Welcome to the Hospital

‘It is not those who are well who need the doctor, but the sick. I have not come to call the virtuous, but sinners to repentance.’Lk.5:32

Jesus has just called Matthew and in joyous response Matthew hosts a celebration. Matthew's friends at his celebration include all types that the Scribes and Pharisees regard as reprobates. Jesus regards them as sick who can be made well.

All people, myself included, qualify as Matthew's guests. We are the sick who can be made well. Matthew's party welcomed all, no one was judged unfit to enter, Scribes and Pharisees included.

I want to be a Matthew today, not judging but welcoming. "Welcome to the hospital! The doctor will attend to you soon."

Thank you Jesus that you came for me a sick sinner. Lord, with your help I can be healed and try not to sin again.
Saint Augustine, please pray for me.

Submit and Resist

Submit yourselves, then, to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.Jms.4:7

James is writing to the early Church entreating them to submit to God as an antidote to the seduction of the world.

Oh the world looks so good. It promises so much. It seduces us all and we become its slaves. But it never satisfies. The pleasure is temporary and the desire grows stronger.

Yep. That's me.

The antidote? Come near to God and he will come near to me. Wash my hands, purify my heart.

Lent approaches. How timely. Oh beautiful season of purple, to you I submit. You are my hope and my joy.

Jesus, I draw nearer to you that you may draw nearer to me. 
Saint Philip Neri, you said a joyful heart is more easily made perfect than a downcast one. Pray for my heart to be joyful this Lent.

The Supreme Law

Well, the right thing to do is to keep the supreme law of scripture: you must love your neighbour as yourself; but as soon as you make distinctions between classes of people, you are committing sin, and under condemnation for breaking the Law.Jms.2:8,9

James is writing to the Church, encouraging them to avoid favoritism. The right thing is to love all as myself, to make distinction and judge is sin.

I don't think a day goes by where I don't commit this sin. I'm automatically catagorising people in my mind and they're probably catagorising me. This is a great sin and is the opposite of love.

Wouldn't it be great that in my day I automatically loved people. This is a hard thing and I can't do it on my own. I need help to be a lover. Jesus, perfect love, can do this through me, today...

Lord Jesus, renew my mind today. I surrender that little judge within me. Replace him with a raging lover that I may love my neighbours as myself.
Little Flower, please pray for me.

Use What You've Got

His disciples replied, ‘Where could anyone get bread to feed these people in a deserted place like this?’ He asked them, ‘How many loaves have you?’
Mk.8:4,5

Jesus is moved by compassion for the hungry crowd who have come to him in a deserted place. The disciples think they have nothing to offer. Jesus thinks they have something and works with that. Four thousand are fed that day from seven loaves and a few fish.

This is a great "use what you've got" story. Jesus magnified the seven loaves to feed thousands.

I only have a few people who are volunteering for joining the Alpha team. The message is clear. Use what I've got. Step out in faith. Jesus will multiply.

Jesus, the Alpha Course is your course. I step out believing you will bring it to fruition. 
Little Flower, please pray for me.

All Things Well

Their admiration was unbounded. ‘He has done all things well,’ they said ‘he makes the deaf hear and the dumb speak.’Mk.7:37

Jesus has just healed a deaf and dumb man. The Witnesses acclaim Jesus, proclaiming he does all things well.

All things well. Not some things well, all things. There are times when things aren't going well for a believer. I prayed for a woman last night who was made a young widow and now has cancer. Her young-adult children have turned from their faith as a result. Things are not going well for her. 

The question to ask in these situations is not why, but what? Faith tells us Jesus does all things well. So when bad things happen my question is, "What? What are you doing here Jesus?"

Yesterday's gospel had the foreign woman who was pleading for the deliverance of her daughter called a dog by Jesus. This appears cruel on the outside. But Jesus is all love and love cannot be cruel. So what was he doing? He was drawing the faith out of the woman that said, "Ah yes, but even dogs deserve crumbs".  The result of such faith was the healing of her daughter.

What are you doing in my life today Jesus?

Jesus, you do all things well. In you I place my trust.
Little Flower, please pray for me.

A Matter of the Heart

'It is from within, from men’s hearts, that evil intentions emerge: fornication, theft, murder, adultery, avarice, malice, deceit, indecency, envy, slander, pride, folly. All these evil things come from within and make a man unclean.’  

Mk.7:21-23 

 Jesus is teaching the disciples about what it is that makes a man unclean. It's not a physical thing like food. It's a matter of the heart.

When talking about the heart, Jesus isn't talking about the muscle in my chest that pumps blood around my body. He's focusing on that core of my personality, my soul. It's a spiritual thing that has a physical outworking, either for good or for evil. No middle ground.

This heart can be cleansed, can be healed, only by Jesus. What's the state of my heart today?

Lord restore my heart so I may be an authentic witness to your love for the people I meet today.
Little Flower, please pray for me.

A Right Heart

This people honours me only with lip-service, while their hearts are far from me.

Mk.7.6

Jesus is quoting Isaiah in his rebuke of the Pharisees. He says their traditions actually contradict God's Law for the sake of appearance while their hearts are far from God.

Traditions can so easily move from drawing me nearer to God to placing an obstacle between me and God. Our Church is rich in liturgy, in tradition but I have experienced it becoming obsessive and polarising.

What is the safeguard? My heart. Is my heart near or far from Jesus? This what determines whether tradition is honouring or alienating.

Jesus, the vagaries my heart you know so well. I want a steadfast heart, a right spirit today so all I do will honour you.
Little Flower, please pray for me.

A Generous Heart

Alleluia, alleluia! 

Happy are they who have kept the word with a generous heart and yield a harvest through perseverance. 

Alleluia! 

Gospel Acclamation Lk8:15

Today's Gospel Acclamation is drawn from the parable of the sower, where Jesus explains the seed on good soil stands for those with a generous heart, who hear the word, retain it, and by persevering produce a crop.

A generous heart. You know when you encounter such people. They give more than they take from a relationship. They tend not to be judgmental, but merciful. Consequently they are good to be around.

Today I choose to have a generous heart with those I encounter.

Jesus, you are the source of all generosity. Give me a generous heart today I pray.
Little Flower, please pray for me.

Show Yourself a Man

As David’s life drew to its close he laid this charge on his son Solomon, ‘I am going the way of all the earth. Be strong and show yourself a man.'
1Kgs.2:1

King David is dieing after a long reign. He passes his kingship onto his son Solomon with the command, "show yourself a man".

Is there any greater charge a father can lay on his son? To be a man, in the fullest sense of the word, is to show courage, be faithful, work hard, be a leader and protector, love generously, act mercifully.

These are all characteristics of Jesus, the perfect man. "Behold the man" said Pilot and humanity has been beholding him ever since. What kind of man am I? Today I choose to show myself a man.

Jesus, sometimes I'm more a mouse than a man. Help me show myself your man today. 
Saint Thomas Moore, please pray for me.

The Touch of Faith

Then the woman came forward, frightened and trembling because she knew what had happened to her, and she fell at his feet and told him the whole truth. ‘My daughter,’ he said ‘your faith has restored you to health; go in peace and be free from your complaint.’
Mk.5:32-34

Jesus is walking with a large crowd when his cloak is touched by a sick woman desperate for healing. Within the jostling crowd Jesus senses the power that left him because of the touch of faith.

There are so many different ways Jesus is recorded as healing. He was on his way to Jairus' daughter whom he healed by taking her hand. Here healing seems to spontaneously flow from him to a woman who simply touched his cloak within a crowd. However, in all cases there is a common denominator. Faith.

Each breath I draw, the very beat of my heart at this moment is sustained by faith in the one who gave me life. My faith in Jesus is such a precious gift. I treasure it and take it with me into my day.

Jesus, I place my trust in you this day. Thank you for my gift of faith.
Little Flower, please pray for me.

Storms

Then it began to blow a gale and the waves were breaking into the boat so that it was almost swamped. But he was in the stern, his head on the cushion, asleep.
Mk.4:37,38

Jesus has the disciples take him to the other side of the lake. A storm breaks, threatening to flood the boat. As the disciples panic Jesus sleeps in the stern of the boat.

It's strange how we are attracted to water. A house with a view of water can command a 25% premium. We go to the beach, rivers, lakes for our holidays. We need water to exist. Yet water can kill. Drownings are common in our island nation.

Many of the disciples were fishermen. They needed water for their livelihood. Yet water scared them. Jesus used the storm to demonstrate his authority and to build the disciples' faith, even through the rebuke, "How is it that you have no faith?"

Storms come, nothing surer. When I'm feeling frightened, that is the time to turn to Jesus. He has control of the situation.

Thank you Jesus that you are always here. Sometimes it appears you are sleeping, but you are always in control. Build my faith in you Lord so I may be a strength to others.
Little Flower, please pray for me.