Saint Pope John Paul II in keeping with the example of his risen Lord was always telling people to “be not afraid” in a variety of ways.
As he began his pontificate, he began it by his own admission in his inaugural homily with a sense of his own unworthiness, with fear and trepidation. But trusting in the Lord Jesus Christ, he entered into it anyway.
And then he turned to us in his homily and said, “Brothers and sisters, do not be afraid to welcome Christ and accept his power. Help the Pope and all those who wish to serve Christ and with Christ’s power to serve the human person and the whole of mankind. Do not be afraid. Open wide the doors for Christ. To his saving power open the boundaries of States, economic and political systems, the vast fields of culture, civilization and development. Do not be afraid. Christ knows “what is in man”. He alone knows it.”
Throughout his pontificate he was telling us to be not afraid to be holy, to be saints, to do what is right and just.
The Catholic Church exists to make us saints, an instrument to conform us to the image of Christ. The Church is our mother, feeding us, teaching us, encouraging us, comforting us, disciplining and correcting us.
And often the Church itself is the source of the suffering which forms and shapes as we hopefully recovering sinners inflict damage on each other through our pride, our sin and our lack of forgiveness, faith, love, hope, trust, humility, you name it. Saint John of the Cross was kept prisoner in a cell by his brother monks and taken out once a day to be beaten and allowed to eat a meal. He eventually managed to escape by climbing down the wall of the monastery. But he didn’t leave the Church or rail against it. He just accepted the source of the problem, his brother monks’ sin, and accepted the suffering as God’s will and grew from it. The Apostle Paul mentions such suffering from sources within the Church in his epistles.
The Catholic Church also helps us to become saints by not allowing us to have things our way. She normally doesn’t allow us to take the shortcuts we would like. Although sometimes we can pressure our human priests to grant us “special, secret dispensations for our special cases”. Unfortunately, I have friends for whom this has been done. And I can’t say that it has generally aided in their holiness. I am not sure we ever become holy by having our own way.
Jesus did and didn’t want to go to the cross. He asked the Father to let the cup pass from him if He was willing. But Jesus already knew the answer and so He prayed, “Not my will, but Yours be done.” He chose the way of the cross for us. And God strengthened Him for the task by sending Him ministering angels.
Before I became a Catholic Christian, I had Christianity my way. And I can’t say that it made me very holy. For one thing, it didn’t provide a clear path. So many interpretations, opinions and options.
When I became a Catholic, I submitted to the Church’s teachings, processes and timing. I received her Sacraments, prayed her prayers, participated in her liturgies, looked to the examples of her saints and adopted her ways of the spiritual life. And I have received grace upon grace. I am growing in prayer, patience, humility, love, compassion, peace, joy, thankfulness, trust, understanding and forgiveness to name a few. Have there been losses, crosses, opposition, loneliness and suffering? Sure. Do or did they hurt? Yeah, if they didn’t, it wouldn’t be suffering. But I have all those saints and witnesses to look to learn how to handle them with God and the prayers to sustain me.
So do you still want to be a saint? Then why don’t we walk the path together with Jesus and His Church?
Monday, May 22, 2017
Saturday, March 18, 2017
Third Sunday in Lent – March 19, 2017
First Reading: Exodus 17:3-7
Psalm: Psalm 95:1-2, 6-7, 8-9
Second Reading: Romans 5:1-2, 5-8
Alleluia: John 4:42, 15
Gospel: John 4:5-42
The readings for the Third Sunday in Lent are a progressive call to us to move from an aloof distrust of God’s faithful presence, of Him as our Rock and our supply of life-giving water to a rock solid faith in which we entrust ourselves to Him who has loved us and given Himself for us, believing in His presence and His being our Rock of Salvation and asking Him to provide that which we need for life, the living water of the Holy Spirit.
The readings begin with the Israelites grumbling against Moses because they were thirsty and didn’t see where the next drink was going to come from. Instead of turning to God themselves in prayers of petition for the water, trusting in His presence with them, they turn to God’s representative in the flesh, Moses, threatening him if he doesn’t come through what they want and need. So Moses turns to God himself and presents the problem to Him. God assures Moses that He will be present on the rock that Moses is to strike with his staff and God will provide the water that they will need.
The responsorial psalm then exhorts us to repent of our hard hearts and draw near to God in praise and adoration, proclaiming Him to be the Rock of our salvation and recognizing Him as our creator, shepherd and guide.
The Apostle Paul then assures us of our reconciliation with God and access to His grace which His Son, Jesus, has provided for us through faith or trust in Him. We can trust God, live in the hope of His glory, receiving His overflowing love through the indwelling Holy Spirit. We can entrust ourselves to God’s love because Jesus, His Son, died for us while we were still God’s enemies, holding ourselves far from His heart.
Finally, in the Gospel reading, we hear the story of Jesus waiting by a well in Samaria for a Samaritan woman who was an outcast even among her own people who were themselves considered outcasts by the Jews. John 4:4 says Jesus had to pass through Samaria. Actually, there was a longer bypass around Samaria that Jews normally took, because they didn’t want to have any dealings with the Samaritans. So why did Jesus have to go through Samaria? Because Jesus had an appointment with this woman and through her with the rest of the people in her village to bring His salvation to them.
At this point, I am going to take you to the beginning of Part 4, Section 1 of the Catechism of the Catholic Church which touches upon this story. While I was still a Protestant desperately seeking to help in drawing near to God in prayer, I read this section where I discovered that Jesus loves me so much that he thirsts for me to draw near to Him in prayer. I had my first ecstatic experience of God’s love which lasted for a couple of hours. I was lost in the wonder of His love for me and the adoration of Him.
Feel free to check out the rest of that story and add your insights to this study. But here is the reading from the Catechism.
PART FOUR
CHRISTIAN PRAYER
SECTION ONE
PRAYER IN THE CHRISTIAN LIFE
2558 “Great is the mystery of the faith!” The Church professes this mystery in the Apostles’ Creed (Part One) and celebrates it in the sacramental liturgy (Part Two), so that the life of the faithful may be conformed to Christ in the Holy Spirit to the glory of God the Father (Part Three). This mystery, then, requires that the faithful believe in it, that they celebrate it, and that they live from it in a vital and personal relationship with the living and true God. This relationship is prayer.
WHAT IS PRAYER?
For me, prayer is a surge of the heart; it is a simple look turned toward heaven, it is a cry of recognition and of love, embracing both trial and joy. (St. Therese of Lisieux)
Prayer as God’s gift
2559 “Prayer is the raising of one’s mind and heart to God or the requesting of good things from God.” (St. John Damascene) But when we pray, do we speak from the height of our pride and will, or “out of the depths” of a humble and contrite heart? (Psalm 130:1) He who humbles himself will be exalted; (Luke 18:9-14) humility is the foundation of prayer, Only when we humbly acknowledge that “we do not know how to pray as we ought,” (Romans 8:26) are we ready to receive freely the gift of prayer. “Man is a beggar before God.” (St. Augustine)
2560 “If you knew the gift of God!” (John 4:10) The wonder of prayer is revealed beside the well where we come seeking water: there, Christ comes to meet every human being. It is he who first seeks us and asks us for a drink. Jesus thirsts; his asking arises from the depths of God’s desire for us. Whether we realize it or not, prayer is the encounter of God’s thirst with ours. God thirsts that we may thirst for him. (St. Augustine)
2561 “You would have asked him, and he would have given you living water.” (John 4:10) Paradoxically our prayer of petition is a response to the plea of the living God: “They have forsaken me, the fountain of living waters, and hewn out cisterns for themselves, broken cisterns that can hold no water!” (Jeremiah 2:13) Prayer is the response of faith to the free promise of salvation and also a response of love to the thirst of the only Son of God. (John7:37-39; 19:28; Isaiah 12:3; 51:1; Zechariah 12:10; 13:1)
Psalm: Psalm 95:1-2, 6-7, 8-9
Second Reading: Romans 5:1-2, 5-8
Alleluia: John 4:42, 15
Gospel: John 4:5-42
The readings for the Third Sunday in Lent are a progressive call to us to move from an aloof distrust of God’s faithful presence, of Him as our Rock and our supply of life-giving water to a rock solid faith in which we entrust ourselves to Him who has loved us and given Himself for us, believing in His presence and His being our Rock of Salvation and asking Him to provide that which we need for life, the living water of the Holy Spirit.
The readings begin with the Israelites grumbling against Moses because they were thirsty and didn’t see where the next drink was going to come from. Instead of turning to God themselves in prayers of petition for the water, trusting in His presence with them, they turn to God’s representative in the flesh, Moses, threatening him if he doesn’t come through what they want and need. So Moses turns to God himself and presents the problem to Him. God assures Moses that He will be present on the rock that Moses is to strike with his staff and God will provide the water that they will need.
The responsorial psalm then exhorts us to repent of our hard hearts and draw near to God in praise and adoration, proclaiming Him to be the Rock of our salvation and recognizing Him as our creator, shepherd and guide.
The Apostle Paul then assures us of our reconciliation with God and access to His grace which His Son, Jesus, has provided for us through faith or trust in Him. We can trust God, live in the hope of His glory, receiving His overflowing love through the indwelling Holy Spirit. We can entrust ourselves to God’s love because Jesus, His Son, died for us while we were still God’s enemies, holding ourselves far from His heart.
Finally, in the Gospel reading, we hear the story of Jesus waiting by a well in Samaria for a Samaritan woman who was an outcast even among her own people who were themselves considered outcasts by the Jews. John 4:4 says Jesus had to pass through Samaria. Actually, there was a longer bypass around Samaria that Jews normally took, because they didn’t want to have any dealings with the Samaritans. So why did Jesus have to go through Samaria? Because Jesus had an appointment with this woman and through her with the rest of the people in her village to bring His salvation to them.
At this point, I am going to take you to the beginning of Part 4, Section 1 of the Catechism of the Catholic Church which touches upon this story. While I was still a Protestant desperately seeking to help in drawing near to God in prayer, I read this section where I discovered that Jesus loves me so much that he thirsts for me to draw near to Him in prayer. I had my first ecstatic experience of God’s love which lasted for a couple of hours. I was lost in the wonder of His love for me and the adoration of Him.
Feel free to check out the rest of that story and add your insights to this study. But here is the reading from the Catechism.
PART FOUR
CHRISTIAN PRAYER
SECTION ONE
PRAYER IN THE CHRISTIAN LIFE
2558 “Great is the mystery of the faith!” The Church professes this mystery in the Apostles’ Creed (Part One) and celebrates it in the sacramental liturgy (Part Two), so that the life of the faithful may be conformed to Christ in the Holy Spirit to the glory of God the Father (Part Three). This mystery, then, requires that the faithful believe in it, that they celebrate it, and that they live from it in a vital and personal relationship with the living and true God. This relationship is prayer.
WHAT IS PRAYER?
For me, prayer is a surge of the heart; it is a simple look turned toward heaven, it is a cry of recognition and of love, embracing both trial and joy. (St. Therese of Lisieux)
Prayer as God’s gift
2559 “Prayer is the raising of one’s mind and heart to God or the requesting of good things from God.” (St. John Damascene) But when we pray, do we speak from the height of our pride and will, or “out of the depths” of a humble and contrite heart? (Psalm 130:1) He who humbles himself will be exalted; (Luke 18:9-14) humility is the foundation of prayer, Only when we humbly acknowledge that “we do not know how to pray as we ought,” (Romans 8:26) are we ready to receive freely the gift of prayer. “Man is a beggar before God.” (St. Augustine)
2560 “If you knew the gift of God!” (John 4:10) The wonder of prayer is revealed beside the well where we come seeking water: there, Christ comes to meet every human being. It is he who first seeks us and asks us for a drink. Jesus thirsts; his asking arises from the depths of God’s desire for us. Whether we realize it or not, prayer is the encounter of God’s thirst with ours. God thirsts that we may thirst for him. (St. Augustine)
2561 “You would have asked him, and he would have given you living water.” (John 4:10) Paradoxically our prayer of petition is a response to the plea of the living God: “They have forsaken me, the fountain of living waters, and hewn out cisterns for themselves, broken cisterns that can hold no water!” (Jeremiah 2:13) Prayer is the response of faith to the free promise of salvation and also a response of love to the thirst of the only Son of God. (John7:37-39; 19:28; Isaiah 12:3; 51:1; Zechariah 12:10; 13:1)
Saturday, February 11, 2017
Finding a way to handle fear of failure
This post was my reply to a thread in the forum I participate in.
I wasn’t going to add anything but then you shared that you wrestle with the fear of failure. I have wrestled with that monster since I was little. It has caused me to leave things undone that I ought to have done. I was led into all kinds of sin in trying to come up with distractions to take away the fear, at least for a time. I have been tempted to commit suicide twice in my life because of the despair caused by fear of failure.
On top of that, I pursued a career in accounting where you are constantly evaluated by being audited and monitored. And there are penalties for failure to be diligent, meet deadlines and ensure compliance with all kinds of regulations.
I knew I needed to go deep with God in prayer but I seemed helpless to develop a deep, consistent prayer life as an evangelical Protestant. And it was that need and desperation that God used to bring me to the Catholic Church. I also discovered the truth of the Catholic Church along the way but that was secondary. The primary was to find a pathway to the heart of God or die. The chorus to the praise song, Breathe, “I am desperate for You. I’m lost without You.” was the theme song of my life experience.
And I have found that pathway in the Catholic Church. Jesus led me home to where He is in abundance. Through the written prayers, the Sacraments, the liturgy, the incarnational theology, the suffering theology and the sacramentals.
The fear of failure still knocks on the door of my heart but my heart is becoming filled with Jesus through all the means of grace available to me through the Catholic Church. There is no room at the inn of my heart for fear to take up residence.
Thanks be to God.
I wasn’t going to add anything but then you shared that you wrestle with the fear of failure. I have wrestled with that monster since I was little. It has caused me to leave things undone that I ought to have done. I was led into all kinds of sin in trying to come up with distractions to take away the fear, at least for a time. I have been tempted to commit suicide twice in my life because of the despair caused by fear of failure.
On top of that, I pursued a career in accounting where you are constantly evaluated by being audited and monitored. And there are penalties for failure to be diligent, meet deadlines and ensure compliance with all kinds of regulations.
I knew I needed to go deep with God in prayer but I seemed helpless to develop a deep, consistent prayer life as an evangelical Protestant. And it was that need and desperation that God used to bring me to the Catholic Church. I also discovered the truth of the Catholic Church along the way but that was secondary. The primary was to find a pathway to the heart of God or die. The chorus to the praise song, Breathe, “I am desperate for You. I’m lost without You.” was the theme song of my life experience.
And I have found that pathway in the Catholic Church. Jesus led me home to where He is in abundance. Through the written prayers, the Sacraments, the liturgy, the incarnational theology, the suffering theology and the sacramentals.
The fear of failure still knocks on the door of my heart but my heart is becoming filled with Jesus through all the means of grace available to me through the Catholic Church. There is no room at the inn of my heart for fear to take up residence.
Thanks be to God.
Wednesday, January 18, 2017
Illustration of what is meant by us "offering up" our sufferings and trials to God in prayer.
The simplest picture I can think of that helps me is when a little child falls down and skins his or her hand, the child will run to and hold the injured limb up to his or her parent and say “Look, Mommy or Daddy, it hurts!”. Often with tears. And the child waits for the response of the parent. We can do that with God and see what He will do with it. In that very act we are entrusting God with our hurtful situation like a little child. We are uniting our sufferings with those of Jesus and God will turn them into something beautiful and to the benefit of others as well, in time.
And actually God does more than that when we entrust Him with our sufferings. He changes us and our hearts instead of becoming hard become soft and pliable in His hands. Our compassion for the sufferings of others increases because we allow ourselves to feel their pain since we acknowledge ours before God.
And actually God does more than that when we entrust Him with our sufferings. He changes us and our hearts instead of becoming hard become soft and pliable in His hands. Our compassion for the sufferings of others increases because we allow ourselves to feel their pain since we acknowledge ours before God.
In response to a question about how my view of my baptism has changed as a Catholic.
I was baptized twice. Once as an infant in the United Presbyterian Church and once as an adult in the American Baptist Church because they required me to be re-baptized to become a member. Before I started my journey towards the Catholic Church, as a non-denominational/Baptistic, born-again believer I viewed my adult baptism as the “real” one. But as I became more Catholic in my thinking, I began to view my infant baptism as the “real” one. My Baptist one became just a super wet “sprinkling” with water.
When I became a Catholic, I learned that my infant baptism had accomplished a lot more than incorporating me into the Body of Christ (Presbyterian understanding), like washing my original sin away, giving me the Holy Spirit, placing an indelible mark on my soul and on and on. And I presented the certificate of my infant baptism as evidence of baptism for becoming a Catholic.
Since becoming a Catholic, my infant baptism has taken on added importance in my identification with and incorporation into Jesus as I have prayed the rosary and meditated on the mystery of the Baptism of Jesus in the Jordan where the Spirit descended and remained on Him.
My infant baptism also seems to correspond to the Presentation of Jesus in the Temple because that is what my parents were doing when they presented me in church to be baptized. And that is how my granddaddy, a devout Presbyterian elder, understood it. He presented me with an RSV Bible that day for my parents to keep for me. On the presentation page inside the front cover, he wrote, “To Howard, on the day he was presented to the Lord, from your Granddaddy” and he signed his name.
I pray for all the baptized that God would help them to recall and be faithful to their baptism and the call of God as I pray those mysteries.
When I became a Catholic, I learned that my infant baptism had accomplished a lot more than incorporating me into the Body of Christ (Presbyterian understanding), like washing my original sin away, giving me the Holy Spirit, placing an indelible mark on my soul and on and on. And I presented the certificate of my infant baptism as evidence of baptism for becoming a Catholic.
Since becoming a Catholic, my infant baptism has taken on added importance in my identification with and incorporation into Jesus as I have prayed the rosary and meditated on the mystery of the Baptism of Jesus in the Jordan where the Spirit descended and remained on Him.
My infant baptism also seems to correspond to the Presentation of Jesus in the Temple because that is what my parents were doing when they presented me in church to be baptized. And that is how my granddaddy, a devout Presbyterian elder, understood it. He presented me with an RSV Bible that day for my parents to keep for me. On the presentation page inside the front cover, he wrote, “To Howard, on the day he was presented to the Lord, from your Granddaddy” and he signed his name.
I pray for all the baptized that God would help them to recall and be faithful to their baptism and the call of God as I pray those mysteries.
Second Sunday in Ordinary Time – January 15, 2017
First Reading: Isaiah 49:3, 5-6
Psalm: Psalm 40:2, 4, 7-8, 8-9, 10
Second Reading: 1 Corinthians 1:1-3
Gospel: John 1:29-34
The readings for this second Sunday in Ordinary Time all have to do with our calling and our incorporation into Christ Jesus, our Lord. When I first looked at the passages in preparation for writing the Bible study for this week, I was kind of in the “check” mode. The Reading 1 from Isaiah 49, part of the Servant Song in Isaiah, prophecy about Jesus the Servant, CHECK. The Responsorial Psalm 40, another prophecy about Jesus as the one who has come to do God the Father’s will, gladly, willingly from the heart, CHECK. Reading 2, the introductory paragraph to the Apostle Paul’s first letter to the Corinthians, hmmm, okay, not as meaty as the other passages and I am not sure how it relates but, hey, I’ll figure it out later, I do see we are called to be holy, that has possibilities, CHECK. The Alleluia, “The Word of God became flesh and dwelt among us, to those who accepted him, he gave power to become children of God.” Interesting, CHECK. The Gospel, John the Baptist testifying that Jesus is the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world, the preexistent one upon whom the Spirit descended upon and remained, the one who will baptize with the Holy Spirit. Now this is starting to get exciting. CHECK.
Fast forward to the middle of the week, to the middle of the night, I have kind of been going through a time of mild depression, wondering whether I matter and whether what I do matters. So I am lying awake and I decide to take a look at the readings again, to begin piecing them together into this week’s study. So I grab my smart phone and go to the USCCB website and tap this coming Sunday on their readings calendar. The readings pop up and my eyes alight on the first phrase in the Isaiah passage and I read, “The Lord said to me: You are my servant…”. And I got the distinct impression the Lord was talking to me, applying this passage to me. And I thought I better check this out and see what the Church has to say about this, I don’t want to become heretical or anything but that impression also seems to line up this Sunday’s passages into a unified whole.
And I thought to myself, how am I going to check this out against the teachings of the Church? Do I have to sift through the writings of the early church fathers? I know I’ll use that Barnes & Noble gift card that I got for Christmas to buy the Nook version of the Didache Bible where writers like Peter Kreeft and Scott Hahn cross-referenced the Bible to the Catechism as a commentary.
Wow! I found out my impression was on target because the Catechism and really these passages point to the same thing. Namely, that since we have been incorporated by our faith and baptism into the Church, Christ’s Body, God’s family, our mission is the same as our Head, Jesus. And so the Isaiah passage really applies to us and the Psalm really apply to us as well because we are part of His body.
So here is the Reading 1 and read it applying it to yourself.
“The LORD said to me: You are my servant, Israel, through whom I show my glory. Now the LORD has spoken who formed me as his servant from the womb, that Jacob may be brought back to him and Israel gathered to him; and I am made glorious in the sight of the LORD, and my God is now my strength! It is too little, the LORD says, for you to be my servant, to raise up the tribes of Jacob, and restore the survivors of Israel; I will make you a light to the nations, that my salvation may reach to the ends of the earth.”
Are you skeptical? Does it seem too awesome to be true?
Here are some of the paragraph cross-references to the Catechism in the Didache Bible for this passage.
713 The Messiah’s characteristics are revealed above all in the “Servant songs.” These songs proclaim the meaning of Jesus’ Passion and show how he will pour out the Holy Spirit to give life to the many: not as an outsider, but by embracing our “form as slave.” Taking our death upon himself, he can communicate to us his own Spirit of life.
868 The Church is catholic: she proclaims the fullness of the faith. She bears in herself and administers the totality of the means of salvation. She is sent out to all peoples. She speaks to all men. She encompasses all times. She is “missionary of her very nature” (AG 2).
Now here’s the Psalm.
2824 In Christ, and through his human will, the will of the Father has been perfectly fulfilled once for all. Jesus said on entering into this world: “Lo, I have come to do your will, O God.” Only Jesus can say: “I always do what is pleasing to him.” In the prayer of his agony, he consents totally to this will: “not my will, but yours be done.” For this reason Jesus “gave himself for our sins to deliver us from the present evil age, according to the will of our God and Father.” “And by that will we have been sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all.”
And now the 2nd reading.
Paul, called to be an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God, and Sosthenes our brother, to the church of God that is in Corinth, to you who have been sanctified in Christ Jesus, called to be holy, with all those everywhere who call upon the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, their Lord and ours. Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.
And some of the Catechism references.
823 “The Church . . . is held, as a matter of faith, to be unfailingly holy. This is because Christ, the Son of God, who with the Father and the Spirit is hailed as ‘alone holy,’ loved the Church as his Bride, giving himself up for her so as to sanctify her; he joined her to himself as his body and endowed her with the gift of the Holy Spirit for the glory of God.” The Church, then, is “the holy People of God,” and her members are called “saints.”
867 The Church is holy: the Most Holy God is her author; Christ, her bridegroom, gave himself up to make her holy; the Spirit of holiness gives her life. Since she still includes sinners, she is “the sinless one made up of sinners.” Her holiness shines in the saints; in Mary she is already all-holy.
1695 “Justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and in the Spirit of our God,” “sanctified . . . [and] called to be saints,” Christians have become the temple of the Holy Spirit. This “Spirit of the Son” teaches them to pray to the Father and, having become their life, prompts them to act so as to bear “the fruit of the Spirit” by charity in action. Healing the wounds of sin, the Holy Spirit renews us interiorly through a spiritual transformation. He enlightens and strengthens us to live as “children of light” through “all that is good and right and true.”
And all these passages and reference tie into the Alleluia and the Gospel.
So I guess God really does have a purpose and a mission for me and for you. We are not unimportant. We are His servants, His body, His children and we are called to be holy, to grow into being His children and to be lights to a dark world.
Prayerfully ponder these things
Psalm: Psalm 40:2, 4, 7-8, 8-9, 10
Second Reading: 1 Corinthians 1:1-3
Gospel: John 1:29-34
The readings for this second Sunday in Ordinary Time all have to do with our calling and our incorporation into Christ Jesus, our Lord. When I first looked at the passages in preparation for writing the Bible study for this week, I was kind of in the “check” mode. The Reading 1 from Isaiah 49, part of the Servant Song in Isaiah, prophecy about Jesus the Servant, CHECK. The Responsorial Psalm 40, another prophecy about Jesus as the one who has come to do God the Father’s will, gladly, willingly from the heart, CHECK. Reading 2, the introductory paragraph to the Apostle Paul’s first letter to the Corinthians, hmmm, okay, not as meaty as the other passages and I am not sure how it relates but, hey, I’ll figure it out later, I do see we are called to be holy, that has possibilities, CHECK. The Alleluia, “The Word of God became flesh and dwelt among us, to those who accepted him, he gave power to become children of God.” Interesting, CHECK. The Gospel, John the Baptist testifying that Jesus is the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world, the preexistent one upon whom the Spirit descended upon and remained, the one who will baptize with the Holy Spirit. Now this is starting to get exciting. CHECK.
Fast forward to the middle of the week, to the middle of the night, I have kind of been going through a time of mild depression, wondering whether I matter and whether what I do matters. So I am lying awake and I decide to take a look at the readings again, to begin piecing them together into this week’s study. So I grab my smart phone and go to the USCCB website and tap this coming Sunday on their readings calendar. The readings pop up and my eyes alight on the first phrase in the Isaiah passage and I read, “The Lord said to me: You are my servant…”. And I got the distinct impression the Lord was talking to me, applying this passage to me. And I thought I better check this out and see what the Church has to say about this, I don’t want to become heretical or anything but that impression also seems to line up this Sunday’s passages into a unified whole.
And I thought to myself, how am I going to check this out against the teachings of the Church? Do I have to sift through the writings of the early church fathers? I know I’ll use that Barnes & Noble gift card that I got for Christmas to buy the Nook version of the Didache Bible where writers like Peter Kreeft and Scott Hahn cross-referenced the Bible to the Catechism as a commentary.
Wow! I found out my impression was on target because the Catechism and really these passages point to the same thing. Namely, that since we have been incorporated by our faith and baptism into the Church, Christ’s Body, God’s family, our mission is the same as our Head, Jesus. And so the Isaiah passage really applies to us and the Psalm really apply to us as well because we are part of His body.
So here is the Reading 1 and read it applying it to yourself.
“The LORD said to me: You are my servant, Israel, through whom I show my glory. Now the LORD has spoken who formed me as his servant from the womb, that Jacob may be brought back to him and Israel gathered to him; and I am made glorious in the sight of the LORD, and my God is now my strength! It is too little, the LORD says, for you to be my servant, to raise up the tribes of Jacob, and restore the survivors of Israel; I will make you a light to the nations, that my salvation may reach to the ends of the earth.”
Are you skeptical? Does it seem too awesome to be true?
Here are some of the paragraph cross-references to the Catechism in the Didache Bible for this passage.
713 The Messiah’s characteristics are revealed above all in the “Servant songs.” These songs proclaim the meaning of Jesus’ Passion and show how he will pour out the Holy Spirit to give life to the many: not as an outsider, but by embracing our “form as slave.” Taking our death upon himself, he can communicate to us his own Spirit of life.
868 The Church is catholic: she proclaims the fullness of the faith. She bears in herself and administers the totality of the means of salvation. She is sent out to all peoples. She speaks to all men. She encompasses all times. She is “missionary of her very nature” (AG 2).
Now here’s the Psalm.
- (8a and 9a) Here am I, Lord; I come to do your will. I have waited, waited for the LORD, and he stooped toward me and heard my cry. And he put a new song into my mouth, a hymn to our God. R. Here am I, Lord; I come to do your will. Sacrifice or offering you wished not, but ears open to obedience you gave me. Holocausts or sin-offerings you sought not; then said I, “Behold I come.” R. Here I am, Lord; I come to do your will. “In the written scroll it is prescribed for me, to do your will, O my God, is my delight, and your law is within my heart!” R. Here am I, Lord; I come to do your will. I announced your justice in the vast assembly; I did not restrain my lips, as you, O LORD, know. R. Here am I, Lord; I come to do your will.
2824 In Christ, and through his human will, the will of the Father has been perfectly fulfilled once for all. Jesus said on entering into this world: “Lo, I have come to do your will, O God.” Only Jesus can say: “I always do what is pleasing to him.” In the prayer of his agony, he consents totally to this will: “not my will, but yours be done.” For this reason Jesus “gave himself for our sins to deliver us from the present evil age, according to the will of our God and Father.” “And by that will we have been sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all.”
And now the 2nd reading.
Paul, called to be an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God, and Sosthenes our brother, to the church of God that is in Corinth, to you who have been sanctified in Christ Jesus, called to be holy, with all those everywhere who call upon the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, their Lord and ours. Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.
And some of the Catechism references.
823 “The Church . . . is held, as a matter of faith, to be unfailingly holy. This is because Christ, the Son of God, who with the Father and the Spirit is hailed as ‘alone holy,’ loved the Church as his Bride, giving himself up for her so as to sanctify her; he joined her to himself as his body and endowed her with the gift of the Holy Spirit for the glory of God.” The Church, then, is “the holy People of God,” and her members are called “saints.”
867 The Church is holy: the Most Holy God is her author; Christ, her bridegroom, gave himself up to make her holy; the Spirit of holiness gives her life. Since she still includes sinners, she is “the sinless one made up of sinners.” Her holiness shines in the saints; in Mary she is already all-holy.
1695 “Justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and in the Spirit of our God,” “sanctified . . . [and] called to be saints,” Christians have become the temple of the Holy Spirit. This “Spirit of the Son” teaches them to pray to the Father and, having become their life, prompts them to act so as to bear “the fruit of the Spirit” by charity in action. Healing the wounds of sin, the Holy Spirit renews us interiorly through a spiritual transformation. He enlightens and strengthens us to live as “children of light” through “all that is good and right and true.”
And all these passages and reference tie into the Alleluia and the Gospel.
- Alleluia, alleluia. The Word of God became flesh and dwelt among us. To those who accepted him, he gave power to become children of God. R. Alleluia, alleluia.
So I guess God really does have a purpose and a mission for me and for you. We are not unimportant. We are His servants, His body, His children and we are called to be holy, to grow into being His children and to be lights to a dark world.
Prayerfully ponder these things
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