My son, when you come to serve the LORD, stand in justice and fear, prepare yourself for trials. Be sincere of heart and steadfast, incline your ear and receive the word of understanding, undisturbed in time of adversity. Wait on God, with patience, cling to him, forsake him not; thus will you be wise in all your ways. Accept whatever befalls you, when sorrowful, be steadfast, and in crushing misfortune be patient; For in fire gold and silver are tested, and worthy people in the crucible of humiliation. Trust God and God will help you; trust in him, and he will direct your way; keep his fear and grow old therein.
You who fear the LORD, wait for his mercy, turn not away lest you fall. You who fear the LORD, trust him, and your reward will not be lost. You who fear the LORD, hope for good things, for lasting joy and mercy. You who fear the LORD, love him, and your hearts will be enlightened. Study the generations long past and understand; has anyone hoped in the LORD and been disappointed? Has anyone persevered in his commandments and been forsaken? has anyone called upon him and been rebuffed? Compassionate and merciful is the LORD; he forgives sins, he saves in time of trouble and he is a protector to all who seek him in truth.
The Word of the Lord.
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Folded inside the back page of my holy hour journal, is the text of our first reading from the Book of Sirach.
Sirach was written about two hundred years before the birth of Jesus, and is a compilation of Jewish wisdom for all who, in Sirach’s words, desire to, “serve the LORD.”
Ideally, one would spend long hours meditating on his words of wisdom, but I’ll repeat a few lines in the hope that a word or line might speak to you.
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When we seek to serve the Lord, Sirach says:
Prepare yourself for trials.
Be sincere… and receive the word of understanding.
Remain undisturbed in time of adversity.
Wait on God, with patience, cling to him, forsake him not.
Accept whatever befalls you.
In crushing misfortune be patient.’
Above all:
Trust God and God will help you; trust in him, and he will direct your way.
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In the silence of your own prayer, return to these words. Perhaps you, too, will fold them inside your journal and learn them until you begin to live them.
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Image credits: (1) Medium (2) Hillspring Church (3) Covenant House New Orleans
As Jesus came down from the mountain with Peter, James, John and approached the other disciples, they saw a large crowd around them and scribes arguing with them. Immediately on seeing him, the whole crowd was utterly amazed. They ran up to him and greeted him. He asked them, “What are you arguing about with them?” Someone from the crowd answered him, “Teacher, I have brought to you my son possessed by a mute spirit. Wherever it seizes him, it throws him down; he foams at the mouth, grinds his teeth, and becomes rigid. I asked your disciples to drive it out, but they were unable to do so.” He said to them in reply, “O faithless generation, how long will I be with you? How long will I endure you? Bring him to me.” They brought the boy to him. And when he saw him, the spirit immediately threw the boy into convulsions. As he fell to the ground, he began to roll around and foam at the mouth. Then he questioned his father, “How long has this been happening to him?” He replied, “Since childhood. It has often thrown him into fire and into water to kill him. But if you can do anything, have compassion on us and help us.” Jesus said to him, “‘If you can!’ Everything is possible to one who has faith.” Then the boy’s father cried out, “I do believe, help my unbelief!” Jesus, on seeing a crowd rapidly gathering, rebuked the unclean spirit and said to it, “Mute and deaf spirit, I command you: come out of him and never enter him again!” Shouting and throwing the boy into convulsions, it came out. He became like a corpse, which caused many to say, “He is dead!” But Jesus took him by the hand, raised him, and he stood up. When he entered the house, his disciples asked him in private, “Why could we not drive the spirit out?” He said to them, “This kind can only come out through prayer.”
The Gospel of the Lord.
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Jesus’ divine nature is affirmed by his heavenly Father twice in Mark’s Gospel.
First, at his baptism, when the heavens are rent open, the Spirit descends in the form of a dove, and the Father proclaims, “This is my beloved Son. Listen to him.”
The second affirmation comes at the Transfiguration, when Jesus’ body becomes dazzling white as he speaks with the Father, who then makes the same declaration to Peter, James, and John, “This is my beloved Son. Listen to him.”
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After each divine affirmation, Jesus is confronted by evil.
After his baptism, he’s sent into the desert where he’s tempted by Satan for forty days and forty nights.
Now we find him in today’s Gospel after the Transfiguration. As Jesus descends the mountain with Peter, James, and John, he finds his other disciples arguing with the crowds over their inability to cast out an unclean spirit.
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This is a test for Jesus in two ways.
First, he must confront the evil that’s held this poor boy captive because his disciples are unable to. At the sound of his voice, Christ sends the spirit out.
But the greater evil here is the lack of the disciples’ faith, compounded by the crowds. The Lord is nearing Jerusalem. He has openly predicted his Passion and death and has already given his disciples authority over unclean spirits.
Yet the second Jesus steps away from them to pray with his inner circle, they become spiritually inept.
It’s a scary thought for Jesus. Is this how the disciples will be once he returns to his Father and hands over all of his authority?
“O faithfulness generation, how long will I be with you? How long will I endure you?” he moans. “This kind (of evil) can only come out through prayer.”
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So, it is with us.
There are many things the Lord wishes to do for us and through us. But before he can perform any “mighty deed,” we must believe in his power to save.
So, how might we demonstrate our love for him today?
Jesus said to his disciples: “To you who hear I say, love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you, pray for those who mistreat you. To the person who strikes you on one cheek, offer the other one as well, and from the person who takes your cloak, do not withhold even your tunic. Give to everyone who asks of you, and from the one who takes what is yours do not demand it back. Do to others as you would have them do to you. For if you love those who love you, what credit is that to you? Even sinners love those who love them. And if you do good to those who do good to you, what credit is that to you? Even sinners do the same. If you lend money to those from whom you expect repayment, what credit is that to you? Even sinners lend to sinners, and get back the same amount. But rather, love your enemies and do good to them, and lend expecting nothing back; then your reward will be great and you will be children of the Most High, for he himself is kind to the ungrateful and the wicked. Be merciful, just as your Father is merciful.
“Stop judging and you will not be judged. Stop condemning and you will not be condemned. Forgive and you will be forgiven. Give, and gifts will be given to you; a good measure, packed together, shaken down, and overflowing, will be poured into your lap. For the measure with which you measure will in return be measured out to you.”
The Gospel of the Lord.
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When Abraham Lincoln ran for president of the United States, Edward Stanton was a bitter critic. Stanton made vicious personal attacks against Lincoln saying, among other things:
“Such an awkward, ignorant, boorish hayseed is not fit to be our president.”
To Stanton’s chagrin, Lincoln was elected and, surprisingly, he appointed Stanton as his Secretary of War while the country was plunged into civil war.
Lincoln knew well how Stanton felt about him, but he said, “Stanton is the best man for the job. He has been my opponent, but I will not let him be my enemy.”
Lincoln’s kindness and intelligence disarmed Stanton to the point that he humbly accepted the job.
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In today’s Gospel, Jesus issues some of his most difficult commands: love your enemies, pray for those who persecute you, and turn the other cheek.
Are we to check our reason at the door and take every word Jesus says literally? Or is there a deeper truth requiring us to pause and ponder before we act?
Not every word the Lord speaks is meant to be taken literally.
Elsewhere in the Gospels, for example, Jesus says, “If your eye causes you to sin, pluck it out.” If we took that at face value, then there’d be over a billion blind Christians foolishly shuffling around the world in their own man-made darkness.
What the Lord means is that we should be careful about what we see; eyes are windows into the soul. When looking at things that tempt us, we are not expected to pluck our eyes out; we either close them or look away.
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In the case of today’s Gospel, the Lord is not asking us to live as doormats or to rid ourselves of every material possession.
Turning the other cheek when slapped, giving more to a thief who’s stolen our money, or all of our possessions to someone who’s scammed us is not Gospel – or healthy human – behavior.
What Jesus is saying is that we should pray for, bless, do good, and love everyone from our hearts, even those whom we might consider “enemies.” Love is the only weapon that can disarm hatred.
For example, how many of us have experienced a cutthroat culture at work? Or live in a split family? Or are estranged from a loved one, a relative, or an old friend?
The flesh-and-bones application of today’s Gospel involves thinking, not about politics, war, or enemies we imagine in faraway places, but rather our own personal conflicts.
I’m sure we can all think of an “Edward Stanton” in our own lives – a bitter critic, a jealous rival, someone who may be difficult to love. We must be intentional about loving them so as to not let that person become an “enemy,” causing greater pain in our heart.
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Sometimes this can be true in marriage. Marriage paves the path for some of the deepest intimacy possible between two human beings. But if we love intensely, then we can also hurt each other deeply.
Think about what happens when spouses fight. A small spat can escalate to raised voices, insults, even a broken heart. After each person has said whatever hurtful thought comes to mind, each goes their own separate way.
Work in the yard, get out of the house, run an errand, sleep in separate rooms. Anything to be apart. That physical distance represents the emotional, even spiritual, separation that’s taken place.
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The same is true with children. One sibling irritates another. Suddenly a war of words, or worse, fists, breaks out. Parents can exhaust themselves trying to convince their children to apologize and keep the peace.
Sometimes the only form of “healing” that arises is silence. But we all know that just buries the hurt beneath the blanket of time.
This is why the Lord instructs us at times to be intentional about loving each other, saying in the words of Lincoln, “I will not let him or her become my enemy.”
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What’s the alternative?
We dwell on past hurts to the point that they’re perpetually in the present as silence turns into a grudge and eventually hardens into hatred.
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When Abraham Lincoln was assassinated, Edward Stanton, gave one of the most revered tributes to his former rival, saying, “Now he belongs to the ages.”
Yet Lincoln simply did what the Lord commands all of us to do – pray, bless, do good, and love one another, even those who feel like “enemies.”
Our love may disarm them, it will keep us at peace, and perhaps allow us to live as God intended – “One in Christ Jesus.”
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Image credits: (1) Making Life a Bliss Complete (2) Skyler Jokiel, How to Win an Argument, Medium (3) Holy Spirit University, WordPress
