A Reflection on the Daily Office Readings
In this passage, we see Israel pretending to be a nation that practiced righteousness and obeyed the laws of God. Outwardly, Israel was the perfect example of religious piety. Inwardly, Israel was a slave to self-serving idolatry. Israel had become so obsessed with obeying ritualistic rules that it had forgotten God’s simple command for them to love one another. No matter how hard the Israelites tried to perfect their piety before God, they knew that God was not pleased with them. The Israelites fasted but felt that God did not see their fasting. The Israelites tried hard to come across as humble but felt that God did not appreciate their humility. Israel’s religious life had all the bells and whistles that you would expect a religious community to have but something was missing. What the Israelites failed to understand was that their pious acts were self-serving and were not done with a pure heart. God was angry with the Israelites because they disrespected those who were different from them, attacked those who worked alongside them, and oppressed those who were weak. The verdict was in: Israel had failed to love its neighbor, and no amount of religious piety would ever be enough. Real spirituality demands that a greater priority be placed on right relationships than on right rituals. God wanted Israel to loose the bonds of injustice, relieve the burdens of the brokenhearted, liberate those who were victims of injustice and oppression, build bridges where enmity existed, reconcile communities where there were broken relationships, and break every barrier that divided God’s people. God wanted the Israelites to share their bread with the hungry, bring the homeless into their homes; clothe the naked among them, hear the cries of those who call to them for help, and render aid to those in need. This is what God meant when He referred to Israel as a ‘light to the nations’.
Why do you pray?
How do you pray?
Has God answered all your prayers?
Do some prayers go unanswered? If so, then why?
In what area of your life are you a slave to self-serving idolatry?
Who do you know that is more concerned with obeying ritualistic rules than loving those around them? How does this person make you feel and why?
Would others describe you as more concerned about right rituals or about right relationships?
Does your faith community have all the bells and whistles of religious life? What do you think about this?
What does real spirituality demand?
Listen and reflect on the spoken word version of Isaiah 58: https://youtu.be/Fyqx-cgUJOk
This passage raises the question of whether we are a legalist or a lover at our core. The Apostle Paul criticized the legalists (Jews) who were boasting about being able to force others (Gentiles) to abide by the law (i.e. circumcision). To be clear, there was nothing wrong with a Gentile being circumcised. There was everything wrong in a Jew compelling a Gentile to be circumcised, saying the Gentile could not be right with God without coming under the law of Moses. Some Jews, who may have wanted to accept and love Gentiles, hesitated to do so because they were afraid of being persecuted by more legalistic Jews who had positions of power and authority over them. For this reason, Paul makes the intent of his heart very clear: “May I never boast of anything except the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, by which the world has been crucified to me, and I to the world.” Paul’s sense of value and his understanding of authority came not from those who promoted circumcision but from Christ alone. Paul was trying to drive home the message that obeying the old laws of circumcision meant absolutely nothing if people were not being made new through a loving relationship with Jesus Christ. To this extent, Paul was not ashamed to carry the marks of Jesus branded on his body. In fact, Paul found joy in knowing that Christ was everything to him.
Do others consider you a legalist or a lover?
What part of your religious life are you most proud of and why?
Whom have you compelled to fit into a box in order for them to gain your religious stamp of approval? What was the underlying purpose behind you compelling them? Why do they need your stamp of approval?
Is there something or someone that you want to accept and love but are afraid of the fallout from those in position of power and authority over you?
Where does your personal sense of value and authority come from?
How are you being made new through a relationship with Jesus Christ?
What scars do you carry with you for taking a stand for Jesus Christ?
In this passage Jesus and his disciples are going through Galilee. Jesus informs the disciples that he was going to be betrayed and killed, and that he would rise again. The disciples did not understand what Jesus was saying and were too afraid to ask him. When Jesus gets an opportunity to address their lack of understanding, he asks them, "What were you arguing about on the way?" But the disciples were silent, for on the way they had argued with one another who was the greatest. He sat the disciples down, and said to them, "Whoever wants to be first must be last of all and servant of all." Then he took a little child and put it among them; and taking it in his arms, he said to them, "Whoever welcomes one such child in my name welcomes me, and whoever welcomes me welcomes not me but the one who sent me." Then John, one of the disciples, confesses his own feelings of inadequacy before Jesus. "Teacher, we saw someone casting out demons in your name, and we tried to stop him, because he was not following us." John’s understanding of power was dependent on getting others to follow John. What John failed to understand was that a powerful ministry was actually about getting others to follow Jesus. In an attempt to clarify John’s thinking on the topic of power, Jesus said, "Do not stop him; for no one who does a deed of power in my name will be able soon afterward to speak evil of me. Whoever is not against us is for us. For truly I tell you, whoever gives you a cup of water to drink because you bear the name of Christ will by no means lose the reward.”
Have you ever had someone you love tell you that they were going to face persecution? If so, then what was it like to hear them confide in you?
The disciples were embarrassingly silent when Jesus asked them what they had been arguing about? When has there been an embarrassing silence in your life? Describe the situation and how it impacted you.
Who is greater than you in your faith community? Explain.
Why do you think Jesus took a little child and placed it among the disciples? What message was Jesus trying to communicate?
What feelings of inadequacy do you have before Jesus and why?
Is your understanding about powerful ministry more about getting others to follow you or is it more about getting others to follow Jesus?
To God be the glory now and forever. Amen.
Fr. Thomas+
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