Num 20:1-13, Ps 95:1-2,6-9, Mt 16:13-23

This Gospel has been so tied to the Pope and the founding of the Church that it can be hard to hear what else it has to tell us. It is, of course, the story of the crucial encounter between Jesus and Peter. The story that makes it clear Jesus intended a group of people to follow in his footsteps and that they needed a leader who was open to the voice of God. Therefore, a leader who would recognize Jesus was the Son of God.

However, this story is part of Sacred Scripture, so it has more to tell us than what happened. We believe Scripture is the living Word of God, and as such, we can continue to hear God’s voice by reading and listening to what we read. In this case, I think we have a model of how God continues to encounter people. Haven’t you heard preachers, or read reflective articles, that ask, “Who is Jesus for you? Jesus did not just ask Peter but he asks us today, “Who do you say that I am?”

Just like Peter, the Apostles and the Israelites in the desert centuries before them, we have to decide who Jesus is. Is there a presence of God acting on this earth or not?  Do we trust in a God who can bring life giving water from a stone? Or are we still wandering, 40 years and more in a desert of our own making? Each of us has to answer that question. How we answer it makes all the difference for us and for everyone around us.

How we answer, isn’t just a personal issue because the reading says, upon this rock I will build my Church. That rock is not just Peter, that’s every person who recognizes that Jesus is God. Each of us, who knows that God is here and present, and active and saving us from our fears and anxiety, each of us is the Church that Jesus founded. Because to know God’s presence is not to have figured it out by “flesh and blood” but to have it revealed to us by Jesus’ heavenly Father. It is Jeremiah who tells us plainly, “I will place my law within them and write it one their hearts.”  We know who Jesus is because God gave each of us a gift that deep down even the gates of hell can’t disturb. Today we sit and pray because we know what Peter knew, what the Apostles knew that day. Jesus, is the Son of the Living God and that makes all the difference.

Does that mean it’s easy to accept and live out? How many times did the Israelites question whether God would deliver? They doubted, they were afraid, they thought they knew better. Don’t we still do the same things? This part of the story is just as much about us and how it is to relate to God as it is a story of people centuries ago.

You would think that if you have been led through the Red Sea and seen Egyptian soldiers drowned in the closing of that Sea, if you have seen the tablets of the Ten Commandments, if you had watched water gush from a rock in the desert, if you had been there with Jesus, in person, that you wouldn’t have any doubts about God. Don’t we think that? But that isn’t what the Gospel and Sacred Scripture stories tell us. Even the people right there at the time doubted. What does Peter do moments after he identifies Jesus as the Son of God? The Gospel says, he rebukes, do you believe, rebukes Jesus? Telling Jesus, he is making a mistake, that it can’t be that way. How often do we think God certainly doesn’t know what God’s doing? That life would be better if it went the way we had planned it. Faith in God doesn’t clear the path or take away the struggle.

I suspect none of this is new to anyone who thinks about it. We know these experiences from our lives. So today, let’s pray together and have faith that whatever comes next, God is, in fact, with us.

Jer 30:1-2,12-15,18-22, Ps 102:16-21,29,22-23, Matthew 14:22-36

I think the key to today’s readings is the exchange between Jesus and Peter in the midst of the stormy sea. Jesus invited Peter to come to him across the water and Peter starts out with confidence but the wind and rain undermine his resolve and sinking he calls out to be saved and Jesus does just that. Asking Peter, “why did you doubt?”

That is the exchange I think goes on between us and God all the time.  In the midst of life’s upsets and turbulent fears, whether it is little things and small situations or big challenges, we have a hope that we can make it through, we catch a glimpse of Jesus, perhaps just a sense of God’s presence. We wonder, like the disciples, is it real or is it a ghost? If it is God’s presence then we can make it through. We, like Peter, venture out eager to leave doubt and fear behind. But all too often things don’t go as planned, we can’t really be sure of what’s involved and we second guess our first decision. We look around and say to ourselves what am I doing here. I must be crazy to put myself in this position.

The reality is we were graced enough to try. We struck out to accomplish the best, to make the world better, but now it doesn’t look so good and we’re not sure if this is right, if it’s safe.  Do we call out for help, do we check-in with Jesus? If we do, there’s a chance to be saved. If we ask for the help we need, if we recognize our fear and ask for God’s support. Then we may find that the turbulence of the sea has died down, we are on solid ground again and like Jesus, can go on from the experience to heal others who come and ask for help.

This story isn’t about lack of faith. It’s about calling out for help when we need it. It’s about wanting to be at Jesus’ side, walking on water, doing the impossible, changing the world and how we live. We don’t have to be overcome by fear, apprehension or high winds. The key is to be willing to call out to the one who saves when we recognize our own fears.

Staying with any course of action that’s worthwhile isn’t easy. Ask Israel. Jeremiah, the prophet, in our first reading recounts a similar repeating story. The People of God do the wrong thing and God enacts judgment against them. Then just as all seems lost for a nation that is supposed to know that God loves them, God restores their fortunes and graces their future by promising to be their God and protect them against all harm. Saving Israel, saving us is what God does. Over and over Israel can’t quite stay the course. Only God is their constant.

I think this is a pattern each of us can find in our lives. Hopefully like those who were with Peter and Jesus in Matthew’s Gospel when life’s challenges seem ready to sink us, we will be able to recognize God’s presence in our own boat and ask for the help we need.

Eph 2:12-22, Ps 85:9-14, Lk 12:35-38

Today’s readings carry familiar themes. Ephesians is talking about how Jesus has brought Jews and Gentiles together into one faith community. The things that clearly separated them before, like circumcision, the law and its practices, no longer mean anything once they believe in Jesus. Luke’s Gospel reminds believers that if they are diligent in their faith then God will surprise believers with a generosity beyond what they would expect.

However, it is what the Psalm says that suggested to me that perhaps we need to listen harder:

I will hear what God proclaims; the LORD–for he proclaims peace. Near indeed is his salvation to those who fear him, glory dwelling in our land.

By listening harder, I mean that we need to let the readings speak to us personally. One of my retreat directors once told me, “When you read the scripture, listen as if it was said to you personally.” I do that all the time and it helps me hear what God is saying, by listening better. For as the Psalm suggests, if we hear what God proclaims then God will be present to us. That is what the Psalmist means by saying, “his salvation is near indeed.”

So perhaps what we need to examine this morning is how deeply important it is to let God speak to us. For example, the part of Ephesians that really speaks to me is the little phrase, “you, who were once far off, have become near.” Since there have been lots of times in my life when I have felt “far off” from God and from other people, it has been a huge relief at times to hear the words that I “have become near” as the letter says. This is essentially an emotional reaction to these specific words, separate from the rest of the letter and not directly related to the larger content. But in these instances, I’m not analyzing the Scripture I’m praying with it, trying to be open to what God may be saying to me. Frankly, at those times an emotional response is more valid than any thoughts I might have about what is being said. Too often the Church has focused so much on technical meaning, intellectual understanding or analysis that we have failed to acknowledge that being close, in this case to God, is an emotional experience. My point is that experiences that come from a couple words of Scripture or from a momentary flash of recognition or surprisingly emotional life moments can be deep, personal encounters with the God who is trying to be in touch with us. God reaches out to the deepest part of who we are. Lots of our thinking is just the surface. If we have to be in touch with our emotions to know who we are, well so does God. That’s why the Psalm says, “ Near indeed is his salvation to those who fear him” The phrase “fear him” is better translated as “in awe of him.” When we can connect our emotions to what we sense from God then “near indeed is his salvation” or in other words, God is close.

Finally, our Gospel can add something to this because Luke says we need to be ready at any hour with our lamps lit so we can open immediately when he knocks. This story is often interpreted as about death and how we need to live our lives so that we are ready at the moment God comes for us. However, it is also a perfect description of eagerly being ready for an experience of God trying to be with us, to speak to our situation. We never know when some word or some event will ask us to “open immediately” for God. When that happens, the Psalm says, “glory will dwell in our land” we will know God is here with us.

So now, in each moment, is the time when God may say something to us, the only question is, will we be listening well enough to hear it?

Jer 18:1-6. Ps 146:1-6, Mt 13:47-53

Most of this week’s reading have been Matthew describing the Kingdom of Heaven. Telling us what heaven is like by way of short parables that describe a mustard seed, yeast, a great treasure and a pearl. In today’s version heaven is a great catch of fish which are then sorted. If you’re like me, talk about the Kingdom of Heaven usually means I start thinking of life after death. The great future Kingdom in which we will live happily ever after.

However, there is another way to think about both Matthew’s description of the Kingdom and the reading from Jeremiah which I think gives us an insight into what God may be telling us.

If we think about the Kingdom of Heaven solely in terms of life after death or perhaps some future Heaven that may even exist on this earth, then the readings make it sound as if God is the primary judge and good and evil will all be worked out by God at the end of time. Matthew has angels separating the wicked from the upright and punishing those who are evil.

There is certainly some truth in that way of looking at the parable. We should certainly not take it upon ourselves to judge others nor feel that we can do anything in this life without consequences. But let us remember that God became human in Jesus to tell us how much we are loved here and now. Jesus existence on earth also tells us that life here is of utmost importance and God is intimately involved in all our lives. So why would the parables point only to an ideal that is beyond our life time. Isn’t more likely that the parables were meant to be insights into what life right here, right now is all about.

Consider, what if the Kingdom of Heaven can also be seen as the ideal for how we could be living out lives today. What’s more, consider it’s possible because God is part of the present moment. If we aren’t alone in living a life as God wants, we have God’s help to do it. If this is possible then consider that Matthew’s parable is about all the good and bad fish we have dragged into our lives over the years. Good habits, good relationships, good intentions but also bad habits, bad relationships and bad intentions. As we get older, we can look at what we’ve collected over the years perhaps it’s time to sort them out and get rid of the bad fish and just keep the good stuff. Aren’t we capable of that? Don’t we often do that as part of everyday life. We judge what is good and what is bad. We take from the storehouse of our experiences those things that help us be better people and let go of the thoughts and intentions that separate us from others or make us more selfish. This is a bad pun, but useful, maybe we should be rid of all the “sel-fish” and keep all the good fish. (I just couldn’t resist.)

The reading from Jeremiah seems to support this idea. That we who are clay aren’t one thing or another, but dynamic beings who can be reshaped in God’s hands to do what is needed. If the first shape doesn’t work out well, perhaps with God’s help, we can try a new shape. Taking, as Matthew says, new things as well as old from our storeroom of life experiences. We can see what has been good for us and what has been bad for us and choose to form our life into what is better for us now.

With God’s help we can choose and in doing so discover our own piece of God’s Kingdom right here and right now. That, I believe, is the message God was sending when God sent Jesus into our world.

Ex 40:16-21,34-38, Ps 84 :3-6,8,11, Mt 13:47-53

What I first noticed as I read the Exodus story was how God was with Israel during their entire journey. That is something that touches me because I have come to recognize my own need for God’s support on a daily basis. The Psalmist is very clear, “My heart and my flesh cry out for the living God.” It may sound dramatic but I have enough days when I feel unsure, anxious and looking for help that what I really want is a living God. A God that isn’t far removed in heaven or has only acted when Jesus lived on this earth but a God who is an active part of today’s world and makes a difference for the way life goes.

I rather like the idea that the Israelites took their cues about when to move and when to stop based on God’s actions. That’s the kind of God I want, one by my side, calling the signals, all the time.

I think that’s why we get all the details about Moses building the Dwelling, boards and pedestals and columns. It says that the details matter. Life cannot be summed up in grand statements or broad categories. Life and God’s involvement in it takes place in how you put the boards together, where you put the columns or how you divide the tent … or not.

What is just as important as God’s companionship throughout the journey is the word, “stages,” “stages of the journey.” This acknowledges that our spiritual journey isn’t going to be a simple begin here, pass Go and collect $200 kind of journey. The idea of stages reminds me that there are times when I may not be a prize catch in the Kingdom’s net. Times when I need to change what I’m doing. There are going to be times in which I grow and am productive and times that are frustrating and may even include reversals in how well I handle people and situations around me. But it is why that net Matthew talks about collects fish of all kinds. We have the chance just like the scribe to be instructed in the Kingdom. An instruction that is given by a life lived in each moment, where we get to choose from the storeroom of our experiences, things that are old and things that are new. Only with experience can we make the choices that reflect whether it’s the right time to move forward or whether we should stay put for a while. We may not have as clear an indicator as the Israelites had in the cloud and fire rising and falling on the tent but we do have the freedom of the head of the household to evaluate both old and new things to decide what best fits our situation. And we have the comfort that no matter what stage we are in, God is still here, side by side with us for the whole journey.

Jer 14:17-22, Ps 79:8,9,11,13, Mt 13: 35-43

Today’s readings made me think of how St. Ignatius thought about our personal relationships with God. Understanding what St. Ignatius figured out will help us understand what is happening with Jeremiah and Jesus’ parable.

St. Ignatius understanding of our relationship with God has not only been very influential in the Church historically but is especially helpful for each of us. Ignatius came to understand our relationship with God as a personal one. A relationship based on our experiences. The Church has and still does talk about truths and doctrines about God too often. That is fine for learning about God but it doesn’t always help us live our lives better. Everyday life is made easier when we actually understand God is personally involved and as Jesus said, close at hand. Ignatius understood that experience and emotions had more to say about God’s presence and influence than abstract ideas we only think about. When Ignatius wondered about what God wanted him to do he spent time examining his emotional reaction to circumstances and possibilities. By working at being in touch with his deepest self, his emotional core, Ignatius had a better sense of whether this was something God was asking of him. He believed that if God wanted him involved in something, that something would fit Ignatius desires and make him happy and satisfied. However, if the work wasn’t of God, his own reaction would be negative and resistant. Ignatius put together a whole system of how to listen to our deepest self and in doing that recognize God’s desire for us.

Today’s readings can be understood as illustrating the same kind of relationship. Jeremiah is asking God why everything is going wrong and he wants God to relent and change things. Jeremiah is complaining the way a person complains to a friend who is not being a very good friend at the moment. Jeremiah is trying to repair the relationship by admitting where Israel has done wrong and asking for forgiveness. The only difference between Jeremiah and St. Ignatius is that Jeremiah is complaining for a nation and not himself personally. But the conversation is deeply personal and it expects a response. God isn’t some distant abstract being for Jeremiah. God is involved and can be influenced.

In the Gospel Jesus is explaining the parable of the weeds and wheat. What is key to this explanation is today’s last line. “Whoever has ears ought to hear.” St. Ignatius would recognize that kind of challenge.

This is actually the challenge present in all the descriptions of what heaven is like. Can we hear what is being addressed to us? I don’t mean an understanding of what Jesus meant when he said it. I mean right now, when we read these parables do we hear what Jesus is saying? The kind of hearing Jesus is talking about is exactly what St. Ignatius described. It is a hearing with the heart. Does the parable resonate with our experience of life and bring us a new awareness of how closely God is bound up in our lives. Are we affected? Do we have a reaction? Are we touched? That is what it means to hear what Jesus says.

When we listen to readings at Mass or join a Bible group are we listening as if the readings were addressed by God to us personally? We should, because they are. We need to see ourselves in each story, in each parable and realize that to read the Bible, to pray these words is to be open to God speaking to us.

In today’s Gospel we might hear that some people are evildoers who can damage the Kingdom of God while others are more righteous and help make the Kingdom a reality even here on earth. But if we listen even more deeply, we might realize that these weeds and wheat were growing in the same field. This makes me think that we are the field and the wheat and weeds represent our own good and bad qualities. It suggests that throughout our life we get to work out the good and the bad and then at the end of the age God purges what is not good and makes our good deeds shine.

St. Ignatius would say: God is always speaking to us in the events of our lives and we just need ears to hear.

Jer 2:1-3,7-8,12-13, Ps 36:6-11, Mt 13:10-17

This morning we are reminded how easy it is to lose touch with our God. And this morning we should remember how easy it is to be filled with God’s life-giving gifts. Our readings tell us it is as easy as seeing and hearing, as easy as drinking fresh running water.

We believe in a God who acts in the history of our world. The Jews were the first to recognize this. They escaped Egypt because they believed in God. Eager for freedom they went into the desert where, as you know, God supplied food and water until they found their way to Israel. In the same way we believe that Jesus is God born in this world to demonstrate that God is part of what happens every day in our life and the world around us.

Still in today’s reading, the Jews with their history of the Exodus betray God once they are in their promised land. Every part of the population, priests, lawyers, shepherds and prophets all have lost touch with their God. They lost what they had at the beginning.

Unfortunately, Jesus encounters the same problem with most of the people he is talking to. His parables aren’t helping people understand what God is about in their lives. He tells his disciples they are lucky because they believe and therefore, they see and hear in a different way. They have eyes that come from faith, they know Jesus is God’s presence in the world. Too many others miss what is right in front of them and try holding on to something else.

Jesus’ parables are not meant to hide the kingdom of God but serve as way to engage people so they see the paradox of God in their own lives. Jesus quotes Isaiah who said, “they will hardly hear with their ears, they have closed their eyes, lest they see with their eyes, and hear with their ears.” It isn’t the parables that are the problem it’s our willingness to see and hear. It is our ability to use our faith as the lens to see the world.

Jesus’ frustration is similar to what Jeremiah expresses in the first reading: instead of drinking from a fresh stream of water Israel chose to make cisterns that don’t hold any water at all. Instead of appreciating the abundance right in front of them they try to trap and contain it. They are trying to keep it for themselves. This isn’t the first time this behavior shows up in the Old Testament.

Remember the story of the manna in the desert? The Israelites are told to take one day’s supply. Instead, some try to take more and store it and it turns wormy. In both stories a life-giving gift is freely available. Trying to hold on to it, to horde it for ourselves destroys its life-giving qualities.

The challenge for us is to remain faithful to the open and loving way of life Jesus showed us so we won’t lose our sight or our hearing. In the same way as the ancient Jews in the promised land and those unable to hear Jesus’ parables, we can easily get distracted, whether it’s by life’s disappointments, the rush of everyday living, or perhaps the lack of enough to do and lose touch with what is most important. When we become closed and fearful we can lose the joy and happiness with which we are meant to live.

Today’s readings say we have been freely offered “a garden land … with goodly fruits,” a “fountain of life,” and through Jesus, God’s own presence among us. In Monday’s first reading Micah said: “You have been told, O man, what is good, and what the LORD requires of you: Only to do the right and to love goodness, and to walk humbly with your God.” If we can stick to that, I think it will be easy to see and hear all the rest God has to offer us.

Ex 20:1-17, Ps 19:8-11, Mt 13:18-23

This Gospel has always made me nervous. It makes me I feel like I’m going to loose whatever faith I have to some difficulties or desires for wealth and good times. It scares me because it emphasizes the obstacles to faith. It paints a picture of vague pitfalls that lurk in the shadows of life. I have to somehow protect and guard against this onslaught. I worry that maybe I’m rocky or thorny soil. I tend to ask myself, who am I in the parable?

That’s how I feel when I read this passage. However, it’s not what I hear from Jesus or my understanding of what the New Testament is trying to tell me in general. My sense of the Jesus’ message is God loves us so much that God showers us with an abundance of what we need and seeks us out trying over and over to cajole us into a relationship that will give us a freedom and peace that will raise us to new life both here and in the world to come.

Therefore, this passage sets up a conflict I have to resolve between what I am feeling as a result of this reading and what I know to be the broader message I have absorbed through scripture. This is a good way to begin prayerful reflection. I have an emotional reaction to Scripture but it doesn’t match something else I already believe.

In this case I started by looking at a biblical commentary. I learned that this section was probably a reflection of the early Christian community on what they saw going on around them. When they preached the word, some people didn’t get it, some people were all excited to begin with but were frightened away when they were challenged by other Jews or perhaps Romans and then some people simply enjoyed the kind of life they were used to and went back to it. The reading is an outline of what early believers had to be aware of as obstacles to persevering in the faith. Of course, the outline still works today.

As I thought about this for me personally, I realized that the reason the story bothered me was because I saw each of the challenges as black and white situations. Either I was faithful and had faith or I lost it completely. I think a better way to look at it, is that I’m not black and white in who I am. We are all complicated and sometimes contradictory in our attitudes, emotions and actions. It is more likely that some part of me is having trouble with the demands of faith than the possibility that I would simply walk away from God completely. That’s where I think this explanation of the parable can be helpful. What parts of me or in what situations do I not honor the faith I say I believe. What parts of me are gravel, in what situations are there thorns? That is probably a useful reflection and consistent with what our Gospel is about.

But let us also remember our other reading from Exodus, the Ten Commandments. Here is the original advice on how to preserve faith. This is one of those “big name” gifts of God, a set of rules to follow. If I was anxious because of general warnings about what might be the challenges to faith or the temptations of riches, this is a list that can give me comfort. It sets out the rules of what God expects. Keep these commandments and you’re safe.

          Now we all know the Ten Commandments aren’t the whole answer, they were never meant to define the fullness of faith. But in thinking about the ambiguities of faith, isn’t it reassuring that God started hundreds of years before Jesus to give us something clear and specific. A set of rules we could use not just as a basis of good conduct but a measure against which we could determine limits and therefore a way of knowing if we remained faithful.

          So, for me, it seems that in these two passages from the Word of God, we are being given two forms of guidance, two models of how to come closer to God. One, the 10 Commandments, is pretty basic, but it is clear and specific. The other in Matthew is suggestive of what we might face in living out a fuller expression of our faith. In both cases the Scripture is a gift from a loving God to strengthen our wellbeing. There’s no contradiction in that.

Ex 14:5-18, Ex 15:1-6, Mt 12:38-42

I think God is wonderfully active in our lives. I’ve come to the sense that God is so intertwined with our world that there is no clear or useful way to distinguish the sacred from what is often thought of as profane or secular. Today’s readings provide additional biblical basis for reflecting on how our long tradition tries to talk about God’s presence with us.

In th first reading the Israelites are finally leaving Egypt and before they even get across the Red Sea they are ready to give up and go back. The exodus is, of course, one of the great stories of journey in all the world. The experience literally created the Jewish people. It was their defining moment but it was fraught with all the issues of journey: hope, doubt, fear, anger, triumph and tragedy. In the same way, our faith journey has to encounter all that happens in our life. The journey defines us: what do we hold on to, what do we run away from and where do we end up when we finally arrive? Here the Israelites faced with the Egyptian army hot on their heals, decide it’s time to go back. They cry out to God and are given one of the most spectacular signs of all times. The Red Sea parts for them and then closes on the Egyptians wiping out the whole army. That’s what I call a real sign from God.

          It is, of course, the whole point of the story. Just when you think all is hopeless, with the Egyptian army bearing down on you, God will save you. Especially in situations where you are helpless, God will come to the rescue. The problem is, we all know situations where that hasn’t happened. We don’t seem to have contemporary examples in which God is removing people from harm’s way on a regular basis.

          Let’s think about that a minute, with the help of our Gospel reading. Right there, the Pharisees ask Jesus for exactly what today we seem to be missing. They ask, “Teacher, we wish to see a sign from you.” Jesus responds with pretty tough language calling them an “evil and unfaithful generation” that will be given no sign except the sign of Jonah. The sign of Jonah is his being in the whale for three days. Which points to Jesus three days in the tomb before his resurrection. That will be the sign they’re looking for.

The more immediate point for us is that you can’t ask for or get a sign from God that proves that God is there and going to fix things. Think about it, Jesus is saying he won’t give them a sign. In these same Gospel stories, how many people did he cure? People who couldn’t walk, couldn’t see, were leprous, deathly ill, etc. Where have these Pharisees been? It isn’t that Jesus wasn’t willing to do miraculous things. In each case, these were people in need. People who believed in him and asked for help, not for proof. We don’t get signs from God to prove God presence or existence because everything that happens in life is open to interpretation. If the Pharisees hadn’t seen all the good Jesus did as a sign what would convince them?

I do think we get signs from God when we need it. Signs that help save us, lift our spirits and give us a new hope. I’ll bet that every reader of this reflection has had a moment like that. Times when something happened to you or something you noticed changed things for you. Maybe an event, or a story, or a talk with another person and it said something to you that was important, something you never forgot. A day or a time that has very deep meaning for you. Sometimes we may think of them as signs but more often we are just over-joyed or surprised or humbled or we feel lucky or get an insight that we never would have thought of before. God is so much a part of every moment of our lives. We just have to remember to look for the signs.