Lectio Divina - Psalm 1

Prayer Before Reading Scripture:  Come Holy Spirit, fill the hearts of your faithful and kindle in us the fire of your love.  Send forth your Spirit and we shall be created and you shall renew the face of the earth."

"Happy are they who have not walked in the counsel of the wicked, nor lingered in the way of sinners, nor sat in the seats of the scornful" Psalm 1:1 (1979 BCP).  We can take instruction on how to live our lives from one of two places, from God or from "the world."   Those who take instructions from "the wicked" that is, those who do not respect and obey God cannot expect true happiness.  The Psalmist tells us that the righteous man does not "linger in the way of sinners."   How often Oh, my God have I done this through the course of my life.  How often have I gone to places I should not have been, watched movies I perhaps should not have watched, or viewed images which excited sinful feelings and emotions.  I have "lingered in the way of sinners" in order to get a temporary thrill or a momentary pleasure with no thought for eternity.  I have "sat in the seats of the scornful."  I have laughed with those who scorn God and the Church.  I have intentionally on occasion scoffed at the notion that God is real and is everywhere with us.   With the help of Your Holy Word and Sacraments I hope to do better in the future to achieve the happiness promised by the Psalmist to those who do not do these things.

"Their delight is in the law of the LORD, and they meditate on his law day and night."  Psalm 1:2.    Does this mean that I should become like some ultra-orthodox Jews who send their wives out to work so that they can go the Yeshiva and study Torah all day?  That is certainly the literal sense in which this verse has been interpreted.  Or is it something much more spiritual?

To delight in the law of the LORD means that one will strive to obey God's law and to enjoy all the good things of faith.  To meditate on his law day and night may mean more than study, although it surely means this as well.  A verse well beloved of Evangelical Christians is 2 Timothy 2:15: "Carefully study to present thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly handling the word of truth." (Douay-Rheims Bible).  But more than this, like Mary, we are to "ponder these things in our hearts".  Then the living Torah, Jesus Christ, will truly dwell with us.

"They are like trees planted by streams of water, bearing fruit in due season, with leaves that do not wither; everything they do shall prosper." (Psalm 1:3).    The prosperity referenced here is obviously not wordly prosperity.  Jesus said "Blessed are the poor".  Some of the most righteous people who are the closest to God are destitute in the eyes of the world.  It also does not mean that the righteous soul can expect good health or the absence of pain and suffering.   The greatest saints endured the greatest of suffering.  There is no Prosperity Gospel in real Christianity.  The prosperity spoken of here is the prosperity of Saint Therese of Lisieux or Saint Bernadette who suffered much but in the eyes of the world accomplished absolutely nothing in their short painful lives.  But millions of faithful people have drank from the well spring of Living Water that has gushed forth as the fruit of their lives and many souls have been converted and many prayers have been answered. This is the prosperity which the Psalmist speaks of.

"It is not so with the wicked; they are like chaff which the wind blows away. Therefore the wicked shall not stand upright when judgement comes, nor the sinner in the council of the righteous.  For the LORD knows the way of the righteous, but the way of the wicked is doomed."  (Psalm 1:4-6).  The Psalmist now compares the prosperity of the righteous with the doom of the wicked.  In this life, the wicked may indeed triumph and prosper.  But without spiritual roots, a worldly person is blown about by the changing fortunes of life.  Poverty and sickness will destroy such a person.  The day of judgment is coming for all of us.  The righteous who know and love God will go to be with Him and go deeper into His love forever.  The wicked, the unrepentant sinner who refuses God's grace, will be forever condemned to an eternity without God.  This is the spiritual condition called Hell.

Prayer after reading scripture:  O God, who by the light of the Holy Spirit did instruct the hearts of the faithful, grant that by the same Holy Spirit, we may be truly wise and ever enjoy His consolations.  Through Christ Our Lord.  Amen.

The Prosperity Gospel

Today I went with my wife to her doctor's appointment on how to proceed with her cancer treatment following the completion of chemotherapy. (They are going to run tests and if everything is clear, it's just a matter of monitoring).

Upon returning home and getting the mail from the box, I received a letter which had emblazoned on the front "DEAR JESUS, WE PRAY THAT YOU WILL BLESS SOMEONE IN THIS HOME SPIRITUALLY, PHYSICALLY AND FINANCIALLY." Upon opening the envelope, I was told "THIS LETTER BRINGS SOME GOOD NEWS AND HELP FOR YOU!" Good, after 6 months of cancer treatment and running a demanding law practice solo without my partner (my wife is also my law partner) I need all the good news and help I can get.

The letter goes on to tell me in huge print with large Jack Chick-esq cartoon graphics, "GOD HAS MADE THESE PROMISES TO YOU IN THE HOLY BIBLE . . . POWER TO GET WEALTH" and lists about half a dozen scripture verses in support. There then follows about ten testimonials. For instance, Mrs. R.W. of Pennsylvania relates that she needed a place to live and God answered her prayer by giving her an entire apartment building with paying tenants that she is now the owner of.

And all I have to do is send off in faith for THE BIBLE PRAYER CROSS which has been prayed over by the PRAYER FAMILY in Tulsa, Oklahoma and I will receive MORE HAPPINESS, LOVE, JOY, MONEY AND PEACE. And all of this is free to me. In a few days I will receive my FREE PRAYER CROSS. This letter does not ask for a donation but I am quite sure that when my FREE PRAYER CROSS arrives I will be prompted, since the Lord is getting ready to heal me and my family of all our illnesses and provide us with unlimited amounts of money, to send a donation in support of this ministry.

I told my former Episcopal priest the other day that one of the things that has helped my wife and I during our difficult time is that there is no prosperity gospel in Catholicism. (Although since coming into the Church and subscribing to certain periodicals, I have gotten mail from Catholic groups which is about like this except they are usually talking about Marian apparitions, the Secrets of Fatima, the miracles of Padre Pio and so forth.)

What's wrong with using God like a magic box? Jesus said "Ask and ye shall receive," so if I ask to be healthy and rich how come I can't expect to have my cancer cured and wait for the check to come in the mail?

The venerable old BALTIMORE CATECHISM says this:

"What is Prayer? Prayer is the lifting up of our minds and hearts to God."

"Why do we not always obtain what we pray for? We do not always obtain what we pray for, either because we have not prayed properly or because God sees that what we are asking would not be for our good."

I have BALTIMORE CATECHISM NUMBER 2 which was intended for children. The explanation of the above paragraph says "Asking in His name means asking for love of Him, since the name represents the person bearing it. We ask for what we need to love Him. Even if we do not use these words, what we really mean is this: "O Lord, please give me what I need to please You, and if what I am asking for does not really please You then do not give it to me. Give me instead what would really please You, even if it is a cross." Such a prayer, God has guaranteed to answer. . . . Many people do not pray in the name of Christ, as explained in the preceding answer, but pray in this way instead: 'O Lord, please give me what I want.' And they do not think whether or not it will help them to love God more, and sometimes they do not even care. God has never guaranteed to answer a prayer such as this, as it is not really a prayer but selfishness."

Here's the question, did God bless Saint Peter who was crucified upside down and Saint Paul who suffered many hardships and was then beheaded? Did God bless Saint Therese of the Lisieux who died of Tuberculosis in her early twenties? Did God bless Saint Bernadette whom Our Lady told that she could promise her no comfort in this world? How about Saint Francis who lived as a beggar and was blessed by being given the wounds of the stigmata?

Brothers and Sisters, we serve the CRUCIFIED GOD. Our Lord was a man of sorrows who had no place to lay his head. Why should we expect that we are entitled to more in life than Our Lord? Saint Paul said that he was determined to boast in nothing but Christ and Him crucified. The so-called "Prosperity Gospel" is a great heresy.