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Shiny Object

Glitter

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


The contrast between today’s first reading and gospel is striking. In the first reading, we feel the full force of human folly, as the people upon whom God has lavished His friendship and His saving power literally throw that friendship away for a shiny object.

Then, in the Gospel, Jesus describes how the Kingdom of God can flourish, nourish, protect as it grows great and strong among people.

What, then, is the destiny of the human race? Is it to be the epitome of bitter, ironic folly, or is it to be shade, protection, fullness, joy amid the branches of the tree of the Kingdom of God?

The answer to this portentous question lies in a small, weak place: It lies within each human heart, beset by the winds of irrational passions fueled by the taint of original sin, but also capable by God’s grace of firmly and consistently choosing His Kingdom.

The key to strengthening and even guaranteeing this commitment within our own free will, the caprice of which may at times terrify us, is daily nourishment through the sacraments and contemplative prayer.

But then, we are also called to make an impact on the choices of our brothers and sisters, of all humanity. We achieve this simply by making a gift, a sacrifice of our lives, as Jesus did to the Father, bringing a life dedicated to service of others daily to the altar and offering it to the Father with the sacrifice of Jesus, that His infinitely powerful merits may spread in their effect. And that gift will not be fruitless, but bear abundant fruit for the Kingdom of God.

Ideas for conversation with the Lord: Ask Jesus for the inestimable gift of perseverance in His friendship until the end of your life, that you may continue in the joy of that friendship through all eternity. In this moment of prayer, offer your life to Jesus as a gift in union with Jesus Supreme Sacrifice, that the infinite power of that Sacrifice may be applied in souls who do not yet know His grace.

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Idolatry and Freedom

Golden Calf

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


Sometimes we talk metaphorically about how today’s golden calves are money and sensuality. So, whereas the Israelites worshiped a golden idol at Sinai, we worship our own base passions of greed, laziness, lust, etc.

This metaphor may feel recent, but it originates with St. Paul, right in today’s first reading. Those who give themselves over to these things are committing, directly or indirectly, a sin against the First Commandment, by not loving God above all things, and putting something else ahead of Him.

Because we are attached to sin, we may feel as though the prohibition against sin is a constraint, a sort of shackles, which prevents us from doing what we want. We are like a horse tethered to a post for so long that he no longer knows what it means not to be tethered, and enjoys chewing on the leather with which he is tied. When the master comes to free him from the tether, he balks and fights, afraid to lose his chew toy, not realizing at all how much greater a joy freedom brings than the taste of his old tether.

Freedom from sin is very much like freedom from a debilitating physical condition–like the horse’s tethered state, or like the crippled woman’s inability to stand up straight in today’s Gospel passage. Hence Jesus often heals and forgives sins at the same moment, freeing the whole person, in their physical and spiritual reality.

If the Christian life feels onerous to us, this is an illusion; it means simply that we haven’t tasted it in its fullness. It has been said that falling in love with God is the opposite process, in a sense, to falling in love romantically. With romantic love, we feel strong attraction, and on the basis of that attraction come to a place of commitment. With love of God, He asks us to commit first in faith, fully, and then over the course of our lives reveals the glory of that in which we have invested.

Our best tastes of freedom in God are yet to come.

Ideas for conversation with the Lord: Tell Jesus of the attachments you feel to created realities, and even habits of sin. Tell Him of your weakness and the difficulty you encounter in becoming free to choose Him consistently. Ask Him to send you the Holy Spirit to supplement with the strength and clarity that you don’t have. Will a father give his son a scorpion when he asks for an egg? Much less, then, will your Father in Heaven refuse the Holy Spirit to those who ask Him (cf. Lk. 11:12-13).

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