I came into this world for judgment, so those who do not see might see…. Christians don’t talk much anymore of Jesus as Judge. Talk like that provokes fear and trembling rather than love and trust. And it is love and trust that calls us to discipleship. The fear we harbor for His judgment may be only the trembling we experience before our own judgment of ourselves and others. When we begin to distinguish the difference, we come to welcome the One who came into our world for judgment. The story of the healing of the blind man begins with the disciples’ question about blame. They ask Jesus whose sin had been the cause of the man’s blindness since birth. It was common at the time to believe that for every affliction, someone had to be guilty. Who sinned, this man or his parents, asked the disciples. We can easily imagine the blind man in all his years of blindness asking himself the same question. Who is to blame? When bad things happen, it’s natural to look for someone to blame. Often, we let the blame fall on ourselves. That’s why we need judgment. Before Jesus gives the blind man sight, He passes judgment. Neither he nor his parents sinned. Sometimes, what we need to know most is that we are not to blame. Sometimes, others keep us blinded by their judgment. This is the case with the Pharisees. They have already passed judgment on Jesus. This man is not from God, because he does not keep the Sabbath. They ask the man who has been healed to accept their judgment on Jesus. When he refuses, they pass judgment on him as well. It is a common principle of law that no one should act as his own judge. It is supposed that a person would decide favorably toward himself. That’s not so for the blind man who lives in a society that needs to assign blame. Jesus offers the Pharisees, just as He did the blind man, the insight of His judgment. They think they already see clearly. He tells them, your sin remains. The Gospel leaves us in no doubt that self-judgment is often the path to selfcondemnation. That is not what Jesus is about.
The human search for God begins in the soul even before birth. We seek God because that is how He created us; this desire is written in the human heart. We are created by Him and for Him. The search for God is universal, but God is not to be outdone. He seeks us. God draws us to Himself like a thirsty woman going to fetch water from a well.
Today’s Gospel is one of the few passages where Jesus engages in lengthy dialogue with a person. Jesus is alone, waiting at an historic water site. It is about the sixth hour – noon - when the sun is highest. The woman is a Samaritan. She is surprised to find a Jew there. He has no bucket, and the well is deep. More surprising is His request for a drink. Jews avoid Samaritans. How can you, a Jew, ask me, a Samaritan woman for a drink?
This woman has been thirsting for love, and she has been looking for it in all the wrong places. She has had five husbands, and the one she has now is not really her husband. Somewhere love has died. Her bucket is empty.
Love comes to meet her at the well. Love is the thirst of the Father coming to meet us in Jesus Christ. Jesus is the tenderness of God coming to meet us at the well. The woman’s heart is struck by His words. He begins to reveal her to herself. He begins to tell her about the nature of His love. Everyone who drinks this water will be thirsty again; but whoever drinks the water I shall give will never thirst; the water I shall give will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life.
Jesus is offering an eternal life; a life that never ends. The waters of God’s thirst flow through the heart of Jesus Christ. The woman at the well has met the heart of love. She will never thirst again.
We see that God thirsts for our love. Like the woman, we meet love at last. Love that will hang on a cross so that we never thirst again. Love that gives eternal life that we may live in the Father’s house. It is a wonderful love – a love the world has never known. The heart of Jesus is the love of God made visible to us. Are we willing to enter into relationship with Him, to draw water from the well who is Christ?
God is eager to share his glory with us. We get a glimpse of this today when three of the disciples are invited to come and pray alone and apart with Jesus and find themselves witnesses in a direct encounter with divinity. Jesus led his friends to a mountaintop. He often went to a lonely place to pray, to seek solitude and sanctuary away from the crowds. But on this occasion, he brought three friends and permitted them to experience a moment of disclosure of his divinity. In this mysterious event, Peter, James and John see the face and clothes of Jesus transformed by dazzling light. Jesus, Moses, and Elijah are surrounded by a cloud, and a voice from heaven declares, “This is my Son, my Chosen; listen to him!”
These words of God the Father synthesize the life of Jesus. In all things, Jesus listened to and obeyed the Father.
The Transfiguration brought the apostles “face to face” with God at a turning point in the ministry of Jesus. Up to a short time before this disclosure of his divine glory, Jesus had been enjoying an upward trajectory of popularity. The disciples were satisfied. Through preaching and miracle working, Jesus had become a celebrity. Suddenly, there was a change in acceptance. The Pharisees and Scribes were openly hostile. At that same time, Jesus began to insist that he had to go to Jerusalem to suffer. Jesus is like us in all things except sin. He knew fear, anger, abandonment, betrayal. He had been insulted and misunderstood. During those moments when Jesus could sense his impending suffering and death, he needed to come to the Father and listen without reservation.
The Transfiguration is an affirmation by the Father of Peter’s acknowledgement of Jesus as Messiah and Son of God. The Transfiguration is also an endorsement of Jesus’ voluntary commitment to go to Jerusalem to pick up the cross as his path to “enter into his glory.”
Transfiguration is a glimpse of what's ahead of us when we hold on and faithfully carry our daily trials. Those who seek God in prayer are not disappointed. God will give them courage, strength, and hope to face their crosses. Coming in contact with the divine brings transfiguration. If we take the time to ascend with Jesus in prayer, he will be with us when we descend back into our lives.
Many of the great spiritual writers of the Church described Lent as a time of spiritual warfare. They depicted a time when we engage in an assault against evil as we chip away at those things that come between God and us. A good Lent calls for a concerted and consistent effort. Just as a war is won over a series of battles, our striving to follow Jesus Christ is a long road, which includes many trials. In Lent, we survey the road ahead and resolve to make some progress in the spiritual life, by the grace of God.
Like military operations, we need a battle plan to guide our strategy. We need to focus on concrete objectives and acknowledge weaknesses. The traditional weaponry for Lent is prayer, fasting, and almsgiving. We might add self-denial, spiritual exercises, penance, and active works of charity. Most of all, we need strong determination and faith. The enemy to our plan is fear, and the most common Lenten fear is the fear of failure. This Sunday’s readings have some important things to tell us.
First, shortly after His Baptism, Jesus went off into the desert for a time of prayer and fasting to prepare for His public ministry. Lent is our attempt to imitate this preparation. So, for us, we begin Lent on Ash Wednesday with a reminder of our death. Like Jesus, we look ahead and embrace some little crosses as a way of training for whatever Cross is before us. We view our sufferings and offer them up to somehow unite them, mystically, with the sufferings of Jesus.
Secondly, we remember that the enemy of Adam is our enemy, too. We live in a fallen world. In the second reading, St. Paul says death came to all men, in as much as all sinned. The grace, the medicine to the contagion of sin is God’s mercy offered to us through the sacrament of Confession, especially during Lent. Through Confession we are given the gift of acquittal, even after many transgressions.
Thirdly, our Lenten battles are part of a war which Jesus has already won. During Lent, we wage war on our own sinfulness. The devil aimed to seduce Jesus, just as he aims to seduce us, with empty promises. We may be weak, but defeat is not inevitable. Jesus uses no divine power to vanquish Satan in the desert. He uses human righteousness. He uses prayer, fasting, and generous giving of Himself. He uses the weapons of Lent.
There is a difference between building a home and building a house. There is a difference between staying faithful to a spouse and simply staying married to the same person. There is a difference between being a good driver and never having an accident.
There is a big difference between upholding laws and fulfilling laws. Between the words abolish and fulfill in today’s gospel are two very different approaches to the Law which God had given to His chosen people. The word abolish has the sense of repealing or declaring invalid. The gospels record that Jesus was often criticized for not keeping particular laws regarding the Sabbath. Yet He obviously upheld the Sabbath.
The word fulfill, talks about the coming into being of something that is pointed to by the scriptures. It is also used when speaking of the sufferings of Christ. But in the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus is saying much more. Jesus is the fulfillment. He is the one to whomthe whole of scripture points. He is the fulfillment of God’s covenant with Israel.
The distinction between upholding the Law and living the Law expresses who Jesus is and what we should be as His disciples. We are about something that runs deeper than acts such as murder and adultery, or realities like lust or anger. Fulfillment is about the way we stand in relationship with God. It is about what is really going on between me and the God who made me. It is about the way I respond to God’s tender and particular care for me.
In many areas of our life, we just get by. Maybe through luck or maybe through cleverness and shrewdness. But we are called to so much more than not getting into trouble. The grace of God doesn’t keep us out of trouble. (In fact, it may get us into trouble). God’s grace and mercy are not just simple aids to help us keep up appearances. God’s grace calls us to a depth of character and authenticity, which makes us the salt of the earth and the light of the world. In fulfilling the Law, Jesus has invited us into a relationship that is based not on our conduct or misconduct. It is built on our faith in Him and His faithfulness to us. Jesus calls us to live in His creative and redemptive love.
In today’s gospel from St. Matthew, Jesus uses two images that tell us how to live as disciples. We are to be the salt of the earth and light to enlighten all people.
Salt preserves food and adds flavor. In this world, Christians are to preserve the good and work against all that is destructive and evil. We are to make it a better place for all to live in. When salt is added to food, it disperses throughout the food. Christians are called to infuse their goodness into their time and place.
Light enables us to see, and it guides us. The lamp on the lampstand spreads its light to the whole house. Christians are to spread the light of God to all people. The city set on a hilltop provides light that guides the traveler through the dark. Christians are to give light to those who walk in darkness.
In our first reading, Isaiah tells us what it is to be a servant of God: To bestow our bread on the hungry and bring satisfaction to the afflicted. In doing this, light shall rise for you in the darkness, and the gloom shall become for you like midday.
Disciples give, and giving is good for our well-being. It can lift our mood and create a sense of connection with others. To be truly generous involves the development of our character so that we become generous, just, and loving. We learn generosity through the example of others. We learn from those who allow their light to shine on us. We learn from those who are the salt of the earth. We learn from generosity, justice, and love received.
In Jesus Christ, we see the goodness of the Father made visible to us here on earth. He is our example, our salt, our shining light. He is the light that has come into this world so that we disperse it to enlighten all people.
Isaiah tells us that if we do good things, our light shall break forth like dawn. We will cry to the Lord, and He will say, Here I am.
After the Fall, in the Garden of Eden, Adam and Eve hid from God because they were ashamed. Jesus Christ came to take away our shame. He came to call us to discipleship. In Jesus Christ, we stand in His light and call out, Here I am.
Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
The poor in spirit are those who know their need of God. Wealth, success, or power are not their ultimate priority. They depend quietly and confidently on God.
Blessed are they who mourn, for they will be comforted.
At a funeral, these may be words of comfort for the bereaved. In the context of the Beatitudes, those who mourn are those who experience a gap. The gap is between our potential for a fully human life and the sad reality of so many broken relationships and injured people.
Blessed are the meek for they will inherit the land.
Blessed are the merciful for they will be shown mercy.
The meek are those who are merciful and who seek what is right and just. The meek are poor in spirit, knowing the weakness of themselves and others. Being meek or gentle is not just about being kind to animals and avoiding violence. The meek are merciful and so will be shown mercy. The Beatitudes are complementary.
Blessed are the clean of heart, for they will see God.
To be clean of heart is not primarily about sexuality, although that’s part of it. Purity of heart is illustrated in the prayer from Deuteronomy. You shall love the Lord your God with your whole heart. The opposite is a divided heart, a heart with the wrong priorities. Those people cannot see or seek what is right and just. They strive for their own advantage and often take advantage of others. They lack meekness.
Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called children of God.
Peacemakers are made in the image and likeness of God and strive to be true to that image. They hunger and thirst for righteousness. Peace and justice go together. We cannot separate them.
Blessed are they who are persecuted for the sake of righteousness, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
Living a Christian life is a challenge. If we seek to live out the Beatitudes in our daily life, we will be persecuted in small and large ways. But they are the way that Jesus invites us to live. Our reward will be great in heaven.