Wednesday

13th Week in Ordinary Time, Wednesday

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In today’s Gospel we see that debasement engenders debasement, that fear engenders fear, and that both are an obstacle in the spiritual life. The demons, fallen angels, already condemned for making a radical choice against God, are “slumming”: amusing themselves by tormenting two poor souls–the men they are possessing–and attacking anyone who draws near. When Our Lord approaches them they know they’re busted, but they don’t care–they’re already convicted. Until the Last Judgement at the end of history they’ll try to get as many kicks as they can without getting caught. When Our Lord permits them to go into the herd of swine–angels lowered to enjoying being pigs–they take one last “joy ride” before being driven off. We have to be on guard as well against “slumming” in the spiritual life, because it will gradually make us indifferent to God’s goodness and mercy and set us on a downward spiral.

The swineherds pass from one fear to another: from keeping their distance from two crazy demoniacs to seeing a Jewish man (if they were Jewish, they wouldn’t be tending pigs, since they’re unclean animals) casting out demons into their swine and seeing their whole flocked wiped out. When they return to town they can only give witness to terror, so it’s no surprise that the locals are also gripped by terror and beg its source–Jesus–to leave. The grace of God has passed them by.

Let’s ask Our Lord today to help us identify any downward spirals we’re on in the spiritual life. For us, it’s not too late to overcome debasement and fear.

Readings: Genesis 21:5, 8–20a; Psalm 34:7–8, 10–13; Matthew 8:28–34.

11th Week in Ordinary Time, Wednesday

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In today’s First Reading St. Paul encourages us to give bountifully and cheerfully, without sadness or compulsion. Our Lord in today’s Gospel describes the three classic dimensions of Christian life, and the attitude we should have while living them: doing it for God, not for self-promotion. Prayer, fasting, and alms giving can be miserable if we do them in a calculating way, grudgingly, or just to fulfill some social obligation out of peer pressure. When we’re miserly in these things, making sure everyone knows we’re not happy about something we feel forced to do is natural, our glum attitude is simply venting in the face of an unpleasant situation. On the flip side, when we do these things in a flashy way, out of a desire for esteem or self-promotion, the boost to our ego is all we should expect, and that is not much: we’re just turning Christian living into another way to get ahead in a competitive world.

It’s not a question of not doing what we don’t want to do; rather, it is reminding ourselves, as St. Paul does in the First Reading, that a generous and cheerful heart is not only a blessing for those to whom it is giving–God and others–but a source of joy and peace to the giver as well. Instead of a vicious circle it becomes a virtuous cycle: it gives us a sort of spiritual second wind that helps us maintain our effort. We’ll feel the weight of sacrificing something for others, of giving precious time to God, of denying ourselves some comforts in order to win spiritual benefits for others and to grow in self-mastery, but we won’t let that stop us from giving from the heart. Virtue goes deeper than feelings. We experience that on those days when we pray, fast, and give alms even when we are having, by other standards, a rotten day and seemingly no recognition. When we joyfully give, quietly pray, and quietly fast we also ensure that what we are doing is for God, not just for ourselves. Our Lord may not reward us with a lot of public recognition, as we reminds us in today’s Gospel, but he will bless us.

Let’s examine today any glumness in our Christian living and ask Our Lord for the grace to give bountifully, cheerfully, and for his glory and not our own, knowing that he will bless us and others.

Readings: 2 Corinthians 9:6–11; Psalm 112:1b–4, 9; Matthew 6:1–6, 16–18.

10th Week in Ordinary Time, Wednesday

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In today’s First Reading Paul describes the old covenant, the one of Israel, in terms of death and condemnation and something that would fade away, but also as something glorious. It was a prelude to an even more glorious and enduring covenant, one qualified by God, spiritual, and life-giving through the power of the Spirit, a ministry of righteousness.

In this process the old covenant was not pointless; God doesn’t do anything pointless, everything is part of his loving plan for us. Our Lord in today’s Gospel reminds us of that. 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. Israel made an effort, sometimes mixed, to stay faithful to the covenant the Lord had established with them on Mt. Sinai. In other writings Paul describes the law stemming from this covenant as something educational for the immature: a preparation for something greater. The new covenant established by Christ and lived in Christianity is indebted to that process, which is why we often speak of a Judeo-Christian heritage and the Bible consists of the Old and the New Testaments. In the first centuries of Christianity certain groups tried to expunge any trace of Judaism from Christianity, and they were ignoring Jesus’ teaching in today’s Gospel. In his own words he did not come to abolish the law or the prophets, but to fulfill them.

Let’s ask Our Lord to help us today to understand the purpose of the traditions we live as Christians in order to live our faith more fully and not be quick to discard them as pointless. Christianity is not meant to fade away.

Readings: 2 Corinthians 3:4–11; Psalm 99:5–9; Matthew 5:17–19.

10th Week in Ordinary Time, Monday

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Today’s readings are a source of encouragement and a reminder that we in turn are called to encourage others, because that is the eternal mission of the saints. The Beatitudes Jesus teaches us in today’s Gospel are a checklist for seeing whether someone is holy, whether someone is a saint–they’re the attitudes and dispositions we’re called to have. That’s why the Church calls her process of recognizing the heroic sanctity on one of her children a process of beatification, and usually before someone is declared a Saint, they are declared a Blessed. We are all called to be saints, whether the Church officially recognizes it or not: saints encourages others by their example and their intercession in recognition of the encouragement they themselves have received from God, as St. Paul points out so eloquently in the First Reading.

The Beatitudes are also an encouragement for us: if we strive to be poor of spirit we’ll inherit the Kingdom of God. If we mourn we shall be comforted. If we hunger and thirst for righteousness, that hunger and thirst will be satisfied. It’s wonderful to consider how the saints have taken these promises and lived holy lives in completely different ways: no one can deny that there’s a difference of style between saints such as St. Francis, St. Ignatius Loyola, St. Philip Neri, and St. Therese of the Child Jesus. If we live these Beatitudes as promises, as Saint John Paul II encouraged us to do in Veritatis Splendor (see n.16), we’ll enjoy a life filled with good works from here to eternity.

Let’s thank Our Lord today for the encouragement he has given us along the path of holiness, both through his own example and the example of the saints, and let’s ask him to help us to be an encouragement to others.

Readings: 2 Corinthians 1:1–7; Psalm 34:2–9; Matthew 5:1–12.

9th Week in Ordinary Time, Wednesday

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In today’s Gospel the Sadducees believe they’ve encountered a logical proof, based on Mosaic law, that shows there can be no resurrection: family responsibilities toward widows and marriage would continue to be unclear if there were eternal life. Our Lord teaches them that the life to come is to be lived in a different way. All the trials and tribulations of this life–family spats, health issues, work headaches, social angst–will pass away. The marriages will be concluded, but the love that sustained them and grew in them will last forever, which is the true purpose of marriage. All wounds and infirmities will be healed, and we’ll have grown stronger in the crucible of suffering. Our work will be done and we’ll be able to admire the fruits of our labor. Everyone will have what they need and be acknowledged for what they have done and who they are: justice will reign for all. In short, when you reach Heaven, it’s “game over, you win.” Nothing else will matter and everything you underwent to get there will be put into perspective as worth it.

Our Lord teaches us today that we have to live in this world, but we always have to keep the life to come in mind in order to understand why we live in this world and how we should live in it. In the game of life winning is what matters, but that victory doesn’t happen here, even though this is the playing field where we win or lose. Even Tobit and Sarah in today’s First Reading wanted to give up when life seemed impossible, but they knew that wasn’t God’s will and prayed for the only relief they thought possible: death. Their prayers had barely reached Heaven and God was already planning their relief to help them see life as a blessing again, but on the Lord’s time table. We’d always like relief sooner rather than later, but in faith we know it will come, if we keep striving to not let life overwhelm us and persevering in faith as we play the game of life.

Let’s ask Our Lord today to help us put whatever difficulties going on in our life today into perspective. Let’s ask him to show us how we can live today in the light of how we’ll live in eternity.

Readings: Tobit 3:1–11a, 16–17a; Psalm 25:2–5b, 7b–9; Mark 12:18–27.