Today’s Gospel reading invites us to wrestle with two fundamental questions of our spiritual life; “What does heaven cost?” and “Am I willing to pay it?”

The young man asks Jesus, “What must I do to inherit eternal life?” He seems to be looking for more in life, as we hear further on “he had many possessions.” But he obviously still wasn’t satisfied. He wasn’t content with his life and felt that there must be more.

He has kept the commandments, through his actions (a list of “don’t do’s”), but Jesus invites him “to do” something more (notice the more positive response). Jesus, recognizing that this young man desired more, “[looked] at him and loved him.” Jesus offers him a deep, personal, and intimate invitation to give up what he holds most dear. Jesus knows, as he says to Peter later on in the Gospel (Mark 10:29), that he himself is a reward far greater than anything this world has to offer. If we look back at how the young man greeted Jesus as “Good Teacher” we can see that he recognizes this also, but is now faced with a major decision, literally a life-altering decision; “Go, sell what you own, and give the money to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; then come, follow me.” Jesus is inviting this man in to His love!

And faced with this decision we hear that “[the young man] was shocked and went away grieving, for he had many possessions.”

Today, we should place ourselves before Jesus and ask the same question; “What must I do to inherit eternal life?” I believe Jesus’ response to us would be the same as he gave this man;

“What are you holding on to?

What do you need to let go in order to cling to me?

What do you need to let go of in order to encounter, fully, my love?”

Because of our fallen nature we so easily turn inwards and look to ourselves to provide for our own needs. We tend to cling and attach too closely to things, seeking fulfillment in our achievements(in what we do) and seek our own path to happiness. Jesus even goes as far as to say that there are ‘good things’, such as our family, that distract us from him.

The truth is that we are dependent on God for everything, whether we realize it or not. We are unable to achieve total, lasting fulfillment by ourselves.

Even Jesus’ disciples asked, “How can we be saved?” His response is, ”For humans it is impossible, but not for God; for God all things are possible.” This is Christ’s promise to us, our hope. It is God who can give us a new heart, a properly ordered heart that desires first and foremost His love.
Don’t miss out on the look of love that Jesus gave the young man, the same look that he is giving you. The look that he gives us from the cross, of his great love for you. In the end only a greater love, God’s love received, can replace the disordered love we have for this world.

A simple prayer today might be a good place to start, to remind us of the cost of heaven and to place our hearts in a ready place to pay the cost; “God, YOU are ALL I need!”

Scripture readings for reflection:

Wisdom 7.7-11

Psalm 90

Hebrews 4.12-13

Mark 10.17-30

Jesus asks us a very crucial question. A question of the cross! “What were you arguing about?” Let’s look at this question in the context of the whole story (Mark 9.30-37)

The Gospel starts with Jesus, journeying with the disciples, making their way through Galilee. Looking at this in it’s place in scripture we know that Jesus was on his way south, to Jerusalem, to his eventual crucifixion. So it is not a surprise that he is preparing his followers for the reality of what he will face. Maybe he is also suffering in his own way, thinking and talking about it, and wanting his disciples to realize the gravity of this journey. Maybe he wants them to understand the pain in the reality that he is facing. In response to this, however, his followers were confused and afraid to ask him about it. We hear further on that they were arguing and discussing about which of them was the greatest.

Where do we turn when we face the reality of the cross, of dying to ourselves, or even death? Where do our thoughts go? What do we focus on? What do we discuss? Jesus’ disciples are not so different from us. In facing the reality of the cross, and the pain and confusion it would hold, the disciples turned inwards. Instead of empathizing with Jesus, or even asking for clarification so that they could possibly identify with him, they were discussing which of them was the greatest.

Honestly, it is a sad and embarrassing reality that so many of us, and I speak first of myself on this, who call ourselves disciples seek to preoccupy much of our lives with things that are futile and of little real importance in life. We busy ourselves with the things and the worries of this world.

Do the things that matter most to God take priority in our lives? Such as salvation, what is true and virtuous, and prayer, to name a few? This is the question that Jesus asks his disciples, that he asks us today! “What are you discussing?” Yes, what ARE we thinking about as we make our journey?

The reality of the cross is that there is power there, yes there is pain also, there is uncomfortability, but when we embrace it and get over ourselves, when we identify with Christ and come with him on the journey, its power transforms our hearts. Instead of looking to ourselves we start looking to how we can serve, how we can sacrifice, how we can be more like the one who took the cross for us.

A phrase that comes to mind that sums this up so well is, “I am third.” It is this simple line that we can repeat when we catch ourselves getting distracted with ourselves. God is first, others are second, I am third. It is this that will lead us to experience and encounter true joy.

It really is a paradox, that we must let go of ourselves so that we may be fully ourselves. To be the last of all, the servant of all, that we might be first in eternal life.

So let us ponder, in a special way today; What are we discussing? This is the question that prepares us for the cross. Both the pain and the power of it. What am I making a priority? What are we thinking about and talking about as we make our way through life? Answer the Lord honestly and let Him go to work.

Additional reading:

Wisdom 2.12, 17-20

Psalm 54

James 3.16 – 4.3

Reflecting on the Gospel reading today(Mark 7.31-37) about Jesus curing the handicapped man we might dismiss it as having no relevance for us. But, in truth, all of us have our handicaps. The fact that ours may not be as visible as those of the man in the Gospel doesn’t make them any less real.

In the Gospel, this man is brought to Jesus. We don’t know his history at all, only that at the time of the story he is deaf and has a speech impediment. The next part is a very intimate moment as he is brought to Jesus and Jesus actually takes him aside, away from the crowd, and physically touches his ears and spits and touches this man’s tongue. Jesus makes Himself present to this man, in his own vulnerability, in a very tangible way and uses tangible signs to release him from his insecurity and suffering.

In one way or another all of us are wounded, we each have or own handicapped, our own vulnerability; Something that hinders us from being able to fully alive, or a weakness that continually reminds us that we are wounded. Some of our weaknesses and wounds may be from bad childhood experiences. Our wounds may be from the death of a loved one, a sickness, or by a non-acceptance of ourselves. Others are wounded by failures that they carry with them, maybe an inability to forgive, or from facing rejection or indifference.

Our wounds and our vulnerabilities usually lead us to find security in something that is not always wholesome, either compensating in our personality or using other means to numb our minds and our hearts. However, in the Gospel today Jesus shows us another way. We see that Jesus not only wants to be with us and draw us away from the noise of the crowd, from the voices that will dampen our spirit, but that he also desires to heal us. He desires to journey with us in our woundedness, in our own specific vulnerability.

One of the things, in particular, that strikes me was a line from our second reading(James 2.1-5) today and how it relates to this Gospel story, “Has not God chosen the poor in the world to be rich in faith and to be heirs of the kingdom.”

To take this back to our Gospel passage, the man Jesus healed was indeed poor; He has a great need, the need for a healer, the need to be complete. It is in this man’s great need, in His littleness, that Jesus comes and is able to work with Him and through Him, that out of this man’s suffering Christ brings His victory.

If we are rich in this world what need do we have of Christ or, rather, how do we see that we need Christ? If we do not need a healer, a wonder worker, a Saviour, then what do we need from Christ? Is it not our way, that when the Lord gives we rejoice, but when we are faced with suffering we resist and complain. However, it is a beautiful image, much like the one we see in the Gospel today, that in our own poorness, in our woundedness and vulnerability, we share in Christ’s suffering and that he draws near to us, if we but come to Him. He touches our wounds, He journeys with us and, in tangible and real ways, heals our broken hearts and brings us to rejoice in His victory over all that tries to hold us from Him.

“Has not God chosen the poor in the world to be rich in faith and to be heirs of the kingdom that he has promised to those who love Him?”

So let us embrace our wounds, our littleness, our poorness, as a way to His immense love for us!

God is love, and His Law is ultimately an expression of His love for us. The readings we reflect on today teach a proper understanding of the Law that God has given us and it’s relationship to our hearts. Let us look at how the readings teach us this.

Deut 4.1-2, 6-8

Psalm 15

James 1.17-18, 21-22, 27

Mark 7.1-8, 14-15, 21-23

The first thing that stands out to me is that God’s Law is about protection and security. We receive a promise in Scripture from the text of today’s first reading, “…hear the statutes and decrees that I am teaching you to observe, so that you may live and may enter and take possession of the land that the Lord… is giving you.”

We see that obeying the Law is the basis of life and a doorway to further blessings. Many today see God’s Law as rules meant to inhibit our lives, like prison walls, limiting our freedom to “do as we please.” But really they are defending walls.

I enjoy history, especially the architecture and magnificence of ancient cities. One of the most defining characteristics of these cities were their walls, not built to imprison its citizens but rather to protect from the enemy. Within the walls there was security and the promise of protection, while outside lurked danger. It is like this with God’s laws; for those who keep them they are a great source of comfort and protection and contain the promise of victory.

I have heard it explained another way once before; the law of the Lord is like the walls around a playground. This is not just any playground, picture this flat grassy spot with swings and slides atop a tall island in the sea, sheer cliffs on all sides. With a sturdy wall around the cliff’s edge on all sides the children can fling themselves about into every frantic game without a worry or care, or even an awareness of the danger on the other side of the wall. But knock this wall down, leaving the peril of the cliff edge, and they won’t fall over but rather huddle in the center of the island afraid of how close they could get to the danger that surrounds them. God’s law is not there to take away our fun, but that we might truly find life and happiness.

Of course the devil is a liar and tells us that we will be happier if we sin, that we are being hemmed in and limited by God’s law. But instead of making us free sin enslaves and traps us. We probably don’t have to look very far in our lives to see where our wounds and our brokenness lie, more than likely coming from our own insistence in journeying outside God’s loving and protecting commandments.

The second thing that stands out in today’s readings is that God’s Law requires presence, requires our hearts. There is a great need for God’s law to be in our hearts for it is where “we live”. It is the place where we discern, ponder, and ultimately decide.

“Here me, all of you, and understand. Nothing that enters one from outside can defile that person; but the things that come out from within are what defile… From within their hearts come evil…” So doesn’t this make sense that the heart is where God and His law need to be. This is where the heat of the battle is.

One of my favorite pieces of technology is the answering machine. I can never miss a call from someone , even when I am not home. However I have discovered that there is a flaw to this technology; an answering machine is very impersonal and many people will not even leave a message, which is understandable. When we call someone we expect to be greeted by them on the other end of the phone line, so we can feel put off when we realize that it is just a recorded message on a machine. In this case, a person’s voice is present while the actual person is absent.

We can compare this with how we are present to God, and to others, in our daily lives. This can be seen quite clearly in the Gospel passage from Mark: “This people honours me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me.” And the passage goes on to say, “…in vain do they worship.”

We can be physically present in Church, we can be physically present to our spouse’s, to our families, to our siblings, to our friends, to a stranger, but if our heart is not present all is in vain.

From these words of Scripture we see the importance, that the law of the Lord must find its home in our hearts. Our awareness of God’s law can only shift to finding a deep home in our hearts through prayer and meditation; through the careful, persistent, and thoughtful reading of God’s revealed truth, coupled with gratitude and love of God.

How different our lives are lived when we are truly present with our whole hearts; take a word of forgiveness, for example. If it does not come from the heart, of what use is it? I will not set the offender free. Nor will it result in a true reconciliation between the parties. Or take a word of welcome, for another example; I may open the door of my house to a person with kind words, but unless I make room for them in my heart they will be a stranger to me. Our actions have purpose and meaning when we know who and what we are living for.

God has given us His law that we might live in His protection, from our hearts, and it is ultimately our choice as to whom and what we will love more; God and His law, or this world and it’s way of sin and compromise.

It is no mistake that the summary of God’s law is simply, “Love the Lord your God with all your heart and your neighbor as your very self,” for it is only love that unlocks the door of the heart.

In the end, the law comes from Love, the God of love, who is love. And thus it is love that unlocks the law, love that makes us realize that the law is a gift, a gift of God’s love, a gift that will protect us and guide us, a gift that will heal and transform our hearts and our lives.

*Main ideas and concepts, as well as quotes, taken from Monsignor Charles Pope’s Article: The love of the law and the law of love.

*Ideas and text also taken from: New Sunday & Holy Day Liturgies by Flor McCarthy (pg 284)

Have you ever tried your hand at gardening?

Gardening is a very intricate work, from what I have discovered of my limited time as a gardener. It takes time and planning, and it takes patience. It takes constant care and nurturing; knowing the right nutrients and soil composition for the different plants or vegetables. After watering the rest is out of the gardener’s hands. The plants will either grow or not. They will either be strong or maybe hardly come up. If you thin out the smaller ones the bigger plants will yield more, but the plants grow of their own, the gardener can not force them.

Today in the Gospel (Mark 4.26-34) Jesus uses parables to describe His Father’s kingdom. He uses a parable of a gardener who plants seeds and waits for them to grow. This parable is an analogy for our life of faith and of living in union with God as we prepare for His coming kingdom. God has already planted the seeds of faith in our hearts, I would say that is why all of us are here today. And this Gospel reveals 3 essential characteristics of living in union with Christ.

First, the life of our union with Him does not come from ourselves, but from God. Christ has initiated and planted the seed of faith, and the power of growth comes from Him, our Creator. It is He who constantly is breathing his grace into our lives, and no matter how hard we try we would never be able to grow in intimacy with Him of our own strength or will. We cannot force union with God by our own actions. Our life of union with Him depends primarily on God. He is always at work, as we hear in the parable, even while we are asleep. We must simply receive His nurturing.

Second, growth in holiness and relationship with Christ is a gradual process. Unlike in Hollywood movies where heroes become world-wide champions over the course of two hours, Christians develop wisdom, joy, and virtue through a patient and consistent effort to cooperate with God over our entire lives. We can often become discouraged when we don’t see growth happening or when we live with our ongoing struggles with bad habits, but we must realize, especially as we live in a society of instant gratification, that patience will produce the biggest yield when it comes to our relationship with God. The full-grown, healthy plant that will attract others to Christ and nourish those around us requires a patient effort and unshakable confidence in God.

Third, spiritual growth takes time. Imagine a gardener yelling at their recently planted seeds, “Hurry up! Grow faster!” It’s a weird picture, but every time we get frustrated with ourselves, at our slow progress, this is what we are doing. The seeds will not grow any faster, but we must trust that God is accomplishing all in His time.

So as you seek to grow in holiness, in your relationship with God, remember it all depends on God and His constant care. And it takes time and patience. Next time you are thinking about your growth in your faith journey, remind yourself of a gardener tending their garden.

This growth in our union with God that we experience, as we are reminded about in the readings today, is for the coming kingdom of God, that we may be prepared to be fully in Him.

This reminds me of when we pray the “Our Father”:

“Thy kingdom come, thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.”

The more we are open to the Lord, as we seek His will in our lives by following our conscience, the teachings of the Church, and the examples of Christ and the saints, the more abundant and fruitful our experience of life will become as His coming kingdom is revealed here on earth, in our lives.

So let us remember to be open and generous with the gardener of our hearts as we trust and patiently seek His kingdom from day to day!

Other readings for reflection from today:

Ezekiel 17.22-24

2 Corinthians 5.6-10

*3 main points of the reflection taken from “The Better Part” by John Bartunek, pg 381

Today we celebrate Trinity Sunday. We celebrate specifically God in three persons, God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit. There really is such a depth here to ponder, but also a simplicity. The word ‘Trinity’ isn’t a word we hear in the Bible, but in the Gospel today(Matthew 28.16-20) we hear about Jesus’ call to make disciples of all nations baptizing them in the name of the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit. This is the Trinity. In essence the word ‘Trinity’ is Christianities most basic description of who God is, who He has revealed Himself to be, and who He needs to be in order to save us.

[Perhaps, in exploring what the Trinity is we do best to begin by quoting the Catechism which says, The Trinity is One. We do not confess three Gods, but one God in three persons. These divine persons do not share the one divinity among themselves but each of them is God whole and entire. (Catechism, 253).

So there is one God, and the three persons of the Trinity each possess the one Divine nature fully. The Father IS God, He is not 1/3 of God. Likewise the Son, Jesus, IS God. He is not 1/3 of God. And so too, the Holy Spirit IS God, not a mere third of God. So each of the three persons possesses the one Divine nature fully.

It is our experience that if there is only one of something, and I possess that something fully, there is nothing left for you. Yet, mysteriously each of the Three Persons fully possess the one and only Divine Nature fully, while remaining distinct persons.] –Excerpt taken from a Homily by Msgr. Charles Pope

This great mystery is the central mystery of our faith and our life as Christians, however, being a mystery, it can never be fully known by reason, or intellect, alone. It is hard to even explain it in all it’s richness and depth. This is the way I’ve heard it said before, if I was asked to explain my love for my children I wouldn’t have the words to be able to express it fully, as simple as my love for them is. In the same way, how would I be able to fully explain who God is or have adequate words to express His mysterious greatness.

Thankfully we are able to see traces of His Trinitarian being in his work of creation and throughout the Old Testament, as we hear in the reading from Deuteronomy (4.32-34, 39-40), and more fully after the incarnation of God’s Son and the sending of the Holy Spirit (Catechism 237), as we have celebrated throughout the Church year.

God reveals and invites us into His Trinitarian life through our baptism, which is further lived out in the life of the Church. And His Spirit bears witness with our spirit, as we hear in St.Paul’s letter to the Romans(8.14-17), that we share in His life, that we are His children and share in the inheritance of His kingdom.

There is something we do quite often, as Catholics, that reminds us of God’s presence among us in the Trinity. Does anyone know what it is?? The Sign of The Cross! Do you ever think of the significance of this, or what it means? It is a reminder of our baptism, our new life in Christ. It is a reminder of the Trinity at work in our lives. What power these words have, as we say them before we pray, “In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit.” What if we were to say this as we rose at the start of a new day, “In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit.” As we got to our work, “In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit.” Or before we tackled a certain chore or task, “In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit.” What power and strength our daily tasks would have, united in the Trinity who we are acknowledging is at work in us . I believe that it is worth pondering and internalizing.

The closing words of today’s Gospel remind us that God is always present to us: “Behold, I am with you always, until the end of the age.” He is with us by being always within us. We have become temples of the Holy Trinity through the blessed waters of baptism and have become a dwelling for Him in the very core of our being.

Let us ponder this great mystery and pray that God would reveal Himself to us in the Trinity in a deeper way. And let us remember that He is present with us, through the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, calling us to be His children.