City of Joy - People of Gladness

Be glad and rejoice for ever and ever for what I am creating, because I now create Jerusalem ‘Joy’ and her people ‘Gladness.’ 
Is.65:18

The city of Joy is occupied by people of gladness. 

Now here is a command of God that is so good to obey. Be glad and rejoice for ever and ever. This is why we are prophets of joy and hope in a world aching for joy and hope. 

I need to identify "joy robbers" in my life and counter them with this truth. I am a citizen of the City of Joy and gladness is my hallmark. 

Thank you Lord for the new Jerusalem, the City of Joy you are calling me to. Holy Spirit, fill me so I may be a prophet of joy and hope. 

Love God Love Others

And you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind, and with all your strength. The second is this: You shall love your neighbour as yourself.
Mk.12:30,31

Finally, a Scribe gets what Jesus is teaching. Love.

I'm reminded of the open-air Christian music festival I attended. A musician was speaking when a rain shower broke out. Some of us pressed up to the stage sound shell seeking shelter while others scattered back to tents. He laughed, sat down on the edge of the stage and said, "Well, all I really need to say is two things. Love God and love others". 

I've heard it said another way. "Love God, then do what you like." When I live this central Christian tenet I become a prophet of joy and hope, not far from the kingdom of God. 

Come Holy Spirit. Kindle in me the fire of your love.

The Sweet Wound

With all your heart turn to me, for I am tender and compassionate.
Joel 2:12-13

Today's Gospel Acclamation reaffirms who it is I am being called back to this Lent, my God of tenderness and compassion.

Sinful falls always look so much worse during Lent. My high ideals and promises become ashes. There's a risk of allowing the accuser to get in and make me stay sitting in the ashes.  

However, Mother Church shines a light into my mess once again. "Turn to me", says Jesus. "Stand up and lift your head". Once again his tender compassion heals and restores me. 

How sweet the wound that calls forth his mercy and forgiveness. I am a new man once again.

The Law of Love

Do not imagine that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets. I have come not to abolish but to complete them. 
Mt.5:17

Jesus is emphatic he isn't replacing the Law or the Prophets of Jewish faith. He is the embodiment of everything that is good in them. 

The Old Testament is included in the Bible for a reason. The Law and the Prophets are still very valid. They are the foundation of everything that Jesus taught, of the life that Jesus lived. His completion of the Law and Prophets is the life he lived. 

As a follower of The Way, I am to live by the Law and Prophets as well. What is the New Testament difference? Love is my motivation. Love is my application. Without love, the law becomes death. 

Jesus, help me follow you by applying the Law and Prophets in love.

Yes to God

‘Behold, I am the servant of the Lord; let it be to me according to your word.’ And the angel departed from her.
Lk.1:38

Every blessing I have received can be traced back to Mary's fiat. Her yes changes everything.

My "yes" to God will have profound results in ways I can't imagine. All it takes is faith, obedience and an openness to the Holy spirit giving life to something beautiful within me. I can give birth to something wonderful for God. 

Scary? Yes. Exciting? Yes. Life changing? For someone, always. 

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.

 

Son or Slave

We are going to have a feast, a celebration, because this son of mine was dead and has come back to life; he was lost and is found.
Lk.11:24

The Father restores the prodigal's sonship. He is no longer a slave but a son. 

We see ourselves in one of two ways, a slave or a son (or daughter). The unforgiving brother sees himself as a slave; "all these years I have slaved for you". This comes from thinking I need to earn God's love. 

The prodigal son was prepared to be a slave; "treat me as one of your paid servants." But the Father redefines him. He is "a son of mine". 

Whenever I find myself despondent, it's when I've lost sight of my true identity. I've stopped seeing myself rightly, seeing myself as God the Father sees me, a beloved son in whom he delights. 

This grace is outrageous, and I thank God for it daily. 

Fruitful Love

I tell you, then, that the kingdom of God will be taken from you and given to a people who will produce its fruit.
Mt.21:43

Jesus prophesies the chief priests and elders downfall. Why was this about to happen? Because they were producing no fruit. 

If I'm not producing fruit for the Kingdom of God I risk being denied entry. Fruit can only be harvested by cultivation, by work. It doesn't look as though I can simply drift into heaven on a cloud. Yes, I am saved by faith but if my faith produces no fruit, the Kingdom is taken from me. 

The key to fruitful work is love. Done in love the work stops being work. It becomes a joy. 

Come Holy Spirit. Kindle in me the fire of your love.

The Upside Down Pyramid

The greatest among you must be your servant. Anyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and anyone who humbles himself will be exalted.
Mt.23:12

Jesus underscores his warning on hypocrisy with a radical command. The greatest of all must serve all. Christian life is diametrically opposed to the life of the world.  The power pyramid is turned upside down. 

Why does Jesus insist on this? Because it's for my good. My flesh craves power, prestige, and adulation. Pride underpins all of this in me and where does pride come from? The devil.

Why is it good for me to be humble and to serve? Because it makes me more Christ-like and that is my goal, to be more like Jesus.

Jesus, pride still wars within me. Come Holy Spirit, give me a servant's heart, help me be Jesus to those I meet today.

Spirit of the Law

Jesus said to his disciples: ‘If your virtue goes no deeper than that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will never get into the kingdom of heaven.
Mt.5:20

Jesus warns that keeping the letter of the law, like the scribes and Pharisees, is not only insufficient to enter the kingdom of heaven but is also a barrier.

Scrupulous adherence to the letter of the Law shows an absence of the spirit of the law. The letter of the law is very tempting. It is crisp, black and white, easy to administer. The spirit of the law inevitably calls upon mercy, and mercy is messy. I'm left with a sneaking suspicion that someone is getting away with something, which invariably they are... thanks be to God. 

According to the letter of the law I'm a dead man. By the spirit of the law I have been set free and joy and hope have returned. 

Jesus, give me a heart noble and generous enough to live by the spirit of the law with my brothers and sisters. I place my trust in you.

 

Ask Seek Knock

Ask, and it will be given to you; search, and you will find; knock, and the door will be opened to you. 
Mt.7:7

Jesus entreats us to ask, seek, knock. Why? So God the Father can give us good things.

Queen Esther in today's first reading knew this. In grave peril it was all she had. In Luke's record of this teaching from Jesus he adds more detail to what the "good things" looks like. Not a thing but a person. 

"How much more will your Father in heaven give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him!” Lk.11:13

So, I'm not to hesitate in asking, seeking, or knocking. The Holy Spirit is just waiting for me to invite him in.

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.

Pure Heart Steadfast Spirit

A pure heart create for me, O God, put a steadfast spirit within me. Do not cast me away from your presence, nor deprive me of your holy spirit. 
Ps.50:10,11

An impure heart, an infirm spirit have dire consequences... absence and deprivation of God.

The thought of life without God is abhorrent. The friendship of God is my greatest treasure. To lose that would set me adrift without a rudder. 

What creates purity of heart, steadfastness of spirit? These are virtues worth cultivating. By myself I can't obtain them. With the Holy Spirit as my friend and guide, it is possible. 

Ask, seek, knock says Jesus. Well, here I am Lord asking, seeking and knocking on the door for purity of heart, steadfastness of spirit. 

A pure heart create for me, O God, put a steadfast spirit within me. 

Shut Up!

May the spoken words of my mouth, the thoughts of my heart, win favour in your sight, O Lord.
Ps.18:15

The psalmist extols the Word of God as spiritual and life giving, then finishes by focussing on his own words and thoughts. Not always so spiritual. Not always so life giving.

Words come from thoughts. What comes out of my mouth reflects the inner state of my heart. "Unfavourable" words come out of my mouth when I don't stop and think before I speak. 

This Lent can be a time when I establish a new habit, a habit of thinking before I speak. Maybe extend that further to a time when I speak less and listen more, a fasting of speech if you will.

 "Even a fool can appear wise when he is silent" Pr.17:28. 

Lord Jesus, may the words from my mouth and the meditations of my heart be pleasing unto you.

Time to Party

In his honour Levi held a great reception in his house, and with them at table was a large gathering of tax collectors and others. 
Lk.5:29

In response to Jesus' invitation to follow him, Matthew hosts a banquette in his honour. His "Yes" is emphatic and public.

Would people know I am a follower of Jesus as everyone knew Matthew was? The western world has a way of cowering the Church into becoming Closet Christians. We conform rather than confront. 

Yet, there is something very appealing in Matthew's response. I would love to attend his party. I have a feeling there would be lots of laughter and joy. Laughter and joy are attractive. 

Saint Matthew, pray I may have your zeal and joy in following our Lord.

Set the Oppressed Free

Is not this the sort of fast that pleases me – it is the Lord who speaks – to break unjust fetters and undo the thongs of the yoke, to let the oppressed go free, and break every yoke.
Is.58:6

The list of acceptable fasting that pleases God starts with an emphatic, "Set the oppressed free!"

Anyone who does not follow Jesus is a prisoner to something else. We have a God space within us that we yearn to fill. And so we should, with the one true God. 

I can set people free of idols when I introduce them to Jesus. The Alpha Course is one way of doing this. Prayer is another.

Saints Perpetua and Felicity, please pray for me.

 

Happy Lent

I set before you life or death, blessing or curse. Choose life, then, so that you and your descendants may live, in the love of the Lord your God.
Dt.30:19

It always comes down to my choice. Blessing or curse, life or death. It's my call.

How wonderful is today's psalm response; Happy are they who hope in the Lord. Lent can be a time of happiness and joy. How? By me choosing life in all the choices I will face. 

Holy Spirit, giver of life in the womb of Mumma Mary, help me choose life and gain joy. 

The Upside Down Pyramid

Many who are first will be last, and the last first.
Mk.10:31

Jesus calls me to radically change my point of view on life to a perspective opposite to the world's. 

A metaphor for the life Jesus calls me to is an upside down pyramid. From Jesus' standpoint, the least are the greatest, the last are first, the weak and defenseless enter the Kingdom to become rulers. The Church agrees with this. Popes are called servants of the servants of God. 

So, that carnal desire in me to be the best, the greatest, the smartest needs to be nailed to The Cross and crucified. This Lent could be a good time to change my perspective, a good time to turn the pyramid upside down.

Jesus, you know how I strive to be the greatest. Help me strive to be the least so I may be great in your sight.

Lack and Love

Jesus looked steadily at him and loved him, and he said, ‘There is one thing you lack...'
Mk.10:21

While the rich young man is sincere in wanting to live a life closer to God, his piety is not enough. Rather than his lack repelling Jesus, it causes him to love the young man even more.

I would say the rich young man is most likely living a more holy life than me. I understand the disciples when they say "Who can be saved?" This is where God's love kicks in for me, the love that is patient, kind, that keeps no record of wrongs, that trusts and hopes.

Yes I lack much, but yes, I am loved much. With Jesus, lack and love seem to go together. Here is the source of my hope and joy.