biblical reflection – Page 9

26th Sunday 2017

Psalm 25
Matthew 21: 28-32

Unlike most psalms, our psalm-singer is not pleading for assistance to overcome enemy hostilities. Rather, verse 7 indicates he feels he has erred through sin and is seeking guidance from the Lord. Because he states his desire to know the Lord’s ways and precepts, we can assume he is also willing to obey them once he understands them. Through Hebrew syntax, the last several verses might be paraphrased as follows: “Lord, if you teach me your ways, and allow me into your inner circle, I will be able to live with absolute integrity” (4, 5).

As far as the Father’s request to his sons: one son says, “I ain’t going” but does. The other says, “Oh, sure, Pops, right on it,” but does not go. Each selfish son is at fault; one tries to get Dad off his back so he could do what he wants, the other decides to assert his free will and independence.

Both the psalm and the gospel center on the topic of obedience. Our response to a request often has more to do with who is asking and not what is being asked of us. If we do not like or respect the requester, we may be resentful, irritated, and disobedient. But like our psalm-singer, if we love and trust the requester, we are more apt to joyfully comply.

If we contemplate the psalm-gospel connection, we understand we are able to live with greater integrity and joy if Father, Son and Holy Spirit are our close companions, members of our inner circle. We might realize that Jesus intercedes for us, so that we have the disposition of heart to know and trust, to love and obey our Father.

Journal Questions:

Do I consider myself obedient? Who am I apt to obey? Whom do I resist?
When I am asked to do something: do I first consider the task or the person asking me?
Are Father, Son and Holy Spirit in my inner circle? Do I want anything to be different?
For me, how does personal integrity and wholeness connect to obedience to the Lord?

References: Refer to blog post entitled Resources

25th Sunday 2017

Psalm 145
Matthew 20:1-16

The men toiling in the fields from sun-up to sun-down in our gospel reading must have been exhausted, but those hanging around Labor Ready didn’t have an easy time of it either. They were at the mercy of a landowner to give them employment; families need food which cost money. Certainly, these household heads would’ve preferred working. Remaining available and being consistently passed over with financial worries preying on the mind is no picnic.

In the gospel, God is the merciful landowner, in the psalms a King. In the psalm, the word ‘all, every, kol’ is used seventeen times, suggesting and highlighting the universal and comprehensive nature of God’s generous care (6). In movies, books and plays, kings and courts celebrate exuberately, usually with a lavish feast, when they can do a good deed for their people. In other words, they find joy in generousity.

If we contemplate the psalm-gospel connection, we may remember acts of generosity and compassion warrant joy and celebration. An acrostic peom, such as this psalm, seeks to expand and extend its emotion exposition to the full potential of the alphabet and the language. Likewise, should not our gratitude for the King’s generosity be expressed with excessive jubilee? And like the King, should we not also find joy in being merciful, compassionate and generous?

Journal Questions:

Have I ever been unemployed? What did I do with my time? How did I feel during and afterwards?
When have I felt joy because of relief from financial worry?
What is my general attitude towards charity? When have I enjoyed being generous?

References: Refer to blog post entitled Resources

24th Sunday 2017

Psalm 103: Matthew 18:21-25

We all have a running conversation in our heads. Sometimes we are imagining an impending conversation, or an earlier one. While lines and ideas from movies, music, social media, writing crowd into our brains, we also have commentary on all we see and hear bobbing along. In pop psychology, this sort of inner world dialogue is called ‘self-talk.’ The self-talk of the ancient Israelites and those of Jesus’ time would have been radically different; I imagine they talked more to and with the Lord, and less with self. Early Church Father, Cassiodoros, pointed to the psalms as an example of Jesus’ inner world: their formulas and structures would have been His natural thought process. Psalms 103 opens with self-talk.

Christian translations typically begin today’s psalm, “Bless the Lord, O my soul,” Commentaries point out the word soul in this context refers to his whole self (2). Robert Alter’s translation begins, “Bless, O my being, the Lord” (5). This makes it clear that the psalm-singer is calling on every fiber of his being to partake in the praise. He is holding nothing back, despite recent illness.

The Psalmist quotes Exodus directly, pulling those hearing him back to Egypt and the desert. He begins with personal praise for an individual experience of God’s saving forgiveness and healing; he concludes with the same phrases, but now invites the divine council, the army of heaven and all of creation to join him.

In today’s gospel, a servant with a huge debt begs the king for mercy and is generously forgiven for the entire debt. He then, however, with grand amnesia, precedes to extort a much smaller amount from a lower servant. This passage instructs us: interdependence, accountability to the community and patience are requirements of discipleship.

The servant owed a debt of gratitude, but in willful blindness, remained fixated on money. When we forget what we have been forgiven of, we turn a deaf ear to the call to forgive others. “(The servant) has shamed the king by not imitating him” (1). The opportunity to forgive another, to imitate the Lord, is a great gift. “Followers of Jesus are to give as they have received (10:8), love as they have been loved (John 13:34), and forgive as they have been forgiven (Matthew 18:35, Ephesians 4:32)” (2).

Psalm 103 can illuminate another angle of this parable. Said servant did not offer the sort of thanksgiving and praise exemplified by our psalmist, he forgot. Perhaps, the conclusion of forgiveness is not forgiveness, but the opportunity to express of gratitude to and praise for the Lord.

Journal Questions:

What is the character of our self-talk? Do we talk to God or self; are praise and thanksgiving a component of our interior world?
Are we familiar enough with scriptures such as the psalms that lines, ideas, beliefs contained therein that they too reside in our interior landscapes?
Do words of praise, blessing and gratitude dot our internal landscape?

References: Refer to blog post entitled Resources

23rd Sunday 2017

Psalm 95; Matt 18:15-20

When discussing forgiveness, we often refer to the expression, ‘forgive and forget.’ We seem to think this wise and noble. The Lord certainly repeatedly forgives both the ancient Israelites and ourselves, but He does not appear to advocate ‘forgetting.’

A major role of the prophets was to remember and remind the people of their past behavior and its consequences. Similarly, the writing structure of a psalm compels the psalm-singer to mention the past; usually including both human wayward ways and the Lord’s mercy, forgiveness and intervention. In Psalm 95, the one before us today, the psalm-singer does not shy away from calling the people stiff-necked or of reminding them of their grumbling. However, the remembrance is not self-pitying or a diatribe on the traps and defects of human nature; rather it tethers the celebration of the Lord’s mercy to reality.

In this gospel reading, Jesus spells out the process of resolving grievances within a community. While several verses within are debated, the passage is clear that we are not expected to turn away, ignore or simply tolerate wrongs against us or the sin and failings of others. The steps the Lord suggest involve, the “humble receptivity to the other, mutual support and active respect, accountability, relentless commitment to reconciliation, and repeated forgiveness” (7).

If Jesus were saying this with Psalm 95 in His heart at this Gospel moment… He may be offering a prescription to avoid the ‘hardening of the heart.’ He does not advocate forgiving and forgetting, but exploring, problem-solving and forgiving. He urges community members to ameliorate the issue by addressing it with the party directly involved, pulling in witnesses if private conversation fails, and finally refer the issue to the community. These are steps that are wise to follow today, as well, if we are to avoid the hardening of the heart. In Buddhism, generosity includes sharing one’s ‘spaciousness of heart.’ Is this not what Jesus is referring to here?

Jesus’ good advice about conflict resolution is hinged on forgiving. If we forget we have needed forgiveness in the past, if we forget the depth of vulnerability of another, if we forget the pain we are capable of inflicting, we may do it again. If we remember only the Almighty can truly reform, transform and heal the heart when we have broken it can we deepen within Him. Clinging to painful bits of the past can seem self-defeating, but if we are in communion with the Lord, they do not have to be denied. We can accept them and allow the words of the psalm to be our prayer, “Harden not my heart.”

Journal Questions:

What have been my experiences in refer to the sharing of ‘spaciousness of heart?’
How do I resolve disputes or conflicts at home, work and in other groups? Do I follow the steps Jesus laid out? Where in the resolution process does forgiveness figure in for me on a daily basis?
What has been my understanding of the phrase ‘forgive and forget?’ When is forgetting a good idea, and when is remembering beneficial?

References– Refer to blog post entitled Resources

22nd Sunday, 2017

Psalm 63
Matt 16:21-27

According to Robert Alter, Hebrew Bible language describing physical sensations associated with desire with the Lord are not intended as extended metaphors. They depict reality as experienced by the psalm-singer. He searches, his throat thirsts, flesh yearns. He remembers seeing the Lord’s strength, his lips praise, palms are lifted. His being sated, his lips and mouth praise again, he contemplates and utters glad song.

Like Satan in the desert, Peter tempts Jesus to be the Mighty Warrior King Savior. Both Satan and Peter intend to derail Jesus from doing God’s will, however, Peter speaks out of impulsive love and sorrow. Satan attempts to seduce with promises of power. In the desert, Jesus tells Satan, “Begone,” while here He replies to Peter, “Begone behind me” (8). He doesn’t dismiss Peter from His presence, only reminds him of his role as follower: the intention behind a temptation is consequential.

We might imagine, as a spiritual (and writing) exercise, Jesus reflects on the temptation by Peter with the paired psalm as His prayer. The psalm-singer states, “My being clings to You.” “The verb ‘cling’ is often used to denote the proper relationship with God in the deuteronomistic literature” (4). Jesus responses to Peter by urging those present to give up their life and take up the cross. He invites us too, to cling to the cross. As the psalm-singer describes, clinging requires the participation of the whole body: we cannot do this from a distance.

Journal Questions:

What physical sensations do I experience in prayer?
When has someone, out of love for me, encouraged me to take the easy road, or one contrary to what I believe the Lord is asking of me? What decisions was I faced with, what was the discernment process and its consequences?
How far away does the Lord feel to me at present? Does my being cling to God? Should I make any changes?

References: Refer to blog post entitled Resources