Jesus is Our Guide, Our Good News and Our Provider

Jesus Invites us: "Come to Me."

During Independence Day weekend, we celebrate the Declaration of Independence which set in motion the United States of America. No American document has had a greater impact on the world in the human quest for freedom, equality, dignity, opportunity, and the laws to protect these.

So, we pray: God bless America so we may increasingly be, and long remain, one nation, under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.

In the Gospel according to Matthew, Jesus invites us, “Come to me.” He calls us to open our hearts to God and to our fellow human beings by giving God praise and worship; by being generous, by forgiving those who have wronged us, by caring. That’s why we gather in liturgy: to open our hearts.

The word of God first takes us back to the sixth century before Jesus. Zechariah speaks about a messianic leader who will usher in a new era of peace, justice and prosperity. He challenges us to always hope in God. Many philosophers argue that hope is a fundamental characteristic of human life. Think about it.

St. Paul in his letter to the Christian community at Rome speaks about the Spirit of God dwelling within us. We are living temples of God. The Spirit empowers us to live a life of integrity, courage, compassion and faith.

In the Gospel according to Matthew, Jesus begins with a prayer of praise. Then he invites us to enter his triune life: “Come to me, all you who find life burdensome and I will refresh you.”

Yes, when we begin to think life is empty, or heavy-laden, Jesus is there to fill our emptiness, to lighten our burdens. He is our true wisdom, the image of the God we cannot see, our guide, our good news and our provider.

God has bestowed the gifts of the Spirit in the life-giving waters of baptism: wisdom (to recognize what truly matters), intelligence (to discern what's true), courage, compassion, good judgment, and wonder and awe. Yes, Jesus will guide us to our true destiny.

The word “gospel” means “good news.” In a world that desperately needs good news, Jesus Christ lives and because he lives, we live. The good news of Jesus is dynamically relevant to all generations, cultures and situations. People’s basic needs are always the same. The message of the gospel is always the same. Set aside regular time to contemplate the scriptures.

Ultimately, Jesus taught us to pray. “Give us this day our daily bread...” God will provide all we need. If we give generously, we will discover that we cannot out-give God, who will do amazing things for and through us.

This doesn't mean life will be easy. Yet, Jesus is indeed our wisdom who guides us, brings us good news and provides for us so that we can become the best version of ourselves: with eternal life, liberty and justice, and the pursuit of true happiness.

Have a happy and safe Independence Day weekend.

What Matters to God

Dore's Sketch of the Rich Man and Lazarus

In today’s Gospel, Jesus advises us to “Take care to guard against all greed.” He calls one who only accumulates things for him/herself a fool, forgetting one’s absolute dependency upon God, and forgetting one’s mortality.

Yes, we need things in order to live, but all we can take with us in death are our good deeds. As the saying goes, you never see a U-Haul trailer following a hearse to the cemetery.

The reality of death challenges us to answer the most important questions in life: how shall we live and what shall we do? And so, Jesus urges us to make sure we have our priorities straight. Seek first the things of God.

The so-called last things—hell, purgatory, and heaven—are challenging beliefs in Christianity. How can we say at the same time there’s an all-good God, and there’s a hell? Think about it.  Yes, scripture describes the last things.

But Dante’s The Divine Comedy also imaginatively reveals how he awoke in a dark wood (perhaps a midlife crisis) where Virgil led him through earth to hell (remember Dante’s famous line, “Abandon hope, all ye who enter here”). They saw sinners going to the abode of Satan. Then Dante ascended to purgatory, and finally, with his beloved Beatrice, he climbed the spheres of paradise and into the dazzling vision of the Triune God.

The Divine Comedy is a masterpiece in poetry, not easily readable but profoundly instructive about life. Heaven and hell answer the question of justice. Many good people die without receiving in this life a reward for their goodness, and many wicked people die without paying for their wickedness. If there’s justice, there has to be someplace where wrongs are righted, and someplace where good is rewarded.

So what are hell, purgatory, and heaven? The language is best understood symbolically. God does not “send” us to hell; we freely choose to go (unwisely). Also, while accepting the possibility of hell (in light of the dynamic between God's unconditional love for us and our human freedom to reject that love), we don’t have to believe that human beings are actually “in” such a “place.” In fact, we hope all human beings will find salvation.

If we peel away its fiery imagery, hell can be described as the absence of God, the failure to realize our true selves, whereas heaven is the ultimate fulfillment of our true selves. In heaven, we participate in the mystery of God.

Purgatory then is a “purification” in which we become our true selves.  And judgment is our own recognition of what is right and wrong in ourselves.

Finally, we believe that in the mystery of death, God will transform our earthly selves, like Jesus, into a new, indescribable heavenly reality. St. Paul put it well: “No eye has seen, no mind has ever imagined … what God has prepared for those who love Him.”

Yes, Jesus wants us to be indescribably rich: “rich in what matters to God.” (Luke 12:21)

Life, Liberty, Happiness

The Sermon on the Mount: Matthew 5: 1-11

On the Fourth of July, we celebrate the signing of the Declaration of Independence in 1776. That document proclaims these truths: “…that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights, that among these are life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.”

The word of God speaks to those principles. For example, in the 9th century before Jesus, God called Elisha to succeed Elijah as a prophetic voice. Elisha answered God’s call with a “yes.” He didn’t know how life would unfold; he simply trusted in God.

God calls us to live a life of discipleship. Not yesterday or sometime in the future, but today!

We may sometimes judge others, like James and John in today’s Gospel, who wanted to obliterate two Samaritans for their lack of hospitality. But Jesus rebukes the disciples and continues to Jerusalem. On his way, someone asks to follow Jesus. Jesus’s reply indicates discipleship is making God your first priority.

Paul, in his letter to the Christian community in Galatia, proclaims that Jesus has freed us from our worse selves (the vices of our dark side) so that we can be our better authentic selves (in a life of virtue). Yes, the Spirit of God lives and moves and breathes within us so that we can become our authentic selves. Paul may ask, how are we using that liberty?

This insight of St. Paul’s intrigues me. Freedom to be ourselves is what joy and happiness are all about. Everybody wants happiness. Many think that if they get enough money, fame, or power, they’ll be happy. But if so, explain how some celebrities who “had it all” sedated themselves with drugs. Happiness has to factor into life, work, relationships, and ultimately death.

Bishop Robert Barron, of “Word on Fire” fame, cites Michael Jordan as an example of someone who became his happiest not by playing any way he wanted but by mastering the basics.
So too with us. Mastering the basics of discipleship with Jesus.

Yes, we become our happiest by mastering the basics (e.g., the beatitudes). In the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus describes the kind of character we should have. The first beatitudes (or attitudes) focus on our relationship with God. The next steps, our relationships with one another.

Disciples recognize only God can fill their emptiness. That’s what it means to be poor in spirit. An awesome Creator gifted us with life. Disciples realize their fortune to be alive and are grateful. They know only God can heal and gift them with eternal life. They are gentle, considerate and unassuming. Disciples, above all, hunger for a right relationship with God.

Next: our relationships with one another. Fortunate are they who forgive and let go of anger and resentment. Happy are they who are pure in heart, who have integrity in their relationships; they will see God face to face.

And fortunate are they who are ready to suffer rather than betray their conscience, who try to do the right thing in all decisions in life. Now that’s a worthy pursuit.