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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.

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As They Were Able to Understand it- Patience and Trust

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Jesus often turns our human understanding on its head, as a reminder that God’s ways are far from our ways, and that reality resides far below superficial appearances. Grownups must become like children, the wealthy and powerful are actually at a disadvantage, those who are poor and mourning are the true heirs to the Kingdom.

In today’s Gospel, Jesus is drawing a distinction between humble beginnings and cosmic conclusions: seeds scattered grow quietly and in hiddenness, over the steady course of time, until the fruit is ready for harvest. Just as the seed grows slowly toward fruitfulness, so the kingdom Jesus came to establish will not come about immediately by dramatic revolutionary activity or throwing off the yoke of the Romans (see Dan 4:10-12 and Ezek 17:22-24 and 31:1-6 for Old Testament use of mighty trees as imagery for powerful kingdoms).

Patience is needed, and deep confidence in God’s mysterious Plan; God’s will is done even when (perhaps especially when) it is vigorously opposed and rejected by many. This serves to assure the persecuted Markan community that, despite the rejection and opposition they are experiencing, the seed sown in and through Jesus is, in fact, growing and mysteriously maturing toward the fullness of the Kingdom.

Have we assimilated this truth into the fabric of our own lives? Just as the Kingdom matures slowly and the grace that gives it growth remains invisible, the maturing grain also represents each person’s growth in holiness. Do we trust that the mustard seed of faith, hope, and love planted in us at our baptism is truly growing toward fruitfulness? Do we become impatient with God’s timing in our lives, over-eager to see ourselves become perfect, or our situations become ideal, or the people around us become what we think they should be? Have we learned the deep truth that God does His best work when we aren’t looking, and His work in us almost always takes place far deeper than our consciousness can reach?

Jesus taught the disciples “as they were able to understand it.” He teaches us the same way. So let us ask for the grace of understanding, of seeing things as God sees them so that we learn to be patient with His timing in the circumstances of our lives.

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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Amazed and Astonished by the Power of Christ

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Two events happen in today’s Gospel: Jesus astonishes the people of Capernaum with his Sabbath teaching, and then Jesus amazes the people by casting out a demon.

It was customary in a synagogue to invite others to read the Scriptures and comment on them; leaders would welcome a young, promising voice, and Jesus took many opportunities to express the Truth in this way (Take note that in Mark’s Gospel, Jesus never again enters a synagogue after he is rejected in the synagogue at Nazareth in Chapter 6!). What is astonishing is not the fact that Jesus is teaching but that, unlike the scribes, his teaching does not simply repeat traditional and accepted opinions of other rabbinical leaders. It is “new teaching with authority” – Jesus speaks on his own personal authority, a fact which will soon turn the scribes against him.

We do not know what passage Jesus read, or how he commented on it. Mark’s Gospel contains precious little of Jesus’ actual teaching and is focused on the arrival of the Kingdom in the person and authority of Christ, and the astonishment this stirred in those who encountered him. Mark repeatedly shows us that the coming of Christ was altogether astounding, his words and actions unprecedented and challenging to the status quo, his authority, and power noted by all – even the demon who acknowledges him as “the Holy One of God.” Jesus, with authority, tells the unclean spirit literally: “Be muzzled” and orders him to leave the man. And the evil spirit must obey, stirring new amazement through the crowd.

Both of these events give evidence of the power and authority of Jesus, and the widespread attention he drew. People heard him teach and saw him healing and overcoming demons and were amazed and astonished.

In a world that seems to take everything for granted (even the Gospel) and that undervalues vulnerability, openness, and wonder, we should examine our own hearts:

Do we really believe in the transforming power of Christ in every facet of our being?

Are we truly open to the God of surprises, opening ourselves fully to a sincere encounter with the living God?

Are we still capable of wonder and amazement at the peaceful presence of God in each moment?

Are we able to celebrate the bright moments of grace in our lives and in the lives of others?

Let’s all ask for the great gift of recognizing and marveling at the mighty power and authority of Christ, which can be found everywhere we turn: in the sky and the sea, in the hearts of those we encounter, in the seed and bloom and fruit of the earth, and in every tabernacle that holds the very Presence of God in the Eucharist.

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.

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Our Humble Hidden God

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Let’s put the conversation in today’s Gospel in context to understand it: “they were coming down from the mountain” where the Transfiguration had just occurred. Peter, James, and John saw Jesus shining like the sun, with Moses and Elijah talking with him, and the voice of the Father announcing that this is his beloved Son. They had just fallen on their faces in awe and now they are probably dazed, with Jesus instructing them not to tell anyone what they had just seen (how could they even describe this?!) “until the Son of man is raised from the dead” (how could they understand these words?!). These three disciples could not have grasped the depth of what Jesus was communicating.

It seems they reach for what they DO know: Elijah. They had just seen Elijah, and the Scribes taught that Elijah was the herald of the Messiah, referencing Malachi. So they ask him why the scribes say Elijah must come first (clearly, the Messiah is already here, and this recent appearance of Elijah seems to have done nothing to forward his mission).

The Lord’s answer reframes the question. He says that Elijah will come and restore all things, but that the spirit of Elijah has already come to prepare the way, in the person of John the Baptist. We heard this when Jesus said, “if you are willing to accept it, (John) is Elijah who is to come” (Matt 11:15). Luke says that the Baptist will come “in the spirit and power of Elijah” (Luke 1:17). So the spirit of Elijah in the person of John the Baptist prepared for the Messiah’s first coming. It is not clear whether, as some of the Patristics believed, Elijah will indeed come again to prepare for the Final Coming of Christ.

Jesus does not explicate that here. He DOES, however, use this inquiry to help them see that John the Baptist was a precursor in more ways than one: he came and prepared the way for the Messiah, preaching repentance; he also suffered death for witnessing to the Truth. Jesus points out that the Son of Man will also suffer. He is preparing the disciples to see that, in some way, the great Elijah is the martyred Baptist; similarly, the glorious Messiah will be the crucified Son of Man. Our God is a hidden, humbled, self-sacrificing God.

As we prepare for Christmas, we consider Jesus’ first coming, consider whether we are living for his final coming, and open our hearts more fully to his coming to us every day. Like the disciples, we must see that our mighty God comes to us in the most improbable ways: veiled in the smallest particle of the Eucharist, hidden in the interruptions and duties of each day, and quietly entering the world as a helpless Babe wrapped in swaddling clothes. The King of endless glory conquers our hearts by giving Himself to us, every moment of every day so that we can live in union with him.

Kathryn is married to Robert, mother of seven, grandmother to two, and a lay Carmelite. She has worked as a teacher, headmistress, catechist, Pastoral Associate, and DRE, and also as a writer and voice talent for Holy Family Radio. Currently, she serves the Church as a writer and presenter, and by collaborating with the diocesan Office of Faith Formation, individual parishes, and Catholic ministries to lead others to encounter Christ and engage their faith. Learn more at www.kathryntherese.com or on Facebook @summapax.

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The Hidden Kingdom

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The question asked by the Pharisees is one that is running like static electricity throughout the Hebrew world: When will the Kingdom of God come? For thousands of years, they have been waiting for the Messiah, as they grew into a Tribe and a People, enslaved in Egypt, wandering in the desert, fighting for the Promised Land, building a Temple, succumbing to idolatry, exiled in Babylon, and now oppressed by the Romans, with whom they have established a somewhat comfortable but ever-uncertain freedom to live and worship according to the Law.

Expectation and rumor have filled the air for several decades, suggesting that the Messiah would come soon to free them from the enslavement of worldly powers and restore a visible political Kingdom on earth. This is what the Pharisees are looking for: political and cultural independence, international influence, a renewed social superiority, a theocracy even. Jesus knows that what they really want is the glorification and prolonging of their own kingdom, not the dawning of a new and heavenly Kingdom.

Jesus, as he often does, answers the question in a way that refocuses the perspective of the asker: the Kingdom cannot be seen, cannot be announced on a certain date, cannot be limited to one geopolitical territory even if it is the Promised Land. It is already here, among and within you; wherever Jesus is accepted, believed in, and obeyed, he is reigning already. The Kingdom IS Christ. He is standing among them, unrecognized. And then, in the next breath, Jesus warns against running after false Messiahs. The Savior is as bright and unpredictable as lightning flashing across the sky. It is for us to be still and know him in the silence of our hearts, to allow him to reign within us and work through us to extend his glorious, eternal Kingdom.

The glory, universality, and eternity of this Kingdom are hidden. The joy and love and peace of this Kingdom should radiate through the words, actions, and hearts of its citizens. As members of this Kingdom of Love, under the reign of the Prince of Peace, the light of Christ should shine through us, drawing all into the joy of the Lord.

A smile. An act of true kindness. A heartfelt prayer. A word of gratitude. These things spring from deep within our hearts, when they are ablaze with the Fire of the Spirit of Jesus, and the sparks can ignite dry bones and papery hearts with new life. Let’s act from the fires within and be generous with these gifts, so that, as St. Catherine of Siena said, we will set the world on fire.

Kathryn is married to Robert, mother of seven, grandmother to two, and a lay Carmelite. She has worked as a teacher, headmistress, catechist, Pastoral Associate, and DRE, and also as a writer and voice talent for Holy Family Radio. Currently, she serves the Church as a writer and presenter, and by collaborating with the diocesan Office of Faith Formation, individual parishes, and Catholic ministries to lead others to encounter Christ and engage their faith. Learn more at www.kathryntherese.com or on Facebook @summapax.

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First Comes Love

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The words in today’s First Reading from Deuteronomy are pivotal in the Mosaic Law and are now known as the Shema, part of the monotheistic profession of faith recited by Jews twice a day and the centerpiece of the morning and evening prayer services: Hear, O Israel, the Lord our God is one.

It is interesting to note that for Jews, to recite this prayer is to reaffirm a personal relationship with God’s rule, and with “receiving the kingdom of heaven;” it is often recited at the point of death. It was well-known to Jesus’ hearers and to the scribe who posed the question. Still, his inquiry about which commandment is the most important is a legitimate one, as the rabbis had enumerated 613 precepts of the Law, 248 commands, and 365 prohibitions; the relative importance of these ritual ordinances, precepts, and expressions of natural law was a common subject of discussion. While the Shema was recited twice a day, its importance could be obscured by the fact that it was immediately followed by rules about temporal prosperity and the wearing of tassels.

This scribe seems to ask the question in goodwill, looking for clarity. Jesus affirms that the commandment of primary importance is to love God with all your heart and soul and mind and strength (every power of our body and soul must be put in service to God!). Then he adds something surprising: the commandment of next importance is to love others as oneself (this comes from Leviticus 19:18, but was often obscured by other texts, like “an eye for an eye,” in Leviticus 24:19-20).

What would be surprising to the original listeners is that Jesus brings this law of loving others to the forefront by setting it beside – and making it inseparable from – the need to love God completely, with one’s whole being. It’s important for modern listeners to note the order Jesus gives these: first we must love God wholly, and then our love of others flows from it.

This sums up all man’s duties to God and to others, and the scribe acknowledges the wisdom Jesus has spoken. He expresses a clear understanding of the teaching of the prophets that the interior disposition of charity and fulfilling the moral law were superior to the external ritual of sacrifice; in many ways, this was obscured by the Pharisees’ emphasis on external expressions. The scribe replies that these laws of love are “worth more than all burnt offerings and sacrifices.” Love is the goal; ceremonial worship is a means. Jesus responds to this summary by affirming that he is not far from the kingdom of God.

When we profess and believe that God is one and that we love Him with all our heart and soul and mind and strength, we draw close to Him and are empowered to bring His love to others by self-sacrificing service.

Loving God is first. Loving others must flow from this first love.

Kathryn is married to Robert, mother of seven, grandmother to two, and a lay Carmelite. She has worked as a teacher, headmistress, catechist, Pastoral Associate, and DRE, and also as a writer and voice talent for Holy Family Radio. Currently, she serves the Church as a writer and presenter, and by collaborating with the diocesan Office of Faith Formation, individual parishes, and Catholic ministries to lead others to encounter Christ and engage their faith. Learn more at www.kathryntherese.com or on Facebook @summapax.

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Power, Pleasure, Prestige, Position, Possessions

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The Sermon on the Mount. The Beatitudes. We have heard them so often, seen them on posters, Facebook art, Instagram, even our daily planners… maybe we forget how revolutionary these words of Jesus are.

Jesus signals to the crowd that this is serious and official by sitting down. When rabbis sat down to teach, it meant that their words were official and doctrinal (we still refer to this tradition when we refer to the “Chair of Peter”, from which we receive official statements of the Church). Another signal we might miss because of the translation is the phrase “he began to teach them”; literally translated, this would say “he opened his mouth,” a phrase indicating an official declaration in the ancient world. St. Matthew tells us that Jesus went up the mountain – from whence the Law was given – and then sat down and opened his mouth; all this is to help us understand that Jesus is teaching something in a rather solemn way, from his Heart.

Each statement Jesus gives us in the Beatitudes is intended to overturn our very natural way of thinking, to proclaim that God’s ways are not our ways and that the Kingdom is established deep within every human heart and not necessarily obvious to worldly eyes. Unlike the rich and powerful of this world, who maintain their position by violence and treachery and self-will, citizens of the Kingdom of God are often oppressed and yet blessed. They are poor, mourning the present state of life, meek and insignificant to the world, yearning to live rightly according to the righteousness of God, merciful to others, pure of heart, sowing peace in the world. These words of Jesus turn worldly wisdom on its head. In our own world, we might read them as “Blessed are you if you are not driven by the desire for power, pleasure, prestige, position, possessions, good feelings, etc…Blessed are you if you are kind and merciful like the Father.”

Jesus says something else that is revolutionary: he links his teaching to himself. He does not say, “Here are some good rules, and you will be blessed even when you are persecuted for following them.” Rather, he says, “Blessed are you when they insult and persecute you and utter every kind of evil against you falsely because of ME. Rejoice and be glad, for your reward will be great in heaven.” The connection between what Jesus says and his very PERSON is unique in all of history; we must not simply accept his teaching, we must adhere to HIM. To the Jews, these were very strange words. They should not be strange to us! We must know Christ, adhere to Christ and be transformed in Christ so that we can be “other Christs” and bring God’s love and mercy to others.

This is what the Gospel is all about.

Kathryn is married to Robert, mother of seven, grandmother to two, and a lay Carmelite. She has worked as a teacher, headmistress, catechist, Pastoral Associate, and DRE, and also as a writer and voice talent for Holy Family Radio. Currently, she serves the Church as a writer and presenter, and by collaborating with the diocesan Office of Faith Formation, individual parishes, and Catholic ministries to lead others to encounter Christ and engage their faith. Learn more at www.kathryntherese.com or on Facebook @summapax.

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A Seed And A Sprinkle

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What IS the Kingdom of God like? To what can we compare it?

If you’ve spent any time thinking about the “ends of things,” the “final things,” the end point of existence, you’ve probably wondered about the Kingdom of God. What is it?

Jesus gives us comparisons that are intended to make us think and wonder even more. He tells us that it is like a mustard seed that a man planted in a garden, or like yeast that a woman mixed into some dough. Hardly images we might choose for the very Kingdom of God!

I’ve always found it interesting that Jesus used comparisons that both men and women of the time could understand really intimately. A man would know about leavening, but not in the same way that a woman who has actually made bread with her own hands would; he knows it in general, she knows the working up close, and the timing, and the need for warmth, and the mistakes that can be made. A woman would know something about planting tiny seeds, but not in the same way that a man who had actually planted it with his own hands would; she knows it in general, but he knows the ground clearing, the furrowing with the finger, the burying to the right depth, the watering, the waiting, the possibility that nothing will grow from this tiny seed.

What both of these comparisons have in common is that they begin small and hidden. They both remain inactive and, in a sense, “dead” unless they are placed in the right conditions to take on a new life, and they need these certain conditions to thrive. When they DO take on new life, they grow continually and expand to proportions much larger and life-giving than their original form would suggest: a sprinkle of leavening makes a whole batch of dough rise in grainy glory to feed the life of others; a tiny, hard, hot mustard seed grows into a bush large enough to support the life of birds in its branches.

The Church grew from the small “mustard seed” of apostles and disciples until it reached the ends of the earth. And the Kingdom of God which is planted in the heart of each one of us is likewise small and hidden, and it is for us to provide the right conditions for it to begin to grow interiorly: self-giving love of God and neighbor. When we do this, growing in virtue and deepening our transformation in Christ, the life of God’s love within us flourishes and becomes life-giving to others!

Kathryn is married to Robert, mother of seven, grandmother to two, and a lay Carmelite. She has worked as a teacher, headmistress, catechist, Pastoral Associate, and DRE, and also as a writer and voice talent for Holy Family Radio. Currently, she serves the Church as a writer and presenter, and by collaborating with the diocesan Office of Faith Formation, individual parishes, and Catholic ministries to lead others to encounter Christ and engage their faith. Learn more at www.kathryntherese.com or on Facebook @summapax.

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Gratitude And Wisdom

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We have a clue to the probability that in today’s Gospel Jesus is addressing those who are against him rather than the crowd of goodwill followers by his use of the word “hypocrites,” usually reserved for the Scribes and Pharisees. Jesus points out that they already know how to judge physical signs to predict what is coming, like the weather, but they do not know how to judge the subtler “signs of the times” to recognize more important things like the presence of the Messiah among them!

The context in which Luke places these words is a longer explication of how beloved we are, the shortness of our life on earth, the need for watchfulness, and the division between people that following Jesus will cause. He “shakes them up” a bit so that they will hear his reference to the importance of the present time and the need to attend to matters before it is too late, calling them to repentance while there is still time before judgment is rendered. His words are not meant to help them avoid legal difficulties with opponents before judges or to avoid earthly prisons. Rather, he is hoping to help them see that the time for peacekeeping and justice and charity is always now! He calls his hearers to act always as if this moment matters, because it does, and we cannot know how many more moments we will be on this earth.

These are valuable attitudes for right living and helping others to live uprightly as well! The Psalmist (Psalm 90:12) asks the Lord to help us know the shortness of life so that we may have WISDOM. Those who recognize this and act accordingly, making the most of each moment before God, live in gratitude and joy and wisdom.

What can we do each morning to begin the day with gratitude and the resolve to live the day in a way that will glorify God, serve others, and lead us to eternal joy?

Kathryn is married to Robert, mother of seven, grandmother to two, and a lay Carmelite. She has worked as a teacher, headmistress, catechist, Pastoral Associate, and DRE, and also as a writer and voice talent for Holy Family Radio. Currently, she serves the Church as a writer and presenter, and by collaborating with the diocesan Office of Faith Formation, individual parishes, and Catholic ministries to lead others to encounter Christ and engage their faith. Learn more at www.kathryntherese.com or on Facebook @summapax.

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Worth More Than Many Sparrows

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“Beware… (but) do not be afraid. You are worth more than many sparrows.”

In this Gospel, Jesus goes from warning to reassuring. He first warns his close disciples to beware of the hypocrisy of the Pharisees. Why is this warning needed? Because Jesus plans to put them in positions of leadership of the Church He will establish, and He wants them to always remember and guard against the kind of superficial concerns and selfishness that keep the Pharisees from loving and serving truly. Authority has the tendency to stir in those who have it the desire to do what is expedient in order to keep it. Jesus says: Keep desire for truth and love and humility as the main concern, and don’t fall into the trap of self-righteous self-protection that the Pharisees have fallen into!

Then He addresses the crowd, which Luke points out has grown dramatically, to the point that they are trampling one another underfoot (the translation of the Greek is “tens of thousands”). Jesus now has so many followers that He could, if He desired, lead a rebellion to overthrow the Romans and at last take authority of the Kingdom that so many believed He had come to establish. But no; another lesson in authority is given: His Kingdom is not of this world, and will not be established by force. His Kingdom is quiet and hidden, expanding heart by heart as each person opens to Him and invites Jesus to reign within. This King expands his Kingdom by surrendering His whole self and His life for us.

But this Kingdom is also demanding! To enter into the Kingdom means we lovingly surrender all in return, and that the full Truth – of ourselves and of God – will eventually be known to all! In the interim, we need not fear anything, not even those who can take our mortal lives with violence, because this Kingdom we have longed for will be more fully ours after our death.

Our courage and faithfulness in the face of many difficulties arise from the truth of God’s great love for us and his never-failing help, his infinite loving kindness. We are not loved “en masse” but as individuals, even in the smallest details. God sees every detail of our lives, both the deep, hidden hurts and the tiny acts of loving service that go unnoticed by others. Jesus assures us that God knows the details we cannot know fully, that the very hairs of our head have all been counted. Even the sparrows, worth so little that a fifth one is thrown in when four are purchased, do not escape the providence of God.

And you, “you are worth more than many sparrows.”

Kathryn is married to Robert, mother of seven, grandmother to two, and a lay Carmelite. She has worked as a teacher, headmistress, catechist, Pastoral Associate, and DRE, and also as a writer and voice talent for Holy Family Radio. Currently, she serves the Church as a writer and presenter, and by collaborating with the diocesan Office of Faith Formation, individual parishes, and Catholic ministries to lead others to encounter Christ and engage their faith. Learn more at www.kathryntherese.com or on Facebook @summapax.

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Obeying Out Of Love

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This Gospel challenges us, as Jesus challenges the Scribes and Pharisees. It can also be easily misinterpreted to mean that the Law is not important. But a true interpretation recognizes that all things – even very good things – must be balanced by LOVE and must lead to Love.

A quick history:

The first sin was committed against God because Adam and Eve doubted His love and goodness toward them. Later, as the human race continued to move away from God, Abram was called to follow God in faith, and his descendants were also called to trust and obey, which they did with varying success. By the time of Moses, they have become a “stiff-necked people,” so this possibility of serving God in free faith is diminished considerably. But God has not given up: through Moses, He makes a new covenant carved in stone with them, a covenant under the Law. It’s helpful to note that this Law was given to set them apart and ensure freedom from sin and hopelessness in this world; if God wanted slaves, He would have left them in Egypt! This Law developed over time until it covered every aspect of life, which connected each person throughout the day with the truth that they were a Chosen People, from whom the Messiah would come, and kept them “clean” for the Temple observances, set apart for God.

The Scribes protected the Law, interpreted and explained it, and the explanations took on the sense of hundreds of additional rules. The sect of the Pharisees distinguished themselves by strict observance of these rules in the minutest details.

These Pharisees have been hounding Jesus on his lack of observance of the Law, which they consider paramount. This is the danger with Law: wherever there are rules, there is a temptation to think that strictly observing them is holiness before God. The Pharisees have slipped into the error of believing that objective adherence to the rules is the most important thing; they have missed the point that external rules are intended to lead us to deep interior conversion and conforming to God’s will, growing in love.

So Jesus calls them out, not saying that the Pharisees should not have followed the Law and paid their tithes, but that they should have ALSO paid attention to “judgment and to love for God.” He points out that they love themselves and their own ideas and reputations, loving to be honored and recognized. This is not loving God, but using the Law as a way of glorifying themselves. They also use it as a weapon, which is proven by the fact that they seek to trap him, and eventually appeal to the Law to execute him: “We have a Law, and according to that law he must die!” (John 19:6-7).

Jesus calls all of us to obey God’s laws, but to obey out of LOVE and not forget to help others so that we become the saints we are called to be!

Kathryn is married to Robert, mother of seven, grandmother to two, and a lay Carmelite. She has worked as a teacher, headmistress, catechist, Pastoral Associate, and DRE, and also as a writer and voice talent for Holy Family Radio. Currently, she serves the Church as a writer and presenter, and by collaborating with the diocesan Office of Faith Formation, individual parishes, and Catholic ministries to lead others to encounter Christ and engage their faith. Learn more at www.kathryntherese.com or on Facebook @summapax.