Jesus said: “If you forgive the faults of others, your heavenly Father will forgive you yours. If you do not forgive other, neither will your Father forgive you.” (Mt 6:14-15) How easy does the world forgive? Instead of forgiveness, we have been taught to “get even”, “an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth” “revenge as a reflection and measure of justified anger”. Following this learned behavior, we have held grudges and anger, hatred and resentment in our hearts for years. We have wallowed in the pain, shame and guilt of the past for so long that we believe it to be a part of ordinary life. While we refuse to forgive, we reject the freedom of a child of God.  Instead of following the example of Jesus on the cross when he forgave before he was asked and thus died in peace, we refuse to forgive and thus remain dead in sin.

Jesus said: “The Son of Man has come, not to be served by others, but to serve, to give his own life as a ransom for the many.” (Mt 20:28) At the Last Supper, after washing the feet of the disciples, including Judas, Jesus concluded: “If I washed your feet–I who am Teacher and Lord– then you must wash each other’s feet.”(Jn 13:14) To the world this type of service is demeaning. To the disciple of Jesus it is imitating. To the world ultimate power is in being or lording it over others; for us, power is in caring for the needs of others. It is not service for the sake of service; but service for the sake of Christ. (To be continued)

What God is calling for is a new vision for our life, a new plan of life, a new attitude of the heart. Jesus identified the outlines of such a vision and plan of life through his teachings in the Gospels. Listen to it and see how it involves a transformation of thought and a commitment to action.

"Blessed are the poor in spirit,  for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.  Blessed are they who mourn, for they will be comforted.   Blessed are the meek,  for they will inherit the land.  Blessed are they who hunger and thirst for righteousness,  for they will be satisfied.  Blessed are the merciful, for they will be shown mercy.  Blessed are the clean of heart,  for they will see God.  Blessed are the peacemakers,  for they will be called children of God.  Blessed are they who are persecuted for the sake of  righteousness,   for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are you when they insult you and persecute you and utter every kind of evil against you (falsely) because of me. Rejoice and be glad, for your reward will be great in heaven. Thus they persecuted the prophets who were before you.” (Mt 5:3-12)

In the eyes of the world, who wants to be associated with someone who is “poor in spirit” or poor  materially? That’s not inviting. Who wants to be around someone who mourns over the sins of the world? That’s depressing. Who wants to be around people who idealistically seek to bring justice and righteousness to the world? That’s too idealistic, demanding and risky.  To show mercy is a sign of weakness not strength.  To be clean of heart is not practical in today’s society. There is no fun in that.  Peace is not possible because you can’t trust the word of anyone and everyone is out to take advantage of you. (To be continued)

Paul continues: “Rejoice with those who rejoice, weep with those who weep. Have the same regard for one another; do not be haughty but associate with the lowly; do not be wise in your own estimation. Do not repay anyone evil for evil; be concerned for what is noble in the sight of all. If possible, on your part, live at peace with all. Beloved, do not look for revenge but leave room for the wrath; for it is written, ‘Vengeance is mine, I will repay, says the Lord.’  Rather, ‘if your enemy is hungry, feed him; if he is thirsty, give him something to drink; for by so doing you will heap burning coals upon his head.’ Do not be conquered by evil but conquer evil with good.” (Rom 12:15-21)

What God gives us is the ideal towards which we are to strive as we seek his will and seek to transform our ingrained attitudes and behaviors by the renewal of our mind according to his plan. None of this takes place over night. None of this occurs without inner and outer struggles. None of this takes place without responding to the grace of God, freely given to us. None of this happens unless we are truly in love with God. (To be continued)

Thirteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time: Gospel Reflection: B

When Jesus had crossed again (in the boat) to the other side, a large crowd gathered around him, and he stayed close to the sea. One of the synagogue officials, named Jairus, came forward. Seeing him he fell at his feet and pleaded earnestly with him, saying, "My daughter is at the point of death. Please, come lay your hands on her that she may get well and live."
· It is obvious the girl is dying and to Jairus Jesus is his last hope. He must have heard or seen the power of Jesus already.  Do we sometimes wait until the last moment before calling upon Jesus?

He went off with him, and a large crowd followed him and pressed upon him. There was a woman afflicted with hemorrhages for twelve years. 
· Mark often times interrupts one story and inserts another that is connected.
· Her hemorrhage made her ritually unclean according to the belief of the Jewish people who followed the Law. That meant she could not go into the Temple without first be ritually washed.

She had suffered greatly at the hands of many doctors and had spent all that she had. Yet she was not helped but only grew worse. She had heard about Jesus and came up behind him in the crowd and touched his cloak. She said, "If I but touch his clothes, I shall be cured." 
        She too had “heard” about Jesus. In her unworthiness she sought just  to touch his garments           
Even the act of touching Jesus’ garment would technically make Jesus ritually unclean.
It is not enough to be in the presence of Jesus or even to touch him. The faith of the woman made the difference.

Immediately her flow of blood dried up. She felt in her body that she was healed of her affliction. Jesus, aware at once that power had gone out from him, turned around in the crowd and asked, "Who has touched my clothes?" But his disciples said to him, "You see how the crowd is pressing upon you, and yet you ask, 'Who touched me?'" And he looked around to see who had done it. The woman, realizing what had happened to her, approached in fear and trembling. She fell down before Jesus and told him the whole truth. He said to her, "Daughter, your faith has saved you. Go in peace and be cured of your affliction." 
Why did Jesus make a such a scene? Was it because he wanted the woman to publicly attest to the healing she had received from God? Do we give such a witness when Jesus moves in our lives? The healing was not for the woman only, but as will see, for the crowd but especially for Jairus.

While he was still speaking, people from the synagogue official's house arrived and said, "Your daughter has died; why trouble the teacher any longer?" 
Imagine that you were the father of the girl and received such a message, what would you feel at the moment?

Disregarding the message that was reported, Jesus said to the synagogue official, "Do not be afraid; just have faith." 
      In other words, recall the healing of the woman and have the same faith.
     Where and when has Jesus said the same thing to you?

He did not allow anyone to accompany him inside except Peter, James, and John, the brother of James.
Why do you think Jesus did this? He is not looking for the approval of the crowd. He only wants to do the work of his Father.

When they arrived at the house of the synagogue official, he caught sight of a commotion, people weeping and wailing loudly. So he went in and said to them, "Why this commotion and weeping? The child is not dead but asleep." And they ridiculed him. Then he put them all out. 
Here Mark contrasts the faith of the woman who was healed and the people pressing upon Jesus as well as the faith of Jairus against the lack of faith of the weeping crowd.

He took along the child's father and mother and those who were with him and entered the room where the child was. He took the child by the hand and said to her, "Talitha koum," which means, "Little girl, I say to you, arise!" The girl, a child of twelve, arose immediately and walked around. (At that) they were utterly astounded. He gave strict orders that no one should know this and said that she should be given something to eat. 
It was not the faith of the child that brought the healing but the faith of the parents. What does this say to you?
How strong is your faith in the person and power of Jesus in times of difficulties?
What is God asking of you as you reflect on this passage?

Paul continues by saying “Your love must be sincere....Love one another with the affection of brothers. Anticipate each other in showing respect.” (Rom 12:9-11) In another place he said: “Defer to one another out of reverence for Christ.” (Eph 5:21) And again, “Accept one another as Christ accepted you, for the glory of God.” (Rom 15:7) We know that such thoughts are not what we were instructed in school or have experienced in the work place.  We know that to take them seriously and actually to live them in our lives would bring ridicule and rejection from others. We may even be thought of to be “holier than thou”.   But it is the word and will of God for us as we seek the renewal of our minds in conformity to that of God’s. And to underline the importance of such admonition Paul says: “Do not grow slack but be fervent in spirt; he whom you serve is the Lord.” (Rom 12: 11) Do we need any further reason for our decision to so act according to the mind of God?

But what happens if we do experience opposition to our desire to no longer conform to this age but be transformed by the renewal of our minds? Paul says: “Bless your persecutors; bless and do not curse them.” (Rom 12: 14) Again, this is not the learned behavior we were taught, which was “Don’t let anyone get the best of you....Stand up for your rights....Don’t be a coward. If someone strikes you, hit them back....Defend yourself, no matter what it takes....Don’t let anyone take advantage of you.” (To be continued)

It is God’s will that we are holy as he is holy. God is love; this is his communal life as Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. We are as holy as we love God and love others. To the extent love becomes more our life, to that extent we will share in the divine life of the Trinity.  Love, above all, reflects the life of holiness.

With this realization as a background, let us continue to read what Paul says after Rom 12:2.  “Each of you (is) not to think more highly of himself than he ought.” (Rom 12:3)   In another place he said: “each of you (should look) to others’ interests rather than to his own.”(Phil 2:4) Notice one of the ways we are to be in the will of God and to renew our own mind concerns how we think of and say to as well as what we do to others. While the world urges us to conform to its thinking, which is focused on the self first and foremost, the will of the Lord is that we focus on the other in love.

There were two brothers: one single, the other married with a number of children. they worked together planting and sowing and grinding the grain. They would divide the grain equally. The single brother said to himself, "I am only one mouth. My brother has many to feed. It is not right that we divide things equally." So he would take some of his grain and, unbeknown to his brother, he would place it in his brother's granary. The married brother said to himself, "Here I have someone to care for me but my brother has no one. It is not right for me to divide the grain equally." Se he too would take some of his grain and place it unbeknown to his brother in the brother's granary. As it happen one night, they met each other on the road to each other's granary with their gift. When they realized what was happening, they embraced in love. And God said, "This place of love is sacred. It is where I will build my church, temple, for here I dwell with you in love."

This is the witness which Jesus gave us by his life. He gave his life that we might have life. “Greater love has no one than to lay down his life for his friend.” (To be continued)

Once we begin to change our perspective through the renewal of our mind, then we will be better enabled to “judge what is God’s will, what is good, pleasing and perfect.”  This was the model Jesus left us. In his humanity, he made the will of the Father the foundation of all he did and said. “I have come to do the will of him who sent.” “My food is to do the will of him who sent me.?

In his teachings he directed us to follow his example.  "Not everyone who says to me, 'Lord, Lord,' will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only the one who does the will of my Father in heaven.” (Mt 7:21) “But seek first the kingdom (of God) and his righteousness,” (Mt 6:33)

Since the will of God is so essential for us to know and to follow, God doesn’t want us to be left in a hit and miss situation. That is why he has given us the Spirit of Truth so that we can come to the correct knowledge of truth as well as  to have the courage to act on this truth.  In baptism and confirmation we have been given the Spirit to dwell in us and to empower us. With the Spirit comes all the gifts of the Spirit we need to come to clarity of God’s will for our sanctification: wisdom, knowledge, understanding, right judgement, fortitude, piety and fear of the Lord. The same Spirit anoints us with the gifts for service and ministry for the up building of the Body of Christ. (To be continued)

In the transformation process, conversion is the first step: turning away from sin and turning back to God.  Conversion presumes true initial and on-going repentance for sin. Conversion opens us to the life of sanctifying grace, which is sharing God’s life as adopted sons and daughters. Initial conversion must be sustained by further purification of areas of sin in our lives which limit the depth and intensity of our life with God. This purification takes place through the healing of memories, scared by previous sins–our own and those of others. The focus is the uprooting of sin from our lives.

There is a point in our journey when, while we continue to deal with sin, it is not the focus of our efforts. We become more concerned about replacing the negative influence of sin with the positive influence of life in Christ.  This process is described by Paul in this way: “You must lay aside your former way of life and the old self which deteriorates through illusion and desire, and acquiring a fresh, spiritual way of thinking. You must put on that new man created in God’s image, whose justice and holiness are born of truth.” (Eph 4:22-24)

It is the call to put on the mind of Christ. To think as Christ would think; to choose as Christ would choose; to be renewed in our minds. Where to begin? Paul says that we are to grow in our ability “to bring every thought into captivity to make it obedient to Christ.” (2 Cor 10:5) We have no control over what comes into our mind, the thoughts we think. But we do have control of what we do once we become conscious of our thoughts. The rule of thumb we are to follow is spelled out by Paul: “Your thoughts should be wholly directed to all that is true, all that deserves respect, all that is honest, pure, admirable, decent, virtuous, or worthy of praise.” (Phil 4:9) What is not, is to be filtered out. We know what would happen to the air in our house if it is not filtered. The same is true with the air of our spiritual life. If we don’t take captive the thoughts which are not in harmony with our relationship with Christ, then we will become captive by these thoughts and their consequential actions. (To be continued)

“Do not conform yourselves to this age but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, so that you may judge what is God’s will, what is good, pleasing and perfect.” (Rom 12:2)

The word “transformation” in its literal meaning indicates a change of the form or makeup of something. Given that understanding, spiritual transformation calls for the change of the way we view things, the way we make choices, the way we understand things. We have been formed in our thinking and willing by our environment, by the morals of society, by the shifting of opinions. Years ago, prayer was part of our public life, whether in school or at home. Today prayer is relegated to a private matter.  Over two centuries ago this country was founded on the principles of religious freedom; God was part of our public life. Today, separation of church and state is interpreted as to mean  no mention of God in schools or public places; prayer is to be non-descript at least and non-existent at best. By the effort of a small minority, we are being transformed from a God-fearing nation to a God-absent nation. We are gradually becoming more pagan and immoral than ancient Rome and Greece; more barbarous and violent than the worse times in the Dark Ages; we have aborted more children than all those killed in the Holocaust.

Transformation is the answer. It is the revelation of the Word of God to us. This transformation is at the heart of our spiritual journey to holiness. Permit me to quickly sketch out the steps to the holiness God desires for us.  Each of these steps is prepared for and experienced as a result of the gift of grace from God. It is this initiative of God, who loves us first, which enables us to respond to the call of God to be holy. (To be continued)

Solemnity of the Birth of John the Baptist

When the time arrived for Elizabeth to have her child she gave birth to a son. Her neighbors and relatives heard that the Lord had shown his great mercy toward her,
and they rejoiced with her.
· The great mercy: she had been barren for many years and was past child-bearing age when she conceived.
· How has God shown his great mercy to you?

When they came on the eighth day to circumcise the child, they were going to call him Zechariah after his father, but his mother said in reply, “No. He will be called John.” But they answered her, “There is no one among your relatives who has this name.” 
· Through circumcision the male child became covenanted to Yahweh and was incorporated into the People of God.
· Baptism for us goes beyond circumcision. We share the very life of God as his son or daughter and are freed from all sin and alienation from God.
· “John” was the name given to him by God through the angel, when his conception was prophesied.

So they made signs, asking his father what he wished him to be called.
· Remember Zechariah has been unable to speak once the angel revealed God’s plan and seemingly Zechariah had some doubts.
 He asked for a tablet and wrote, “John is his name,” and all were amazed.
· It was the role of the father to name the child. He confirmed Elizabeth’s decision, However, the people were amazed because he who was mute before the conception of the child is now able to speak after the birth of the child.

Immediately his mouth was opened, his tongue freed, and he spoke blessing God.
· Zechariah’s faith and obedience to God led to his healing.
· How submissive and obedient are we to God’s plan in our life?

Then fear came upon all their neighbors, and all these matters were discussed throughout the hill country of Judea. All who heard these things took them to heart, saying, “What, then, will this child be?” For surely the hand of the Lord was with him. 
· First, the conception was a miracle. Second, the freedom from muteness was a miracle. No wonder the people were amazed and questioned the future of this child in God’s plan.
· Where do we see God working in our lives and in the lives of others?

What does this culture of death look like?  It is an attempt to capture the mind and will of people and to shape the moral values not according to the Gospel of life but the gospel of profit, not according to the Gospel of truth but the gospel of deception, not according to the Gospel of the Commandments but the gospel of  pleasure and satisfaction, not according to the Gospel of faith but the gospel of feelings, not according to the Gospel of the one true God but the gospel of the gods secularism and materialism.

What are the slogans of the culture of death and the gospel of the world? Might makes right; me first; if it feels good, it must be good; everybody is doing it; there is no objective truth or morality, everything is subjective and relative; the rights of the individual is supreme over all other rights; it is a woman’s right to choose to conceive or not, to abort or not; it is a dog eat dog world.

What are some of the fruits of this culture of death and the gospel of pleasure and satisfaction?
1) Millions of abortions performed each year.
2) Over 1 million children have been abused each year.
3) Each year several million of teens infected with a sexually transmitted disease each year
4)  Over 10,000 people between the ages of 16 and 24 die each year in alcohol-related accidents of various kinds.
6) More than one million divorces occur per year in the US; A steady rise in the number of single-parent householders; one third of all school-aged children live with one parent; in more than 50% of all households, both parents must seek employment outside the home; mobility: more than 20% of American families change their residence annually or more often.
7) It is estimated that right now around the globe, there are 170 million drug abusers.
This is just the tip of the iceberg.

What is the answer?  “Do not conform yourselves to this age but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, so that you may judge what is God’s will, what is good, pleasing and perfect.”

Today, we will begin a reflection on Romans 12:2.
“Do not conform yourselves to this age but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, so that you may judge what is God’s will, what is good, pleasing and perfect.”

If we are looking for a way to grow in the life of God, this passage from Rom 12:2 is a good place to start.

Paul was well aware of his own era and the difficulties it presented to the baptized Christians, who had died to sin and lived in Christ through Baptism. It was an era which he described thus: “The wrath of God is being revealed from heaven against the irreligious and perverse spirit of men who, in this perversity of theirs, hinder the truth....They certainly had knowledge of God, yet they did not glorify him as God or give him thanks; they stultified themselves through speculating to no purpose, and their senseless hearts were darkened. They claimed to be wise, but turned into fools instead; they exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images representing mortal men... In consequence, God delivered them up in their lusts to unclean practices; they engaged in the mutual degradation of their bodies, these men who exchanged the truth of God for a lie and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator...They are filled with every kind of wickedness: maliciousness, greed, ill will, envy, murder, bickering, deceit, craftiness. They are gossips and slanders, they hate God, are insolent, haughty, boastful, ingenious in their wrongdoing and rebellious....One sees in them men without conscience, without loyalty, without affection, without pity.”(Rom 18-31)

How different is our culture and environment today? Not much, maybe worse.  Paul sought to change the culture he lived in; but was more concerned with changing the response of the true believers and followers of Jesus to the culture. In the thoughts of John Paul II, we are to evangelize the culture rather than to let the culture influence and change us. Like Paul and the early Christians, we are faced with a culture of death; we are to create for ourselves and live in a culture of life. (To be continued)

The purpose of each of these oases of deep spiritual springs in the desert journey is to enable us to confront sin in our lives. It is only when we are ready to let go control of this area of our life, to allow God through his power to crush the hardness of our heart, to yield to the Lord's timing and process, that a break through can take place and we can be transported to new spiritual heights.  Only then can the desert journey end for the time being until God calls us once more to grow into greater holiness.

It is God who leads us into the desert. Listen to the words of the prophet Hosea concerning the infidelity of Israel: "So I will allure her, I will lead her into the desert and speak to her heart" (Hosea 2:16). And when we are ready to respond to the Lord again with our whole heart, it is God who leads us out of the desert. Again, listen to the joyful words of God through the mouth of the same prophet: "I will espouse you to me forever; I will espouse you in right and in justice, in love and in mercy; I will espouse you in fidelity, and you shall know the Lord....I will say...'You are my people,' and (you) shall say, 'My God.'" (Hosea 2: 21-22, 25) (Concluded)

One of the oasis which seems the strangest in our journey is the one where God reminds us that we must learn to live in the present moment and not in the past or the future. For it is only in the present moment that we are can respond to the call to serve the other.  It is in this present moment we are invited by God not to focus on our own struggle and need but on the need of the other, to die to self and to be life-giving to another. Like the other oases, we do not understand God's ways. Helping another, reaching out unconditionally, loving when we feel unloved and incapable of loving anyone, seem to be not what is needed at the moment in our life. And yet Jesus insists that this is indeed important. "I solemnly assure you, unless the grain of wheat falls to the earth and dies, it remains just a grain of wheat. But if it dies, it produces much fruit. The man who loves his life loses it, while the man who hates his life in this world preserves it to life eternal. If anyone would serve me, let him follow me, where I am, there will my servant be. If anyone serves me, him the Father will honor" (John 12:24-27). (To be continued)

The Word of God serves as another  place of rest and refurbishing. Recall the words of Paul to Timothy: "You have known the sacred Scriptures, the source of the wisdom which through faith in Jesus Christ leads to salvation. All Scripture is inspired of God and is useful for teaching--for reproof, correction, and training in holiness, so that the man of God may be fully competent and equipped for every good work"(2 Tim 3:15-17). 

Even though the words found in the scripture also seem to have no meaning for us at the time we are in the spiritual desert, by faithfully immersing ourselves in the Word, we will fortify ourselves for the journey ahead.  The scriptures help us keep our eyes and heart  fixed upon the Lord who we still see only in faith. With Paul we can attest:  "We do not fix our gaze on what is seen but on what is unseen. What is seen is transitory; what is unseen lasts forever....We walk by faith, not by sight" (2 Cor. 4:17-18; 5:7).(To be continued)

The Israelites experienced the gift of water from the rock when they complained that they were dying of thirst in the desert. We experience many graces on our journey, graces which we seem unaware of because they seem so ordinary or so expected.  Because they are graces for and of the moment and not the once-in-the -lifetime, extraordinary graces we take very little notice. But again without these graces--unmerited favors from God--we would not be able to survive the journey ahead.

For the Israelites the Mount of Sinai was another oasis.  Here God called the people to enter into a new covenant with him, a covenant-life  based on the Decalogue, the Ten Commandments. These commandments were the basis of their relationship with God and with neighbor, a relationship of love.

Instead the people chose to make a god that they could fashion and control: their golden calf. They chose a no-god over the only God. They bowed down before a god who would not chastise them or correct them, a god who would be blind and deaf to their debauchery. But in fact, they sold themselves back into slavery and bondage to Satan, the pseudo-god who would exact everything from them, including life itself. (To be continued)

As a way of helping us confront sin, God leads us to a number of oases during our journey, places where we find deep springs. These are not meant to be final resting places, but aids on the journey.  What are these oases? God feeds us, not with manna which lasts for one day, but the Bread of Life, the Eucharist, our life-giving food for the spiritual journey. How often have we taken this gift for granted or treated it as something mundane and ordinary? How often have we failed to recall the words of Jesus in the Gospel? "I myself am the living bread come down from heaven. If anyone eats this bread he shall live forever; the bread I will give is my flesh for the life of the world....Let me solemnly assure you, he who feeds on my flesh and drinks my blood has life eternal and I will raise him up on the last day" (John 6:51-54). If we understood the gift, we will yearn and hunger for this gift daily.  Even if we feel nothing during the moments following the reception of Eucharist, being grateful and consciously present to the sacramental presence of God within us in faith will be like a source of energy and strength working unseen within us. Without this Bread of Life we will surely die in the desert. (To be continued)

Tenth Sunday Gospel Reflection Year B

Jesus came home with his disciples. Again the crowd gathered, making it impossible for them even to eat. When his relatives heard of this they set out to seize him, for they said, "He is out of his mind." 
Home could be Capernaum or Nazareth.  Given the final verses below, it seems more likely to be Capernaum. This was his base of operation during his ministry in Galilee.
Mark reminds us that not everyone received Jesus openly. Some of his relatives from Nazareth were embarrassed and probably afraid of the political and religious backlash  they could experience from the authorities.

The scribes who had come from Jerusalem said, "He is possessed by Beelzebul," and "By the prince of demons he drives out demons."
The scribes (representing the Pharisees) tried to discredit him by accusing him to be in
league with the devil. They accuse him of using demonic powers to perform his miracles.

Summoning them, he began to speak to them in parables, "How can Satan drive out Satan? If a kingdom is divided against itself, that kingdom cannot stand. And if a house is divided against itself, that house will not be able to stand. And if Satan has risen up against himself and is divided, he cannot stand; that is the end of him. But no one can enter a strong man's house to plunder his property unless he first ties up the strong man. Then he can plunder the house.
Jesus confronts these accusations head on. It doesn’t make sense for him to cast out demons from the possessed if he is in league with the devil. The devil doesn’t fight against himself.
In another Gospel he says that it is not by the power of evil but by the ‘finger of God’ that he broke the power of Satan over the possessed.

Amen, I say to you, all sins and all blasphemies that people utter will be forgiven them. But whoever blasphemes against the Holy Spirit will never have forgiveness, but is guilty of an everlasting sin." For they had said, "He has an unclean spirit."
Here Jesus identifies the real problem in the hearts of his accusers. They are denying who he really is, the Son of God, one sent by God. They are rejecting the source of his power, namely the Holy Spirit. Their hearts are hardened and refuse to be open to the grace of the truth.
Blasphemy against the Holy Spirit is to deny the power of God to forgive sins. There is no sin God will not forgive, except one who refuses to turn to the Lord in repentance, asking for forgiveness. This hardened heart rejects the mercy of God.

His mother and his brothers arrived. Standing outside they sent word to him and called him. A crowd seated around him told him, "Your mother and your brothers and your sisters are outside asking for you."
If Jesus was at home in Nazareth, his mother would be there. But presumably she arrives in Capernaum. She probably heard what some of their relatives were saying about him. So she may have brought other relatives with her to support her son.

But he said to them in reply, "Who are my mother and my brothers?" And looking around at those seated in the circle he said, "Here are my mother and my brothers. For whoever does the will of God is my brother and sister and mother."
Jesus identifies the more underlying relationship he has with others. Those who do the will of God are in relationship with him. That is why his relationship with Mary is not limited to a natural bond but more importantly a spiritual bond.
The same is true with us. Our relationship with Jesus is to be based on our willingness to do the will of the Father.

But even though God revealed once more his power over their enemies, the Israelites soon forgot these signs and continued to complain and grumble, to long for their past way of life, to test the Lord, to be disobedient, to give in to fear.  Basically, their hearts were hardened.

This basic mind set was captured in Psalm 95 as the psalmist centuries later addressed the people of his day, speaking in the name of God. He could as well be speaking to us in our desert experience: "Harden not your hearts as at Meribah, as in the day of Massah in the desert, where your fathers tempted me; they tested me though they had seen my works. Forty years I loathed that generation, and I said: They are a people of erring heart, and they know not my ways. Therefore I swore in my anger: They shall not enter into my rest"(Ps 95: 8-11).

What is the purpose of the spiritual desert? To get in touch with sin within us.  Sin is what hardens our heart against God. Not just any sin, but the root or dominant sin of our life, the habitual sin which controls our life, the sin which is our god, the skeleton-sin in the closet of our heart which we are afraid to confront, the security blanket sin which we have clung to.for years, the sin we fall back into when we no longer can trust that God can provide for our needs, the convenient sin which is ready to satisfy us, even for a fleeting moment. (To be continued)

Like the Israelites, we have experienced personally some salvific moments in which God revealed his power, his mercy, his love, his freedom, his life to us. Whether the signs and wonders were as dramatic in our lives as they were in the Israelites in Egypt is not important.  What is important is that God saved us from a life of tragic consequences.  If God had not intervened either dramatically or quietly, we would have continued on a path leading to nowhere and nothingness, a life of eternal separation from God, and a future full of woe.

Like the Israelites the spiritual honeymoon didn't last long, the reality that our past will not leave us so easily became clear very soon after we began our new journey. Our task masters of the past--the sinful desires and pleasures, the negative attitudinal bondage, the fears, the seemingly inescapable needs, our former way of life with its so-called friends--all seem to converge on us once again. If we give in or give up at this point, we fail the first test of the journey. Is God capable of deleivering us or not? Can God make a way when our enemies are on one side and our backs are up against a vast sea?

What did Moses tell the Israelites and what does God say to us? "Fear not! Stand your ground, and you will see the victory the Lord will win for you today....The Lord himself will fight for you; you have only to keep still" (Ex. 14:13-14). To believe that this journey has a purpose, to trust that the Lord's plan will be revealed,  to be still and wait upon the Lord is to discover the first of many springs in the spiritual desert. (To be continued)

While the feeling of being alone and abandonment seem to grow stronger, faith continues to reassure us that God never abandons us. Faith tells us that somehow all of this is part of God's mysterious plan for us. But how long and to what purpose? At times it is hard to focus on faith and not feelings for the latter seem to be backed up by clear, experienced facts. I have no consolations in prayer only desolations. There is no visible light, only darkness. Even going through the motions of prayer seem pointless and wasted. Nothing seems to matter.

Welcome to the Exodus journey of every person from the Egypt of sin to the Promised Land of life eternal! What the Israelites experienced physically and what they learned spiritually in their forty year-desert sojourn, we will have to experience in our spiritual journey to greater intimacy with the Lord.

For the spiritual desert is not a hell-hole on earth, but a grace-event on the way to heaven. (To be continued)