For the things concerning Me have an end

 

 And the Lord said, "Simon, Simon!  Indeed, Satan has asked for you, that he may sift you as wheat.  But I have prayed for you, that your faith should not fail; and when you have returned to Me, strengthen your brethren."  But he said to Him, "Lord, I am ready to go with You, both to prison and to death."  Then He said, "I tell you, Peter, the rooster shall not crow this day before you will deny three times that you know Me."  

And He said to them, "When I sent you without money bag, knapsack, and sandals, did you lack anything?"  So they said, "Nothing."  Then He said to them, "But now, he who has a money bag, let him take it, and likewise a knapsack; and he who has no sword, let him sell his garment and buy one.  For I say to you that this which is written must still be accomplished in Me:  'And He was numbered with the transgressors.'  For the things concerning Me have an end."  So they said, "Lord, look, here are two swords."  And He said to them, "It is enough."

 

- Luke 22:31–38 

 

Yesterday we read that, when the hour had come, Jesus sat down, and the twelve apostles with Him.  Then He said to them, "With fervent desire I have desired to eat this Passover with you before I suffer; for I say to you, I will no longer eat of it until it is fulfilled in the kingdom of God."  Then He took the cup, and gave thanks, and said, "Take this and divide it among yourselves; for I say to you, I will not drink of the fruit of the vine until the kingdom of God comes."  And He took bread, gave thanks and broke it, and gave it to them, saying, "This is My body which is given for you; do this in remembrance of Me."  Likewise He also took the cup after supper, saying, "This cup is the new covenant in My blood, which is shed for you.  But behold, the hand of My betrayer is with Me on the table.  And truly the Son of Man goes as it has been determined, but woe to that man by whom He is betrayed!"  Then they began to question among themselves, which of them it was who would do this thing.  Now there was also a dispute among them, as to which of them should be considered the greatest.  And He said to them, "The king of the Gentiles exercise lordship over them, and those who exercise authority over them are called 'benefactors.'  But not so among you; on the contrary, he who is greatest among you, let him be as the younger, and he who governs as he who serves.  For who is greater, he who sits at the table, or he who serves?  Is it not he who sits at the table?  Yet I am among you as the One who serves.  But you are those who have continued with Me in My trials.  And I bestow upon you a kingdom, just as My Father bestowed one upon Me, that you may eat and drink at My table in My kingdom, and sit on thrones judging the twelve tribes of Israel."

 

 And the Lord said, "Simon, Simon!  Indeed, Satan has asked for you, that he may sift you as wheat.  But I have prayed for you, that your faith should not fail; and when you have returned to Me, strengthen your brethren."  But he said to Him, "Lord, I am ready to go with You, both to prison and to death."  Then He said, "I tell you, Peter, the rooster shall not crow this day before you will deny three times that you know Me."  In the first verse in today's reading, when Jesus says, "Indeed, Satan has asked for you, that he may sift you as wheat," this you is plural, an indication that Satan has asked for all the disciples.  But in the next verse ("But I have prayed for you, that your faith should not fail; and when you have returned to Me, strengthen your brethren"), the you is singular here, which indicates that Jesus prayed particularly for Simon Peter.  My study Bible comments that because Peter's faith was the strongest, he would be tested the most.   Regarding Jesus' word to Peter, "When you have returned to Me,"  See John 21:15-17.  My study Bible says that Jesus' command "strengthen your brethren" refers not simply to the other disciples, but to all the faithful until He returns.  

 

And He said to them, "When I sent you without money bag, knapsack, and sandals, did you lack anything?"  So they said, "Nothing."  Then He said to them, "But now, he who has a money bag, let him take it, and likewise a knapsack; and he who has no sword, let him sell his garment and buy one.  For I say to you that this which is written must still be accomplished in Me:  'And He was numbered with the transgressors.'  For the things concerning Me have an end."  So they said, "Lord, look, here are two swords."  And He said to them, "It is enough."  My study Bible comments that the word sword (in "he who has no sword") is not to be understood literally (compare to verses 49-51, which will be in this Monday's reading).  Here "sword" refers to the living word of God in the battle against sin (Ephesians 6:17; Hebrews 4:12).  Also, my study Bible cites the commentary of St. Ambrose, who adds an additional meaning.  He says that giving up one's garment and buying a sword is a reference to surrendering the body to the sword of martyrdom.  Because the disciples were thinking of swords literally, Jesus abruptly ends the discussion with the words, "It is enough."  My study Bible comments that this phrase is better translated, "Enough of this!" (see Deuteronomy 3:26; Mark 14:41). 

Jesus asks the disciples, "When I sent you without money bag, knapsack, and sandals, did you lack anything?"  So they said, "Nothing."  Then He said to them, "But now, he who has a money bag, let him take it, and likewise a knapsack; and he who has no sword, let him sell his garment and buy one.  For I say to you that this which is written must still be accomplished in Me:  'And He was numbered with the transgressors.'  For the thing concerning Me have an end."  In His question, we can see that Jesus is preparing the disciples for the time to come, as He is about to be betrayed and given over to the Romans.  He has said, "As long as I am in the world, I am the light of the world" (John 9:5).  But this Light is not going to be with the disciples as the human Jesus for very much longer.  Now they will need to care for themselves in a different way, He's saying to them. They will need to prepare for a different time in the world when He is no longer with them and guiding them as His disciples in the same way.  Jesus quotes from the prophesy of Isaiah 53:12, and so indicating what end will be fulfilled in Him.  He has also taught them, "Remember the word that I said to you, ‘A servant is not greater than his master.’ If they persecuted Me, they will also persecute you. If they kept My word, they will keep yours also" (John 15:20).  What is coming for Jesus will be the beginning of persecutions for those who follow Him.  Therefore Jesus is now preparing the ones who follow Him, His disciples, for the time that is at hand, and how they will have to live in the world without Him in the flesh.  There is a great component revealed earlier, when Jesus addressed St. Peter, saying, "Simon, Simon!  Satan has asked for you, that he may sift you as wheat."  As indicated above, this "you" is plural, meaning that although Jesus addresses Simon (and with a double exclamation of his name, so truly grabbing his attention), He does so as Simon Peter so often represents and speaks for all of the disciples.  With the coming of the Cross, the fulfillment of the prophecy from Isaiah, Satan seeks to sift them all as wheat.  But it is Simon whom Jesus also calls upon -- despite his coming denial of Christ -- to return and to strengthen the brethren in this new period of difficulties and persecution that is coming. Many have noted that the Old Testament verse which is most frequently quoted in the New Testament is Psalm 110:1, "The Lord said to my Lord, "Sit at My right hand, till I make Your enemies Your footstool."  Jesus quotes this verse when He poses a kind of riddle to the religious leaders in the temple (see last Friday's reading).  This verse is important because it leads to the inevitable conclusion that the Messiah is both human (a son of David) and God (the only One whom King David would call "My Lord").  Yet we must go to the verse that follows to understand something important about the time for which Jesus is preparing the disciples as He is about to go to betrayal and the Cross.  "The Lord shall send the rod of Your strength out of Zion. Rule in the midst of Your enemies!" (Psalm 110:2).  To rule in the midst of one's enemies is a strange condition indeed.  How does a King do this?  Well, if the "LORD" (God the Father) is addressing King David's "Lord," the Son and Messiah, then what is being said is that Christ will rule by His rod of strength out of Zion, even in the midst of His enemies in this world.  We know who Christ is, and that He came into the world to depose the devil, Satan, the "prince of this world."  But clearly, Christ rules in the midst of His enemies, for the time in which we live now is the same era for which Christ is preparing the disciples.  It remains a period in which we know the Kingdom, and the King, and we also know that the Spirit of God is at work in the world.  But at the same time, we are aware that this is a time of spiritual battle, even of persecutions and hatred.  St. John writes in his first Epistle, "By this you know the Spirit of God: Every spirit that confesses that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is of God, and every spirit that does not confess that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is not of God. And this is the spirit of the Antichrist, which you have heard was coming, and is now already in the world" (1 John 4:2-3).  The spirit of the Antichrist remains in the world, and so Christ "rules in the midst of His enemies."  And this is the state in which we find ourselves in the Church.  Just as Christ warns the disciples, this is the period in which we live, and so we should not be surprised to find adversities of any and various kinds, even frightful news about horrific militias, betrayals, and those who would seek even to call themselves Christian even as they support such fearsome forces at work against Christian communities.  Let us consider, at this time, that Christ nonetheless continues to rule in the midst of His enemies, and that He has commanded us simply to endure as the faithful.  Like St. Peter, we must be prepared to be called on to strengthen our brothers and sisters who are persecuted, even as there are Christ's disciples whom Satan still desires to sift as wheat.  It is our faith that is our greatest weapon of strength, and for this Christ has prayed.  Let us remember to follow Him as He said, and endure in that faith as our true weapon given by God, the living word by which we live (Hebrews 4:12). 

Whoever exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted

 Then Jesus spoke to the multitudes and to His disciples, saying:  "The scribes and the Pharisees sit in Moses' seat.  Therefore whatever they tell you to observe, that observe and do, but do not do according to their works; for they say, and do not do.  For they bind heavy burdens, hard to bear, and lay them on men's shoulders; but they themselves will not move them with one of their fingers.  But all their works they do to be seen by men.  They make their phylacteries broad and enlarge the borders of their garments.  They love the best places at feasts, the best seats in the synagogues, greetings in the marketplaces, and to be called by men, 'Rabbi, Rabbi.'  But you, do not be called 'Rabbi'; for One is your Teacher, the Christ, and you are all brethren.  Do not call anyone on earth your father; for One is your Father, He who is in heaven.  And do not be called teachers; for One is your Teacher, the Christ.  But he who is greatest among you shall be your servant.  And whoever exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted."

- Matthew 23:1-12

Yesterday, we read that when the Pharisees heard that He had silenced the Sadducees, they gathered together.  Then one of them, a lawyer, asked Him a question, testing Him, and saying, "Teacher, which is the great commandment in the law?"  Jesus said to him, "You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind.'  This is the first and great commandment.  And the second is like it:  'You shall love your neighbor as yourself.'  On these two commandments hang all the Law and the Prophets."  While the Pharisees were gathered together, Jesus asked them, saying, "What do you think about the Christ?  Whose Son is He?"  They said to Him, "The Son of David."  He said to them, "How then does David in the Spirit call Him 'Lord,' saying:  'The LORD said to my Lord, "Sit at My right hand, till I make Your enemies Your footstool"'?  If David then calls Him 'Lord,' how is He his Son?"  And no one was able to answer Him a word, nor from that day on did anyone dare question Him anymore.

Then Jesus spoke to the multitudes and to His disciples, saying:  "The scribes and the Pharisees sit in Moses' seat.  Therefore whatever they tell you to observe, that observe and do, but do not do according to their works; for they say, and do not do.  For they bind heavy burdens, hard to bear, and lay them on men's shoulders; but they themselves will not move them with one of their fingers.  But all their works they do to be seen by men."  Today's reading begins Jesus' final public sermon.  In it, He criticizes religious leadership in several basic ways.  As followers of Christ, we are not to see these criticisms merely as an indictment of the leadership of His time, but rather to take each word equally in application to the leadership of His Church should they behave in similar ways.  My study bible says that Jesus charges them with being "mean-spirited, judgmental, greedy, ambitious, absorbed in externals, and blindly self-righteous."  In these verses, Jesus speaks about the scribes and Pharisees who sit in Moses' seat.  This means to hold the succession of office down from Moses himself; it is the honor of the office, which Jesus separates from the character of the particular men who may hold it.  Jesus says, "Whatever they tell you to observe, that observe and do, but do not do according to their works."  The men may be depraved in character, but the words they teach are those of Scripture, the "breath" or word of God.  Within the Church, the way is the same:  the office has dignity, even if those who hold it are flawed.  My study bible adds that "furthermore, the sins of the clergy do not relieve the people from their responsibilities before God."   Here, Jesus accuses the leadership of hypocrisy; rather than being good shepherds they bind and oppress their flock with burdens, using them rather than caring for them.  Here's a root cause He cites:  all their works they do to be seen by men.  That's in opposition to the love of God as motivating priority, which should be true for any faithful person, particularly a leader of the faith.

"They make their phylacteries broad and enlarge the borders of their garments."  Phylacteries are small leather pouches which contain passages of Scripture.  They are worn on the arm or forehead.  The idea was to keep God's Law always in mind (Exodus 13:9).  But Jesus says here they're used by these men as a show of false piety - making them increasingly larger and more noticeable. 

"They love the best places at feasts, the best seats in the synagogues, greetings in the marketplaces, and to be called by men, 'Rabbi, Rabbi.'  But you, do not be called 'Rabbi'; for One is your Teacher, the Christ, and you are all brethren.  Do not call anyone on earth your father; for One is your Father, He who is in heaven.  And do not be called teachers; for One is your Teacher, the Christ."  What they love is authority, as we've already seen during Jesus' dialogues with them in the temple, in which they question Jesus as to His authority to do what He's done (particularly in cleansing the temple of the money changers and animal sellers).   Jesus groups His Church around one Teacher, and one Father.  The rest, including the hierarchs, are to be brethren:  brothers and sisters.  The love of authority creates separation between the flock and its shepherds.  Love of God, with Christ as teacher, groups all of us as children or sons in one family, all disciples with one teacher.  This isn't a prohibition on the use of the names "teacher" or "father" to indicate a fatherly care for a flock, or one who teaches the words of Christ. 

But he who is greatest among you shall be your servant.  And whoever exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted."  Jesus emphasizes community.  Like all the prophets before Him, His emphasis is on the care of the flock, on what makes a good shepherd.  The real cornerstone for everything in His Church is love.  That is, He is the head of the corner, but the entire edifice is to made from love:  starting with love of God, as in the two great commandments we've just read about in His teaching -- love of God and love of neighbor.   In Jesus' teaching, we are more than neighbors.  We are brethren, and more -- the greatest among us are servants.

Jesus' teachings on humility in His leadership are really teachings about love, and about what creates community.  We rally around the focal points of love:  God and Christ.  With these pillars who teach us love, the rest comes in humility.  We're all part of the flock, all children and brethren, and He teaches us true care.  I read recently an excerpt from a popular book that's winning a lot of awards and accolades in the United States.  In it, the author describes his understanding of his identity as created by hate when he was younger:  community came from those "others" he hated, and defined who he was.  But Christ calls us to the absolute opposite:  it is community created by Who we love.  Community, in the model of Christ, is created and described in the two great commandments:  love of God and love of neighbor.  Within those commandments we learn the necessity of humility; that to truly be good servants to Christ and the Father, good disciples ("learners"), we need to understand proper relationships and to learn what love is.  This is to be a community in which love as Christ teaches it is the glue, what makes for relationships and draws us together.  Active love is taught in terms of how we are as neighbors, as brothers and sisters, as servants.  But Jesus' words would not be here if to be faithful sheep meant we were to close our eyes to the things that don't make for community, and make instead poor leadership:  hypocrisy, everything done to be seen by the "eyes of men" and to impress others, burdens of all kinds placed on the flock.  Control by guilt seems to be a particular form of such burdens, rather than good instruction and appropriate correction:   fears about what we might do wrong replacing an active love, social shaming (a form of authority by appearance to others) taking the place of passionate commitment to love of God and love of neighbor, and humility doesn't seem to get a mention these days in terms of what we consider admirable or a virtue.  When we move off of His teachings, it doesn't really matter what form it takes.  Sophistry hides in all kinds of disguises and shapes, even as weeds resemble wheat in one of Jesus' parables.  So, we watch for the things that He teaches us to watch for.  We remain faithful as He teaches, but we are also to be wise.

Assuredly, I say to you, inasmuch as you did it to one of the least of these My brethren, you did it to Me.

"When the Son of Man comes in His glory, and all the holy angels with Him, then He will sit on the throne of His glory. All the nations will be gathered before Him, and He will separate them one from another, as a shepherd divides his sheep from the goats. And He will set the sheep on His right hand, but the goats on the left. Then the King will say to those on His right hand, 'Come, you blessed of My Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world: for I was hungry and you gave Me food; I was thirsty and you gave Me drink; I was a stranger and you took Me in; I was naked and you clothed Me; I was sick and you visited Me; I was in prison and you came to Me.' Then the righteous will answer Him, saying, 'Lord, when did we see You hungry and feed You, or thirsty and give You drink? When did we see You a stranger and take You in, or naked and clothe You? Or when did we see You sick, or in prison, and come to You?' And the King will answer and say to them, 'Assuredly, I say to you, inasmuch as you did it to one of the least of these My brethren, you did it to Me.'

"Then He will also say to those on the left hand, 'Depart from Me, you cursed, into the everlasting fire prepared for the devil and his angels: for I was hungry and you gave Me no food; I was thirsty and you gave Me no drink; I was a stranger and you did not take Me in, naked and you did not clothe Me, sick and in prison and you did not visit Me.' Then they also will answer Him, saying, 'Lord, when did we see You hungry or thirsty or a stranger or naked or sick or in prison, and did not minister to You?' Then He will answer them, saying, 'Assuredly, I say to you, inasmuch as you did not do it to one of the least of these, you did not do it to Me.' And these will go away into everlasting punishment, but the righteous into eternal life."

- Matthew 25:31-46

In the past several readings, Jesus has been teaching His disciples first about what is to come in Jerusalem (including the destruction of the temple), and also His Second Coming (beginning here). Mostly, He has been continually instructing them in matters of leadership/servanthood, His concept of what it is to be great in His Church, in the Kingdom, and therefore how they are to conduct themselves in His absence and in preparation as they await His return. That hour we do not know, no one knows, not even the angels in heaven, and not Christ Himself, only the Father. So, His emphasis has been on preparedness, watchfulness, wakefulness, mindfulness of that day and His return. He has given us several parables in this context. In yesterday's reading, we read of the servants who were each given a sum of talents to care for while the master is gone. Two of them invest and trade and create produce and yield from what is given to them. The third fears his master, and calls him a hard man, who reaps where he doesn't sow. This servant in his fear hides his sum in the ground, taking it out when the master returns. While the master rewards the first two, the third he chastises. "'You wicked and lazy servant, you knew that I reap where I have not sown, and gather where I have not scattered seed. So you ought to have deposited my money with the bankers, and at my coming I would have received back my own with interest. Therefore take the talent from him, and give it to him who has ten talents. For to everyone who has, more will be given, and he will have abundance; but from him who does not have, even what he has will be taken away." See And to one he gave five talents, to another two, and to another one, to each according to his own ability; and immediately he went on a journey.

"When the Son of Man comes in His glory, and all the holy angels with Him, then He will sit on the throne of His glory. All the nations will be gathered before Him, and He will separate them one from another, as a shepherd divides his sheep from the goats. And He will set the sheep on His right hand, but the goats on the left." Today, Jesus gives us not a parable, but a vision of the Judgment that will accompany His return. This return is not as He came, in humility as the man Jesus, but in "glory, and all the holy angels with Him, then He will sit on the throne of His glory." This is an unimaginable pageant, a mystery of awesome glory, in which "all the nations will be gathered before Him." It is also a picture of separation: as a shepherd divides his sheep from the goats. One will be on His right hand (the sheep, fit for consecration to God), and the other on the left. We are reminded of the parable of the wheat and the tares, given in Matthew chapter 13 (see the parable and Jesus' explanation). In that parable, both tares and wheat are allowed to grow together until the end of the age, lest the good wheat be uprooted with the tares. But here is Judgment, together with the angels, whom Jesus explained were the reapers in the parable of the wheat and the tares. So this harvest is a picture of separation, and it is a picture of separation which will not happen until such time of harvest or Judgment.

"Then the King will say to those on His right hand, 'Come, you blessed of My Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world: for I was hungry and you gave Me food; I was thirsty and you gave Me drink; I was a stranger and you took Me in; I was naked and you clothed Me; I was sick and you visited Me; I was in prison and you came to Me.' " We note that He speaks to the sheep. Jesus is the Good Shepherd, and so the sheep in this fold are those who are His followers, the ones who follow His leadership. And what we must note about their conduct is its personal contact with others, the response to need. I see more in this than our conventional notions of charity, although of course charity as we think of it is a great element here. But charity involves more than donation; this passage speaks of kindness, and the kindness involved in a sort of personal relationship, even perhaps with a stranger. The element of the personal here is kindness and compassion. And it is a giving not only of resources but of time, all touch somehow upon the personal and even the intimate. So, I think it's more than a statement or list of good works, but even of virtues, of personal character.

"Then the righteous will answer Him, saying, 'Lord, when did we see You hungry and feed You, or thirsty and give You drink? When did we see You a stranger and take You in, or naked and clothe You? Or when did we see You sick, or in prison, and come to You?' And the King will answer and say to them, 'Assuredly, I say to you, inasmuch as you did it to one of the least of these My brethren, you did it to Me.' " Here, Jesus exemplifies His notion of servant-leadership, a concept He has worked so hard in so much of His teaching in Matthew's gospel to instill in His disciples. He has said repeatedly that he who would be greatest among them, must be servant of all. There is a peculiar question here about "my brethren" and what it means. I think we can liken it to the parable of the Good Samaritan, found in Luke's gospel, in which Jesus is asked, "Who is my neighbor?" The answer is that a neighbor is one who acts like a neighbor. To be one of His brethren then seems to follow this conditional response, and everyone is called to be one of these brethren. But that rests with the Judgment. My study bible says, "Jesus identifies Himself with the poor and the outcast and invites to brotherhood all who are kindled with love for others (1 John 4:20). These are crowned with grace." We also recall Jesus' words in the Beatitudes, "Blessed are the merciful, for they shall obtain mercy." Jesus' teachings are filled with conditional statements of reciprocity, that depend on our own initiative in relatedness to others. To my mind, they are all statements that emphasize the personal, the virtues of character, the heart.

"Then He will also say to those on the left hand, 'Depart from Me, you cursed, into the everlasting fire prepared for the devil and his angels: for I was hungry and you gave Me no food; I was thirsty and you gave Me no drink; I was a stranger and you did not take Me in, naked and you did not clothe Me, sick and in prison and you did not visit Me.' Then they also will answer Him, saying, 'Lord, when did we see You hungry or thirsty or a stranger or naked or sick or in prison, and did not minister to You?' Then He will answer them, saying, 'Assuredly, I say to you, inasmuch as you did not do it to one of the least of these, you did not do it to Me.' And these will go away into everlasting punishment, but the righteous into eternal life." Again, Jesus' emphasis is on "the least of these." And we really have to think about "the least of these" in our lives. I take this beyond a social call on a grand social scale, but deeply into the personal, because Jesus' emphasis in teaching the disciples about servanthood has also been on the personal, on "the least of these" in their midst. I don't think this is only about the type of anonymous charity we can think of today on a grand social scale (although of course, all charity is good). But I also think of it on the personal level, where "the least of these" may be the most powerless person in a group, the meekest in the church, the ones anywhere who may be overlooked and left out, those who are easily dismissed. Christ is the knower-of-hearts, and so much of the gospel is taken up with an understanding of the most intimate knowledge of who we are in our hearts, our very thoughts. Therefore, the cultivation of this kind of virtue calls us out of ourselves, and into a kind of way of being in the world, a way of thinking about those who cannot pay us back, give us favor, even make us appear virtuous -- but rather those who are truly "the least of these." So many of Jesus' teachings have emphasized what "the Father sees in secret," especially when it comes to doing for others. Let us remember that when we read this passage.

So let us think, then, of the cultivation of the qualities of kindness and compassion, a personal sense of what charity truly is. St. Paul speaks precisely on the subjects of today's reading when he says, in 1 Corinthians 13:12-13, "For now we see in a mirror, dimly, but then face to face. Now I know in part, but then I shall know just as I also am known. And now abide faith, hope, charity, these three; but the greatest of these is charity." Of course, the word translated as charity in the King James Bible is agape in the Greek, which simply means love. And love is the word used in more modern translations. Jesus has taught that where our treasure is, there our heart will be also, and that is also a picture of agape, of love. What do we love? How do we love? What is in our hearts -- what do we most treasure? The virtues of charity exemplified and spelled out here by Jesus are the virtues of love: kindness, compassion, gentleness, charity, sympathy, wanting what is good for others. We can extend these qualities to include encouragement, giving hope, even letting others know simply that they are not alone, praying for one another. There are endless examples. But, for me, they all call upon the personal, and hence touch upon just exactly where our faith is. How are you called to this today? There are so many ways to express it, so many ways to give it, whether or not we have money or material resources. Do we have time? A kind word? A glance of compassion? A prayer? This charity that we are called to is something we all have the means to give! But it takes true mindfulness to do so. Sometimes, if we're really paying attention, Christ may be calling us to this mindfulness in any situation, just so that we may respond.