Ordinary Time

6th Week in Ordinary Time, Monday, Year I

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Last Friday we recalled the sad moment when sin entered into the world, and with today’s First Reading we recall when death entered into the world for the first time. It was about as unnatural a death as you can imagine, an older brother killing his younger brother out of envy and anger. Abel had done nothing other than be pleasing to God. Cain was more complicated; he didn’t give the best of what he had to God, and God called him out on it. Yet he didn’t blame God; he blamed Abel for making him look bad. The Lord tried to explain to him that the true cause of his resentment and gloom was that he didn’t do a good job. It was not too late to change for the better, and Cain was in spiritual danger if he didn’t.

Cain failed on so many levels. An older brother should watch over his younger brother, and he killed him instead. Cain owed the Lord the best of everything, and he gave him second best. The Lord gave him good advice, and he ignored it. This was the second time in salvation history, but it wouldn’t be the last. The deep sigh today of Our Lord in today’s Gospel is the sigh of a big brother who does want his brothers and sisters to do the best, and to help them do it, even when they don’t.

Let’s turn to our big brother today knowing he will always watch out for us, and with his advice, we’ll never let him down or our Father.

Readings: Genesis 4:1–15, 25; Psalm 50:1, 8, 16b–17, 20–21; Mark 8:11–13.

6th Sunday in Ordinary Time, Cycle A

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In today’s First Reading Sirach reminds us that our life, from here to eternity, is built on our choices. The Lord created us as free beings, but with freedom comes responsibility. We always have to “own” what we have done and what we have failed to do, which is why we make a Penitential Act at the start of every celebration of the Eucharist. Sirach doesn’t just remind us today that we’re free to choose; he encourages us to make the right choices. God’s commandments reflect God’s wisdom, and that not only makes them good choices, but the best choices, even if sometimes in the uncertainty of faith we have to trust in God in making his choices our choices.

In today’s Second Reading Paul reminds us that our choices shouldn’t be done just out of obligation, but out of love. They have to be choices made from the heart or they’ll never achieve their full potential.The world has a wisdom to it, but its surface has to be scratched to realize how superficial that wisdom can be. Sometimes scratching below the surface reveals “wisdom” to be folly. The best attitude of a wise man is to acknowledge how much he doesn’t know. That’s what makes him always continue to seek wisdom. Wisdom is not just an accumulation of information; it is an insight into the big picture. God not only has the big picture, he “painted” it, and he unveils it little by little if we pay attention and seek to learn. However, Paul gives us a shortcut to getting the big picture: love. We’ve been created by God out of love and all he wants in return is our love. He wants it, but love is incredible in that you can’t make someone love you: it’s the greatest and freest choice you can make. A hint of coercion and it’s not love. Nobody who has chosen not to love is every truly happy.

In today’s Gospel Our Lord teaches us that all the commandments have a purpose and reflect a wisdom that can shape our lives for the better if we choose to observe them from the heart. In his discourse he is also calling out those who observe the commandments superficially and without heart. God doesn’t do anything pointless; everything is part of his loving plan for us. He hasn’t come to simply discard the old covenant, the “law and the prophets,” as never having had any purpose at all. Rather, he puts the old covenant’s purpose into context. In his own words he did not come to abolish the law or the prophets, but to fulfill them.

A common recurring defense today for a watered down life ethic is, “hey, at least I’m not killing anybody.” Our Lord reminds us that not killing anybody is good, but we have to go way beyond that if we don’t want to be Pharisaical. When we can say, “hey, at least I don’t hate anybody,” we’re getting closer to the mark. In a violent world maybe sometimes we look the other way in the face of a lack of kindness, but Our Lord today reminds us to go the distance and not only not kill anybody, but to actually be kind to everybody. When tempers flare and rash words are said the best thing to do, as Our Lord teaches, is to try to make amends as soon as possible and simply apologize. If we live a life of cruel and cold justice, focusing especially on the justice due to us, we’ll be in for a surprise when the eternal Judge brings us to “court” by the same harsh standards to which we held others. As Our Lord’s prayer reminds us, “forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us.”

Our Lord teaches us that chastity starts in the heart. The eyes are the windows to our soul, and if we start ogling and fantasizing a radical response is needed if we are to preserve our chastity and keep our hearts pure, since no one can intervene regarding the hidden desires of the heart except ourselves.

Our Lord reminds us that making a promise or giving testimony is a powerful thing. The promises we make give witness to who we are, and the witness we give is a testimony to how seriously we take our promises. We’ve all experienced how unedifying it is when someone swears something to be true, promises to deliver on something, and then is revealed to have lied or fails to deliver, and not just because of circumstances beyond their control.

When something is as simple as “Yes” or “No,” as Our Lord teaches us today, there’s no room for spin, for sophistry, for fine print, or for establishing little grey areas in our conscience instead of admitting we can or can’t deliver on something or whether we know or don’t know something. Our Lord gives a laundry list of things the people of his day were using as collateral to show how serious they were about the oaths they made. He also puts his finger on the problem: that collateral is not theirs, nor is it under their control. It’s not as common today, but when someone swears “on my life,” or any other number of things or people, we are put on a guard, exactly because they are swearing on something over which they have no control or ownership and usually as a way of convincing others of their sincerity.

A good choice is a wise choice. Let the wisdom of Our Lord shape all your decisions and your life will be a blessing.

Readings: Sirach 15:15–20; Psalm 119:1–2, 4–5, 17–18, 33–34; 1 Corinthians 2:6–10; Matthew 5:17–37. See also 10th Week in Ordinary Time, Wednesday, 10th Week in Ordinary Time, Thursday, 10th Week of Ordinary Time, Thursday, Year II, 10th Week of Ordinary Time, Friday, Year II, and 10th Week in Ordinary Time, Saturday.

5th Week in Ordinary Time, Saturday, Year I

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Today’s First Reading reminds us how horrible it is to lose a home, and how much more horrible it is when it is our fault. The Lord sets an angel to guard against Adam and Eve eating of the tree of life after they’re expelled from Eden due to their sins. Their life has taken a turn for the worse, and there’s no going back without help. They’re cast out, but the Lord doesn’t cease to care for them completely; he makes real clothes for them, and the earth still provides for their needs. It’s just going to be much harder than before, much like the hardship of a family that takes an economic fall and can no longer enjoy the lifestyle it had.

If Adam and Eve ate of the other tree in that moment they would have lived forever, but in misery. They would remain estranged from the Lord and never be able to turn back, much like a person who dies in mortal sin, separated from God forever. This passage of Genesis is also called the “proto-Gospel” because even as the Lord is condemning the serpent for what he’d done, he also foretells that the offspring of the woman would crush him. That offspring would be Our Lord, who would make the life of mankind worth living again.

We live in a post-Fall world, but Our Lord has already come to make it something better. Let’s ask him to help us see how we can make it a preparation for our future Eden: Heaven.

Readings: Genesis 3:9–24; Psalm 90:2–4c, 5–6, 12–13; Mark 8:1–10. See also 1st Week of Advent, Wednesday and 17th Sunday in Ordinary Time, Cycle B.

5th Week in Ordinary Time, Friday, Year I

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Today’s First Reading recalls the sad moment when history became salvation history: the Fall of Adam and Eve. Even today it bears valuable lessons for us on how to identify and resist temptation.

First, the serpent exaggerates God’s strictness: he asks Eve to confirm if the Lord had prohibited all trees in the garden. He exaggerates God’s strictness, and, while Eve does not buy into it completely, she does buy into it: the Lord had said, “You are free to eat from any of the trees of the garden except the tree of knowledge of good and evil. From that tree you shall not eat; the moment you eat from it you are surely doomed to die.” Eve says the Lord said, “You shall not eat it or even touch it, lest you die,” which is not the same.

Did Eve not listen completely to what the Lord had said? Did Adam repeat it to her incorrectly? Was she too starting to feel the pinch of being forbidden to do something? We’ll know in eternity, but from today’s First Reading we know that the serpent questioned whether God was being reasonable, and she believed the serpent over the Lord. Whenever you’re faced with a doubt, especially in moments of temptation, it is important to stick to the facts and not blow anything out of proportion.

The Fall wasn’t immediate: Eve started considering the fruit, relishing the thought of eating it and all the “good” it bore after she spoke with the serpent. If you dwell on temptation, instead of refuting and rejecting it, it will worm it’s way into your heart. The best remedy to temptation is to ignore it: being tempted is not sinful, but consenting to it is. It always blows the potential “good” out of proportion and tries to blind you to its downside. Adam and Eve soon realized that the “good” they’d expected from eating the fruit what not all it was cracked up to be. Experience with temptation and sin reminds us of this over and over again, and it’s important to learn from experience.

Lastly, Adam was with Eve during her moment of temptation and said and did nothing to stop her. Eve didn’t exactly twist his arm about eating the fruit. We are responsible for each other’s spiritual well being: if we love someone we’ll warn them about sin and help them not fall into it.

Let’s pray today for everyone experiencing temptation and for the strength to overcome it in our own lives.

Readings: Genesis 3:1–8; Psalm 32:1–2, 5–7; Mark 7:31–37. See also 23rd Sunday in Ordinary Time, Cycle B.

 

5th Week in Ordinary Time, Thursday, Year I

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In today’s First Reading the Lord teaches us that it is not good for us to be alone. We were born into a family, a web of relationships forged by blood and by love, along with a responsibility to care for one another. With the creation of Eve in today’s First Reading Adam finally finds some who does not only keep him from loneliness, but who makes him complete. This interrelationship is meant to become a communion of life and love, an image of the communion of Persons whom we worship as the Most Holy Trinity.

For those blessed with children this communion grows and extends to the entire family, but it doesn’t just stop there. United and loving families are the building blocks of society, and the Lord also gathers believers together into communion with him and with their fellow believers in the Church. A communion of life and love helps each person to realize that they’re never truly alone, and never completely unloved.

Say an extra prayer today for the lonely and marginalized, so that they experience the love of God and the love of others. If you know someone who is struggling with loneliness, today’s the day to extend the hand of friendship and help them realize they’re not alone.

Readings: Genesis 2:18–25; Psalm 128:1–5; Mark 7:24–30. See also 18th Week in Ordinary Time, Wednesday, Year II and 18th Week in Ordinary Time, Wednesday.