The short passage for today (Mt 6:19-23) continues Jesus’ teaching to the disciples.  In it, the Lord cautions against storing up earthly treasures to the detriment of heavenly glory.  He closes that teaching with the headline.  Jesus then goes on to talk about the eye as lamp of the body: a sound eye fills the body with light, a bad eye keeps it in darkness.  One’s light must not be darkness.  Where do our hearts lie?  If we are consumed with wealth and power over against God, we are choosing the losing course.  If the pursuit of material possessions consumes and defines us here, it will indict us when we leave those things behind to meet the Lord.  We must embrace a spirit of detachment from profane objects and matters.  What “must” we have?  That BMW?  Maybe the latest smart phone.  Or that high end entertainment center?  Or a coveted item to add to our favorite collection.  None bad in themselves, but is our pursuit of such things distracting us (or even hindering us) from what should be our ultimate goal: heaven.  Might we do with less so that our church, a favorite evangelical organization, or persons poor or otherwise in need might benefit.  It is a paradox, but the more we give, the more we receive: Here, satisfaction from doing the right thing and helping others; in the next life, these words: “Well done, my good and faithful servant. Since you were faithful in small matters, I will give you great responsibilities.  Come, share your master’s joy” (Mt 25:21).

The account for today has Jesus teaching His disciples how to pray, thus giving to them, and the faithful of all ages, the Our Father (Mt 6:7-15).  Before He gives the actual prayer, He warns the disciples not to babble like the pagans — the Father already knows the needs of His children.  Then comes the well known prayer with its seven petitions.  Lastly, Jesus reiterates the need to forgive, because if one does not, the consequences are terrible (see the headline).  Isn’t it interesting that the one petition Jesus feels compelled to repeat and further emphasize has to do with the necessity of forgiveness.  It is understandable that He does so because He “[does] not need anyone to testify about human nature. He himself underst[ands] it well” (Jn 2:25).  Jesus knows how difficult it is for us to let pass the smallest of slights, much less a grievous offense against ourselves or a loved one.  Yet, Jesus had to be constantly in “forgiveness mode” considering the attacks on Him during His ministry culminating in His torture and death.  In this last circumstance, experiencing a physical pain few have ever endured, and a spiritual pain we cannot comprehend, He was able to, with His last breaths, say: “Father, forgive them, they know not what they do” (Luke 23:34).  We must strive to embrace and make our own this attitude of the innocent Lamb.  As we sincerely pray and work toward this ideal we will likely still have challenges in circumstances where forgiveness is required.  Nevertheless, we must keep foremost in our hearts the desire to conform to the will of God and always remember that what we do in this life determines our place in the next.  Additionally, this expression of radical forgiveness and love has amazing power to change the hardest of hearts.  There may be no more powerful tool of evangelization.

Moving into chapter six, Jesus continues to address His disciples (Mt 6:1-6, 16-18).  He begins with the directive above, addressing specifically almsgiving.  Jesus says to do this in secret, unlike “the hypocrites” who let everyone know of their good works.  The same is true for prayer: do not seek attention from other persons for yourself when praying.  Finally, Jesus addresses fasting, again chastising hypocritical behavior that draws attention to oneself; rather, let your appearance not betray your sacrifice.  Almsgiving, prayer, fasting.  Christ esteems these “righteous deeds” and assumes we are doing them.  If we aren’t doing them regularly we must examine why not and start today.  If we are doing them, we must approach them properly.  Is almsgiving regular, substantial as means allow, and to causes that advance the Kingdom?  Is prayer daily, incorporating each of: Adoration (worshiping God), Confession (sorrow for sins), Thanksgiving (thanking God), and Supplication (asking for our and others’ needs)?  Do we, at least at times. fast from certain foods, drink, entertainment or other goods and unite this sacrifice with our Lord’s sacrifice while strengthening or own resolve against evil?  Jesus said the hypocrites, who do all the good deeds of almsgiving, prayer, and fasting, are already repaid because they receive the human esteem they seek without concern for the only approval that should matter: that of God.  As for us, we must eschew a desire for acclamation for any good we do.  And if we do receive accolades or thanks for something positive we have contributed, we should accept it humbly, thankfully, gracefully, and with acknowledgement of the One who is the source of “all good giving and every perfect gift” (Jas 1:17).

Continuing the Sermon on the Mount (Mt 5:43-48), Jesus takes another Old Testament law and declares it outmoded.  Now, instead of loving neighbor and hating enemy, one is to love the persecutor and pray for him.  Loving those who love you is easy, and is done by good and evil persons alike.  To treat others (God’s children, our siblings) as He does we must strive to do as the headline says.  It is unfortunate that many look at this which Jesus implores as an impossible ideal.   Jesus never asks the impossible and with Him all things are possible (Mt 19:26).  We must continuously plead to God for the graces to attain the perfection to which He calls us.  It is not “only human” to sin and fall; it is inhumane.  Jesus, as true Man, is our exemplar.  He is what it means to be truly human.  We need not sell ourselves short.  God doesn’t.

After a couple of days away, we returned yesterday to the Sermon on the Mount (Mt 5:38-42).  Jesus contrasts the Old Covenant’s “eye for an eye” with His call to pacifism: don’t resist evil persons, turn the other cheek, give more than that for which you are being sued, walk the extra mile, give to the borrower.  How contrary these commands are to our culture and even our natural tendencies.  Yet, in imitation of Christ, who went like a lamb to slaughter, we are called to do the same.  Jesus could have had legions of angels defend Him (Mt 26:53), yet He submitted to Jewish and Roman authorities.  How many times was He slapped during His passion (Mt 26:67).  Did He not walk the most grievous mile ever with a cross on His back to then be rewarded by being crucified to death.  Even His last remnant of clothing He gave away (Jn 19:24).  Left with no possessions, no dignity as humans reckon it, and with a handful of friends and family looking on helplessly, He died an ignominious death.  To almost everyone it appeared that His life and His death were for nothing.  But His mother knew better, and soon many others would know as well.  Jesus gave all for us, and He asks us to give all of ourselves to Him.  On this earth, we do so by prayer, repentance, example, and action.  The One who asks is present to us in the least of our brothers and sisters.  If we give without counting the cost we will receive your reward.

Today’s gospel passage (Mk 4:26-34) has Jesus speaking of the kingdom of God.  He uses parables to give His hearers a sense of this kingdom.  First, He compares it to a farmer scattering seed, watching the crops grow, and then gathering this harvest.  Second, He likens it to the tiny mustard seed which when planted eventually does what is mentioned in the headline.  The reading closes by saying that Jesus spoke to the crowds only using parables but always explained these sayings privately to His disciples.  Many of us can relate to the mustard seed.  It seems that we are very small and can do very little in the grand scheme of things, especially as it relates to advancing the kingdom of God.  While it is true that we can do nothing on our own, we are heartened to know that “for God all things are possible” (Mt 19:26).  Through prayer, fasting, study, resisting temptation, and renouncing sin, we prepare ourselves to be the “good soil” (Mark 4:8) upon which the Holy Spirit can productively water graces.  This process of reforming our lives, often slow and painful, gradually allows the light of Christ to shine forth from us (Mt 5:16) and makes us effective instruments to bring others into the kingdom.

Yesterday, we followed up a day dedicated to the Sacred Heart of Jesus with a day honoring the Immaculate Heart of Mary.  The gospel reading was taken from Luke (2:41-51), the (losing and) finding of Jesus in the temple when He was twelve years old.  Jesus, Mary, and Joseph are in Jerusalem for Passover when Jesus gets separated from His parents.  Not only do they travel a day before they realize He is missing, they must take a day’s journey back, and then cannot find Him for another three days.  They finally locate Him in the temple in discussion with the teachers, greatly impressing them.  Mary asks Jesus why He left them and tells Him how worried they were.  Jesus responds that they should have known that He had to be in His Father’s house.  They do not understand, but He returns with them.  The passage, and what we know of Jesus’ childhood, closes with the line at top.  No one ever was, or ever will be, closer to Jesus than His mother.  She had a lifetime of experiences with God the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit upon which she pondered continuously.  Not only is she an example for us because of her total conformity to God’s will in her life and the life of her Son (witness her standing resolutely at the Cross [Jn 19:25]), but Jesus has given her to us (“Behold your mother!” [Jn 19:27]) so that we can come to know Him better by allowing us a glimpse into all her heart contains.  This Woman, chosen from all eternity to be mother of the Son, is a refuge and comfort for us as it was for Jesus for all of His life.  Let us go to her often, asking her intercession as was done in Cana, and we will certainly receive her help as long as we take her final recorded words to heart: “Do whatever he tells you” (Jn 2:5).

Due to the Solemnity of the Most Sacred Heart of Jesus, we step away from the Sermon on the Mount and find ourselves at the foot of the Cross (Jn 19:31-37).  The Jews, concerned that sundown, and thus the Sabbath, would soon arrive, asked Pontius Pilate to make sure that Jesus and His crucified companions were dead.  Soldiers dispatched to Calvary, finding those on either side of Jesus alive, broke their legs to hasten their deaths.  Jesus was found to be dead, but to be sure, a lance was thrust through His heart.  Onlookers observed both water and blood pouring out.  Then two scripture passages are quoted to show how Jesus has just fulfilled them: “Not a bone of it will be broken” (Ex 12:46) and the one in the headline (Zech 12:10).  It is not uncommon for Protestants to chide Catholics for displaying crucifixes in their homes, schools, churches, and on their persons.  “Why do you Catholics keep Jesus on the cross?” they exclaim.  Well, we know, as they do, that it didn’t end there.  Christ is risen!  But the Paschal Mystery of His Passion, Death, and Resurrection are a strict unity that effected our redemption.  So, it seems, considering what our sins do to Jesus, and realizing that we are sinners, it is worthwhile to contemplate the King of Kings on the throne we prepared for Him.  Did not Paul say “we proclaim Christ crucified” (1 Cor 1:23) and, a little later, “I resolved to know nothing while I was with you except Jesus Christ, and him crucified” (1 Cor 2:2).  Paul found this event worthy of meditation and proclamation and so should we.  This is true in a special way when we receive the Body (broken) and Blood (shed) in Holy Eucharist.  Let us never receive this precious gift, that came at such a cost, unworthily.

In today’s gospel passage (Mt 5:20-26), Jesus begins by telling His disciples that they must be more righteous that their religious leaders if they hope to gain heaven.  Then He gives an example how: Not only should they obey the commandment “do not kill” but they must not even grow angry with another person (see above).  Reconciliation is required before coming to the altar, even with an opponent with whom they might have a legal dispute.  In the latter case, if reconciliation is not sought, prison might await and no release can be hoped for “until you have paid the last penny” (v. 26).  What a challenge Jesus presents us!  A severe judgment, even possibly hell, awaits those who hold unrighteous anger toward a brother.  And who is our brother?  Jesus says that His “brothers are those who hear the word of God and act on it” (Lk 8:21; also see Mt 12:50).  But we desire all men to be our brothers in the Faith, so should not this attitude extend (arguably even more so) to our neighbor as well?  And who is our neighbor?  In the parable of the Good Samaritan, Jesus concludes by saying that “the one who treated him with mercy” was the neighbor to the man left for dead (Lk 10:37a).  So mercy, not anger, is the proper attitude toward ALL persons (in this we imitate God).  “Go and do likewise” (Lk 10:37b).

The Sermon on the Mount continues (Mt 5:17-19).  Jesus speaks of coming to fulfill the law and the prophets but cautions that we should not break any commandments or teach others to do the same, but rather the opposite (see above).  It is important to remember that later on in Matthew (22:37-40) Jesus tells us that what fulfills the law and the prophets is loving God totally and loving neighbor as self.  How well do we obey these requirements set forth in the Old Testament and reiterated and made manifest in Christ?  Obedience comes first.  Only then can we impart these tenets on others with full confidence which flows from our complete desire to conform perfectly to the will of God.  While impeccability is not a requirement for passing on the Faith (if it were, we could teach nothing), our example is important.  Nothing has more potential to tear down another’s faith than when we behave scandalously (i.e., not “practicing what we preach”).  “Be sober and vigilant. Your opponent the devil is prowling around like a roaring lion looking for [someone] to devour” (1 Pt 5:8).  Pray for the grace to be strong in the face of temptation so that when we convey “the reason for [our] hope” (1 Pt 3:15) our conviction will never allow us to give scandal to anyone (Mk 9:42).