Most of us are familiar with concept of a matching gift. So, if I work for a certain company and donate to a certain cause, my employer may match my gift up to a certain amount; a matching gift.
And there is something of this evident in the Liturgy of Holy Thursday, which commemorates the institution of the Holy Eucharist and the Priesthood, but which couches it in the context of the mandatum novum, the “new commandment” of love and service, and signified by the foot washing.
These three things are distinguishable in our minds, but in reality they are so together as to be one. And we need to be careful not to separate them in our minds.
To illustrate this danger, consider how, within our minds, we are able to distinguish things that are, in reality, inseparable. For example, think of a candle flame and how, in your mind, you can distinguish the heat of the flame from the light of that flame. But in reality you could not take a knife and separate the heat from the light and put them in different places. In reality they are so together as to be one.
And this is how it is with our triple mystery this night. Though we can distinguish them, they are meant to be so together, as to be one. Without the priesthood there is no Holy Eucharist. And without love there would be neither priest nor Eucharist. And we are asked by the Lord and the to ponder all three tonight, but to remember that they are meant to be one reality.
The Lord gathers his first priests, institutes their priesthood, washes their feet and and gives them his Body and Blood. And then he says “Do this in remembrance of me.” Do what? Surely, celebrate the Eucharist. But the Lord also surely means that they are to wash the feet of others. For, in establishing their priesthood he says to them, I have given you a model to follow, so that as I have done for you, you also must do (Jn 13:15). Yes, it is all connected, the new law of love and service, the priesthood and the Eucharist.
Lets go a little deeper
St. Augustine says, reflecting on Proverbs 23:1 says, If you sit down to eat at the table of a ruler observe carefully what is set before you, then stretch out your hand, knowing that you must provide the same kind of meal yourself. (Tract in Iohannem 84:1-2)
And in this gloss on the proverb is a reminder to every priest and every soul who would approach the Eucharist: we must provide the same kind of meal, a matching gift.
It is true we cannot give all Christ gave and did, we have but five loaves and two fish. But the fact is we are called to provide the same kind of meal, a meal of love, of self sacrifice that is will to wash the feet of others.
In the Old Testament priesthood, the priest and victim were distinct. Perhaps the priest offered a lamb, or turtle doves of a bull. But the victim was distinct from him.
But in the New Testament priesthood, the priesthood of Jesus Christ, the priest and victim are one and the same. Jesus offered himself as the sacrifice.
And every priest who would gather with Jesus our king and ruler ought, as St Augustine says, observe carefully what is set before him, realizing that he must provide the same meal, a matching gift.
Thus, when the priest who stands at the altar says, “This is my Body” the first meaning is that it is Jesus Christ who is speaking these words through the priest.
But it must also be somehow true that the Priest, as a man, is also saying to his people, this is my body. He must be willing to way to them, without simulation, I, your priest also give you my very self in sacrificial love and service. I will wash your feet. I am willing to die for you if necessary. I will spend myself in your service. My body, my life, is yours.
Yes, the priest must be willing to provide the same meal as the Lord, a matching gift. The priest and the victim are one and the same. And thus, the priesthood, Eucharist and the mandatum novum of love and service are ultimately one reality.
And what is true for the priest is also true for the faithful. For to approach the altar of the Lord, to partake of this sacred and sacrificial meal is to incur the same admonition that one must provide the same meal, a matching gift. the faithful who hear the words, this is my body, comes the ultimate obligation to say to another, this is my body, here is my life for you, i will wash your feet. Same meal, matching gift.
There are some who have, in recent years wished to downplay the mandatum, the foot washing at Holy Thursday mass. To some extent this is understandable, given all the shenanigans of the past decades. The rite ought to be done but can be omitted for pastoral reason.
But theologically, there can be no downplaying the mandatum. For those who would wish to downplay what the washing of the feet signifies: Sorry, no can do. The Eucharist, and the command to wash one another s feet cannot be separated in reality. They are so together as to be one. An unloving priest or communicant is a countersign. Every priest and communicant who stretches out their hand to the Lord and his Eucharist, must provide the same meal, a matching gift.
Pope Francis gave elevated importance to the foot washing this year in going to a prison. And while it does not follow that every priest should relocate the Holy Thursday Mass outside the parish, it is a though Pope Francis is saying to those who would minimize the foot washing: Don’t do that. For the mandatum novum it signifies is so one with the priesthood and the Eucharist as to be one reality.
The three mysteries we preach tonight are really one mystery of love. And we who would partake of the Eucharist, or be its celebrants, must never forget that we must provide the same meal, the matching gift.
The Passion which we read in today’s liturgy is too long to comment on in detail. We are only able to take a portion and examine it.
The usual villains such as the Temple leaders, Judas, and the recruited crowd, which shouted “Crucify him!” are fairly obvious in displaying their sinfulness and are unambiguously wicked.
But there are others who participate in the Passion accounts whose sinfulness, struggles and neglect are more subtle, but still real and contribute significantly to the Lord’s sufferings on Good Friday. It is, perhaps, in these figures that we can learn a great deal about ourselves. For while we may not overtly shout “crucify,” we are often not as holy and heroic as the persecutors were wicked and bold.
As these behaviors are noted, we must understand that WE do these things. For the Passion accounts are not merely portraits of people long gone, they are portraits of you and me. We do these things.
So, lets look at sins and weaknesses of Jesus followers (us) in three stages.
I. The Perception that is Partial – In the middle of the Last Supper, in today’s Gospel the disciples of Jesus are reminded of what the next days will hold. Jesus says,
I have eagerly desired to eat this Passover with you before I suffer, for, I tell you, I shall not eat it again until there is fulfillment in the Kingdom of God…for the Son of Man indeed goes as it has been determined; but woe to that man by whom he is betrayed…..It is you who have stood by me in my trials;
and I confer a kingdom on you, just as my Father has conferred one on me, that you may eat and drink at my table in my kingdom; and you will sit on thrones judging the twelve tribes of Israel.
But note that the apostles are reminded of these facts of Jesus coming sufferings in the context of future glory. Yes, He will suffer, but so as to usher in a Kingdom. Jesus does not merely preach the Cross, he preaches the glory that comes from this cross. He does it here, and he has said this to them before on a few occasions. For example:
From that time on Jesus began to explain to his disciples that he must go to Jerusalem and suffer many things at the hands of the elders, chief priests and teachers of the law, and that he must be killed and on the third day be raised to life. (Matt 16:21)
When they came together in Galilee, he said to them, “The Son of Man is going to be betrayed into the hands of men.They will kill him, and on the third day he will be raised to life.” And the disciples were filled with grief. (Matt 17:22-23)
We are going up to Jerusalem, and the Son of Man will be betrayed to the chief priests and the teachers of the law. They will condemn him to death and will turn him over to the Gentiles to be mocked and flogged and crucified. On the third day he will be raised to life!” (Matt 20:19)
Thus we see that the Lord has consistently tried to teach and prepare them for the difficulties ahead. He has told them exactly what is going to happen, AND, how it will end: NOT in death, but rising to new life, not in defeat but the ushering in of a new Kingdom, of light over and against the kingdom of darkness.
But though he has told them over and over, they still do not understand or see. They will be overwhelmed by the cross and all of the (except John) will flee.
Why? For their perception is partial and they will see only the negative, and forget that he has promised to rise. Since they cannot see beyond the apparent defeat of the moment they will retreat into fear and not boldly and confidently accompany him to his passion and glorification (for his passion IS is lifting up, his glorification). Instead they will flee. He has shown the “what the end shall be.” But they cannot see or accept it. Thus fear overwhelms them and draw back into a sinful fear and disassociation from Jesus.
Only a few, Mary his Mother, John, Magdalene, and a few other women would see him through to the end.
We too can easily suffer from a perception that is partial. For the Lord has often told us, that if we trust, our struggles will end in glory and new life. But, blind and forgetful, we give way to our fears and fail to boldly walk the way of Christ’s passion. We draw back and disassociate ourselves from Jesus and exhibit some of the same tendencies and problems we will now observe in the people of that day.
So lets examine some of the problems that emerge from the partial perception and forgetful fear of many of the disciples and others.
II. The Problems Presented – The problems that emerge are at least five. They are unhealthy and sinful patterns that emerge from the fear generated in not trusting Jesus vision and refusing to see it. We can consider them one by one. Please understand that the word “we” used here is shorthand and does not mean that every single person does this. Rather, it means that, collectively, we have these tendencies. But no need to take everything here personally.
A. DUPLICITY – In today’s overall liturgy there is a kind of whiplash, for we begin by the shout “Hosanna!” And within minutes, we then shout “Crucify Him.” And in this we see both our inconsistency and even outright duplicity. The book of James says, From the same mouth come blessing and cursing. My brothers, these things ought not to be so. (James 3:10) But it often is so and thus we see first, our duplicity.
B. DEBATES and DISTRACTIONS – The scene of the Last Supper is as disgraceful as it is sad. Jesus has just announced that he will be betrayed. And rather than focus on the common enemy and threat, the apostles get into a debate among themselves about who is the greatest. In the midst of this debate Judas is able to slip away.
We too often permit our common enemy, Satan, to go untouched, while we debate and posture and among ourselves. We don’t even lay a glove on him since we are too busy fighting each other. We squabble over power, prestige and possessions.
Within the Church we argue over liturgy, vestments and styles of music, who has power or prominence, who is in what wing of the Church etc. We spend endless energy arguing over the significance of the Pope wearing red shoes and ermine or not, and Judas (Satan) goes about unhindered. Meanwhile we have lost the culture. Satan has shredded our families, schools, and other key institutions. He slips away unharmed. And we argue over polyester vestments.
Our distractions and debates gravely harm our capacity to focus on pushing back the kingdom of darkness. In John’s account as Judas slips away, John writes simply, “It was night.”
And so it is night in our culture. And it has become so very dark on our watch, as we are distracted by endless debates about things that are secondary. Satan s lips away into the darkening night of our culture and great harm has come while we debate on. We are endlessly distracted while our enemy goes forth unhindered.
C. DROWSINES– One of the common human techniques for dealing with stress and the hardships of life is to just go numb and drowsy. We can just doze off into a moral sleep.
Being vigilant to threats posed to our souls by sin, or the harm caused by injustice, (whether to ourselves or others) is just too stressful. So we just tune out. We stop noting or really even caring about critically important matters.
We anesthetize ourselves with things like creature comforts, meaningless distractions, alcohol or drugs. We go into a kind of moral sleep and we begin to lack a prayerful vigilance. Prayer and spirituality pose too many uncomfortable questions.
So we just tune out and daydream about meaningless things like what a certain Hollywood star is doing, or what the latest sports stats are.
In the passion accounts, Peter, James and John are personally asked by the Lord to pray with him. But they doze. Perhaps it is the wine. Surely it is the flesh (for the Lord speaks of it). But unwilling or unable to deal with the stress the Lord is clearly under, they just tune out, go numb, and doze off.
Grave evil is at the very door. But they sleep on. The Lord warns them to stay awake, lest they give way to temptation. But still they sleep. Someone they know and love is in grave danger, but it is too much, so they just tune out, much as we tune out at the overwhelming suffering of Christ in the poor and needy. We just stop noticing. It’s too painful, so we tune out.
The Lord had often warned them to be vigilant, sober and alert (Mk 13:34, Matt 25:13, Mk 13:37; Matt 24:42; Luke 21:36, inter al). Other scriptures would later pick up the theme (Romans 13:11; 1 Peter 5:8; 1 Thess 5:6, inter al). For drowsiness is a significant and serious spiritual problem.
Sadly God described us well when he remarked to Isaiah: Israel’s watchmen are blind, they all lack knowledge; they are all mute dogs, they cannot bark; they lie around and dream, they love to sleep. (Is 56:10)
But, despite the sleepiness of the disciples, the wicked are still awake, and the threat does not go away by a drowsy inattentiveness to it. Thus we ought to be confident and sober. Life’s challenges are nothing to fear, for the Lord has told us we have already won, if we trust him. But the disciples have forgotten Jesus promise to rise after three days. And so, often, have we. So they, and we just give way to stress and tune out.
D. DISASSOCIATING– Peter, confronted with the fearful prospect of being condemned with Jesus denies that he knows him or is one of his followers. He disassociates himself from Christ.
We too, confronted with the possibility of far lesser things like ridicule, will often deny a connection with the Lord or with the Church. Someone might say of one of the more controversial passages of scripture (such as prohibitions on divorce, fornication, homosexual activity, commands to tithe, etc), “Oh, you don’t really believe that, do you?” And it’s too easy to give way to fear and either say “no” or to qualify our belief. Why suffer ridicule, endure further questioning, or experience the unpleasantry of debate?
So we just disassociate, compromise, or qualify our faith to avoid the stress. We even congratulate ourselves for being tolerant, etc. when we do it.
Jesus says, If anyone is ashamed of me and my words in this adulterous and sinful generation, the Son of Man will be ashamed of him when he comes in his Father’s glory with the holy angels. (Mat 16:21).
But too easily we ARE ashamed. And so, like Peter, we engage in some form of denial. Peter was afraid because he has forgotten to “see what the end shall be.” He has forgotten that Jesus will rise after three days. So too do we often forget that. So we lack confidence and give way to fear, and we deny, so as to avoid suffering with Jesus.
E. DODGING – Simply put, when Jesus is arrested, all the disciples except John split. They “get the heck out of Dodge.” They are nowhere to be found. One of them, (could it be Mark himself?) ran off naked.
After Jesus’ arrest, it is said that Peter, prior to his own denials had followed the Lord, “at a distance” (Mk 14:54) but as soon as trouble rose, he too scrammed.
And we too can run. Sometimes it’s persecutions from the world. But sometimes its just our own self-generated fear that following the Lord is too hard, and involves too many sacrifices we are just not willing to make. Maybe it will endanger our money since the Lord insists that we tithe and be generous to the poor. Maybe it will endanger our playboy lifestyle since the Lord insists on chastity and respect. Maybe we are doing something we have no business doing, that is unjust, excessive or sinful. But, rather than face our fears, whether from within or without, we just high-tail it out.
The disciples forgot that Jesus has shown them what the end shall be. In three days he would win the victory. But, this forgotten, their fears emerged and they ran. We too, must see what the end shall be to resist and confront our many fears.
F. DEFLECTING – Now in this case our example is Pontius Pilate, not one of the disciples. But the fact is that Pilate was summoned to faith, just like anyone else. “Are you a King?” he asked Jesus. And Jesus responds by putting Pilate on trial: “You say so.” In other words, “It is you who have said these words. Do you think they are true?”
The fact is, Pilate has a choice to make. Either he will accept what Jesus is saying as true, or he will give way to fear and commit a terrible sin of injustice.
In order to avoid making a stance Pilate sends Jesus to Herod. But Herod deflects as well. Now the texts all make it clear that Pilate knew Jesus was innocent. But, because he feared the crowds he handed Jesus over.
Now, note PILATE did this. The crowds tempted him through fear, but HE did the condemning. The text says, The verdict of Pilate was that the demand of the crowd should be granted. Matthew’s account has him say, I am innocent of this man’s blood,” he said. “It is your responsibility!” (Mat 16:21).
Well, actually Pilate, it is also YOUR responsibility. You had a choice and you made. Your own career and hide were more important that justice. And, though you wanted to do what was right and were sympathetic with Jesus, merely wanting to do what is right is not enough.
So too for us. We also will favor our career or hide over what is right. And in so doing we will often blame others for what we freely choose. “I am not responsible, my mother dropped me on my head when I was two” ….etc.
In effect we are often willing to say, “Look Jesus, I love you. You get my Sundays, and my tithe and, generally I obey you. But you have to understand, I have a career, I need to make money for my family. If I really stand up for what is right, I might not make it in this world. You understand, don’t you?…I know the company is doing some things that are unjust, I know the world needs a clearer witness from me….and I’ll do all that, after I retire. But for now…..well, you know. It’s really may boss whose to blame. It’s this old hell bound sin soaked world that’s to blame. Not me!” And we wash our hands and excuse our silence and inaction in the face of injustice and sin.
And all this is done in fear. We placate the crowd and give them what they want.
We forget what the end shall be and get focused on the fearful present. We lack the vision Jesus is trying to give us that in three days we will rise with him. But we stay blind to that and only see the threat of now.
III. The Path that is Prescribed – OK, by now you ought to know the path that is prescribed: See what the end shall be! In three days we rise! Why are we afraid? Jesus has already won the victory. It is true, we get there through the cross. But, never forget what the end shall be! Today we read the Gospel of Friday, but wait till Sunday morning! I’ll rise!
We end where we began with this gospel: and I confer a kingdom on you, just as my Father has conferred one on me, that you may eat and drink at my table in my kingdom; and you will sit on thrones judging the twelve tribes of Israel.
Yes, after he has been raised, Jesus will go before us into Galilee. And for us, Galilee is heaven. Whatever our sorrows, if we are faithful we will see Jesus in the Galilee of heaven. Never forget this vision. After three days we will rise with him and be reunited in Galilee. One day we will reign with him, if we hold out and journey to Galilee.
So take courage, see what the end shall be! The end for those who are faithful is total victory. We don’t need to drowse, destroy, deny, dodge and deflect. We’ve already won. All we need to do is hold out.
An old Gospel songs says, I promised the Lord that I would hold out! He said he’s meet me in Galilee! So hold out, Galilee is not far, in three days we rise with him.
The Gospel for today’s Mass is the well known Gospel of the woman caught in adultery. In this Gospel the Lord reasons with the men of his day (and with us) that the severe justice they want to render to this woman may be an unwise stance as they themselves prepare for their own judgment.
Before we look any further at the details of this Gospel consider with me a few background texts that may help us to grasp better what Jesus is teaching. After each verse I will give a brief commentary in red.
Blessed are the merciful, for they will be shown mercy. (Matt 5:7) Notice here that it is the merciful who will obtain mercy. It is those who have shown proper mercy that will be granted mercy on the Day of judgment. By implication, the severe and those who lack mercy will be judged severely by the Lord.
Do not condemn, and you will not be condemned. Forgive, and you will be forgiven. Give, and it will be given to you. A good measure, pressed down, shaken together and running over, will be poured into your lap. For with the measure you use, it will be measured to you.” (Luke 6:37-38) Here the text clearly states that if you or I use a severe standard of judgment or mercy or almsgiving, that same severe standard will be used by the Lord when he judges us. On the other hand if we are forgiving, merciful and generous then we can expect a merciful, generous and kind judgment from God.
Speak and act as those who are going to be judged under the law of freedom, for judgment without mercy will be shown to anyone who has not been merciful. Mercy triumphs over judgment! (James 2:12-13) Here too James warns us by reminding us first of all, that we are going to be judged by the Lord. Secondly, since we are free we are therefore responsible for what we do. Thirdly, since we are going to face this judgment in which we cannot pass off blame to others for what we have freely done we’d better realize that our judgment will be without mercy if we have not shown mercy. Ah but if we have shown mercy we stand a chance for mercy will triumph over strict judgment.
For if you forgive men when they sin against you, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. But if you do not forgive men their sins, your Father will not forgive your sins (Mat 6:14-15) This warning seems clear enough that if we want to find forgiveness on the day of judgment we had better seek the grace to forgive others.
All of these texts seem to teach a bold truth that we are actually able to influence the standard that the Lord will use on the day of our judgment. The measure we use for others will be measured back to us. If we have been merciful we will find mercy. But if we have been harsh, unbending, and unmerciful, the Lord will use a far stricter standard by which to judge us.
We need to be sober about this. We are storing up things for the day of judgment by the way we treat others. Since we are all going to need boatloads of mercy and cannot endure strict standards of judgment, we ought well consider the need to be merciful and forgiving to others. Now on to the Gospel.
I. COLLABORATORS IN CONDEMNATION– The teachers of the law and the Pharisees bring a woman caught in the very act of adultery. It is clear she is guilty of this offense. (However a curiosity exists. She was caught in the very act, so the man involved is also surely known. Where is he and why has he not be brought forward? The Law of Moses also indicates that the man should be stoned).
Now the accusers want to throw the book at her. They want the most strict punishment meted out. They want her stoned. They also hope to discredit Jesus and think they have a no-win scenario for him.
In their accusatory stance, they have become collaborators with Satan. For Scripture describes Satan in this way: the accuser of our brethren has been thrown down, who accuses them day and night before our God (Rev 12:10). And thus, these Pharisees, in seeking to hand her over join Satan.
Emotionally, when we have been hurt in some way, many of us may wish to both accuse and demand punishment of the person before God. But such accusation is both unnecessary and unwise.
It is unnecessary because Satan is already accusing them “day and night” before God. It is also unnecessary because God sees and knows all things.
It is unwise for the reason we have already seen, for by demands for harsh punishment we set ourselves up to judged by the same standard. Cries for the grace and the conversion of sinners is always a better policy.
II. COUNTING THE COST – Jesus, who as God knows all their sins, must be amazed. Surely they cannot be serious in demanding this if they consider the day of their own judgment?!
He bends down and traces his finger on the ground almost as though his finger was tracing back and forth as he read a book of their own deeds. Some think perhaps he is writing their sins. Some think he is just “doodling” on the ground as a visual way of ignoring these men. Some recall that the finger of God that traced the Commandments on Stone. Still others recall the mysterious hand in the Book of Daniel who traces on the wall MENE, TEKEL, PERES announcing doom to the Babylonian King.
Whatever the case, it isn’t good. Don’t ever get Jesus writing stuff down about you!
But these Pharisees are slow to appreciate the significance. So Jesus tries to reason with them and says, “Let him among you who is without sin cast the first stone!” Then he bends down again and continues tracing or writing on the ground.
It is almost as though Jesus were saying to them (and to us):
Reason with me men, if you demand strict justice, if you insist that I throw “the book” at her, let’s first look and see what there is about you in “the book.” If she is to be judged strictly and without mercy, then you too will face the same standard you demand for her.
Gentlemen, there are things in the book about you, serious things. Have you counted the cost of condemning this woman? Are you sure you want to go on demanding that I throw the book at her?
Think about it men. Think very carefully about it….
One by one they go away. starting with the oldest who are presumably less rash than the younger, and may have more sins!
So the message for us is clear. We will face judgment. We need to be sober about this fact, we need to count the cost of our being unmerciful, unforgiving and vengeful. The measure that we use for others with be the measure God uses for us.
What kind of judgment are you preparing for yourself? Condemnation comes at a high cost. Are you willing to store up wrath and strict justice for the day of your judgment in this regard?
On the other hand, gentleness, compassionate correction, and merciful love will also be reckoned to us if we show it to others. Do the math, remember judgment. Or do you reckon more like the wise man who knows he will need grace and mercy on that day, and cannot meet a strict adjudication of his crimes.
III. CORRECTING WITH COMPASSION – The departure of the accusers leaves Jesus alone with the woman. And Jesus though gentle is clear. He says, Woman, where are they? Has no one condemned you?” She replied, “No one, sir.” Then Jesus said, “Neither do I condemn you. Go, and from now on do not sin any more.
This Gospel therefore does not make light of sin. Jesus knows well what she has done, and so does she. Jesus is clear that she must turn away from sin, not commit it anymore. What Jesus does set aside is the condemning “hang-em-high” mentality that seeks the harshest measures for every situation.
It remains true that we must sometimes correct sinners and meet out punishment. Yes, punishment is sometimes necessary, and at times it even falls to us to perform it. Perhaps we are a parent, a juror, or someone in a supervisory role.
But before we rush to the most extreme measures, we do well to show mercy and use lesser measures first.
St. Paul has good advice:Brothers, if someone is caught in a sin, you who are spiritual should gently set him right. But watch yourself, or you also may be tempted (Gal 6:1)
Gentle and clear correction is the best course, more significant punishments should be a later recourse. We must be careful not to be tempted to harshness, anger, lack of mercy and lack of love.
OK, you get the point: Count the Cost. Be VERY careful to remember that the measure you measure to others will be measured to you. Blessed are the merciful for they shall obtain mercy.
Here’s a guy who got what he gave to others:
— Gotta Go to Calvary: The Ground is level at the Cross:
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This is a Gospel about a man who had two sons. And both of these sons forsook their father and refused to relive in relationship with him. Although, in our mind, both sons are very different at the level of personality, one outwardly rebellious, and the other outwardly obedient, inwardly, they have a very similar struggle. In effect, neither one of them really wanted a relationship with the Father. Both, in fact, preferred what their father had, to having their Father. Both look more to what their Father could bestow, rather than to their father himself.
In the end, one son repents and finds his way to the heart of the father. Of the 2nd son, we are not so sure, for the story ends before that detail is supplied. Why does the story not end? It does not end, because the story is about you and me, and it is we who must finish the story. And the question we must answer is, What do I really want?….the consolations of God, or the God of all consolation? The gifts of God, or the giver of every good and perfect gift?
Let’s look at this gospel in four stages.
I. Renegade Son–Most of us are quite familiar with the story of the Prodigal Son. Indeed, most of us focus on the first and obviously sinful son, more than the second son. This is interesting, because it would seem that the Lord Jesus has his focus more on the second son. For, the parable is addressed to the scribes and Pharisees who see themselves as obedient. Nevertheless, lets observed three things about this renegade son, also known as the Prodigal Son.
A. Corruption–Here is an angry son, alienated from his father. He wishes to possess what his father has, but he wants nothing to do with his father. In effect he tells his father to drop dead. Yes, in effect he says, “Old man, you’re not dying fast enough. I want my inheritance now… I want to be done with you and cash in now what is coming to me.”
His astonishing effrontery is even more astonishing given where and when it happened. For, we live in times when reverence for parents and elders is tragically lacking. But if our times are extreme, those times in the ancient Middle East where the other extreme. In telling this parable as he does Jesus shocks his listeners who lived in a culture where no son would dream to speak to his father this way. Indeed a son could be killed by his father for such insolence! Even to this day, in many parts of the Middle East, so-called “honor killings” still exist. If a child brings dishonor to the family, it is not unheard of for the father to kill such a child. And while most governments forbid such practices, in many cultures people, while not preferring such extremes, will often look the other way, and governments will seldom prosecute such inter familial killing.
Thus, for Jesus to tell such a parable must have shocked his listeners. Here was a son who did something so bold and daring as to the unthinkable, as insolent as it was insensitive, ungrateful and wicked.
So hateful is this son that he will have to go to a distant land to live. For even if his father does not kill him, his neighbors would surely set upon him and have him stoned for such insolence.
In even more astonishing detail, the father gives him his inheritance and allows him to leave.
Here is Jesus’ description of the patience and mercy of the Father who endures even worse insolence from us, His often ungrateful children; we who demand his gifts, grasped in them with ingratitude, and want what God has, but do not want Him. More of the Father in a moment. But what we begin with the portrait the deep corruption of this renegade son.
B. Consequences–The text says that the renegade son sets off “to a distant country.” For it is always in a distant country that we dwell apart from God. And the consequences of his action are great indeed.
This parable does not make light of sin. The Lord Jesus describes well a man who chooses to live apart from God and in sinful rebellion. The result is that this renegade son lives in anguish and depravity. Once he runs out of money, he has no friends, no family, and no experience of his father.
So low is he, that ends up looking up to pigs! So awful is his state, that he becomes hungry for the disgusting mash that pigs eat. Yes, he is lower than an unclean animal, the most unclean animal that Jews can imagine, a swine.
Let us be clear, sin debases the human person, and if it’s effects are not averted, it orients us increasingly toward depravity. What was once unthinkable, too easily becomes common fair.
St. Augustine wrote of sin’s hold on individuals in the Confessions when he said, For of a forward will, was a lust made; and a lust served, became custom; and custom not resisted, became necessity. By which links, as it were, joined together (whence I called it a chain) a hard bondage held me enthralled. (Conf 8.5.10).
And here is what we find the renegade son locked and the consequences of his sinful choices: debased, debauched, and nearly dead.
C. Conversion–Almost miraculously the text says simply of him, “coming to his senses at last…” Too many, especially today, suffer a darkened intellect due to the debasement of their sin. And it would seem, the no matter how debased, confused, and even enslaved, many people become, they still do not come to their senses, for their senseless minds have become darkened (cf Romans 1:21).
But thanks be to God, the renegade son does come to his senses and he says, I shall arise and go to my father! In saying that he shall arise the Greek text uses the word anistemi, which is the same word used to describe the resurrection of Jesus. His father will later joyfully described him as having been dead, but having come back to life.
St. Paul reminds us, that we were dead in our sins, but God made us alive in Christ (cf Col 2:13). Thanks be to God for the mercy of God and for the conversion that he alone can effect in all of us, his renegade children, who ourselves have been debased, debauched and dead in our sins. The conversion of this renegade son, we pray, is also our conversion, our rising and going back to the Father.
II. Rejoicing Father–the astonishment in this parable is only just beginning, for Jesus goes on to describe a Father so merciful as to be shocking. He ascribes to the father in this parable things that no ancient father would ever do. And as he describes this ancient father, so filled with love and mercy that he casts aside personal dignity to bestow it, we must remember that Jesus is saying, “This is what my Father is like.”
As the parable unfolds we hear that the father sees the son,while he’s still a long way off. This tells us that he was looking for his son, praying for and hoping for his return.
From a human perspective, such mercy is rare, and the average earthly person who is hurt and has had their dignity scorned, is usually resentful and avoidant, saying “Never darken my door again!”
But how shockingly different this father is, lovingly and longingly waiting for the day when his son will appear on the horizon; looking for him day after day.
The text next tells us that, when he saw his son, he ran to meet him; something no ancient noblemen would ever do. For running was a sign of being in flight, or of being a slave on some errand. Further, in order to run, the ancients who wore long garments, had to bare their their legs. And this was considered, for nobility, a disgraceful thing. Only common workers and slaves would bare their legs in order to work.
Thus, here is the portrait of a father willing to debase himself in order to run and greet his returning son. When I take one step, God takes two; nay, he comes running!
The robe and the ring are signs of family belonging, or restoration. This is the full restoration of a young man who was willing to live as a mere slave in his Father’s house. But the Father will have none of it, “You are my son! And my Son you have always been, whatever your sins. They are forgotten. You are my beloved son!”
What kind of Father is this?! No earthly Father would behave this way. This is the Heavenly Father. Jesus is saying, this is what my Father is like!
III. Resentful Son–And now we look to the brother, the other son. His sins are more subtle. Outwardly he follows his father’s rules. He does not sin in overt ways. His sins are more hidden, his struggles more subtle.
Unlike his prodigal brother, it seems he has never openly rejected his father. But inwardly, as we shall see, he is not so different from his prodigal brother.
But like his prodigal brother, he wants his father’s goods, but not really his father. To understand the subtlety of his struggle, let’s look at some of the details of the story. Let us note the following fundamental issues with the resentful son:
1. Distant–It is interesting that the last one who seems to know the existence of the feast, and the reason for it is this reason is this second son. Here is the implicit picture of a son who is far away from his father, who was unaware of the happenings in his father’s life.
Off on some far-flung area of the property, one gets the sense that he is perhaps going about his duties, which he seems to fulfill. But there is also communicated to us a sense of distance.
Did this son not know that the father worried of his brother, and was looking for him each day? It seems not! But even the lowly slaves in the household are drawn into the preparations in celebration of this great feast at the return of the renegade son. It seems that he is the only one in the whole area who knows nothing of this party, and more importantly, of his father’s joy in the return of his brother.
Yes, the resentful son is distant, a thousand miles away from the heart of his father.
2. Disaffected–When this resentful son discovers the feast, and the reason for it, he is sullen, angry, and resentful. He is disaffected. He stays outside of the feast, and refuses to enter it.
So bitter is his resentment that the word reaches his father in the feast who will soon emerge to plead with him. Yes, here is a bitter angry and disaffected son.
But dear reader, do not spurn or scorn him, for too easily we are him. Too easily, do we die the death of a thousand cuts when some sinner finds mercy, so quickly are we envious when someone other than ourselves is blessed. Yes, so easily we die a thousand times over!
3. Disconsolate–the father emerges from the feast to plead with his son! Again, this is unheard of in the ancient world! Every ancient father would command his son to enter the feast and expect those commands to be immediately followed.
But this father is different, for he is the heavenly Father, a Father rooted in love more than prerogatives, and privileges. He has shown already his love for his renegade son. And now he demonstrates his love for his resentful son.
The fact is, he loves both his sons. Yes, he loves you, even as he loves me.
Tragically, the resentful son is unmoved by this love. He is disconsolate, he must be confronted in his resentful anger.
4. Disrespectful–And now we see the ugly side of the apparently obedient son. He does not really love or respect his father; neither does he really know him. He disrespects him to his face. He speaks of him as a slave master saying, “I have slaved for you… I have never disobeyed any one of your orders.
Orders?!?! I have slaved for you?? Where is his love for his father? He does not see himself as a son, but as an unwilling slave, one who follows orders, merely because he has to. In effect he calls his father, to his face, a slave master, a despot.
Further, he accuses him of injustice. Somehow, he sees the mercy for the renegade son as a lack of due mercy toward himself. He considers his father unreasonable, unjust, even despicable. How dare his father show mercy to someone that he, the “obedient” son, does not think deserves it!
Calling his father an unjust slave owner and taskmaster, he disrespects him to his face. But the father, as we shall see stays in the conversation, pleading with his son to reconsider.
5. Disordered.Among the son’s complaints is that his father never even gave him a kid go to celebrate with his friends. But pay very close attention here: the goal in life is not to celebrate with my friends, the goal in life is to celebrate with the heavenly Father.
Note how similar the resentful son is to the once renegade son. At one point, the renegade son saw his father only in terms of what his father could give him, his father was only valuable in terms of the “stuff” he could get from his father.
But for all his obedience, this second “obedient” son, this resentful son, has the same problem. He seems to value only what his father can give him. It is not his father he really loves, or knows. It is the inheritance, it is the “stuff” that really concerns him. It is not really his father he wants, or knows, or loves. It is only what his father can give him.
In this, the resentful son is disordered. He misses the whole point, which is not the things of the father, but the relationship with the father. This is the point, this is the goal in life, to live with it forever with the Father in a relationship of love.
Be very careful, before you condemn this resentful son. For, too easily he is us. It is so easy for us to want the good things of God, but not God himself. We want God’s blessings, his benefits, but not His beloved self. We want the gifts, but not the God who is the giver every good and perfect gift.
Yes, the disorder of this resentful son is too easily our disorder. There is something about our flesh that wants God to rain down blessings, but having received them, we want to run and keep our distance from any true relationship with God. For relationships are complicated and dynamic. Our flesh prefers trinkets, prefers to receive gifts on our own terms. Our flesh says give me the priceless pearls, but begone with the powerful person who gives them.
IV. Response. The Father, is outside pleading with his resentful son to enter the feast. And then, abruptly, Jesus ends the parable. Yes, the story ends! Does the resentful son enter the party or not?! Why is the story left unfinished?
Simply put, because you and I have to finish the story. For we are so easily the resentful son.
Right now, that heavenly Father is pleading with you and me to enter the feast. Too easily we can brood and say, we have our reasons for not wanting to go into the feast. After all, that renegade son is in there, and my enemy is in there. If heaven involves meeting our enemy and celebrating with him, too easily our flesh says, “I’ll have nothing to do with it!”
And here’s the great drama, will we enter the real heaven? For the real heaven is not merely a heaven of our own making, a heaven of our own parameters. Heaven is not a “members only” place.
Am I willing to enter on God’s terms? Or will I resentfully stand outside, demanding heaven is on my terms? Further, do I see heaven as being with the Father, or is heaven merely having the “stuff” I like?
The heart of heaven is to be with the Father, to be with the Trinity. The danger with so many, even the religiously observant, is to be the resentful son. Meanwhile, the Father is pleading, pleading for us to enter the feast, pleading for us to set aside our prejudices, and our notions of exclusivity.
To the resentful son who said, “this son of yours…,” the father says, “your brother,” yes, your brother was lost and is found, was dead, and has come back to life.”
The Father is pleading for us to enter the feast, not some made-up feast where we ourselves simply choose the attendees, but the real, and actual feast of heaven, where some surprising people may be in attendance.
Will you enter the feast? The Father is pleading!, Saying in effect, “come in, before it’s finally time to rise and closed the door.” How we’ll answer him what is your response.
This parable is unfinished, you must finish it, I must finish it. What is your response to the Father’s pleading? Answer him!
The Prodigal Son in the Key of F Major:
Feeling footloose and frisky, a feather-brained fellow forced his fond father to fork over the farthings and flew to foreign fields and frittered his fortune, feasting fabulously with faithless friends.
Fleeced by his fellows, fallen by fornication, and facing famine, he found himself a feed-flinger in a filthy farmyard. Fairly famishing, he fain would have filled his frame with foraged food from fodder fragments . “Fooey! My father’s flunkies fare finer,” the frazzled fugitive forlornly fumbled, frankly facing facts. Frustrated by failure and filled with foreboding, he fled forthwith to his family. Falling at his father’s feet, he forlornly fumbled, “Father, I’ve flunked and fruitlessly forfeited family favor!”
The farsighted father, forestalling further flinching, frantically flagged the flunkies to fetch a fatling from the flock and fix a feast.
The fugitive’s fault-finding brother frowned on fickle forgiveness of former folderol. But the faithful father figured, “Filial fidelity is fine, but the fugitive is found! What forbids fervent festivity? Let flags be unfurled. Let fanfares flare”
And the father’s forgiveness formed the foundation for the former fugitive’s future faith and fortitude.
There’s an old Johnny Cash song that is rooted in today’s Gospel, a song that says,
You can run on for a long time, But sooner or later God will cut you down. Go tell that long tongue liar, go and tell that midnight rider, tell the rambler, the gambler, the back-biter, tell em that God’s gonna cut em down, sooner or later God’ll cut em down.
Now of course these verses of the song go right to the end point of judgement. But there is more to the story, a story of offered mercy and patience, but in the end there is a judgment.
We live in times that are dismissive of judgment, or that the judgment will result in anything but instant entrance to glory.
Today’s gospel contains a kind of necessary balance that speaks of God’s patience and care now, but also speaks of the day of reckoning, the day of judgment that must finally come when our decision is final and also adjudicated by God, and there will be no turning back.
Let’s look at this Gospel in two main parts:
I. The Proclamation of the Problem – The Gospel opens with the following lines:
Some people told Jesus about the Galileans whose blood Pilate had mingled with the blood of their sacrifices. Jesus said to them in reply, “Do you think that because these Galileans suffered in this way they were greater sinners than all other Galileans? By no means! But I tell you, if you do not repent, you will all perish as they did! Or those eighteen people who were killed when the tower at Siloam fell on them — do you think they were more guilty than everyone else who lived in Jerusalem? By no means! But I tell you, if you do not repent, you will all perish as they did!”
In effect what Jesus is saying is that is so easy for us to focus on the sins of others and fail to discern our own need for repentance and mercy. Before God we are all beggars, all of us have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God (cf Romans 3:23). Every one of us is in need of boatloads of grace and mercy. And while we may rightly distinguish that there is a difference here on earth in the sanctity of a Mother Theresa and the wretchedness of Hitler, yet before God we are all far short of the glory and holiness of God. We are all beggars.
Sin surely does have its effects in the lives of others and we are not asked to be blind to that. There is important truth in learning from the example of others, and we can learn form good example as well as bad example. But the point is to learn! We miss the point if all we do is stand around when someone suffers the effects of sin and say, “My, my my, God don’t like ugly!” Well then, if that be the case, what about the ugly in us? What about our own sin?
And thus to our all-too-eager question, “What about them O Lord!?” Jesus replies, “What about you? Stay in your own lane and work on your issues and leave their final fate to me. Judgement and punishment don’t just come others, if you don’t watch out, they will come to you as well.” And just to make sure we get it the Lord adds: [And] I tell you, if you do not repent, you will all perish as they did!
In effect, the Lord tells us to get serious about our sin and what it can do to us. The most serious problem in life is not the manner of our death, or even that we physically die. The most serious problem we face is not Pilate, or any political misfortune; it is not falling towers or any physical threat; it is not financial setback, or suffering, or losing our job, or losing our possessions. The most serious problem we face is our sin.
Now we don’t think like this. We minimize the maximum and maximize the minimum. We get all worked up about lesser things, and often completely ignore greater things. We are forever worked up about passing things like health and money, and give little heed to the things of eternity and to getting ready to go and meet God. Let our physical health be threatened even for a moment and we are instantly on our knees begging God for deliverance. But let our sins pile up and sinful drives be eating at our very soul and we take little notice and have little care to be delivered from things that are far more serious than mere cancer.
The Lord says, If your right hand causes you to sin cut it off and throw it away. It is better to lose one of your members than to have your whole body cast into hell (Matt 5:30). Pay attention, the Lord is saying that it is more serious to sin than to lose my right hand.
Again, we don’t think like this. If I were to lose my right hand I would lament this day for the rest of my life. The very thought of losing my hand gives me stabbing grief. But then why don’t we think of our sin this way? See how obtuse we are? See how distorted our priorities are?
One day the Lord looked at a paralyzed man and decided to cure his most serious problem. And thus he said to the quadriplegic, Your sins are forgiven. Could his sins have been more serious than his paralysis? Yes!
And thus the Lord warns us that we ought to be more serious about our sins lest we perish, not merely losing our earthly life, but more so, our eternal life. . The very fact that the solution to our problem required the death of the Son of God, indicates that we are evidently in worse shape than we think and that without our repentance and the magnificent mercy of God, something far worse than having a tower fall on us, or our enemies kill us might happen. Elsewhere the Lord says: I tell you, my friends, do not be afraid of those who kill the body and after that can do no more. But I will show you whom you should fear: Fear him who, after the killing of the body, has power to throw you into hell. Yes, I tell you, fear him. (Lk 12:4-5). Now, to be sure, the Lord does not counsel here a cringing and avoidant fear, but a respectful fear that is willing to be serious about judgement day, and realize that its effect is eternal unlike the passing quality of any earthly encounter.
Having portrayed the problem and underscored its seriousness both here and in other places, the Lord them reminds us that he is willing to help us to get ready with his grace and mercy. And, hence, he sets forth a process in which we must cooperate, for the day of judgment will surely come. Lets look at the Process.
II. The Portrayal of the Process –And thus the Lord tells a parable that sets forth the process in which we are currently engaged, a process of patience and mercy but leading ultimately to the finality of judgment. Note the following steps:
1. ASSESSMENT –There was once a person who had a fig tree planted in his orchard and when he came in search of fruit on it and found none said to the gardener, “For three years now I have come in search of fruit on this tree and have found none. So cut it down. Why should it exhaust the soil?”
Faith is a fruit bearing tree. It is to bear the fruits of love, of justice, of the keeping of the commandments. Now the Lord looks for these fruits and often, through our conscience and by his Word, and He assesses if such fruits are present.
Many claim to have faith, many claim to be fruitful in what the Lord seeks. But, as owner of the field, it is He who sets the terms. We are not a judge in our own case. It is the Lord’s on-going work to assess our progress and and fruitfulness and it is he who has the right to determine if the necessary fruits are present.
Yet many today in this proud age claim the right to assess their own status, and many make bold proclamations that God would not “dare” find in them anything substantial to be lacking. And in presumption many declare themselves to be safe, fruitful and righteous.
But this is not for us to say. In the parable it is the owner, the Lord, who makes the assessment. And note that in this parable he proposes that something significant is lacking.
And yet, some interlocutor, here called the gardener, but let us call her the Church, asks mercy and time. And as we shall see such mercy and time is granted along with necessary supplies (grace) to help accomplish what is sought, namely the fruit of faith. And this leads us to stage two in the process.
2. ASSISTANCE –The text goes on to describe the prayers and requests of the gardener, in this case Mother Church: Sir leave it for this year also. I shall cultivate the ground around it and fertilize it. It may bear fruit in the future.
And thus we see that the Lord, the owner of the garden not only grants the request but will also be the one to supply the necessary helps to draw forth the fruits patiently awaited.
Indeed, the Lord sends us help and graces in so many ways:
He speaks in our conscience, has written his law in our hearts
He gave us the law
He sent us prophets
He punishes our wrong doings to bring us to repentance. Before I was afflicted I strayed. But now I have kept your word. (Ps 119:67) And again, But God disciplines us for our good, that we may share his holiness. For the moment all discipline seems painful rather than pleasant; later it yields the peaceful fruit of righteousness to those who have been trained by it. (Heb 12:10)
Sent us his Son!
Who established the Church
And gave us the grace and the Sacraments
And It was he who gave some to be apostles, some to be prophets, some to be evangelists, and some to be pastors and teachers, to prepare God’s people for works of service, so that the body of Christ may be built up until we all reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God and become mature, attaining to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ. [That we be] no longer be infants, tossed back and forth by the waves, and blown here and there by every wind of teaching and by the cunning and craftiness of men in their deceitful scheming. Instead, speaking the truth in love, in all things grow up into him who is the Head, that is, Christ. (Eph 4: 11-17)
Yes, see how much God has done for us! He has graced us in every way and entrusted to the Church, in answer to here pleas, every necessary grace to bear fruit. And now he patiently awaits. Looking to return again to seek the fruits that are necessary for those who claim to have saving faith, fruits that are necessary to be able to endure the day of his comings, fruits which are necessary that we have the holiness without which no one will see the Lord (Heb 12:14)! Indeed we cannot see or endure his presence without the fruit of holiness by his grace. For as Scripture says, Who may ascend the mountain of the Lord? Or Who may stand in his holy place?Only he who has clean hands and a pure heart (Ps 24:3-4). And only God can accomplish this. But he who made us without us will not save us without us, and thus we must, by his grace, renounce our sin and accept his grace.
3. ACCEPTANCE– The parable ends simply with this line: If not you can cut it down.
The word “acceptance” is chosen carefully here, for judgement is not so much God’s decision, but rather, is his acceptance of our decision to bear fruit or to refuse to bear fruit, to accept or refuse his offer of the bearing the fruits of faith such as chastity, mercy, forgiveness, reconciliation, love of the poor, appreciation of the truth and so forth.
The day of judgement amounts to the day when God accepts our final choice. Our judgment is not so much a passing of sentence on us but is rather the recognition of the final and absolute choice we have made.
Mysteriously it would seem that there comes a day when change for us is no longer possible. What we are remains fixed forever. Even as we get older we note how it is harder to change. We are like concrete that sets, and becomes ever harder. We are like pottery which begins moist and malleable but when subjected to the fire has a shape that is forever fixed.
And thus the Lord teaches us to be serious about sin and about the day of judgement. For now there is mercy and every grace available to us, thank you Jesus! But there comes a day when our decision is finally called, and forever fixed.
The Gospel today teaches beautifully of God’s patience, but ultimately of our need for mercy, (we are all beggars before God), and warns us that our decision will finally be called. Yes, there is a Day of Judgement and it closes in on us all.
Talking about how we sang “Kum bah ya” etc., will not suffice. St. Paul also warns in today’s second reading against presumption and of us trying to serve as a judge in our own case:
Our ancestors were all under the cloud and all passed through the sea, and all of them were baptized into Moses in the cloud and in the sea. All ate the same spiritual food, and all drank the same spiritual drink, for they drank from a spiritual rock that followed them, and the rock was the Christ. Yet God was not pleased with most of them, for they were struck down in the desert. These things happened as examples for us, so that we might not desire evil things, as they did. Do not grumble as some of them did, and suffered death by the destroyer. These things happened to them as an example, and they have been written down as a warning to us, upon whom the end of the ages has come. Therefore, whoever thinks he is standing secure should take care not to fall. (1 Cor 10:1:ff)
For now there is mercy! But there comes a day of ratification, of judgement, when the question is called and the lasting answer is supplied, not so much by God as by us.
Be careful, your flesh says, “No worries!” But the Lord says “Repent!”
This song by Johnny Cash rooted in the image from today’s parable warns:
You can run on for a long time Run on for a long time, run on for a long time Sooner or later God’ll cut you down
Well, you may throw your rock and hide your hand Workin’ in the dark against your fellow man But as sure as God made black and white What’s down in the dark will be brought to the light.
Go tell that long tongue liar, go and tell that midnight rider Tell the rambler, the gambler, the back biter Tell ’em that God’s gonna cut you down
The second Sunday of Lent always features the transfiguration. This is done in the first place because we are following the Lord on his final journey to Jerusalem and this journey up Mt Tabor was one of the stops Jesus himself made with Peter, James and John. It is commonly held that Jesus did this to prepare his apostles for the difficult days ahead. There’s a line from an old spiritual which says, Sometimes I up, sometimes I’m down, sometimes I’m almost on the ground…..but see what the end shall be. And this is what the Lord is doing here: he is showing us what the end shall be. There is a cross to get through, but there is glory on the other side.
There also seems a purpose in placing this account here in that it helps describe the pattern of the Christian life which is the paschal mystery. For we are always dying and rising with Christ in repeated cycles as we journey to an eternal Easter (cf 2 Cor4:10). This Gospel shows forth the pattern of the cross, in the climb, and rising, in the glory of the mountaintop. Then it is back down the mountain again, only to climb another mountain, (Golgotha) and through it find another glory (Easter Sunday). Here is the pattern of the Christian life: the paschal mystery. Let’s look a little closer at the Gospel in three stages.
I. The Purpose of Trials. The text says – Jesus took Peter, John, and James and went up the mountain to pray.. Now we often pass over this fact, that they had to climb that mountain. And the climb was no easy task. Any one who has been to the sight of Tabor knows what high mountain it is. The climb was almost 2000 feet, high and steep. It may have taken the better part of a day and probably had its dangers. Once at the top it is like looking from an airplane window out on the Jezreel Valley (a.k.a. Megiddo or Armageddon).
So here is a symbol of the cross and of struggle. A climb was up the rough side of the mountain: exhausting, difficult, testing their strength.
I have it on the best of authority that as they climbed they were singing gospel songs: I’m comin’ up on the rough side of the mountain, and I’m doin’ my best to carry on! Another songs says, My soul looks back and wonders how I got over! Yet another says, We are climbing Jacob’s ladder, every round goes higher, higher.
Now, this climb reminds us of our life. For often we have had to climb, to endure and have our strength tested. Perhaps it was the climb of getting a college degree. Perhaps it was the climb of raising children, or building a career. What do you have that you really value that did not come at the price of a climb….of effort and struggle?
And most of us know that, though the climb is difficult, there is glory at the top is we but endure and push through. Life’s difficulties are often the prelude to success and greater strength.
Though we might wish that life had no struggles, it would seem that the Lord intends the climb for us. For, the cross alone leads to true glory. Where would we be without some of the crosses in our life? Let’s ponder some of the Purposes of problems:
God uses problems to DIRECT us. Sometimes God must light a fire under you to get you moving. Problems often point us in a new directions and motivate us to change. Is God trying to get your attention? “Sometimes it takes a painful situation to make us change our ways,” Proverbs 20:30 says: Blows and wounds cleanse away evil, and beatings purge the inner most being. Another old gospel song speaks of the need of suffering to keep us focused on God: Now the way may not be too easy. But you never said it would be. Cause when our way gets a little too easy, you know we tend to stray from thee. Sad but true, God sometimes needs to use problems to direct our steps to him.
God uses problems to INSPECT us. People are like tea bags.. if you want to know what’s inside them, just drop them into hot water! Has God ever tested your faith with a
problem? What do problems reveal about you? Our problems have a way of helping to see what we’re really made of. I have discovered many strengths I never knew I had through trials and testings. There is a test in every testimony and trials have a way of purifying and strengthening our faith as well as inspecting our faith to see whether it is really genuine. 1 Peter 1:6 says, In this you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while you may have had to suffer grief in all kinds of trials. These trials are only to test your faith, to see whether or not it is strong and pure.
God uses problems to CORRECT us. Some lessons we learn only through pain and failure. It’s likely that as a child your parents told you not to touch a hot stove. But you probably learned by being burned. Sometimes we only learn the value of something health, money, a relationship by losing it. Scripture says in Psalm 119:71-72 It was good for me to be afflicted so that I might learn your decrees and also in Psalm 119:67 it says Before I was afflicted, I strayed. But now I keep you word.
God uses problems to PROTECT us. A problem can be a blessing in disguise if it prevents you from being harmed by something more serious. A man was fired for refusing to do something unethical that his boss had asked him to do. His unemployment was a problem-but it saved him from being convicted and sent to prison a year later when management’s actions were eventually discovered. Scripture says in Genesis 50:20 as Joseph speaks to his brothers You intended to harm me, but God intended it for good to accomplish what is now being done, the saving of many lives.”
God uses problems to PERFECT us. Problems, when responded to correctly, are character builders. God is far more interested in your character than your comfort. Romans 5:3 says We can rejoice, too, when we run into problems and trials, for we know that they are good for us they help us learn to be patient. And patience develops strength of character in us and helps us trust God more each time we use it until finally our hope and faith are strong and steady. And 1 Peter 1:7 says You are being tested as fire tests gold and purifies it and your faith is far more precious to God than mere gold; so if your faith remains strong after being tried in the fiery trials, it will bring you much praise and glory and honor on the day of his return.
So here it is, the cross symbolized by the climb. But after the cross comes the glory. Let’s look at stage two:
II. The Productiveness of Trials. The text says, While he was praying his face changed in appearance and his clothing became dazzling white. And behold, two men were conversing with him, Moses and Elijah, who appeared in glory and spoke of his exodus that he was going to accomplish in Jerusalem. Peter and his companions had been overcome by sleep, but becoming fully awake, they saw his glory and the two men standing with him. As they were about to part from him, Peter said to Jesus, “Master, it is good that we are here; let us make three tents, one for you, one for Moses, and one for Elijah.” But he did not know what he was saying. While he was still speaking, a cloud came and cast a shadow over them, and they became frightened when they entered the cloud. Then from the cloud came a voice that said, “This is my chosen Son; listen to him.”
All the climbing has paid off. Now comes the fruit of all that hard work! The Lord gives them a glimpse of glory! They get to see the glory that Jesus has always had with the Father. He is dazzlingly bright. A similar vision from the book of revelation gives us more detail:
I turned around to see the voice that was speaking to me. And when I turned I saw seven golden lampstands, and among the lampstands was someone like a son of man, dressed in a robe reaching down to his feet and with a golden sash around his chest. The hair on his head was white like wool, as white as snow, and his eyes were like blazing fire. His feet were like bronze glowing in a furnace, and his voice was like the sound of rushing waters. In his right hand he held seven stars, ….. His face was like the sun shining in all its brilliance. When I saw him, I fell at his feet as though dead. Then he placed his right hand on me and said: “Do not be afraid. I am the First and the Last. I am the Living One; I was dead, and now look, I am alive for ever and ever! And I hold the keys of death and Hades. (Rev 1:12-17)
Yes, all the climbing has paid off. Now comes the glory, the life, the reward or endurance and struggle. Are you enjoying any the fruits of your crosses now? If we think about it, our crosses, if they were carried in faith have made us more confident, stronger. Some of us have discovered gifts, abilities and endurance we never knew we had. Our crosses have brought us life!
The other night I went over to the Church and played the pipe organ. It was most enjoyable and the fruit of years of hard work.
And not only have my own crosses brought me life, but the crosses of others have also blessed me and brought me life. I live and work in buildings that others saved and scrimped and labored to build. I have a faith that martyrs died to hand on to me, that missionaries journeyed long distances to proclaim. See the trials do produce. Enjoy it!
St. Paul says, that this momentary affliction is producing for us a weight of glory beyond all compare (2 Cor 4:14). He also says For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory that is to be revealed to us. (Rom 8:18).
An old gospel song says, By and by, when the morning comes, and all the saints of God are gathered home, we’ll tell the story, of how we’ve overcome. And we’ll understand it better, by and by.
So then, here is the glory that comes after the climb. Here is the life that comes from the cross. Here is the paschal mystery: Always carrying about in our selves the dying of Christ so also that the life of Christ may be manifest in us (2 Cor 4:10).
III. The Pattern of Trials – The text says, After the voice had spoken, Jesus was found alone. They fell silent and did not at that time tell anyone what they had seen..
Notice that, although Peter wanted to stay, Jesus makes it clear that they must go down the mountain for now and walk a very dark valley, to another hill, Golgotha. For now, the pattern must repeat. The cross has led to glory, but more crosses are needed before final glory. An old spiritual says, We are climbing Jacob’s ladder….every round goes higher, higher, soldiers of the cross!
This is our life. Always carrying within our self the dying of Christ so also that [the rising of Christ], the life of Christ may be manifest in us (cf 2 Cor 4:10).
There are difficult days ahead for Jesus and the apostles. But the crosses lead to a final and lasting glory. This is our life too. The paschal mystery, the pattern and rhythm of our life.
Here is an excerpt from the Song We are Climbing Jacob’s Ladder. The Text says that every round goes higher, higher! Almost as if imagining a spiral staircase even as the rounds get pitched higher musically. For this is the pattern of our life that we die with Christ so as to live with him. And each time we come back around to the cross, or back around to glory, we are one round higher and one level closer to final glory.
In the Gospel for today’s Mass (Wednesday of First Week of Lent) the Lord Lord says, This generation is an evil generation; it seeks a sign, but no sign will be given it, except the sign of Jonah (Lk 11:30). The Lord Jesus says much in this brief verse, but perhaps we can first focus in on the human tendency and even obsession with “seeking a sign” quite usually to the detriment of of more serious matters.
There is a seeming fascination that most people have with signs and visions, with portents and prophecies. Even non-believers seem endlessly to run to “end of the world” prophecies, to doomsayers and predictions of global catastrophes. Mayan Calendars, Nostradamus, Edgar Casey et al. are regular features on the History Channel, Science Channel etc.
Many Christians too seem overly fascinated with end the world scenarios from the Book of Revelation, and 1 Thessalonians. Identifying antichrists, beasts of the apocalypse, 666 and so on has caused rivers of ink to spill and forests of paper to contain the musings over signs and secrets.
Catholics get quite fascinated with all sorts of messages, often said to be from Mother Mary, approved or not. The latest rage is the Prophecy of St. Malachy (most likely a fake). But before this latest rage we’ve been through “three days of darkness” scares, and numerous apocalyptic visions of seers et al. Yes, an endless fascination with all the details an intricacies often takes up a lot of oxygen in the room.
Yes, we humans love signs and secrets, prophecies and portents. Now, to be sure, lest the com box light up too much, there are legitimate prophecies, even beyond the Old Testament, that the Church has recognized as at least worthy of belief and attention. Among these are approved apparitions of the Blessed Mother and locutions and visions of certain saints. But even these must be understood as secondary to the primary sources of Revelation: Scripture and Sacred Tradition. Not only are they secondary, but they are in service of Revelation.
The problem comes, when there is an emphasis of signs and wonders (even in legitimate apparitions) over the solid food and main staple of our diet, Divine Revelation. When fascination of the details of secondary things, eclipses an appreciation of the clearer and more primary things.
And this is one aspect of what Jesus condemns, that an “evil age” seeks a sign.
It is as if to say, this age, seeks more to be intrigued than to discover the truth and live it; to be entertained rather than enlightened and evangelized. It is an age that craves curiosities more than conversion, is more interested in a kind of side-show thrill than in repenting and doing daily work of believing; it is an age that seeks relief more than true healing, fascinating facts, rather than full faith. Too easily we maximize the minimum and minimize the maximum, we stress the significance of signs more than the seriousness of sin.
But signs point somewhere they are not THE point. If I see a sign that says “Washington” with an arrow, I don’t park there and say I am in Washington. I do not stop and take pictures of the sign and endlessly study its intricate details. No, I take a quick look and I go where the sign points, I go to the fuller reality it indicates. The sign is not the point, it points to the point.
And thus Jesus lifts up the sign of Jonah as the proper paradigm for signs and says,
No sign will be given [this present evil age]…except the sign of Jonah. Just as Jonah became a sign to the Ninevites, so will the Son of Man be to this generation. …at the preaching of Jonah they repented, and there is something greater than Jonah here.”
In other words the Ninevites did not just ponder the sign of Jonah and endlessly debate its intricacies and connection to other prophecies, they followed the sign, they repented. They sought God to whom the sign pointed and begged his mercy.
And so too for us. Simply being fascinated by and collecting all the latest details of some prophecy, be it a seer, a doomsayer, an apparition, whether approved, unapproved or yet to be approved is not enough. We must follow the sign.
And frankly, any true seer or prophet is only going to say what we already know: Repent and Believe the Gospel. They are not going to add to Revelation at all. If Seers and prophecies pronounce the end of the world, we already know that, “Children it is the final age” (1 John 2:8).
Mother Mary predicted wars at Fatima, we already knew that: “Wars and rumors of wars” (Mk 13:7). The critical thing Mother Mary said was not about wars, it was about repentance. And what she said at Fatima, she had already said at Cana, “Do whatever my Son tells you!” (Jn 2:5).
The danger is that in our endless fascination with the details, and our debates about the hidden meanings of signs, we miss “the point” of a sign. Signs point, and every true sign points to only one thing: Repent and believe the Gospel.
Jesus says plainly that of this “present evil age” (cf Gal 2:1) only one sign will really be given: the Sign of Jonah. So whatever Mother Mary has said, whatever Sr. Faustina, St. Margaret Mary, and many others have said, it all comes down to one thing: Repent and believe the Gospel.
Don’t get lost in the weeds, don’t debate too many details, or emphasize non-essentials. don’t miss “the point” of every true sign: Repent and believe the gospel. In all the variations, only one sign is given. Follow where it points, Repent and believe.
There’s an old Gospel song tradition that speaks of the Christian life as a ride on the “Gospel Train.” But the Gospel Train not always and easy ride with perfect scenery. But you gotta get your ticket for the Gospel Train and stay aboard.
Mysteriously, the train sometimes passes through difficult terrain and life’s temptations. But just stay on board! Jesus too, on his way to glory faced trials, hatred, and even temptation (yet without sin).
Today the Gospel Train pulls into “Temptation Station” and we are asked to consider life’s temptations. The three temptations faced by Jesus are surely on wide display in our own times. What are these temptations and how do we resist them?
In the desert scene of this Gospel, the Lord Jesus faces down three fundamental areas of temptation, but all of them have one thing in common: they seek to substitute the cross for a couch.
In a way the devil has one argument: “Why the Cross?!” And his question is not a real one, but a rhetorical one. He wants you to blame God for the cross, and, in your anger, to reject God as some despot.
Well, pay attention Church, the cross comes from the fact that you and I, ratifying Adam and Eve’s choice, have rejected the tree of life, for the tree that brought death. We, along with satan (I refuse to capitalize his name) may wish to wince at, and scornfully blame God for the Cross, but in the end, the cross was our choice.
And if you think that you have never chosen the tree of death and that God is “unfair,” then prove to me that you have never sinned, and I’ll accept that you never chose the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil, over the Tree of Life and that you deserve something better than the cross. I’ll accept that you never insisted on “knowing” evil as well as good.
Otherwise, you’ve made the same self-destructive, and absurd choice that the rest of us have, and it is not God that is cruel but we who are wicked who are to blame for the presence of the cross. And, thus the cross comes not from God but from us.We ought to stop blaming God for evil, suffering and the Cross and look into the mirror. And the glory of this gospel is that the Lord Jesus enters into this twisted world of OUR making and endures its full absurdity for our sake. If there is evil in this world, it is our choice, not God’s.
OK, are we over “blame God” thing and ready to focus on our own issues? If that be the case then let us look to some areas of temptation that satan is able to exploit because WE indulge them. Let us also see the answer that the Lord Jesus has for these temptations. For the Lord, though tempted, never yields.
1. Pleasures and Passions – The devil encourages Jesus to turn stones into bread. After having fasted, the thought of bread is surely a strong temptation. In effect the devil tells Jesus to “scratch where it itches,” to indulge his desire, to simply give in to what his body craves.
We too have many desires and we too are told by the devil in many ways to scratch where it itches. Perhaps no generation before has faced temptation in this area so strongly as we. We live in a consumer culture that is well skilled at eliciting and satisfying our every desire. All day long advertisements reach into our mind to excite desire and to advise that we MUST fulfill our every desire and wish. If something is out of stock or unavailable in exactly the form we want we are indignant. “Why should I have to wait? Why can’t I have it in that color?” and so forth. The advertiser’s basic message is “You can have it all!” This is a lie of course but it is told so frequently that we feel entitled to just about everything.
Some of our biggest cultural problems are problems of over-indulgence. We are a culture that struggles with obesity, addiction, sexual misconduct, greed, and an over-stimulation that robs us of an attention span, and this causes boredom to be a significant issue for many who are too used to the frantic pace of a video game or action movie. We have done well in turning stones to bread.
To all this Jesus rebukes the devil by saying, “Man does not live on bread alone.” In other words there are things that are just more important and bread and circuses, than creature comforts and indulgence. Elsewhere Jesus says, “A man’s life does not consist in the abundance of his possessions.” (Lk 12:15). I have written on this in another post: The Most Important Things in Life Aren’t Things
2. Popularity and Power – Taking Jesus up a high mountain the devil shows him all the nations and people of the earth and promises them to him if Jesus but bow down and worship the devil. This is a temptation to power but also to popularity for the devil promises him not only sovereignty but also glory.
Since most of us are not likely to attain to sovereignty, and since temptation is only strong in those matters that seem possible for us, I will focus on popularity. Here too we face a lot of this in life. One of the deeper wounds in our soul is the extreme need that most of us have to be liked, popular, well thought of, respected, and to fit in. We dread being laughed at, scorned or ridiculed. We cannot stand the thought of feeling minimized in any way.
For many people the desire for popularity is so strong that they’ll do almost anything to attain it. It starts in youth when peer pressure “causes” young people to do lots of stupid stuff. They will join gangs, get tattoos, piercings, wear silly clothes. Many a young lady desperate to have a boyfriend and thus feel loved and/or impress her friends, will sleep with boys or do other inappropriate things to gain that “love.” As we get older we might be willing to bear false witness, make compromises etc to advance our career, lie to impress others, spend money we don’t have to buy things we don’t really need, to impress people we don’t really like. Likewise, we can tempted to be silent when we should speak out for what is right and so forth.
All of this is a way of bowing before the devil since we are, in effect, willing even to sin in order to fit in, advance, or be popular. Here Jesus says, You shall worship the Lord, your God, and him alone shall you serve.
The real solution to this terrible temptation to popularity is to fear the Lord. When we fear God we need fear no one else. If I can kneel before God, I can stand before any man. If God is the only one we need to please, then we don’t have to run around trying to please everyone else. Here too I have written on this matter elsewhere: What Does It Mean To Fear the Lord?
3. Presumption and Pride – Finally (for now) the devil encourages Jesus to test God’s love for him by casting himself off the highest wall of the Temple Mount. Does not scripture say that God will rescue him? The devil quotes Psalm 91: With their hands they will support you, lest you dash your foot against a stone. In our time the sin of presumption is epidemic.
Many people think that they can go one behaving sinfully, recklessly, and wantonly and that they will never face punishment. “God is love!” they boldly say, “He would never send anyone to hell or punish!” In saying this they reject literally thousands of verses of Scripture that say otherwise. But they have refashioned God, and worship this idol. “God does not care if I go to Church,” they boldly declare, “He does not care if I live with my girlfriend.” The list continues to grow.
The attitude is that no matter what I do God will save me. It is boldly presumptive to speak and think like this. It is true that Hell and punishments are difficult teachings to fully comprehend and square with God’s patience and mercy. Nevertheless God teaches it and we need to stop pretending that it really isn’t for real. This is presumption.
I have written elsewhere on the topic of Hell and why it makes sense in the context of a God who loves and respects us: Hell Has to Be.
A mitigated form of presumption is procrastination wherein we put off our return to the Lord day after day. Of this it is said,
There were three demons summoned by satan as to their plan to entrap as many human beings as possible. The first demon announced that he would tell them there is no God. But Satan wasn’t too impressed. “You’ll get a few, but not many, and even those atheists know deep down inside that someone greater than them made them and all things.” The Second demon said he would tell them there was no devil. But satan said, “That won’t work, most of them have already met me and know my power. Finally the third demon said, “I will not tell them there is no God or no devil, I will simply tell them there is no hurry!” And satan smiled an ugly grin and said, “You’re the man!“
And thus presumption, pride and their ugly cousin presumption are widespread today.
Jesus rebukes satan by quoting Deuteronomy:You shall not put the Lord, your God, to the test. We ought to be very careful about presumption for it is widespread today.
This does not mean we have to retreat into fear and scrupulosity. God loves us and is rich in mercy, but we cannot willfully go on calling “no big deal” what God calls sin and takes seriously. Hence we should be sober about sin and call on the Lord’s mercy rather than doubt we really need it and just presume God doesn’t mind etc.
Our train is leaving the station soon. It is to be hoped that you and I have benefited from this brief stop and have stored up provisions for the journey ahead such as: insight, resolve, appreciation, understanding, determination and hope.
The journey ahead is scenic but also difficult and temptations are a reality. But as the Old Gospel Song says: The Gospel train’s a’comin’, I hear it just at hand. I hear the car wheel rumblin’ And rollin’ thro’ the land. Then Get on board, Children, Get on board, there’s room for many a more!
Most of us are familiar with concept of a matching gift. So, if I work for a certain company and donate to a certain cause, my employer may match my gift up to a certain amount; a matching gift.
