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Now when the pharisees…
When a Gospel reading starts like that, you know something big is coming.
Today, Matthew reflects on the insidious nature of gossip, learning to see ourselves in the Scriptures, and the power of the inner life. This reading is Jesus’ wisdom in full force. Are you ready?
Only when inner and outer authority come together do we have true spiritual wisdom. We have for too long insisted on outer authority alone, without any teaching of prayer, inner journey, and maturing consciousness. The results for the world and for religion have been disastrous. I am increasingly convinced that the word prayer, which has become a functional and pious thing for believers to do, is, in fact, a descriptor for inner experience. That is why all spiritual teachers mandate prayer so much. They are saying, “Go inside and know for yourself!” We will understand prayer and inner experience this way throughout this book. As Jesus graphically puts it, prayer is “going to your private room and shutting the door and [acting] in secret” (Matthew 6:6). Once you hear it this way, it becomes pretty obvious.
— from the book Things Hidden: Scripture as Spirituality by Richard Rohr
//Franciscan Media//
“We trust ourselves to a doctor because we suppose he knows his business. He orders an operation which involves cutting away part of our body and we accept it. We are grateful to him and pay him a large fee because we judge he would not act as he does unless the remedy were necessary, and we must rely on his skill. Yet we are unwilling to treat God in the same way! It looks as if we do not trust His wisdom and are afraid He cannot do His job properly. We allow ourselves to be operated on by a man who may easily make a mistake—a mistake which may cost us our life—and protest when God sets to work on us. If we could see all He sees we would unhesitatingly wish all He wishes.”— Fr. Jean Baptiste Saint-Jure, p. 90
//Catholic Company//
I believe that all of us are born with the image of God stamped indelibly into the fibers of our being. Despite our personal flaws and the brokenness of our institutions, we all have divine wisdom and goodness inscribed on our hearts. We don’t acquire it from without as much as we uncover it from within. Unfortunately, though, our personal experiences and cultural messages tend to have us believe that our worthiness resides in something external, something we can cultivate, achieve, amass, or purchase. This is a lie, an illusion, which obscures the divine goodness that is the birthright of each one of us. We see through a glass dimly. An important part of spiritual practice, then, is “cleaning the lens”: letting go of the layers of illusion piled up by the ego, which helps us to rediscover the deepest truths of who we are, what the world is, and how we belong.
— from the book Making Room: Soul-Deep Satisfaction through Simple Living
by Kyle Kramer
//Franciscan Media//
We are told that in the beginning there was light. Ever since, all of God’s creation—plants, animals, we humans—are drawn to light. As we emerged from our mothers’ wombs and pushed our way through a dark and confining birth canal, we experienced light for the very first time. We have come to learn how light sustains us and calls us to life. We call Jesus “Light of the World,” and he invites us to be light for one another in ways of loving, caring, and serving. Without this light, ours would be a dark, fearful, oppressive journey.
Move from contemplation to action and probe for inner wisdom. What kind of light do others see in you? Do you have enough light to see your way? How do you fill the oil in your lamp? Who needs you today to bring a bit of sunshine into their life? As you generously share your light, give thanks and praise in knowing and treasuring all that is gift.
— from the book Eucharistic Adoration: Reflections in the Franciscan Tradition
//Franciscan Media//
