Year A

Jan 12 2025

Taking God’s Love for Granted

As I work with good-hearted preachers, I hear in homilies repeatedly that God loves us and that we are to love God and our neighbor. Do you hear (or say) that, too? Some of us use “churchy words” over and over again. Might we not have a hard time transcending the superficial to say something fresh and new about love today when we have talked about love so many times? Love, love, love, blah, blah, blah . . .

How can we go deeper? For inspiration, we turn to a medieval Carmelite monk whose affection for God was so warm that his kindliness overflowed to others. Brother Lawrence of the Resurrection wrote in The Practice of the Presence of God that all counts for lost in the time that is not spent in loving God. Wherever he was, he practiced the presence of God. Whatever he did, he did with Jesus. He flipped an omelet with God; he repaired shoes with the Lord; he spoke with others while remaining attentive to the Holy Spirit within his heart. Three hundred years later, his little maxims about love of God and love of neighbor are still invigorating.

You and I, how can we love more deeply? We can be more constant in our communion with God. We can pray more often. Today’s psalmist offers us little words of love to pray all day, modeling for us how to cherish the living God: “I love you, O Lord, my strength, O Lord, my rock, my fortress, my deliverer!” Lifting up our hearts for thirty seconds, we can send our adorations to God. Loving tenderness then wells up within us and overflows to others.

We have little control over “how good” we are in prayer or in love. But we can be more constant with them both.

Consider/Discuss

With Brother Lawrence, we can gain the habit of being constant in practicing the presence of God. Partner with one other person to try that for one whole day. Share with one another what that experience was like.
Think about times when you have taken expressions of love for granted: at the end of a phone call, as one is going out the door, etc. What jogs you out of that fog to better appreciate who and what you have?

Living and Praying with the Word

O Lord our rock, our redeemer, our stronghold, do not let us take your love for granted! When we absorb the immensity of your care for us, then we want to love you with all our heart and soul and mind and strength. Deepen us this day. Well up in our hearts and help us to radiate your love to others. For through you and with you and in you, we have our being. We love you. We love you. We love you.

Jan 12 2025

Scripture Study for

Having delivered Israel from Egypt, God now sets forth the expectations of the covenantal relationship. Chief among them is a concern for the vulnerable, especially, but not only, aliens (non-Israelites residing on Israelite land), widows, and orphans (that is, children without fathers). Without an adult male Israelite relation to defend them, these people were particularly vulnerable to injustice and fraud. The poor in general were also subject to manipulation and exploitation. In Israel God is creating a just, compassionate society that reflects the divine character by ensuring that the defenseless are protected. The disturbing threat of sword and “poetic justice” for those who abuse widows and orphans emphasizes the strength of divine concern for them.

Despite “great affliction” the Thessalonians have persevered in imitating Paul, who in turn has imitated Christ. The gospel has transformed their entire worldview, and their new lives of faith have been such that others have observed and been edified as they spread the gospel not only in words but through their example. The gospel, which had been received “in power . . . with much conviction” has brought joy, hope, and conversion to the Thessalonians. This transformation is part of the content of their witness to the gospel; they have become “a model for all believers.” This, despite, or perhaps because of, the “great affliction” that they have nevertheless endured with “joy from the Holy Spirit.”

The question put to Jesus about the greatest commandment is presented as a test, although we are not told in what the test consists. We know that there was a tradition of pointing toward certain commandments as in effect summing up all of the Law and the prophets. Therefore Jesus’ response by quoting first Deuteronomy 6:5 and then Leviticus 19:18 would probably not have been controversial, and indeed he receives no rebuttal from the Pharisees. It is interesting to note that the second commandment is “like” the first in that they both command “love,” understood in the biblical sense not as an emotion so much as a committed stance. For God, it means devotion and wholehearted commitment. For neighbor, it means commitment to their good, and seeking to help them when they need it.

Jan 12 2025

Walking on the Edge

In the Bible, Cyrus of Persia is credited with ending the Babylonian exile. Yet Isaiah is careful to note that Cyrus, unknowingly, is an agent of the God of Israel, who is using him to defeat Babylon and restore the Chosen People to their land. This is why Cyrus is called here the Lord’s “anointed” (Messiah). Cyrus might be expected to believe that one of his own national gods was responsible for assuring his victories, but this is not the case. In fact, God insists, there are no other gods. The larger implication is that the sovereign reach of God extends well beyond Israel to include all of earth’s rulers, most of whom do not even know this God (yet).

When Paul left Thessalonica his companions Timothy and Silvanus stayed behind, joining him later in Corinth with a report of conditions in the northern city. The good report prompts Paul’s thanksgiving. Throughout the letter Paul will attend to the question of Christ’s return, a theme signaled here by the reference to “endurance in hope of our Lord Jesus Christ.” The basis for their faith, love, and hope is the gospel, whose truth was made evident in power. Evidently the Thessalonians had experienced something that allowed them to believe the gospel was more than just another philosophy or religious system. The truth of the gospel was made evident to them, in some way, by its fruits.

The trap set for Jesus places him in a bind. If he refuses to pay the Roman tax, he’s a rebel. If he pays the tax too eagerly, some would consider him a traitor to his people. Jesus cleverly avoids the trap by contrasting the image of Caesar with the image of God. The coin is stamped with the image of Caesar; humans are stamped with the image of God (Genesis 1:27; 9:6). The coin belongs to Caesar, so it’s just a piece of metal; if he wants his coin back, give it to him. Jesus is far more concerned about making sure that God gets back what belongs to God; that is what Jesus’ mission is about.

Jan 12 2025

Scripture Study for

Jan 12 2025

Opening Your Invitation

“What a day this has been!” I sighed to my new wife as the last of the clouds turned orange over the sea. This morning as the sun rose in the eastern sky, my heart had beaten with excitement: the wedding is coming! We will feast for seven days! The clamor in the kitchens proclaims the abundance to come. My father the king is so kind. My cup will overflow with joy. All will be good.

Then all was not good. The guests would not come. They rejected his invitation. They mistreated and killed our servants. It felt as though a web of darkness had descended, like a veil covering their eyes. How could they so scorn his generosity? They twisted his open handed invitation into a disaster. I was devastated.

My father was not going to let me down. He sent out servants to bring in anyone, anyone at all, shouting into the streets, “Come to the feast, you will all be well fed!” He knew the new guests wouldn’t have wedding clothes, for they didn’t know that they would be invited. I watched the servants carry armloads of garments to the doors. All would be taken care of. And they started pouring in. The crippled and the beggars, the hungry and the weary—they all threw on the fine clothes that my father provided. Rich food and choice wine—oh, they had never tasted such goodness! They lacked for nothing. (There was one who tried to ruin the day, but enough talk of calamity.)

I turn my face to my bride. The look in her eyes and her eager “yes, yes, and yes!” more than make up for the numerous exclamations of “no!” this day. The night is here. A blessed new day will dawn.

Consider/Discuss

In what ways do we look into the Bridegroom’s eyes and bring him joy with our “yes, yes, and yes”? What do we look forward to in the new day that will dawn?
How has the lavishness of God fed us even when we have not expected it? What is our responsibility in response to that generosity?

Living and Praying with the Word

Lord, you are our God! You have been a refuge to the poor, a haven to the needy in times of distress. We are the poor. We are the needy. Sometimes we reject you and push you away and do not let you clothe us. Strengthen our “yes” so that it becomes eager and consistent, for we do not ever want to disappoint you. Lavish your Spirit upon us, for we hunger to partake of your feast.