Pray It Forward: Cast Your Bread Upon the Water

“…Give, and it will be given to you. A good measure, pressed down, shaken together, running over, will be put into your lap, for the measure you give will be the measure you get back.”

St. Luke 6:38

Send out your bread upon the waters,
    for after many days, you will get it back...

Ecclesiastes 11:1

Consider

Jesus teaches us that giving of ourselves to others results in a reward. The same principle applies in His Kingdom’s economy of abundance when we cast our prayers upon Him. When we intercede, we surrender our most profound concerns for our loved ones to Him. Some of us have been praying for years for a loved one, but we are losing hope that God will answer our prayers. It can be challenging to entrust our loved ones to our Lord, whether it is a wayward child, a broken marriage, a chronic disease, or any other issue. It boils down to this: the tricky part about giving our children and grandchildren to the Lord is that we must let go, which can seem impossible. How is it going for you?

The most powerful way to communicate with God is by using His Word. One of the best things we can do for ourselves is engage with the Sacred Scripture, which helps us find peace when we are struggling with our loved ones. We immerse ourselves in His grace when we meditate on God’s Word. We can be confident that His Word always hits the mark. The writer of the letter to the Hebrews reminds us that the Word of God is alive and active, sharper than any double-edged sword. It can divide the soul from spirit, joints from marrow, and judge the thoughts and intentions of our hearts. (Hebrews 4:12)

My prayers for my present and future family members may not be perfect; I’m just not that good! However, when we pray using the Word of God, the Holy Spirit interprets our words and makes them effective.

Likewise, the Spirit helps us in our weakness, for we do not know how to pray as we ought, but that very Spirit intercedes with sighs too deep for words. And God, who searches the heart, knows what is the mind of the Spirit because the Spirit intercedes for the saints according to the will of God.

Romans 8:26-27

If you need more encouragement for your intercessory prayers, consider the power of God’s Word described by the prophet Isaiah.

For as the rain and the snow come down from heaven,
and do not return there until they have watered the earth,
making it bring forth and sprout,
giving seed to the sower and bread to the eater,
so shall my word be that goes out from my mouth;
it shall not return to me empty,
but it shall accomplish that which I purpose,
and succeed in the thing for which I sent it.

Isaiah 55: 10-11

When we entrust the well-being of our loved ones to God by praying His Word, we may have a solid urge to dictate precisely how we want Him to answer our prayers. However, we must trust that His Holy Spirit will translate our requests according to His will. Even though the answer may not come immediately, we can be confident that God will fulfill His purpose for our loved ones in abundance and with incredible generosity as they respond to his grace and salvation.

Pray

Lord, you promise to keep [ ] from all evil and keep [ ] life in your hands. You know [ ] comings and goings from this time on and evermore. I entrust [ ] to you; do with [ ] what You will!

In the name of the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Amen

Act

Start a prayer journal dedicated to intercessory prayer for your family. As you read the Daily Office, you will discover how to form the Scripture into prayer. Here are a few samples from today’s liturgy:

The Lord God will wipe away the tears from all faces, and he will take the disgrace of his people from all the earth, for the Lord has spoken. Isaiah 25:8

Oh Lord God, I carry [ ] to your loving arms, and I ask that you wipe away her tears and assure her of your unfailing love for her. You know the disgrace in her life and how it affects her mind and body. Comfort her for me today. –Amen

Light dawns for the just and gladness for the upright of heart. Be glad in the Lord, you just, and give thanks to his holy name. Psalm 97:11-12

God of Light, shine on [ ] as he strives to be a godly father. Grant him an upright heart so that he gladdens the heart of his children. May he live a life of gratitude before all people. –Amen

Pray It Forward: “Too Heavy for Me”

“Do not lose heart, even if you should discover that you lack qualities necessary for the work to which you are called. He who called you will not desert you, but the moment you are in need, he will stretch out his saving hand.”

– St. Angela Merici

Moses, the quintessential priest of the Old Testament, stood before the Lord after leading God’s people away from the bondage of slavery, lamenting to him about the burden he had to carry as the leader in The Exodus from enslavement in Egypt to the land God had promised to give them where they would be free from oppression. It was a noble calling for this faithful man, but it wasn’t a walk in the park. The people of God were complaining, “We are hungry and thirsty…we are tired and weary…we want things to return to the way they used to be.” And the list of complaints kept growing. Moses cried out to God, “I cannot carry this people by myself, for they are too heavy for me.” (Numbers 11) Do those complaints sound familiar to you? If you are a parent/grandparent, you regularly hear these honest complaints in one form or another. It’s normal for children to make their needs known to their parents, but the yammering can get tiring when it embeds in the disposition of their minds as they grow! Our role in their lives is to lead them out of their immaturity and self-preoccupation, first by example, but discipline is sometimes needed to correct their ingratitude. That gets exhausting, doesn’t it? The Lord desires us to intercede as we lead; the Holy Spirit will guide us as we guide them to the “promised life” of contentment. Like Moses, when we cry out to the Lord that we are at a loss on how to carry our loved ones into young adulthood and that, at times, parenting is too heavy for us, he gives us just the right guidance and energy to stay the course.

Consider

What burden for your children/grandchildren do you carry that causes you to cry to the Lord that it is too heavy for you? Name them to the Lord. He knows already, but we need to voice them. I started a prayer journal for our family as we were raising them, and I continue to use it as a mother to adult children and their spouses, as well as my grandchildren and future generations. I’ve prayed my way through nearly 43 years of ups and downs, loss and gain, joys and sorrows. My Savior and Friend sits with me as I’ve poured my heart out to him on behalf of my loved ones. Perhaps that would be helpful for you. How can you pray for your family today? Simply asking the Lord to have mercy on them is often enough, but praying the Scripture over them is also needed, for it is the ultimate weapon we have against the malignant enemy of the souls of our families.

Pray

Father, your Word says, When the righteous cry for help, the Lord hears and rescues them from all their troubles. (Ps 34:17) I ask that you give [ ] unusual strength to stand up under whatever causes them to be discouraged and fretful. Your Word promises you will rescue us when our spirit is overwhelmed (Ps 143:4). I entrust [ ] to you today and ask that you grant them a lightness of spirit as they go throughout their day. Help [ ] to place their confidence in you as they face circumstances that may seem too heavy for them.

In the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit. Amen

Act

Talk with your children/grandchildren, appropriate to their age, about their complaints and frustrations. You may find that their complaints are legitimate (like the Israelites’ hunger) or that they don’t like change, especially when it’s hurried change. Talk about ways to help them adjust to new things rather than complain about them. You may want to ask them how you could prepare them for transition better. I had two children and now several grandchildren who struggle with change when it appears to threaten their sense of security. The Holy Spirit gave us helpful insight when we were parenting the said children; they now use it with their own children. We would begin preparing them for the disruption and talk about the upcoming event days and sometimes weeks ahead, depending on the significance of what was coming. Once they knew we would listen to their concerns about what was ahead of them and prayed with them about their worries, the complaining subsided. The importance of consistency can’t be overstated regarding renewing our mindsets, especially in children’s lives.

Pray It Forward: Introduction

Today, I trailed behind my daughter and granddaughter as we walked the halls of the school she will enter this year. With her schedule and map of the school in hand, she walked beside her guidance counselor to each of the doors in her new adventure–high school! It was a bizarre moment for me. I was here in a place like this with her mother just yesterday, wasn’t I? The guidance counselor gave the same advice to my granddaughter that my daughter and I heard when we were her age. “Change is exciting, but it can be scary; everyone around you probably feels the same way as you do, so don’t be afraid to ask for help.” Good advice, no matter your age!

I have 16 grandchildren, and there are many bizarre moments like these for me as I mother-once-removed them. It is more challenging for me to see my grandchildren growing up than it ever was when I parented their parents. I know it’s ridiculous to feel that way, but I can’t help myself. My love for them is possibly more than their fathers and mothers’ love for them at this stage in the game. It feels like my mama bear-ness is on steroids with my grandchildren.

Our family is spread across the country, and so is my love. With the arrival of each grandchild, my passion keeps expanding; sometimes, I’m bursting with emotions in 16 directions. So, what do I do? I get down on my knees and pray like I’ve never prayed before! I pray for these grandchildren just as I prayed for my children, but with more urgency than I ever felt when my children were young. I was too busy surviving motherhood; I didn’t have time to think of the “what ifs.” I would collapse into bed at night and ask our heavenly Father to make up for all my mistakes that day and for the stamina to get through the next day. I often told the Lord, “I just want them to remember how much you love them; don’t let me get in the way of them knowing that.” Now I pray, “Lord, help their parents to show them how much you love them, but let me help!”

And I do help! I help with the most significant effectiveness I have as their memiere (grandmother), for I, too, have a Guidance Counselor walking beside me, reassuring me as I navigate each new change in my family’s life. I’ve taken St. James’ admonition (5:13,16) to earnestly pray for others for a long time.

Are any among you suffering? They should pray. Are any cheerful? They should sing songs of praise. Are any among you sick? … The prayer of the righteous is powerful and effective. 

The sense of urgency in interceding for my children grew exponentially when they reached their teen years, and now, 30-some years from our first child starting his teen years, I’m still praying not only for my children and grandchildren but our progeny! There is a theological understanding referred to as “prevenient grace,” referring to the grace of God that goes before us to prepare us for the recognition of sin and to enable us to understand our need for a Saviour. I know, that I know, that I know prevenient prayer for my family is the most valuable inheritance I can give as a mother and memiere. It is my habit to pray the Sacred Scriptures for my family. For what better way could I pray than praying God’s Word over them. The writer of Ecclesiastes encourages us to Send out your bread upon the waters, for after many days, you will get it back.

I pray that this new category addition to my blog will be helpful to you, friend.

…[Because] His Hour Had Not Yet Come

Again Jesus spoke to them, saying, “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness but will have the light of life.” Then the Pharisees said to him, “You are testifying on your own behalf; your testimony is not valid.” Jesus answered, “Even if I testify on my own behalf, my testimony is valid because I know where I have come from and where I am going, but you do not know where I come from or where I am going. You judge by human standards; I judge no one. Yet even if I do judge, my judgment is valid; for it is not I alone who judge, but I and the Father who sent me. In your law it is written that the testimony of two witnesses is valid. I testify on my own behalf, and the Father who sent me testifies on my behalf.” Then they said to him, “Where is your Father?” Jesus answered, “You know neither me nor my Father. If you knew me, you would know my Father also.” He spoke these words while he was teaching in the treasury of the temple, but no one arrested him, because his hour had not yet come.

The Gospel According to Saint John 8:12-29

My strong sense of justice sometimes becomes disordered because of my prideful hubris. It’s a besetting sin that provides many lessons for me to learn the virtue of humility–mea culpa! The Sacred Scripture is a syllabus of sorts for transformation in the virtues. I’m a willing student but often feel like I’m failing the course. Do you ever feel that way, friend?

Jesus had a perfect sense of justice; we could say Jesus is Justice. So whenever I read passages such as today’s gospel reading, I lean in a little closer to listen to The Teacher as he shows me a more excellent way to live. It just so happened that today is also when we recall the Joyful Mysteries where we visualize, through Mary’s eyes, the wonder of the Incarnation of Jesus. The last mystery we recall in today’s rosary is Jesus in The Temple. Joseph and Mary had “lost” Jesus on the way back home to Nazareth after the Passover in Jerusalem. They found him after three days, sitting in the Temple. St. Luke 2:48-51 puts it this way:

After three days they found him in the temple, sitting among the teachers, listening to them and asking them questions. And all who heard him were amazed at his understanding and his answers. 

Mary and Joseph let him know what he had put them through and Jesus replies:

“Why were you searching for me? Did you not know that I must be in my Father’s house?” But they did not understand what he said to them. Then he went down with them and came to Nazareth, and was obedient to them. His mother treasured all these things in her heart.

As I prayed with that mystery, the Teacher asked me a question. Why do you suppose I reveal my understanding to these particular teachers of the Law? It was early morning, I was barely awake, and it was too much to ponder. But the Teacher wasn’t done teaching. A bit later, with my coffee in my mug and the incense burning, I opened The Daily Liturgy. As I read the gospel reading, the Teacher was still there; he didn’t mind the interruption, he wasn’t done teaching for the day.

“I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness but will have the light of life.”  Oh, Jesus! As I see the sun just now rising above the trees, I am grateful that you never stop shining, even when I’ve “rotated” away from your light. Help me to remain oriented to your light, especially when my disordered pride makes me think I have just the right insight into other people’s behavior that they need to hear–mea culpa!

Jesus is in the same Temple again; the Pharisees–teachers, probably some of the same teachers from decades earlier argue with Jesus after he made the above declaration. Their disordered pride was getting in the way of their ability to understand The Teacher. Oh, Jesus! Forgive me for thinking my way of thinking is how you see things. There is no way I can fathom the depth and breadth of your wisdom; what’s that you say to me?

“You know neither me, nor my Father. If you knew me, you would know my Father also.”  I stand up in protest. Oh, Jesus! How can that be? I am convinced you are the Son of God; surely, I’m thinking correctly. But you say, I am Love. I am not like love. I am Love. You must learn to love me more and love your big fat ego less. Only then will you understand. When you speak words motivated by your disordered pride, you are speaking out of turn. He looks at me with gentle eyes, and I sit down.

He spoke these words while he was teaching in the treasury of the temple, but no one arrested him, because his hour had not yet come. Is this the lesson for me today, Jesus? That even though you were God incarnate–Perfect Wisdom–you allow the errant teachers to remain convinced of their errant teaching. Rather than striking the verbal blow that would knock them to their knees, you walk away because your hour had not yet come.

That subordinate clause, “because,” gets me to wondering if I have missed something from the lesson. Ah, yes. You are the Cause; the beginning and the end. You are the Incarnate God that began a discussion with the errant teachers of your Law when you were just a child. I suppose you could have knocked them to their knees then, but the time you chose to reveal your Divinity had not yet come. Jesus, forgive me! Forgive my ego-centered attitude toward others. Forgive me for not listening to you–all those times in my past when the words of my mouth came out like knives to slyly pierce the one in front of me–mea culpa!

You, Lord, are the Cause of my life. In you, I have my beginning and end. Through you I receive Wisdom that leads to understanding, that leads me to keep my big fat mouth closed. Humble me into Love–genuine and pure–self-giving love that seeks to understand the other rather than to conquer the other.

In the name of the Father and the Son, and the Holy Spirit. As it was in the beginning, it is now, and ever shall be, world without end.

Amen

Place Yourself in a Place Where You Can Be Found

A priest who served a small town parish found himself going blind due to a congenital disease. As he was preparing for his new life as a blind person memorized the layout of the streets in the town, making Main Street his anchor for navigation. As his sight deteriorated and soon disappeared, he walked each road of the town, constantly navigating back to Main Street before turning toward the parish rectory. One day, he got turned around. He knew how to make his way to the main street, so he walked to it and sat down, knowing someone from the parish would find him. Sure enough, a parishioner passed by and gave him a drive back to the rectory. He thanked the parishioner for finding him. Then the parishioner asked him how he had known how to make his way to Main Street. The priest told him of his practice of memorizing the town as he was going blind. “But, why Main Street?” the parishioner asked. The priest reminded him that everybody in town must drive down the main street to get where they are going. And then he added, “When you are lost, put yourself in a place where you can be found.”

I have never been so lost that I couldn’t be found (we never are), but I certainly have felt that way from time to time over my life. And, like the priest, I want to always be in a place where I can be found! Like Zaccheus, who wanted to see Jesus but couldn’t see over the crowd because he was vertically challenged, I sometimes needed to climb a tree to be found. The hard part is to sit and wait for Jesus. An Ignatian Spirituality principle about the discernment of spirits helps me to remain “seated” as I wait to be found, or I should say, as I wait for the Lord’s consolation. Life just happens, does it not? We are perennially in a state of consolation, tranquility, or desolation; and sometimes life just drives us up a tree; pun intended. We have seasons when our spirit is tranquil and still in the hands of our LORD, but then something comes along to disturb our peace, and it can make us feel discontent, doubt, or fear settling in around the edges of our mind. I believe the LORD allows those times to come to help us relearn that he is always with us despite how we feel. Usually, we can recognize that it’s simply another opportunity to entrust ourselves to the LORD. Normally. But then there are those times when discontentment, doubt, or fear move into our hearts and begin to nag us into looking for love in all the wrong places.

Saint Ignatius of Loyola refers to those seasons of our life as “desolation.” It may start with a bit of melancholy or feelings of isolation tiptoeing their way into our thoughts or a dramatic life event that assaults us. Either way, we risk losing sight of the LORD’s abiding love for us if we try to avoid the season by distracting ourselves from the LORD’s love. It is then that we need to take the blind priest’s advice and place ourselves in a place where we can be found.

He cautions that we should never make decisions when in desolation; in other words, we are to remain in the LORD’s hands as he carries us through the unwelcomed season back to the tranquil rest that is ours when we wait for the LORD. When we continue to do what we know to do in our relationship with the LORD–worship, prayer, reading the Sacred Scriptures–we are placing ourselves in a place we can be found. And just as Jesus did for Zacchaeus, he will do for us even though we cannot see the forest for the trees, another pun intended!

I believe I know why Ash Wednesday is the third most attended mass of the Liturgical year; we all share the knowledge that our physical lives are just dust after all. St. James writes:

What is your life? For you are a mist that appears for a little while and then vanishes.

Yet we all know or at least hope to know that when we place ourselves in the place where we can be found, Jesus comes to us with his abundant life as he did to Zaccheaus. And like Zaccheaus, we know that when we repent of whatever got us lost in the first place, a season of refreshing will come. That’s another way to look at Lent’s meaning- a time of renewal and refreshment.

Repent therefore, and turn to God so that your sins may be wiped out, so that times of refreshing may come from the presence of the Lord, and that he may send the Messiah appointed for you, that is, Jesus…

“Acts 3:19,20

Do you ever doubt God will come through for you? Do you long for contentment that isn’t rattled by your circumstances? Do you struggle with feelings of doubt and discontent? The malignant enemy of our soul nags us with feelings of shame and regret, discontentment and doubt. Yet our loving Lord Jesus has his eyes fixed on us, waiting for us to place ourselves where we can be found.

LORD Jesus Christ, there are so many ways we get ourselves lost. You know them all, don’t you? There is one way to be found, and you are the One who sees us. Teach us how to place ourselves where we can be found momentarily as we make this Lenten journey together.

In the name of the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit.

Amen

Holy Work

And whatever you do, in word or in deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him… Whatever you do, do from the heart, as for the Lord…

Colossians 3:17, 23

St. Paul writes that whatever our task, it can glorify God when we do it with thanksgiving. What is your task right now? Are you harvesting a field, holding your child, baking bread, or repairing a vehicle? When rightly ordered, the tasks of our hands are offerings of worship and thanksgiving to the Lord.

God ordered his creation as good, and he considers us as very good co-creators with him. His instruction to “be fruitful and multiply” applies to more than procreation. He has instilled within us a very good desire to innovate: in other words, to multiply his beauty and goodness in every corner of his creation. 

There’s not an animal alive that finds a cave to live in and immediately thinks, “Now, what can I do to improve the place?” But we do! God put the first man and woman in the Garden of Eden to cultivate and care for it as an act of thanksgiving and worship of God (Genesis 2:15). We, too, worship him with thanksgiving as we cultivate and care for our corners of this world by beautifying it. What a privilege! What a responsibility!

So how do we do that? We join hands, so to speak, in co-creating with God according to the unique giftedness he has blessed us each with. Whether right brain or left brain, artistic or analytical, we multiply God’s beauty, goodness, and truth with the work of our hands. My friend is an investor; he delights in helping people invest wisely. Another friend is an artist; she is delighted to give her paintings to neighbors and friends. Creating and giving, isn’t this another way of participating with God?

In the Sacred Tradition of our faith, we worship in the Mass, celebrating Christ, our Lord. There, our response to our salvation is a liturgy of praise and thanksgiving that we pray in word and song. The last words of the prayer of the Mass are “The Mass is ended. Go, in peace, glorifying the Lord by your life.” And we respond, “Thanks be to God.” We don’t walk out of the worship of God as if our thanksgiving has ended. No, we continue our worship of him as the Lord of our life in the liturgy (its etymology means “work”) of our daily lives. 

This is the beautiful reciprocity of the worship of God: God is delighted by our worship, and he pours that delight back into our lives as we co-create with him in the work of our hands. Our work is a favor from our Creator, a favor that keeps on giving. 

The psalmist writes, “May the favor of the Lord our God be ours. Prosper the work of our hands!” (Ps 90:17). Favor is an act of kindness beyond what is usual, but another definition of favor is to bear a resemblance to someone. Aren’t we doing that with the work of our hands as we co-create with our heavenly Father? 

Consider that our God, in the work of creation, made all things purposeful, perfect and valuable for us. And I believe it was quite enjoyable and satisfying for him to do that! It was all a favor for us. As we participate with him in co-creating, we too, enjoy the work of our hands, finding it satisfying and enjoyable and then gifting it to others.

My God-given abilities and talents bring order to my life, enriching my corner of the world. As I co-create, I am calmed and balanced in the rhythm of the abundant life in God. As I give my gifts and abilities to others, they may join in the rhythm of this abundant life as well. And yes, God favors me with the sanity that comes with it!

The Table

Jesus and feasting go together! Jesus frequently gathered with people around the table to enjoy good food and wine. The conversations around the table led to lessons by Jesus that would reveal truths about himself or human nature. Jesus’ first recorded miracle was at a wedding feast. He revealed his compassion and his power for the guests at that table. Jesus multiplied bread and fish for feasts that fed thousands of people. At one of those feasts, he declared that his body is the bread of heaven, and all who eat it are welcome at the table in God’s Kingdom. The last night with his disciples before his arrest, was spent around a table where they celebrated the Passover Feast–Lamb, bread, and wine. He instituted the Feast of the Eucharist when he broke bread with them and shared the wine:

While they were eating, Jesus took a loaf of bread, and after blessing it he broke it, gave it to the disciples, and said, “Take, eat; this is my body.” Then he took a cup, and after giving thanks he gave it to them, saying, “Drink from it, all of you;  for this is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins. I tell you, I will never again drink of this fruit of the vine until that day when I drink it new with you in my Father’s kingdom.”

The Gospel according to St. Matthew 26:26-29

On the evening of the day of his resurrection, he revealed himself to two of his followers at their table while breaking the bread; he blessed the bread and gave it to them. They immediately recognized Jesus as he broke the bread and blessed it!

They urged him strongly, saying, “Stay with us, because it is almost evening and the day is now nearly over.” So he went in to stay with them.  When he was at the table with them, he took bread, blessed and broke it, and gave it to them.  Then their eyes were opened, and they recognized him…

The Gospel according to St. Luke 24: 29-31a

After his Ascension into heaven, his holy Spirit descended on his followers while they celebrated the Feast of Pentecost!

When the day of Pentecost had come, they were all together in one place. And suddenly from heaven, there came a sound like the rush of a violent wind, and it filled the entire house where they were sitting. Divided tongues, as of fire, appeared among them, and a tongue rested on each of them. All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit…

The Acts of the Apostles 2:1-4a

The book of The Revelation to St. John includes a vision that reveals Jesus feasting around a table with his followers. St. John is instructed by the angel that accompanied him to write these words, Blessed are those who are invited to the marriage supper of the Lamb.

“Hallelujah!
For the Lord our God
    the Almighty reigns.
Let us rejoice and exult
    and give him the glory,
for the marriage of the Lamb has come,
    and his bride has made herself ready;
to her, it has been granted to be clothed
    with fine linen, bright and pure”—

for the fine linen is the righteous deeds of the saints.

And the angel said to me, “Write this: Blessed are those who are invited to the marriage supper of the Lamb.” 

The Revelation to St.John 19:6b-9a

What is Jesus up to with all that feasting? Is it the food, or is it the event? Well, it’s both. It was just like him to use the stuff familiar to us to reveal how God’s Kingdom may “come on earth as it is in heaven.” St. Luke draws our attention to a few feast conversations in his gospel (14:7-24), and considered together they foreshadow the eternal feast of heaven: The Marriage Supper of the Lamb. It seems that Jesus wants us to rehearse feasting with the proper attitude and understanding so that we may be allowed through the doors of heaven to take our place at the table of that feast.

Rehearsal includes three things necessary for receiving an invitation to the Marriage Supper of the Lamb. We are to practice humility and hospitality, and finally, we are to practice readiness.

The way Jesus wants us to rehearse humility and hospitality is evident in the first lesson (St. Luke 14:7-14): obey his command to love our neighbor as ourselves. The last lesson is known as the Parable of the Great Banquet; a festal feast (St. Luke 14:15-24). Festal feasts have extraordinary religious symmetry; they symbolize covenant communion with God and others. In the parable, Jesus describes himself at once as the host of the feast, and as the servant sent to gather everyone in for the covenant communion around his table.

The Great Banquet foreshadows the worship of the Mass as a celebration of covenantal communion. The worship of God in the Mass is quite literally a rehearsal for The Marriage Supper of The Lamb in eternity. We join the great multitude of the faithful who have departed this earthly kingdom. We enter into the conversation around The Table of Christ’s Sacrifice, listening to his Word and humbly responding through prayer, confession of our sins against God and others, and receiving Christ’s body and blood, soul and divinity in The Eucharistic Feast! The worship of The Mass on earth is where we receive Christ as Host and Suffering Servant

[Christ Jesus] emptied himself,
taking the form of a slave,
being born in human likeness.
And being found in human form,
he humbled himself
and became obedient to the point of death—
even death on a cross.

Therefore God also highly exalted him
and gave him the name
that is above every name,
so that at the name of Jesus
every knee should bend,
in heaven and on earth and under the earth,
and every tongue should confess
that Jesus Christ is Lord,
to the glory of God the Father.

St. Paul’s letter to the Philippians 2:7-11

All of life is sacramental in that everything that happens to us and around us becomes an offering of thanksgiving when we offer it to our Lord. The mundane and ordinary is a rehearsal of humility and hospitality where we reveal Christ to others in our attitudes and actions. We are practicing readiness before God through obedience to his command to love others as we love ourselves. How is rehearsal going for you, friend? Do you faithfully worship God in The Mass, or are you skipping out for the fast and easy worship of this earthly kingdom? The Good and Gentle Host and Servant invites us to come to him, to eat and drink of him as he is made present in the worship of the Mass. He paid the price for our seat at this table with his body and blood. Will you accept the invitation?

You Look Just Like Your Father!

The Daily Liturgy of The Church has immersed us in the letter of St. Paul to The Early Church in Ephesus over the past week. His signature theme, Be imitators of God, is most obvious in this letter.

Be imitators of God, as beloved children, and live in love, as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us, a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God.

Ephesians 5:1

Salvation History encapsulates God’s one desire, to restore his identity in us whom he created in his image. I’ve been told that I look just like my father. I’m always glad to hear that because my father has aged well, and at 92 years, his vibrance still shines, so I like to think that’s what people notice about my 62 years. One can hope.

Looks are only skin deep, but our heavenly Father’s beauty is from the inside out! So how can we look just like our heavenly Father? It begins by remembering who we are and what we are to be about as the beloved children of our Creator God. St. Paul writes in the letter to The Early Church in Corinth:

There is one God, the Father, from whom all things are and for whom we exist, and one LORD, Jesus Christ, through him all things are and through whom we exist.

I Corinthians 8:6

The God of The Cosmos is the God of the Gospels with skin on, Jesus Christ! He is the very Word of God, made flesh so that we may be restored to God through him. How does that happen? As we contemplate the gospels, we observe God through Jesus, unsullied by sin; it follows that we learn the way back to our Heavenly Father as we accept the truth of who Jesus Christ is. The disciple John begins his account of the life of Christ with these words:

In the beginning, was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.  He was in the beginning with God. All things came into being through him, and without him, not one thing came into being. What has come into being in him was life, and the life was the light of all people.  The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not overcome it… And the Word became flesh and lived among us, and we have seen his glory, the glory as of a father’s only son, full of grace and truth. 

The Gospel according to St. John 1:1-5;14

Jesus, the very Word of God, made flesh mirrors before us God’s nature. Jesus answers the purpose of “God made flesh” with his disciples. (The entire chapter of St. John 14 is a profound discourse and is worth your time)

“I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.  If you know me, you will know my Father also. From now on you do know him and have seen him… If you love me, you will keep my commandments. And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Advocate, to be with you forever. This is the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive because it neither sees him nor knows him. You know him because he abides with you, and he will be in you.”

The Gospel according to St. John 14: 6-7; 15-17

We know from the record of the Acts of the Apostles that the Advocate that Jesus promised descended from God as his Holy Spirit. Sometimes we don’t fully comprehend how his Spirit can transform our natures into God’s nature. We can’t understand the ways and means of this God’s amazing grace; faith and trust are required.

When the day of Pentecost had come, they were all together in one place. And suddenly from heaven there came a sound like the rush of a violent wind, and it filled the entire house where they were sitting… All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit…

The Book of the Acts of the Apostles 2: 1,2,4a

The Breath of God’s holy Spirit fills us, permeating our very being. As we allow God’s Holy Spirit to inspire us, he transforms our very nature to look just like our Father! The letters to the Early Church are so important in our spiritual formation–they are the owner’s manuals, so to speak, on how to be inspired. St. Paul wrote to the Ephesians to live according to Christ’s example so that they may be inspired (given breath) to live in a manner worthy of their identity as God’s beloved children. The more we breathe in God’s Word to us, the more we breathe out the essence of his nature, revealed in Christ. Christ’s humility, gentleness, and patience (Ephesians 4:2) in exchange for our pride. Christ’s kindness, compassion, and forbearance (Ephesians 4:32) in exchange for anger. Christ’s strength and power (Ephesians 6:10) in exchange for our fear.

Triune God, we desire to look just like you! Breathe into us your very nature so that we may be transformed–mind, body, and soul–into your likeness!

In the name of the Father and the Son, and the Holy Spirit. As it was in the beginning, it is now, and evershall be world, without end.

Amen.

Wealth that Matters to God

Someone in the crowd said to Jesus,
“Teacher, tell my brother to share the inheritance with me.”
He replied to him,
“Friend, who appointed me as your judge and arbitrator?”
Then he said to the crowd,
“Take care to guard against all greed,
for though one may be rich,
one’s life does not consist of possessions.”

Then he told them a parable.
“There was a rich man whose land produced a bountiful harvest.
He asked himself, ‘What shall I do,
for I do not have space to store my harvest?’
And he said, ‘This is what I shall do:
I shall tear down my barns and build larger ones.
There I shall store all my grain and other goods
and I shall say to myself, “Now as for you,
you have so many good things stored up for many years,
rest, eat, drink, be merry!”’
But God said to him,
‘You fool, this night your life will be demanded of you;
and the things you have prepared, to whom will they belong?’
Thus will it be for the one who stores up treasure for himself
but is not rich in what matters to God.”

The Gospel According to St. Luke 12: 13-21

The “someone in the crowd” on this day came to Jesus with a complaint about an inheritance that he thought should be divided up between him and his brother. We don’t know the whole story, but Jesus did and he graciously responded with a parable to illustrate to him the spiritual lesson he needed to learn. Jesus’ method, so to speak, still works today. We are all someone in a crowd seeking answers for the dilemmas in our life, and Jesus knows our whole story. What Jesus had to say then, he still speaks today–this is what I treasure about the gospels–it is the good news I need for every moment of my life.

Let’s consider together this interaction from St. Luke’s narrative. Jesus warns the brother, as he does us, to take care to guard against all greed because our quality of life here on earth doesn’t rely on the accumulation of earthly goods. We know that in theory, but how do we follow Jesus’ advice to become rich in what matters to God? The parable Jesus then tells has been referred to as The Parable of the Rich Fool, for the man, so caught up in his greediness, doesn’t seem to consider treasuring what matters to God. It seems that he believed that the accumulation of money would give his life purpose. He certainly isn’t alone in his greediness, what began in Eden plays out in the habits of the human condition!

St. Augustine wrote that our hearts are restless until they rest in God. Like the rich fool, the restlessness of the human condition drives us toward immediate satisfaction from whatever fascinates or consoles us–all under the umbrella of over-weaning fear or pride. The rich fool’s pride was obvious, our’s might not be so obvious. The man’s question of what shall I do to satisfy my restlessness is the question that sends each of us down paths that may appear benign enough. But do they make us rich in what matters to God?

Consider Jesus’ words again, “‘You fool, this night your life will be demanded of you; and the things you have prepared, to whom will they belong? ‘Thus will it be for the one who stores up treasure for himself but is not rich in what matters to God.” St. Augustine taught people to seek the invisible rewards of God in loving what is good, loving what God has created, but only if they are lovers of God. That’s the tipping point, isn’t it? He exhorted his congregation to pursue what they love in the right order: heavenly things before earthly ones, the LORD before everything else.

Here’s the thing, it’s much easier to pursue the things we see rather than the things we don’t see! We can’t quantify charity, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, generosity, gentleness, faithfulness, modesty, self-control, and chastity. And how do we quantify temperance, justice, prudence, and fortitude or faith, hope, or charity? I’ve referred to this before by considering them as investments that roll back dividends into our lives, all for the sole purpose of glorifying God and attracting those around us to do the same. It’s the most simple and difficult method to guide us away from being fools!

Father, reveal to us how our restlessness for you is misguided by our drive to eat, drink, and be merry with the temporal wealth of this world. 

Draw our wandering hearts back to you, and open our eyes and ears to the abundance of your blessings. May we treasure what you think about us more than what those around us think of us.

Holy Spirit of God, train us in storing up the eternal riches of God’s glory as you guide us into the abundant freedom of detachment from this world’s empty treasures.

In the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit.

As it was in the beginning, it is now, and ever shall be, world without end.

Amen

Mottos

Mottos intrigue me, those catchphrases that we often live by or aspire to. A motto is different than a slogan collected by the culture to describe a thought or idea. Take, for instance, the phrase “Flower Power” (I’m dating myself here). That slogan represented the passive resistance of the hippie movement during the 1960s and early 70s in protest against the Vietnam War. The slogan morphed into the use of props like flowers, toys, flags, and candy in anti-war rallies with the hope that it would reduce the fear and anger that usually accompanied protests. Slogans can be effective for a time; however, it can change as quickly as culture does.

Mottos, however, are more like a maxim of a belief system that one wholeheartedly embodies no matter what is going on in the culture around them. We see this in clan mottos that develop over generations of behavior. For instance, my maiden name is Keith, and our clan has the motto “Veritas Vincit” which means “Truth Prevails.” I embrace that motto; it informs how I choose to respond to the culture around me.

The brokenness of the human condition is evident in the way you and I may find ourselves repeating lies to ourselves rather than the truth. Do these sound familiar? I am not good enough. I am too much. I can’t. I won’t. It’s impossible. I will never change. Do any of these lies echo in your thoughts? There is hope! The mottos in Sacred Scripture can work like a telegraph for our mind, constantly repeating the truth until it fixes in our mind. Like a mantra that means “man-think,” repeating the truth of Scripture will change how we think. Easier said than done, I know. Here is where our daily Mass readings come to our aid.

The Sacred Scripture imbues mottos for us to live by no matter the time in history. The Church intentionally worships God that is anchored in the consistent reading through the Scriptures in a three-year cycle. In effect, our very identity as a beloved child of God forms through the worship of God in the Mass. Practicing this identity begins and ends in the worship of God, not just in the Mass but in every moment of our lives. How’s that going for you?

The established pattern of the responsorial psalm in the Mass is necessary to practice our faith and live into our identity as God’s beloved child in daily life. You are familiar with many psalms because we read, chant, or sing them as we respond to the cantor with the antiphonal sentence after each verse. In effect, we are repeating a motto as a reminder of who we are. They encapsulate the Word of God into a rule of life to be embraced and to inform our thinking, transforming our very nature to reveal our identity as a child of God. This type of repetition is a form of meditation, and we can repeat the antiphonal response as prayers throughout our day. In this way, we allow the Holy Spirit to change our minds, returning us to our identity as the beloved children of our Creator God.

Let’s pray together some of the antiphons we have prayed in the last week as we worshipped in the Mass. You may find one to repeat as your prayer throughout today..

If today you hear his voice, harden not your hearts. (Psalm 95)

LORD, your Word is always speaking to us; forgive us for the times that our heart is hard as a stone against your Spirit’s movement in our life. Teach us to listen to you rather than the “voices” in our heads!

The Lord will remember his covenant forever. (Psalm 111)

LORD, how easily we forget that your love endures forever. You never change your mind about us. We can do nothing to make you love us less, and we can’t do anything to make you love us more. Help us to respond to your covenant love for us with thanksgiving and humility.

Guide me, Lord, along the everlasting way. (Psalm 139)

LORD, when we are tempted to allow the culture to guide our thoughts and actions, remind us that you are the way, the truth, and the life. Grant us the courage to choose life with you!

The Lord made us, we belong to him. (Psalm 100)

Our Lord and Creator, we belong to you. You did not create us to belong to anything else! Forgive us for bowing to the over-weaning pride, fear, or anger that can hold us captive, enslaving us in futility and despair. Help us to remember that you want us to remain in your steadfast love that conquers all the enemies of our souls. May we carry your banner into our corners of the world, corners that are full of people who don’t know who they are, why they are here, or what they stand for. May the way we live our lives repeat your love, mercy, and forgiveness to all who observe us.

In the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit.

As it was in the beginning, it is now and ever shall be, world without end.

Amen