Finding God In Our Hearts with Msgr. Don Fischer

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Gospel

Matthew 5:43-48

Jesus said to his disciples:

"You have heard that it was said,

You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.

But I say to you, love your enemies,

and pray for those who persecute you,

that you may be children of your heavenly Father,

for he makes his sun rise on the bad and the good,

and causes rain to fall on the just and the unjust.

For if you love those who love you, what recompense will you have?

Do not the tax collectors do the same?

And if you greet your brothers and sisters only,

what is unusual about that?

Do not the pagans do the same?

So be perfect, just as your heavenly Father is perfect.”

Reflection

It's amazing to me how this call on the part of Jesus to all of us to understand that love is what this kingdom is all about. How clearly it is that we just don't seem to grasp the fullness of this. It's not unusual for people in positions of authority within the church to judge and condemn people for an action they might perform.

And yet it’s clear that the job that we have is to love those who fail, those who are evil, knowing that that is a powerful healing element in this whole process of living in the Kingdom. To love someone is to give them an energy, a grace, the presence of God, to help heal them of whatever evil they have done.

Closing Prayer

Father, give us a keen awareness of where judgment flares up inside of us, when we see someone or hear something that someone has done. Train us to realize that the only obligation we have is not so much to change people, but to love them and believe that loving them is the greatest power to change them. And we ask this in Jesus’ name, Amen.

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Gospel

Matthew 5:20-26

Jesus said to his disciples: 

“I tell you, 

unless your righteousness surpasses that

of the scribes and Pharisees,

you will not enter into the Kingdom of heaven.

“You have heard that it was said to your ancestors,

You shall not kill; and whoever kills will be liable to judgment.

But I say to you, whoever is angry with his brother

will be liable to judgment,

and whoever says to his brother, Raqa, 

will be answerable to the Sanhedrin,

and whoever says, ‘You fool,’ will be liable to fiery Gehenna.

Therefore, if you bring your gift to the altar,

and there recall that your brother

has anything against you,

leave your gift there at the altar,

go first and be reconciled with your brother,

and then come and offer your gift.

Settle with your opponent quickly while on the way to court.

Otherwise your opponent will hand you over to the judge,

and the judge will hand you over to the guard,

and you will be thrown into prison.

Amen, I say to you,

you will not be released until you have paid the last penny.”

Reflection

Jesus had such a hard time with the judgment against him from the scribes and the Pharisees, and he’s warning his disciples that they should not ever fall into the trap of judgment against someone. It's like he's saying, you have to understand that the kingdom of God is about a flow of energy that goes between God in Jesus, to other people, and when that is not a loving, forgiving, nurturing presence, the kingdom cannot happen.

So whether you've offended someone or someone has offended you, whatever is causing division among you before you can truly be a worshiper of God, you need to make peace with everyone.

Closing Prayer

Father, one might say that forgiveness is one of the major teachings that we have coming from the lips of Jesus. It is the mark of whether or not we are in the kingdom of God. Bless us with awareness of that and motivate us, perhaps by the very selfish notion that we would want to be treated better. Why do we treat someone in a way that is less than we would want? It's one of the key teachings of the kingdom and we need to follow it. And we ask this in Jesus’ name, Amen.

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Gospel

Matthew 7:7-12

Jesus said to his disciples:

"Ask and it will be given to you;

seek and you will find;

knock and the door will be opened to you.

For everyone who asks, receives; and the one who seeks, finds;

and to the one who knocks, the door will be opened.

Which one of you would hand his son a stone

when he asked for a loaf of bread,

or a snake when he asked for a fish?

If you then, who are wicked,

know how to give good gifts to your children,

how much more will your heavenly Father give good things

to those who ask him.

"Do to others whatever you would have them do to you.

This is the law and the prophets.”

Reflection

The Kingdom of God is our work here on this planet. We are here to participate in its becoming. And it doesn't just come to people. There's something within us that longs to understand it. So it's a beautiful way that Jesus is talking about how we participate in the Kingdom. We need to ask for wisdom. We need to seek answers.

We need to ponder questions. And most especially when we do this, the promise is that we will knock on the door of the kingdom and we will be allowed in.

Closing Prayer

Father, you make it clear that the kingdom is something that is experienced, both now and forever. And as we participate in its being founded on this earth, we are reminded that there's a simple rule that you could use, and that simply do to other people what you would like them to do to you. It's so simple, but yet so powerful. And we ask this in Jesus’ name, Amen.

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Gospel

Luke 11:29-32

While still more people gathered in the crowd, Jesus said to them,

"This generation is an evil generation;

it seeks a sign, but no sign will be given it,

except the sign of Jonah.

Just as Jonah became a sign to the Ninevites,

so will the Son of Man be to this generation.

At the judgment

the queen of the south will rise with the men of this generation

and she will condemn them,

because she came from the ends of the earth

to hear the wisdom of Solomon,

and there is something greater than Solomon here.

At the judgment the men of Nineveh will arise with this generation

and condemn it,

because at the preaching of Jonah they repented,

and there is something greater than Jonah here."

Reflection

Jesus talks about the kingdom of God and what it means to believe in it. What is this sign that we're looking for? It's so interesting that Jesus, when he looks at the generation around him that's always asking for signs, he points out what the core sign truly is, the sign of Jonah. And what does that mean? It means that Jonah was swallowed by a whale,

three days he was in the stomach of the whale, and then he was released. He lived. That image is the image of what Jesus has come into the world to establish. The end of evil's power, to destroy. And basically, what we see in Jesus is his own death, he gives in to evil. Everyone thinks there again, evil has done something awful and destroyed the good it was in Jesus.

And what we need to realize, no he rose three days later. He destroys the death that evil could cause before our redemption.

Closing Prayer

It's so easy to fall into the trap of thinking that things are going in the wrong direction. That is evil is winning. Nothing is further from the truth. Evil, when it's exposed, is vulnerable. And the vulnerability that is there is the realization, in the believer's, that they know that evil has been destroyed and there is no fear of evil. Only hope and trust in the mystery of the sign of Jonah. And we ask this in Jesus’ name, Amen.

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Gospel 

Matthew 6:7-15

Jesus said to his disciples:

"In praying, do not babble like the pagans,

who think that they will be heard because of their many words.

Do not be like them.

Your Father knows what you need before you ask him.

"This is how you are to pray:

Our Father who art in heaven,

hallowed be thy name,

thy Kingdom come,

thy will be done,

on earth as it is in heaven.

Give us this day our daily bread;

and forgive us our trespasses,

as we forgive those who trespass against us;

and lead us not into temptation,

but deliver us from evil.

"If you forgive men their transgressions,

your heavenly Father will forgive you.

But if you do not forgive men,

neither will your Father forgive your transgressions.”

Reflection

Jesus has the Pharisees and scribes in mind when he says, don't babble on like pagans. In a way, they were kind of pagans. But here's what he's beautifully describing. The thing you need to pray for, the words that I will give you to pray, are absolutely essential issues that you need to embrace. First of all, you need to recognize my father in heaven.

He is holy, and he's here to help us to establish the Kingdom of God, and it will be done. It'll be one earth in heaven, a new heaven, a new earth. And then he simply says, Ask God. Realize that God longs to feed you, to forgive you, and to protect you from evil. It's such a beautiful, succinct way of focusing on what the kingdom is all about.

Receiving the love of a father incarnated in a human being. Longing for us to achieve the goal.

Closing Prayer

Father, the simplicity, the economy of words in this beautiful prayer, is so like you to make it all, in a way, simple. To know that you will take care of us. Feed us. Nurture us. Protect us. Forgive us. It's the essence of what you do for us, but most especially, what we need to do for ourselves and for others. If we live this prayer, we will live already in the kingdom. And we ask this in Jesus’ name, Amen.

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