"Redemption Song" - Bob Marley

Old pirates, yes, they rob I;
Sold I to the merchant ships,
Minutes after they took I
From the bottomless pit.
But my hand was made strong
By the hand of the Almighty.
We forward in this generation
Triumphantly.
Won't you help to sing
These songs of freedom?
'Cause all I ever have:
Redemption songs,
Redemption songs.

Emancipate yourselves from mental slavery;
None but ourselves can free our minds.
Have no fear for atomic energy,
'Cause none of them can stop the time.
How long shall they kill our prophets,
While we stand aside and look? Ooh!
Some say it's just a part of it:
We've got to fulfill the Book.

Won't you help to sing
These songs of freedom?
'Cause all I ever have:
Redemption songs,
Redemption songs,
Redemption songs.
---
/Guitar break/
---
Emancipate yourselves from mental slavery;
None but ourselves can free our mind.
Wo! Have no fear for atomic energy,
'Cause none of them-a can-a stop-a the time.
How long shall they kill our prophets,
While we stand aside and look?
Yes, some say it's just a part of it:
We've got to fulfill the book.
Won't you have to sing
These songs of freedom? -
'Cause all I ever had:
Redemption songs -
All I ever had:
Redemption songs:
These songs of freedom,
Songs of freedom.

Polishing The Golden Rule

One of the scribes came to Jesus and asked him,
“Which is the first of all the commandments?”
Jesus replied, “The first is this:
Hear, O Israel!
The Lord our God is Lord alone!
You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart,
with all your soul,
with all your mind,
and with all your strength.
The second is this:
You shall love your neighbor as yourself.
There is no other commandment greater than these.”
The scribe said to him, “Well said, teacher.
You are right in saying,
He is One and there is no other than he.
And to love him with all your heart,
with all your understanding,
with all your strength,
and to love your neighbor as yourself
is worth more than all burnt offerings and sacrifices.”
And when Jesus saw that he answered with understanding,
he said to him,
“You are not far from the Kingdom of God.”
And no one dared to ask him any more questions. - Mk. 12:28-34

I am struggling today to come up with something even semi-original about today's gospel. It is probably one of the most well known and most recited non-Christmas or Easter passages by even Catholics.

From childhood we are taught and memorize the "Golden Rule" that Christ lays out in today's reading. Whether you are in public or private school, we all know that in order to gain respect, we must treat others with that same respect. Now do we always do this? Absolutely not.

I am probably the most guilty at this. I will admit that I take advantage of my authoritative power over my students. I can sometimes treat them with contempt and be as rude as they can are to one another. Yet, I expect them to show me the utmost respect just because I am their teacher. Then I get furious when they don't show me respect. This is exactly what Jesus doesn't want us to do.

The one that I think we all struggle with a lot is that first commandment. How can we love God with all of our heart, soul, mind, and strength? I mean it is easy to say that we do, especially when we have been blessed with so much. But what about when we face struggles or hardships? How often do we hear the words "I hate God right now," from someone who tragedy has befallen? What prevents us from being the hypocrites that Jesus condemns? It is the fact that since God's love knows no end and God is always there for us, we can redeem ourselves and strengthen our love and faith in him as a result of these dark moments in our lives.

So let us polish the Golden Rule that hangs above in our minds. Let us reaffirm our commitment to it and continue to strengthen our faith in God.

The Elisha-Peter Connection

The above link is to part of a video I show my Freshmen when we discuss the lives of Elijah and Elisha. Upon watching it in class yesterday, I couldn't help but be struck by the similarities of the portrayals of Elijah and Elisha to how Jesus and Peter are portrayed in the gospels.

In the film Elisha is called by Elijah. When Elisha follows, Elijah questions him in order for Elisha to prove his readiness for the journey ahead. Elijah also imparts his authority to Elisha just before he ascends into heaven.

Much of the division between Judaism and Christianity rests with the fact that Elijah himself did not descend from heaven to prepare the people for the coming of the Messiah as foretold. Christians argue that the Transfiguration is all that needed to take place. However, many overlook how the lives of Jesus and Peter reflect their Old Testament predecessors. Jesus called Peter to follow him and made him the "rock upon which I build my foundation." After Jesus ascended into heaven, Peter was left to lead the continuation of his earthly ministry just as Elisha had been by Elijah.

So just as some waiting the coming of Elijah, we too wait the coming of Christ again. Luckily, both men entrusted their mission to their closest followers who continued to impart it on us.

Going Down A Dark Path

Jesus said to his disciples:
“Do not think that I have come to abolish the law or the prophets.
I have come not to abolish but to fulfill.
Amen, I say to you, until heaven and earth pass away,
not the smallest letter or the smallest part of a letter
will pass from the law,
until all things have taken place.
Therefore, whoever breaks one of the least of these commandments
and teaches others to do so
will be called least in the Kingdom of heaven.
But whoever obeys and teaches these commandments
will be called greatest in the Kingdom of heaven - Mt. 5:17-19

In today's gospel, Jesus is telling his disciples that while he isn't there to overthrow the government, he is also not there to overthrow the Jewish religion. However, he does take a jab at the supposed "religious leaders" who he views as leading the people down the wrong path.

But isn't this the same man who cured people on the sabbath? Isn't this a little hypocritical even if he is God? No. Jesus obeyed the laws. When he performed miracles on the sabbath it was not for personal glory, but rather for the glory of God.

But what about people today? As a religion teacher, I've seen first hand what happens when people are lead astray on matters of faith. They lose faith and rarely attempt to get it back. They are lead to believe they should do what they want, when they want, how they want. They understand consequences, but not spiritual ones. If they can't physical deal with the consequence, it doesn't exist to them.

These are the people Jesus is worried about in today's gospel. Those that are so lost they don't even realize that they cannot see where they are going. These are the people Jesus spent his entire ministry trying to recover.

What I need to realize is that Jesus spent 3 years trying to reach out to these people and while he was successful, not all saw the light. If the Son of God struggled in reaching some, then I should not expect to convert all their hearts by myself. I need to trust the Lord and allow him to use me as a vessel to help bring his full flock back.

"Here Comes The Sun" - The Beatles

In honor of the return of the sun and the rise in temperatures...

Here comes the sun, doo da doo doo
Here comes the sun, and I say
It's alright

Little darling
It's been a long, cold, lonely winter
Little darling
It feels like years since it's been here

Here comes the sun
Here comes the sun, and I say
It's alright

Little darling
The smiles returning to the faces
Little darling
It seems like years since it's been here

Here comes the sun
Here comes the sun, and I say
It's alright

Sun, sun, sun, here it comes
Sun, sun, sun, here it comes
Sun, sun, sun, here it comes
Sun, sun, sun, here it comes
Sun, sun, sun, here it comes

Little darling
I see the ice is slowly melting
Little darling
It seems like years since it's been clear

Here comes the sun, here comes the sun and i say,
It's alright
It's alright

Not Being Accepted At Home

Jesus said to the people in the synagogue at Nazareth:
“Amen, I say to you,
no prophet is accepted in his own native place.
Indeed, I tell you, there were many widows in Israel
in the days of Elijah
when the sky was closed for three and a half years
and a severe famine spread over the entire land.
It was to none of these that Elijah was sent,
but only to a widow in Zarephath in the land of Sidon.
Again, there were many lepers in Israel
during the time of Elisha the prophet;
yet not one of them was cleansed, but only Naaman the Syrian.”
When the people in the synagogue heard this,
they were all filled with fury.
They rose up, drove him out of the town,
and led him to the brow of the hill
on which their town had been built,
to hurl him down headlong.
But he passed through the midst of them and went away. - Lk. 4:24-30

This is event is really the start of Jesus' public ministry. This is where he announces that his message isn't what his own people want to hear. It also serves as almost a bookend to how his minstry ends. He begins by being run out and almost killed in Nazareth and within three years he will be welcomed into Jerusalem and then executed.

In today's view, Jesus really doesn't say anything too radical in his announcement. He is absolutely right, no prophet is ever accepted in their hometown. Why? Because no one likes someone telling them that they are wrong, especially someone who is a member of that very community! To them, it is almost treason.

Elijah and Elisha were despised in their native lands. The queen tries to have both of them killed just because they spoke out against her immoral and pagan ways. They are only saved by God and the kindness of widows who are not of their own people.

In the time of Jesus, to have someone come into the synagogue and then tell the audience that they are the savior who is not meant to be accepted by his own people is almost like shooting yourself in the foot. The Jewish view of the Messiah was a warrior king, like David, who would destroy the Roman power and wipe out all other people in the region. However, Jesus does not meet any of those requirements. He is a pacifist who preaches love not hate and is more accepting of the "outcasts" of Jewish society than he is of the Jewish leaders.

So the audience reacts with fury. They run him out of time and are about to cast him down the cliff. Then, Jesus miraculously walks through the crowd and escapes without any other confrontation. How is this possible? Did Jesus just "pull a Moses" and use his heavenly power to part the crowd and make his way out unharmed? Did God put up a barrier to separate his son from the angry mob? No one knows. Jesus is just saved from being tossed headlong to his death.

How often do we fear confronting others, especially those who are like us? How often do we fear retribution for standing up for what is right rather than what the popular trend tells us to believe? We should ask God for the support and protection that he gave his son on that day in Nazareth. May we be blessed with the ability to stand tall and confident in bringing attention to the problems we as a society have brought upon ourselves and the need to seek redemption.

Getting A Second Chance Like A Fig Tree

Some people told Jesus about the Galileans
whose blood Pilate had mingled with the blood of their sacrifices.
Jesus said to them in reply,
“Do you think that because these Galileans suffered in this way
they were greater sinners than all other Galileans?
By no means!
But I tell you, if you do not repent,
you will all perish as they did!
Or those eighteen people who were killed
when the tower at Siloam fell on them—
do you think they were more guilty
than everyone else who lived in Jerusalem?
By no means!
But I tell you, if you do not repent,
you will all perish as they did!”

And he told them this parable:
“There once was a person who had a fig tree planted in his orchard,
and when he came in search of fruit on it but found none,
he said to the gardener,
‘For three years now I have come in search of fruit on this fig tree
but have found none.
So cut it down.
Why should it exhaust the soil?’
He said to him in reply,
‘Sir, leave it for this year also,
and I shall cultivate the ground around it and fertilize it;
it may bear fruit in the future.
If not you can cut it down.’” - Lk. 13:1-9

Today’s gospel is about God giving us warnings and chances for redemption before the ax finally falls on us.

Jesus tells the people that they should not assume when tragedy befalls a person that it is means they are better than that person. Jesus reminds them that we are all equal when it comes to sinning. The message we should take from tragic incidents is that we should be repentant because we know neither the time nor the place when judgment will be brought upon us.

Jesus uses the parable of the fig tree to explain the relationship between God, himself, and us. God represents the land owner who has taken care of the tree, which is us, for years only for it to suck up the nutrients but bear no good fruit. So he sends his servant to get rid of the tree. However, the servant asks that the owner allow him to try to cultivate the land surrounding the tree in hopes of restoring the fig tree to its former glory and its ability to bear good fruit.

This brings up a point that comes up in my Freshmen Old Testament Class, why is God so vengeful in the Old Testament but loving and anti-violence in the New Testament. I explain it by comparing God to the development of a man. When he is young, he is willing to get into fights because he can and there is nothing holding him back. This is God in the Old Testament. He smites those who go too far and cross the line. However, like the man after he becomes a father, God has new priorities and sets the example for how his children should behave and live. He is now less passionate when it comes to physical justice.

So as begin the last month of Lent, let us repent while we still have time and stop judging others for their indiscretions.