Memorial of Saint Elizabeth Ann Seton, Religious
January 4, 2024

Today’s Readings:

https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/010424.cfm

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Today, in God’s Lavish Mercy, John is gentle but scathingly direct in his teaching:

Children, let no one deceive you.
The person who acts in righteousness is righteous,
just as God is righteous.
Whoever sins belongs to the Devil,
because the Devil has sinned from the beginning.

1 John 3: 7-8

John tells us that good is good, and bad is bad. Don’t let anyone fool you. And don’t make excuses when you fool yourself!

John gives us a clear measuring stick to test alignment with his teaching:

In this way,
the children of God and the children of the Devil are made plain;
no one who fails to act in righteousness belongs to God,
nor anyone who fails to love their sisters and brothers.

1 John 3:10

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It’s so simple but so hard to be the kind of person John calls us to be!

In our deep hearts, we know what righteousness looks like. It looks like peace, forgiveness, reverence, truth-telling, kindness, service, faithfulness, hope.

And we know what unrighteousness looks like. It looks like war, vengeance, brutality, bigotry, manipulation, indifference, greed, selfishness, megalomania, dishonesty, fear-mongering.

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How has our society gotten so mixed up that we allow unrighteousness to parade in the costume of justice! How have we gotten so lazy, greedy, or indifferent that we refuse to look for and remedy the root causes of our societal grievances? For example, when I dig deeper in my prayerful thinking, I might realize that:

• Thousands of immigrants are not crossing their borders just to bother me or take my job! They are in fear for their lives and well-being because of a lopsided global economy and a classist devaluation of life.
• The armament and weapons industries are not founded on a mission to protect me and my loved ones. Like all businesses, they operate to make money. The more guns they sell, and the more expensive and destructive they are, all the better. We are their marketplace not their protectorate.

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The Scriptures are God’s living Word. They are not to be read and set aside as a completed devotional practice meaningless for today’s world.

They teach us about the past but they speak to us of the present. As we pray with them, we are called to be changed by them into persons who more clearly reflect Jesus and the Gospel. That is the hard work of righteousness – work that is the everyday stuff of our lives.

Deeply internalizing John’s teaching today is a good place to start our transforming prayer.

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Poetry: And 2morrow – Tupac Shakur, (1971 – 1996), was an American rapper. He is widely considered one of the most influential and successful rappers of all time. Shakur is among the best-selling music artists, having sold more than 75 million records worldwide. Much of Shakur’s music has been noted for addressing contemporary social issues that plagued inner cities. His life was filled with violence and eventually, he was murdered, but his creative work revealed a deep though conflicted longing for justice and peace.

Today is filled with anger
fueled with hidden hate
scared of being outcast
afraid of common fate
Today is built on tragedies
which no one wants 2 face
nightmares 2 humanities
and morally disgraced
Tonight is filled with rage
violence in the air
children bred with ruthlessness
because no one at home cares
Tonight I lay my head down
but the pressure never stops
knawing at my sanity
content when I am dropped
But 2morrow I c change
a chance 2 build a new
Built on spirit intent of Heart
and ideals
based on truth
and tomorrow I wake with second wind
and strong because of pride
2 know I fought with all my heart 2 keep my
dream alive

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Music: Beauty for Brokenness (God of the Poor) – Graham Kendrick