Today, in Mercy, all I can think is, “This passage from Isaiah could not have come at a more perfect time!”
Walter Brueggemann calls Isaiah 65 “a glorious artistic achievement”. Indeed, these images confirm his statement:
a new heavens and a new earth;
constant rejoicing and happiness
people will be a delight
no weeping or crying;
long life for all
everyone with a home
enough for all to eat
As we pray with this passage today, we may experience a longing for a return to our beautiful, safe world. During this pandemic, we all pray from a place of anxiety, loss, constrainment, or some degree of suffering.
Isaiah’s community prayed from the same place. All the beautiful images were a promise not yet realized. The prophetic poetry of Isaiah is a call to courageous hope, not a description of current circumstances.
Faith invites us, even as we experience a bittersweet longing, to trust that God is with us, teaching us and leading us deeper into the Divine Understanding. Even as circumstances turn our world upside down, God will guide the falling pieces to a blessed place if we commit to find God in the tumbling.
I don’t think many of us would deny that the world before Corona needed fixing. The systems we have built have left many in deficit long before 2020, and we have failed to address the wound.
Corona has laid that failure bare.
Now that some of that deficit is universally shared, may we be opened to an irrevocable awareness of our common humanity and responsibility for one another.
Only by such an outcome will we move closer to Isaiah’s peaceful Kingdom. Only by our courage to embrace it, can God fulfill the Promise in us.
Today, in Mercy, I’m going to tell you a story. But first …
In our first reading, the passionate prophet Hosea offers us this quintessential Lenten advice:
Return, O Israel, to the LORD, your God; you have collapsed through your guilt. Take with you words, and return to the LORD
In our Gospel, Jesus is giving advice too. A sincere scribe seeks out Jesus’ wisdom:
One of the scribes came to Jesus and asked him, “Which is the greatest of all the commandments?”
Jesus instructs the scribe:
The Lord our God is Lord alone!
You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart,
with all your soul,
with all your mind,
and with all your strength.
Then Jesus goes on to tell him the second greatest commandment:
You shall love your neighbor as yourself.
Assessing the scribe’s sincerity, Jesus promises him:
“You are not far from the Kingdom of God.”
Praying with these passages on this particular date took me back to March 20, 1963, Wednesday of the 3rd week of Lent that year. I was almost 18 years old and, while not wise as a scribe, I too sought answers to guide my faith.
One place I found thatwisdom was at the desk of a wonderful Sister of Mercy, Sister Mary Giovanni. Like many high school girls back then, I hung around Sister’s homeroom after school. Her good humor, gentle interest, and kind encouragement nourished all of us still slightly silly but ever-so-earnest young women.
On that particular afternoon, an unusual white book sat on Sister’s desk. Its gold letters attracted me and I asked what it was. Sister said it was her community’s centenary book and that, if I wanted, I could borrow it to read.
That little book changed my life. Well, I guess what it actually did was to capture many loose threads running through my mind and heart, and to tie them into a conviction.
I had been toying with a religious vocation ever since third grade. I did love God with my whole heart, just like the young scribe in today’s Gospel. And I loved the nuns and I always wanted to be like them. But actually becoming like them was another story.
That little white book gave me the courage and will to make that commitment. Here’s what it said:
The Sisters of Mercy, in addition to the vows of poverty, chastity and obedience, take a fourth vow of service of the poor, sick, and ignorant.
That was it! That short sentence opened my understanding to see that loving God had to be demonstrated in love of neighbor. The two great commandments are always interdependent.
So I decided to “take my words”, as Hosea encourages, and to ask God if He would have me as a Sister of Mercy.
Less than a week after reading that book, I signed up to become a Sister of Mercy. And I have continued to become one every day for almost 60 years. Because just as Jesus said to the scribe, I believe I am “not far from the Kingdom of Heaven”. But I’m not there yet. Everyday is a chance to grow deeper into the glorious gift that was opened to me back in March 1963.
As you pray with these passages today, take a long view of God’s continuing call in your life. You may have been called to marriage and parenthood, priesthood, a generous single life, a profession which allowed you to serve others.
In each individual call, we are invited to love God with all our hearts and to love others as God loves them. Let’s pray for one another’s continuing deepening in our particular call.
Music: The Call – written by Vaughn Williams from the poetry of George Herbert
(Lyrics below)
Today, in Mercy, our readings are about prophets and miracles, brought to us by Elisha and Jesus.
The core of the readings is this: some of us want the prophets’ miracles, but we don’t want their challenge to live in God’s freedom. We want their cures, only to return to lifestyles that make us spiritually sick or imprisoned.
Wanting to write about these themes, I decided to check with my favorite Old Testament scholar, Walter Brueggemann to see if he had any wisdom on the story of Naaman.
Naaman brings his retinue and gifts… from The Pictorial History of Palestine and the Holy Land (1844) by John Kitto
Well, Walter certainly did…. something so good and wise that I won’t water it down with my own words. The link is below. It’s a little long, but so worth your reading and meditation. I hope you’ll take the time.
Today, in Mercy, water flows through all our readings, inviting us to God’s refreshing Mercy.
For the thirsty and testy Israelites, the water flows from the rock of their hopelessness. Wandering in the desert for days on end, they are exhausted and bewildered. Each sunrise seems to push their destination farther away rather than bring it closer. They are thirsty … but for a lot more than a cool drink.
And God gives everything they need – not only water, but surprised hope and renewed confidence as they witness the mighty rock split at Moses’ touch.
Paul points out that it is, indeed, that hope which truly slakes the deeper thirst.
And hope does not disappoint, because the love of God has been poured out into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us.
In our Gospel story, Jesus awakens in the Samaritan woman a thirst and hope she didn’t know she had. The layers of her tangled life had formed an impervious rock around her, insulating her from her own soul’s needs.
Christ and the Samaritan Woman by Duccio di Buoninsegna
Jesus, “tired from the journey”, expressed his own need to her. This simple request unleashes a cascade of searching from the woman. Jesus, seeing her readiness for grace, catches all that pours out from her. He transforms it into a challenge for conversion:
Jesus answered and said to her, “If you knew the gift of God and who is saying to you, ‘Give me a drink, ‘ you would have asked him and he would have given you living water.”
And she accepts the challenge:
Sir, give me this water,
so that I may not be thirsty again.
As we pray today, we may sense a desert within us. Or we may feel that our soul’s journey has become frustratingly circuitous. We may be like the Samaritan woman, sitting beside a well that seems slowly drying out. Maybe the juices have dwindled in our souls.
In these readings, as we listen to the Ancients call out for flowing grace, we may find a way to ask God for the refreshment we need just now.
Today, in Mercy, our readings are soaked in Mercy itself … seasoned by repentance, forgiveness, hope, and trust.
Both in Micah’s lilting, poetic words and in Jesus’sparable, we are embraced by the infinite tenderness of God.
You may find the following comparison odd at first, but stay with me a minute. Reading this morning’s scriptures, I thought of Lidia Bastianich, the famous chef. To me, her show is the perfect combination of instruction, humor, and familial camaraderie. Still, even though Lydia offers tons of invaluable culinary tips, it is her repeated farewell phrase that I most treasure: “Tutti a tavola a mangiare!”. “Let everyone come to the table and eat!”
Micah, who prophesied just prior to the Siege of Jerusalem in 587 BC, condemned the sinfulness rampant in Israel and Judah. At the same time, he consoled the “remnant” people and, àla Lydia, invited them to the table of forgiveness and reconciliation. Here’s the way Micah asks God to “set the table” for God’s repentant People:
Shepherd your people with your staff, the flock of your inheritance, That dwells apart in a woodland, in the midst of Carmel. Let them feed in Bashan and Gilead, as in the days of old …
The Parable of the Prodigal Son by Frans II Francken
Jesus describes a similar banquet offered to the repentant son:
The father ran to his son, embraced him and kissed him. His son said to him, ‘Father, I have sinned against heaven and against you; I no longer deserve to be called your son.’ But his father ordered his servants, ‘Quickly, bring the finest robe and put it on him; put a ring on his finger and sandals on his feet. Take the fattened calf and slaughter it. Then let us celebrate with a feast because this son of mine was dead, and has come to life again; he was lost, and has been found.’
As I pray today, I ask if there is any lost or hungry part of my spirit that longs to return to the table of Peace and Mercy. I pray also for those places and souls throughout our world who hunger to hear:
“Tutti a tavola a mangiare!”
Music: Father, I Have Sinned -written by Fr. Eugene O’Reilly
Today, in Mercy, our readings offer us studies in dramatic contrasts.
the barren bush in a lava waste vs. the tree planted beside the waters that turns its roots to the stream
a rich man who dressed in purple garments and fine linen vs. a poor man named Lazarus, covered with sores
Lazarus and the Rich Man by Gustave Dore (1891)
What are Jeremiah and Jesus teaching us with these unforgettable images?
Jeremiah summarizes his point in the very first verse:
Cursed is the one who trusts in human beings, who seeks strength in flesh, whose heart turns away from the LORD.
In his parable, Jesus has Abraham deliver the point:
You received what was good during your lifetime while Lazarus likewise received what was bad; but now he is comforted here, whereas you are tormented.
Praying with these passages, we might determine to make sure we don’t end up like the barren bush or the ultimately tormented rich person.
But how can we do that?
I think the key lies in Jeremiah’s phrase, “one whose heart turns away from the LORD.”
In his parable, Jesus shows us what that “turning” looks like. It is any blind indifference in us that allows us to ignore another’s suffering.
Most of us don’t consciously choose that indifference. We simply fail to turn from our own comfort … plans, needs, agenda … to observe the pain or need around us.
So as we leave our prayer today, perhaps we can do so determined to turn from our self-interests … to see if there is a “Lazarus” right beside us whom we had failed to notice.
Music: Turn My Heart – Lynn DeShazo (Lyrics below)
Turn my heart O Lord
Like rivers of water
Turn my heart O Lord
By Your hand
‘Til my whole life flows
In the river of Your Spirit
And my name
Bring honor to the Lamb
Lord I surrender to
Your work in me
I rest my life within
Your loving hands
(Repeat chorus 3 times)
‘Til my name brings honor
‘Til my name brings honor
To the Lamb
Today, in Mercy, we learn a lesson in humble leadership, thanks once againto “Mrs. Zebedee”.
Our Gospel recounts the story of the mother of James and John interceding for her sons with Jesus. Like many overprotective mothers, she intervenes even into their adult lives. She wants to make sure they get the best deal for their investment with Jesus.
Listen, I understand and love her! I would be the same way with my kids if I had any. I often say it’s best I had none because “Overprotective Me” would have had to shadow them to school, dances, playgrounds etc. until they were about 35 years old!
But the point of this Gospel story isn’t Mrs. Zebedee’s overprotectiveness.It has little to do with Mrs. Zebedee at all.
The point is that “Mrs. Zebedee” (like many of us) has missed the whole POINT. The Gospel story is about US and the integrity of our choice to live a life in the pattern of Jesus.
Christ’s disciples have decided to follow a man who says things like this:
The last shall be first and the first, last.
Unless you lay down your life, you cannot follow me.
Whoever takes the lowly position of a child is the greatest in the Kingdom of Heaven.
The seats at Christ’s right and left, which Mrs. Zebedee requests for her sons, will bring them rewards only through humility and sacrificial service.
Here’s the way a 14th century artist imagined the Zebedee family. (Dad looks happy!)
Mary Salome and Zebedee with their Sons James the Greater and John the Evangelist (c.1511) by Hans von Kulmbach, Saint Louis Art Museum
Jesus is gentle with “Mrs. Zebedee”. He understands how hard it is for any of us to comprehend the hidden glory of a deeply Christian life. We are surrounded by a world that screams the opposite to us:
Me first!
Stand your ground!
Good guys finish last!
So Jesus turns to James and John (and to us). One can imagine the bemused look on Christ’s face. He knows the hearts of his disciples. He knows they have already given themselves to him. So he asks them for a confession of faith, “Can you drink the cup that I will drink?”
The meeting of Christ with Zebedee’s wife and sons by Paolo Veronese
Their humble, faith-filled answer no doubt stuns their mother. She is left in wonder at the holy men her sons have become. Perhaps it is the beginning of her own deep conversion to Christ.
As we pray with this passage, where do we find ourselves in this scene? How immediate, sincere, and complete is our response to Jesus’ question: “Can you drink the cup….?”
Music: To Be a Servant – David Haas
Refrain:
For I have come not to be served but to serve;
To give my life.
If you wish to be the first you must seek
To be a servant, to be a servant.
1. Can you drink the cup that I must drink;
Are you willing?
Can you be baptized like I have been baptized?
Are you able? Are you able?
2. For to sit at my right hand or at my left,
Is not for me to give.
But for those for whom it has been prepared,
It will be given. It will be given.
Today, in Mercy, our reading from Daniel gives us one of the Great Prayers of the Old Testament (according to Walter Brueggemann’s like-named book.)
The Book of Daniel and chapter nine in particular, have been the subjects of extensive biblical exegesis. Chapter nine in considered one of the Messianic Prophecies, Old Testament markers pointing to Christ. So there is much we could study about today’s first reading.
But how might we pray with it?
Naming the sins of all the People, Daniel’s great prayer is a plea for mercy:
Lord, great and awesome God, you who keep your merciful covenant toward those who love you and observe your commandments! … … yours, O Lord, our God, are compassion and forgiveness!
Three themes, so strikingly germane to Lent, arise from Daniel’s prayer:
Repentance Forgiveness Transformation
Our Responsorial Psalm picks up this plea to Mercy for Mercy:
Remember not against us the iniquities of the past; may your compassion quickly come to us, for we are brought very low. R. Lord, do not deal with us according to our sins.
Help us, O God our savior, because of the glory of your name; Deliver us and pardon our sins for your name’s sake.
The questions for each of us as we pray today —
Is there someplace in my life
longing for such mercy and healing? Where can my spirit grow
from repentance, forgiveness, and transformation?
In our Gospel Jesus tells us how to open our hearts to this merciful healing.
“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.”
There it is in black and white. Whether or not the advice changes my heart is up to me!
Music: Kyrie Eleison (Lord, have mercy) Beethoven- Missa Solemnis
Today, in Mercy, as I prayed with these readings, I heard the words “It’s your turn.”
In our passage from Genesis, it’s the message God gives Abram:
Go forth from the land of your kinsfolk and from your father’s house to a land that I will show you.
In other words, I have reached from my Infinite Perfection to call you into a covenant of love. Now, it’s your turn to leave your comfort zone and go find my hope for you and for my people.
In Timothy’s letter, the call comes in this form:
Bear your share of hardship for the gospel with the strength that comes from God.
Again Timothy tells us that Christ carried the cross so that we could have eternal life. It’s our turn now to bear any cross all the way to the empty tomb.
And in our Gospel, the just transfigured Jesus calls his beloved disciples to a new courage:
“Rise, and do not be afraid.”
In other words.. things are going to get really tough. You have just seen a Glorious Light that will take you through the darkness. It’s your turn to walk beside me on the coming journey.
Folded in each of these messages is the implication that, although challenges may come, a stronger commitment to God and God’s hope is being opened before each listener — before us.
Scripture records the long, ensuing story of Abram’s response. We know, too, how Timothy’s early Christian community turned persecution into indomitable witness. And the commitment of Peter, James, and John built the foundation of our faith.
Every morning when God wakes us up, the Holy Voice shining in the morning light whispers, “It’s your turn. Today will be part of your journey into my Heart. How will you respond to the many calls being offered you?”
Let this “Transfiguration Moment” give us brave, loving, and insightful hearts! Let us walk the path Christ would walk, especially as we deepen into the lovely blessings of Lent.
Music:Transfiguration – Carey Landry
We behold the splendor of God
shining on the face of Jesus. We behold the splendor of God
shining on the face of the Son.
And oh, how his beauty transforms us,
the wonder of presence abiding. Transparent hearts give reflection
of Tabor’s light within, of Tabor’s light within.
Jesus, Lord of Glory, Jesus, Beloved Son,
oh, how good to be with you; how good to share your light;
how good to share your light.
We behold the splendor of God
shining on the face of Jesus. We behold the splendor of God
shining on the face of the Son.
And oh, how his beauty transforms us,
the wonder of presence abiding. Transparent hearts give reflection of
Tabor’s light within, of Tabor’s light within.
Jesus, Lord of Glory,
Jesus, Beloved Son,
oh, how good to be with you; how good to share your light;
how good to share your light.
Today, in Mercy, our readings could confuse us with their threads of legalistic logic. We see several examples of “if-then” admonitions that can make us picture God as an accountant measuring every choice we make.
If the wicked man turns, … then he shall surely live
If the virtuous man turns, … then none of his good deeds shall be remembered.
If you, O Lord, Mark iniquities … then who can stand.
If you go to the altar unreconciled … then leave and be reconciled.
Sometimes, we can get obsessive about the “if-then” aspects of religion. And IF we do, THEN we probably miss the whole point. Because folded in today’s “if-then” seesaws is the truth of these passages: that the Lord does NOT sit miserly in Heaven to mark our iniquities.
The Lord measures the righteousness of love.
“Thus says the LORD, “Let not a wise man boast of his wisdom, and let not the mighty man boast of his might, let not a rich man boast of his riches; but let him who boasts boast of this, that he understands and knows Me, that I am the LORD who exercises lovingkindness, justice and righteousness on earth; for I delight in these things,” declares the LORD.—Jeremiah 9:23-24
Today’s Responsorial Psalm offers us a beautiful prayer for this morning as we pray in the embrace of God’s Lavish Mercy:
I trust in the LORD; my soul trusts in his word. My soul waits for the LORD more than sentinels wait for the dawn. Let Israel wait for the LORD. For with the LORD is kindness and with him is plenteous redemption; And he will redeem Israel from all their iniquities.
Let’s wait for the Lord today to see where God’s Grace invites us to the righteousness of Love.
Music: Everlasting Love – Mark Hendrickson & Family (Lyrics below)
Chorus
With an everlasting love
I love you I love you
With an everlasting love
a love that’ll never end
a love that’ll never end
I love you.
Till the stars lose their way
In the heavens up above
And the oceans all run dry
Till the clouds in the sky
Keep the rain all to themselves
Even longer I’ll love you
This I promise I’ll love you
My word I give it’s true
I love you
Till the morning sun ceases to arise
And the moon forgets to shine
Until heaven’s blue is erased from the sky Even longer I’ll love you
This I promise I’ll love you
My word I give it’s true
I love you
Lavish Mercy 