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Daily Reflection

The first reading today from 2nd Kings tells of Elisha, the successor of Elijah, and another typological Old Testament miracle prefiguring baptism. We hear of the Syrian army commander Naaman a gentile, mighty in war but afflicted with leprosy. He is informed by his wife’s Israelite slave of the power of the Israelite prophet, Elisha. Naaman goes to Israel and approaches the king, seeking a cure. The king does not have that power and fears the Syrian will use it as a pretext for war. Elisha hears of his king’s discomfiture and having no such fear, tells the king to send the afflicted Syrian to him. When Naaman arrives at Elisha’s home “…with horses and chariots”, Elisha, not deigning to meet the Syrian in person sends a message, “Go wash seven times in the Jordan…” Naaman is angered; the prophet did not personally invoke the cure and there are perfectly good rivers in Syria. A servant encourages him “…do as he said.” Naaman does so and is cured, leading him to accept the God Elisha serves. Fathers of the Church would see parallels in this incident with the curing of the ‘leprosy’ of our sins by our baptism. Importantly, just as Naaman’s disease was actually cured, so the ‘disease’ of our original sin is actually ‘cured’ by our baptism. Also worth noting are the intervention of the lesser characters in this story critical to the success of the healing; the Israelite slave girl who informed Naaman of the powerful prophet, the messenger who conveyed Elisha’s instruction to Naaman and Naaman’s own servant who urged him to perform the action directed by the prophet. All can be taken as models for small acts of evangelization: “How can I unless someone guides me?” Acts 8:31 In the Gospel of Luke, Jesus will cite this episode in the synagogue at Nazareth, angering His Jewish listeners. Jesus uses it as an example of how the faith of even a gentile could bring about God’s healing.

March 9

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Today, we receive Great News in the Gospel! YOU AND I HAVE BEEN GIVEN THE GIFT OF FORGIVENESS. God, in His great mercy, has given us the gift of being forgiven. And equally as wonderful: God, in His mercy, has given you and me the ability to forgive. We are given not just the ability but also the responsibility to forgive. Sometimes we may treat that responsibility as a burden, as the price we pay so that we can be forgiven. We do it grudgingly, sparingly. Like Peter, we ask, “Lord, how many times?” Jesus’ response is really saying, “You are asking the wrong question because you do not understand. Don’t count. Don’t sit in judgment. You are being called to forgive far less than God has already forgiven of you.” My being forgiven is tied to my forgiving others. These are two sides of the same coin. Jesus teaches this core virtue in His Sermon on the Plain, “Forgive, and you will be forgiven” (Luke 6:37) and the Sermon on the Mount, in the Lord’s Prayer, immediately followed by, “For if you forgive others their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you; but if you do not forgive others, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses” (Matthew 6:14-15). Forgiveness is an all or nothing decision. Jesus instructs Peter not to bother with counting. Just forgive, and keep forgiving, never partially or with limits, but repeatedly and endlessly. You can’t dole out forgiveness case by case or person by person. You either are someone who forgives or you are not. Forgiving partially or conditionally is not an option. Jesus commands us to love one another as He has loved us (John 13:34), and love keeps no record of wrongs (I Cor 13:5). As long as we keep track, we still hold onto the first (and second and third) wrongs done to us, and they are festering, ready to hurt us over and over. The mere act of counting, of adding to the list, dredges up painful memories. So, we must forgive, as an act of obedience that yields immense grace. Being able to forgive fully and completely is not a burden, it is a blessing. When we are able to forgive, we are freed from feelings and forces that harm us and those around us. We can let go of anger, hatred, bitterness, hurt, even judgmental self-righteousness. Letting go frees us from those pains (and from the chore of keeping count), and it allows us to change our focus from what was done to us to the many good things done for us. You may not feel that the person who offended you deserves to be forgiven – but you deserve the blessing of being able to forgive. When we try to fathom the unending, unconditional mercy of God consider this…there are 8.14 billion people in the world today. If every person only committed one sin or trespass against God (and we know committing only one sin today is highly unlikely) God has been offended 8.14 billion times today! Thank you, God, that You do not keep count! Our awesome God will forgive every sin, if asked. Who do I need to forgive today? Tomorrow is promised to no one, I better not wait!

March 10

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In today’s Gospel, taken from the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus emphasizes that the He is fulfilling the “Old Law and the Prophets,” not abolishing or replacing them. However, there are clear implications for his disciples, including us, concerning the “New Law” in which Jesus is bringing to those who believe in Him. Not one letter or even a part of a letter is to disappear from the Old Law. There were several different tendencies in the communities of the first Christians. Some thought that it was not necessary to observe the laws of the Old Testament, because we are saved by faith in Jesus and not by the observance of the Law (Rm 3:21-26). Others accepted Jesus, the Messiah, but they did not accept the liberty of spirit with which some of the communities lived the presence of Jesus. They thought that being Jews they had to continue to observe the laws of the Old Testament (Acts 15:1,5). But there were Christians who lived so fully in the freedom of the Spirit, who no longer looked at the life of Jesus of Nazareth, nor to the Old Testament and they even went so far as to say, “Anathema Jesus!” (1 Cor 12:3). Observing these tensions, Matthew tries to find some balance between both extremes. The community should be a space where the balance can be attained and lived. The answer given by Jesus to those who criticized Him continued to be timely for the communities: “I have not come to abolish the law, but to complete it!” The communities could not be against the Law, nor could they close themselves off in the observance of the law. Like Jesus, they should advance, and show, in practice, what was the objective which the law wanted to attain in the life of every person. That objective, our objective, is the perfect practice of love. It is for those who wanted to get rid of all the law that Matthew recalls the other parable of Jesus: “Anyone who infringes even one of the least of these commandments and teaches others to do the same will be considered the least in the Kingdom of Heaven; but the person who keeps them and teaches them will be considered great in the Kingdom of Heaven.” The great concern in Matthew’s Gospel is to show that the Old Testament, Jesus of Nazareth and the life in the Spirit cannot be separated. These three form part of the same and unique plan of God and communicate to us the certainty of faith: The God of Abraham and of Sarah is present in the midst of the community by faith in Jesus of Nazareth who sends us His Spirit. Today’s Question for Prayer and Reflection Is yours a faith and a life that shows love in action, or would someone who observes you say they see talk, but not much action? Source for today’s reflection: https://www.ocarm.org/en/item/27

March 11

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March 12

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March 13

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March 14

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