Kingdom Economics 101

Mass Readings: February 29

First:	Hosea 14:2-10
Resp:	Psalm 81:6-11,14,17
Gospel:	Mark 12:28-34

Mark 12:34 And when Jesus saw that he answered wisely, he said to him, "You are not far from the kingdom of God." And after that no one dared to ask him any more questions.


It has to be kind of like winning the lottery to hear Jesus tell you that you are not far from the Kingdom of God. What a wonderful feeling that must have been.
In our economy money rules the day. If you win the lottery you can just about do whatever you want. In any kingdom there is an economy, the life blood of the community, it is what makes things go. In the Kingdom of God, love of God and love of neighbor is the "money" or life blood that makes things go. In order to be rich in this kingdom you have to love God and neighbor. Then you will have riches in the Kingdom of God. But... Jesus said to the man that he was "not far" from the kingdom. The man clearly demonstrated that he understood the economy of the kingdom, but I think that being rich is of little value unless you are willing to spend what you have. How sad it would be to win the lottery and never spend any of the money. Knowing that love of God and neighbor is what is needed is not enough, we have to actually do it. We have to spend the "money" of the kingdom to make the economy go.

Father, thank you for your mercy and grace. Help me to not only understand your will for me, but to be willing to follow wherever that may lead. Help me to truly understand what it means to love you and my neighbor. Allow me to not only see the kingdom from a near distance, but to actually become a participating citizen in the Kingdom of God.

Amen

A House Divided

Mass Readings: February 28

First:	Jeremiah 7:23-28
Resp:	Psalm 95:1-2,6-9
Gospel:	Luke 11:14-23

Psalms 95:2 Let us come into his presence with thanksgiving; let us make a joyful noise to him with songs of praise!

When I think about what divides us and what unites us as a people I see that things like politics and "religion" tend to divide, yet we tend to unite around things like holidays and birthdays and weddings and funerals. What I see is that we unite around times of being thankful and celebrating life. In the realm of ideas and struggle for power, however, there is no way to unite unless we follow something or someone greater than ourselves. We will always fight and struggle if our own ideas and power is at stake.
Jesus says that a kingdom divided cannot stand. I fear for our country these days because we are so divided. In times when we are able to count our blessings we have a chance to unite. When we are rich and all we do is defend what we have and want, then we will fail. How hard it is for a rich man to enter into the Kingdom of Heaven. I think the secret for our survival is to start by being thankful to God everywhere and in all times.

Father, I give you thanks. I ask for your blessing to remain upon our country and that the people will see that it is your love and grace that sustains us. Without you we can do nothing. Help us, through the gift of your Holy Spirit, to be humble and thankful in your presence.

Amen

Now Hear O Israel

Mass Readings: February 27

First: Deuteronomy 4:1,5-9
Resp: Psalm 147:12-13,15-16,19-20
Gospel: Matthew 5:17-19


Deuteronomy 4:6 Keep them and do them, for that will be your wisdom and your understanding in the sight of the peoples, who, when they hear all these statutes, will say, 'Surely this great nation is a wise and understanding people.'

God didn't give His commandments to all the people of the world, He gave them to the people of Israel through Moses. God also doesn't give His Word to all the people of the world, but He gives it to us through Jesus Christ and His Church. But just as the people of Israel are to carefully obey the commandments in order to be a witness to the rest of the world, we too, as the church of Jesus Christ, are to carefully keep and obey his Word to be a witness to the rest of the world.
We can't, and we shouldn't expect the "world" to obey the commands of God if we ourselves, to whom they are given, don't keep them. Jesus says remove the plank from your own eye and then you can see clearly the splinter in the others eye. We, as the people of God must take seriously his Word. It is our wisdom and our understanding in the sight of the people. But if we don't keep them, we will, and we should, appear foolish to the people. Who would say they believe in something and then not follow it, except a fool?

Father, thank you for your word and your commandments. Thank you for your wisdom and your grace. Help me, by your Holy Spirit, to follow, and through my actions and faithfulness by your grace, may the wisdom of your word be revealed to the people.

Amen

Mercy is a test of faith

Mass Readings: February 26

First: Daniel 3:25,34-43
Resp: Psalm 25:4-9
Gospel: Matthew 18:21-35


Matthew 18:33 And should not you have had mercy on your fellow servant, as I had mercy on you?'

How can we say we have faith in God when we fail to show mercy to our brother? In some sense this is the most basic test of faith. First can we learn and do what God shows us to do, and then can we trust Him. We think that if we show mercy we will be weak and will give up what we think is "rightfully" ours, but God can make anything out of nothing. Do we believe it?

Father, it is easy not to trust your mercy because we are too familiar with not showing mercy. Please be patient with us and help us to see and trust in you and your love.

Amen

It must be God

Mass Readings: February 25

First: 2 Kings 5:1-15
Resp: Psalms 42:2-3; 43:3-4
Gospel: Luke 4:24-30


2Kings 5:12 Are not Abana and Pharpar, the rivers of Damascus, better than all the waters of Israel? Could I not wash in them and be clean?" So he turned and went away in a rage.

It is a problem of humility. Jesus says that a prophet is not accepted in his own home town. Naaman didn't like Elisha's simple solution to his problem. We think that to cure our situation we must have someone or something that is not common. It must be special or it isn't good enough.
Though on the surface it may not be obvious, this is really a pride problem. If the cure to our trouble is so simple that common water, or one of our own people can be a solution, then certainly we should be able to solve our problems by our selves. This is pride. God confounds the mighty with the weak and simple. That way we know it is from God. If it was special water, then we could credit the water. But if it is common water, then it must be God. And if it must be God, then we must go to Him. Sometimes that is hard to accept.

Father, help me to get past my pride. You came as a simple infant child that would one day bleed and die like any other man. Yet, in this man we find you and our salvation. He was one of us. But it must be you.

Amen

A Personal Encounter

Mass Readings: February 24

First: Exodus 17:3-7
Resp: Psalm 95:1-2,6-9
Second: Romans 5:1-2,5-8
Gospel: John 4:5-42

John 4:42 They said to the woman, "It is no longer because of what you said that we believe, for we have heard for ourselves, and we know that this is indeed the Savior of the world."

Jesus told the woman that true worshippers will worship in spirit and in truth. True worship doesn't depend on whether you are a Jew or a Samaritan. What matters is whether we personally meet Jesus and that we are sincere in our faith.
Today there are many divisions in the church. Apologetics is the defense of our own particular beliefs. Jesus tells the woman that true worship transcends our knowledge and prejudices.
The Samaritans needed to hear the witness of the woman, but when they meet Jesus for themsleves, they move beyond the words of the woman.
In any case, knowledge brings us to the point where we can know Jesus, but to worship in spirit and in truth we must actually move beyond the words of the witness and encounter him for ourselves.

Father, help me to not get stuck in my own particular understanding of the faith that divides, but rather to let your words sink deep within me to reveal my need for a savior.

Amen

I am no better

Mass Readings: February 23

First: Micah 7:14-15,18-20
Resp: Psalm 103:1-4,9-12
Gospel: Luke 15:1-3,11-32


Luke 15:30 But when this son of yours came, who has devoured your property with prostitutes, you killed the fattened calf for him!'

The hard thing to do as a Christian is, well, be Christian. Christ came to save the lost, not the ones who are doing good. The problem for those who "do good" is that they fail to do good when they think that the ones who do not do good are less deserving of God's grace. They fail to understand what mercy means. There is the temptation to demand that before we can receive the love of God we have to prove we deserve it. The fact is we never deserve it. It is always a gift.

Father, help me to see that I am not better than those who I see as the sinners and the underserving. Help me to love the unlovable, to pray for my enemies, and to always trust in your mercy and grace.

Amen

On earth as it is in Heaven

Mass Readings: February 22

First:	1 Peter 5:1-4
Resp:	Psalm 23:1-6
Gospel:	Matthew 16:13-19

Matthew 16:19 I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven, and whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven."

In this verse there is a tendency to think that Heaven will respond to the judgements of Peter and the apostles. But a better rendering, I believe, is that whatever they bind on earth should be that which is bound in Heaven. This is a command rather than a statement of eternal infallibility. Clearly in other scriptures Jesus warns that he will take away their lamp stand if they fail to be faithful. This is a call to act in the will of God, not a coronation. We must always be humble, meaning that we should know that what we have is a gift of God and not an entitlement.

Father, I give you thanks for the love, mercy and grace you have shown to me and my family. Help us, by your Holy Spirit, to always know that these are gifts from you and not our birthright, and then help us to share that love, mercy and grace with others who are no less deserving then we.

Amen

Mass Readings: February 21, 2008

First: Jeremiah 17:5-10

Resp: Psalm 1:1-4,6

Gospel: Luke 16:19-31

Luke 16:31 But Abraham said, 'If they will not listen to Moses and the prophets, they will not be convinced even if someone were to rise from death.'

We tend to want to pick and choose our religion based on what we want to hear. Our own indulgence in the flesh prevents us from truly accepting the Word of God. We are called to hear the full council of God. This means that we are called to hear that we are sinners and that we are accountable to God for what we do while in the flesh.

Father, help me to see clearly my sin, which is ever before me. Help me, by your Holy Spirit, to see what you would have me be and give me the courage to follow.

Yes, I believe, help my unbelief.

Amen