|
Greetings, SBT Readers:
The devastation in Turkey and Syria, like other tragedies at home and abroad, calls us to ask yet again, "Who is my neighbor?" Writing during the plague, John Donne, the C17th English priest/poet penned these famous words:
“No man is an island, entire of itself; every man is a piece of the continent, a part of the main … any man’s death diminishes me, because I am involved in mankind, and therefore never send to know for whom the bell tolls; it tolls for thee” (17, Meditation). For contemporary readers, his words, written when Donne himself believed he was on his deathbed, serve a two-fold purpose: In the first place, they call us to recognize the inter-connectedness of all humanity and our obligation to respond to the needs of the afflicted; and, secondly, they serve as a "memento mori," that is, as a reminder that life is fleeting and fragile. The 25,000+ Turks and Syrians who died in the rubble of their homes never imagined that catastrophe would strike or that they would never see the dawn of another day. The "bell" that tolled for them also tolls for us: Because we have no guarantee of anything beyond the present moment, let us live in readiness, that is, let us live in compassion and service to others, just like the heroic international rescuers who have put their lives on the line in response to the disaster. Let us pray for their safety, for all those who have died and for all who have survived; and may we give generously to support the relief efforts currently underway.
Many Blessings!
Elizabeth
P.S. If you wish to contact me by mail, please send me an email requesting my current "unlisted" address.
SCRIPTURE REFLECTION
Link to the Sunday Readings
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 them but to fulfill them. Amen, I say to you, until heaven and earth pass away,
not even the smallest letter or the smallest part of a letter
will disappear from the law, until everything has taken place. Whoever breaks one of the least of these commandments, therefore, or who teaches others to do so
will be least in the kingdom of heaven. But whoever obeys and teaches these commandments will be called great in the kingdom of heaven."
Mt 5:17-37
Whether there is one commandment ("You are free to eat from any of the trees of the garden, except the tree of knowledge of good and bad" Gn. 2:16-17) or ten (as in the Ten Commandments) or 613 (as in the rules governing all aspects of Jewish life, they serve the same purpose: to guide humanity away from death and towards life, away from evil and towards good. "God has set before you you fire and water; to whichever you choose, stretch forth your hand," wrote Sirach (Sir 15:16). We could argue that both fire and water have destructive properties so whether we choose death by fire or death by water, it amounts to the same thing; on the other hand, fire warms and purges, while water is the basis of life. Perhaps what Sirach meant is that we are free to choose either the life-giving aspects or death dealing aspects of these elements. What will it be?
God's Law is neither whimsical nor arbitrary, but is designed to illumine our path through life; it offers us a template for "right living" and for fulfilling our destiny as beings made in the image and likeness of God, who have come from God and who are destined to return to God. What "happens" between birth and death depends upon the choices we make within the circumstances in which we find ourselves: we can live in God and with God in the here and now, or we can follow our own inclinations and wander away like the lost sheep (Mt 18:12-14) or the prodigal son (Lk 15:11-32). Even so, as the prophets remind us to passionately, God is always ready to welcome us back: “Even now,” declares the LORD, “return to me with your whole heart, with fasting and weeping and mourning" (Joel 2:12).
The "bad" news is that breaking God's Law brings misery, while the "good" news is that cherishing God's commands brings happiness (here defined as union with the Divine, peace of heart, contentment, having a sense of mission and purpose). Now, as Jesus points out, keeping the commandments goes beyond observing the minimal standards of morality. His words on anger, adultery, divorce and false oaths challenge his disciples to see the deeper dimensions of sin; if we are to be truly righteous, we need to examine our hearts, be clear about our motives, and act from a place of love, mercy and forgiveness. Paying lip service to the Law is mere hypocrisy and without merit; such observance, far from guaranteeing us a "ticket to heaven," will actually bar our entry. Heaven, of course, is not just a term for the after-life but the experience of God's Presence in the here and now; it involves having the capacity to receive in this land of the living what "the eye has not seen, and ear has not heard, and what has not entered the human heart, what God has prepared for those who love God" (1 Cor 2:6-106).
Fittingly, our responsorial psalm asserts that those who follow God commandments are blessed. With 176 verses, Psalm 119 can be described as a hymn praising God's Law for offering a path of truth, holiness, wisdom, consolation and delight; the longest psalm in the psalter, it expresses many of the themes that later appear in the teachings of Jesus. For both Jesus and the psalmist, the Law goes beyond staying on the "straight and narrow' but is about the soul's quest for God and the desire to understand God's will. What is most important is honoring the Holy One. Those who long for God cry out for the Word to comfort them, thanking God for the suffering that has humbled them when they have gone astray:
145 My heart begs you, Lord:
hear me, so I can keep faith.
146 I beg you, make me free,
so I can live your laws.
147 I face you in the cold night
praying, waiting for your word.
148 I keep watch through the night,
repeating what you promise.
149 Hear me, loving God,
let your justice make me live.
150 The wicked close in on me:
to them your law is foreign.
151 But you, Lord, are closer still,
your law is my whole truth,
152 learned when I was young,
fixed for all time.
175 May I live to praise you,
upheld by your word.
176 If I stray like a lost sheep,
seek out your servant,
for I never forget your laws.
+ + +
QUESTIONS
FOR REFLECTION
* Which Commandments do you find life-giving and which ones seem burdensome?
* Have you ever taken a "detour" from the "path" and, if so, what brought you back?
* How do the Ten Commandments provide guidance when we consider the pressing issues of our day such as bioethics, migration, and climate change?
* How might Psalm 119 provide a useful lens for understanding the Commandments?
+ + +
PRAY
that sanity will prevail and that all those
suffering on account of the terrible conflict in Ukraine
will find the comfort and resources they need.
+ + +
RESOURCES
Try my Spiritual Self-Assessment Tool! After you take the Quiz, you will automatically receive a computer-generated analysis of your strengths and "growing edges."
https://assess.coach/eastewart/
Please note that I offer: Workshops | Retreats | Life Coaching Coach Mentoring | Spiritual Direction | Writing Coaching
www.elizabeth-annestewart.com; www.ChicagoWritingCoach.com
+ + +
| 
