Wrapped in indignation - Sunday's reading reflection

Though the Gospel today is a big message, I think it is God telling me to pay attention to those details. Turning the other cheek does not have to be a big cinematic moment where I make the grand gesture. Turning the other cheek can mean not responding in kind when the harried cashier takes so long to attend to the person in front of me in line. Turning the other cheek can mean that I make the decision to not respond or join in when the conversation at work turns petty.  I can listen to the other side of an argument and really try to understand.

Jesus tells us to love our enemies. He didn’t say it was easy. We don’t have to like what they do, but when we love our enemies, it reminds us of our humanity, of how connected we all are. It makes us vulnerable because we often like to wrap ourselves in indignation and scorn for others. We need to take off those layers and look for that child of God, for we each are a temple of God. Sometimes we have to be foolish to find wisdom. We can be afraid to let go of those layers, to love our enemies. But by opening ourselves up, by dropping that shield of contempt, we can embrace our better selves.

In this often competitive, modern world, we make people our enemies at every turn. It’s that person who cuts me off in traffic or an annoying co-worker who frustrates me every day. I can turn the other cheek and love my enemies every single day.  That helps me remember that God is in the details.

(Adapted from Carol Zuegner)

Standing by prostitutes - Tomorrow's reading reflection

To act against our selfish inclinations and pious camouflage, to reach out spontaneously with practical help to the neighbor in need, means to take up one’s cross. To stand by someone in need and disgrace is to follow the way of Jesus who befriended prostitutes and tax collectors. It means to lose one’s life; and in the depth of that faith we will have a glimpse of the true “kingdom of God established in power.” Where we seem to have lost everything, we become fully alive in a way that can never taste death. No one can take that vision from us, the memory of being with Jesus and reaching out, as he did, to those genuinely in need of us. What can equal life such as this, joyful like Abraham’s joy in the return of Isaac, with dignity restored, like Rahab the harlot in saving the lives of the messengers.

(Adapted from ACP)

Jimmy Fallon: “I wanted to be a priest”

Jimmy Fallon: “I wanted to be a priest."

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Jesus died naked - Tomorrow's reading reflection

One cannot look at a cross, no matter how ornate, without remembering the painful death of Jesus. Yet the cross is lifted high on our churches and is worn as the sign and emblem of our victory over sin and despair, for Jesus’ resurrection is the pledge of our own future life. Like the rainbow the cross carries a message of universal salvation. The cross was the dreaded Roman form of execution; the rainbow is visible to every human eye, whatever the person’s religion may be.

St James helps us examine whether the universal saving signs of the cross and of the rainbow are operative in our own lives. He begins simply: “Your faith must not allow of favoritism.” We are not to value one people according to their wealth, power, prestige or social rank. Whoever operates by these false standards is liable to make “corrupt decisions.” If we return to the symbols of the cross and the rainbow, they present everyone as a human being created by God to the divine likeness. On the cross, Jesus died naked; through the rainbow we look on a world washed clean and appearing in its naked beauty. 


Returning to James, we find that we are not to be impressed by those who enter our company fashionably dressed, or despise those who enter dressed in shabby clothes, for in God’s eyes we are all poor and naked, beautiful and naked–and equal. We are what we have grown to be by our faith in God’s goodness and fidelity, by our imitation of God’s generosity and forgiveness.

Before concluding his critique of favoritism, James cites the injunction: “Love your neighbor as yourself.” which Jesus calls the second commandment, and was repeated as a Christian principle by St Paul (Rom 13:9). These beautiful ideals are hard to put into practice, just as is the call to carry our cross with Jesus. It is little wonder that Peter took Jesus aside and began to remonstrate with him, until he had to reply abruptly and sternly “Get behind me, Satan!” Jesus’ final words on that occasion seem to resonate in James’ epistle for today, “You are not judging by God’s standards but by human standards.” - "have you not made distinctions among yourselves, and become judges with evil thoughts?"

(Adapted from ACP)

Adapting to those who need us - Tomorrow's reading reflection

The miracle story is told only by Mark; it was not repeated nor even adapted by Matthew and Luke, even though these evangelists relied heavily on Mark. This is also the only miracle which Jesus worked in stages. Jesus even uses such lowly human substance as spittle. His willingness to live on our human level offers great comfort. There is a sense of delicate consideration in the way he dealt with the blind man’s need. He first took his hand and with gentle compassion led him outside the village. Then, away from the crowd, he put spittle on his eyes and touching the closed eyelids with his fingers, Jesus bonded with the blind man. This poor man could not see the sorrow in Jesus’ eyes at the sight of this disability, but could feel the clasp of his hand and touch of his fingers. Jesus is not just conforming to common ritual practices but adapting himself to the human condition of need.

(Adapted from ACP)