And everyone who has given up houses or brothers or sisters or father or mother or children or lands for the sake of my name will receive a hundred times more, and will inherit eternal life. But many who are first will be last, and the last will be first. Matthew 19:29-30
Today’s Gospel builds on yesterday’s theme: what is it that we have to give up to inherit eternal life? We might interpret this Gospel passage to mean that we have to give up everything to achieve perfection – “houses, brothers, sisters…”.
But I think it means not so much what we have to give up as what we need to acquire. We need to acquire that absolute thirst for God that allows us, when necessary, to put everything else aside.
Thought:
“A thousand half-loves must be forsaken to take one whole heart home.”
Jesus said to him, “If you wish to be perfect, go, sell what you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me.” When the young man heard this statement, he went away sad, for he had many possessions. Matthew 19:21-22
All of us who pray the Gospel have probably, at one time or another, put ourselves in the place of this young man. We don’t want to “go away sad” from the invitation of Jesus. We’re good people who want to be even better. What is that final gift that we must give to God to become the full person God created us to be?
Today, in God’s Lavish Mercy: We listen to God speaking in our lives. There is always a call to greater intimacy with God through our living out of the Gospel. May we have the grace and courage to hear this infinite call.
Poetry: The Call of the Far – Rabindranath Tagore
Ever I am restless I am athirst for the far. My time passes by And in an absent mind I keep waiting at my window Hoping and hoping you will come. O how my entire being Is eager for your intimate touch! O you far, O you boundless far So irresistible is the call of your flute But I forget I have no wings I am bound to one place. I am listless, I am indifferent. At the sun-tinged lazy midday Among the rustling of the trees In the play of light and shade In the blue of the sky I get a glimpse of your fugitive form. O you far, O you boundless far So irresistible is the call of your flute But I forget my doors are barred.
Wisdom has built her house, she has set up her seven columns; she has dressed her meat, mixed her wine, yes, she has spread her table. She has sent out her maidens; she calls from the heights out over the city: “Let whoever is simple turn in here; To the one who lacks understanding, she says, Come, eat of my food, and drink of the wine I have mixed! Forsake foolishness that you may live; advance in the way of understanding.” Proverbs 9:1-6
Proverbs offers us the beautiful image of Divine Wisdom setting a table of grace for our nourishment.
In our Gospel, Jesus tells us that he is the divine nourishment foretold in Proverbs. Some resist Jesus’s invitation. Their faith languishes even while there is sacred food before them.
Today, in God’s Lavish Mercy: We give thanks for the Bread of Life given to us in Eucharist, Gospel, Creation, community, and merciful action. We ask for the grace to see God’s nourishing Presence right before us in our daily lives.
Poetry: I Am the Bread of Life – Malcolm Guite
Where to get bread? An ever-pressing question That trembles on the lips of anxious mothers, Bread for their families, bread for all these others; A whole world on the margin of exhaustion. And where that hunger has been satisfied Where to get bread? The question still returns In our abundance something starves and yearns We crave fulfillment, crave and are denied.
And then comes One who speaks into our needs Who opens out the secret hopes we cherish Whose presence calls our hidden hearts to flourish Whose words unfold in us like living seeds Come to me, broken, hungry, incomplete, I Am the Bread of Life, break Me and eat.
Jesus said to his disciples: “Amen, amen, I say to you, unless a grain of wheat falls to the ground and dies, it remains just a grain of wheat; but if it dies, it produces much fruit. John 12:24
The great paradox of existence is that, in order to live, we must die. It is a truth endemic to all Creation. It is a reality lived out in all relationships.
Jesus cites this universal truth to teach his disciples the key to eternal life. We must die to self to find our life in God.
Today, in God’s Lavish Mercy: We prayerfully reflect on the times when this truth has been evident in our lives. When have we found new life? When have we experienced the freedom to grow? What had to die in us before these graces could transform us?
Poetry: Unless a Grain of Wheat – Malcolm Guite
Oh let me fall as grain to the good earth And die away from all dry separation, Die to my sole self, and find new birth Within that very death, a dark fruition, Deep in this crowded underground, to learn The earthy otherness of every other, To know that nothing is achieved alone But only where these other fallen gather.
If I bear fruit and break through to bright air, Then fall upon me with your freeing flail To shuck this husk and leave me sheer and clear As heaven-handled Hopkins, that my fall May be more fruitful and my autumn still A golden evening where your barns are full.
Music: Unless a Grain of Wheat Shall Fall – Bernadette Farrell
Jesus said to his disciples, “Whoever wishes to come after me must deny himself, take up his cross, and follow me. For whoever wishes to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will find it. Matthew 16: 24-25
This passage from Matthew is one of the most astounding challenges Jesus gave his disciples: deny yourself, take up your cross, follow me.
What does it really mean to deny oneself? Does it mean to become a doormat or a Milquetoast? Does it suggest repressing one’s personality or ambitions? To act like a nobody?
Of course not! So many places in both the Hebrew and Christian scriptures assure us that we are unique, precious, and beloved of God. God doesn’t want us not to be ourselves because that’s who we were created to be!
I think denying oneself means not getting caught in the mirror of selfishness. Instead we are called to focus on Jesus and his absolute care for all Creation, especially those who are poor, sick, outcast, and troubled. We can’t really do that if we are consumed with self-interest.
Today, in God’s Lavish Mercy: We ask for the grace to be aware, brave, and faithful enough to put the good of others first for the sake of Christ.
Poetry: As the Ruin Falls – C.S. Lewis
All this is flashy rhetoric about loving you.
I never had a selfless thought since I was born.
I am mercenary and self-seeking through and through: I want God, you, all friends, merely to serve my turn.
Peace, re-assurance, pleasure, are the goals I seek, I cannot crawl one inch outside my proper skin: I talk of love --a scholar's parrot may talk Greek-- But, self-imprisoned, always end where I begin.
Only that now you have taught me (but how late) my lack.
I see the chasm. And everything you are was making My heart into a bridge by which I might get back From exile, and grow man. And now the bridge is breaking.
For this I bless you as the ruin falls. The pains You give me are more precious than all other gains.
Music: Deny Yourself – Paul Melley
Deny yourself. Take up your cross . Despite the pain Despite the cost. Leave all behind and follow me. Deny yourself, be free.
For what will it profit to gain the world and lose your life? Those who would save their life will lose it. What can you give in return for your life? For those would lose their life will find it. Deny yourself.
Come, take up your cross and daily follow me and you will have rich reward in heaven. Those who have left their home and family for his sake inherit one hundred fold, inherit eternal life. Deny yourself.
What can you give in return for your life? For those who would lose their life, lose their life will find it Deny yourself
Lord, you reveal the depth of your life and your love in your everlasting covenant. Strengthen the faith we share, fill our work with your love, and bring all of us to grace, to the grace you promise.
Beloved: We did not follow cleverly devised myths when we made known to you the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, but we had been eyewitnesses of his majesty. For he received honor and glory from God the Father when that unique declaration came to him from the majestic glory, “This is my Son, my beloved, with whom I am well pleased.” We ourselves heard this voice come from heaven while we were with him on the holy mountain. Moreover, we possess the prophetic message that is altogether reliable. You will do well to be attentive to it, as to a lamp shining in a dark place, until day dawns and the morning star rises in your hearts. 2 Peter 1:16-19
This beautiful passage from Peter shines with faith, adoration, and praise. It invites us to let go of our “thinking” about God and, instead, to bask in the Divine Glory of which our faith assures us.
Today, in God’s Lavish Mercy: The Feast of the Transfiguration beckons us to be with God in the way we would be with someone we deeply love – not analyzing the bliss, but resting in it gratefully and contentedly.
Poetry: Transfiguration – Malcolm Guite
For that one moment, ‘in and out of time’, On that one mountain where all moments meet, The daily veil that covers the sublime In darkling glass fell dazzled at his feet. There were no angels full of eyes and wings Just living glory full of truth and grace. The Love that dances at the heart of things Shone out upon us from a human face And to that light the light in us leaped up, We felt it quicken somewhere deep within, A sudden blaze of long-extinguished hope Trembled and tingled through the tender skin. Nor can this blackened sky, this darkened scar Eclipse that glimpse of how things really are.
Remove from me the way of falsehood, and favor me with your law. Take not the word of truth from my mouth, for in your ordinances is my hope. Psalm 19:29,43
The passage from Jeremiah tells the story of the false prophet Hananiah who offered a counterfeit hope because he did not have a true relationship with God. Jeremiah’s message, which called for sincere repentance, was honest but not popular.
Today’s Psalm 19 is a prayer for the courage to listen to and live in God’s Truth, not to ascribe to a false message just because that is the one we want to hear.
Today, in God’s Lavish Mercy: We pray for the courage to hear God’s Word in the truth of our hearts, a truth created by living a life of prayer, spiritual honesty, repentance, and mercy.
Poetry: Tell All the Truth – Emily Dickinson
Tell all the truth but tell it slant — Success in Circuit lies Too bright for our infirm Delight The Truth's superb surprise As Lightning to the Children eased With explanation kind The Truth must dazzle gradually Or every man be blind —
Music: Great Is Thy Faithfulness – written by Thomas Chisholm (1866–1960)
Then the LORD said to Moses, “I will now rain down bread from heaven for you. Each day the people are to go out and gather their daily portion; thus will I test them, to see whether they follow my instructions or not.
“I have heard the grumbling of the Israelites. Tell them: In the evening twilight you shall eat flesh, and in the morning you shall have your fill of bread, so that you may know that I, the LORD, am your God.” Exodus 16:11-12
In both our readings, God recognizes physical hunger and ties it to spiritual strength.
In our Gospel, Jesus makes the connection clear. He tells his followers:
“For the bread of God is that which comes down from heaven and gives life to the world.”
No matter how much we are “fed”, we will never be satisfied until our nurture blesses the rest of the world as well as ourselves.
Today, in God’s Lavish Mercy: We ask to be more aware of, grateful for, and generous with the blessings we have received.
Poetry: Bread – Richard Levine
Each night, in a space he’d make between waking and purpose, my grandfather donned his one suit, in our still dark house, and drove through Brooklyn’s deserted streets following trolley tracks to the bakery.
There he’d change into white linen work clothes and cap, and in the absence of women, his hands were both loving, well into dawn and throughout the day— kneading, rolling out, shaping
each astonishing moment of yeasty predictability in that windowless world lit by slightly swaying naked bulbs, where the shadows staggered, woozy with the aromatic warmth of the work.
Then, the suit and drive, again. At our table, graced by a loaf that steamed when we sliced it, softened the butter and leavened the very air we’d breathe, he’d count us blessed.
I went down to the potter’s house and there he was, working at the wheel. Whenever the object of clay which he was making turned out badly in his hand, he tried again, remaking of the clay another object of whatever sort he pleased. Then the word of the LORD came to me: Can I not do to you, house of Israel, as this potter has done? says the LORD. Indeed, like clay in the hand of the potter, so are you in my hand, house of Israel. Jeremiah 18:3-6
In the simple image of a potter with clay, we come to understand the transformative power of God’s grace. Like nourishment for a precious plant, that divine grace breathes new life into any fading flowers of faith, hope, and love. Jesus came among us so that we might be remade in his image as the Beloved of God.
Today, in God’s Lavish Mercy: We pray for a supple heart, an acute attention, and a patient openness to God’s power in our lives.
Poetry: The Song of the Potter – Henry Wadsworth Longfellow
Turn, turn, my wheel! Turn round and round, Without a pause, without a sound: So spins the flying world away! This clay, well mixed with marl and sand, Follows the motion of my hand; For some must follow, and some command, Though all are made of clay!
Turn, turn, my wheel! All things must change To something new, to something strange; Nothing that is can pause or stay; The moon will wax, the moon will wane, The mist and cloud will turn to rain, The rain to mist and cloud again, To-morrow be to-day.
Turn, turn, my wheel! All life is brief; What now is bud will soon be leaf, What now is leaf will soon decay; The wind blows east, the wind blows west; The blue eggs in the robin's nest Will soon have wings and beak and breast, And flutter and fly away.
Turn, turn, my wheel! This earthen jar A touch can make, a touch can mar; And shall it to the Potter say, What makest thou? Thou hast no hand? As men who think to understand A world by their Creator planned, Who wiser is than they.
Turn, turn, my wheel! 'Tis nature's plan The child should grow into the man, The man grow wrinkled, old, and gray; In youth the heart exults and sings, The pulses leap, the feet have wings; In age the cricket chirps, and brings The harvest home of day.
Turn, turn, my wheel! The human race, Of every tongue, of every place, Caucasian, Coptic, or Malay, All that inhabit this great earth, Whatever be their rank or worth, Are kindred and allied by birth, And made of the same clay.
Turn, turn, my wheel! What is begun At daybreak must at dark be done, To-morrow will be another day; To-morrow the hot furnace flame Will search the heart and try the frame, And stamp with honor or with shame These vessels made of clay.
Stop, stop, my wheel! Too soon, too soon The noon will be the afternoon, Too soon to-day be yesterday; Behind us in our path we cast The broken potsherds of the past, And all are ground to dust at last, And trodden into clay.
Again, the Kingdom of heaven is like a merchant searching for fine pearls. When he finds a pearl of great price, he goes and sells all that he has and buys it. Matthew 13:45-46
On this feast, our readings offer us a perfect understanding of what motivated the life of St. Ignatius Loyola – he gave everything to possess the pearl of eternal life.
Today, in God’s Lavish Mercy: We pray the Suscipe of Ignatius, asking to deepen in our understanding of how we are called to holiness in our particular life circumstances.
Poetry: As Kingfishers Catch Fire – Gerard Manley Hopkins, SJ
As kingfishers catch fire, dragonflies draw flame; As tumbled over rim in roundy wells Stones ring; like each tucked string tells, each hung bell’s Bow swung finds tongue to fling out broad its name; Each mortal thing does one thing and the same: Deals out that being indoors each one dwells; Selves — goes itself; myself it speaks and spells, Crying Whát I dó is me: for that I came.
I say móre: the just man justices; Keeps grace: thát keeps all his goings graces; Acts in God’s eye what in God’s eye he is — Chríst — for Christ plays in ten thousand places, Lovely in limbs, and lovely in eyes not his To the Father through the features of men’s faces.
Music: Take, Lord, Receive – John Foley, SJ
Take, Lord, receive all my liberty, My memory, understanding, my entire will.
Give me only Your love and Your grace, that’s enough for me. Your love and Your grace, are enough for me.
Take, Lord, receive all I have and possess. You have given all to me, now I return it.
Give me only Your love and Your grace, that’s enough for me. Your love and Your grace, are enough for me.
Take, Lord, receive, all is Yours now. Dispose of it, wholly according to Your will
Give me only Your love and Your grace, that’s enough for me. Your love and Your grace, are enough for me.
Lavish Mercy 