But in the end, all of this presages and culminates in Jesus’ act to reverse the greatest damage of all done by sin: the inability of the human being to enter into a relationship of loving intimacy with God the Father.

It may frustrate us sometimes that so many maladies still exist in the world; that with His coming, Jesus did not reverse them all at once. But the fact that He did not perform a complete overhaul of this sort with His coming reflects His respect for our original, fundamental choice.

He did, however, completely overturn the limitation of our freedom to choose good, in particular the ultimate good of a relationship with God, that we had imposed upon ourselves with original sin. He threw the door to God back open for us. And while we cannot avoid every suffering that comes to us from this broken world, with His help we can thoroughly and completely choose to enter into that relationship, with all the interior light and joy that this brings–to the point that our sufferings begin to take on a very relative importance.

Ideas for conversation with the Lord: Tell Jesus that you trust in God’s providential plan for the world and for you, and that you trust the approach to salvation that He has chosen. Ask Him to fill you to bursting with all the fruits of His redemption.

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June 24, 2021June 23, 2021

No Man Greater

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

“Amen, I say to you, among those born of women there has been none greater than John the Baptist.” (Mt. 11:11)

This is the superlative fashion with which Jesus refers to John the Baptist. What would it mean to us to receive such a striking compliment from the Son of God?

And indeed, as today’s psalm tells us, John was “wonderfully made.” The first reading foreshadows the greatness to which Jesus alludes, and as we celebrate the birth of the Baptist, it shows us that this greatness is with John from the beginning:

The LORD called me from birth,
   from my mother’s womb he gave me my name.
He made of me a sharp-edged sword
   and concealed me in the shadow of his arm.
He made me a polished arrow,
   in his quiver he hid me.

It would seem that John was special from the start.

Are you likewise special from the start? The answer is a resounding “yes,” IF you fulfill your destiny. Your mission as a follower of Jesus is no less great than John’s, as Jesus Himself says in the same verse in Mt. 11: “yet the least in the kingdom of heaven is greater than he.”

All that stands between us and the same destiny to greatness enjoyed by John the Baptist, a destiny his from eternity, is our unconditional and daily “yes” to God. When spoken to God, the word “yes” is like a roller coaster car that one enters in the dark, not knowing where it will take one.

So it was for John. That “yes” brought him to a grand prophetic mission, and after that to a death tragic and gruesome, yet glorious in the eyes of God.

Ideas for conversation with the Lord: Tell Jesus that you do not doubt the glory of your destiny, and that you want the destiny He wants for you with all your heart. Tell Him He has free rein, a blank check to take your life wherever He wishes.

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June 23, 2021June 22, 2021

Heroes

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

The ideal followers of the pagan gods in ancient Roman and Greek civilizations were the great, strong heroes–the mighty warriors, who gained victory for their people.

As Christians, without perhaps realizing it, sometimes strive to emulate these sorts of heroes in our service of God. We strive to be great protectors as fathers, the wisest and most caring of mothers, great communicators of the truth on social media, reliable rocks to our friends.

By contrast, Abram won God’s favor in another way in today’s first reading, after God had made him a great promise: “Abram put his faith in the Lord, who credited it to him as an act of righteousness.”

As Heb. 11:8-12 tells us, Abram found favor of the Lord, not by doing Him service, but by trusting in His promise.

When we trust in God’s providential promise, a feat much harder than it sounds, we become the tree that bears great fruit described in today’s gospel.

Trust turns us into the hero of our neighbor that we cannot become by our own effort, because we cease fretting for our own welfare, and gain the perspective that opens our eyes to others’ needs.

Faith and trust alone turn us into spiritual giants, worthy of the name of Christians.

Ideas for conversation with the Lord: Ask Jesus to do whatever it takes, even allowing for great trials in your life if it is His will, to convey to you the gift of strong, invincible faith and trust.

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June 22, 2021June 21, 2021

The Narrow Path

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

“How narrow the gate and constricted the road that leads to life. And those who find it are few.” With this chilling line today’s scriptures end.

In the first reading, Abram, who has chosen the narrow road by seeking to be faithful to God in all things, is given a breathtaking promise:

“Look about you, and from where you are,
gaze to the north and south, east and west;
all the land that you see I will give to you
and your descendants forever.
I will make your descendants like the dust of the earth;
if anyone could count the dust of the earth,
your descendants too might be counted.”

Throughout Scripture, we find that the outcome of choices in life are uncomfortably binary. Either we choose the difficult path of God’s will in all things, and reap amazing happiness like that promised to Abram, or we choose the broad path that leads to perdition, and lose all happiness forever.

Why is the path of God’s will difficult? We also read in today’s gospel:

“Do to others whatever you would have them do to you.
This is the Law and the Prophets.”

Sounds sweet and pleasant. The Golden Rule. But living it is very hard. Abram provides us an ideal example in the first reading. Instead of picking the best parcel of land for himself, he gave Lot the first choice–and Lot chose the more fertile parcel. God’s promise to Abram above follows directly upon this choice. Doing God’s will is so simple. And so hard. And, the consequences could not be more definitive and extreme.

We’d like it to be otherwise. Countless very learned theologians have taken great pains to explain away Jesus’ words, effectively stating that He was predicting not outcomes that would happen, but outcomes that could happen. Sure, Jesus says that few find the path to salvation. But that’s just what could happen, if people are really really evil. In reality, just about everyone gets to Heaven.

What does Jesus really say, though? He says that few find the path to salvation–present tense, indicative mood. He is stating what actually does happen. And we do well to take His words at face value, and to strive with all our might to make choices, all day, every day, like those of Abram.

Ideas for conversation with the Lord: Ask Jesus to give you a heart like His, always ready to give others the best and take the inferior for ourselves–which is what it means to do to others what we would have them do to us.

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June 13, 2021June 10, 2021

Mighty Cedar

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

Today’s readings are all about the plantings of the Lord, which grow mighty and stand steadfast, providing shelter and shade to many.

In the second reading, St. Paul speaks about how those who remain steadfast in the Lord live in their bodies on earth as in exile, away from home; and how leaving our bodies will paradoxically bring us home.

So often, we believe that the Christian life is God challenging us to lift ourselves up by our bootstraps and reach the goals He has set out for us. But we see in today’s readings that in God’s eyes, the Christian life is He Himself tending the planting of His Kingdom in the willing soul, and bringing it to a mighty place of maturity and fruitfulness.

It is true that, as the Kingdom of God grows mightily within us, it remains subtle, and exiled as we are in our bodies, we may not always perceive its advance. We may become disheartened as the challenges of our circumstances and our own sinfulness overwhelm us, like the storm that frightened Jesus’ disciples (cf. Mk. 4:35-41). But today’s readings give us great hope: Imperceptible as it may be, the Kingdom of God within us is mighty, firm, reliable once we have lent ourselves to the great Gardener to cultivate it within us.

Ideas for conversation with the Lord: Ask Jesus to take over your spiritual growth, and overcome the lethargy and distraction that often fills your soul. Ask Him to make your spiritual strength depend on His action, not yours, and to provide His grace for you always to give Him your willing “yes.”

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June 12, 2021June 10, 2021

The Fibers of a Heart

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

On this feast of the Immaculate Heart of Mary, today’s readings present to us three distinct traits of the heart of the Blessed Virgin.

First, the gospel gives us a window into Mary’s contemplative heart. She was truly dismayed when she and Joseph had lost track of Jesus. Imagine losing your child in a crowd, and not finding him for three days. This would leave the heart of any parent distraught. But when she found Jesus, she did not correct Him or grow angry with Him. Rather, she asked Him, her divine Son, why He had done what He had done, and then after receiving the rather cryptic answer, she contemplated in her heart how God had been working through these events. While subject to anxiety like any other human, Mary trusted to her core in God’s loving Providence working in her life, and knew how to contemplate the events in her life continually in the light of that Providence, rather than through a prism of personal insecurity or personal vanity.

“The Lord is kind and merciful,” the psalm tells us. On this day, we celebrate that the heart of Mary imitates this divine trait and is likewise kind and merciful, always ready to hear the requests of sinners, whatever their misdeeds. We can always ask her help and intercession, and dialogue with her, no matter how ashamed we may feel of our sinfulness–and we will always receive a warm, kind, compassionate reception.

Finally, in the first reading, St. Paul expresses himself in a tone that likewise mirrors a characteristic of Mary’s heart: “The love of Christ impels us.” Throughout this reading, Paul exudes a tone of urgency as he implores his hearers to be reconciled to God. Mary’s heart is full of passion for the reconciliation of sinners to the Heart of her Son. Her entire work in the Church over the last two millennia, including the messages she has delivered with her appearances, has been full of ardent supplication for prayer and sacrifice for sinners. Her love for her children is not an idle one.

Ideas for conversation with the Lord: Ask Jesus to fill you with the kind of love that filled his mother’s heart, which transcended in its trust the natural human psychological ebbs and flows, even as she experienced them like anyone else. Ask Him to fill you with spontaneous kindness, and ardent passion for the eternal welfare of others.

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June 11, 2021June 10, 2021

The Source

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

“You shall draw water joyfully from the springs of salvation,” today’s psalm tells us.

And the gospel reveals to us whence those springs of salvation flow. When the soldier thrusts the lance into Jesus’ side, immediately blood and water flow out, from Jesus’ pierced Heart. It is from Jesus’ unfathomably loving Heart that we draw the life-giving water of salvation. As Jesus Himself said during His earthly ministry: “Whoever drinks the water I shall give will never thirst; the water I shall give will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life.” (Jn. 4:14)

This Heart is the home of the inscrutable riches of Christ to which Paul refers in the second reading. Its love is the measure of “what is the breadth and length and height and depth,” this “love of Christ which surpasses knowledge.”

It is this meek and humble Heart which we hear speaking through the first reading; one which does not wish to destroy, but rather continually pours out mercy.

Jesus’ Sacred Heart is the source of Divine Mercy, and the depiction of Divine Mercy is one of red and blue radiance signifying blood and water, coming straight from the Heart of Jesus.

If we only suspected for a moment the desire of this Heart to fill us with happiness and give us all peace, wholeness, and overflowing fulfillment, we would rush to Him and never leave Him.

Ideas for conversation with the Lord: “Jesus, meek and humble of heart, make my heart more like yours.” Ask Jesus to shape your heart and transform it to be like His, to the point that your love too contributes to the eternal welfare of others.

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June 10, 2021June 9, 2021

The Veil

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

Today’s psalm tells us, “The glory of the Lord will dwell in our land,” and, “Near indeed is his salvation to those who fear him.”

The utter fullness of God’s might and glory is near indeed, just a breath away from us. But, as St. Paul tells us in the first reading, it is veiled to most people–but not to those who choose God’s path, and thus live in the Spirit.

It is veiled to those destined to perish, Paul tells us; thus, the glory of the Lord is veiled to those who choose not to strive to fulfill God’s challenging demands. They live in continual spiritual darkness.

Conveniently, in today’s gospel Jesus gives an example of just how challenging those demands can be. God does not tolerate angry name-calling or ongoing resentment toward neighbor, for He cherishes charity and unity.

This is what living up to God’s challenges means: It means a daily intimate prayer life, and striving to cooperate with Him in an effort to displace the center of our objectives from ourselves to others. Quite a challenge; quite an undertaking.

But the reward is incalculable. Even in this life, the veil is partially removed, and we sense God’s immediate closeness, His guidance, His love, and a we receive a small foretaste of the joy that eternal life with Him will bring.

Ideas for conversation with the Lord: Tell Jesus that you choose Him with all your heart. Ask Him to come and transform the focus of your life from your own earthly needs to the needs of others. Tell Him how daunting this challenge is for you, and ask Him to take charge.

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June 9, 2021June 4, 2021

Old and New

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

The pairing of today’s readings is fascinating.

In the first reading, St. Paul describes Mosaic Law, epitomized in the Ten Commandments, as the “ministry of death.”

Jesus in the gospel, on the other hand, is adamant that no letter or part of a letter of the Law will not disappear, and the Law must be followed. He came not to abolish the Law, but to fulfill it.

So which is it? Is Jesus the fulfillment of the ministry of death? Does the old Law pass away, or remain and come to fruition?

Startling as it may sound, Jesus is, in a way, the fulfillment of this “ministry of death.” The old Law was a ministry of death inasmuch as the command to avoid sin was in itself sterile and fruitless, because compliance with this command could not bring life. Humanity remained doomed to death.

But in introducing the new “ministry of the Spirit,” the ministry of life, as it were, Jesus replaces the mortal destiny of man with the destiny of eternal life. He allows mortality to take away His life, and in doing so, opens the path to life in Him.

It is not that the Commandments themselves are forever linked to death. Rather, in linking them now to life, Jesus ushers in the new Law of the Spirit, and fulfills the very destiny of the old Law and the Commandments, which was never meant to remain as futility and death.

The difference between the old Law and the new Law is not the difference between following the Commandments and living in the Spirit. Rather, it is the difference between fulfilling the Commandments with no path to salvation, and fulfilling them in the fullness of the Spirit’s joy, with an eye to eternal life.

Ideas for conversation with the Lord: Ask Jesus for help in living as a New Testament Christian, not one of the faithful prior to His coming. Ask Him for the joy of confidence in the victory of the Spirit, that turns the fulfillment of God’s will in our lives into our focal passion and desire.

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