Today, in God’s Lavish Mercy, we are blessed with some of the most beautiful passages in scripture.
Psalm 105 invites us to sing praise as we confidently seek God in our lives, and to always remember God’s merciful goodness to us:
Sing to God, sing praise, proclaim all God’s wondrous deeds. Glory in the holy name; rejoice, O hearts that seek the LORD! Remember the marvels the Lord has done!
Psalm 105: 2-3
Our first reading from Wisdom gives us one of the most gloriously imaginative images in Scripture.
Although the passage is a poetic recounting of the Exodus experience, it always makes me think of Christmas.
Midnight on a starry night
Peaceful stillness over the earth
The all-powerful Word transformed
Appearing among us like a comet in our darkness
Hope renewed for an otherwise doomed land
Praying with the passage this morning, I realize that my “Christmas lens” on the reading is right on target.
The Christmas event begins our Exodus story, a story completed in the Passion, Death and Resurrection of Christ.
Just as the God of Moses reached into ancient Israel’s life to free them, transform them and make them God’s People, so God reaches into our lives. God does this not only on Christmas, but in every moment of our experience.
As our media and consumer culture bombards us, all too early, with all the secularized images of Christmas, let today’s verses bring us back to the true startling grace of our own Christ/Exodus stories:
We are not alone in the midnights of our lives. Listen underneath all the distractions to the, at first, softly emerging sound of Love humming under all things. Watch for the small lights of heaven longing to break into our human darkness. Give yourself to their Light.
No matter where we are in our lives right now, no matter the joy or pain of our present circumstances, God wants to use these realities to be with us and to teach us Love. Let us invite God into our willingness to learn that Love, to become that Love.
Music: Winter Cold Night – John Foley, SJ
Yes, it is an Advent/ Christmas song. But it fits so perfectly. Please forgive me if I am rushing the season too. 😉
Oh, the depth of the riches of God And the breadth of the wisdom and knowledge of God For who has known the mind of God To Him be glory forever
A virgin will carry a child and give birth And His name shall be called Emmanuel For who has known the mind of God To Him be glory forever
The people in darkness have seen a great light For a child has been born, His dominion is wide For who has known the mind of God To Him be glory forever
Today, in God’s Lavish Mercy, our two readings remind us that the journey into God is an ever-deepening passage to which we must continually open our hearts.
The Wisdom writer addresses those who sincerely seek God, but who cannot see beyond God’s handiwork. So they are satisfied to make gods of these created wonders:
All persons were by nature foolish who were in ignorance of God, and who from the good things seen did not succeed in knowing him who is, and from studying the works did not discern the artisan; But either fire, or wind, or the swift air, or the circuit of the stars, or the mighty water, or the luminaries of heaven, the governors of the world, they considered gods. Now if out of joy in their beauty they thought them gods, let them know how far more excellent is the Lord than these; for the original source of beauty fashioned them.
Wisdom 13:1-3
The writer seems astounded that these seekers get lost on their way to full knowledge of God:
For they search busily among his works, but are distracted by what they see, because the things seen are fair. But again, not even these are pardonable. For if they so far succeeded in knowledge that they could speculate about the world, how did they not more quickly find its Lord?
Wisdom 13: 7-9
I don’t find it so astounding. The invisible God we love and worship can be elusive, and the world through which we seek that God can be deeply distracting. I think it’s pretty easy to get stuck worshipping signs of God (which we can see) rather than God (Whom we cannot see). I think that’s what Jesus might have meant when he said, “Blessed are the pure of heart, for they shall see God.”
Our Gospel reading gives us a hint about truly seeking God. It’s a reading I have always found a little bit scary. As a child, I envisioned myself, or the dear person next to me, getting swooped up in some unexpected divine tornado. It wasn’t a comfortable image.
I tell you, on that night there will be two people in one bed; one will be taken, the other left. And there will be two women grinding meal together; one will be taken, the other left.” They said to him in reply, “Where, Lord?” He said to them, “Where the body is, there also the vultures will gather.”
Luke 17: 34-37
I mean, really, this is nobody’s favorite scripture passage! But what can it teach us? Maybe this: just like the unfulfilled worshippers in our Wisdom passage, the folks Jesus describes were distracted by the necessities and frivolities of life. In their spiritual journeys, they had not fully opened their hearts to the holy expectation of God. When God comes in a swoop of Infinite Grace, they’re just not ready for the swooping!
In our readings today, both the Wisdom writer and Jesus are encouraging us to meet every life experience as an opportunity to move deeper into the mystery of God.
The Wise One tells us to look beyond the beautiful distractions of our lives into the One Who ordains them:
Now if out of joy in their beauty they thought them gods, let them know how far more excellent is the Lord than these; for the original source of beauty fashioned them.
Wisdom 13:3
And Jesus very bluntly tells us that our visible experiences hold a deeper meaning that we will never know unless we yield our life fully to God’s transforming grace:
Whoever seeks to preserve their life will lose it, but whoever loses it will save it.
Luke 17:33
Poetry: If only there were stillness, full, complete – Rainer Maria Rilke
If only there were stillness, full, complete. If all the random and approximate were muted, with neighbors’ laughter, for your sake, and if the clamor that my senses make did not confound the vigil I would keep —
Then in a thousandfold thought I could think you out, even to your utmost brink, and (while a smile endures) possess you, giving you away, as though I were but giving thanks, to all the living.
Music: Jessye Norman – Sanctus from Messe solennelle de Sainte Cécile in G major, by Charles Gounod
I never hear this piece without being awestruck by Ms. Norman’s magnificent voice. I had the great joy of meeting her and working with her briefly on a project over thirty years ago. She was majestic in every way. May she rest in Peace.
Today, in God’s Lavish Mercy, there is a graceful coincidence of several themes calling me to prayer. I share them with you:
On November 11th, Sisters of Mercy throughout the world commemorate the death of our beloved founder Catherine McAuley.
This year that commemoration falls on the feast of the beautiful St. Martin of Tours.
Our readings for the day prompt us to consider our beloved companions on our spiritual journey who provide a harbor of blessings in a fearsome world.
Not just today, but often, I think about what Catherine would be like if she lived among us today. In her day, she was ever practical, focusing on healing the greatest unmet needs around her.
Her “un-technologized” world was smaller than ours. She encountered need simply by a walk through Dublin’s neighborhoods. Were she here today, need would pour into her awareness from every corner of the earth via technological means. How would she focus the power of her merciful heart for our times?
Our readings prompt me to think that Catherine would do the same three things she did almost two hundred years ago:
She would gather her companions on the journey
Together, they would empty their spirits of anything that was not of God
In that profound spiritual clarity, they would see where God called them to be Mercy for the world.
In our first reading, Paul names a number of his companions, those who strengthened and assisted him in life and ministry. Catherine too had beloved companions without whom she could not have met the challenges of her call.
In our Gospel, Jesus affirms that our hearts must be emptied of the undue love of anything that distracts us from God and God’s Way:
No servant can serve two masters. He will either hate one and love the other, or be devoted to one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and mammon.” The Pharisees, who loved money, heard all these things and sneered at him.And he said to them, “You justify yourselves in the sight of others, but God knows your hearts; for what is of human esteem is an abomination in the sight of God.”
Luke 16: 12-15
While in her times, Catherine encountered the ravages of material poverty, I think that something much less tangible, but exponentially more destructive, would capture her ministerial awareness today.
Our world suffers from an intrinsic and debilitating fear which inclines us to amass power and possessions to the impoverishment of those around us. The fear of not being or having enough drives the systemic predation of the rich upon the poor, and the powerful over the weak. It is a fear that grows in a heart emptied of God.
While Catherine would continue to address the needs of those suffering from poverty and disenfranchisement, I think she would reach out in a new way to the healing of those underlying fears. These fears fester in a culture of spiritual ignorance endemic to our modern society. The naming and healing of that ignorance is deeply congruous with Catherine’s charism and calls to us urgently today.
About St. Martin de Porres, Pope John XXIII said this:
“He loved his neighbors with the benevolence of the heroes of the Christian faith.”
So did Catherine McAuley. So must we.
Poetry: Where the Mind is Without Fear – Rabindranath Tagore
Where the mind is without fear and the head is held high Where knowledge is free Where the world has not been broken up into fragments By narrow domestic walls Where words come out from the depth of truth Where tireless striving stretches its arms towards perfection Where the clear stream of reason has not lost its way Into the dreary desert sand of dead habit Where the mind is led forward by thee Into ever-widening thought and action Into that heaven of freedom, my Father, let us awake.
Music: There is No Fear in Love – The Bible Project
Today, in God’s Lavish Mercy, we have a Gospel passage which is both scary and beautiful!
I tell you, my friends, do not be afraid of those who kill the body but after that can do no more. I shall show you whom to fear. Be afraid of the one who after killing has the power to cast into Gehenna; yes, I tell you, be afraid of that one. Are not five sparrows sold for two small coins? Yet not one of them has escaped the notice of God. Even the hairs of your head have all been counted. Do not be afraid. You are worth more than many sparrows.
Luke 12:4-7
Jesus, with radical clarity, tells us that God is both a relentless judge and a tender parent. Who God is toward us depends on our choices in life, because our choices either open or close us to know God.
Jesus says that we will be condemned if we choose to live a hypocritical life like the Pharisees.
There are many images of “Gehenna”, both within and outside of the Gospel. For some of us, that condemnation is represented in hellfire, brimstone, devils, and pitchforks.
But today’s Gospel might incline us to consider that the condemnation is more a personal choice for spiritual alienation from God – in other words, sin. By that choice, we isolate ourselves from God’s tenderness choosing instead selfishness, prevarication, and hard-heartedness. We become less than we were created to be, and that in itself is a tragic self-condemnation.
Jesus says that when that kind of choosing becomes a habitual part of our lives, it is like leaven that permeates our very personhood. It changes us from God’s child to our own biggest fan. Like the Pharisees, we live a lie of who we pretend to be. And, especially from a position of power, we can infect others with our deception. They become “leavenized”: they “drink the kool-aid”.
Ironically, at the end of this tirade, Jesus gives us two of the tenderest images of God: God the Hairdresser and God the Bird Lover. Praying with these images, I remember my mother tenderly fingering my hair as I sat beside her in the evening. I picture my father spreading birdseed on the frozen patio when the winter juncos struggled to find food.
In our prayer today, Jesus invites us to encounter God with this kind of tender familiarity.
Poetry: The Creation of the Birds – Renee Yann, RSM
O, the wonderful mood that seized You God, as you created birds; you dancing there, twirling in light, flinging your crystal arms to infinite music, flicking your hands like magic fountains, feathers and colors splashing out from your fingertips, chattering, rainbowed profusions of your Boundless Life.
Your depthless, joy-filled soul laughing out the soaring beings into the still universe, peals of you infusing them each to their measure with notes of your inner song. O, I see your Holy Eyes flash color to them as they fly, strobing their feathers with shards of your prismed white light.
This morning, seeing only one, free and jubilant in a thin sycamore, I consume it as part of your Delightful Essence, this day’s communion with you, grey and orange wafer filling me with mysteries of the primal dance from which we both began.
Today, in God’s Lavish Mercy, both Paul and Jesus speak forcefully against an endemic human fault: dishonesty.
Paul castigates “those who suppress the truth by their wickedness”:
The wrath of God is indeed being revealed from heaven against every impiety and wickedness of those who suppress the truth by their wickedness. For what can be known about God is evident to them, because God made it evident to them. Ever since the creation of the world, his invisible attributes of eternal power and divinity have been able to be understood and perceived in what he has made.
Romans 1:18-20
These “truth suppressors” are guilty for one reason – they know better! God’s Truth is evident to them in Creation yet they deny and pervert it for the sake of their own selfish ends.
As a result, they have no excuse; for although they knew God they did not accord him glory as God or give him thanks. Instead, they became vain in their reasoning, and their senseless minds were darkened. While claiming to be wise, they became fools and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for the likeness of an image of mortal man or of birds or of four-legged animals or of snakes.
Romans 1:20-23
Jesus defines this untruth more clearly. He says that it presents itself in pretense – the external dissimulation which masquerades narcissistic motivations:
The Pharisee (who had invited Jesus to dinner) was amazed to see that Jesus did not observe the prescribed washing before the meal. The Lord said to him, “Oh you Pharisees! Although you cleanse the outside of the cup and the dish, inside you are filled with plunder and evil. You fools! Did not the maker of the outside also make the inside? But as to what is within, give alms, and behold, everything will be clean for you.”
Luke 11:38-41
Jesus indicates that charity is the perfect “cleanser” for dirty cup interiors (and dingy moral codes). Sounds easy enough, doesn’t it? Well, maybe not so easy but certainly clear and simple.
Charity is rooted in the interior recognition that we are all children of our Creator and that we have a responsibility for one another’s welfare. Acting on that recognition is “almsgiving” which comes from the same Greek root, “eleemosyne“, as the word mercy.
Our world, like Paul’s, is challenged by the suppression of truth. Much of our visible culture is based on lies and pretense. Political hoodwinking, media non-objectivity, economic duplicity, and exploitive advertising conspire to convince us that:
we ourselves never are or have enough
anyone not “like us” is a threat to our insufficiency
foreigners are dangerous
power grants sovereignty
the poor are solely responsible for their poverty.
Jesus and Paul tell us that we must resist such lies, purify our hearts of their influence, and live a Gospel life of truth, charity, and mercy.
Prose: from the Catholic Encyclopedia:
I found this definition of almsgiving very thought-provoking because it indicates that “almsgiving or “mercy” is more than an act or actions. It is an attitude and lifestyle, a lens through which we consider all things in the light of the Gospel for the sake of the poor:
Any material favor done to assist the needy, and prompted by charity, is almsgiving. It is evident, then, that almsgiving implies much more than the transmission of some temporal commodity to the indigent. According to the creed of political economy, every material deed wrought by humans to benefit the needy is almsgiving. According to the creed of Christianity, almsgiving implies a material service rendered to the poor for Christ’s sake. Materially, there is scarcely any difference between these two views; formally, they are essentially different. This is why the inspired writer says: “Blessed is the one that considers the needy and the poor” (Psalm 40:2) — not the one that gives to the needy and the poor.
Music: The Prisoners’ Chorus – from Beethoven’s only operaFidelio
Fidelio is inspired by a true story from the French Revolution. It centers on a woman, Leonore, whose husband Florestan has been unjustly imprisoned by his political rival – the villainous Don Pizarro. In the magnificent “Prisoners’ Chorus”, the prisoners sing powerfully about the gift and need for freedom.
Oh what joy, in the open air Freely to breathe again! Up here alone is life! The dungeon is a grave.
FIRST PRISONER We shall with all our faith Trust in the help of God! Hope whispers softly in my ears! We shall be free, we shall find peace.
ALL THE OTHERS Oh Heaven! Salvation! Happiness! Oh Freedom! Will you be given us?
Today, in God’s Lavish Mercy, – and tomorrow – we finish up our short journey with the minor prophets with two passages from Joel.
Joel the Prophet by Michelangelo from the Sistine Chapel ceiling
Joel and his neighbors were living through a plague of locusts. The book begins with a stark warning to wake up and see the meaning of what is happening:
Listen to this, you elders! Pay attention, all who dwell in the land! Has anything like this ever happened in your lifetime, or in the lifetime of your ancestors?… What the cutter left the swarming locust has devoured; What the swarming locust left, the hopper has devoured; What the hopper left, the consuming locust has devoured. Wake up, you drunkards, and weep; wail, all you wine drinkers, Over the new wine, taken away from your mouths.
Joel 1:1-5
Although Joel’s agricultural disaster is part of ancient history, like other seemingly remote scriptural passages, it bears a startlingly apropos message for us today.
Joel gave voice to a ravaged earth that could not speak for itself. In his writings, earth and its people are intimately connected – each affected by and bearing the consequences of the other’s suffering. The devastation of the wheat fields and vineyards has robbed the worshippers of their most important possession – the staples to offer in praise of God:
Gird yourselves and weep, O priests! wail, O ministers of the altar! Come, spend the night in sackcloth, O ministers of my God! The house of your God is deprived of offering and libation. Proclaim a fast, call an assembly; Gather the elders, all who dwell in the land, Into the house of the LORD, your God, and cry to the LORD!
Joel 1:13-14
As Joel pleaded with his people to recognize their implication in the earth’s annihilation, so Pope Francis pleads with us in Laudate Deum:
Eight years have passed since I published the Encyclical Letter Laudato Si’, when I wanted to share with all of you, my brothers and sisters of our suffering planet, my heartfelt concerns about the care of our common home. Yet, with the passage of time, I have realized that our responses have not been adequate, while the world in which we live is collapsing and may be nearing the breaking point. In addition to this possibility, it is indubitable that the impact of climate change will increasingly prejudice the lives and families of many persons. We will feel its effects in the areas of healthcare, sources of employment, access to resources, housing, forced migrations, etc. (2)
This is a global social issue and one intimately related to the dignity of human life.(3)
Pope Francis recognizes, as did the prophet Joel, that there are “deniers” – climate change deniers and deniers of the sins of complicity.
Joel warns that such sinful denial will bear consquences not only on his current generation but on their children:
Yes, it is near, a day of darkness and of gloom, a day of clouds and somberness! Like dawn spreading over the mountains, a people numerous and mighty! Their like has not been from of old, nor will it be after them, even to the years of distant generations.
Joel 2: 1-2
Pope Francis voices a similar warning:
Climate change is one of the principal challenges facing society and the global community. The effects of climate change are borne by the most vulnerable people, whether at home or around the world. In a few words, the Bishops assembled for the Synod for Amazonia said the same thing: “Attacks on nature have consequences for people’s lives”. And to express bluntly that this is no longer a secondary or ideological question, but a drama that harms us all, the African bishops stated that climate change makes manifest “a tragic and striking example of structural sin”. (3)
Many of us don’t want to read about climate change much less pray about it. A lot of us don’t have a clue how we can help reverse the cataclysmic tide. We may even be a “denier” ourselves! But if we are, we are in a very small minority:
Robust studies of climate change perceptions in Australia, the UK and America show that only very small numbers of people actually deny that climate change is happening. The figures range from between 5 to 8% of the population. However this small minority can be influential in casting doubt on the science, spreading misinformation and impeding progress on climate policies.
from the Australian Psychological Society
The other 92% to 95% of us must pray and act with the global community to respond effectively to the summons of Pope Francis:
I ask everyone to accompany this pilgrimage of reconciliation with the world that is our home and to help make it more beautiful, because that commitment has to do with our personal dignity and highest values. At the same time, I cannot deny that it is necessary to be honest and recognize that the most effective solutions will not come from individual efforts alone, but above all from major political decisions on the national and international level. (69)
Nonetheless, every little bit helps, and avoiding an increase of a tenth of a degree in the global temperature would already suffice to alleviate some suffering for many people. Yet what is important is something less quantitative: the need to realize that there are no lasting changes without cultural changes, without a maturing of lifestyles and convictions within societies, and there are no cultural changes without personal changes. (70)
Video: from the Vatican website introducing Laudate Deum
(I chose to offer a reflection on the readings for the Memorial of St. Francis rather than for Wednesday of the Twenty-sixth Week)
Today, in God’s Lavish Mercy, we pray with St. Francis of Assisi (1181-1226) , one of the most revered figures in Christianity, an Italian mystic and Catholic friar who founded the Franciscans.
The simple holiness of St. Francis has had an immeasurable effect not only on Christianity but even on secular culture. No matter their religious interest, most people would recognize this humble, medieval itinerant preacher and understand the witness of his life.
from phillyvoice.com
Our current Holy Father, in a surprise move, chose St. Francis as his patron and model:
When the former Cardinal Jorge Mario Bergoglio went over the 77 votes needed to become pope, he said that his friend Cardinal Hummes “hugged me, kissed me and said, ‘Don’t forget the poor.’” At the time of his election, Pope Francis told thousands of journalists that he took to heart the words of his friend and chose to be called after St. Francis of Assisi, “the man of poverty, the man of peace, the man who loves and protects creation.”
In our readings today, both the Responsorial Psalm and the Gospel echo a spirituality deeply compatible with the Franciscan spirit.
Francis, who renounced his wealthy lifestyle and inheritance for the riches of Christ, surely found inspiration when he prayed Psalm 16:
You are my inheritance, O Lord. Keep me, O God, for in you I take refuge. I say to the LORD, “My Lord are you.” O LORD, my allotted portion and my cup, you it is who hold fast my lot.
I bless the LORD who counsels me; even in the night my heart exhorts me. I set the LORD ever before me; with him at my right hand I shall not be disturbed.
You will show me the path to life, fullness of joys in your presence, the delights at your right hand forever.
Most of us reading this reflection have so much in life. We are blessed beyond description with everything we need and even want. Praying in the spirit of St. Francis can help us discern how to honor and use what we have in a way that pleases God.
Keep a clear eye toward life’s end. Do not forget your purpose and destiny as God’s creature. What you are in God’s sight is what you are and nothing more. Remember that when you leave this earth, you can take nothing that you have received…but only what you have given; a full heart enriched by honest service, love, sacrifice, and courage.
Francis of Assisi
Poetry: ST. FRANCIS OF ASSISI – A SERMON TO THE BIRDS Francis made his deep spirituality and radical teaching easily accessible with unpretentious parables like this one. He imitated Jesus himself who taught us how to live by telling simple stories in which we could find ourselves. So let’s learn from this one, my little “birds”.
My little sisters the birds,
Ye owe much to God, your Creator,
And ye ought to sing his praise at all times and in all places,
Because he has given you liberty to fly about into all places;
And though ye neither spin nor sew,
He has given you a twofold and a threefold clothing
For yourselves and for your offspring.
Two of all your species He sent into the Ark with Noah
That you might not be lost to the world;
Besides which, He feeds you, though ye neither sow nor reap.
He has given you fountains and rivers to quench your thirst,
Mountains and valleys in which to take refuge,
And trees in which to build your nests;
So that your Creator loves you much,
Having thus favored you with such bounties.
Beware, my little sisters, of the sin of ingratitude,
And study always to give praise to God.” Amen
Today, in God’s Lavish Mercy, pray with Psalm 91 from the readings for the Mass of the Guardian Angels – those magnificent beings who carry God’s Presence to us in every situation of our lives.
The Lord shall deliver you from the snare of the hunter and from the deadly pestilence. The wings of the Lord shall cover you, and you shall find refuge under them; the faithfulness of God shall be a shield and buckler.
Psalm 91: 3-4
Maybe the only angels we ever think about are chubby little cherubs on Christmas cards. The cultural tendency to represent angels in that way diminishes the real power of these mighty and loving beings to inspire and guide us. Today might be a day to rethink our relationship with our Guardian Angels – to talk with them and to listen to the good things they tell us even without words.
Praying with the angels requires the unembarrassed simplicity of deep faith. Our culture has painted the angels with a patina of childishness, but that is far from their biblical representation. Angels are supernaturally powerful beings throughout both the Hebrew and Christian scriptures. If you meet a personal block in praying with your own guardian angels, pick one of the only three named in the Bible and consider that angel’s dynamic presence.
Gabriel: The angel Gabriel is an angel of God who is mentioned by name three times in the Bible when he brought messages from God to Daniel, Zechariah, and Mary.
Michael: the only one called “archangel” in the Bible. In the books of Daniel, Jude, and Revelation, Michael is described as a warrior angel who engages in spiritual combat.
Raphael: mentioned only in the Catholic canon of the Bible, Raphael has a key role in the Book of Tobit
Poem: Touched by an Angel by Maya Angelou
We, unaccustomed to courage, exiles from delight, live coiled in shells of loneliness until love leaves its high holy temple and comes into our sight to liberate us into life. Love arrives and in its train come ecstasies old memories of pleasure ancient histories of pain. Yet if we are bold, love strikes away the chains of fear from our souls. We are weaned from our timidity In the flush of love’s light we dare be brave And suddenly we see that love costs all we are and will ever be. Yet it is only love which sets us free
Today, in God’s Lavish Mercy, we pray with Psalm 145, a luxuriant song of praise to a God who overwhelms us with generosity.
I will extol you, my God and king; I will bless your name forever and ever.
Every day I will bless you; I will praise your name forever and ever.
Great is the LORD and worthy of much praise, whose grandeur is beyond understanding.
Psalm 145: 1-3
Citing verses 13-20 which are structured around the word “all”, Walter Brueggemann says:
The image is an overflow of limitless blessing given without reservation to all who are in need and turn to the Creator.
… Which brings us to Nathaniel and how this prayer might have sung in his heart.
I got to be friends with Nathaniel sixty years ago when, at my reception into our community, Mother Bernard decided to give me his name. And after an initial shock, I came to love it.
Nathaniel and I have spent countless hours under his fig tree sharing both our lives. I’ve asked him many times what he was thinking about when Philip came to invite him to meet Jesus. Nathaniel always has a different answer… one amazingly similar to whatever happens to be preoccupying me at the time.😇
a favorite old book that started some of my conversations with Nathaniel
One element remains constant in every circumstance: in his quiet moments, Nathaniel sought God’s Light. As our Gospel shows, that Luminous Word came to him and he responded.
I think that in our “fig tree moments”, we have finally sifted through all that we are capable of in order to find Grace in our lives. Now we wait, in the shade and quiet of prayer, for the True Answer to invite us into Its Mystery.
When that answering Word comes, it shatters our doubts and pretenses like eggshells. And through the shattered shells, the Word releases new life in us. We move deeper into the unbreakable Wholeness and Infinity. Like Nathaniel, even in our ordinary lives, we begin to “see greater things” than we had ever imagined.
Nathanael said to him, “How do you know me?” Jesus answered and said to him, “Before Philip called you, I saw you under the fig tree.” Nathanael answered him, “Rabbi, you are the Son of God; you are the King of Israel.” Jesus answered and said to him, “Do you believe because I told you that I saw you under the fig tree? You will see greater things than this.” And he said to him, “Amen, amen, I say to you, you will see heaven opened and the angels of God ascending and descending on the Son of Man.”
John 1:48-51
After that momentous afternoon when he was drawn from his figgy shade into the Light, Nathaniel’s life became a hymn of praise and thanksgiving.
Let all your works give you thanks, O LORD, and let your faithful ones bless you. Let them discourse of the glory of your Kingdom and speak of your might.
Psalm 145:10-11
Poem-Prayer from Christine Robinson
Psalm 145 – Opening Heart
I exalt you, Holy One, and open my heart to you by remembering your great love. Your expansiveness made this beautiful world in a universe too marvelous to understand. Your desire created life, and you nurtured that life with your spirit. You cherish us all—and your prayer in us is for our own flourishing. You are gracious to us slow to anger and full of kindness You touch us with your love—speak to us with your still, small voice, hold us when we fall. You lift up those who are oppressed by systems and circumstances. You open your hand and satisfy us. You ask us to call on you— and even when you seem far away, our longings call us back to you. Hear my cry, O God, for some days, it is all I have.
Music: I Will Praise Your Name – Bob Fitts
Lord I will praise your name I will praise your name I will praise your name and extol You
I will praise Your name (I will praise Your name) I will praise Your name I will praise Your name As I behold You
I will magnify, I will glorify I will lift on high Your name, Lord Jesus I will magnify, I will glorify I will lift on high Your name, Lord Jesus
For Your love is never ending And Your mercy ever true I will bless Your name Lord Jesus For my heart belongs to You
I will praise Your name I will praise Your name I will praise Your name and extol you
I will magnify, I will glorify I will lift on high Your name, Lord Jesus For Your love is never ending And Your mercy ever true
I will bless Your name Lord Jesus For my heart belongs to You I will praise Your name I will praise Your name I will praise Your name and extol you I will magnify, I will glorify I will lift on high Your name, Lord Jesus
Today, in God’s Lavish Mercy, Moses recounts for the people God’s immense generosity toward them.
Have you ever heard yourself, or someone dear to you, saying, “God has been so good to me!” Such a statement rises out of our awe at God’s love and mercy to us.
The deeper our faith, the clearer our insight into these gifts. I have heard people in the sparest of circumstances utter such a prayer. How can they do that, we might ask?
In all cases, there is a beautiful humility, trust, and generosity emanating from their spirits. Gratitude has transformed them. Hope, not wishing, has freed them.
Moses wants his People to be like that. He says:
Think! The heavens, even the highest heavens, belong to the LORD, your God, as well as the earth and everything on it. Yet in his love for your fathers the LORD was so attached to them as to choose you, their descendants …
This is your glory, he, your God, who has done for you those great and awesome things which your own eyes have seen.
I want to be that kind of grateful, faith-filled person too. Don’t you?
Today’s profound advice from Moses can help us as we pray its words into our own lives.
Poetry: Praying the whole of today’s Responsorial Psalm 147 can also help us recognize our blessings. I love this transliteration by Christine Robinson.
Psalm 147 - Mother of All Creation
It is good to sing praises to you,
Mother of all creation.
And to recognize the touch of your love.
You bring us home, help us heal,
You love your creation
You call every one of your stars by name.
You bless the young, the poor, the ill
You wait forever for the lost to turn to you.
Your love is music to our hearts, and we sing.
You are in the clouds that darken the sky
You send the rain which gives us life.
The cycles of the seasons and the growth of the plants
are your delight.
You provide food for the wild animals
even the young ravens when they cry.
You love the horse’s proud strength
and the athlete’s prowess.
You crave our love and attention.
And so we pray.
We give thanks for life, for children, for the beauty of the snow
that lies soft in the morning.
We give thanks for the storm,
the hail, scattered like popcorn on the grass.
We are in awe of your power.
When the seasons turn, the growing warmth
reminds us of your warmth
The flowing waters remind us
of the life which comes from you.
Thank you, Mother of us all, help us
to keep your love in our hearts and to love your creation.
Music: Your Grace Still Amazes Me – Philips, Craig and Dean
Lavish Mercy 