OLDER LECTIO DIVINA

For whoever is not against us is for us.

In Matthew 12:30 and Luke 11:23, Jesus says “He who is not with me is against me.” It would make sense that the reverse is also true, but how often do we think of it that way? Whether we are inside the Church looking out on nonbelievers, or a nonbeliever looking in, it seems like we take the approach that we’re either in or out. We either believe in Jesus or we don’t. While that is true, it’s hard to believe in Jesus all of the time. So it’s foolish to think we’re officially against him once we act against him, because he will always welcome us back. Many people stay away from the Church because they believe God can never forgive them for all the sins they’ve committed. But no sin and no number of sins are greater than God’s mercy, and if we are in favor of him forgiving us then so is he. In a way, asking God to forgive us is casting out demons in his name, because we are asking him to cast out the demons that have plagued our own lives. So do not ignore that tug to come back to Christ, no matter what you’ve done in the past. Encourage others to pay attention to it too. God always wants us to come back, no matter how “against” us we think he is.

“If anyone wishes to be first, he shall be the last of all and the servant of all.”

Here is the theme of Christ-like passion returning yet again. Keeping my relationship with God personal, so that he can love me and I can love him in ways that only he and I can understand, is a cornerstone of our love. When we love someone, we are willing to humble ourselves so they see us for who we really are. This is the kind of relationship to which Jesus is calling the Twelve. He wants them to strip away even their desire for esteem in Jesus’ eyes so they can be real with him. Nothing hurts our relationship with God more than our attempts to be the greatest in his eyes. This makes us fake. It makes us pursue righteousness for the wrong reasons. Seeking greatness makes us pursue our own idea of righteousness. Jesus wants us to die to ourselves so he may fill us with his holiness, the only kind there is. We reach this death-to-self state of being when we push ourselves beyond our human capacity so there is nothing left of us. So often I do not want to take those steps into my own passion. As long as I don’t take those steps into the unknown, where my strength ends and God’s begins, I will remain the ruler of my own life and God cannot take over. So often it is clear that this is what I prefer. However, despite how much it sounds like such a life provides more freedom, it makes me a slave to my own base passions. 

“Whoever wishes to come after me must deny himself, take up his cross, and follow me.”

This is what it means to be a Christian, and it is also the hardest part. When we follow Christ our life is no longer about us. It may be tough to see the connection between Christ’s words to Peter and these words that follow. But Christ is saying that Peter is chasing after the wrong thing. He may think he is protecting Christ, but in reality Peter is only protecting his idea of who Christ should be. He is rebuked by Christ for his vanity. Peter did not trust Jesus, and by not trusting he was not denying himself because he was relying on his own understanding. 

Jesus’ miracles of healing always point to a deeper spiritual message. Here, he is inviting the witnesses of the miracle to open their hearts to the word of truth that is now among them. The Bible says in a few other places that people will be “ever seeing but never perceiving, ever hearing but never understanding.” Last week, Jesus quotes Isaiah saying, “These people honor me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me.” Again, Jesus is using the physical realm to direct people to a spiritual reality; this time it’s the reality that people are deaf to the voice of God. God wants our hearts to be opened to him so we can hear his voice. What steps can I take to eliminate my spiritual deafness?

“Master, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life.” This may just be my favorite verse in the Bible. The Gospel says that after Jesus gave them the hard saying about his body being the bread of life, many of his followers left Jesus and returned to their former way of life. Peter and the disciples stayed. They stayed because they knew there was nothing else more fulfilling out there in the world than following Jesus. They could travel the world, obtain all its riches and fame, and still end up empty because the world does not offer the words of eternal life. Jesus does. 

He has mercy on those who fear him in every generation.

Let’s not forget that every day we live is given to us by God through his mercy. The wages of sin is death, and it’s easy to forget that if we have sinned we deserve to die. We have become so accustomed to God’s mercy that we can easily forget to see it as such, and regard it as justice instead. The fact that I am alive is a mercy from God because I deserve death for the sins I have committed. Mary is right in saying we should fear God. Jesus said “And do not fear those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul; rather fear him who can destroy both soul and body in hell” (Matthew 10:28). Fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom (Proverbs 9:10). When we fear him, we can then see how merciful he is to us for not giving us the punishment we deserve. Then we can begin to love him. The coming of Jesus into the world through Mary is a testament to that mercy. It is good that the Church deviates from Ordinary Time to recognize Mary’s special place in salvation history. 

Jesus does give us miracles every day that we often fail to notice and appreciate. He gives us his Body in the Eucharist, and his word in Scripture. The Eucharist is the living bread, but so is his word. Jesus pitied the crowds because they sought the wrong kind of bread. They sought nourishment for the body only. Scripture is bread from heaven because it is nourishment for the mind and the soul. The Bible tells us to fear the Lord. For that reason we ought to fear Scripture, because Scripture is the Lord. Because of this, it has the ability to change our lives. Scripture can speak to us in ways that nothing else can. The pages of the Bible know us inside and out like no one else does. Before we read Scripture, we should acknowledge its ability to shine light on areas of our life we prefer to hide from others. We should acknowledge how it can point us in a direction in our lives we don’t want to go. God is uncontainable, and when we try to put him in a box, that’s when he often shows us how he is completely different than what we expected. When we see him as nothing but a source of comfort, and start to get comfortable every time we read Scripture, his truth often surprises us with a rude awakening. When we pick up the Bible or read Scripture anywhere, we need to be ready to be spooked. After all, the words are alive. It is the living bread from heaven.

I am the bread of life; whoever comes to me will never hunger, and whoever believes in me will never thirst.”

Jesus says that when we come to him we will no longer hunger, and if we believe in him we will never thirst. Does this mean that when we abide in him, and he in us, we will no longer receive the pleasure of having our hunger and thirst satisfied? Call me crazy, but I kind of like satisfying my hunger with a hearty meal after a long hard day of work, and I like satisfying my thirst after a good run in the hot sun. What’s wrong with that? I’m not a hedonist, but I tend to agree with the idea that having desires is a good thing because there is a sense of fulfillment once they are satisfied…