Lent Day 3 - Polishing the Diamonds

There is a view that the bloody sacrifice of the Son on the cross was "satisfying" to the Father, and appeasement of a God infinitely angry at sinful humanity. In this reading, the crucified Jesus is like a child hurled into the fiery mouth of a pagan divinity in order to assuage its wrath. This is a regrettable interpretation of the cross that has, unfortunately, infected the minds of many Christians.

But what ultimately refutes this twisted theology is the well-known passage from John's Gospel: "God so loved the world, that he sent his only Son, that all who believe in him might have eternal life." John reveals that it is not out of anger or vengeance or in a desire for retribution that the Father sends the Son, but precisely out of love. God the Father is not some pathetic divinity whose bruised personal honor needs to be restored; rather God is a parent who burns with compassion for his children who have wandered into danger. 

Does the Father hate sinners? No, but he hates sin. Does God harbor indignation at the unjust? No, but God despises injustice. Thus God sends his Son, not gleefully to see him suffer, but compassionately to set things right. 

St. Anselm, the great medieval theologian, who is often unfairly blamed for the cruel theology of satisfaction, was eminently clear on this score. We sinners are like diamonds that have fallen into the muck. Made in the image of God, we have soiled ourselves through violence and hatred. God, claimed Anselm, could have simply pronounced a word of forgiveness from heaven, but this would not have solved the problem. It would not have restored the diamonds to their original brilliance. Instead, in his passion to reestablish the beauty of creation, God came down into the muck of sin and death, brought the diamonds up, and then polished them off. 

In so doing of course, God had to get dirty. This sinking into the dirt-this divine solidarity with the lost--is the "sacrifice" which the Son makes to the infinite pleasure of the Father. It is the sacrifice expressive, not of anger or vengeance, but of compassion. 

Jesus said that any disciple of his must be willing to take up his cross and follow the master. If God is self-forgetting love even to the point of death, then we must be such love. If God is willing to break open his own heart, then we must be willing to break open our hearts from others. The cross, in short, must become the very structure of the Christian life. 

God sends his Son, not gleefully to see him suffer, but compassionately to set things right.

(Adapted from Fr. Robert Barron)  

How does Scripture cut like a sword? Mercy. - Tomorrow's reading reflection

The Gospel exhortations end with dire warnings: if your foot causes you to sin, cut if off.  Pope Francis exhorts in a different key.  He urges us to open our doors and get out in the streets with those bruised and hurting.  Behind our walls is security.  To stand with those who struggle is joy.  And it is joy that salts our life. 

How do we recover the sharp edge of Scripture in a world like ours?  The works of mercy. 

(Adapted from Jeanne Schuler)

Driven by anger, rage, or revenge? - Sunday's reading reflection

Are you ever driven by anger, rage, or revenge? The first person to hate his brother was Cain. God warned Cain: ‘Why are you angry? ..Sin in couching at the door; it’s desire is for you, but you must master it (Genesis 4:6-7). Sin doesn’t just happen to us; it first grows as a tiny seed in our heart. Unless it is uprooted, by God’s grace, it grows like a weed and chokes the vine and all its fruit. Jesus addressed the issue of keeping the commandments with his disciples.  The scribes and Pharisees equated righteousness with satisfying the outward observance of the law. Jesus showed them how short they had come. Jesus points to the heart as the seat of desire and choice. Unless evil and forbidden desires are eradicated, the heart will be corrupted. Jesus points to forbidden anger with one's brother. This is a selfish anger that broods and is long-lived, that nurses a grudge and keeps wrath warm, and that refuses to die. Harboring anger in the heart as well as anger in speech and action are equally forbidden by God.

People drew maps of body locations where they feel basic emotions (top row) and more complex ones (bottom row). Hot colors show regions that people say are stimulated during the emotion. Cool colors indicate deactivated areas.

Image courtesy of Lauri Nummenmaa, Enrico Glerean, Riitta Hari, and Jari Hietanen.

What is the antidote to anger and rage? Mercy, kindness, and forbearance spring from a heart full of love and forgiveness. God has forgiven us and he calls us to extend mercy and forgiveness towards those who cause us grief and harm.  In the cross of Jesus we see the supreme example of love and forgiveness and the power of goodness for overcoming evil. Only God’s love and grace can set our hearts and minds free from the tyranny of wounded pride and spiteful revenge. Do you harbor any anger towards another person? And are you quick to be reconciled when a rupture has been caused in your relationships? Ask God to set you free and to fill your heart and mind with his love and goodness. Paul the Apostle reminds us that "God's love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit which has been given to us" (Romans 5:5).  Through the grace and help of the Holy Spirit we can overcome malice with good, hatred with kindness, and injury with pardon.

(Adapted from Don Schwager)

The Greatest of all virtues - Tomorrow's reading reflection

Jesus stuns the crowd, and probably his family, by identifying with - as family - those who do the will of God. Upon reflection, it seems so easy to understand. For Jesus, who would be the closest to him, who would be family to him? It would be those who place themselves next to his heart. To say it another way, we can't be close to Jesus while opposing God's action in our lives. Jesus is inviting us to surrender to God's love for us. He tells us, of course, that if we want to find ourselves - and our happiness and our purpose - we have to lose ourselves, in loving others the way we have been loved..

Jesus says what he desires for us so clearly when he says, in Luke's Gospel, "Be merciful, just as your Father is merciful." [Luke 6:36] I have spent a lot of my life trying to be in relationship with God, and in service of others, without always being merciful. It is not easy to forgive when we've been hurt - sometimes even when we've been slighted. We tend to hold on to memories of what we have against others. We can ask God to forgive us, over and over again, and we can celebrate the Sacrament of Reconciliation many times, and still struggle with forgiving someone close to us. Jesus is asking us to be with him and like him in letting go of all of that.

It is in this light that I was delighted to read what Pope Francis said about St. Thomas Aquinas' teaching on mercy as "the greatest of all virtues." And, I love to hear that mercy "overcomes the defects of our devotion and sacrifice." On St. Thomas' feast, it is great to recall these words.

"Saint Thomas Aquinas taught that the Church’s moral teaching has its own 'hierarchy,' in the virtues and in the acts which proceed from them.[Cf. S. Th., I-II, q. 66, a. 4-6] What counts above all else is “faith working through love” (Gal 5:6). Works of love directed to one’s neighbour are the most perfect external manifestation of the interior grace of the Spirit: 'The foundation of the New Law is in the grace of the Holy Spirit, who is manifested in the faith which works through love'.[S. Th., I-II, q. 108, a. 1.] Thomas thus explains that, as far as external works are concerned, mercy is the greatest of all the virtues: 'In itself mercy is the greatest of the virtues, since all the others revolve around it and, more than this, it makes up for their deficiencies. This is particular to the superior virtue, and as such it is proper to God to have mercy, through which his omnipotence is manifested to the greatest degree'.[41]" [The Joy of the Gospel, #37] ["For him, mercy, which overcomes the defects of our devotion and sacrifice, is the sacrifice which is most pleasing, because it is mercy which above all seeks the good of one’s neighbour” S. Th., II-II, q. 30, a. 4, ad 1.]

(Adapted from Andy Alexander, SJ) 

Remember not against us the iniquities of the past - Tomorrow's reading reflection

Today’s readings are not what I anticipated on the Memorial of Saint Francis. The first reading expounds upon disobedience to the Lord and the failure of the kingdom of Israel to listen to the prophets through the ages. Ancient Israel is taken to task in Baruch for its evil ways and failure to please God. As I turn to the Psalms the theme continues. The Gospel of the day heeds a similar warning. However, reading the gospel in context of Luke’s chapter 10 does present a different picture.

The passage is sandwiched between the mission of the seventy-two and the return of the seventy-two. As the disciples are sent out they are also told they will be rejected and if so shake the dust off your feet and move on to the next town. As the disciples return the report to the Lord “even the demons are subject to us because of your name.” Understanding the context of the readings gives hope to us on earth and myself personally.  Even in my worst moments when I reject Christ and fail to follow God, I’m given confidence that in his name all things are possible.  And with him his mercy.  The mercy St. Francis showed to all creation, especially his fellow man; a mercy emphasized and modeled for us in our current day by Pope Francis. 

The Psalmist prays, "Remember not against us the iniquities of the past; may your compassion quickly come to us, for we are brought very low." And so on a daily basis I know that as the responsorial to the psalm proclaims “For the glory of your name, O Lord, deliver us”, that I too can call upon God in my daily life to help protect and guide me as I move forward in my spiritual life.

(Adapted from Joe Zaborowski)

I have been treated mercifully - Tomorrow's reading reflection

"...but I have been mercifully treated because I acted out of ignorance in my unbelief."

Who of us cannot say this about ourselves at at least one point in our lives?

If Christ has truly freed us from guilt and condemnation, then why is judgmentalism and a critical spirit so rampant today, even among Christians? "Thinking the best of other people" is necessary if we wish to grow in love. And kindliness in judgment is nothing less that a sacred duty. The Rabbis warned people: "He who judges his neighbor favorably will be judged favorably by God." How easy it is to misjudge and how difficult it is to be impartial in judgment. Our judgment of others is usually "off the mark" because we can't see inside the other person, or we don't have access to all the facts, or we are swayed by instinct and unreasoning reactions to people. It is easier to find fault in others than in oneself. Jesus states a heavenly principle we can stake our lives on: what you give to others (and how you treat others) will return to you (Mark 4:24). The Lord knows our faults and he sees all, even the imperfections and sins of the heart which we cannot recognize in ourselves. Like a gentle father and a skillful doctor he patiently draws us to his seat of mercy and removes the cancer of sin which inhabits our hearts. Do you trust in God's mercy and grace? Ask the Lord to flood your heart with his loving-kindness and mercy that you may only have room for charity, forbearance, and kindness towards your neighbor.

(Adapted from Don Schwager)

Mercy in the face of evil - Tomorrow's reading reflection

God is good to the unjust as well as the just. His love embraces saint and sinner alike. God seeks our highest good and teaches us to seek the greatest good of others, even those who hate and abuse us. Our love for others, even those who are ungrateful and selfish towards us, must be marked by the same kindness and mercy which God has shown to us. It is easier to show kindness and mercy when we can expect to benefit from doing so. How much harder when we can expect nothing in return.

Augustine of Hippo (354-430 AD) describes Jesus double precept to give and forgive as two essential wings of prayer: 

"Forgive and you will be forgiven. Give, and it will be given you. These are the two wings of prayer on which it flies to God. Pardon the offender what has been committed, and give to the person in need."  [Sermon 205.3] "Let us graciously and fervently perform these two types of almsgiving, that is, giving and forgiving, for we in turn pray the Lord to give us things and not to repay our evil deeds." [Sermon 206.2]

Our prayer for those who do us ill both breaks the power of revenge and releases the power of love to do good in the face of evil.

(Adapted from Don Schwager)

What keeps you from showing extraordinary mercy? - Sunday's reading reflection

"He answered, 'The one who treated him with mercy.' Jesus said to him, 'Go and do likewise.'”

We are to treat others with mercy, regardless of who they are or what they've done, Jesus shows us.  We hear in the parable that the man fell victim to robbers on his way from Jerusalem to Jericho.  Most likely he was traveling alone, others he would have not been attacked.  If he had not be alone, his friends most likely would have returned.  Traveling the dangerous road through the desert hills to Jericho alone was imprudent at best, deadly at worst.  His was almost a worst-case scenario.  Not a very bright idea at all.  

Yet the good samaritan treats him with extraordinary mercy, caring for him, transporting him, paying for his lodging and healthcare, and even promising to visit him on his return.  Jesus' point isn't obviously, "Thou shall travel the Jericho road with companions next time, dummy."  His point was that we treat everyone, regardless of religion or race, regardless of their decisions in life, with mercy.  "Go and do likewise," he says.

What kept the Levite and the priest from showing mercy?  Who knows.  For the priest, his piety may have gotten in the way of his charity.  He may have been too worried about becoming "unclean" by touching the man.  For the Levite, maybe he was prevented through fear.  It could have been that he thought if he helped, he might be attacked as well.  What are the things that keep you from showing extraordinary mercy?  Fear, misplaced piety, busyness, judgement, prejudice, public opinion, anger toward the victim, laziness, vengeance, pride (thinking you're too good to show a specific kind of mercy), apathy, cynicism (it wouldn't help anyway), intellectualism, doubt...?  

The scholar of the law had to have been an intelligent man to do what he did. We see, however, that he was too much in his head and not enough in his heart.  Jesus helped him move from his head to his heart.  Will his words help you do the same?
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An hour after writing this, I read this story about Pope Francis which illuminates the point of the reflection all-the-more. It comes from Vatican Insider.

Argentinean media have reported on the correspondence between Francis and Patricio Fontanet, a rock singer who was put behind bars for causing the blaze which claimed the lives of 194 young people in a Buenos Aires nightclub

VATICAN INSIDER STAFFROME

“You will have days when you feel down, but don’t be afraid. Be strong.Everything passes.” These were the words Francis addressed to rock singer Patricio Fontanet who was admitted to a clinic some time ago after being diagnosed with severe depression. The singer was found to be responsible for a fire which started in Cromagnon nightclub in Buenos Aires on 30 December 2004, killing 194 young people.

Today, Argentinean media published the Pope’s reply to a letter which the lead singer of Callejeros sent him a while back. “I got your letter three days ago. Thank you,” Francis wrote. “Though I am physically far away I am close to you and your group in spirit. It is as if I can hear everything you hear and say, from a distance.”

Straight after the tragic incident in Cromagnon nighclub, Bergoglio, who was still Archbishop of Buenos Aires at the time, met the band and asked them “not to give up.” Fontanet is carrying out a seven year prison sentence.