Memorial of Saint Paul Miki and Companions, Martyrs
Tuesday of the Fifth Week in Ordinary Time
February 6, 2024
Today’s Readings:
https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/020624.cfm
Today, in God’s Lavish Mercy, our readings might lead us to consider what we pay attention to in our spiritual lives and why.
In our first reading, Solomon prays simply and sincerely before the presence of God. It is the prayer of one who is spiritually vulnerable to God’s grace in whatever way it comes.
Solomon stood before the altar of the LORD
1 Kings 8:22-23
in the presence of the whole community of Israel,
and stretching forth his hands toward heaven,
he said, “LORD, God of Israel,
there is no God like you in heaven above or on earth below;
you keep your covenant of mercy with your servants
who are faithful to you with their whole heart.
Solomon’s focus in prayer is to honor and acknowledge God and to ask mercy for himself and the people for whom he is responsible.
Today’s Responsorial Psalm 84
The Pharisees, on the other hand, fear the presence of God in Jesus because he threatens the collapse of their false religionism. To protect their man-made securities, they have constructed an elaborate maze of rules and judgments which hardens them to renewing grace.
Rather than listen to Jesus who offers them redemption, they focus on the lifeless particularities of the Law:
When the Pharisees with some scribes who had come from Jerusalem
Mark 7:1-2
gathered around Jesus,
they observed that some of his disciples ate their meals
with unclean, that is, unwashed, hands.
The Pharisees’ recalcitrance disappoints and angers Jesus:
He responded,
Mark 7:6-8
“Well did Isaiah prophesy about you hypocrites,
as it is written:
This people honors me with their lips,
but their hearts are far from me;
In vain do they worship me,
teaching as doctrines human precepts.
You disregard God’s commandment but cling to human tradition.”
He went on to say,
“How well you have set aside the commandment of God
in order to uphold your tradition!
We live our lives always in the Presence of God. Do we even realize this? Do we pray, like Solomon, with an open heart for the grace to grow ever closer to God in every circumstance that is offered to us?
Do we ask for the grace to see where judgments, measurements, and definitions limit our spiritual growth?
As I read today’s Gospel, I think of Pope Francis’s recent decision to allow the blessing of same-sex couples. Francis looked beyond traditional constraints to offer healing mercy to those seeking God’s love. Some people, caught in strictures similar to those of the Pharisees, have not only resisted but condemned the Pope for his decision.
The situation is not dissimilar from that of today’s Gospel. What can we learn about our own attitudes and spiritual openness as we pray with these readings? What can Solomon teach us about sincere, humble, and transparent prayer?
Poetry: Peace Is This Moment Without Judgment – Dorothy Hunt
Do you think peace requires an end to war?
Or tigers eating only vegetables?
Does peace require an absence from
your boss, your spouse, yourself?…
Do you think peace will come some other place than here?
Some other time than Now?
In some other heart than yours?
Peace is this moment without judgment.
That is all. This moment in the Heart-space
where everything that is is welcome.
Peace is this moment without thinking
that it should be some other way,
that you should feel some other thing,
that your life should unfold according to your plans.
Peace is this moment without judgment,
this moment in the Heart-space where
everything that is is welcome.
Music: Heart of Gold – Nicholas Gunn
I think this song can be like a prayer asking God’s warmth and mercy in our judgments and prayers.
Lavish Mercy 