Wednesday, October 30, 2024

I will not reject anyone who comes to me

 This coming Sunday's reading is John 6:37-40.  In the reading, Jesus says, "I will not reject anyone who comes to me, because I came down from heaven not to do my own will but the will of the one who sent me".

So, then, if Jesus does not reject anyone who comes to Him, on what basis could we reject anyone who seeks Jesus?  There is no basis.There is no category, no type of person, whom we have the power or authority to prevent from approaching Jesus.  The Church itself tries to be the arbiter of who can come to Jesus, for instance in limitations on divorced persons receiving Communion, but the Gospel provides no basis for this.

The only thing that I can say in this regard is that if anyone thinks they are the arbiter of who should be allowed to go to Jesus, they had better be right.  Jesus seemed always to want to be the last word on who could come to him.



Thursday, October 24, 2024

 

Sunday 27 October

Thirtieth Sunday in Ordinary Time

Mark 10:46-52

TRANSPARENCY vs. DECEPTION

 

O, Lord, You are the God of clarity and restoration, grateful I remain to You for being my Messiah.

Lord, how easy it is for me to selectively define the truth and join in a masquerade of deception.

Praise to the Overture of Truth!

O’ Lord, for those who are blind (like Bartimaeus) and who live in literal darkness – their pain is unlike any I know.

Lord, it is said that man only sees and hears what he wants and I have chosen this wrong path all too often. 

Glory to the Divine Vision!

O’ Lord, You are gentle and magnificent God of transparency who renews, heals, and restores sight and hope.

Lord, how easy it is to convince myself that I alone possess clarity, yet this becomes just another masquerade of deception.

Praise to the Spirit of Fidelity!

O’ Lord, thank you for giving me the blessing of vision that sadly I take for granted and exploit to suit only me.

Lord, I too call out with Bartimaeus  (the blind outcast) and plea to be rescued from the darkness.

Glory to the Holy of Holies!

O’ Lord, I seek only You in this place of confusion and doubt, for You are the God of transparency and the eradicator of all deception.

Lord, the harvest is ripe now and the workers stand ready to gather the crops that You are prepared to wash clean.

Praise to the Divine Harvester!

(perhaps we can pray together, asking that God to restore our sight with accuracy and to remove the scales from our eyes that have impeded our vision?)

                                                                                                            The Pilgrim

 

 

Friday, October 18, 2024

Lord, Grant That.......

 We've all heard wise and perhaps even profound reflections on this weeks Gospel reading. Our Lord tells us clearly that the greatest among us is the one that is the servant of all. It's a very hard concept to practice though, isn't it? And certainly worthy of contemplation.

What strikes me in reflecting on this reading today though, is how James and John try to back Jesus into a corner with a "blank check" kind of promise. Think about that for a moment: How many people in your life could you approach and say "I want you to do whatever I ask of you, OK?" And actually expect that they might say "sure, what is it?" in response. A parent or sibling, perhaps? Maybe your spouse, or a good friend would take the risk and say "sure." Almost certainly a young child would; a son or daughter before the age of 5, might say "I promise" without knowing what the request is, right?  

OK. So Jesus is God, and Scripture tells us He knows everything from the start. So let's forget about the fact that you can't trick Jesus into doing something for you that He didn't already want to do for you. The fact that James and John were comfortable enough in their relationship with Jesus to make this request says something about the nature of their relationship with Him, doesn't it? (In Matthew, it's their mother that makes the request with them - but the point is the same, I think.) 

I think that asking someone to agree to do something for you without them knowing what it is, is probably either a childlike thing to do, or it is relying heavily on the nature of your relationship with that person. It's almost like saying "close your eyes and open your mouth!" It presumes a certain amount of trust. Perhaps this thought is worthy of dwelling on for a bit: 

Can you picture yourself asking Jesus to "Do whatever I ask you to do?" 

What is the nature of your personal relationship with Jesus?

Can you be childlike enough with your God to think you can trick him into doing something for you?

Does Jesus love you so much that He would want to do something for you? 

May reflecting on these questions draw you closer to Jesus....

                          + Theophilus

Friday, October 11, 2024

 

“ Una Sola Cosa te Falta”

 

 El recuerdo más antiguo, la primera vez que escuché este evangelio que hizo una impresión en mi ,

Y fue cuando estudiaba latín en mis años de escuela superior. No puedo recordar exactamente si fue al final del primer año o durante el segundo año. Si se que me impresionó y nunca lo he podido olvidar.

 

En mi imaginación veía el joven acercarse a Jesús y preguntarle qué debía hacer para ganar la vida eterna. Jesús le responde que debe guardar los mandamientos y el joven afirma que lo ha hecho desde una temprana edad. Y Jesus le da una mirada de amor y le dice, “ sólo una cosa de falta… “ Y el joven se marcha triste porque poseía mucho…

 

A través del tiempo he podido estudiar, reflexionar y  entender un poco más del mensaje de esta escena.

 

El joven que tanto poseía todavía no estaba satisfecho; algo le faltaba. Es posible que su manera de observar los mandamientos era sencillamente una manera de no cometer ciertos actos para así ganarse la vida eterna. “Si observo las reglas, si me porto bien, recibiré el premio al final de la jornada,” pensaría.

 

No importa esa posible postura, Jesús le da una mirada de amor. Jesús nos ama tal y como somos aunque ciertamente sabe lo que podríamos ser. Lo que podríamos ser, el potencial que Dios ha puesto en cada uno de nosotros. Esto es, lo que Dios desea que tú y yo seamos.

 

El joven se marcha triste. Muchas veces me he preguntado, .¿ Y qué sería de él? Me gustaría pensar que usó sus bienes para ayudar a los demás, que continuó observando los mandamientos y que no hizo de sus posiciones su dios.

 

Pero la consideración de este evangelio también nos lleva a cada uno de nosotros a preguntarnos,¿ qué es lo que me hace falta para ser lo que Dios quiere que yo sea?

 

La gente que hablamos español hemos venido a los Estados Unidos buscando unas mejores condiciones de vida. Hemos venido al país de la abundancia, donde parece que no carecemos de nada, de ningún bien material. Corremos el peligro de convertir los bienes materiales, el ganar dinero, el tener más, en el objetivo principal de nuestra vida.

 

Ciertamente los bienes materiales son un regalo de Dios. Debemos usarlos para nuestro bienestar y el de nuestras familias, debemos compartirlos sobre todo con los necesitados, pero no podemos permitir que el dinero y las cosas que podemos comprar con él, se adueñan de nosotros.

 

¿ Cómo vamos a descubrir esa una sola cosa que es necesaria para cada uno de nosotros? Éste es el trabajo de toda nuestra vida. Lo logramos mediante la oración. Pero no podemos esperar respuestas inmediatas y directas a nuestra oración. Se trata de un discernimiento diario, de abrirnos a la voluntad de Dios para que él nos dirija.” aquí estoy, Señor, para hacer tu voluntad”. 

 

Qué Padre, el Hijo, y el espíritu Santo sea glorificados en todas partes por la Inmaculada virgen María.

 

El caballero de Nuestra Señora

 

 

Thursday, October 3, 2024

Hardened Hearts

Did you ever try to walk a dog and suddenly have the dog not want to go any further?  It is very easy to lead a dog or any pet who is willing.  A simple tug on a leash will direct the dog to go a certain way.  Part of the dog’s willingness to follow the commands of its owner is the trust that has been established between the dog and the person.  The dog knows, instinctively and through experience, that the person wants what’s best for it, and therefore it follows, at least most of the time.

There are times when the dog decides it just doesn’t want to obey.  Most of the time that is out of fear.  A dog may not want to go outside because it hears thunder or fireworks in the distance.  So, when the person puts the leash on and pulls the dog, the usually obedient dog puts all four paws solid on the ground and refuses to move.  The dog suddenly seems to have a hardness of heart.  Once all loving and obedient, the dog suddenly refuses to do what the master wants. 

There are of course many reasons for disobedience.  Fear is only one reason.  It could be a distraction.  It could be an urge or uncontrolled desire that suddenly turns the dog against the wishes of the person.  The dog suddenly forgets the loyalty and obedience it had based on that trusting relationship it had with the person who cares for it.

Human beings, of course, are not dogs.  We are not animals.  We are made in the image and likeness of God.  And yet perhaps, if we are honest, our abuse of the gift of free-will often reduces our actions to that of pets.  We decide that even though we are in relationship with the one who not only created us, but even more wondrously saved us, our urges, our desires, our petty plans are more important than what he might desire for us.  So, we put “all fours” down.  We develop hardness of hearts.  He gently pulls the leash in the right direction, and we often pull harder in the direction we want to go.

God’s moral law is set in natural law.  It should be easy for us to understand.  We should see it as a pathway to true freedom, that is freedom to choose good, what is pleasing, what is life-giving, what is loving, what is therefore perfect.  We should see it as freedom of the slavery of sin, and yet we see it as restrictive and stifling.  And while we develop this hardness of hearts, we see before us only a loving God, whose heart is very soft.  So perhaps, if we are honest, instead of imitating his loving heart, we take advantage of it.  God wants me to be happy and free, so I know that despite my hard heart, he will ultimately forgive me.  That might be so, but, in the meantime, we are stuck in one place, with “all fours” planted on the ground, not moving to where our all-loving God wants us to go.

- The Servant