Be Real

Alas for you, scribes and Pharisees, you hypocrites!

Mt.23:27

Jesus continues to rebuke the hypocrisy of the scribes and Pharisees, saying they appear on the outside like good honest men but are on the inside full of lawlessness and corruption. 

"Hypocrisy," or a form of that word, is used 40 times in the Bible with Jesus having the most to say on this sin. Obviously it is a common evil that Jesus considered deserved condemnation. In recent Alpha Course training I attended much emphasis was placed on being real to guests on the Alpha Course. It is the antithesis of hypocrisy. This is an attractive characteristic, a virtue that lends authenticity to everything else we say and do.

The authentic me is much more attractive than any image I try to project. Today I choose to be real with people I meet. 

Jesus, you were the real deal with people you encountered while walking on earth and people flocked to be with you. Help me today be real, be authentic like you with those I meet today.

Saint Philip Neri, please pray for me.

Clean the Inside

Blind Pharisee! Clean the inside of cup and dish first so that the outside may become clean as well.

Mt.23:26

Jesus is exposing the hypocrisy the Scribes and Pharisees. They are accused of straining out gnats while swallowing camels, of scrupulous nit picking over details of law while ignoring the overarching call to love and generosity, of shining the outside of the cup while ignoring the putrescence inside. 

All this hypocrisy can be found in me. What's the antidote? Clean the inside of my cup. Clean up my own thoughts and impure actions. Set my own house in order. Strive for the higher virtues of mercy, love, forgiveness. Then the outside of my being will better reflect Christ and shine like the sun. 

Jesus, forgive me for my hypocrisy. Clean my interior that my exterior better reflects you.
Saint Philip Neri, please pray for me.

Be Happy

 

‘Simon son of Jonah, you are a happy man! Because it was not flesh and blood that revealed this to you but my Father in heaven.'

Mt.16:17

Jesus has just asked the disciples who they say he is. Simon Peter replies, "You are the Christ, the Son of the living God." Jesus then defines what this revelation makes Peter. A happy man.

Who doesn't want to be happy. Here it is, the key to happiness. Acknowledge Jesus as the Son of the living God. I'm heading off to Mass this morning. There I will be reciting the Creed starting with, "I believe in God, the Father almighty, Creator of heaven and earth, and in Jesus Christ, his only Son, our Lord,"  Once again happiness will be mine.

Jesus, you are the Christ, the Son of the living God. Thank you for the gift of happiness you give me today.

Saint Philip Neri, please pray for me.

Mercy Comes Running

 

Were you not bound, then, to have pity on your fellow servant just as I had pity on you?

Mt.18:33

Jesus is replying to Peter's question on how often he should forgive someone. He tells the parable of the unforgiving servant. 

Mercy is outrageous. We howl for justice while forgetting the mercy shown to ourselves. My many sins are enough to condemn me. Jesus overlooks them and extends mercy.

There's a bit of Peter in me that wishes the law was enough. It's so clean, black and white, simple. Jesus says, no, I have been forgiven much so am I not duty bound to be merciful also. Imagine a world where mercy was always the first response. I can be part of that today.

Jesus, you extended mercy even from the cross. It's not an easy option for me. Help me be an agent of mercy today.

Saint Peter, please pray for me.

May We Be One

For where two or three meet in my name, I shall be there with them.

Mt.18:20

Jesus is instructing the disciples on how to go about fraternal correction when a brother does something wrong. He then adds a reason why unity among Christians is so important. Where two or more are gathered in his name, he is with them.

This is a wonderful promise from Jesus who lives up to his name Emanuel, God with us. If I want intimacy with Jesus all I need do is gather with one more other Christians and wham! ...there he is. He promised it. I believe it.

"May they be one" was Jesus' prayer just before his death on the Cross.This is another reason for Church. Jesus knows we need each other for encouragement, for prayer, for community. We are not meant to be lone ranger Christians. We are meant to be Church and have been for two thousand years. 

Jesus, thank you for your wonderful promise to be with us. Thank you for Church. Help us be One so that you will be with us.

Saint John Paul II, please for us.

All for Him

Jesus said to his disciples: ‘If anyone wants to be a follower of mine, let him renounce himself and take up his cross and follow me.

Mt.16:24

Jesus is explaining the cost of being a disciple... total renunciation. But he follows this with a promise of what authentic discipleship gains... eternal life. The reward is worth the cost.

To take up your cross is often interpreted as to stoically put up with sickness, pain, job loss, dysfunctional relationships, to carry a burden and trudge on. Early Christians would not have seen it that way. For them the cross was an instrument of painful, humiliating death that prisoners had to carry to their place of execution. To take up your cross means being willing to die to follow Jesus. It's total commitment. 

Discipleship demands sacrifice and Jesus never hid that cost. But the reward... oh the reward makes it worth it.

Jesus, following you can be scary; giving up my hopes, dreams, possessions, even my very life. With your help Lord, with your help...

Saint Peter, please pray for me.

Shine

Feast of Saint Alphonsus de' Liguori

Your light must shine in the sight of men, so that, seeing your good works, they may give the praise to your Father in heaven.

Mt.5:16

Jesus instructs his disciples, telling them they are salt and light, that they are to make a difference in the world around them to the glory of God the Father.

The inference from Jesus is good works create the salt and generate the light. What are my good works today that can add flavour and generate light? 

I'm attending a funeral today for the mother of an old friend. He's not Christian and I'm not expecting a Christian funeral. Yet I attend as a believer. Maybe there will be opportunities to add flavour, to cast some light. If my faith has anything to say it has something to say about death.

Jesus, prompt me when to be silent and when to speak, for the glory of God the Father.

Saint Alphonsus Liguori, please pray for me.