Integrity

So stand your ground, with truth buckled round your waist, and integrity for a breastplate...
Eph.6:14

Satan ultimately wants my heart. So does Jesus. Paul gives the perfect armour for guarding my heart. Integrity.

Integrity: The quality of being honest and having strong moral principles. This reminds me of Jesus' description of people represented by the good soil in his parable of the sower of seeds. The good soil is people of noble and generous heart. You could say, people of integrity.

Jesus, let a noble and generous heart be my breastplate today.

Be Real

He said to them, ‘Try your best to enter by the narrow door, because, I tell you, many will try to enter and will not succeed.
Lk.17:24

I'm reminded of Mrs Turpin's end-times vision in Flannery O'Connor's short story, Revelation.

"She saw the streak as a vast swinging bridge extending upward from the earth through a field of living fire. Upon it a vast horde of souls were tumbling toward heaven. There were whole companies of white trash, clean for the first time in their lives, and bands of black niggers in white robes, and battalions of freaks and lunatics shouting and clapping and leaping like frogs. 

And bringing up the end of the procession was a tribe of people whom she recognized at once as those who, like herself and Claud, had always had a little of everything and the given wit to use it right…. Yet she could see by their shocked and altered faces even their virtues were being burned away."

I know I'm going to be shocked at who is ahead of me on the narrow road, the freaks and lunatics shouting and clapping and leaping like frogs. Their naked need is more honest and welcome in heaven than my forced piety.

Jesus, help me be real in my brokenness, at least with you.

The Perfect Man

so that the saints together make a unity in the work of service, building up the body of Christ. In this way we are all to come to unity in our faith and in our knowledge of the Son of God, until we become the perfect Man, fully mature with the fullness of Christ himself.
Eph.4:12,13

Paul describes the path to perfection.... make a unity, that is Church, in the work of service.

Our own small parish is an example of this in practice. Many people volunteer their service to make the parish function. From church cleaning, flower arranging, reading, music... the list goes on. 

Where is my cog in this beautiful machine? Children's Liturgy, prayer ministry, hospitality, Alpha. These all have changed over the years and continue to change. What is important is that I remain engaged in the machine, that my cog still turns, adding its own energy to the greater work of service.

Holy Spirit, you are the source of creativity and energy. Fill me today so I may build up the body of Christ and become the perfect Man.

 

White Hot

Do you suppose that I am here to bring peace on earth? No, I tell you, but rather division. 
Lk.12:51

Jesus warns that he will cause division. We all belong to one of two camps. Those for Jesus and those against him. He's either God, or not. He gives us no other option.

There's no middle ground with Jesus. He says he spits out the lukewarm. That leaves only hot or cold. I choose hot, white hot. Will that cause division in my life? Yes, it has. It has also created wonderful unity. For example, when my hot joins my wife's hot the temperature is radiated on those around us, our little church, our family.

Jesus, I fan into flame my gift of faith in you. Enkindle in me the fire of your love and I shall be created. Through me you can renew the face of the earth.

Keep a Short Account

You too must stand ready, because the Son of Man is coming at an hour you do not expect.
Lk.12:40

Jesus clearly warns that the Day of Judgement will come but in a day and hour that no one knows. 

What's a sensible response to this warning? Keep a short account with God. Thank God for the sacrament of confession.

Maranatha! Come Lord Jesus.

Love Being Ready

It may be in the second watch he comes, or in the third, but happy those servants if he finds them ready.
Lk.12:38

Jesus promises two things. The master will return. Only the ready will be received by him. 

So, how can I be ready for the master's return? Lots of pious calisthenics come to mind. I've distilled them down to one thing that will have me prepared for Jesus' return. Allowing myself to be loved. 

I don't have to do good. I don't even have to be good. I just have to allow myself to be loved. When I know in my heart that I am loved, warts and all, then goodness, or preparedness in the context of today's Gospel, simply flows from me.

Jesus loves me, this I know,
for the Bible tells me so.
Little ones to him belong;
they are weak, but he is strong.

Yes, Jesus loves me! Yes, Jesus loves me!
Yes, Jesus loves me! The Bible tells me so.

I Want I Want I Want Me Me Me Mine Mine Mine

Then he told them a parable: ‘There was once a rich man who, having had a good harvest from his land, thought to himself, “What am I to do? I have not enough room to store my crops.” Then he said, “This is what I will do: I will pull down my barns...

Lk.12:16-18

Jesus warns against avarice. Riches before God are eternal. Riches before man are reconstituted dust.

The rich man's monologue reminds me of the lesson Hook gives in the movie of the same name, explaining why parents hate children. 

"Your mindless, inexhaustible, unstoppable, repetitive, and nagging demands: He took my toy! She hit my bear! I want a party! I want a cookie! I want to stay up! I want, I want, I want, me, me, me, me, mine, mine, mine, mine, now, now, now, now!"

Feeding the self centered me is exhausting. I'm never fully satisfied. Feeding the God centered me is far more fulfilling. 

Jesus, protect me from me. Give me more of you.

Peace to This House

Whatever house you go into, let your first words be, “Peace to this house!” And if a man of peace lives there, your peace will go and rest on him; if not, it will come back to you. 
Lk.10:5,6

Jesus is instructing the seventy-two for their impending mission trip. While going as lambs among wolves, Jesus gives them a defensive strategy. Be lavish granters of peace.

Peace is disarming. It allays suspicion and hostility, softens hearts, and opens up a pathway to speak the Good News. 

Jesus, help me be a man of peace today.
Saint Luke, please pray for me.

Less of Me

Alas for you Pharisees who like taking the seats of honour in the synagogues and being greeted obsequiously in the market squares! 
Lk.11:43

Jesus warns against seeking approval of man over approval from God. 

Yep, that's me. I often cloak this desire for man's approval, when it's given, with a false modesty that sounds something like, "Oh no, it wasn't me. It was Jesus". I tried this with my wife, who came back with, "Really? Actually, I think Jesus would have done much better." She saw right through me.

Perhaps a more honest response to praise would be, "Thank you. Isn't it amazing what God can do through us". Credit where credit is due.

Jesus, let there be less of me and more of you.

Happier Still

But he replied, ‘Still happier those who hear the word of God and keep it!’
Lk.11:28

Jesus announces the flabbergasting truth that I can be happier than Mama Mary. How? By hearing God's Word and keeping it.

Sounds easy until I start hearing God's Word. Be humble. Judge not. Turn the other cheek. Walk the extra mile. Then the toughies... love myself and then love my neighbour as myself. 

Can I do this? No, but the Holy Spirit can through me.

Mama Mary, please pray for me.

Unity

Every kingdom divided against itself is heading for ruin, and a household divided against itself collapses.
Lk.11:17

Jesus highlights the fatal path of disunity. A kingdom, a household, a relationship, anything that relies on unity to exist will collapse when divided. This universal law applies even to the spiritual world. 

It is no wonder that Jesus spent so much time praying for unity, especially among believers. Disunity enters my relationships when I place "me" ahead of "us". Paul writes in Philippians, "Do nothing out of rivalry or conceit, but in humility consider others as more important than yourselves." 

This reminds me of the fearful reaction I've observed in Catholic friends on their learning of a pentecostal church opening up directly adjacent to our local cathedral. Perhaps a better response would be to place our arms around the shoulders of these new Christian neighbours and say, "Brother, teach me everything you know."

Jesus, help me to humbly consider others as more important than myself.

Just Ask.

If you then, who are evil, know how to give your children what is good, how much more will the heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him!’
Lk.11:13

Here we have it, direct from Jesus. Ask God the Father for what? The Holy Spirit. And what will happen? The Holy Spirit will come. At least that has been my experience.

Come Holy Spirit. Fill the hearts of your faithful. Kindle in them the fire of your love. Send forth your Spirit and they shall be created and you shall renew the face of the earth.

Forgive Us

and forgive us our sins, for we ourselves forgive each one who is in debt to us.
Lk.11:4

Jesus teaches his disciples how to pray. He focuses in on humanity's core need, be forgiven, and core failing, reluctance to forgive. 

I would have expected Jesus to pray, teach us how to love. Instead he prays, teach us how to forgive. In Mt.6:14,15 Jesus doubles down on forgiveness saying I can only be forgiven as much as I forgive others. 

Forgiveness is an outworking of love. Love with forgiveness withheld is not love at all. Forgiveness needs to become spontaneous within me. Can I do this? No. But the Holy Spirit can, through me. 

Come Holy Spirit. Fill the hearts of your faithful. Kindle in them the fire of your love. Send forth your Spirit and they shall be created, and you shall renew the face of the earth.

Timing

But the Lord answered: ‘Martha, Martha,’ he said ‘you worry and fret about so many things, and yet few are needed, indeed only one.
Lk.10:41,42

Martha has welcomed Jesus into her house. She offers hospitality by serving him, a right thing, but while he is teaching, the wrong time.

Timing is everything. As we read in Ecclesiastes 3:1, there is a time for every purpose. The trick is to recognise the time before embracing the purpose, to know the season.

Also, maybe Martha's problem was doing the right thing but with the wrong attitude, worry and fret. Here is another lesson for me, as I tend to "worry and fret about so many things".

Saint Martha, please pray for me.

Joy

It was then that, filled with joy by the Holy Spirit, he said:
Lk.10:21

The seventy-two return to Jesus with joyous reports of great victories over the forces of darkness. Their joy is contagious as it elevates Jesus into joyfill prayer to the Father.

I'm a joy-o-holic. When scripture includes the word joy I'm drawn to it like iron to a magnet. Today's reading presents a joyfest. Jubilant returning warriors reporting to their captain who receives them with great happiness. It's a scene in which I love to see myself as a joy-filled participant.

And I am in that joyous scene. I am in the winning army. The Church Militant will become the Church Triumphant. The same Holy Spirit who gave Jesus his joy is waiting to bestow it on me. My world today needs that contagious joy.

Come Holy Spirit, fill the hearts of your faithful. Kindle in them the fire of your love. Send forth your Spirit and they shall be created, and you shall renew the face of the earth.

Enjoy the Feather

Shoulder my yoke and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.
Mt.11:29

Feeling overburdened? Come to me says Jesus, I will exchange that pile of bricks you carry on your back for a feather.

Rest for my soul. Don't we all yearn for this deep, peaceful rest? I'm sitting in my lounge looking out on the unfolding of a beautiful spring morning. Yet, if I let my mind wander I soon feel the faint nag of anxieties... for my wife who is ill at the moment, for my children who all carry crosses of sorts, for myself over time pressures... and so it goes on. 

Give it all to me, says Jesus. Go on, all of it, hold nothing back. In exchange I give you a feather from the wing of that bird you hear singing outside at the moment. Take that feather into your day. It will remind you that I am walking beside you. Yes, those burdens exist, but I am carrying them.

Enjoy the feather...

Saint Francis, please pray for me.

The Power of Two

The Lord appointed seventy-two others and sent them out ahead of him, in pairs, to all the towns and places he himself was to visit. 
Lk.10:1

Jesus commissions the seventy-two for their mission trip, arranging them in pairs. A pair working together is more effective than two individuals working alone.  Forget the power of one. It's the power of two. 

I've experienced this truth in my marriage. My wife and I call it "Couple Power". It's something to do with the power of the marriage sacrament. One (husband) plus one (wife) plus one (Holy Spirit) equals a thousand. We still experience this phenomena when we minister together in prayer ministry and children's liturgy. 

There's also a practical side to this. One of us is the pointman while the other gives prayer cover. In youth ministry I've learnt, the hard way, that I can't be both preacher and policeman. 

Jesus was on to something. Ministry in pairs gets amazing results. 

Thank you Lord that through the power of our marriage we can proclaim the Kingdom of God is near at hand. 

My Angel

See that you never despise any of these little ones, for I tell you that their angels in heaven are continually in the presence of my Father in heaven.
Mt.18:10

Feast of the Guardian Angels

Jesus holds up children as ones with a special status. While being the least in the world they are held highest in heaven, so high that angels continually guard them.

My logic tells me that the guardian angel watching over the child-me is still here, still guarding. As today's psalm reminds me, if I call the Lord "My Refuge" he will command angels to guard me. This is a great comfort and source of peace. 

 Lord, you are my refuge and my fortress, my God, in whom I trust.
Amen, Amen.