Equal and Opposite
For every action there is an equal and opposite reaction (Newton's Third Law of Motion)
Father forgive them for they know not what they do (Luke 23:34)
Stop judging that you may not be judged (Matthew 7:1)
Let the one among you without sin cast the first stone (John 8:7)
Who would have thought that the semesters of Physics that I endured in high school and college would lead to such theological contemplation, well probably God. I thank the Lord for opening up the nature of relationships with the laws of nature. In my quiet prayer time, an old wound surfaced. It was a judgement verbalized against one of my children, a shot to the heart. Our last quarter of the year at school was "Inner Healing." I am much better equipped to handle these choppy waters as they arise. Jesus does not place painful memories in our path to wound, but to heal the wound. Admittedly I did not jump right to inner healing, I made the human leap many of us so often do. I replayed the conversation in my head then searched out my "opponents" weaknesses until I had the perfect retort back. I sat and savored the possibility to be able to use this ammunition. For every action there is an equal and opposite reaction. Words wound whether that be the intent or not. Words so often spoken to defend, justify, convince, whatever the reason, have the capability to do great harm. Once they travel from our mind to our tongue, once launched they cannot be taken back. Once they have hit their mark, the equal and opposite reactive forces begin to build, readying for counterattack. Father forgive them for they know not what they do. Jesus placed upon the cross by the unfair judgement of men teaches us the greatest lesson in mercy against unfair judgement, anger, fear, hate, jealousy. Stop judging that you may not be judged, is the law of physical nature being applied to human nature. What we launch, we are asking to have launched back upon us. The back and forth shelling of judgement over time creates breaches in relationships. Just as in physical nature, in human nature oftentimes the only thing to stop the sequence is an outside force. That force is the indwelling spirit of Jesus given to us at baptism. Jesus is the force that can give us the strength to step back, there He can tend our wounds and prevent further damage. From His vantage point I am able to loosen my anger, I am able to ask for the grace to forgive. Words of judgement technically placed Jesus on the cross, but the reality is that it was the sum total of sin. He took all that in and on, a volley of all evil and He did what no other force in existence could do. He created a truly equal and opposite reaction: resurrection, forgiveness, and redemption.
Commitment and Accompaniment
Matthew 6:9-13
“This, then, is how you should pray:
“‘Our Father in heaven,
hallowed be your name,
your kingdom come,
your will be done,
on earth as it is in heaven.
Give us today our daily bread.
And forgive us our debts,
as we also have forgiven our debtors.
And lead us not into temptation,
but deliver us from the evil one.
God has repeatedly placed Ignatian Spirituality upon my own path of formation over the past 8 months or so. It is the forefront of deep contemplative and imaginative prayer within Catholic Spirituality. My Spiritual bucket list includes a formal silent Ignatian Retreat at some point. I am a prayer geek. God's revelation to us was completed in the Living Word of Jesus Christ. This is what we call 'Public Revelation'. Jesus told His disciples before the ascension,
I still have much to tell you, you cannot bear to hear it yet. However, when the Spirit of truth comes, He will guide you into all truth. For He will not speak on His own, but He will speak what He hears.
Nothing new can be added to God's Word, but that does not mean that it does not continue to unfold and enlighten us in new ways. This is the realm of 'private revelation'. This morning's Gospel is possibly the most memorized and repeated scripture in history. It is easy to gloss over. That is what I did upon my first reading. Enter Ignatian Spirituality. If you are looking for God's Word to speak intimately to you, you can't stop after just one reading. After allowing myself some distraction, I returned to the Gospel. And nothing happened.
The end.
Just kidding. Obviously if I am posting, you know something happened. Enter [Commitment and Accompaniment]. In reality in my moments of distraction I realized that I entered today's Gospel without my usual opening commitment prayer to 'set the stage'. The Spirit shows me that in fact, the Our Father, is a commitment prayer. "Our Father", we are declaring our identity and God's identity, we are committing to our relationship. We submit ourselves within that relationship when we emphasize "Thy", not "my". "This day" places us in proper frame of mind for prayer, we [become present to the present which allows us to enter His presence]. "Our daily bread" first establishes our dependence upon our Father's provision and second remaining in today, the present. Our Father is in the present, not in stockpiling for the future. To learn to live this is to learn to live another tenet of Jesus, Matthew 6:34 is “Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.” The call to forgiveness follows provision. This is fitting, for without God's provision, His grace, we would not be able to forgive others. This too should be a "present" activity. Daily. Just as we are not called to stockpile provisions, we are not called to stockpile sin, hurt, anger, or resentment. Here I recognize the wisdom of the Ignatian practice of the Daily Examine. The Holy Spirit does inspire one turn of phrase for me today. "Lead us not into temptation" becomes, "Walk with me through temptation". This is what a Father does. He cannot take away what has become inherent, but He does accompany, encourage, counsel, and fortify. We cannot do this alone. The 'Our Father' becomes now a commitment prayer of daily accompaniment. And as all prayer is intended to be a two sided conversation, so too with the Our Father. For within our lines of the prayer lie the echos of the Father's promises of answer. Jesus would not give us a model that the Father would not honor. God implores each of us, "Truly make me your Father and I will provide you what you need." Finally, the finish, "deliver us from evil." I think many may feel a broken promise here, given how often it is spoken, and the reality the world reflects day in and day out. "Deliver us from evil" is not synonymous with "Deliver us from pain, suffering, trials, disappointments." Jesus' own words above confirm this. The promise is to deliver us from ultimately being delivered fully to evil. It is a promise to keep us in 'the family', saving us 'a seat at the supper table', that when this earthly life passes, we shall indeed be seated with our Father and Brother at the banquet table of heaven.