Rev. James A. Wallace, C.Ss.R.

Dec 13 2024

The Glory Yet to Come

God’s promises are not empty words carried off by the wind soon after they are uttered. From the beginning, God has backed up divine promises with action. We see this today in the story of God sealing the promise to Abraham of many descendants and the gift of the land with the mystifying occurrence of a floating fire pot and flaming torch passing through Abraham’s sacrifice. God’s words lead to a ratifying action.

In the Gospel, God comes to Jesus. At first, this is made evident in the change of Jesus’ face and clothing. Then the great prophets Moses and Elijah appear, mediators of God’s word to the people through both the Torah and prophetic deeds, who speak with Jesus about his coming death in Jerusalem. Finally, as with Israel in the desert, God manifests the divine presence, coming in a cloud and proclaiming Jesus as “chosen Son.” “Listen to him,” the voice says. Divine word is backed up by divine deed.

This yearly glimpse of glory in the story of the Transfiguration tells us yet again that God recognizes our need for signs and support in our journey of faith. Walking in faith is not all shadows and darkness. Light comes into our lives, sometimes in such unexpected ways that we only become aware of it in retrospect. These moments whisper of God’s ongoing presence with us, of promises yet to be fulfilled. Paul speaks of our citizenship even now being in heaven, calling us to “stand firm in the Lord.”

Consider/Discuss

Can you remember a moment when the promise of our faith was affirmed by a gracious event, enabling you to recognize God’s presence?
Do you believe that our citizenship is in heaven and that our bodies are destined to being conformed to Christ’s glorified body?

Responding to the Word

Lord, enlighten the eyes of our hearts, providing a glimpse of the glory promised us because of your saving death and resurrection. As we move toward renewing the promises made at baptism, make our hearts ever more confident in the Father’s fidelity and the ongoing strength that comes from the Spirit.

Dec 13 2024

Pledging Allegiance

Lent’s journey will take us to the celebration of the paschal mystery of Easter. During these forty days we are invited into a space of sensory deprivation when we gather for worship: no flowers on the altar, no music for its own sake but only to accompany our singing, and no colorful banners that might distract us from the task at hand: to prepare our minds and hearts to renew our baptismal promises during the celebration.

We will be asked both to renounce Satan and all his perks and promises and to place our wholehearted trust in God who created us, in the Son who redeemed us, and in the Spirit who dwells within us and enlightens us. Lent is a serious season but not necessarily a somber one; it is the waiting room for Easter joy. One Lenten Preface (the priest’s prayer before the Holy, Holy, Holy) even speaks of it as a season that is a gracious gift from God, making us joyful because we are purified to celebrate the Easter mysteries.

Just as Jesus was tempted throughout his ministry to turn aside from his mission, his followers will be, too. The three temptations speak to our own experience when we seek self-gratification rather than the glory of God.

God’s word today calls us to make God our true nourishment, our true wealth, our faithful source of strength, and the solid foundation of our trust. Paul’s bold proclamation to the Romans extends to us: the Lord enriches all who call upon him. All who call on him will be saved.

Consider/Discuss

Where do you want to find yourself at the end of this Lenten journey?
What temptation lures you to turn aside from having God and Christ at the center of your life?

Responding to the Word

Lord Jesus, as you had the help of the Spirit to turn aside from the temptations that came to you during the time in the desert and the years of your ministry, help us to turn to this same Spirit to help us in our efforts to grow in faith, hope, and charity this Lent.

Dec 13 2024

In the Presence of the Holy One

Today we witness three encounters with the Holy One in three different settings, but with three similar responses, both immediate and long-term. Isaiah’s vision of God in the temple included angels surrounding God and praising God’s glory. His immediate response was fear and unworthiness at seeing the living God. But God’s compassionate action of purifying his lips leads Isaiah to offer his service.

For Simon Peter, the experience of the holy came when a stranger walked by as Simon was finishing an unsuccessful night of fishing. Jesus got into his boat, taught the crowds first, then turned to Simon. Something in Jesus’ manner must have persuaded Simon to follow his directions. The result was so many fish that the boats almost sank. Simon suddenly knew he was in the presence of the Holy One. Unworthiness and fear flooded his heart, but, as God did with Isaiah, Jesus removed Simon’s fear and Simon followed him.

Paul briefly alludes to his own unworthiness to be an apostle, rooted in his experience of the Holy One on the road to Damascus. He witnesses to God’s grace at work by preaching what has been handed on to him: that Christ died for our sins, was raised from the dead, and appeared to Paul, the least of all the apostles.

An experience of the holy can come to us in church, in the midst of our work, or even when we are heading in a very different direction than the one God has planned for us. Pray God we will respond to it.

Consider/Discuss

Are you are open to the presence of the Holy One in worship and in daily life?
What does it mean to say, “Lord, I am not worthy that you should enter under my roof, but only say the word and my soul shall be healed”?

Responding to the Word

O Holy God, we pray that we may be open to recognizing your holy presence wherever and however you show yourself to us. Do not let fear of our unworthiness prevent us from responding to your invitation to serve you in whatever way you ask.

Dec 13 2024

God’s Word Expands the Heart

When Jesus went to his hometown synagogue on the Sabbath, after his time in the desert, he read a passage from Isaiah 61 (see last week’s Gospel), outlining a three-fold ministry of preaching the good news to the poor, bringing liberation to the oppressed and captives, and, above all, giving “recovery of sight to the blind”—a phrase from one of the Servant Songs (Isaiah 42:1–9) that presented a servant who came for all the nations.

Some have said the sudden switch from amazement at Jesus’ gracious words to a murderous hostility was due to Luke conflating several incidents. But a good argument has been made that it is Jesus extending the boundaries of God’s love to the Gentiles, those outside the covenant, that so enrages his hometown listeners, a group very similar to the present-day settlers in Israel. Then, Jesus pours oil on the flames by noting that two revered prophets of Israel, Elijah and Elisha, helped, even cured Gentiles rather than their own people.

During Israel’s history, God worked through the prophets—from Elijah to Isaiah to Jeremiah to Jesus—to expand the boundaries of the hearts of God’s people to include the poor, the weak, and the Gentiles. We hear God’s word attempting to penetrate our own hearts in St. Paul’s call to cultivate love: a call to patience and kindness, not being rude or self-seeking, but enduring all things. God’s word often calls for a dying so that more life can flood into and out from us.

Consider/Discuss

How has God’s word confronted you and called you to change?
What quality from St. Paul’s meditation on love do you find most difficult to live?

Responding to the Word

Your word, O Lord, is not always easy to receive. Sometimes it calls us to surrender what we most want to cling to, to take up what we most want to run from, and to live outside of where we are most comfortable. Give us courage to hear your word and to live it with fidelity.

Dec 13 2024

God’s Word Enlivens the Spirit

Sometimes the Sunday scripture readings pass by barely noticed. The words read don’t get inside, perhaps because we are preoccupied or worrying over something. But every so often the reader and the words read become one in a way that enters into our heart. One such moment is recorded in today’s first reading.

This scene took place over five hundred years before the time of Jesus. The reader was Ezra the priest, who was standing up on a platform in an open place in the city of Jerusalem. The magnificent temple built by Solomon had been destroyed in 587 BC and the people had been taken off into exile in Babylon. In 538 they had been allowed to return, and now, for the first time, they were gath

ered to hear their priest Ezra read to them the book of the law, the Torah. This book taught them how God had saved them and how God wanted them to live. The people listened for hours, tears running down their faces, as Ezra read and explained to them the meaning of the words for their lives. These words fell upon the hearts of the listeners, penetrating the thick and hardened covering that exile had created, eventually causing their tears to flow. The word of God had done its work, bringing them back to life.

Sometimes rebirth happens gently, as we heard today; at other times, God’s word functions as shock therapy.

Consider/Discuss

Can you remember a time when God’s word penetrated your being?
Do you give God’s word any opportunity to make its home in you?
Have you ever celebrated God’s word speaking to you by going to “eat rich foods and drink sweet drinks”?

Responding to the Word

Lord God, you have given us your revealed word as spiritual food to nourish your people, and to strengthen your church as the Body of your Son Jesus Christ. May we recognize and partake of this food when we gather at the table of the Word.