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Scripture:

1 Samuel 16:1b, 6-7, 10-13a
Ephesians 5:8-14
John 9:1-41

Reflection:

My parents had a dear friend who, late in life, began losing her eyesight. She was a tall, elegant woman with beautiful white hair. But what remains with me most is the elegance with which she accepted her loss of sight. I am not suggesting she gave into it. Bernice embraced the new reality by learning Braille, testing out the public transit system, and practicing using a white cane before she lost entirely her ability to see. In losing her ability to see, she taught be to see.

Today’s readings for the Fourth Sunday of Lent are all about seeing and not seeing. Those who are blind now see. Those who should be able to see are blind to what is right in front of them. Looking for what is not yet apparent and seeing past appearances and into the heart.

In the first reading from the Book of Samuel the Lord says, “Not as man sees does God see, because man sees the appearance but the Lord looks into the heart.” Samuel is sent to anoint a new king from among Jesse’s sons. But Samuel does not see whom he needs to see and asks Jesse if he has any other sons. It was the youngest, David, who was tending the sheep, who was being called to lead the People of Israel.

Lent is a time to see what we need to see. To see Christ in every person and not to only see a skin tone. To see Christ within us and not to only see our sins and failings. To see Christ in the other and not to only see a stranger from a strange land, speaking a strange language, or practicing a strange religion. To see what we usually do not see.

Bernice taught me that seeing is much more than having the sense of sight. I am praying this Lent for the gift to see with the eyes of Christ who sees into the hearts of others.

Robert Hotz is a consultant with American City Bureau, Inc. and was the Director of The Passion of Christ: The Love That Compels Campaign for Holy Cross Province.

Scripture:

Sirach 15:15-20
1 Corinthians 2:6-10
Matthew 5:17-37

Reflection:

To attempt to pull together the message of the Word today, we are seeing the contrast between a mentality that asks “What must I do?” and, “What can I do to follow God’s ways?” The first question is about minimal requirements, the second is about the maximal benefits involved with turning one’s life over to God.

Let’s reflect today on the daily task of “being” our personal best. Because that is where the word is taking us today. I say “being,” and not just doing, because the former way is inclusive of all that we are in a given day, and not just what we have accomplished based on the expectations of the day. The expectations of God can far outdistance human expectations.

And, what undergirds our living in this manner is the constant, graceful presence of wisdom. It is at our disposal if we deliberately, and habitually make that our intention, that is, to be open and cooperative with the grace of God. That is one way of describing the love for God – consciously, deliberately open and cooperative to where the Spirit of God is working. In 1Corinthians today Paul points out that God’s wisdom is mysterious, secret and hidden. As one author puts it, “this is a spirituality for the ‘mature.’ It is reached less by logic and reasoned discourse, but more by faith in a living, compassionate God and by a consistent obedience to one’s conscience, less by argumentation from the other and more by their good example.“

Yes, “being” our personal best is to trust in the Spirit of Jesus to lead us. Jesus asks for more. Not merely “do not kill,” but do not harbor what leads to killing in your hearts. Make amends, Reconcile with your opponent. Not merely “Do not commit adultery,“ but be faithful in your heart. Try to work things out, don’t just give up. Respect others.  Do not objectify anyone. The basics can be difficult enough to live, but the “more” that Jesus asks is a great challenge.

And, I believe that wisdom is most accessible when we go beyond the normal, the predictable, the safe and secure way of living. That is a trust, only found in the reality of love.That is, going beyond the law to the Spirit-led “being” our best self today. “What eye has not seen and ear has not heard, and what has not entered the human heart, what God has prepared for those who love him, this God has revealed to us through the Spirit. (1 Cor. 2:10)

Fr. Alex Steinmiller, C.P., is a member of the Passionist Community in Detroit, Michigan.

Scripture:

Genesis 2:4b-9, 15-17
Mark 7:14-23

Reflection:

In the time of Jesus, one of the preoccupations amongst the doctors of the law was that of ‘cleanliness’ or more so ‘uncleanliness’. There seemed morbid fascination with how many ways one could be (or be made to be)” unclean”. Often the most natural and of bodily functions could render a person unclean, or living with an illness or diseases could have the same effect.  Indeed there were many ritual ways to be unclean – and uncleanliness meant a person could not participate in many aspects of social or religious life.

Jesus sees beyond and through all such teachings. He redefines ‘uncleanliness’ and moves the discussion away from mere external or accidental causes and instead focuses on the inner life of a person. As always, Jesus looks to the heart, to the inner motivation of a person and does not make judgements based on appearances or external factors in isolation.

Today’s teaching is much like a similar one where Jesus alerts his followers to the fact that one can judge the intentions or aims of a person, not by what they claim but ‘by their fruits’.

In this text today however, Jesus speaks of the opposite dimension of this same reality. That is, it is not what a person eats, hears or is influenced by that makes he or she ‘unclean’. He stresses quite clearly that while we all are affected by what happens to us, by the information we take in, by the experiences we endure – the real factor in determining whether what we do or say is good or not good is to be found in our inner disposition or intentions.

Goodness emerges from a person – from within. It is not a product of what is absorbed in the sense that external forces and concerns do not make a person ‘unclean’ or necessarily good. We choose between these poles and this is a constant throughout life.

And notice too, Jesus does not concern himself (nor does he allow people to be distracted by or satisfied by any suggestion that sin or evil arises from minor or petty issues e.g. like the failure to wash one’s hands before eating). No, Jesus speaks of sin having its origins in deeper realities – those attitudes and tendencies  that we choose to follow – that reside in our hearts and that can do great harm to others or to ourselves.

In some ways Jesus could not be more clear, “From within the man, from his heart, come evil thoughts, unchastity, theft, murder, adultery, greed, malice, deceit, licentiousness, envy, blasphemy, arrogance, folly. All these evils come from within and they defile.”

To act in such ways is so foreign to God’s plan for us, and runs in the face of God’s vision for us. Jesus sees people much as they were created – as the image and likeness of God and as God’s precious creation. ” the LORD God formed man out of the clay of the ground and blew into his nostrils the breath of life, and so man became a living being.”

God’s plan for us is a life lived in the midst of a ‘delightful’ creation; a life lived in an open and trustful relationship to God.  This is life; this is our original gift – our default position. Jesus encourages his audience and us today to keep returning to this stance before God.

Our way home each and every day is to open our hearts to God’s healing and soothing love, to respond wholeheartedly to those moments of conversion offered to us.

Fr. Denis Travers, C.P., is a member of Holy Spirit Province, Australia. 

Feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe

Scripture:

Zechariah 2:14-17 or
Revelation 11:19a; 12:1-6a, 10ab
Luke 1:26-38 or 1:39-47

Reflection:

I believe in the Word of God bringing us to the fulfillment of God’s Plan, the harmonization of all God’s creation, and the ultimate reunification with with our Creator, that “all be one again.” I believe in the Word, which we hold aloft, bless, incense, proclaim and, habitually, put into effect with a courageous trust. It is the Word that proclaims a non-violent response to the power of evil. It is the Word that teaches love of enemies and those who persecute us. It is the Word that asks us to submit to God’s loving Will in total surrender. It is the Word that attracts, in the most mysterious ways, that which is broken, abused, addicted, disrespected and scattered. This Word has uncanny way of gathering into that Body, which it inspires, the Church. The Word informs those who strive to fulfill it like the birthing of a child, birthpangs and all. Birthpangs continuing in the fight for justice for all . (Did you know that there is a new, national movement afoot to bring back a poor peoples’ fight for justice?)

This Word became flesh in a most dramatic fashion through the apparition of our Blessed Mother to a man named Juan Diego in December of 1531 on a hill called Tepeyac in Mexico. It could be considered the most provoking appearance of our Lady in history.

The Spaniards had entered into what was then the territory of Mexico to abscond gold from the land, in the cheapest way possible, through slavery of the native population.This master/slave relationship evolved into genocide of these tribes as the Spaniards gained a more commanding foothold. These horrific actions on the part of the Spaniards and this sudden appearance of our Blessed Mother reflect the imagery of the Book of Revelation and that of verses in the Gospel of Luke whereby our Blessed Mother stands, pregnant with Child face to face with the great red dragon who wanted to devour the newborn. Her strength would be revealed in her declaration that her “soul magnifies the Lord,” and her “spirit rejoices in God” her Savior. The 30,000,000 Hispanic people in our midst continue to remind all of us of our vigilant and strong “Virgencita” and her love for the oppressed and downtrodden.

Be mindful of the opening prayer on this feast, where we pray to seek with ever more lively faith the progress of peoples in the ways of justice and peace.

Let us celebrate this festival of our Lady of Guadalupe, as a reminder that the Word continues to become enfleshed through our activity to establish the reign of God.

Fr. Alex Steinmiller, C.P., is a member of the Passionist Community in Detroit, Michigan.