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Bad Fish

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What could be worse than bad fish? Not much and Jesus tells us in the parable in today’s Gospel that bad fish are thrown away, and “thus it will be at the end of the age.” The “bad fish” will be thrown into the fiery furnace.

The moral of the story: Don’t be a bad fish.

But there is more here: Jesus begins this parable by saying that the Kingdom of Heaven is like a wide net, that collects “fish of every kind,” gathering in whatever it can reach (which is everything) and whomever it can encompass (which is everyone). The Kingdom includes ALL GOOD THINGS and EVERYONE who doesn’t refuse it, and even those who refuse it are gathered in to receive the place to which their choices have led them.

We become “good fish” or “bad fish” according to what we choose and why we choose it. Not by the judgment of an arbitrary opinion, not by ROI or outcomes, not by our achievements or recognitions, not by what others think of us, not even by what we think of ourselves, but by what we choose and why we choose it, which God sees clearly.

In the Old Testament reading from Exodus at Mass today, we read several times that Moses did as the Lord commanded him, even to the details of the Dwelling built for the Ark. And because of this, “the glory of the Lord filled the Dwelling.” We could say Moses was a “good fish,” not because he knew everything or did everything perfectly, but because he chose to follow the Lord, even when it seemed difficult or unreasonable or even impossible.

And that is the beauty of the Kingdom: If we resolve to choose always to do as the Lord commands us, the Lord will fill us and dwell with us, just as He filled the Dwelling built by Moses. And those in whom the Lord dwells are not bad fish.

Kathryn Mulderink, MA, is married to Robert, Station Manager for Holy Family Radio. Together they have seven children (including Deacon Rob and seminarian Luke ;-), and two grandchildren. She is a Secular Discalced Carmelite and has published five books and many articles. Over the last 25 years, she has worked as a teacher, headmistress, catechist, Pastoral Associate, and DRE. Currently, she serves the Church as a writer and voice talent for Catholic Radio, by publishing and speaking, and by collaborating with the diocesan Office of Catechesis, various parishes, and other ministries to lead others to encounter Christ and engage their faith. Her website is https://www.kathryntherese.com/.

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Sheep Amidst Wolves

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Today’s Gospel may make us think twice about being disciples of Jesus! He has called the Twelve and begun to give them instructions about their mission in the world, and he is very straightforward about what it will look like. It is not all sunshine and roses.

On the contrary, he sending them “like sheep in the midst of wolves” where they will be handed over to the courts and scourged because they will be “hated by all.” Hm. We might anticipate that they would run from a task with this kind of job description. Why don’t they?

They remain with Jesus for the same reason WE remain with Jesus: because Jesus really is the Way, the Truth, and the Life, the image of the invisible God, the One who loves us to the end, giving himself over to death, even death on a cross, so that we can be with him for all eternity in the House of the Father!

Jesus is not trying to scare them away with this reality check. Rather, he is helping to free them of their mistaken notion that they will reign on thrones in this world, and giving them instructions for how they should respond to the persecution that will come: they must be “shrewd as serpents,” not oblivious to what is happening against them, but also “simple as doves” in their singlemindedness about their mission; they must not worry about how they are to speak, but focus on remaining open to the Holy Spirit, Who will speak through them.

Why must they suffer these things? “As a witness before them.” Persecution – even the little persecutions we undergo in everyday life – are always an opportunity to witness to the truth, in love. When we respond with love, when we remain steadfast in the truth, when we do not let the opinions of others keep us from doing what is right, we are witnessing to the truth that Jesus Christ really is Lord of our hearts. When this is difficult (and let’s face it: even something as simple as stating the truth about the sanctity of human life or making the Sign of the Cross in a restaurant can be difficult, and can be looked down upon even by fellow Catholics!), we can either be conquered by our need for human approval, or we can conquer the subtleties of the opposition by doing the right thing. Will we be conquered or will we conquer?

Jesus gives his disciples the way to conquer: be aware, but do not worry; trust in the Spirit to guide our words and actions; above all, persevere. He does not say those who make great speeches will be saved, or those whose lives are marked with dramatic witness, or those who glow in the dark because of their holiness! He says, simply: “Whoever endures to the end will be saved.”

We must steadfastly persevere in doing what is right and growing in relationship with Jesus, so that we can do what we are called to do. So let us all pray for the Gifts of the Holy Spirit, especially fortitude, and receive the fruit of faithfulness, no matter what kind of opposition we face today.

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Kathryn Mulderink, MA, is married to Robert, Station Manager for Holy Family Radio. Together they have seven children (including Deacon Rob and seminarian Luke ;-), and two grandchildren. She is a Secular Discalced Carmelite and has published five books and many articles. Over the last 25 years, she has worked as a teacher, headmistress, catechist, Pastoral Associate, and DRE. Currently, she serves the Church as a writer and voice talent for Catholic Radio, by publishing and speaking, and by collaborating with the diocesan Office of Catechesis, various parishes, and other ministries to lead others to encounter Christ and engage their faith. Her website is https://www.kathryntherese.com/.

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Following Wherever

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Shorter Gospel readings may seem easy – a point or two, quickly understood. But they always intrigue me and prompt a question: Why did the Church choose just these five verses? What should I learn here?

Two men make different comments to Jesus, and we are always invited to “put ourselves in their shoes” and examine our own attitudes when we read about how others encounter Jesus. The first is a scribe, and it is helpful to understand that in the Jewish community at this time, a scribe was one who had studied the Scriptures so long and intensely that he had an intimate knowledge of God’s revelation. To be a scribe was like having a Ph. D. in revelation, with the right to gather disciples and teach them and to sit in the “Jewish tribunal” (the Sanhedrin). A scribe was part of the religious “elite,” to whom others would submit.

And yet this scribe, learned and well-established, must have listened to Jesus speak and teach, and decided to submit himself entirely to Jesus, saying to him, “Teacher, I will follow you wherever you go.” Though Jesus has not studied the Torah in the kind of school that the scribe has and he has no comparable credentials, the scribe calls him “teacher.” Though Jesus has nothing and has not laid out a plan for traveling, teaching, or establishing a way of worship, the scribe says he will follow him “wherever” he goes. He has no expectations of glory. He cannot know where this unpredictable teacher and healer will go or what he will do, and yet he is willing to follow him, essentially forsaking his social class and his intellectual efforts.

Why? The scribe must have recognized, as others had, that Jesus “taught as one having authority and not like their scribes” (Mt 7:28-29). He must have seen that Jesus “interprets” the Scriptures in a new way – by his life and actions. He must have seen beyond the written Scriptures he understood so well to recognize Jesus as the living Word. He must have seen that it is better to follow this living and mysterious Truth than to remain “stuck” in his deeply learned process of studying to uncover some truth. Only if he saw Jesus as the embodiment of Truth would it make sense for him to step away from his current status and lifestyle and submit himself wholly to remaining with Jesus, wherever he goes, wherever he leads.

How about us? Are we “stuck” in ways of understanding that we are called to forsake in order to embrace the unknown Way of the Lord?  Do we trust enough to abandon ourselves wholly to the living and true Word, “wherever” he leads?

Studying the Gospel is one way to prepare our hearts and minds for this trusting surrender, and I highly recommend a book of meditations on St. Matthew’s Gospel called Fire of Mercy, Heart of the Word by Erasmo Leiva-Merikakis, which opened up this Gospel for me!

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Kathryn Mulderink, MA, is married to Robert, Station Manager for Holy Family Radio. Together they have seven children (including Deacon Rob and seminarian Luke ;-), and two grandchildren. She is a Secular Discalced Carmelite and has published five books and many articles. Over the last 25 years, she has worked as a teacher, headmistress, catechist, Pastoral Associate, and DRE. Currently, she serves the Church as a writer and voice talent for Catholic Radio, by publishing and speaking, and by collaborating with the diocesan Office of Catechesis, various parishes, and other ministries to lead others to encounter Christ and engage their faith. Her website is https://www.kathryntherese.com/.

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What Makes for Greatness? Who is the Greatest?

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These are questions people ask all the time because there is in each of us the desire to matter. We want to know that what we do and who we are is important and meaningful. Our deepest sorrows come from a sense of meaninglessness. We feel alone and despondent when we feel that we do not matter to anyone.

The truth is that we are made for communion, we are made for love, we are made for greatness. But because we forget that we come from God, we are returning to God, and God is rescuing us every step of the way, we often seek purpose and meaningfulness in the wrong places. Rather than seeking our true identity and purpose in God’s Kingdom, we seek to make ourselves great in the eyes of this world, among our acquaintances, on social media; sometimes, we make ourselves seem greater by making sure others seem smaller. And then we find ourselves feeling unfulfilled and un-great.

So who is truly great? In today’s Gospel, Jesus tells us who will be called the greatest in the Kingdom of Heaven: “whoever obeys and teaches (the) commandments.” Wait. What?

In a world that sorely undervalues obedience because it overvalues independence and personal expression, these words of Jesus are easily passed over. Obedience seems to be in opposition to the freedom and individualism we value so highly. Obedience seems to be a virtue only in children. We want children to do what they are told. We can decide for ourselves.

We need to differentiate between blind, uninformed obedience (in which a person is expected to respond in robotic fashion to every order without thinking) and mature, intentional obedience (in which we consent with our free will to follow the authority of another). The first is the obedience that puppies learn in “obedience school.” The second is the full flowering of virtue in the soul that has learned TRUST.

Like a child who trusts completely in her parents, the person who has learned to submit all in loving trust to the Father, accepting His commands as the guardrails His loving will has placed in our lives, obeys the commandments and encourages others to live within their horizons. This is not a superficial conforming of our outward actions to “fit the mold.” On the contrary, this kind of obedience goes right to the heart, to the subtle movements of our desires and motivations, as Jesus will go on to tell his disciples in the next verses of Matthew’s Gospel.

This can be a point of examination for our conscience: Do I trust the Father enough to accept His commandments fully and obey them completely? Where am I “holding back” on submitting to Him wholly? When I pause to pray, is there any part of me that I am not yet holding up to His light?

Our greatness comes from glorifying God with our lives, by living according to the Truth: that we are God’s children, and we love Him in our obedience to His Will.

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Kathryn Mulderink, MA, is married to Robert, Station Manager for Holy Family Radio. Together they have seven children (including Deacon Rob and seminarian Luke ;-), and two grandchildren. She is a Secular Discalced Carmelite and has published five books and many articles. Over the last 25 years, she has worked as a teacher, headmistress, catechist, Pastoral Associate, and DRE. Currently, she serves the Church as a writer and voice talent for Catholic Radio, by publishing and speaking, and by collaborating with the diocesan Office of Catechesis, various parishes, and other ministries to lead others to encounter Christ and engage their faith. Her website is https://www.kathryntherese.com/.

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Whatever We Ask?

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Jesus says something amazing in today’s Gospel, something we may think is unbelievable: “Whatever you ask the Father in my name he will give you.” Really? Our experience of prayer and petition seems to tell us that the Father does not actually give us whatever we ask for, even if our request ends with the words “in Jesus’ Name” or “through Christ our Lord.” So. Was Jesus just using some dramatic hyperbole or devotional language?

No. Jesus says what he means. Jesus IS the Truth, so every word he speaks is true. And these words, spoken at the Last Supper before he gave himself as a sacrificial offering, were a kind of “last will and testament” to his disciples. They were sitting near him, eating with him, aware of the tone of his voice and the sincerity of all he said. These words are surely true, and he surely meant them. How can we understand them?

Jesus was guiding them into the understanding that things were about to change, but for the better: “The hour is coming when I will no longer speak to you in figures… Now I am leaving the world and going back to the Father.” Gradually, they would come to see Jesus as the Bridge, re-establishing communion between God and His people; because Jesus is also human and we are part of his Mystical Body, all our prayer is joined to his own prayer before the Father, and shares in the efficacy of his prayer.

But does that mean that we will actually receive “whatever we ask for”? Yes, on one condition: that what we ask for is TRULY for our good and God’s glory.

We’ve all heard the expression: “Be careful what you ask for.” We always ask for what we THINK will make us happy (no one asks for something that will make them miserable!), but we have to admit that we don’t always know the full picture, we certainly can’t see the future, and so we don’t always know that what we are requesting will really bring us happiness. But God does.

The presupposition is that we are walking in God’s commandments, seeking his perfect will, and therefore that our prayer is in conformity with His will.

God hears every single prayer. But we don’t always hear His answer clearly. I like to say that God has three ways to answer our prayers:

  • Yes.
  • Not yet.
  • Actually, I have a better idea.

Let’s pray for the grace to appreciate the great gift we have been given in Christ, to seek God’s will for our own good and His glory, and to accept that His Plan for our lives is designed to bring us every good, deep peace, and eternal joy. Then we can pray in complete trust, knowing that the Father will, indeed, give us whatever we ask for in Jesus’ name.

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Kathryn Mulderink, MA, is married to Robert, Station Manager for Holy Family Radio. Together they have seven children (including Deacon Rob and seminarian Luke ;-), and two grandchildren. She is a Secular Discalced Carmelite and has published five books and many articles. Over the last 25 years, she has worked as a teacher, headmistress, catechist, Pastoral Associate, and DRE. Currently, she serves the Church as a writer and voice talent for Catholic Radio, by publishing and speaking, and by collaborating with the diocesan Office of Catechesis, various parishes, and other ministries to lead others to encounter Christ and engage their faith. Her website is https://www.kathryntherese.com/.

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Abiding in Love: God’s Work, God’s Way

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Today we celebrate the Feast of St. Matthias, a disciple who had followed Jesus from the beginning of his ministry all the way to the Ascension. The Apostles understood their role representing the 12 Tribes of Israel, so when Judas chose “to go to his own place” (Acts 1:25) by betraying Jesus, someone needed to fill the gap. Relying on the Holy Spirit, they added Matthias – who had remained with Jesus in faithful love to the end – to complete the 12 Apostles. In essence, the fidelity of St. Matthias makes up for the betrayal of Judas.

St. Matthias is a vivid illustration of Jesus’ words in today’s Gospel: “It was not you who chose me, but I who chose you and appointed you to go and bear fruit that will remain.” Always, the will and action of God come first, and it is our task to respond generously! Matthias was called to preach the Good News. In each of our lives, there is a choosing and a calling. Why? Love. Always, God’s love is first and last, Alpha and Omega, reason and cause and endpoint. We come from Love, we are returning to Love, and Love is supporting and rescuing us every step of the way.

What is this love like? Jesus tells his disciples how much he loves us: just as the Father loves the Son, so the Son loves each of us. It is for us to remain in this love. This is a mystery for us because our human minds cannot penetrate the secret Life of God; it is only by loving truly and fully that we can begin to taste this Life for which – for Whom – we are created. We are chosen and called to respond to the Love of Christ, which is offered to us continually. How do we remain in the love of Christ? He tells us that we abide in his love by keeping his commandments. What is his commandment? To love one another as he loves us. 

We all know we are called to love others. But do we reflect on what it means to love as Jesus loves? Again, the next line of today’s Gospel tells us clearly: “No one has greater love than this, to lay down one’s life for one’s friends.” We must be willing to be poured out completely for the good of others, particularly the eternal good of others. Because the only fruit that remains is eternal fruit: helping others find the Way and the Truth and the Life so that their lives are filled with peace and meaning and deep joy, no matter their external circumstances. We are created to be arrows pointing to the Father with our lives, for His glory and the good of others.

So we must work to make it our aim to do God’s work God’s way, God’s will for God’s glory. THEN we will be keeping his commandment, and abiding in His love. Alleluia!

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Kathryn Mulderink, MA, is married to Robert, Station Manager for Holy Family Radio. Together they have seven children (including Deacon Rob and seminarian Luke ;-), and two grandchildren. She is a Secular Discalced Carmelite and has published five books and many articles. Over the last 25 years, she has worked as a teacher, headmistress, catechist, Pastoral Associate, and DRE. Currently, she serves the Church as a writer and voice talent for Catholic Radio, by publishing and speaking, and by collaborating with the diocesan Office of Catechesis, various parishes, and other ministries to lead others to encounter Christ and engage their faith. Her website is https://www.kathryntherese.com/.

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A Familiar Passage to a Refreshed Tune

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Sometimes, Scripture readings are so familiar that I can “skim” over them. Hearing them so many times should embed them in our minds and hearts, but the adaptability of the human brain can have the opposite effect: we can fail to give familiar things our full attention.

Today’s Gospel is like that. We’ve all heard John 3:16 so many times that it is easy to overlook how stunning this passage is. “For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son….” Why would God do this? When we are learning about someone, we want to know their interior – their thoughts and desires and motivations. If we want to know God’s thoughts and desires and motivations, we would do well to study deeply today’s Gospel! Here we are told exactly what God is about, and what motivates His actions, and our part in the whole thing.

First, God is love. And God loves the world. God loves the world so much, that when we were lost in darkness and doomed to perish, God sent his only Son to bring us the light of Truth and eternal life. If God sent His Son, this means that God is FATHER, and we must believe that Jesus is SON and that we can become children of God through our baptism into Jesus.

Second, we learn that the direct mission of the Son of God is SALVATION, not judgment. He comes into the world in obedience to the sending of the Father so that we can be saved through him. He is the light that has come into the world to be the Way and the Truth and the Life for us. This is the Good News.

But we have a responsibility here too. We must use our freedom to enter into this mission of the Son. If we do not accept the Truth, if we do not believe, if we do not receive the Gift that is given, we keep ourselves outside of that mission. Some people choose wrongly; some love to hide and revel in the darkness by denying their createdness, their dependence. Like Adam and Eve in the Garden, they want to choose for themselves what they think will make them happy. They do not trust that God will give them all they need.

In order to receive the gift that God is giving us, we must “do what is true”. So we are called to freely enter into a relationship with the Trinity: we must believe in the Son Who has been sent for us so that we can live as children of the same Father. We must receive with faith the gift of light and truth and goodness that Jesus constantly pours out for us. This is the way of Truth, that “whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life,” and eternal life begins right here, right now.

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Kathryn Mulderink, MA, is married to Robert, Station Manager for Holy Family Radio. Together they have seven children (including Deacon Rob and seminarian Luke), and two grandchildren. She is a Secular Discalced Carmelite and has published five books and many articles. Over the last 25 years, she has worked as a teacher, headmistress, catechist, Pastoral Associate, and DRE. Currently, she serves the Church as a writer and voice talent for Catholic Radio, by publishing and speaking, and by collaborating with the diocesan Office of Catechesis, various parishes, and other ministries to lead others to encounter Christ and engage their faith. Her website is https://www.kathryntherese.com/.

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The Triduum Begins

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Today we enter into three of the most beautiful days of the liturgical year: the Triduum. During these three days, the regular rhythm of the liturgy – our daily Mass times – are disrupted so that our whole attention is focused on the events we commemorate.

This Holy Week began on Palm Sunday, when we accompanied Jesus on his entry into Jerusalem, with hosannas and waving of palms. The Triduum itself begins with the Mass of the Lord’s Supper this evening, when we are drawn into the depths of the New Commandment, as Jesus washes the feet of his disciples, giving us an example to follow and showing what it means to truly love and serve others. Immediately after this act of humble love, Jesus offers the Passover meal, establishing the New and Everlasting Covenant and giving himself to us so that we are empowered by his grace to follow this New Commandment of love.

Note that this Mass has no real “ending” or dismissal. The Triduum continues, but the Mass offered on this night is the last Mass until the Easter Vigil on Holy Saturday. We “fast” from the liturgy as a way to immerse ourselves in the events we are remembering.

The altar is stripped bare and the Blessed Sacrament transferred in a procession, lit by candles and reverenced by incense, to another place as we follow Jesus into the Garden of Gethsemane and watch and pray with him as he is betrayed and arrested. Adoration may take place for some time at this place of “repose,” where we meditate on the Passion now begun, and Jesus’ acceptance of the Father’s will even unto death, death on a cross.

On Good Friday there is no celebration of sacraments, except Reconciliation and the Anointing of the Sick. Instead, there is a liturgy of the Passion of the Lord on the bare altar. The setting evokes in us a sense of emptiness and longing.

Hopefully, our 40 days of Lenten practices and penances have prepared us well for these holy days. These three days are the climax of the year, and we are in a quiet darkness, keeping vigil before we celebrate resurrection even longer: 50 days.

In our busy world, I pray we are all able to slow down and be fully present to what the Church offers us during these days so that we are able to open ourselves fully to the glorious joy of Easter!

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Kathryn Mulderink, MA, is married to Robert, Station Manager for Holy Family Radio. Together they have seven children (including Deacon Rob and seminarian Luke ;-), and two grandchildren. She is a Secular Discalced Carmelite and has published five books and many articles. Over the last 25 years, she has worked as a teacher, headmistress, catechist, Pastoral Associate, and DRE. Currently, she serves the Church as a writer and voice talent for Catholic Radio, by publishing and speaking, and by collaborating with the diocesan Office of Catechesis, various parishes, and other ministries to lead others to encounter Christ and engage their faith. Her website is https://www.kathryntherese.com/.

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God’s Words are Action. Do we Believe Them?

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The cure in today’s Gospel is not the most spectacular of Jesus’ miracles, certainly. At first glance, it seems rather un-spectacular: no conversation with demons, no mud in the eyes, no lifeless corpse or grieving mother. Just a public official asking Jesus to come and cure his little boy. And Jesus’ answer is also rather un-spectacular: “You may go; your son will live.” It is anti-climactic, almost dismissive.

The Gospel stories are like this sometimes – it requires some energy and attention on our part to see what’s really happening. Here, we have a royal official humbling himself (Roman courts were usually not full of particularly religious people) and risking some level of ridicule to travel 20 miles to ask Jesus to cure his son. We can imagine that there was at least a momentary internal struggle before this official decided to set out on his journey. Should he leave his son’s bedside for several days and take the chance? Would it be worth the trip? Would word get out and his well-groomed reputation be at risk? Would this rabbi even hear his request?

Ultimately, the official is driven to seek Jesus by his helplessness in this situation and his love for his son. He finds Jesus and submits his fear and hope to him, asking him for healing. Jesus does not need many words or dramatic actions to accomplish his mighty works; he is God, and his word IS action. So, he simply tells the official that his son will live. In that very moment, the son is healed.

The verse from this Gospel that should cause us to pause, to meditate, even to examine our consciences, is the one that comes immediately after Jesus’ words: “The man believed what Jesus said to him.” He did not demand proof or signs or wonders. He believed and then he left, even though he would not receive confirmation of his belief until the next day when his servants told him that the fever had left the boy just at the time Jesus had spoken.

This somewhat un-spectacular event has a spectacular ending: because of the faith and humility of the official, his son lives and the whole household comes to believe in Jesus.

Are we able to humble ourselves, recognizing our helplessness and dependence, and go to Jesus for all our needs? Do we believe the words of Jesus, without signs and wonders? Do we turn to him each day with our whole heart, in faith and trust? Are our spirits open to the surprises of God in our daily lives? Do we allow faith and love and hope in us to radiate to others around us so that they can also come to believe? This Lent, let us each examine our hearts and our attitudes, and let God shine through us to others!

 

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Kathryn Mulderink, MA, is married to Robert, Station Manager for Holy Family Radio. Together they have seven children (including Deacon Rob and seminarian Luke ;-), and two grandchildren. She is a Secular Discalced Carmelite and has published five books and many articles. Over the last 25 years, she has worked as a teacher, headmistress, catechist, Pastoral Associate, and DRE. Currently, she serves the Church as a writer and voice talent for Catholic Radio, by publishing and speaking, and by collaborating with the diocesan Office of Catechesis, various parishes, and other ministries to lead others to encounter Christ and engage their faith. Her website is https://www.kathryntherese.com/.

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Complete Freedom

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Were you required to memorize the 10 Commandments as a student? They seem simple enough, and judging ourselves by those precepts can make us think that we are doing ok. “Thou shalt not kill”? I haven’t killed anybody. So I’m ok on that one, right?

In today’s Gospel, Jesus traces this commandment right back to the depths of every human being and helps us see that God wants Truth to reign over even the subtle movements of the heart. Most of us are not guilty of murder, but the violent movement that would take another’s life is already present in the anger, the spiteful word, or the evil intention in the heart of the murderer. It is our INTENTION that drives our words and actions. It is our intention that determines their value. It is the intention deep within the heart that God alone can judge.

Jesus points out that anger, name-calling, and giving others a reason to have something against us are enough to plant the dark seeds of resentment and vindictiveness and, yes, even murder. Jesus calls us to reject vengeance (a demand for “justice”) and work toward reconciliation (an act of MERCY) so that our offering at the altar comes from a pure heart and is free of any shadows of selfishness. God wants our whole heart and every movement within it.

This is a new teaching. The norm of the Old Covenant was justice: an eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth, injury for injury (but not more evil than one had received; this balance was legislated!). But Jesus now tells us: this is not enough. Because in taking justice upon ourselves rather than leaving it to God, we never really restore justice but rather create new injustices and keep anger and enmity alive within us. When we focus on “justice,” our hearts are narrowed and darkened and hardened. In contrast, focusing on mercy and forgiveness opens our hearts to the light of God’s grace and love.

In this teaching, Jesus brings a new level of freedom, made possible in the New Covenant by the transforming power of grace in the Holy Spirit. This creative freedom calls us to selflessness, to forgiveness, and even to loving those who hate us! Grace allows us to be transformed completely in Christ so that we can do what would otherwise be impossible to our fallen human natures: we can respond to the eternal call of the Father and turn back to Him with our whole hearts, in complete freedom.

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Kathryn Mulderink, MA, is married to Robert, Station Manager for Holy Family Radio. Together they have seven children (including Deacon Rob and seminarian Luke ;-), and two grandchildren. She is a Secular Discalced Carmelite and has published five books and many articles. Over the last 25 years, she has worked as a teacher, headmistress, catechist, Pastoral Associate, and DRE. Currently, she serves the Church as a writer and voice talent for Catholic Radio, by publishing and speaking, and by collaborating with the diocesan Office of Catechesis, various parishes, and other ministries to lead others to encounter Christ and engage their faith. Her website is https://www.kathryntherese.com/.

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Real and Permanent

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The Church, faithful to the Gospel, believes that marriage is a lifelong bond, that God Himself joins the spouses together when they freely declare their vows.

Much like today (unfortunately), divorce was taken for granted in first century Judaism because it had been allowed for so long. The Pharisees surely had heard of Jesus’ radical teaching on divorce and challenge him to defend it. Jesus asks what Moses “commanded”; they must concede that Moses did not actually command anything, but rather “allowed” divorce, implicitly acknowledging that this legal right is not a matter of privilege, but simply a tolerated abuse. Jesus responds that it was only allowed because of their hardness of heart, and then – as he so often does – he holds up the full vision of what God intended from the beginning: “male and female He created them… what God has joined together, no man can separate”. Jesus’ words remind us that the question about what makes a right marriage cannot be separated from the question about what it means to be human.

Jesus points out that a man and a woman are joined in a covenant by God Himself, linked by a bond that is real and permanent. To his disciples, he reaffirms that neither the husband nor the wife is free through divorce to marry again!

What’s the big deal? We are careful about how we talk about marriage because we must be careful about how we understand the way we participate in the life of God. If we get our theology of marriage wrong, it threatens to distort our theology of salvation. Marriage is a central Scriptural metaphor to describe this: as God is a communion of Persons, a communion of Love, so WE are created in His image and likeness, to live in communion; in addition, God is portrayed as Bridegroom and His people (that’s us) as His BRIDE. So the Sacrament of Marriage is a sign of God’s love for the Church, His Bride.

The truth of the matter is that in the sacrament of Marriage, spouses are given the grace to make manifest to the world Christ’s faithful, fruitful love for his bride, the Church.

Contemporary Christians sometimes misunderstand this, or think that Catholic declarations of nullity (commonly, but not quite accurately, called “annulments”) are a kind of “Catholic divorce.” But they are very different! Divorce is a legal designation about the END of a marriage; a declaration of nullity is a religious statement about the BEGINNING of a marriage, about its sacramental status (not the historical, legal, or emotional truth of it!). In granting a declaration of nullity, the Church is stating that one of the essential elements required for a binding union was missing from the beginning, and offering those who entered into a marriage that was lacking in some crucial aspect the gift of freedom to move forward in right relationship with the Church and with truth, which is sanctifying!

For a fuller understanding, see http://www.foryourmarriage.org/annulments/

Kathryn Mulderink, MA, is married to Robert, Station Manager for Holy Family Radio. Together they have seven children (including Deacon Rob and seminarian Luke ;-), and two grandchildren. She is a Secular Discalced Carmelite and has published five books and many articles. Over the last 25 years, she has worked as a teacher, headmistress, catechist, Pastoral Associate, and DRE. Currently, she serves the Church as a writer and voice talent for Catholic Radio, by publishing and speaking, and by collaborating with the diocesan Office of Catechesis, various parishes, and other ministries to lead others to encounter Christ and engage their faith. Her website is https://www.kathryntherese.com/.

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Groaning and Healing

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How difficult will your healing be? Will it cause Jesus to groan?

Today’s Gospel is best understood in light of the First Reading from Genesis, in which we hear how the serpent tempted the woman, Adam and Eve ate of the forbidden fruit and then hid from God in shame. What does this Original Sin have to do with Jesus healing the deaf man of the Decapolis to the astonishment of those who witnessed it?

The cure worked by Jesus impels the people to say, “He has done all things well. He makes the deaf hear and mute speak.” These words echo Isaiah’s prophecy of the blessings the Messiah would bring to the people (Is 35:4-6, Wis 10:21). It is clear that Jesus is announcing and enacting the long-awaited Good News, the Good News first announced to Adam and Eve after the Fall. Jesus IS the Savior who will set things right again and usher in a new creation.

This work of re-creation and salvation begins when Jesus is enfleshed in Mary’s womb, and his humanity participates in a personal way in the miracles he performs. He speaks to the crowds, but he heals people one-on-one: he talks to them, touches them, uses his own spittle to touch their tongues or their eyes… His attention to each one of us is very personal. In this particular instance, Jesus could have cured the man from a distance with a word, but he chose to illustrate the personal nature of his attention to each of us and his own personal nature by taking the man aside, touching the broken parts of his body, and praying aloud for his healing.

As he works this healing, Jesus groans. This is certainly not because this task was difficult for him! Perhaps it was to show us the difficulty of healing of those who are spiritually deaf and dumb due to the effects of sin. Sin closes us off spiritually from God, from each other, and from our true selves, in much the same way that dumbness and deafness (and blindness) make interacting difficult on a physical level. But Jesus comes to save us and longs to heal us so that we can live in true union with God and with each other, and become our best selves, the selves we are created to be.

What is the condition for this healing? We must surrender to it, give God permission and opportunity to work on us and in us at prayer and work with grace to conform our wills to His glorious will for us. When we do this, as Pope Benedict XVI said, “we losing nothing, nothing, absolutely nothing of what makes life free, beautiful and great… (Jesus) takes nothing away, and he gives you everything.”

Kathryn Mulderink, MA, is married to Robert, Station Manager for Holy Family Radio. Together they have seven children (including Deacon Rob and seminarian Luke ;-), and two grandchildren. She is a Secular Discalced Carmelite and has published five books and many articles. Over the last 25 years, she has worked as a teacher, headmistress, catechist, Pastoral Associate, and DRE. Currently, she serves the Church as a writer and voice talent for Catholic Radio, by publishing and speaking, and by collaborating with the diocesan Office of Catechesis, various parishes, and other ministries to lead others to encounter Christ and engage their faith. Her website is www.KathrynTherese.com.