Abbey-Roads2

Wearing your piety on your sleeve - or not...

In today’s Gospel Our Lord warns us, “Take care not to perform  righteous deeds in order that people may see them… When you give alms, do not blow a trumpet before you as the hypocrites do… to win the praise of others.

When you pray, do not be like the hypocrites, who love to stand and pray so that others may see them.

When you fast, (do it) so that you may not appear to others to do so. - Matthew 6: 1-6, 16-18 

Yet what does Jesus mean then when he tells us, “You are the salt of the earth… the light of the world… Just so, your light must shine before others, that they may see your good deeds, and glorify your heavenly Father.” - Matthew 5: 13-16

I’m not really asking a question here.

Although the Lord does seem to explain the matter, “Unless your holiness surpasses that of the scribes and Pharisees you shall not enter the kingdom of God.” - Matthew 5: 20

“He gave them all they craved.”- Ps. 78

The first reading at Mass today expresses something of what I was attempting to say in yesterday’s post, The long and lonely road: A story about nothing.  I’ll paraphrase the text from Deuteronomy 8, as if it was addressed to me alone, and perhaps you will understand some of what I was attempting to say in my post “about nothing“. 

Remember how for forty years now the Lord your God has directed all your wandering in the desert, especially since your conversion.  He did this to test you by affliction and to find out whether or not it was your intention to keep his commandments.  He let all of these things happen to you; he let you be afflicted with hunger - and then he fed you with manna - the Body and Blood of Christ, a food unrecognized by your fathers, in order to show you that not by bread alone does one live, but by the Word that comes forth from the mouth of the Lord.  It is not by novelties and delicacies confected by men that one lives, but by the Living Bread come down from heaven.

Do not forget the Lord your God, who brought you forth out of the land of Egypt, that place of slavery to debauchery and sinful pleasure.  Do not forget him who guided you through the vast and terrible desert of dissent and compromise, with its seraph serpents seeking to deceive you with false doctrine, and the scorpions of lust and self-indulgence, and its parched and waterless ground where other’s have died because their faith has no roots, or their dwellings have been built on sand.  Do not forget the Lord, who himself instructed you and showed you the way you must go.  He who brought forth water for you from the flinty rock of Peter- the clear teaching of the Magisterium, and who fed you in the desert with the manna of the most precious Body and Blood of the Lord, a food unknown to your fathers.- Adapted from Deuteronomy 8: 2-3, 14b-16a   

“He pierced the rock to give them water;

it gushed forth in the desert like a river.”- Ps. 105

“You have no idea of what your life will be like tomorrow.” -James 4

Would you bristle if someone called you an adulterer?  I’m sure very few of us ever use or even hear that word unless we are in divorce court.  What if we called other people what we think of them, or what their behaviour categorizes them as?  What if we called a woman who had an abortion a baby-killer?  Or a woman who sleeps around a slut?  Or a guy who has sex with men a faggot?  I know many people do use these terms, but most of us are too PC to do so, and none of us want to be sued for defamation.  And since we really do  live in an adulterous age, none of these things are considered to be wrong or immoral anyway - so how dare we judge?

Yet the Holy Spirit rebukes us saying, “Do you not know that to be a lover of the world means to be at enmity with God?  Therefore, whoever wants to be a lover of the world makes himself an enemy of God.”- Letter of James

“This is the end of those contented with their lot.” - Psalm 49

This whole week we have been listening to St. James…  I’m piously convinced the Liturgy of the Word is the “Spirit speaking daily to the churches” as the Lord said in the Book of Revelation.  Today the Spirit calls to us,

“Come now you rich, weep and mourn over your impending miseries.  Your wealth has rotted away… your gold and silver has corroded… and that corrosion will be a testimony against you.  You have stored up treasure for the last days… the wages you withheld from workers.   You have lived in luxury and pleasure, you have fattened your hearts for slaughter…” - James 5:1-6 

“But now you are boasting in your arrogance.” - James 4

As oil prices go up and up, along with food prices, our standard of living may be going down.  Indeed, Obama-rama may be correct when he said:

“We can’t drive our SUVs and eat as much as we want and keep our homes on 72 degrees at all times … and then just expect that other countries are going to say OK.”  - Barrack Obama

I’m not fond of Obama of course, but he isn’t alone in his forecast, and if things keep going the way they are, our standard of living will indeed be in full-blown recession.  Wars and rumors of wars with Iran, earthquakes in various places, and cyclones and food shortages, and  other disasters throughout the world - doesn’t it seem like something is going on?  It sounds so biblical, huh?  Yet many good people are defiant - “No one is going to tell me at what temperature to keep my house at, or what to drive!”

“This is the way of those whose trust is folly.” - Psalm 49

So is it just national pride that moves people to say, “No way in hell - this ain’t gonna happen.”  Even though it seems events are unfolding before our eyes?

Though in his lifetime he counted himself blessed,

“They will praise you for doing well for yourself,”

He shall join the circle of his forebears

who shall never more see the light. - Psalm 49 

“This saying is hard; who can accept it?”

In today’s Gospel the disciples are seen murmuring, right before the Lord as he taught about His real presence in the Eucharist.  Nothing has changed much has it?  We all still murmur in front of Him, not just on blogs, but in our parish communities, our colleges, and other religious institutions.  Jesus knows this, and he admits, “there are some of you who do not believe.”

Faith is a gift.

How many today persist in obstinate unbelief?  How many today want to change, even twist Christ’s teaching to suit their personal lifestyle, their intellectual perception, their academic achievements, their individual pursuit of happiness and fulfillment?  If these reject Christ’s teaching and walk away - as the disciples in today’s Gospel did, returning to their former life, or in attempts to create their own underground  church (which is at least more honest), we shouldn’t be surprised.  Jesus knows all about it, saying, “For this reason I have told you that no one can come to me unless it be granted him by my Father.”

“To whom shall we go?”

Many are the sayings of Jesus that are hard - seemingly impossible.  Yet He assures us, “what is impossible for man, is possible for God.”  Therefore we need to cling to Him through faith, in hope, surrendering ourselves to love.  It is the Father who called us, nay, draws us to His Son, and we must cling to Him in love that he may free us, feed us, and bring us to eternal life. 

“Are there many who will be saved?”

 Jesus never directly answers that, nor does the Church.  Although He cautions, “Strive to enter the narrow way…”  while acknowledging that many do not, and as today’s Gospel reveals, “Jesus knew from the beginning the ones who would not believe.”  Sadly, not everyone believes.  Not everyone will be saved.

Let us pray for the conversion of heretics, schismatics, unbelievers, and sinners - as well as for our own perseverance.

About Truth.

The opening prayer of today’s Mass asks, “Help us to cling to your truths with fidelity.”  We ask this of course through our Lord Jesus Christ.  Thus we need God’s grace to cling to His truths, for as Jesus explains in today’s Gospel, “No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draw him…” (Jn. 6)  Jesus is Grace and Truth, He abides with us in the Blessed Sacrament - the Father draws us to Him in the Holy Mysteries.  He left us this Holy Sacrament that we might cling to Him in love and He might free us, protect us, and reveal to us the Father.  Everything that is delicious is contained in this bread come down from heaven… all that is true and good.

The Holy Mysteries cannot be fully apprehended by the intellect, they require the submission of faith in love, as does the Truth in a world of lies.  In other words, they “help us to cling to God’s truths with fidelity.”  God’s commands are all true, and we pray for His help when lies oppress us (Ps. 118).  And we find this help in the Holy Eucharist; the celebration of Mass, and reserved in the tabernacles of Roman Catholic churches, chapels, and oratories.  If we struggle with sin or infidelity, clinging to the Lord in the Holy Eucharist will “turn our feet from evil paths” and help us to “cling to His truths with fidelity.”   

“They shall all be taught by God” (Jn. 6)

“Lord, how I love your law!

It is ever in my mind.

Your command makes me wiser than my foes;

for it is mine forever.

I have more insight than all who teach me

for I ponder your will.

I have more understanding than the old

for I keep your precepts.

I turn my feet from evil paths

to obey your word.

I have not turned from your decrees;

you yourself have taught me.

Your promise is sweeter to my taste

than honey in the mouth.

I gain understanding from your precepts

and so I hate false ways.” - Ps. 118: 97-104

“Since he clings to me in love I will free him, protect him for he knows my Name.”- Ps. 9o

“This generation demands a sign…”

“The crowd said to Jesus, ‘What sign can you do, that we may see and believe in you?’”  I believe it is John of the Cross who suggests we can weary or even offend God by our seeking extraordinary signs or favors.  That is not to say of course that when one prays hoping for some sort of confirmation, or certitude concerning one’s intentions, or longing for some ‘proof of His love’ as Teresa of Avila suggests, is wrong.  God himself required that Ahaz ask a sign of Him,  which turned out to be the prophecy of the Incarnation:  “Behold, a virgin shall be with child.”  Hence, seeking a sign is not always out of order or displeasing to God, especially if the person asks with confident resignation to His will - “not my will, but thine be done.”  Or, as in the Lord’s prayer, “Thy will be done.”

However today’s Gospel is particularly consoling  in so far as our Lord reveals that the Eucharist is the preeminent sign and confirmation of God’s love.  It seems to me, if God were to be offended by our seeking any sign above His Son’s Eucharistic presence, then indeed He would be offended.  Because of our weakness, human nature definitely needs a sign of God’s love, and our Lord left this sign with us until He returns in glory.

“The bread come down from heaven.”

 After Jesus spoke to them of the “bread from heaven”, the crowd pleaded with Him, “‘Sir, give us this bread always.’  Jesus said to them, ‘I am the bread of life; whoever comes to me will never hunger, and whoever believes in me will never thirst.’”  Just so, the Lord instructed us to ask for this sign everytime we pray, “Give us this day our daily bread.”   Therefore such prayer is perfection itself.

Jesus is present with us in the Eucharist always.  In the apparition of the Virgin to St. Catherine Laboure, Our Lady of the Miraculous Medal instructed souls to “Come to the foot of the altar. Here graces will be shed on all who ask for them.”   Our Lady’s direction echoes Our Lord’s promise in the Gospel, “whoever comes to me will never hunger…”   In every authentic apparition of the Blessed Virgin, Our Lady, the Directress, directs Christians to Her Son. 

At Lourdes she asked that a chapel be built.  At Fatima the Angel of Portugal taught the children the proper decorum for Eucharistic adoration as well as how to make reparation for sins committed against the Sacred and Immaculate Hearts.  Of all the modern apparitions, Fatima is particularly Eucharistic.

Making a “visit”. 

Now days, Adoration chapels are in every big city across the country, and that is very good.  Although I prefer to go to a deserted church and simply pray before the Blessed Sacrament reserved in the tabernacle for my adoration.  If a person cannot get to daily Mass, a visit to the Blessed Sacrament may sometimes be even more efficacious.  Occasionally I wonder if an emphasis on daily Mass and Eucharistic adoration chapels incline some people, who for one reason or another cannot do either, to forget the efficacy of either a “quick” or prolonged visit to the Blessed Sacrament reposed in the tabernacle - especially if exposition is not available.   

 Even when my parish church is locked, I like to go to make a visit.  I sit outside the church and adore the Lord in the Blessed Sacrament.  The church becomes for me His tabernacle, which I know is enclosed within the superstructure.  No, I don’t make a spectacle of myself, I sit or walk quietly and passers-by have no idea what I am doing unless they notice my rosary.  During the day, I unite myself to the silent, loving action of Our Lord in the Blessed Sacrament, renewing my spiritual communions frequently throughout the day.  These practices help me to remain recollected in the presence of God throughout the day and night.  I think the closer we come to Jesus in the Eucharist, the more we become His tabernacle.

[Icon:  Mother of God Directress.]

I stood in back on ash wednesday,

refusing the ashes…

embarrassed to walk around

- a black cross on my forehead.

neither did I go up to be anointed

at the healing service they had this lent,

I didn’t want to be counted

amongst the old and sick and disabled.

I even stayed in my pew

rather than walk in procession on palm sunday…

I didn’t do much this lent…

except, I criticized what others did.

I made distinctions between the good guys

and the bad guys too.

I can always tell you what is right for you -

I can tell you what anyone should do…

“Why wasn’t this given to the poor?”

I judge and object and protest because

I’m a thief and a liar -

despite my denial:  “Surely it is not I Lord!”

and false devotion, “Hail, Rabbi!”

I understand now

that “I have sinned in betraying innocent blood.”

I am Judas…

not Peter or the Magdalen -

but the betrayer.

Lord Jesus Christ,

Son of God,

have mercy upon me a sinner!

There but for the grace of God. 

I was reading the account of a person’s trip through the seedy sections of a large city, and I got the impression the writer had been disgusted by what he saw.  The men and women were referred to as bums, druggies, and hookers.  The writer lives in the suburbs, hence the apparent cultural shock.  Most of us who live comfortable, insulated lives experience similar reactions when we are confronted with such ne’er-do-wells.  “Low lifes” like these are such that the Pharisees very well would have  condemned them and said, as they told the man born blind in today’s Gospel: “You are steeped in sin since your birth…” (Jn. 9:34)

Some of them who thought they were better than others (the Pharisees), said to him, “You are not calling us blind, are you?” 

“Jesus said to them, “If you were blind there would be no sin in that.  ‘But we see,’ you say, and your sin remains.” (Jn. 9:40-41)

Modern Pharisees can thank God they are not like other lay-abouts, because they have jobs, credit cards, a 401k, health insurance, and homes in the suburbs. 

Wrapped in swaddling clothes…

“He was a little infant like any other with nothing unusual about him, just a little child like you yourself were, without much charm those first hours and first days. He became a tiny baby crying from the cold as he lay there on the straw in a state of total helplessness which he took on out of love.

That is how our God first appeared and God wants to be contemplated and adored in this state not only by the lowly but also by the great for God accepted the adoration of both shepherds and wise men and even led them by a star into the presence of this little baby without grandeur or majesty.” - Little Sister Magdeleine of Jesus, 1898-1989