73 Steps to Spiritual Communion with God - 43b

   This is a continuation of the 73 Steps to Spiritual Communion with God by Michael Dubruiel. The previous posts are below and in the archives to the right. This is the 43rd step:

(43) But as to any evil in himself, let him be convinced that it is his own and charge it to himself.





There are many maladies in life that may seem evil but really are not. Someones genetic makeup may make the prone to an early death and on the surface that may seem like an "evil" but in fact it is only our perception again of what our idea of "good" is. A person whose life is limited by their genetic or physical condition still has been put on this earth by God and still has a mission. They can do much good with the talents that God has given them. To bury the talents because of their perceived bad condition is to squander the good.

73 Steps to Spiritual Communion with God - 43a

   This is a continuation of the 73 Steps to Spiritual Communion with God by Michael Dubruiel. The previous posts are below and in the archives to the right. This is the 43rd step:

(43) But as to any evil in himself, let him be convinced that it is his own and charge it to himself.



This counsel follows from the previous one. If God has created us as "good" then any evil is from our free choice to do other than what God wills for us. We should understand that what is "evil" is bad for us, to the point that if we persist in evil it leads to our self-destruction.



If God has created us as good, then anything that is not good can not be from God, it must have another source, St. Benedict concludes rightly that it must come from ourselves.

Michael Dubruiel Meditation (8)

    From Michael Dubruiel, 2003:

What are we willing to die for?

 

Today in many parishes across the country people will bring their pets to a special blessing done this Sunday in honor of the feast of Saint Francis that is celebrated on October 4^th. This is custom reflects the giftedness of creation.  Asking God to bless our pets or livestock is an excellent way of recalling that God is the source of all life.

            Would that we had that attitude about all of God’s creation! Today is also Respect Life Sunday a day that points to our culture’s lack of respect for human life. Like the son in the parable that represents Jesus, many of those sent by God to us are condemned to death and often the motivation is no different than that of the evil tenants--economic.

            “They will respect my son,” the owner of the vineyard presumes wrongly.

Do we respect human life?  It is horrible that our culture has become so selective about who deserves to live or die often based on how productive someone’s life is seen to be or whether we can afford them. Can anyone afford not to respect life?

            Life is a gift from God and you and I are not God. Neither are doctors, lawyers, judges, government leaders or anyone else you can think of. We are all tenants who have been given the task of cultivating and producing good fruit and sharing it with one another. In the process we share it with God.

             

Michael Dubruiel Meditation (7)

    From Michael Dubruiel, 2003:

What are we willing to die for?

 

A movie that came out in 1981 told the story of a young sculptor who had the misfortune of being involved in a tragic accident. The wreck left him hospitalized, paralyzed from the neck down and incapable of ever being able to practice his art again. The man requested that he be allowed to die. His doctor ignored the man’s wish, and set out to do everything that could be done to keep the man alive.

 The movie, “Whose Life is it Anyway?” raised the question of who ultimately has authority over life. Sadly, like a bad multiple choice test where none of the choices given are correct, the answer focused on both the doctor and the patient both of whom are accused of playing the answer--God.

The wicked tenants in today’s gospel suffer a similar identity crisis. They act as though they are the owners of the vineyard rather than its tenants. Jesus tells the parable in response to the chief priests and elders question as to what gave him the authority to do the works that he did (especially in light of his temple cleansing incident the day before).

Jesus uses an image from Isaiah (today’s first reading) that would have been familiar to them, namely that of an owner who plants a vineyard.  The owner then goes on a journey after handing over the operation of the vineyard to tenants who are free to enjoy its fruits as long as they return a percentage of the produce to the owner. This is where the problem begins.     

            Since the owner is far away, the tenants don’t see any reason to bother with the payment. Instead they abuse all of the collection agents that the owner sends. Finally the owner sends his son thinking that the tenants will obviously fear him. But they reason rather foolishly that if they kill the son the vineyard will be theirs.

            Jesus then asks the question, “What will the owner of the vineyard do to those tenants when he comes?”

            The audience the very people who are plotting the death of Jesus quickly give the answer. The evil tenants will be evicted and put to death for the murder of the son. Unfortunately they do not learn its lesson. Are we able to make the next logical step that the chief priests and elders were not? Are we able to examine ourselves and connect our behavior with that of the tenants?

            “The stone that the builders rejected has become the cornerstone; by the Lord has this been done,” Jesus tells his hearers. The stone may have appeared too heavy to lift by the builders who rejected it, but soon they realized that its size was needed to function as the chief building block to the foundation. So too the events of our life present us with many choices that left to our own estimation we may reject because they seem too burdensome, but in the end we may realize the absolute necessity of embracing them.

            What is our attitude about what God has given us?

Michael Dubruiel Meditation (6)

    From Michael Dubruiel, 2003:

What are we willing to die for?

 

The next day it was necessary that a group of us go into Istanbul for supplies. Riding through the streets of the city it suddenly dawned on me that I hadn’t thought twice about doing what I was ordered to do but when given the choice to go to mass I had passed. It suddenly dawned on me that I was willing to die for my country (by the mere fact of being in the Armed Forces) but that I wasn’t ready to die for my faith.

Jesus is faced with a trick question in today’s Gospel posed by those who hope to discredit him. He is asked if it is lawful to pay taxes. If he says yes he would be supporting the Roman occupation, if he says no he will be showing himself to be a terrorist. Jesus says neither, but rather asks to see a coin.

He examines it and asks his questioners whose image it contains. “Caesar” they reply.

“Give to Caesar what belongs to Caesar and give to God what belongs to God.”

“We are God's money,” Saint Augustine says. The image of God is imprinted upon our souls. We belong to God.