Friday First Week of Lent

Matthew 5: 20-26

Jesus is teaching us something about negotiating and meeting people at a point of compromise.  Pope Francis calls this "holy negotiation".

How different the world would be, how different our life would be if we learned how to release the "either or", "this or that" thinking and began to apply and use the little word "and".  Francis reminds us that we are not a church of this nature but we are a church of "and". 

 "My brother has offended me so I will get back at him" is unhealthy and damaging to the human family and takes us out of the "Divine dance", where we become unified with the Trinity.

Wars, divorce, murder, and violence of all sorts can result from not paying close attention to resolving issues before they become so tangled that the truth may be lost in emotion. 

Conflict resolution costs millions and perhaps even billions when we look at a military budget, and that budget takes money out of the mouths of starving people world wide.

Resolve our differences quickly lest we be put in the crucible.

Thursday First week of Lent

Matthew 7: 7-12 

"Do to others what you would have them do to you" 

It is difficult for some people to get this concept down, however, it is the way to Peace.  Feed the hungry, not just with food for the body, but, with food for the soul.  A smile or a good morning to a suffer soul is a blessing from God.  To minister to the sick while we, too, are ministered to is the Trinity at work. 

Being human is harder than it seems because we are asked to think and act in a counter cultural way.  We are asked to show mercy to the sinner, but, too often we slide into the cultural way of thinking and that is to join the group, to be a part of a bully squad, so we are not bullied.  We bully in silence. 

Today, show Love and Mercy in times when we would act otherwise.  That's what we are working on during Lent.  Transforming our mind and heart.  

Jesus tells us to "Ask" and it will be given.  Ask for His Love to fill us that we might fill others. 

Wednesday First Week of Lent

Luke 11: 29-32 

"Not those people" 

Today in the gospel we are reminded of our inclination to say "yes" to what we want and "no" to what is uncomfortable or against the culture. 

Jonah doesn't want to go to Nineveh because he thinks "Not those people" yet that is where God wanted him to go.   

We meet the Divine in the encounters we have each and every moment and "those people" are people that are loved by God, and indeed all people. 

How do we respond when we are asked by God to BE for the people of Nineveh of our time?  We are the people of Nineveh, we are Jonah. 

Being a better human requires a pro life attitude with all people.  The prisoner, the outcast and marginalized, the entire people God has gathered no matter what our ideas may include or exclude.   

Look for ways to be transformed by the sign we have been given!  Be inclusive! 

Tuesday First Week of Lent

Matthew 6: 7-15 

The prayer Jesus gave the apostles when they asked Him to teach them how to pray is what we know now as "The Lords' Prayer" or "The Our Father"   

Jesus lets them know if they don't forgive they will not be forgiven.  The reason I focus on this is because it is in this prayer that we are in communion with the Divine.  We are acting with the Will of God.  God desires that we all find His love and peace, and forgiving our actions and the actions of others unites us to each other in peace. 

It means that Jesus recognizes that the anger, guilt, shame, desire for retaliation or vengeance that can grow out of this non forgiving and hateful position leads us to a downward spiral and can ultimately end in violence and even death, our own death or death of another.  We start with Love and end with Love. 

Monday First Week of Lent

Matthew 25: 31-46   

"This is where the rubber meets the road."  "Actions speak louder than words" "The proof is in the pudding"  This gospel reading is at the heart of the Maria House Project and indeed the rule base for the Brothers of St. Dismas.  (which is an awesome life!!) 

It is the place we transform our mind and heart from the selfish to the selfless, we switch from an exclusive mindset to the inclusive, and we meet the Divine face to face.   

Take this gospel and LIVE IT!!  Practice being human and grow spiritually. When we look in the eyes of those we pass or meet, when we shake their hand, when we listen and speak to those on The Way, remember that we are where we are by the Grace of God and it is His will we are where we are. Our life becomes Gods' mission at work.  events are more than just "happenstance" or "luck", whether good or bad they are Gods' will and we have a role to play and that role is to surrender our will to His. 

Friday after Ash Wednesday

Matthew 9:14-15 

Fasting and abstinence from things during Lent is a time to reflect and in the gospel today Jesus is saying just that.  Enjoy what we have while we have it and recognize the presence of Christ among us.   

We can to that today.   

When we feel hunger we remember the offerings we made with injustices in our heart and the injustices in the world, and we ask to be purged from the behaviors that keep us from treating others with dignity, respect, and love. 

If I have smacked my finger with a hammer I am more inclined to be cautious when I use it again.  Fasting calls to mind the damage my sin does to the world, how it harms my relationship with those around me and the relationship I have with God. 

Being a human requires us to follow our mind around all day and ask honest, serious, and tough questions.  Why am I fasting?  What am I attempting to accomplish?   

Why am I giving?  Why am I?  

Am I a Righteous Person?

THURSDAY AFTER ASH WEDNESDAY 

Luke 9:22-25 

Jesus has a very different way of looking at things than did the people of His time, and indeed the people of all time. Jesus, in today's gospel, is indicating that He will die at the hands of the religious righteous.   

What are the crosses of my daily life?  Anger, frustration, desire to right all the time, etc.  and how will I take up that cross daily to follow the way of Christ?  

Am I a righteous religious person?