Due to working on a seminary application, a trip to England, and a pilrimage to Fatima, I won't be posting any more blog articles for the next two weeks.

Peace in Christ!

O God We Ponder Your Mercy

Today, Jesus teaches us "Do to others whatever you would have them do to you." It's the golden rule, something we've all heard before, but not something we often live. When someone wrongs us, we want justice. If someone hurt our good name, we want the perpetrator to pay for it. We want vengeance. If someone scratched our car, we want them to pay for it. Or if someone borrowed money from us, we want every penny back. Yet, when we borrow more money than we can return or hurt someone's good name, we want forgiveness. We want mercy and lenience, not justice.

Jesus tells an excellent parable about this. There's a servant who owes his master a lot of money. When the master sees that the servant can't pay back his debt, he is kind and merciful and forgives the debts of the servant. However, the servant then goes and finds those who him a much smaller amount. He abuses and threatens these people, demanding that they pay up. He has this double standard of mercy where he can receive mercy while denying it to others.

The parable makes it clear that not doing to others whatever you would have them do to you threatens your salvation. The parable concludes that the servant is delivered to the jailers until he pays the whole debt. Jesus admonishes us "So also my heavenly Father will do to every one of you, if you do not forgive your brother from your heart" (Mt. 18:25).

Our salvation is not won by faith alone. Salvation cannot be had apart from grace and faith, but works of mercy are an essential ingredient. But how can this be? Heaven is beyond the power of every human person. There is no act that we could do on our own to merit an eternal reward. Eternal life can only be given as a free gift from God; it is not a payment for something that is due to us.

As Catholics, we maintain that our salvation is by grace alone through faith and works. As I've said before, God freely bestows His grace by uniting Himself to the inner most being of ourselves and stamping us with his image. This is God's grace: it is the transformation of our interior life to conform us to the life of Jesus. By God's grace we begin to know and love God like Jesus knows and loves his Father. This can happen to such a degree that St. Paul says of himself, "it is no longer I who live, but it is Christ who lives in me" (Gal 2:20).

This is one of my favorite quotes from Scripture because it succinctly proclaims the radical good news of the Gospel. By virtue of the graces that come to us in Baptism, Jesus lives and reigns in us. We are transformed from our old ways of sin and death into a divine life. We live now in the power of the Spirit no longer performing merely human acts of virtue, but divine acts. My brothers and sisters, we have the power to live like God.

When we keep this in mind, we can see our salvation is won by both grace and good works. If I do the work on my own, I might not deserve an eternal reward, but if it is Christ who works in me, then our Father will richly reward us. We have "become partakers in the divine nature" (2 Pt. 1:3). This is what God's grace accomplishes by stamping us with His own image: it makes us to share in the very being of God. It is obvious that I could not do that on my own, but it is also obvious that an act done out of our participation in the Divine nature is cries out for a super natural reward.

But often we choose not to act out of divine life given to us as a gift. When God shows us great mercy, we fail to show others mercy. We fail to do onto others as we would have them do onto us. That's why the gate to Heaven is narrow, but the gate which leads to destruction is wide and broad. Those are sobering words from Jesus, but keep in mind the good news. Jesus has given you the power to be children of God in your baptism, and every day you come before the altar to receive Holy Communion He renews that grace in you. Therefore, approach God in confidence, knowing that whenever you encounter the temptation to be selfish or are afraid of doing what's right and pleasing in the sight of God, our God is here to save.

Treasures in Heaven

"For the LORD has chosen Zion; he prefers her for his dwelling." Zion is a pre-figurement of the Church, that is you and me. Hence, when we see the Old Testament referring to "Zion" we can consider is referring to us. Psalmist, then, says to us today, "For the LORD has chosen you; he prefers you for his dwelling." The Lord is asking us to allow Him into our hearts as He gives Himself in love. It is up to us to invite Him in and reciprocate this gift.

We do this by storing up our treasures in Heaven. To store up our treasures in heaven means to live a life of self-sacrifice, giving up the treasures of this world to accept nothing but God as the final object of our love. This is most clearly seen when we daily pick up our Cross to follow the Lord and when we love without being loved in return. We people insult us and we don't return their insults; we pick up our Cross. When our children are being brats, but we deal with them patiently and mercifully; we pick up our Cross. When we fast or offer up penances, we pick up our cross turning aside earthly goods to make room for the spiritual goods of Heaven.

It was the opinion of St. Chrysostom the Jesus was using a metaphor for the understanding. When we use our understanding correctly, we are filled with the Truth. We are able to see reality clearly just like the eye is able to see reality clearly when it is filled with light. From this Jesus draws the conclusion that if our understanding is filled with darkness, that is with lies and falsity, then our soul will be filled with darkness. This is because how we act is based on what we understand to be the right way to act. Some people think that it is the point of their lives to store up earthly treasures, and if they believe this then they are never going to want to store up heavenly treasures.

Athaliah, the mother of Ahaziah, is a woman who had this false opinion of the world. She let the eye of her understanding be clouded with the splendor of earthly goods. She becomes ruthless because of this desire and slaughters princes who had the right to the throne and takes all the power of Israel for herself. It's scary how much the lust for power and earthly riches can contort the human heart. But one does have to be as ruthless as Athaliah to be corrupted by the desire for earthly goods. People like to be selfish with their money. They give very little to the Church or to Charities. They're often concerned with maintaining their reputations and will lie and slander others in order to preserve it. We might spend our time being slothful and lazy, so we won't pray or come to Church or be attentive to our wife and children. There are myriads of ways that we put earthly goods before the Lord.

This is why truth is so critical to the Christian life. If we are not filling our intellect with the truth, but instead filling it with lies, we're going to lead ourselves into sin. To prevent this Christ gave us the Sacred Scriptures, Sacred Tradition, and an infallible Magisterium to guarantee that we could know the Truth. He did not want to take any chances. So avail yourselves of these resources! Use them to conform your life to the Cross of Jesus which was holocaust offered to the Lord, sending up billowing incense to our Heavenly Father. Today Christ gave us an important truth: where your treasure is there your heart is. Hang on to that truth and make use of it.

Our Father who art in Heaven

It is job as Christians to always keep our eyes on the Father. Throughout the day we are to be constantly, and I mean constantly—whenever we can to be turning our minds to the Father, our God whom we love above all else. Now, we might not be able to always psychologically be able to think of God at every moment. As human beings we can only think so many things at one time! Yet, when our minds are not busy with some other task it behooves us to turn our mind to our Father who art in Heaven.

We think of our Father because He truly is a Father to us. He created us in an act of love in such a way that we are his very image just like children are the image of their father. Even more than earthly fathers, our Heavenly Father knows everything there is to know about us. He knows every hair on our head and everything that happens in the depths of our hearts because He is enthralled with the wonder of His creation, which reflects His own glory. He also provides everything that we need. He knows what we need even before we ask.

We don't need to babble on and on about what we need when we're in trouble. It is sometimes helpful for us to explain to God in detail what is troubling us and what we feel we need, but it's not about us instructing God as if He was ignorant. Rather, we use words in prayer to stir up in ourselves love and trust in God. Petitioning God in prayer is an act of love. It demonstrates that we know His power and trust in His goodness. It shows that we want what He wants.

Our prayer is not "let my will be done" but "your will be done." Our prayer should always be in a posture of humility before God seeking His will. Above all, it is the Father's will to take you up into Heaven. He might not do so in a glorious chariot of fire like he did for Elijah. It might be a long battle with cancer. It might be through a tragic accident. God might be preparing you to intimately share in the passion of Christ through martyrdom. We are asked to surrender our lives however the Father might ask us. This is exactly what Christ did.

We are able to surrender ourselves in this way when our minds are constantly directed to the Father who is in Heaven. If we are always thinking of the Father, and His great love for us, then we will have the confidence to offer up every sacrifice. Jesus could offer up His own life to the Father precisely because He knew that His Father dwelt in Heaven and that He would be raised from the dead and ascend into Heaven to sit at the right hand of the Father. It was because His eyes never left the Father that He could pour out His life for others.

This is why Jesus teaches us the Our Father. It is his very own prayer. St. Cyprian says, "Let the Father recognize the Son's words when we offer up our prayer." So I encourage you to use the Our Father or similar words to ground yourself in prayer all the day long. Let it be a way of always focusing yourself on the Father, stirring yourself up to love the Lord, conform yourself to His will and to petition Him for all that you need. I often repeat "My God and my all, have mercy on me a poor sinner." It is very short but in it I say everything for which I need to pray.

"My God" I turn to the Father and recognize all that He has done for me and His great perfection. "My all" stirs up in me love because my God is everything my heart could ever desire. "Have mercy on me a poor sinner" reminds me of my position of need before God. I am not but a lowly begger who has nothing of his own to offer God. Rather, everything that I have is purely from God's mercy, and up to know I have been a poor steward of the blessings I have received. Yet, I have certain hope in my Father's mercy. The Lord is close to the poor. "He fills the hungry with good things" and "he has lifted up the lowly." My Father, who I keep always before me, will tend to every need I have.

Your Father who sees in secret will repay you

Many weird and strange desires plague the human heart, not the least of them is to appear more important than we actually are. We like letting people see all the good things that we do because we crave praise. Of course, when it comes to our faults we like to cover them all up because "that's not who we really are." Obviously that's not true. Our faults and our sins are as much a part of our character as our good deeds and virtues. Pride is when we exaggerate our own goodness.

Today's Gospel warns that = Christians are not to be doing good works for the sake of fame. If we pray, give alms, or fast for the sake of other's opinions, we will quickly be seduced by the sin of pride. We will lose sight of our sinfulness and our dependence on God for his mercy. We'll start thinking "oh my sins aren't so terrible!" or "at least I'm not as bad as that guy over there." The reality is that if you had not the grace of God, you would likely be committing the same sins as those whom you condemn. When we forget that, then we sin by pride.

We have to remember that I am capable of the same sins that we condemn in others. I have a free will and at any point I could choose to reject God's help and turn to sin. Moreover, either I've committed the sins I condemn in the past or I've been tempted to do them, but by God's providence, by His grace, the very stamp of His image on me, I overcame these sins. It wasn't by my own power, but it was by God's power. And if we do good by God's power, what credit is it for us? Why should we claim the praise? Instead, turn the praise back to God. It is God who hides us in the shelter of his presence. Therefore, the greatest defense against pride is gratitude, recognizing the great gifts God has given to us.

As a Christian, you will be doing good works. You are called to be a light to the world and the salt of the earth. If you are living the Christian life, people are going to see it. The question is why are you doing it? Are you doing it so that others praise you? Or are you doing it so that God might be better known and loved? That's a question we continually have to ask ourselves. Every new action can be done for God or for ourselves.

For this reason Jesus counsels us to avoid the occasion of fame and do our good in secret. Pray in an inner room. Don't blow trumpets when you give alms, and don't let others see that you're fasting. Your Father who sees in secret will repay you. It is being known and praised by our Heavenly Father, not other human persons which is of greatest importance. The Lord promises that we will be repaid, and this payment will be found in Heaven where we will enter into a perfect friendship with our Father. We will enjoy His company, knowing and loving Him for the rest of eternity. Sometimes when we are doing good, we feel discouraged because no one else seems to care, but remember this: your Father sees everything that you do. He knows the value of our labor and with how much love you carry out your service. Rather than give you an earthly reward, the Father has a greater one that is waiting for you in the life to come.

Fulfillment of the Law

This was written for yesterday but wasn't finished. I likely won't have a post for today, so enjoy!

Beginning on Monday with the Beatitudes, we started what is called the Sermon on the Mount. In the tradition of the Fathers, this sermon which begins in Mathew, chapter 5 is the corner stone of Biblical Moral Theology. It is the heart of Jesus' teaching about how we ought to live.

Jesus takes the Law of the Old Testament and gives an authoritative interpretation of it; it is ultimately God who has the final say in how Revelation should be interpreted. "Do not think that I have come to abolish the law or the prophets. I have not come to abolish but to fulfill." However, this definitive interpretation also contains something new. This New Law is at one more difficult and easier. More difficult because of its tighter restrictions: it calls us to a life of greater perfection. It asks that we live lives appropriate for the kingdom of Heaven. In the next few days, we going to hear about how anger can be a form of murder, how cursing your neighbor puts you on the path to Hell, and how we need to apologize if we want any hope of entering into heaven. Look at how prevelant in the world, I would say that it's pretty hard to master these sins.

Yet, the New Law is something easier than the Old Law easier because it gives us the power to actually live the law. The New Law is the Law of Grace because it describes how the grace of God will transform your life. Grace is the stamp of God's image on your very being. Not so long ago, people would enclose envelopes by melting wax and stamping it with a personal seal. The wax took on the form and shape of the stamp. We are like that wax and God is like the stamp. In Baptism the stamp (God) is pressed into the wax and united to it. Such a glorious union between man and God could not leave man unchanged! Rather, we are deeply impressed with God's image and likeness, and conformed further to the life of Christ. The change in shape of our very being is called grace. God's grace is the result of His union with us, and the changing of our lives to like the life of Christ. By the grace which comes from the New Law, we are made able to live the new law. We are humble enough to seek forgiveness. We are no longer impatient and do not easily become angry with our Neighbors. God transforms our lives.

We can see a pre-figurement of the coming of God's grace in the first reading. Elijah prepares a sacrifice of a young bull to the Lord. He douses it with water before calling out to the Lord to send fire, which "came down and consumed the burnt offering, wood, stones, and dust and it lapped up the water in the trench." When Elijah cried out to the Lord, a raging torrent consumed the sacrifice. This is how it works with us. Jesus, the Son of God, cries out to the Father, asking Him to send the Holy Spirit. He wants to offer us as sacrifices pleasing to His Father, so He sets us on fire with the Holy Spirit. Recall how He said, "I came to set fire to the earth, and how I wish that it was already burning!" Through the sending of the Son and the Spirit the whole Trinity unites Himself to the human person and makes them a burning sacrifice of love. Their missions transform the human person, set him on fire, and make him acceptable to our Heavenly Father. We become a living image of the Son of God, with whom the Father was well pleased.

The prophets of Baal look for help from the world and themselves rather than turning to the one true God. They are hurting themselves in their frenzy to obtain help from their false Gods. "They called out louder and slashed themselves with swords and spears as was their custom until blood gushed over them. Our idols are all the little things we seek for its own sake, and when we pursue them for their own sake we only hurt ourselves. An example would be when you come home from work and after a superficial greeting, you veg-out on the couch and watch TV. You don't interact with your spouse or kids. You are pursuing the TV for its own sake over and against what should be your priorities. If this is a habitual, daily pattern your family is going to start to suffer. You're not going to have the intimate friendship that belongs to a family unless it is made a priority. This doesn't mean that watching TV is always evil, just only when we don't use it appropriately. We really suffer when we don't follow God's plan for our lives and pursue the false God's presented to us by the world. The Psalmist says, "I set the Lord ever before me; with him at my right hand I shall not be disturbed."

We need to put every sin to death and turn our faces to God, so that we might "present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God" (Rm 12:1). This is the power of the New Law. Unlike the Old Law, the New gives us the power to love. The Holy Spirit sets us on fire with love! And this love is above all our spiritual sacrifice.

Salt of the Earth

Elijah is a man preaching to a woman outside the bounds of Israel. He does not know the God of Israel, but Elija proclaims the message to her, and she believes. She places her faith in this unknown God and she receives the bread which sustains her on her way. After being baptized, we put our faith in God, and He brings for us the bread which sustains us on our way.

But God sustains us because He has a particular plan for us. My brothers and sisters, we are called by the Most High God to be the salt of the earth. This salt is love. It is love which preserves the world and gives it eternal life. Do you love your neighbors? Then do not be satisfied to meet their physical needs, but give them eternal life by bringing them to a deeper relationship with Jesus Christ. Pray to God for their conversion, but also witness to them directly. They cannot believe in Him whom they have not heard. No one will believe in Jesus Christ unless someone first preaches to them.

Salt destroys and kills bacteria and diseases of all sorts. It sucks the water out of these vile creatures causing them to shrink up and die. Because of this, salt is a food preservative. It keeps meet from spoiling. We are called to be the salt of the earth. We are called to destroy the works of Satan in this world, beginning with our own lives. We need to remove the anger, impatience, lust, and especially pride from our lives. All too often, in our pride, we're too embarrassed to bring someone to Christ. We're afraid that people won't like us if we tell them about the wonders of chastity or of generous giving to the poor. We cling to the opinions of others and forget God's opinion of us. However, if we are failing to make Jesus and his way of life known and loved, we are losing our own saltiness. We are losing the love which brings us and others to eternal life, and "if salt loses its taste, with what can it be seasoned? It is no longer good for anything but to be thrown out and trampled underfoot."

As Christians, "You are the salt of the earth." St. John Chrysostom says that this is "Not for your own salvation merely, or for a single nation, but for the whole world is this doctrine committed to you." The world needs you to be a saint. Nothing more, nothing less. It needs you to surrender yourself entirely to the God who loves you and is always providing for you. Put this way, it sounds so simply doesn't it? You just need to trust the Lord for whom nothing is impossible. Yet, I know personally, that there are a thousand excuses not to carry through on our good intentions. Hundreds of times, I've failed to do what was right and just.

Thankfully, we have no reason to despair. Call out to our Lord, "Have pity on me, and hear my prayer!" In the time of Elijah, the land was filled with drought. It could produce no good fruit, just like our souls can sometimes produce no good fruit. Elijah was thirsty and hungry, so he asked a non-Jewish woman for a cup of water. This brings to my mind the story of another man who sat by a well, and asked a non-Jewish woman for a drink. This man, Jesus, promised her that if she asked, He would give her living water, and everyone who drinks this water will never thirst. If you are a man who hungers and thirsts for righteousness, who desires to be the salt of the earth, then thirst for the Holy Spirit, the water which wells up to eternal life.