Five Important Spiritual Thoughts from the Liturgy of the Word

…and follow up for the Secular Franciscan

March 9 – March 15

 

1 – The parable of the landowner who planted a vineyard. (Mt 21:33-46)

…We are part of those who killed the son to get what they wanted. Do we let our selfishness control us?

 

 

2 – The parable of the Forgiving Father (Prodigal Son). (Lk 15:1-3,11-32)

OUR FORGIVING FATHER

 

+
The Gospel is the very familiar story of the Prodigal Son or a more positive
way of saying it, the Forgiving Father

– the story has a number of points
specifically for adult spirituality:

+
1 – the younger man squandered his inheritance

– we sin, we make mistakes

– it is a familiar theme of
Lent

– something that comes
up in the readings all the time: we really are sinners, we think thoughts that
are not at all Christian, we say words that should not be said, we do things
that should not be done

+
2 – the younger man comes to his senses

– the pivotal point for the younger son

– and what must happen if our
spiritual lives are to grow—we have to come to our senses, some conversion
experience

– in which we finally
understand that we have to make God more a part of our lives, more than God is
now

+
3 – the father was watching for his son/ran/no reluctance on his part at all
(this is not the way a father would act in the Hebrew tradition)

– this is the kind of God we have

– if we show the slightest sign
of coming to our senses, some type of conversion, God is there and will remain
with us

– this is so generous on God’s
part, “generous to a fault”

– an image so foreign
to people who do not understand God

– the father
running to embrace his son, you and me

+
4 – the older son was angry

– human beings are not always going to
agree with how generous God is because we are so selfish

– we do not rejoice with
another’s good fortune (the Hebrew religious leaders did not miss this
reference)

– we want what we want

– again the
selfishness thought that comes up so often in these Scriptures is present

+
5 – but the father is also generous to the older son

– he goes to him, he begs him

– we who are so selfish—the
Lord keeps pursuing us, hoping that we will come to our senses as well

+
6 – Jesus leaves the story unfinished

– maybe leading us to believe that the
selfishness could not be overcome

– the sin which is not forgiven
most is selfishness because such a one finds it hard to come to his/her senses

 

 

3 – “The woman left her water jar.” (Jn 4:28)

…because there were more important things in her life. What is the most important thing
in my life right now? What should it be?

 

 

4 – “They rose up, drove him out of the town.” (Lk 4:28)

…I obviously do not reject Jesus, but which of his teachings should I listen to more?

 

 

5 – “How
often must I forgive him? As many as seven times?” Jesus answered, “I say to you, not seven times but seventy-seven times.” (Mt 18:21-22)

…Is there anyone I am not forgiving?

Five Important Spiritual Thoughts from the Liturgy of the Word

…and follow up for the Secular Franciscan

March 2 – March 8

 

 

1 — “Ask and it will be given to you” (Mt 7:7)

PRAYER OF PETITION

 

Jesus’s words in this section of Luke’s Gospel (and parallel passages) give a treatise, almost, on the prayer of petition.

A couple of things about that prayer of petition should be known:

1
– We must remember that we pray because we need it, not God. Therefore, we pray knowing that God already knows what we need. We simply are putting God into our consciousness knowing that God is with us as we ask.

2 – When we pray, it may not seem like we receive, find or have the door opened, but it really happens. It must all be understood with Jesus’ statements about what is good. God will give us only good and only
God knows what is really good. Even if we ask for a loaf which is really a stone in the overall view of things, God will not give it to us because it will harm us. Even if we ask for a fish which is really a snake in the overall view of things, God will not give it to us because it will harm us. Just as we know good for our children, God knows good for us.
The prayer of petition will always be answered and part of the prayer of petition is that we understand that God’s answer will be good for us.

3
– There is another element that is not part of the prayer of petition, but part of Jesus’ doctrine; it a directive that we must remember even as we beg God for things in our lives. Even as we ask for what is necessary in our lives, we have to work with love of others. Too many people pray to God, expecting God to answer—and God will— but do not make God part of the rest of their lives and in particular, how we treat others.

The prayer of petition is an important part of our spirituality. It should be part of what we do every day, but
we have to understand it.

 

 

2 – “If you bring your gift to the altar, and there recall that your brother has anything against you, leave your gift there at the altar, go first and be reconciled with your brother, and then come and offer your gift.” (Mt 5:23-24)

…Is my love of my fellow brothers and sisters what it should be?

 

 

3
– “But I say to you, love your enemies, and pray for those who persecute you.” (Mt 5:44)

…Is there any incident in my life where this is not true?

 

 

4 — “This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased; listen to him.” (Mt 17:5)

…Am I spending sufficient time during the day to listen to the Lord by reading the Gospels?

 

 

5 – “Rather, whoever wishes to be great among you shall be your servant.” (Mt 20:26)

…I should be everyone else’s servant, doing what they want. Am I?

 

 

 

Five Important Spiritual Thoughts from the Liturgy of the Word

…and follow up for the Secular Franciscan

February 23 – March 1

 

1 — “If anyone wishes to come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me.” (Lk 9:23)

…Deny, Cross and Follow: the way of the Spiritual Life. Am I doing it?

 

2 — “Follow me.” (Lk 5:27)

…The Lord’s words to Levi have also been spoken to me to be a Secular Franciscan. Am I truly following the Lord?

 

3 – “Jesus was led by the Spirit into the desert to be tempted by the devil.” (Mt 4:1)

…Like us, Jesus was tempted, and said “no” to the temptation with quotes from Scripture. Is Scripture and especially the Gospels part of my life?

 

4 – “Amen, I say to you, whatever you did for one of these least brothers of mine, you did for me.” (Mt 25:40)

…Really, how do I treat the people in my acquaintance?

 

5 — “This is how you are to pray: ‘Our Father who art in heaven…’” (Mt 6: 9)
…When I pray the Our Father, do I think of the words?

 

Special Meditation The Songs of Meaning

“Waiting On the World to Change”

WAITING TO CHANGE     The Gospel     MATTHEW 23:16-22         [Jesus said,] “Woe to you, blind guides, who say, ‘If one swears by the temple, it means nothing, but if one swears by the gold of the temple, one is obligated.’ Blind fools, which is greater, the gold, or the temple that made the gold sacred? And you say, ‘If one swears by the altar, it means nothing, but if one swears by the gift on the altar, one is obligated.’ You blind ones, which is greater, the gift, or the altar that makes the gift sacred? One who swears by the altar swears by it and all that is upon it, one who swears by the temple swears by it and by him who dwells in it; one who swears by heaven swears by the throne of God and by him who is seated on it.”

The Media “Waiting on the World to Change”     John Mayer   “They say we stand for nothing and there’s no way we ever could. Now we see everything that’s going wrong with the world and those who lead it. We just feel like we don’t have the means to rise above and beat it, so we keep waiting, waiting on the world to change. It’s hard to beat the system when we’re standing at a distance. Now if we had the power to bring our neighbors home from war, they would have never missed a Christmas, no more ribbons on their door, and when you trust your television, what you get is what you got, ’cause when they own the information, oh, they can bend it all they want. One day our generation is gonna rule the population, so we keep on waiting.”

Criticizing authority is a dangerous thing among people who are prone to violence, even when the criticism is correct. Jesus knew that, but he felt compelled to let those in charge of religious thought know that they were doing wrong. He called them “blind” and “fools,” strong language for a man who called himself dedicated to God. He attacked their religious laws with abandon, making fun of their sacred traditions and practices. His decision to criticize later brought about his death. Every once in a while, modern music decides to make a statement about misuse of authority. Such is the case with John Mayer’s song “Waiting on the World to Change.” The person in the song is aware that the older generation is criticizing those who are young for being lazy and without principle. But at the same time, the young people see what is happening in the world, and they cannot help criticizing, saying that someday all their criticism will lead them to do something. What do you do about the evil you cannot change? You criticize by calling attention to what should be, and you wait for the chance to change that evil when you have an opportunity to do it. Jesus paid a price, but he set up a Kingdom that led people back to God. The person in John Mayer’s song is promising to change the evil when his generation is in charge. But future change is not the only thing that is necessary. Even as we are criticizing, saying that we will change the future, our lives right now must show that we are willing to fight the evil, and change what must be changed in ourselves. We may have to wait to change some of the evil in our lives because we may not be able to do anything about it with present circumstances, but we can change the evil that we have control over right now–our bad language, our prejudices, and our ill treatment of others.

THOUGHT   What is most in need of change in the world right now? PRAYER   Good and gracious God, your Son was critical of the people in charge of religious thought in his lifetime because they were leading people to evil. Help us truly desire to change the evil that has crept into our world, and to begin changing evil with our lives right now. Be with us, we pray.

 

2-22-23.pdf

 

Five Important Spiritual Thoughts from the Liturgy of the Word

…and follow up for the Secular Franciscan

February 16 – February 22

 

 

1 — “Whoever wishes to come after me must deny himself, take up his cross, and follow me.” (Mk 8:34)

DISCIPLE

(given to you before)

“Follow me.”

(Matthew 9:9)

 

In the same way, every one of you who does not
renounce all his possessions cannot be my disciple.

(Luke 14:33)

 

“Whoever wishes to come after me must deny himself, take up his cross, and follow me.”

(Matthew 16:24) / (Mark 8:34)

 

Perhaps this is the most important
teaching of Jesus on how to achieve a strong spiritual life.

There are three elements to the
following of Jesus: denial of self, taking up the cross each day, and following
Jesus’ steps. If one of the three is
missing, then the following of Jesus is imperfect and incomplete and may bring
about evil rather than good.

It is intriguing to look at the
scenario if one of the three is missing for a Christian disciple.

+ If we leave out the denial of self, what happens?

The chances are that even as we take up
the cross and follow Jesus’ thoughts, we will do it in a selfish way. We become very self-righteous in our approach
to what should be and will not admit the possibility of any involvement in evil
on our parts. We become judgmental of
others and refuse to admit any fault ourselves.
We justify ourselves since we argue that we are taking up the cross and
following Jesus.

If we do not attack selfishness (the
number 1 cause of sin), we will create evil, no matter how Christian we might
think we are.

+ What happens if we leave out “taking up the cross”?

The chances are here, that even though
we admit our selfishness and try to follow Jesus’ ways, we will not face the
crosses that are part of this world, that is, the pain and suffering which are
always present in one form or another.
And we go into the “pity party”—the “poor me” syndrome—criticizing God
and everyone else for making us suffer.
We won’t look on the every-day living as something that we must work at,
and accept the crosses which are there every day, and work with them.

There was a great line in the true life
adventure of the movie “Apollo 13”. When
everything was going wrong, the Director of Operations, Gene Frantz said, we
have to “work the problem.” He took everything that the trapped
astronauts had in their capsule, threw them on a table in front of his
engineers, and said those words—work the problem—figure out from what you have,
exactly what they have to do. That is, “Do your Christian best with the
circumstances that you are given—what might be called the prime directive
of the spiritual life. (Television series: Star Trek)

The person who is not accepting the
crosses of daily life are not “working the problems” of daily living.

+ And, what if we leave out “following Jesus’ steps”?

Here, we have denied ourselves, and we
have taken up the crosses of every-day living, but we don’t have a guide.

We will not consciously do this since
we are indeed Christians, but it is something that happens because of our busyness. We just don’t take the time that we
should. We don’t do the meditation; we
don’t do the spiritual reading that we should.

Bishop Weisenburger a couple of years
ago in one of his writings said that we are spending the majority of our time
pursuing these five things, and therefore following them instead of following
the Lord:

– busyness—we follow our work, play, the things that make up day-to-day living;

– materialism—we want more and more things even though we do not need them at all;

– revenge—we follow the thought of getting back at people;

– individualism—I follow what I want;

– entitlement—I want what I think I deserve in life.

Another problem in our Christian world
is ignorance. We don’t do the spiritual reading that we
should. We should be reading the
thoughts about spiritual development and Christian theology every day in one
form or another, and from every point of view, conservative as well as
progressive.

The exaggeration of John the Evangelist
to close his Gospel is a great one to think about as we think of the reading
that we must do: “There are also many other things that Jesus
did, but if these were to be described individually, I do not think the whole
world would contain the books that would be written.”

 

2 – “It is good that we are here!” (Mk 9:5)

…In what areas can I be a little more positive in my thinking?

 

 

3 – “This is my beloved Son. Listen to him.” (Mk 9:7)

…Have I made the reading of the Gospels a significant part of every day?

 

 

4 – “Offer no resistance to one who is evil.” “Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you.” (Mt 5:39, 44)

…As I think of the person(s) with whom I have the most trouble, how am I acting toward them?

 

 

5 – “They had been discussing among themselves on the way who was the greatest.” (Mk 9:33)

…Is pride one of my faults?