R E F L E C T I O N S: August 2010

Tuesday, August 31, 2010

The difference between judging and judgmentalism

Good News Reflection
Tuesday of the 22nd Week of Ordinary Time
August 31, 2010

Today's Readings:
1 Cor 2:10-16
Ps 145:8-14
Luke 4:31-37
http://www.usccb.org/nab/083110.shtml
USCCB Podcast of the Readings:
http://ccc.usccb.org/cccradio/NABPodcasts/10_08_31.mp3

The difference between judging and judgmentalism

What's the difference between scrutinizing everything (as in today's first reading) and being judgmental, which, as we know, Jesus firmly described as a sin. St. Paul says here that "the one who is spiritual can judge everything."

The difference is whether it's a what or a who. In observing a WHAT – a situation, an idea, a behavior – the Holy Spirit scrutinizes it, and if we're listening to God, we hear his opinion about it. But how do we know we're not listening to our own opinions, which are based on our limited perceptions and have been trained by the limited perspectives of others and the foolishness of the world?

Spiritual maturity and holy living are essential for good listening.

In observing a WHO, we sin when we draw conclusions, because now we're trying to usurp God's role as the Judge. We can correctly identify when people are sinning, but we can only make assumptions about why, how much they understand, and how much they can be held accountable. Assumptions can never be trusted.

Even when our assumptions are correct, we're not free to judge the sinner, because a judge is one who has the authority to impose sentence. Only God has that authority, for only God is free of sin. Remember what Jesus told the guys who wanted to stone the adulterous woman? Who can cast the first stone?

Today's responsorial psalm tells us how God serves as Judge (are we like this?): gracious and merciful, slow to anger, great in kindness, good to the sinner, etc. We're quick to condemn; God is not. We get frustrated when people don't get the punishment they deserve. And yet, how grateful we are that he does not condemn us so quickly! Ahhh, the sin of hypocrisy rears it's ugly face. Judgmentalism leads to one sin after another.

As Christians who are devoted to holy living, we have the mind of Christ, but let's remember what is uppermost in Christ's mind: "I did not come to the world to condemn it, but to save it." We become obstacles in his way when we condemn people for their sins. Redemption and justice only occur when we let Jesus decide how to make good come from every evil.

And by the way, you are a "who" too, so quit condemning yourself! Turn instead to God's mercy and let Jesus redeem you from whatever you've done wrong.

© 2010 by Terry A. Modica
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Monday, August 30, 2010

How to bring others to conversion

Good News Reflection
Monday of the 22nd Week of Ordinary Time
August 30, 2010

Today's Saint: Fiacre
Pray for farmers and all those who provide nourishment and sanctuary :
http://wordbytes.org/saints/DailyPrayers/index.html?Fiacre.htm

Today's Readings:
1 Cor 2:1-5
Ps 119:97-102
Luke 4:16-30
http://www.usccb.org/nab/083010.shtml
USCCB Podcast of the Readings:
http://ccc.usccb.org/cccradio/NABPodcasts/10_08_30.mp3

How to bring others to conversion

All of us are called to be evangelizers. You are a missionary right now, where God has already placed you, touching the lives of everyone who encounters you.

Don't be discouraged when you fail at convincing someone to go to church or to trust in Jesus. The question is: Have you allowed yourself to get swept into a debate? St. Paul tells us in today's first reading to rely instead on "the convincing power of the Spirit". Debates don't inspire conversion. They make people get defensive, because they feel pressured into changing their point of view. Defensiveness closes the ears of their hearts, and then they cannot listen with understanding.

Only the Holy Spirit grants understanding – it's a gift – and the Spirit works not in debates and arguments, but in love and compassion.

Paul preached nothing but Jesus Christ crucified: with his words AND in how he served. However, the crucifixion is not a pleasant topic. And yet, Christ's sacrifice is a far more persuasive reason to believe in God's love than anything we could ever say in a debate.

When unbelievers are ready to see what Jesus did for them on Good Friday, their resistance melts. When they understand why he did it, they experience conversion. But how can we help them see and understand without getting into arguments?

We preach Jesus most effectively by the sacrifices that WE make in his name. By serving the needs of others (especially when they've not been kind to us) and imitating Jesus who went to the cross for those who sinned against him, we give a powerful testimony of God's love.

Since there are no quick journeys to faithfulness, we'll probably have lots of time and plenty of opportunities to show that we really care – repeatedly – before they are ready to understand the connection between our sacrificial love and Christ's. Then we must be ready to use words to explain God's love. This is much more effective than making them feel guilty about not going to church.

In today's Gospel reading, Jesus begins the synagogue lesson – and his public ministry – with: "The Spirit of the Lord is upon me." It was the Holy Spirit who anointed Jesus and sent him into the world to preach. Likewise, it's the Holy Spirit who anoints you and me and sends us out from Mass to bring others to Christ. And it's the Holy Spirit (not us) who changes the hearts of those we evangelize.

Not everyone will pay attention to what the Holy Spirit is doing and saying through us. Some will reject the truth no matter how greatly we love them. But when people do experience conversion and spiritual growth, their new faith will be founded not on our wisdom, but on the power of God.

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Good News Reflection FOR NEXT SUNDAY: September 5, 2010 23rd Sunday in Ordinary Time, Cycle C

Good News Reflection
FOR NEXT SUNDAY: September 5, 2010
23rd Sunday in Ordinary Time, Cycle C

Parish bulletins, faith-sharing groups, RCIA:
For professionally published, printable copies of this reflection,
please go to Catholic Digital Resources:
http://catholicdr.com/calendar/September/23rdC.htm - Preview a sample

Next Sunday's Readings:
Wisdom 9:13-18b
Ps 90:(1) 3-6, 12-17
Philemon 9-10, 12-17
Luke 14:25-33
http://www.usccb.org/nab/090510.shtml
USCCB Podcast of the Readings:
http://ccc.usccb.org/cccradio/NABPodcasts/10_09_05.mp3

What in your life is a higher priority than your relationship with God? That's what Jesus wants us to look at in next Sunday's Gospel reading. What people? What work? What trial? What possessions? What friendships? What goals? What activities?

What crosses do you want to get rid of that, if you do escape from them, would require you to abandon Jesus on his cross? (Hint: What sacrifices of love are you unwilling to make?)

Jesus says that unless we are first and foremost committed to discipleship – learning from him and making every effort to become more like him – we are ill prepared for all the other tasks of life.

In other words, we can start building toward good goals, but if our relationship with Christ is not our highest priority, we'll be unable to reach the right finish, because we will get distracted by worldly interferences and sin. We become victims instead of victors in the battles we face. Anything good that we do achieve will be only temporary, because it falls short of the kingdom of God and has no eternal value.

A disciple is a student. We learn from Jesus how to love others, and sometimes this is a real cross to carry. He teaches us how to live a life of joyful love but also of unconditional, forgiveness-filled love. We also learn from Jesus how to put up boundaries against those who interfere with our spiritual growth, and this too can be a cross.

The strength to follow Christ and become more and more like him every day requires a conscious effort to grow stronger in our ability to carry our crosses while uniting ourselves to his cross and to his strength. When we lack this inner bond to Christ, we stumble and fall, crushed by the weight of our crosses. But if we are willing to make sacrifices out of love for others, like Jesus did, we embrace him more fully and intimately than we could with any other form of prayer or worship.

Questions for Personal Reflection:
Consider your daily activities: They give evidence of your top priorities. What do you value more than the time you spend with Jesus in prayer, scripture, and other faith-building activities? What are really your top priorities?

Questions for Family & Community Faith Sharing:
What are some common ways that we move God down on our priority lists? In making him our highest priority, what are ways that we can lovingly show concern for others even while putting God ahead of them in our daily activities?

STARTING ON MONDAY, if you're a member of the "Emmaus Journey" e-group, share your answers by writing to EmmausJourney@gnm.org
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Friday, August 27, 2010

Who's the fool?

Good News Reflection
Friday of the 21st Week of Ordinary Time
August 27, 2010

Today's Readings:
1 Cor 1:17-25
Ps 33:1-2,4-5,10-11
Matt. 25:1-13
http://www.usccb.org/nab/082710.shtml
USCCB Podcast of the Readings:
http://ccc.usccb.org/cccradio/NABPodcasts/10_08_27.mp3

Who's the fool?

Christianity is absurd! It's the opposite of everything that makes sense. St. Paul says in today's first reading that the message of the cross is "foolishness" (in some translations, "complete absurdity") and a "stumbling block." How often have you looked foolish for doing what God asks you to do? How often have you hesitated because you felt foolish?

The Bible is full of foolish nonsense. Peter was foolish enough to tell Jesus that he'd like to walk on water, and he sank only when he tried to understand what was happening.

And how do you think the Virgin Mary felt when the angel told her she'd become pregnant with the Messiah without ever "knowing" a man? She knew enough about biology to wonder, "How can this be?" But unlike Peter, she did not sink away from the absurdities of God.

And oh my, what about the cross? How in the world could the destruction of one man's life and ministry bring about good results? How could carrying our own crosses be good? How in the world, indeed! The wisdom of this world is, in reality, just folly.

What's the most absurd thing going on in your life right now? What is God doing that makes no sense at all? Ahhh, the fun of living in absurdity. What an adventure!

Remember what Jesus tells us in today's Gospel reading. The truly foolish folks are those who don't expect God to do the unexpected. The foolish bridesmaids thought the groom would arrive before they ran out of oil in their lamps. They thought they understood the situation, and when they discovered that the groom was going to be absurdly late, they scratched their heads in confusion and scrambled to find more oil.

Notice that they ran off to the store AFTER the groom's arrival was announced. Talk about idiocy!

Oh the foolishness of the cross! Jesus was nailed by those who did not want to accept the truths he taught, but they could not silence his ability to make a difference. Although not everyone he died for has been changed by it, the rest of us have benefitted eternally.

We cannot trust our logic. We cannot trust our perception or our understanding of the situations we face or the work that God calls us to do. Those of us who want to have a good grasp of God's thought processes had better quit now, before the brain hits foolishness overload and crashes like a computer that has too many programs running at the same time.

The sooner we accept the absurdity of being a Christian, the sooner we will discover that living the risky adventures of holiness is much, much better than a safe life of sound logic and easy decisions.

So, get ready for anything! Fill your lamp with plenty of oil right now, while it's still illogical.

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Thursday, August 26, 2010

When Jesus comes for you

Good News Reflection
Thursday of the 21st Week of Ordinary Time
August 26, 2010

Today's Readings:
1 Cor 1:1-9
Ps 145:1-7
Matt 24:42-51
http://www.usccb.org/nab/082610.shtml
USCCB Podcast of the Readings:
http://ccc.usccb.org/cccradio/NABPodcasts/10_08_26.mp3

When Jesus comes for you

What will Jesus find you doing when he comes for you? This does not necessarily mean he will make his Second Coming appearance in your lifetime. But most certainly he will come for you in the moment when you die. What will you be doing for the kingdom of God at the time of your death?

As Jesus says in today's Gospel reading, we don't know when that will happen. What if you have a brain aneurysm while you're watching a movie that glorifies violence or non-married sex or other immoralities? What if you have a massive heart attack while swearing angrily at a motorist who cuts you off on the highway? Jesus comes for you and says – ?

Hey, it could happen! There is no guarantee that our death will come while we're being nice to someone. Nor can we count on dying in bed peacefully while a priest gives us the Sacraments of Anointing and Holy Communion to send us on our way to heavenfree from all sin.

Jesus tells us: "Stay awake! Don't get sleepy and close your eyes to the needs around you! Pay attention! Look at what you could be doing!"

St. Paul points out in today's first reading that God endows us abundantly with every gift and talent that we need, every bit of knowledge that we need, and all the strength and endurance that we need to remain blameless until Christ comes for us. How do we remain blameless? By serving his kingdom right up to the moment of death, even with our dying breaths!

The far-sighted servant that Jesus mentions is one who wastes no time in worthless activities that have no eternal value. The faithful servant is one who helps build God's kingdom, all the time. Everything we do can have eternal value, but only IF we pay attention to the Holy Spirit's guidance and IF we do everything for the glory of God.

Washing dishes can have eternal value. Taking a friend out to dinner certainly has eternal value. We work for God when we smile at a stranger or give a compliment. We can serve his kingdom in the way we drive and in the birthday cards we send. Every task in our jobs glorifies God if we do it well and honestly. How we spend our money can honor God. Each word we speak should bless and not curse.

We don't have to be constantly active in ministry to be God's faithful servant. But we do have to stay awake and alert to what we're doing, how we're doing it, and for whom we're doing it. Ultimately, everything we do should bless the kingdom of God.

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