Breaking the Word

Monday, February 11, 2008

Monday in the 1st Week of Lent
Remembering Why

Readings: Leviticus 19:1-2, 11-18; Psalm 19:8, 9, 10, 15; Matthew 25:31-46

Lent is a good time to remember what we should and should not do as Christians. It is a good time to examine our conscience to see how well we are keeping the commandments. And today’s readings help us to do this by recalling for us some of the key dos and don’ts of our faith. You shall not act dishonestly… You shall not go around spreading slander… You shall not stand by idly when your neighbor’s life is at stake… You shall not bear hatred for your brother in your heart… You shall love your neighbor as yourself… Feed the hungry… Clothe the naked… Welcome the stranger…. Visit the prisoner... Of course, we already know all this. Even so, from time to time, it’s good to be reminded, so that we can check ourselves.

But this is only one part of what our readings are telling us today. Even more important than the details of what we should and should not do, our readings help us to remember why. They recall for us the reason for keeping the commandments. We find this, for example, in the same sentence that occurs no less than four times in the brief first reading: I am the Lord. For the people of Israel, these four words are loaded with meaning. They remind them not only of why they should obey, but also of whom they are obeying. For this Lord who is giving them all these commandments is the same One who has freed them from slavery in Egypt, accompanied them through their years of wandering in the wilderness, and is now leading them into the Promised Land. This is the Lord their God, who has shown himself to be as powerful as he is merciful, slow to anger and abounding in love. This is the One who has their best interests at heart. This is the One who is teaching them the way to true happiness. Be holy, for I, the Lord, your God, am holy.

And, for us who are Christian, our readings give us even more reason to obey. For they remind us that, in Christ, the God of the Israelites has become one of us, even to the point of accepting death on a cross. And, of course, every one of us has his or her own personal memories of how the Lord has freed us and saved us, of how the Lord has been faithful to us and is continually showing us the way to happiness and fullness of life. How then can we not listen to the voice of the Lord? How can we not show mercy to those most in need, when Jesus clearly reminds us that any kindness shown to others is shown to him? Whatever you did for one of these least brothers of mine, you did for me…

Lent is indeed a good time to remember what we should and should not do. But, perhaps even more than that, it is also primarily a time for remembering why and whom it is we obey.

What memories do the readings evoke in you today?

1 comment:

AnonymousTue Feb 12, 08:24:00 am GMT+8
Last weekend's edition of The Sunday Times carried a news report on a handful of contractors / suppliers who turned down contracts offerred them by the Integrated Resorts, on the grounds that gambling goes against the grain of their business ethics. Although the sum involved was not large, these corporations nonetheless made a very potent statement - and paid the price for it. In big time business and corporate life, it is very easy to drown out the voice of the LORD by rationalising and by being beguiled by competing voices.

Like tuning into a radio station, one needs to filter off all stray signals and noise. This pre-supposes that one KNOWS the frequency of the desired radio station and what constitute 'stray signals' and 'noise'. And the means to do this is grace. Gratuitous grace.

Looking back, the LORD HAS freed me. He HAS been faithful to me. He HAS taught me true happiness. My faith journey has been one led by an incredibly patient and loving Father, mentor and friend. Amazing grace.
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Breaking News: Ordinary Time

Apart from those seasons having their own distinctive character, thirty-three or thirty-four weeks remain in the yearly cycle that do not celebrate a specific aspect of the mystery of Christ. Rather, especially on the Sundays, they are devoted to the mystery of Christ in all its aspects. This period is known as Ordinary Time. Ordinary Time begins on Monday after the Sunday following 6 January and continues until Tuesday before Ash Wednesday inclusive. It begins again on Monday after Pentecost and ends before Evening Prayer I of the First Sunday of Advent. This is also the reason for the series of liturgical texts found in both the Roman Missal and The Liturgy of the Hours (Vol. III - IV), for Sundays and weekdays in this season. ~ General Norms for the Liturgical Year & Calendar, 43-44

From 36th Jesuit General Congregation

It is our union with one another in Christ that testifies to the Good News more powerfully than our competences and abilities.... In our individualistic and competitive age, we should remember that the community plays a very special role since it is a privileged place of apostolic discernment.... The Jesuit community is a concrete space in which we live as friends in the Lord. This life together is always at the service of mission, but because these fraternal bonds proclaim the Gospel, it is itself a mission. –Companions in a Mission of Reconciliation and Justice (CMRJ), nn. 7-9.

With the poor, we can learn what hope and courage mean.... In our communities and apostolates, we hear the call to rediscover hospitality to strangers, to the young, to the poor, and to those who are persecuted. Christ himself teaches us this hospitality. –CMRJ, nn. 15-16.

At the heart of Ignatian spirituality is the transforming encounter with the mercy of God in Christ that moves us to a generous personal response. The experience of the merciful gaze of God on our weakness and sinfulness humbles us and fills us with gratitude, helping us to become compassionate ministers to all.... For us Jesuits, compassion is action, an action discerned together. Yet we know that there is no authentic familiarity with God if we do not allow ourselves to be moved to compassion and action by an encounter with the Christ who is revealed in the suffering, vulnerable faces of people, indeed in the suffering of creation. –CMRJ, nn. 19-20.

(T)he Society must respond more decisively to the Church’s call for a new evangelization, giving special emphasis to ministry to and with the young and with families.... A special gift Jesuits and the Ignatian family have to offer to the Church and her mission of evangelization is Ignatian spirituality, which facilitates the experience of God and can therefore greatly help the process of personal and communal conversion. –CMRJ, nn. 22-23.

In many societies, there is an increased level of conflict and polarization, which often gives rise to violence that is all the more appalling because it is motivated and justified by distorted religious convictions. In such situations, Jesuits, along with all who seek the common good, are called to contribute from their religious-spiritual traditions towards the building of peace, on local and global levels. –CMRJ, n. 28.

Pope Francis has emphasized the fundamental connection between the environmental crisis and the social crisis in which we live today. Poverty, social exclusion, and marginalization are linked with environmental degradation. These are not separate crises but one crisis that is a symptom of something much deeper: the flawed way societies and economies are organised. The current economic system with its predatory orientation discards natural resources as well as people. For this reason, Pope Francis insists that the only adequate solution must be a radical one. The direction of development must be altered if it is to be sustainable. We Jesuits are called to help heal a broken world, promoting a new way of producing and consuming, which puts God’s creation at the center.... The multifaceted challenge of caring for our common home calls for a multifaceted response from the Society. We begin by changing our personal and community lifestyles, adopting behaviour coherent with our desire for reconciliation with creation. – CMRJ, nn. 29-30

From 35th Jesuit General Congregation

From General Congregation 35

By sending us to 'those physical and spiritual places which others do not or have difficulty reaching,' the Pope entrusts to us the task to 'build bridges of understanding and dialogue,' according to the best tradition of the Society, in the diversity of its ministries.
- Decree With Renewed Fervor and Dynamism, n. 6

To be missioned to this work 'at the New Frontiers of our times' always requires that one also be rooted at the very heart of the Church. This tension, specific to the Ignatian charism, opens the way to true creative fidelity.
- Decree With Renewed Fervor and Dynamism, n. 13

In every mission that we carry out, we seek only to be where (Christ) sends us. The grace we receive as Jesuits is to be and to go with him, looking on the world with his eyes, loving it with his heart and entering into its depths with his unending compassion.
- Decree on Identity, n. 15

For ultimately, there is no reality that is only profane for those who know how to look. We must communicate this look and provide a pedagogy inspired by the Spiritual Exercises, that carries people - especially the young - into it.
- Decree on Identity, n. 10

Our ministries of proclamation of the Word and the celebration of the Life of Christ in the sacraments continue to be fundamental for our mission and our lives together as Jesuits.
- Decree on Mission, n. 19

The complexity of the problems we face and the richness of the opportunities offered demand that we engage in building bridges between rich and poor and establishing advocacy links of mutual support between those who hold political power and those who find it difficult to voice their interests. Our intellectual apostolate provides an inestimable help in setting up these bridges, offering us new ways of understanding in depth the mechanism and links among our present problems.
- Decree on Mission, n. 28

Jesuit community is not just for mission, it is itself mission.
- Decree on Mission, n. 41

In this global context it is important to highlight the extraordinary potential represented by our character as an international and multicultural body. Acting consistently with this character can not only enhance the apostolic effectiveness of our work but in a fragmented and divided world it can witness to the reconciliation in solidarity of all the children of God.
- Decree on Mission, n. 43

Faith in Jesus Christ teaches us that self-realization comes from self-giving and that freedom is not so much the power to choose as the power to order our choices toward love. At the same time, love for Jesus Christ and the desire to follow him call us to trusting commitment. Commitment to the Word Incarnate cannot be separated from commitment to the concrete manifestations of the Word that are at the center of our lives, the Church and the Society which exists to serve the Church.
- Decree on Obedience, n. 19