Deacon Dan Wright

Love in the Season of Lent

We enter the first Sunday of the 40 days of Lent considering the depth and meaning of the Lenten experience at this time in our lives. We look for spiritual purpose and reconciliation. Our practice of observing Lent varies from person to person. To be frank, I never cared that much myself for the penitential aspect of Lent, but it holds value in the overall scheme for us because Lent leads us to the Cross. No greater love has one than to lay down one’s life for one’s friends. As a jumping off point for our first Sunday of Lent, I’d like us to consider the somewhat unusual theme of love during the season of Lent. Think of it as a belated gift from our Ash Wednesday Valentine’s Day.

The antiphon for the psalm for today reads, “Your ways, O Lord, are love and truth to those who keep your covenant,” and in the text of the psalm itself we see, “Remember that your compassion, O Lord, and your love are from of old.” If I were to make a goal of Lent personally, rather than giving up something, I might consider the value that exists in exploring the terrain of God’s infinite love for us… Certainly, it is a rich field of experience when we consider it.

In the first reading God establishes an everlasting covenant with Noah and his descendants that never again will there be a flood of the magnitude that had occurred. From the depths of an act of punishment, 40 days of relentless torrential flooding, that is, from a penitential experience, springs forth love: a love that was immanent from the beginning but made manifest by the salvation of a remnant of humankind—just eight souls. I can imagine hearing the voice of the Spirit say, “I have set my bow in the clouds as a sign of my great love for you.” We also see the covenant as being between God and the Earth, which shows us the love God has for creation, an ever-present reminder of the call to environmental stewardship.

St. Peter reminds us in his first epistle that the flood of Noah was a sign of a much greater saving event, one that destroys sin and regenerates the human soul; one that washes us clean in the waters of eternal charity. God gives us life, in an act of pouring out divinity into the cup of humanity, in the waters of baptism. So, on this first Sunday we consider our calling, a calling to live out our baptismal promises and pour out that with which we have been so abundantly filled.

Lent serves as a reminder of love as a journey of faithfulness and truth. Its a time for reflection, repentance, and drawing closer to God’s love and truth; it’s an opportunity to live out that which has been given to us by embracing others with the same gift we have received. We put love into actions and we call it the praxis of faith. It’s a beautiful lesson that extends to all times of the year, not just here in our Lenten season. 

Take Lent as a time of year to reach out to someone in a positive way, give more of yourself when it comes to kindness and generosity. But also remember that we have a great calling to establish justice on Earth, to rebuild it, and to establish a world where we freely share the things we need.

What we are called to do and who we are called to be are not easy tasks by any means, but we count on help, spiritual help from God and from our fellows. It might be something as small as a smile or friendly glance. There are abundant temptations in our world. The greatest is the temptation to despair. Love is such that it has the power to conquer despair, but often we fail. This too we consider in the Lenten journey; again, it is a path of reconciliation as well. 

Jesus entered a world of temptation, compelled by the Spirit, he fasted in the desert for 40 days. The narrative showcases his steadfast love and commitment to God’s will. Jesus’ refusal to succumb to temptation is not just a rejection of sin but rather it affirms his deep love for humanity and his commitment to fulfill the purpose for which he came into our world. His love is sacrificial, it leads to the Way of the Cross by which we follow his steps and see him stripped bare and humiliated. His is a love willing to endure death for us.

In Lent we receive a call to recognize God’s enduring love in our lives, and to respond by living in accordance with the covenant, grounded in love and truth. We are reminded this weekend that one does not live by bread alone but by every word that comes forth from the mouth of God. God’s ways are indeed love and truth to those who keep the covenant.

How Easter Killed His Faith: On Lee Strobel Responding to Ricky Gervais' Easter Message

As we begin Holy Week and move toward the celebration of Easter, the news gets really interesting. This is especially true if you, like me, have your news feed set to let you see stories on religion. Maybe the religion news isn't that important to you. If not, I respect that, but for me it's part of where I live as a deacon. 

Any time of the year, not just Holy Week, the religion news setting will catch a plethora of negative articles. Particularly this is true in regard to those who are opposed to the faith or perhaps who are militant in arguing from the viewpoint of non-belief. Typically I like their articles because they challenge me to give a good answer.   

Recently I found the following piece from a former militant atheist, now an evangelical apologist, the journalist Lee Strobel. He is writing in response to an "Easter message" by atheist comedian Ricky Gervais. Strobel says it was Easter that killed his faith:

It was the worst news I could get as an atheist: my agnostic wife had decided to become a Christian. Two words shot through my mind. The first was an expletive; the second was “divorce.”

I thought she was going to turn into a self-righteous holy roller. But over the following months, I was intrigued by the positive changes in her character and values. Finally, I decided to take my journalism and legal training (I was legal editor of the Chicago Tribune) and systematically investigate whether there was any credibility to Christianity.

Maybe, I figured, I could extricate her from this cult.

I quickly determined that the alleged resurrection of Jesus was the key. Anyone can claim to be divine, but if Jesus backed up his claim by returning from the dead, then that was awfully good evidence he was telling the truth.

For nearly two years, I explored the minutia of the historical data on whether Easter was myth or reality. I didn’t merely accept the New Testament at face value; I was determined only to consider facts that were well-supported historically. As my investigation unfolded, my atheism began to buckle.

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I don't know that I would necessarily take the same strategy or tactic as Strobel in replying to Gervais, or even to others who doubt or who are opposed to Christianity. While proofs, in the sense in which they are presented in the Catechism of the Catholic Church, are important to belief, and while faith and reason should not be opposed in any way, I don't really believe that traditional proofs are always effective tools for convincing nonbelievers, though certainly in the case of Strobel they amounted to something. However, if you read the comments that have been posted on Strobel's article, and can get past the haters, you can see that proofs mean very little to those who are convinced in their faith against God. 

Instead, I would look to my own experience of doubt and faith, and apply it accordingly.  Like Strobel, I too at one time was a nonbeliever.  Unlike Strobel, I went from being an evangelical Pentecostal as a teenager to being a questioning student of philosophy in my 20's who understood his Christianity best in terms of atheism.  That's right, at one time I defined myself as an atheist, albeit a Christian atheist. Bear in mind that this was many years before my journey to Catholicism.

Now this brings me to the point of Gervais, who in his Easter message says why he believes he is better at being a Christian as an atheist than believers are by being Christians. However, Gervais is making an attempt at humor rather than a true statement of belief. Gervais, in my opinion, is not a Christian atheist, rather he is relying on humorous irony to make his point.

Gervais says that he believes in the Ten Commandments and keeps all of them. To this I would point out, not so much in a judgmental way as much as an objective observation, that he sounds a little like the Pharisee in Jesus' time who went into the temple and prayed, "Thank you Lord, that I am not a sinner like that tax collector over there." Keep in mind that the tax collector, who wouldn't even come into the building all the way, stood back at a distance and prayed for mercy to God, of whose existence he surely had no rational proofs. Furthermore, out of the tax collector's situation of being aware of his sin, he was also probably acutely aware that he had no proofs. Rather, his viewpoint was from the sheer poverty of existence--the place I believe we are most likely to discover the sacred for ourselves. 

As Christians, should it matter all that much what we say about what we believe?  Are we really going to prove anything to anyone by way of talking?  Isn't what we do much more important, and isn't this the lesson of the story of the tax collector in the temple?  Did he not realize that in his life there had been an absence of justice?

The message to nonbelievers is that true religion isn't really about believing in things that are too big to grasp, things that can never be proven except perhaps subjectively. True religion isn't about fairy tales, nor is it about perfectly keeping the Ten Commandments. Rather, it's all about how you live and how you love others, even those who are most unlike you in what they do and believe.

Many years ago, back when I was a Pentecostal teenager, I heard a gospel song that went "If heaven never had been promised to me, neither God's promise to live eternally, it's been worth just having the Lord in my life." Sure it matters that we believe, but what's most important is that we learn to follow Jesus really.

Rejoice! He Comes Bringing Health and Salvation

This Sunday, the Third Sunday of Advent, is the Sunday we call "Gaudete," which translated from the Latin means "Rejoice." Rejoice in the Lord always. Again I say, rejoice. Today is the Sunday that signifies joy, both when we rejoice as we prepare for the coming of Christmas less than two weeks from now, and as we prepare and welcome the Kingdom of God already present in our midst, which will be fulfilled in its entirety when Christ returns in glory in the time when all things are finally complete.

Certainly we feel a heightened sense of excitement about things as we light the rose-colored candle of the Advent wreath and don the rose vestments for one of only two times in the liturgical year. This Sunday's celebration gives us a good opportunity to reflect on what there really is to be all that excited about, other of course than the imminent arrival of Christmas.

In order to meaningfully interpret the readings we have for today, and really any time we study scripture, there are at least two approaches we can take, and always--of course--we should seek the guidance of the Church's teaching. We keep in mind that what we look for is a living and dynamic encounter with the word of God. First, we might attempt to understand or step into the historical situation. What was it that Jesus or the prophets really wanted to impart to their audience at that time? What were the human authors attempting to affirm? Then next we can ask how the scriptures bear relevance to our lives in the world in which we live now? What does God want to reveal to us at the close of the year 2010?

Overall, something that stands out clearly in the readings today, which has the power to transcend history and time, is the theme of transformation. There is a clear prophecy of and fulfillment of transformation. Jesus says, "Go tell John what you hear and see: the blind regain their sight, the lame walk, lepers are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, and the poor have the good news preached to them." The prophecies of Isaiah were being fulfilled. Transformation and the dawn of a new era were beginning. Healing was taking place, as well as a new way of thinking about those who needed it, but not without challenge. We know that Jesus challenged the attitude and beliefs of his contemporaries. His challenge is for us too in our times. I've learned that the message is right when we feel that it makes us question our attitudes and beliefs us in some way. Often I feel challenged myself during my own homily because the message applies to me as well as everyone else.

During the time of Jesus there was a prevalent punishment concept of disease and disability. It was thought that if someone had a disease or disability it was because he or she had sinned, or even because his or her ancestor or ancestors had sinned. We might think that in our enlightened times we have moved far away from this kind of thinking. However, a good bit of modern scholarship has been devoted to understanding the punishment concept of disease in relation to, for example, the AIDS epidemic. Another example is how the word previously used to describe intellectual disability has come to be used as an insensitive insult. Unfortunately, the punishment concept is still with us and sometimes we aren't aware that it remains in our attitudes though not necessarily spoken or even fully realized.

Without a doubt, Jesus came to do away with such notions as the punishment concept of disease. He challenged the attitudes about sin and sickness. It's part of what we rejoice in this Sunday, and certainly the source of joy through the ages, that Jesus really is a savior in that he not only heals us and makes us whole, but he sets us free from the shame and guilt that binds us. Each of us has the opportunity to leave the weight of guilt behind and be reasonable, rational beings who part company with unreasonable and unhealthy ways of thinking.

A good friend of mine recently, actually it was my wife, asked me to consider the possibility that in our times the true miracle in healing, as promised by Jesus, will take place in our attitudes when we encounter people who have disabilities. Rather than seeing them as different or "other" than us, or even as "special," in the healed or transformed world we accept disability as natural. Also our attitudes change in that we don't mind so much adjusting our environment so that people of all levels of ability can be included. Perhaps we will come to see that fair does not always mean equal but that it requires us to go above and beyond the expectations of equality.

As I was growing up, and at a time when I began to seriously consider things of the faith, I came across the idea that salvation has mostly to do with health, or put another way, health is the metaphor for salvation. We're all familiar with the tent revivals where the main attraction is to see people healed by faith. Now certainly the healing ministry of Jesus, even in our times, should not be undervalued, even though we understand salvation as entailing much more than just health. Still, there's a lot of validity for us in our times in understanding health in the context of salvation and as part of the Church's mission. Health is so important that the Catholic bishops speak of healthcare not just as a commodity but as a basic human right that they say is included in "the first right of the human person, the right to life."

From a scriptural point of view, health and healing stand for the kind of transformation that we celebrate in the joy of Gaudete Sunday. It's a sign of mature faith to see salvation as an overall picture of a transformed world in which there is true progress. However, undoubtedly, in our times there are great challenges and obstacles to overcome. Often these obstacles are within us in the form of a particular mindset, attitude, or belief system—especially as it has to do with the way we experience and treat others.

As we move into Christmastime and a new year we have the opportunity not to become distracted but to become intent on healing the wounds of disunity and distrust that abound. More than ever before we are in the place where we may counter the forces of unbelief by embracing joy, healing, forgiveness, transformation, and the progress that forms us into the full, mature, stature of Christ who comes to save the world and make all things new.

Intolerance, Broken Religion, Fear, and the Faith of Anne Rice

Ever since I added religion to my news feed I've been tempted to return to blogging my thoughts on stories more frequently. For a long time the majority of what I've posted has been Sunday sermons and occasional reflections--just mostly innocuous stuff with an interest limited perhaps to the parish. Seems that back during the presidential election year not all my opinions on the news were appreciated by everyone, and I was busy with other things, so I backed away from commenting on news--with the intention of it being temporary. With that being said, I'll go ahead and take the big risk of not keeping my thoughts and opinions to myself. 

I noticed recently that a friend remarked how the "Angry Bearded Catholic Bloggers Club" (ABCBC) were "going nuts" with Anne Rice's rejection of the faith that she returned to after having rejected it once upon a time long ago (I have to admit: I'm not a member of the ABCBC). I hope the title of my post today isn't too much, but I feel like it encapsulates what I've been seeing in the religion news.

Whatever the news brings us, or what others might comment in its regard, the response from people of faith shouldn't be driven by intolerance or fear. These are actually the antitheses, among innumerable others, of true faith. If we are secure in what we believe, we don't have anything to be afraid of. On the contrary, we ought to be willing to let others be who they are in their belief, and in their choice of how they practice it, or even the total lack thereof.

Having true faith, in my opinion, means striving toward what is positive and best in life, and it also means rolling up our sleeves and working to change what is negative or broken. True faith means taking a risk and reaching out to other people. For me, this doesn't include my having to get you to believe the same thing that I believe in terms of religion, and it certainly doesn't mean losing touch with sanity in order to recognize that life on earth is sacred.

Unfortunately, all too often people's experience of religion is that of something broken. Often they struggle within themselves and they feel that the bad relationship they have must be ended. It's like coming away from bad love relationship or a marriage that didn't work. You can give up on the relationship without giving up on love, and this is really where I think Anne Rice may be coming from. Her experience of religion is one that is broken. However, she still recognizes the validity of what was at the basis of it to start.

Where I want to end this, without it becoming too long, is by saying that Christians have an obligation to enter each others' struggles in a positive way. We have an obligation to apply the healing balm of friendship and acceptance, and always we have an obligation to meet people just where they are in life without any expectations of making them be like us in any way. In other words we have the duty to reach out with tolerance, to fix what is broken, to cast out fear, and to make the world a truly positive place by struggling to overcome its greatest challenges.

Who Do You Say I Am?

"Who do people say that the Son of Man is?" From Matthew 16

Something that many Christians may take for granted is the knowledge of the identity of Jesus. Those who have had the faith be part of their lives from an early age likely have an idea or a strong sense of knowing the identity of the person Jesus. During Lent it's worth reexamining our acquaintance with Jesus. Who do we say he is? This is something I mentioned that I wanted to do back at the beginning of the month.

As I grew up being a Protestant the Jesus I knew best was the Jesus of doctrine. That is, I knew Jesus as the Son of God, as the second person of the Trinity, as divinity robed in flesh, as the healer and miracle worker, and as the one who suffered and died on the Cross for my salvation and for all who would believe in him. Certainly, these truths of the faith are not to be denied. Certainly, they possess great value.

However, there is side of Jesus that we may not ordinarily consider in our Sunday school formulations. The identity of Jesus is revealed in the way he manifests himself in sharing his humanity among us. Indeed Jesus is the Son of God, and in his humanity he shows us a special side of being the Son; it is the side that stands with us as human beings and as such shows solidarity with us in our needs.

As we heard in the weekend readings Jesus went into the desert and was tempted. In that he shares with us the trials and ordeals that we face each day. As we face temptation and often fail, we may look to Jesus who did not fail but withstood temptation. We may keep in mind that Jesus shares all aspects of his humanity with us. So when we face temptation, and even if we fail in it, we may turn and place our humanity within his, for he freely gives us all that he has.

In today's gospel we see Jesus sharing with Peter. The aspect of Jesus' personhood revealed to Peter has to do with his authority. Peter recognizes this authority and Jesus gives him a share in it. Peter becomes, by the Lord's word, the rock on which Jesus is to build his Church.

As Lent progresses I hope to reflect more on the person of Jesus—perhaps on those aspects of him that we do not ordinarily notice or consider. As I do so, I plan to bear in mind that the Lord shares something with us. He shares humanity and gives of himself. I have heard that he shares our humanity but another way to look at it is that he shares his humanity, which conquers sin and death.

Friday Reflection: The Spiritual Echo

Although my time for writing has been somewhat limited recently by family, work, and ministry duties, I have reached a point where am ready to begin reflecting for Lent here on my blog. Today, Friday, offers a good place to begin after having had a few days off from writing and having had the opportunity to consider the presence of God in the lives of those who call to him.

Something that I have experienced—at least from time to time— in my life, and perhaps you too may have noticed this, is that when we internalize the scripture, when it becomes like a food for us, we begin to live it out in our lives. When we let the scripture become a reality in us we learn to call upon God in such a way that we are able to hear what can only be described metaphorically as a spiritual echo returning to us from the source of holiness.

Perhaps it's a rare occurrence that we call on God, saying "Father" and hearing within our deepest recesses the acknowledgement of that prayer, or perhaps our spiritual lives are tuned well enough that we have learned to listen to the sound of the spirit at all times. I believe that often such hearing is born out of necessity; that is, it comes forth from our need for God in our lives.

It wasn't too long ago it seems that I reflected on those who cry out for God in the night. To find oneself calling in the night "Father, help me" is not something that one would seek out. We avoid such crosses to carry. However, when life overwhelms us, if we will call out from our deepest need, "Father," we will recognize the Holy Spirit's presence and comfort within our own calling out.  

Lent has the potential to build in us such an awareness of the presence of God. When we place ourselves humbly before the one who has the power to do all things we sense communication. We hear with our spiritual ears the voice of spirit. It echoes and reverberates in our souls and inspires us to reach for an even greater awareness of God.

Last night, in the evening prayer, I read in Psalm 144 the words "He is my love, my fortress." May Lent bring a realization of the experience of God being our love, and may that be communicated clearly to us. May God also be our fortress: may he protect us from all harm and may we know him as a place of refuge. May God offer us the courage to embrace life fully as only we can do in him.

On Having Hope: a Midnight Meditation

Although you have never seen him, you love him, and without seeing you now believe in him, and rejoice with inexpressible joy touched with glory because you are achieving faith's goal, your salvation. 1 Peter 1:8-9

Every so often in my work as a teacher, I have the opportunity to talk to my students on topics that cross over with faith; I had such an opportunity recently. With the upcoming celebration of Presidents' Day the topic of hope came up. The book I had chosen to read with my class talked about Barack Obama and his believing in things that were not yet, but that held the possibility to be realized. The book's narrator said that "hope is believing in what you can't see yet."

Now although the book was about the president, it was quite non-political. Instead it focused on the value of believing in what might be. I used it as an opportunity to talk about what I believe can be in each one of us. Each one of us may have, and should have, hope.

Being a public school teacher I don't teach religion per se, but I appreciate those times that I can talk about the values of faith. It's possible to communicate God's grace to others without ever having to say a word. We do it through love, or as I told my class, as human beings we learn to stand with each other; we learn the meaning of solidarity. Sometimes the greatest thing we can do for others is to stand with them, to take their part, to be on their side. I asked my class what they thought they could do for others, especially the poor. Maybe the best answer I got was from a student who said, "Be their friends."

Going beyond what I was able to say to my class, I know that my hope and my source of rejoicing and inexpressible joy, lies in the one who, as the psalmist says, is my hiding place. My source is the one I can go to in order to be instructed in the things of hope. He is the one who offers me retreat, who speaks to my soul, and in that retreat who fills my heart with that which overflows in inexpressible joy.

It's a joy that comes back to me with the best affirmations that I could ever get. It comes to me from the honesty of a student who can't help but tell me that I "rock" and offers me his knuckles to bump against mine. It comes to me in the smiles of my students, in their laughter and high fives. Really, it's the best evaluation I could ever get—when I know I've given hope and when I receive that same hope from my students. Hope is tied to love.

Indeed the Lord hears us and certainly he speaks to us in return. It's a truly wonderful thing when we learn to hear his voice when he speaks, when we learn to see him in the common places of our lives. To see God with our eyes, to hear him with our human hearing, means to look and listen with faith's vision and hearing, with hope's abundant senses. 

Learning to hear God is a great thing, but perhaps a greater thing is learning allow God to transform what we hope for and long for into a tangible reality. God is a transforming power. God can take us from our here and place us in his dimension. God is the rescuer who will not allow our enemies to rejoice over us. We cry to God and he heals us. 

We call out in the night, "O God hear the groaning of my soul. Turn and look upon me in this low estate, for I have need of you." He answers us and he gives us hope and he lets us see it become salvation unfurled before us.

The Blessing of Success

There are a couple things I noticed recently while meditating on the Psalms as part of the Liturgy of Hours, the daily prayer which deacons, along with priests, religious, and many lay people, pray daily.

Specifically, what I noticed was in Psalm 20. It is a blessing that I have considered many times in my life, and perhaps a prayer that I may have prayed when I was much younger. Psalm 20: 5 reads, "May he give you your heart's desire and fulfill every one of your plans."

What the verse says to me is that God wants to succeed in the things we do, and that he wants to be a partner in those things.  What it means to have a vocation or to experience a calling is to invite God to be in our plans. If the path we should take in our lives is not completely clear to us, we may pray for for God to make the way clear to us. In praying about our work there's nothing wrong with asking for God's blessing.

I am specifically thinking about the prayer of blessing for young people, since recently I started Confirmation interviews. In past years I've prayed with the confirmands that God would grant them the desire of their hearts and fulfill their dreams.  I am also thinking about the blessing in regard to young people who may be considering a Church vocation. 

However, those of us who have already chosen the path we are to take in life, those who have careers and families, and even perhaps those already serving in a ministry—whether as ordained, religious, or laity—may also seek God for strength, direction, and blessing on what lies in our future, whether it's something we know about already or not.

In the Evening Prayer for last night, for Tuesday, Psalm 21 tells us that God came to meet the king with the blessings of success. Indeed God does want us to experience success. If we pray we will receive abundantly. The secret is to have an open heart and to be ready to accept what comes to us. We also need to be patient for a while with ourselves and perhaps to realize that the blessings of success may come with the pain of growth.  Although it's not anything to shy away from, rather our faith allows us to meet it with courage.

The Psalm from the Office of Readings for today, for Wednesday, Psalm 18, makes it clear that God's favor will rest on those who diligently seek it. Psalm 18 says, "He rewarded me because I was just, repaid me, for my hands were clean…" Clearly if we seek the justice of God in our own lives, if we seek truth, fairness, and honesty, and if we seek to be holy, God will reward us. He will grant us the desire of our hearts and fulfill every one of our dreams and plans. It's the blessing that faith brings.

Friday Reflection: The Memorial of Agatha, the Memorial of Goodness

He gave the power to become the children of God to everyone who received him. 

John 1:12

St. Methodius, in today's Office of Readings, tells us that St. Agatha, being true to the meaning of her name, was truly good. He tells us that she lived as a child of God. The memorial we celebrate today may be taken as reminder of our call to goodness.

Being good requires some exploration on our part. What seems like it should be self-evident actually takes a bit of uncovering. Recall that our Lord said, "Why do you ask me about the good?" or, in other versions, "Why do you call me good? There is but one who is good and that one is God." Goodness may not be as common as we might think.

To be good we must be Christ-like, which goes along perfectly with my intention to further explore how Jesus stands out in his person and in his holiness. Some might argue, erroneously, that it is impossible to be good. However, as Christians we have a duty to seek out what is good and—to the best of our ability—to do the good. We bear in mind, of course, that Jesus is perfect goodness revealed in a human person.

If we consider goodness to the opposite of evil, and evil to be the absence of goodness, it follows that goodness is the overall positive attributes of something. It is that which is not lacking in its positive intention: it is that which is whole and complete. It is the realization of faultless perfection.

To be good is to be an imitator of goodness; to imitate Christ and to imitate the saints. It is to pray that God will make us good because he is able to create from what is not yet. God is able to add goodness where none yet currently exists.

To be good in the world in which we live today calls on us to make strong decisions. It calls on us to stand up for what it means to love others. It calls on us to make difficult decisions courageously. It calls on us to give of ourselves. Goodness demands positive contribution; it demands right action. Often goodness requires sacrifice. Always goodness embrace humanity without reservation. 

I like the line from St. Methodius where he says that Agatha lived as a child of God. In these words we find the secret of being good and pleasing to God. We might pray something like this: "Today Lord, I want to be your child. I want to live as a child of God. I want to be your good child; to be your loving and obedient child. Today I want to live in the reality that you make it possible for me to be everything it means to good. Today Lord I receive you into my heart."

 

 

The Courage to Be Human

"I am going the way of all flesh.
Take courage and be a man.
Keep the mandate of the Lord, your God, following his ways
and observing his statutes, commands, ordinances, and decrees
…that you may succeed in whatever you do…

From 1 Kings 2

Of all the wisdom I learned, or perhaps it might be best said "of the little wisdom I learned," in my study of philosophy something that has always clearly stood out is the saying "To thine own self be true."

When we look at the great heroes and fathers in the faith, when we look at the patriarchs and prophets, indeed when we look at the Lord himself, we clearly see individuals who were true to their hearts. Certainly, in the Lord we see this perfected. It is his being true that stands out most clearly. That is, it is his truth to himself, his truth to who he was and what he valued that made the real difference in his world as he sojourned on earth as a man among us.

If we want to be imitators of Christ, if we want to follow his ways, and if we want to know him as he is, we need to understand that he lived a truth that transcended the truths of first century Palestine. Jesus took the notion of righteousness and showed his contemporaries what it really meant—he radicalized the meaning of faith, forgiveness, healing, disease, disability, justice…in his own person he showed us what it truly means when we speak of God.

Jesus intended for us to know and live with the same clarity of sight, with the same allegiance to the values of truth that he lived. Jesus stood clearly in opposition to the falsehood and hypocrisy of his times. As his followers we must learn to see his path clearly and to walk upon it ourselves. It is a path that demands the destruction of the falsehoods that pass for true faith. It is a path that invites us to walk upon it in a different pair of shoes than what we have become accustomed to wearing.

We should always look from the positive; that is, from what is in order to decide what to do. We may look to those whom Jesus chose to embrace. Might we find a mission among them? Might we find a thread in common with those who cry for mercy, yearn for grace, pray for healing, and long for acceptance? Might we find Christ by looking deep into the eyes of the poor, the sick, the sinner, the convict, the enemy?

To follow the way of Christ is to take the courage to be human. It is to take the courage to be true to yourself, to be true to your calling. In doing so we find real meaning in life, and certainly it is not without its risks to stand with humanity; to stand without the benefit of being veiled by the falsehoods and presuppositions, by the fully accepted half-truths and no truths of our day. The Lord calls us to walk in light and to be who we are. The path begins to unfold slowly…we begin to see what lies ahead.

Making Preparations

With each liturgical season it is important that we make preparations as the time draws near for the particular time of year. If we want to make a season as meaningful as possible for us, we approach it with forethought. We look for its arrival with anticipation.

Lent, in the experience of some, may be a bit more difficult in this regard.  There are some for whom Lent carries a negative connotation.  This need not, nor should it, be so. Lent may be approached as an opportunity to prepare ourselves for a more meaningful experience of Easter.

The important thing about Lent, which some may have overlooked or perhaps have never really considered, is that it affords us an opportunity to get to know Jesus. Sure, it's a time of prayer, penance, and giving alms.  It's also a time when we give give up something or do something special. However, among all the pious activities that we may choose to do during Lent, we should make a commitment to get better acquainted with the side of Jesus who has the power to make a difference in the world.

It may be that Lent will afford us a good chance this year to know the Lord through scripture study and prayer. It may be that we will choose to reflect more on his life and its meaning. It may be that events in our everyday lives will reveal something to us about the one we call Lord.  

As I mentioned in my last post, I want to explore more thoroughly the idea of Jesus as a contradiction to the expectations and presuppositions that we may already hold. Knowing Jesus gives us a chance to see clearly beyond the meanings we put on things (sometimes unknowingly).  This year my hope is that the season bring us closer to the Jesus who gives the world a strongly contrasting alternative.

I know that I am getting started a little early.  Often it helps us to reach our goal when we have thought things out ahead of time.  If we want to take a challenge to let Lent change us this year, we need to begin making preparations.  We need to be open to allow Christ to challenge what we may hold already. We also open our hearts to the movement of the Holy Spirit.  We become able to surrender ourselves as pliable clay in the hands of the potter.