Lenten Exercises #9 & #10
I hope to get back on schedule after another double helping tomorrow.
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Thursday of the First Week in Lent
Readings: http://www.usccb.org/nab/021408.shtml
The first line of the first reading sums the sentiment of the day up well: "Queen Esther, seized with mortal anguish, had recourse to the Lord." When there seems like there's nothing left, there's God. There's a sense in which this sentiment is misused. Either never depending on God for anything until something catastrophic happens - see the spike in church attendance after a personal disaster or a national disaster, such as 9-11-01 - or depending on God for everything and never developing your own God-given talents to work your way out of situations.
The point is that we can do a lot as humans, but we are not the be-all, end-all of things. We are powerful, but not all-powerful. We are wise, but not all-wise. We are capable of much, but not capable of everything. It's tempting to take either horn of the dilemma presented. If God's in control, I can switch it to cruise control. Never mind that God might be using YOU as his instrument. On the other hand, I can do everything and be stubbornly independent and attribute everything to my own doing. Then you get puffed up with a false sense of pride.
God is a source of strength and effective cause, through grace, of good works, whose providence is there to see for anyone willing to look for it. You'll be amazed, though, at how things went with Him behind you and when He was the goal of your pursuits. Esther feared for her life, going to King Ahaserus (sp?) but knew that she must do what she could for the sake of her people. She asked for the means necessary to fulfill the end as ordained by God. Note that she did not ask God to make all things right without her. He asked Him to work through her. "Help me, who am alone and have no help but you."
In the Gospel, Christ assures, "Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you." A blanket statement, yes, but not meant to say that God is the giver of gifts on a whim. God gives what is good - to us for us to use - to be the good for others. We can ask for a bushel basket of $100 bills, but we probably will not see such a basket falling from the sky anytime soon. Rather, while we are dependent on God, it is not like God is going to take control of our limbs and make us move as if we were guests in our own body. God does not rob us of our minds and whatever control we may seem to have over ourselves. But we cannot simply be our own bosses, living for ourselves, else, paradoxically, we will be unsatisfied.
Ask for, seek, and knock at the door of God. Be open to being agents of grace in a world in desperate need of it by following the law that all great prophets in the history of the world have offered: "Do to others whatever you would have them do to you."
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Friday of the First Week of Lent
Readings: http://www.usccb.org/nab/021508.shtml
Doing good really can be its own reward - at least in this life. It seems that throughout the Gospels - even in our reading from Ezra today - God gives no special favors to those who are righteous. We remember the parable of the one lost sheep - while the 99 are left. And who could forget the parable of the prodigal son? Our Gospel today speaks of a man with a debt with his brother, whose sacrifice is not acceptable until he has paid his debt. Those who claim to be righteous but fall away or have baggage have to let go - or else theirs is an even less worthy faith. God will not let you get a sense of entitlement.
Those who are righteous may have come to some settled rest in God - but may become restless from being in that rest. Sure, sin looks very attractive. There are the promises of earthly pleasures and gains. The life of virtue is not flashy and the gains are not even empirically verifiable. In fact, even though we might stand better odds on Pascal's Wager of living a virtuous life, on our deathbeds, we may well have a couple lingering doubts about not having indulged a bit more. Still, though, restlessness while at rest is something that is common to the human condition. We're creatures that want constantly to be on the move; it is hard to stay on something without diverting our attention or being tempted in some other way. It takes a lot of strength of will and effort - with little earthly reward from God sometimes.
Meanwhile, God is constantly on the lookout for those who have strayed. Look at the treatment of the wicked man who repents, as opposed to the righteous man who sins. What joy and peace and rest he has found! The key is, as I see it, that the man who has sinned has been humbled - no longer feels self-righteous in his own deeds - like he was before ... or even the self-proclaimed righteous people. Those who follow the law, have found rest, and are restless for a reward or who suddenly stray are guilty of some sin of pride should they call into account their clean record, so to speak. We must be humbled, like those whose lives were so distant from God, and who see and are reminded of their limitedness.
Again I will quote one of my favorite priests, Rev. Becket Soule, OP, who said in a homily, "The Gospel is like a two-edged sword that both comforts the afflicted and afflicts the comfortable." The message is clear, and in this Lenten season of prayerful practice, it would do us well, whichever category into which we fall, to follow the message of this day. To the proud, haughty sinners who indulge in the goods of this world almost exclusively: there is something so much more, there is something that can fill the infinite hole in your souls, be humbled and seek the highest good. For the righteous, well done and keep up the good work, but do not rest in the bed of your own self-righteousness - for that will be violently turned over. Now that you have found the narrow path, it does not get any broader. In fact, it gets narrower, so do not rely on yourself - keep looking to God and do not forget to still humbly pick up your cross and follow God.
+ + + + +
Thursday of the First Week in Lent
Readings: http://www.usccb.org/nab/021408.shtml
The first line of the first reading sums the sentiment of the day up well: "Queen Esther, seized with mortal anguish, had recourse to the Lord." When there seems like there's nothing left, there's God. There's a sense in which this sentiment is misused. Either never depending on God for anything until something catastrophic happens - see the spike in church attendance after a personal disaster or a national disaster, such as 9-11-01 - or depending on God for everything and never developing your own God-given talents to work your way out of situations.
The point is that we can do a lot as humans, but we are not the be-all, end-all of things. We are powerful, but not all-powerful. We are wise, but not all-wise. We are capable of much, but not capable of everything. It's tempting to take either horn of the dilemma presented. If God's in control, I can switch it to cruise control. Never mind that God might be using YOU as his instrument. On the other hand, I can do everything and be stubbornly independent and attribute everything to my own doing. Then you get puffed up with a false sense of pride.
God is a source of strength and effective cause, through grace, of good works, whose providence is there to see for anyone willing to look for it. You'll be amazed, though, at how things went with Him behind you and when He was the goal of your pursuits. Esther feared for her life, going to King Ahaserus (sp?) but knew that she must do what she could for the sake of her people. She asked for the means necessary to fulfill the end as ordained by God. Note that she did not ask God to make all things right without her. He asked Him to work through her. "Help me, who am alone and have no help but you."
In the Gospel, Christ assures, "Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you." A blanket statement, yes, but not meant to say that God is the giver of gifts on a whim. God gives what is good - to us for us to use - to be the good for others. We can ask for a bushel basket of $100 bills, but we probably will not see such a basket falling from the sky anytime soon. Rather, while we are dependent on God, it is not like God is going to take control of our limbs and make us move as if we were guests in our own body. God does not rob us of our minds and whatever control we may seem to have over ourselves. But we cannot simply be our own bosses, living for ourselves, else, paradoxically, we will be unsatisfied.
Ask for, seek, and knock at the door of God. Be open to being agents of grace in a world in desperate need of it by following the law that all great prophets in the history of the world have offered: "Do to others whatever you would have them do to you."
+ + + + +
Friday of the First Week of Lent
Readings: http://www.usccb.org/nab/021508.shtml
Doing good really can be its own reward - at least in this life. It seems that throughout the Gospels - even in our reading from Ezra today - God gives no special favors to those who are righteous. We remember the parable of the one lost sheep - while the 99 are left. And who could forget the parable of the prodigal son? Our Gospel today speaks of a man with a debt with his brother, whose sacrifice is not acceptable until he has paid his debt. Those who claim to be righteous but fall away or have baggage have to let go - or else theirs is an even less worthy faith. God will not let you get a sense of entitlement.
Those who are righteous may have come to some settled rest in God - but may become restless from being in that rest. Sure, sin looks very attractive. There are the promises of earthly pleasures and gains. The life of virtue is not flashy and the gains are not even empirically verifiable. In fact, even though we might stand better odds on Pascal's Wager of living a virtuous life, on our deathbeds, we may well have a couple lingering doubts about not having indulged a bit more. Still, though, restlessness while at rest is something that is common to the human condition. We're creatures that want constantly to be on the move; it is hard to stay on something without diverting our attention or being tempted in some other way. It takes a lot of strength of will and effort - with little earthly reward from God sometimes.
Meanwhile, God is constantly on the lookout for those who have strayed. Look at the treatment of the wicked man who repents, as opposed to the righteous man who sins. What joy and peace and rest he has found! The key is, as I see it, that the man who has sinned has been humbled - no longer feels self-righteous in his own deeds - like he was before ... or even the self-proclaimed righteous people. Those who follow the law, have found rest, and are restless for a reward or who suddenly stray are guilty of some sin of pride should they call into account their clean record, so to speak. We must be humbled, like those whose lives were so distant from God, and who see and are reminded of their limitedness.
Again I will quote one of my favorite priests, Rev. Becket Soule, OP, who said in a homily, "The Gospel is like a two-edged sword that both comforts the afflicted and afflicts the comfortable." The message is clear, and in this Lenten season of prayerful practice, it would do us well, whichever category into which we fall, to follow the message of this day. To the proud, haughty sinners who indulge in the goods of this world almost exclusively: there is something so much more, there is something that can fill the infinite hole in your souls, be humbled and seek the highest good. For the righteous, well done and keep up the good work, but do not rest in the bed of your own self-righteousness - for that will be violently turned over. Now that you have found the narrow path, it does not get any broader. In fact, it gets narrower, so do not rely on yourself - keep looking to God and do not forget to still humbly pick up your cross and follow God.