Devotion
Be Doers of the Word
Frances Taylor
Have you ever heard someone say – or thought to yourself – look at him/her, I can't believe the way he's/she's acting, he/she goes to church every Sunday? Perhaps it's someone at work, or at school, or in the neighborhood, or even in your family. What a hypocrite, you might say, and it's possible that that person doesn't have a clue – much like the Pharisees.
In Mark's gospel, the apostles are being condemned for eating without washing their hands. Now, we don't know the circumstances, but I would bet that many of us do the same thing even though we know that we should wash our hands before eating. However, if I want an ice cream on a hot day, I'm not going to ask the kid at the ice cream stand where to find a bathroom so that I can first wash my hands. But for observant Jews, to wash before eating was one of the many, many Mosaic laws. Jesus points out for them, that some laws are more important than others – like being honest, refraining from envy, not stealing, in other words, keeping the Ten Commandments. If we apply this message to today, we can ask ourselves if we are faithful to the Law of Love that Jesus has given us, or if we just give it lip service. Unless we refrain from lying, cheating, gossiping, stealing, greediness, passing judgment on others, and so many other traps the world holds out for us, are we any better than those we might criticize?
We come to listen to God's word, not so that we can pat ourselves on the back for keeping the commandment, but to learn how to better follow Jesus in our daily lives. It would be well for us to take to heart words of St. James, "Be doers of the word and not hearers only, deluding yourselves."
Prayer
Lord, give us the grace to follow your law of love with open minds and open hearts and keep us from looking at the failings of others, but working to heal our own instead. Amen.
Devotion
Culpability
Frances Taylor
This is an interesting passage because, among other things, it talks about sin and who is considered guilty of sin. Paul is talking about how he has been forgiven, how God has been merciful to him because his actions were committed in unbelief. In order for sin to be committed, one needs to know he is committing it. No one can commit sin in retrospect. Sin is always a deliberate act. This can be hard for some to understand. Actions can be considered sinful, even though the person committing them may not be culpable. For example, lying is a sin. However, is the two year old hiding behind the curtains sinning when he or she claims not to have broken the vase? No, because the child has no understanding of the difference between truth and lie. Those who do not have a relationship with God, who do not know the commandments, who have never heard of Jesus, may commit sinful actions, but are not guilty of sin. This is what Paul claims is his situation. Paul ...
Morning Prayer
And the third day there was a marriage in Cana of Galilee; and the mother of Jesus was there: And both Jesus was called, and his disciples, to the marriage. And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, ) full of grace and truth.
Inspiration
When the Lord sent his only Son, he sent also his word. For his body was this very word made flesh. Importantly this was not simply a manifestation of God's word, but also rather an 'animation' of it (meant here in the original Latin as 'animare' –'to instill with life or spirit'), an instance of God's love and divine grace in action, among us.
Prayer
Lord, I am grateful for your mercy in showing us your word made flesh so that we may be redeemed. Further, I am grateful to you for showing us your love and grace through your only begotten son. Let his body not have been torn and broken for no avail, but feed us now in the Eucharist. Let not his blood have...
