Scripture Readings:
First Reading: Isaiah 58:7-10
Psalm Reading: Ps 112
Second Reading: 1Cor 2:1-5
Gospel: Matt 5:13-16
First Reading Is 58:7-10
A reading from the Book of the Prophet Isaiah
Your light shall break forth like the dawn.
Thus says the LORD:
Share your bread with the hungry,
shelter the oppressed and the homeless;
clothe the naked when you see them,
and do not turn your back on your own.
Then your light shall break forth like the dawn,
and your wound shall quickly be healed;
your vindication shall go before you,
and the glory of the LORD shall be your rear guard.
Then you shall call, and the LORD will answer,
you shall cry for help, and he will say: Here I am!
If you remove from your midst
oppression, false accusation and malicious speech;
if you bestow your bread on the hungry
and satisfy the afflicted;
then light shall rise for you in the darkness,
and the gloom shall become for you like midday.
Responsorial Psalm Ps 112:4-5, 6-7, 8-9
(R.) The just man is a light in darkness to the upright.
or:
(R.) Alleluia.
Light shines through the darkness for the upright;
he is gracious and merciful and just.
Well for the man who is gracious and lends,
who conducts his affairs with justice.
(R.) The just man is a light in darkness to the upright.
or:
(R.) Alleluia.
He shall never be moved;
the just one shall be in everlasting remembrance.
An evil report he shall not fear;
his heart is firm, trusting in the LORD.
(R.) The just man is a light in darkness to the upright.
or:
(R.) Alleluia.
His heart is steadfast; he shall not fear.
Lavishly he gives to the poor;
His justice shall endure forever;
his horn shall be exalted in glory.
(R.) The just man is a light in darkness to the upright.
or:
(R.) Alleluia.
Second Reading 1 Cor 2:1-5
A reading from the first Letter of Saint Paul to the Corinthians
I have announced to you the mystery of Christ crucified.
When I came to you, brothers and sisters,
proclaiming the mystery of God,
I did not come with sublimity of words or of wisdom.
For I resolved to know nothing while I was with you
except Jesus Christ, and him crucified.
I came to you in weakness and fear and much trembling,
and my message and my proclamation
were not with persuasive words of wisdom,
but with a demonstration of Spirit and power,
so that your faith might rest not on human wisdom
but on the power of God.
Gospel Mt 5:13-16
A reading from the holy Gospel according to Matthew
You are the light of the world.
Jesus said to his disciples:
“You are the salt of the earth.
But if salt loses its taste, with what can it be seasoned?
It is no longer good for anything
but to be thrown out and trampled underfoot.
You are the light of the world.
A city set on a mountain cannot be hidden.
Nor do they light a lamp and then put it under a bushel basket;
it is set on a lampstand,
where it gives light to all in the house.
Just so, your light must shine before others,
that they may see your good deeds
and glorify your heavenly Father.”
Discipleship Questions:
1. Please read the Scripture readings for today and ask yourself this question – on a scale of 1 to 10 how “salty” am I?
2. The Old Testament Reading tells us what will happen to us when we become salt and light to the world. In you own words what will happen as you become as salt and light?
3. Now let’s focus on our second reading – 1Cor 2:1-5. I focused on these words: My message and my preaching were not with wise and persuasive words, but with a demonstration of the Spirit’s power, 5 so that your faith might not rest on men’s wisdom, but on God’s power. . . With a demonstration of the Spirit’s power! Ah, show me don’t just tell me. Is there any demonstration of God’s powerful Spirit in your life? If not why don’t you think that there is?
4. Please read the following and discuss: “Now it could be argued that the great Pentecostal and Charismatic and Evangelical revivals over the last century were strong in the “demonstration of the Spirit’s power.” But evidently not strong enough to break through the thick skin of this world’s “show me the beef” pragmatism which has relegated “those crazy Pentecostals and fundamentalists and Evangelicals” to the back alleys of their heats and minds only to be remembered when a movie or Television commentator show footage of “an Evangelical Born Again preacher protesting at a Military funeral with placards stating ‘This is God’s Judgment for our Homosexual loving Congress’” or some other such absurd inanity!
And so here we are in a quiet neighborhood of a city that was at the center of the technological era at the beginning of the 20th century and is now aging and trying once again to recapture its old brilliance but is arguably not doing very well at it currently.
And we of TCC who know and proclaim the Creator of everything and we’re struggling to get anyone’s attention even with a pink elephants in our front yard!
It’s by the demonstration of the power of the Spirit of our God that is going to once again get the world’s attention!
Not by words alone but with a demonstration of the Spirit’s power!
We must witness by demonstrating!
We must incarnate what we say! We must embody what we believe.
This is always where the rub comes isn’t it? Live what we say or don’t say it at all! For to say it and not live it is a disgrace. It belittles the magnificent reality behind it all!
5. But how do we do this? How can we regain potency – power to change this world? Please read the following and discuss: Zech. 4:6 So Zechariah the Prophet said to me, “This is the word of the LORD to Zerubbabel: ‘Not by might nor by power, but by my Spirit,’ says the LORD Almighty.
It’s by the power of God’s Spirit that this world will become His beloved captive!
This, by the way, is very consistent with what Fr. Eric was saying last Sunday in his Homily – we are the blessed and beloved of God. There is nothing we have to do but be who we are by the power of His Spirit who lives in us!
How do we not do anything but do everything?
I’m not trying to be clever or mystical or philosophical but simply to state the problem!
We really can’t do it with the mindset of this current world. Most of us, if not all of us, think like this world! To not do so is to run the risk of becoming intellectually irrelevant, socially untouchable, psychologically odd or weird and politically revolutionary. Need I go on?
To be who we really are is to become like Jesus Christ was in His time – a revolutionary - totally unacceptable to the civil and religious authorities of His time.
We have to rethink who are to be if we are to have any real impact upon those around us!
The alternative is to continue on the path we’re currently on and that is to have one foot in the world and one foot in the Kingdom. It sort of works but it definitely works badly.
I can’t give you a practical prescription – it would take too long and the cure for many of us would seem to be worse that the sickness!
But the gradual pathway towards a more powerful Christian life is definitely to allow the Spirit of God to reveal to us those areas in our lives which are going to have to change or go away if we are ever to BE who we say we really are.
It’s His powerful spirit that we must invite into our inner lives to change us into what the world calls “utter foolishness!”\
7. Please read the following and discuss: Let me read briefly from the book our Saturday Morning Men’s Gathering are reading. This comes from “New Seeds of Contemplation” by Thomas Merton.
Here we go,
“If, then we want to seek some way of being holy (read potent in our witness to the world), we must first of all renounce our own wisdom. We must ‘empty ourselves’ as Jesus did. We must ‘deny ourselves’ and in some sense make ourselves ‘nothing’ in order that we may live not so much in ourselves as in Him. We must live by a power and a light that seems not to be there. We must live by the strength of an apparent emptiness that is always truly empty and yet never fails to support us as every moment.”
This sounds like utter foolishness to the modern mind which has largely become captive to the way of thinking that gives weight to “observable fact” but no weight and even strong disdain for so called “spiritual facts.” – Ha!
8. Let me conclude by reading once again the Prayer of Humility. May this become who are ARE and then our very lives will declare the reality of the God we love and serve:
9. O Jesus, meek and humble of heart,
Hear me.
From the desire of being esteemed,
Deliver me, O Jesus.
From the desire of being loved,
Deliver me, O Jesus.
From the desire of being extolled,
Deliver me, O Jesus.
From the desire of being honored,
Deliver me, O Jesus.
From the desire of being praised,
Deliver me, O Jesus.
From the desire of being preferred to others,
Deliver me, O Jesus.
From the desire of being consulted,
Deliver me, O Jesus.
From the desire of being approved,
Deliver me, O Jesus.
From the fear of being humiliated,
Deliver me, O Jesus.
From the fear of being despised,
Deliver me, O Jesus.
From the fear of suffering rebukes,
Deliver me, O Jesus.
From the fear of being calumniated,
Deliver me, O Jesus.
From the fear of being forgotten,
Deliver me, O Jesus.
From the fear of being ridiculed,
Deliver me, O Jesus.
From the fear of being wronged,
Deliver me, O Jesus.
From the fear of being suspected,
Deliver me, O Jesus.
That others may be loved more than I,
Jesus, grant me the grace to desire it.
That others may be esteemed more than I,
Jesus, grant me the grace to desire it.
That, in the opinion of the world,
others may increase and I may decrease,
Jesus, grant me the grace to desire it.
That others may be chosen and I set aside,
Jesus, grant me the grace to desire it.
That others may be praised and I go unnoticed,
Jesus, grant me the grace to desire it.
That others may be preferred to me in everything,
Jesus, grant me the grace to desire it.
That others may become holier than I,
provided that I may become as holy as I should,
Jesus, grant me the grace to desire it.
