30 June 2014 - follow-through
We say to Jesus, “Teacher, I will follow you wherever you go" and believe ourselves to be disciples. But the trouble is that if we really want to do that which we propose, if we want to live as disciples, there are consequences. We first propose the idea of ourselves as disciples partly out of self-image. We want to be bold and daring, to following Jesus anywhere. But as the consequences become apart, as the rubber hits the road, we think twice. At best we embrace discipleship in a more complete way. We might leave his company like the rich man who went away sad because he had many possessions (cf. Mat. 19:22). A worst case is that we keep this idea of ourselves as followers and hold on to this as our imagined identity but never allow the ramifications to really enter our minds.
This is one reason not everyone who says to Jesus, "Lord, Lord!" will be saved. We have a capacity to delude ourselves. This is why it is such a problem to be lukewarm, why Jesus spits the lukewarm from his mouth (cf. Rev. 3:16). It is a state of profound insulation from our need to change, our need for repentance.
I will correct you by drawing them up before your eyes.”
If Jesus sees us running in the company of thieves and adulterers, if our actions and our words belie our supposed commitments to Jesus he reveals these things to us. His goal is not to make us hate ourselves. It isn't even to reveal our own imperfection and weakness. But he does want to cast light on the false self-image that we have. He wants us to build a self-image which is sustainable. It needs to be built on him so that it can face challenges which are for man impossible and yet survive, not by insisting on itself in spite of moral failures, but by achieving moral victories through God's grace.
All the victories of our past are from God. It is he who delivered us from the desert of our sinful pasts. It was God who destroyed the Amorites before us, destroyed the power of vice in our hearts to allow us freedom in the land those vices once ruled.
We must remember in whom we find our strength. If we do not remember we risk becoming like Israel in the first reading. We risk the dissipation that inevitably followings putting ourselves first. We misuse the resources of others for our own ends, their "garments taken in pledge" and "the wine of those who have been fined" we consume. Eventually we find that we will "sell the just man for silver, and the poor man for a pair of sandals." If this reminds us of Judas and makes us nervous it should. If we do not remember we begin treating the things of God casually, without due reverence. We become like the Israelities who recline by any altar, drinking in the house of their god, but celebrating themselves, ignoring the God of Israel.
He wants to teach us to put him first so that he can show us the way of salvation. To see it we must learn to have his praise as our highest priority.
“Consider this, you who forget God,
lest I rend you and there be no one to rescue you.
He that offers praise as a sacrifice glorifies me;
and to him that goes the right way I will show the salvation of God.”
If we look when the LORD draws our attention to our falsely spiritual self-image and let him bring it into the light we can learn how to offer this false self-image to him in sacrifice. At one and the same time we give him praise, acknowledging our complete dependence on him. It is therefore the completely different from self-hatred. When we do this our false self-image will give way and we will become people who truly respond when Jesus says, “Follow me, and let the dead bury their dead.”
Monday, June 30, 2014
Sunday, June 29, 2014
29 June 2014 - missin mission
29 June 2014 - missin mission
The angel of the Lord will rescue those who fear him.
We see the way in which the LORD's angel rescues those who fear him as Peter is freed from his prison cell. His cell is dark, he is secured with double chains, and guarded by four guards. It would be normal to feel alone. But he is not alone. On a human level, "prayer by the Church was fervently being made to God on his behalf." It is good to know that the prayer of the Church is such a powerful engine for good in the world. And the Church prays for us as well. She prays for the whole world, especially for those who struggle and suffer, those in chains for whom Jesus wishes freedom, for whom he comes to bring peace (cf. Joh. 14:27).
Suddenly the angel of the Lord stood by him
and a light shone in the cell.
The angel of the LORD encamps around Peter because he knows to fear the LORD and to take refuge in him. Flesh and blood did not teach him this. He takes refuge in the LORD precisely out of response to the Father's revelation. He himself can be a rock because of the truth of who Jesus is. That is why he doesn't insist that his freedom lead to a life of ease. He is freed, not to live a life of comfort and pleasure, but for mission. He is freed to continue declaring, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.”
Jesus still has plans for Peter with which he will not let King Herod interfere. He delivers him so miraculously that Peter doesn't even believe it at first. He thinks he is seeing a vision. Sometimes the goodness of the LORD is difficult to believe. We fear that if we open our eyes all the blessings will prove to be a dream. But the power of his deliverance is real.
“Now I know for certain
that the Lord sent his angel
and rescued me from the hand of Herod
The world tells us that deliverance is an illusion. It says that our nice experiences have no lasting transformative value. But if we know who Jesus is we won't fall for the lies of the world. He is not John the Baptist, Elijah, Jeremiah, or one of the prophets. He is the one Peter tells us he is. And because he is he has the power to set us permanently and irrevocably free.
We can't accept this absolute centrality of Jesus through the strength of flesh and blood. We need the heavenly Father to reveal it to us. He does so through Peter. Let us come to Peter and hear him proclaim it. We see the LORD making him a firm foundation for us. He makes him the rock on which the Church is built. Since we are meant to be living stones, since we are meant to be built on rock, let us plant ourselves on the foundations which Peter declares to us. Even today Jesus speaks and the Father reveals. Peter, in a sense, still declares the same things through Saint John Paul the Great, through Benedict XVI, and now through Francis. And when we hear him, we hear Jesus (cf. Luk. 16:10).
The great Church rises from this rock in spite of people like King Herod because of the promise of Jesus that "the gates of the netherworld shall not prevail against it." Jesus ensures the mission of his Church. But again, this doesn't always mean comfort. Jesus himself only establishes the Church through his cross. It is no wonder, then, that he makes it grow with the blood of his martyrs, starting with Stephen. Even though Peter is the rock, even though the LORD gives him freedom at one time, he also uses Peter's imprisonment and martyrdom. In this case, it is part of the plan.
Amen, amen, I say to you, when you were younger, you used to dress yourself and go where you wanted; but when you grow old, you will stretch out your hands, and someone else will dress you and lead you where you do not want to go.” He said this signifying by what kind of death he would glorify God. And when he had said this, he said to him, “Follow me.” (cf. Joh 21:18-19).
The point is the mission. When we are delivered we are delivered for mission. When we are not delivered it can be for mission as well. That is why even after Paul is freed from his chains and prison cell much like Peter is he remains in the cell. Because he does so salvation is able to reach the prison guard and his family.
But Paul shouted out in a loud voice, “Do no harm to yourself; we are all here.” He asked for a light and rushed in and, trembling with fear, he fell down before Paul and Silas. Then he brought them out and said, “Sirs, what must I do to be saved?” 31And they said, “Believe in the Lord Jesus and you and your household will be saved.” So they spoke the word of the Lord to him and to everyone in his house. He took them in at that hour of the night and bathed their wounds; then he and all his family were baptized at once. (cf. Act. 16:28-33).
Sometimes we are frustrated. We cry for deliverance and the prison doors are not opened. We need to realize that the LORD's priority is mission. When we make this the first priority of our hearts we will be able to leave the prisons we should leave and remain in those where the LORD will use us. Ultimately, deliverance always comes, but not always from external circumstances.
I sought the LORD, and he answered me
and delivered me from all my fears.
He delivers us from our fears. We can stay in the cell if he wants us there. We can ever pour out our very lives if it brings him glory. The most import thing is for the whole world to hear the proclamation of Peter. The world needs to know that he is "the Christ, the Son of the living God."
I, Paul, am already being poured out like a libation,
and the time of my departure is at hand.
This is how Paul reconciles all of the profound deliverance he experiences with his imminent martyrdom. He no longer cares for the worlds ideas of freedom. Jesus teaches the real truth which sets us free. Paul now realizes that he will only behold this truth in fullness in his heavenly kingdom. He begins to say, "I desire to depart and be with Christ, which is better by far" (cf. Phi. 1:23).
And I was rescued from the lion’s mouth.
The Lord will rescue me from every evil threat
and will bring me safe to his heavenly Kingdom.
To him be glory forever and ever. Amen.
God is all about the mission not because he doesn't care about our needs, but because he knows what we need better than we do ourselves. Let us hear Peter tell us that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God. Let us hear Paul tell us, "Believe in the Lord Jesus and you and your household will be saved.” They have the mission first in their hearts. May their prayers make our hearts more like their own, more like the heart of Christ.
I will bless the LORD at all times;
his praise shall be ever in my mouth.
Let my soul glory in the LORD;
the lowly will hear me and be glad.
The angel of the Lord will rescue those who fear him.
We see the way in which the LORD's angel rescues those who fear him as Peter is freed from his prison cell. His cell is dark, he is secured with double chains, and guarded by four guards. It would be normal to feel alone. But he is not alone. On a human level, "prayer by the Church was fervently being made to God on his behalf." It is good to know that the prayer of the Church is such a powerful engine for good in the world. And the Church prays for us as well. She prays for the whole world, especially for those who struggle and suffer, those in chains for whom Jesus wishes freedom, for whom he comes to bring peace (cf. Joh. 14:27).
Suddenly the angel of the Lord stood by him
and a light shone in the cell.
The angel of the LORD encamps around Peter because he knows to fear the LORD and to take refuge in him. Flesh and blood did not teach him this. He takes refuge in the LORD precisely out of response to the Father's revelation. He himself can be a rock because of the truth of who Jesus is. That is why he doesn't insist that his freedom lead to a life of ease. He is freed, not to live a life of comfort and pleasure, but for mission. He is freed to continue declaring, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.”
Jesus still has plans for Peter with which he will not let King Herod interfere. He delivers him so miraculously that Peter doesn't even believe it at first. He thinks he is seeing a vision. Sometimes the goodness of the LORD is difficult to believe. We fear that if we open our eyes all the blessings will prove to be a dream. But the power of his deliverance is real.
“Now I know for certain
that the Lord sent his angel
and rescued me from the hand of Herod
The world tells us that deliverance is an illusion. It says that our nice experiences have no lasting transformative value. But if we know who Jesus is we won't fall for the lies of the world. He is not John the Baptist, Elijah, Jeremiah, or one of the prophets. He is the one Peter tells us he is. And because he is he has the power to set us permanently and irrevocably free.
We can't accept this absolute centrality of Jesus through the strength of flesh and blood. We need the heavenly Father to reveal it to us. He does so through Peter. Let us come to Peter and hear him proclaim it. We see the LORD making him a firm foundation for us. He makes him the rock on which the Church is built. Since we are meant to be living stones, since we are meant to be built on rock, let us plant ourselves on the foundations which Peter declares to us. Even today Jesus speaks and the Father reveals. Peter, in a sense, still declares the same things through Saint John Paul the Great, through Benedict XVI, and now through Francis. And when we hear him, we hear Jesus (cf. Luk. 16:10).
The great Church rises from this rock in spite of people like King Herod because of the promise of Jesus that "the gates of the netherworld shall not prevail against it." Jesus ensures the mission of his Church. But again, this doesn't always mean comfort. Jesus himself only establishes the Church through his cross. It is no wonder, then, that he makes it grow with the blood of his martyrs, starting with Stephen. Even though Peter is the rock, even though the LORD gives him freedom at one time, he also uses Peter's imprisonment and martyrdom. In this case, it is part of the plan.
Amen, amen, I say to you, when you were younger, you used to dress yourself and go where you wanted; but when you grow old, you will stretch out your hands, and someone else will dress you and lead you where you do not want to go.” He said this signifying by what kind of death he would glorify God. And when he had said this, he said to him, “Follow me.” (cf. Joh 21:18-19).
The point is the mission. When we are delivered we are delivered for mission. When we are not delivered it can be for mission as well. That is why even after Paul is freed from his chains and prison cell much like Peter is he remains in the cell. Because he does so salvation is able to reach the prison guard and his family.
But Paul shouted out in a loud voice, “Do no harm to yourself; we are all here.” He asked for a light and rushed in and, trembling with fear, he fell down before Paul and Silas. Then he brought them out and said, “Sirs, what must I do to be saved?” 31And they said, “Believe in the Lord Jesus and you and your household will be saved.” So they spoke the word of the Lord to him and to everyone in his house. He took them in at that hour of the night and bathed their wounds; then he and all his family were baptized at once. (cf. Act. 16:28-33).
Sometimes we are frustrated. We cry for deliverance and the prison doors are not opened. We need to realize that the LORD's priority is mission. When we make this the first priority of our hearts we will be able to leave the prisons we should leave and remain in those where the LORD will use us. Ultimately, deliverance always comes, but not always from external circumstances.
I sought the LORD, and he answered me
and delivered me from all my fears.
He delivers us from our fears. We can stay in the cell if he wants us there. We can ever pour out our very lives if it brings him glory. The most import thing is for the whole world to hear the proclamation of Peter. The world needs to know that he is "the Christ, the Son of the living God."
I, Paul, am already being poured out like a libation,
and the time of my departure is at hand.
This is how Paul reconciles all of the profound deliverance he experiences with his imminent martyrdom. He no longer cares for the worlds ideas of freedom. Jesus teaches the real truth which sets us free. Paul now realizes that he will only behold this truth in fullness in his heavenly kingdom. He begins to say, "I desire to depart and be with Christ, which is better by far" (cf. Phi. 1:23).
And I was rescued from the lion’s mouth.
The Lord will rescue me from every evil threat
and will bring me safe to his heavenly Kingdom.
To him be glory forever and ever. Amen.
God is all about the mission not because he doesn't care about our needs, but because he knows what we need better than we do ourselves. Let us hear Peter tell us that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God. Let us hear Paul tell us, "Believe in the Lord Jesus and you and your household will be saved.” They have the mission first in their hearts. May their prayers make our hearts more like their own, more like the heart of Christ.
I will bless the LORD at all times;
his praise shall be ever in my mouth.
Let my soul glory in the LORD;
the lowly will hear me and be glad.
Saturday, June 28, 2014
28 June 2014 - openhearted surgery
28 June 2014 - openhearted surgery
Following Jesus doesn't mean we always understand him.
“Why were you looking for me?
Did you not know that I must be in my Father’s house?”
But they did not understand what he said to them.
Sometimes we too cannot find Jesus where we expect to find him. We encounter him in new and unexpected places. Sometimes we are "astonished" to find him in these places. Pope Francis is a good example of this. He brings the presence of Jesus to unexpected places in unexpected ways. Hopefully we aren't like his critics, but instead like Mary. She isn't exactly happy with Jesus wandering off to the temple to teach these teachers. It causes her and Joseph "great anxiety" to find him here rather than where they expect him to be. They expect Jesus to be with the people that they know. But Jesus is never one for honoring our expectations. He goes where he is needed rather than where we expect him to go. And the temple needs him. It needs truth that only he has to free it from error.
Turn your steps toward the utter ruins;
toward all the damage the enemy has done in the sanctuary.
Your foes roar triumphantly in your shrine;
they have set up their tokens of victory.
They are like men coming up with axes to a clump of trees.
With chisel and hammer they hack at all the paneling of the sanctuary.
They set your sanctuary on fire;
the place where your name abides they have razed and profaned.
Yet Mary's heart remains open to Jesus in spite of her expectations. Her heart is wide open to her child. Shepherds tell her that her child will be the long awaited Messiah and her heart remains open. She keeps these things in her heart. She finds that his mission to his "Father's house" will take precedence over his family life. And still she keeps these things in her heart. Already we see a heart open both to the joys and sorrows of Jesus. We see a heart that can exult in the Messiah, that can magnify the LORD and rejoice in God. But we also see a heart which is torn from her child for "three days", a prophetic preparation for the cross. And even this "great anxiety" is not something she will surrender. If it from Jesus she will keep it in her heart. Her trust in God tells her that of which Jesus assures his disciples, "I will see you again, and your hearts will rejoice, and no one will take your joy away from you."
Because her heart is so open to the whole Jesus she is able to stand with him at the cross. She is able to rejoice in his resurrection. She does not cling to him when he ascends to the Father. She is able to be entirely present and open to the decent of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost.
The thing about this Immaculate Heart is that she didn't create it herself. Her heart is Immaculate because she is the Immaculate Conception. She is created as "full of grace" because God gives her this grace from the moment of her birth. This Immaculate Heart is the only heart which can say, "May it be done unto me according to thy word." It does not exist for it's own sake, nor is grace poured out on her for her alone. This heart is molded by God as, not just one of many, but the single conduit of his blessings to the world. And it is not merely the physical Jesus we receive through this conduit. The LORD Jesus embraces all of the commandments. He does not step through her as though through a door. He chooses this family life with the most intentional choice.
He went down with them and came to Nazareth,
and was obedient to them;
Her heart is open to him. He is obedient to her. Because of this, he is able to do what he wants to do through her. She is able to be a font of grace and intercession for us because she is open to the desires of his heart. And because her heart is Immaculate Jesus does not need to hedge on his obedience to her. The attendees at a certain wedding in Cana can testify that this is a good thing.
Her heart is open wide enough to embrace us as well, her other children (cf. Joh. 19:26), those who call on the name of Jesus (cf. Rev. 12:17). Her heart is large enough for all of our concerns, from the small to the great.
Cry out to the Lord;
moan, O daughter Zion!
Let your tears flow like a torrent
day and night;
Let there be no respite for you,
no repose for your eyes.
She does not shut out the cross and she does not shut out our pain. She is able to embrace it with a hope and trust which envelopes it and brings it out into the power of the resurrection. She is even able to help shape our hearts to be open like hers.
Following Jesus doesn't mean we always understand him.
“Why were you looking for me?
Did you not know that I must be in my Father’s house?”
But they did not understand what he said to them.
Sometimes we too cannot find Jesus where we expect to find him. We encounter him in new and unexpected places. Sometimes we are "astonished" to find him in these places. Pope Francis is a good example of this. He brings the presence of Jesus to unexpected places in unexpected ways. Hopefully we aren't like his critics, but instead like Mary. She isn't exactly happy with Jesus wandering off to the temple to teach these teachers. It causes her and Joseph "great anxiety" to find him here rather than where they expect him to be. They expect Jesus to be with the people that they know. But Jesus is never one for honoring our expectations. He goes where he is needed rather than where we expect him to go. And the temple needs him. It needs truth that only he has to free it from error.
Turn your steps toward the utter ruins;
toward all the damage the enemy has done in the sanctuary.
Your foes roar triumphantly in your shrine;
they have set up their tokens of victory.
They are like men coming up with axes to a clump of trees.
With chisel and hammer they hack at all the paneling of the sanctuary.
They set your sanctuary on fire;
the place where your name abides they have razed and profaned.
Yet Mary's heart remains open to Jesus in spite of her expectations. Her heart is wide open to her child. Shepherds tell her that her child will be the long awaited Messiah and her heart remains open. She keeps these things in her heart. She finds that his mission to his "Father's house" will take precedence over his family life. And still she keeps these things in her heart. Already we see a heart open both to the joys and sorrows of Jesus. We see a heart that can exult in the Messiah, that can magnify the LORD and rejoice in God. But we also see a heart which is torn from her child for "three days", a prophetic preparation for the cross. And even this "great anxiety" is not something she will surrender. If it from Jesus she will keep it in her heart. Her trust in God tells her that of which Jesus assures his disciples, "I will see you again, and your hearts will rejoice, and no one will take your joy away from you."
Because her heart is so open to the whole Jesus she is able to stand with him at the cross. She is able to rejoice in his resurrection. She does not cling to him when he ascends to the Father. She is able to be entirely present and open to the decent of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost.
The thing about this Immaculate Heart is that she didn't create it herself. Her heart is Immaculate because she is the Immaculate Conception. She is created as "full of grace" because God gives her this grace from the moment of her birth. This Immaculate Heart is the only heart which can say, "May it be done unto me according to thy word." It does not exist for it's own sake, nor is grace poured out on her for her alone. This heart is molded by God as, not just one of many, but the single conduit of his blessings to the world. And it is not merely the physical Jesus we receive through this conduit. The LORD Jesus embraces all of the commandments. He does not step through her as though through a door. He chooses this family life with the most intentional choice.
He went down with them and came to Nazareth,
and was obedient to them;
Her heart is open to him. He is obedient to her. Because of this, he is able to do what he wants to do through her. She is able to be a font of grace and intercession for us because she is open to the desires of his heart. And because her heart is Immaculate Jesus does not need to hedge on his obedience to her. The attendees at a certain wedding in Cana can testify that this is a good thing.
Her heart is open wide enough to embrace us as well, her other children (cf. Joh. 19:26), those who call on the name of Jesus (cf. Rev. 12:17). Her heart is large enough for all of our concerns, from the small to the great.
Cry out to the Lord;
moan, O daughter Zion!
Let your tears flow like a torrent
day and night;
Let there be no respite for you,
no repose for your eyes.
She does not shut out the cross and she does not shut out our pain. She is able to embrace it with a hope and trust which envelopes it and brings it out into the power of the resurrection. She is even able to help shape our hearts to be open like hers.
Friday, June 27, 2014
27 June 2014 - into his sacred heart
27 June 2014 - into his sacred heart
It was not because you are the largest of all nations
that the LORD set his heart on you and chose you,
for you are really the smallest of all nations.
It was because the LORD loved you
The heart of the LORD is set on us! He chooses us! It isn't because we do anything to deserve it.
In this is love:
not that we have loved God, but that he loved us
and sent his Son as expiation for our sins.
His love for us is not something abstract. It is no mere lofty ideal. It isn't a nice word we chant as a mantra. It is the love of a Father. It is revealed in the complete self-gift of the Son.
No one knows the Son except the Father,
and no one knows the Father except the Son
and anyone to whom the Son wishes to reveal him.
The Son's obedience in the face of suffering and death is predicated on the unconditional love he shares with the Father. That love is unshakable. The cross reveals it, finally, to us. Only because this love is so unlimited is the cross even possible. To understand this love we too must become as little ones. We must share in the relationship Jesus has with his Father.
"I give praise to you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth,
for although you have hidden these things
from the wise and the learned
you have revealed them to little ones.
Yes, Father, such has been your gracious will.
The heart of Jesus is meek and humble, completely obedient and surrendered to the Father. Let's come to him and lay down our own labor and burdens, our own projects, and take his yoke instead. Let us learn from his trust in his Father. Let us share in that surrender so that he may also give us his rest.
But again, it is not abstract. It is not a mere thought or state of mind. The Father's embrace is so profound that it absolutely must bear fruit in our lives. It must have effect. If it does not, it is not really that embrace, it is illusion.
Beloved, if God so loved us,
we also must love one another.
It is when we love that we are begotten by God. In other words, when we think we are doing something, it is really God who is doing it in us.
God is love, and whoever remains in love
remains in God and God in him.
We know the greatness of God. We fear him, thinking that this is the beginning of wisdom. But Jesus reveals that we fear wrongly. We fear a judge. We find a Father. We need holy fear. But it a very specific sort of fear. It is the fear that children have when they do not want to offend their Father. Fear of a judge will lead to us trying harder on our own, striving apart from God. Fear of our Father will make us more meek and humble, more obedient and trusting. Fear of a judge is the sort of fear that would prefer to be elsewhere, outside of the jurisdiction of the judge. Fear of a Father prefers nowhere to the Father's presence.
Merciful and gracious is the LORD,
slow to anger and abounding in kindness.
Not according to our sins does he deal with us,
nor does he requite us according to our crimes.
He brings us out from places of slavery. He pardons our iniquities and heals our ills. We need to know the Father's heart so that we can trust it like Jesus does. Only in trusting it do we find the perfect love which casts out worldly fear (cf. 1 Joh. 4:18). Only in this embrace is virtue possible. Only secure in his love can we "carefully observe the commandments, the statutes, and decrees" which he enjoins on us. Only in these arms do we find rest.
It was not because you are the largest of all nations
that the LORD set his heart on you and chose you,
for you are really the smallest of all nations.
It was because the LORD loved you
The heart of the LORD is set on us! He chooses us! It isn't because we do anything to deserve it.
In this is love:
not that we have loved God, but that he loved us
and sent his Son as expiation for our sins.
His love for us is not something abstract. It is no mere lofty ideal. It isn't a nice word we chant as a mantra. It is the love of a Father. It is revealed in the complete self-gift of the Son.
No one knows the Son except the Father,
and no one knows the Father except the Son
and anyone to whom the Son wishes to reveal him.
The Son's obedience in the face of suffering and death is predicated on the unconditional love he shares with the Father. That love is unshakable. The cross reveals it, finally, to us. Only because this love is so unlimited is the cross even possible. To understand this love we too must become as little ones. We must share in the relationship Jesus has with his Father.
"I give praise to you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth,
for although you have hidden these things
from the wise and the learned
you have revealed them to little ones.
Yes, Father, such has been your gracious will.
The heart of Jesus is meek and humble, completely obedient and surrendered to the Father. Let's come to him and lay down our own labor and burdens, our own projects, and take his yoke instead. Let us learn from his trust in his Father. Let us share in that surrender so that he may also give us his rest.
But again, it is not abstract. It is not a mere thought or state of mind. The Father's embrace is so profound that it absolutely must bear fruit in our lives. It must have effect. If it does not, it is not really that embrace, it is illusion.
Beloved, if God so loved us,
we also must love one another.
It is when we love that we are begotten by God. In other words, when we think we are doing something, it is really God who is doing it in us.
God is love, and whoever remains in love
remains in God and God in him.
We know the greatness of God. We fear him, thinking that this is the beginning of wisdom. But Jesus reveals that we fear wrongly. We fear a judge. We find a Father. We need holy fear. But it a very specific sort of fear. It is the fear that children have when they do not want to offend their Father. Fear of a judge will lead to us trying harder on our own, striving apart from God. Fear of our Father will make us more meek and humble, more obedient and trusting. Fear of a judge is the sort of fear that would prefer to be elsewhere, outside of the jurisdiction of the judge. Fear of a Father prefers nowhere to the Father's presence.
Merciful and gracious is the LORD,
slow to anger and abounding in kindness.
Not according to our sins does he deal with us,
nor does he requite us according to our crimes.
He brings us out from places of slavery. He pardons our iniquities and heals our ills. We need to know the Father's heart so that we can trust it like Jesus does. Only in trusting it do we find the perfect love which casts out worldly fear (cf. 1 Joh. 4:18). Only in this embrace is virtue possible. Only secure in his love can we "carefully observe the commandments, the statutes, and decrees" which he enjoins on us. Only in these arms do we find rest.
Thursday, June 26, 2014
26 July 2014 - treasures of the temple
26 July 2014 - treasures of the temple
Then Jehoiachin, king of Judah, together with his mother,
his ministers, officers, and functionaries,
surrendered to the king of Babylon, who,
in the eighth year of his reign, took him captive.
Hasn't this happened to us in a lot of ways? Isn't our Church a captive of our social order, if you can call it order? Aren't we? We know that Jesus deserves the treasures of his temple. But aren't they being carried off? Isn't society removing the ways in which Jesus should stand out, should be justly exulted? And isn't this because we haven't given him the centrality he is due within us? Haven't we failed to give him the treasure of reverence that he wants? The place in our hearts where we meet him begins to look rather mundane, like a conference room rather than a temple. He becomes just another box to check off, another task to do on our list. Is it any wonder society is able to make off with the treasures Jesus gives it? At first we don't even notice their absence. Life, marriage, and virtue are openly plundered. The outside begins to reveal something amiss within.
Our skill isn't at issue. We cannot by our own effort rebuild this temple.
The king of Babylon also led captive to Babylon
all seven thousand men of the army,
and a thousand craftsmen and smiths,
all of them trained soldiers.
Even though we are comprised of army, craftsmen, and smiths we cannot put this temple back together in captivity. Without the LORD directing our hearts, without the LORD to unite us, we remain in Babylon.
‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name?
Did we not drive out demons in your name?
Did we not do mighty deeds in your name?’
Then I will declare to them solemnly,
‘I never knew you. Depart from me, you evildoers.’
We imagine that if we do these great things we can rebuild the kingdom ourselves. The more spiritual the work the more dangerous it becomes when untethered from the LORD who empowers it. Even if we prophesy, drive out demons, and do mighty deeds, such things will not produce the fruit which they should if we don't surrender them entirely to Jesus. Even if we really do these things, without Jesus, we do no lasting good. We find that we are building on sand. We listen to the words he speaks but do not act on the most central tenet of what he says.
"Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’
will enter the Kingdom of heaven,
but only the one who does the will of my Father in heaven.
And what, precisely, is this will, if not the various manifestations of good works and mighty deeds?
For my Father's will is that everyone who looks to the Son and believes in him shall have eternal life, and I will raise them up at the last day."
Let us take heart, then. His will is to save us. He will not leave us long in this exile:
The LORD rebuilds Jerusalem,
and gathers the dispersed of Israel,
Healing the brokenhearted,
and binding up their wounds (cf. Psa. 147:2-3)
Then Jehoiachin, king of Judah, together with his mother,
his ministers, officers, and functionaries,
surrendered to the king of Babylon, who,
in the eighth year of his reign, took him captive.
Hasn't this happened to us in a lot of ways? Isn't our Church a captive of our social order, if you can call it order? Aren't we? We know that Jesus deserves the treasures of his temple. But aren't they being carried off? Isn't society removing the ways in which Jesus should stand out, should be justly exulted? And isn't this because we haven't given him the centrality he is due within us? Haven't we failed to give him the treasure of reverence that he wants? The place in our hearts where we meet him begins to look rather mundane, like a conference room rather than a temple. He becomes just another box to check off, another task to do on our list. Is it any wonder society is able to make off with the treasures Jesus gives it? At first we don't even notice their absence. Life, marriage, and virtue are openly plundered. The outside begins to reveal something amiss within.
Our skill isn't at issue. We cannot by our own effort rebuild this temple.
The king of Babylon also led captive to Babylon
all seven thousand men of the army,
and a thousand craftsmen and smiths,
all of them trained soldiers.
Even though we are comprised of army, craftsmen, and smiths we cannot put this temple back together in captivity. Without the LORD directing our hearts, without the LORD to unite us, we remain in Babylon.
‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name?
Did we not drive out demons in your name?
Did we not do mighty deeds in your name?’
Then I will declare to them solemnly,
‘I never knew you. Depart from me, you evildoers.’
We imagine that if we do these great things we can rebuild the kingdom ourselves. The more spiritual the work the more dangerous it becomes when untethered from the LORD who empowers it. Even if we prophesy, drive out demons, and do mighty deeds, such things will not produce the fruit which they should if we don't surrender them entirely to Jesus. Even if we really do these things, without Jesus, we do no lasting good. We find that we are building on sand. We listen to the words he speaks but do not act on the most central tenet of what he says.
"Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’
will enter the Kingdom of heaven,
but only the one who does the will of my Father in heaven.
And what, precisely, is this will, if not the various manifestations of good works and mighty deeds?
For my Father's will is that everyone who looks to the Son and believes in him shall have eternal life, and I will raise them up at the last day."
Let us take heart, then. His will is to save us. He will not leave us long in this exile:
The LORD rebuilds Jerusalem,
and gathers the dispersed of Israel,
Healing the brokenhearted,
and binding up their wounds (cf. Psa. 147:2-3)
Wednesday, June 25, 2014
25 June 2014 - soil quality
25 June 2014 - soil quality
Just so, every good tree bears good fruit,
and a rotten tree bears bad fruit.
For our own sakes, we need to recognize trees bearing bad fruit. There is real danger from false prophets in our world. They claim to mean well. They claim to be serving the common good. Yet really they are ravenous wolves. If we try use their teachings to find joy we find thorn bushes and thistles, not grapes or figs.
It is entirely possible to hear lofty ideas and be unable to fully appreciate the destructive consequences those ideas can have. It is all too easy to buy into projects to build earthly kingdoms, earthly happiness, and houses on sand. We are admonished today to avoid abstraction. Do such ideas produce more selfless love? Do they lead to more praise to God? Or do they, while purporting to be self-improvement, produce individualism, isolation, and selfishness? Do they lead to greater virtue or do they excuse ever more vice?
We need the LORD to teach us the way of his decrees. On our own we allow ourselves to be confused as to what constitutes true goodness. We make excuses. We compromise. Let us rediscover the book of the law so that we can understand clearly what is goodness and its fruit, and what is evil and its fruit. This is why he teaches us, after all. He simply doesn't want us pricking our hands on thorns and thistles when we need not do so.
He had the entire contents of the book of the covenant
that had been found in the temple of the LORD, read out to them.
Standing by the column, the king made a covenant before the LORD
that they would follow him
and observe his ordinances, statutes and decrees
with their whole hearts and souls,
thus reviving the terms of the covenant
which were written in this book.
If we become too committed to a path of vice we eventually find the thorns and thistles growing from us. In his mercy God will wait patiently to give us a chance to bear fruit (cf. Luk. 13:8). But the thistle and thorn will eventually be burned. If they are external to us they are burned in purgatory. But if our identity is in more in the thorns and the thistles than in the vine of whom we our the branches, if we refuse his mercy, woe to us.
“Go, consult the LORD for me, for the people, for all Judah,
about the stipulations of this book that has been found,
for the anger of the LORD has been set furiously ablaze against us,
because our fathers did not obey the stipulations of this book,
nor fulfill our written obligations.”
He is clear what this blazing anger entails.
Every tree that does not bear good fruit will be cut down
and thrown into the fire.
So by their fruits you will know them.”
To bear good fruit Jesus tells us we need good soil (cf. Mat. 13:8). We need to give his word room to grow and take root. When we do we need not fear false prophets or false promises.
Incline my heart to your decrees
and not to gain.
Turn away my eyes from seeing what is vain:
by your way give me life.
Behold, I long for your precepts;
in your justice give me life.
Just so, every good tree bears good fruit,
and a rotten tree bears bad fruit.
For our own sakes, we need to recognize trees bearing bad fruit. There is real danger from false prophets in our world. They claim to mean well. They claim to be serving the common good. Yet really they are ravenous wolves. If we try use their teachings to find joy we find thorn bushes and thistles, not grapes or figs.
It is entirely possible to hear lofty ideas and be unable to fully appreciate the destructive consequences those ideas can have. It is all too easy to buy into projects to build earthly kingdoms, earthly happiness, and houses on sand. We are admonished today to avoid abstraction. Do such ideas produce more selfless love? Do they lead to more praise to God? Or do they, while purporting to be self-improvement, produce individualism, isolation, and selfishness? Do they lead to greater virtue or do they excuse ever more vice?
We need the LORD to teach us the way of his decrees. On our own we allow ourselves to be confused as to what constitutes true goodness. We make excuses. We compromise. Let us rediscover the book of the law so that we can understand clearly what is goodness and its fruit, and what is evil and its fruit. This is why he teaches us, after all. He simply doesn't want us pricking our hands on thorns and thistles when we need not do so.
He had the entire contents of the book of the covenant
that had been found in the temple of the LORD, read out to them.
Standing by the column, the king made a covenant before the LORD
that they would follow him
and observe his ordinances, statutes and decrees
with their whole hearts and souls,
thus reviving the terms of the covenant
which were written in this book.
If we become too committed to a path of vice we eventually find the thorns and thistles growing from us. In his mercy God will wait patiently to give us a chance to bear fruit (cf. Luk. 13:8). But the thistle and thorn will eventually be burned. If they are external to us they are burned in purgatory. But if our identity is in more in the thorns and the thistles than in the vine of whom we our the branches, if we refuse his mercy, woe to us.
“Go, consult the LORD for me, for the people, for all Judah,
about the stipulations of this book that has been found,
for the anger of the LORD has been set furiously ablaze against us,
because our fathers did not obey the stipulations of this book,
nor fulfill our written obligations.”
He is clear what this blazing anger entails.
Every tree that does not bear good fruit will be cut down
and thrown into the fire.
So by their fruits you will know them.”
To bear good fruit Jesus tells us we need good soil (cf. Mat. 13:8). We need to give his word room to grow and take root. When we do we need not fear false prophets or false promises.
Incline my heart to your decrees
and not to gain.
Turn away my eyes from seeing what is vain:
by your way give me life.
Behold, I long for your precepts;
in your justice give me life.
Tuesday, June 24, 2014
24 June 2014 - he must increase
24 June 2014 - he must increase
Jesus tells us that John the Baptist is the greatest of those born of women (cf. Mat. 11:11). What can we learn from him? It is summarized in his words about his relationship to Jesus, "He must increase; I must decrease" (cf. Joh. 3:30). These words are so profound that Bishop Earl Boyea of Lansing uses them as his motto as bishop.
It is adherence to this ideal that makes John a "sharp-edged sword". Desire to be in the spotlight himself is disastrous for one who needs to be "proclaiming a baptism of repentance". If he has that desire all such attempts are sabotaged. But John does not have that desire. The focus of his thoughts, words, and deeds is entirely on the word of God, Jesus Christ. The word of God is sharper than any two-edged sword (cf. Heb. 2:14) but our words are not. This is that about which Paul warns Timothy "Warn them before God against quarreling about words; it is of no value, and only ruins those who listen" (cf. 2 Tim. 2:14). If John has the plank of pride in his own eye cannot effectively turn the hearts of parents to their children (cf. Mal. 4:6) or to call the people to generosity and to righteousness (cf. Luk. 3:11-13).
But John's eye is ever on the Lamb of God. His purpose is ever to declare him. His proclamation is always "Behold, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!" (cf. Joh. 1:29). He constantly shifts the focus from himself to Jesus.
‘What do you suppose that I am? I am not he.
Behold, one is coming after me;
I am not worthy to unfasten the sandals of his feet.’
How does John become such a big deal? He does no miracles that we see recorded. He preaches a message of repentance. That is seldom popular. Why do people come to him from everywhere for baptism (cf. Joh. 3:23)? It is precisely because he lets Jesus shine through.
His joy is in Jesus (through Mary) from his mother's womb, where he leaps in exultation (cf. Luk. 1:44). John knows well that he himself is "wonderfully made". He does not need to exult himself to counterbalance some self-loathing. He is able to exist entirely to proclaim the one who is to come. He knows that he isn't a mistake. God knows him through and through. He doesn't chose him for to "decrease" because there is something wrong with him. Decreasing for that reason does not glorify God. God chooses him to decrease because John knows the joy that comes from Jesus and he wants him to know it more and more.
My soul also you knew full well;
nor was my frame unknown to you
When I was made in secret,
when I was fashioned in the depths of the earth.
We all need to learn to decrease so that Jesus may be our joy and our hope. We do this in one way by using our words for Jesus and his kingdom, whether or not they are about that explicitly. Jesus is the word of God that gives meaning to our words. Look at Zechariah. His words are made to decrease until he learns to let God increase. Zechariah is empowered to speak when he uses his speech to further God's plan for the kingdom. John is the manifestation of that plan. Just as his name opens Zechariah's mouth to speak again so too can John's example teach us how to speak with a new anointing, a new relevance, a new profundity of meaning.
After all, the prophecy of the first reading refers not only to John, but to us:
I will make you a light to the nations,
that my salvation may reach to the ends of the earth.
Jesus tells us that John the Baptist is the greatest of those born of women (cf. Mat. 11:11). What can we learn from him? It is summarized in his words about his relationship to Jesus, "He must increase; I must decrease" (cf. Joh. 3:30). These words are so profound that Bishop Earl Boyea of Lansing uses them as his motto as bishop.
It is adherence to this ideal that makes John a "sharp-edged sword". Desire to be in the spotlight himself is disastrous for one who needs to be "proclaiming a baptism of repentance". If he has that desire all such attempts are sabotaged. But John does not have that desire. The focus of his thoughts, words, and deeds is entirely on the word of God, Jesus Christ. The word of God is sharper than any two-edged sword (cf. Heb. 2:14) but our words are not. This is that about which Paul warns Timothy "Warn them before God against quarreling about words; it is of no value, and only ruins those who listen" (cf. 2 Tim. 2:14). If John has the plank of pride in his own eye cannot effectively turn the hearts of parents to their children (cf. Mal. 4:6) or to call the people to generosity and to righteousness (cf. Luk. 3:11-13).
But John's eye is ever on the Lamb of God. His purpose is ever to declare him. His proclamation is always "Behold, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!" (cf. Joh. 1:29). He constantly shifts the focus from himself to Jesus.
‘What do you suppose that I am? I am not he.
Behold, one is coming after me;
I am not worthy to unfasten the sandals of his feet.’
How does John become such a big deal? He does no miracles that we see recorded. He preaches a message of repentance. That is seldom popular. Why do people come to him from everywhere for baptism (cf. Joh. 3:23)? It is precisely because he lets Jesus shine through.
His joy is in Jesus (through Mary) from his mother's womb, where he leaps in exultation (cf. Luk. 1:44). John knows well that he himself is "wonderfully made". He does not need to exult himself to counterbalance some self-loathing. He is able to exist entirely to proclaim the one who is to come. He knows that he isn't a mistake. God knows him through and through. He doesn't chose him for to "decrease" because there is something wrong with him. Decreasing for that reason does not glorify God. God chooses him to decrease because John knows the joy that comes from Jesus and he wants him to know it more and more.
My soul also you knew full well;
nor was my frame unknown to you
When I was made in secret,
when I was fashioned in the depths of the earth.
We all need to learn to decrease so that Jesus may be our joy and our hope. We do this in one way by using our words for Jesus and his kingdom, whether or not they are about that explicitly. Jesus is the word of God that gives meaning to our words. Look at Zechariah. His words are made to decrease until he learns to let God increase. Zechariah is empowered to speak when he uses his speech to further God's plan for the kingdom. John is the manifestation of that plan. Just as his name opens Zechariah's mouth to speak again so too can John's example teach us how to speak with a new anointing, a new relevance, a new profundity of meaning.
After all, the prophecy of the first reading refers not only to John, but to us:
I will make you a light to the nations,
that my salvation may reach to the ends of the earth.
Monday, June 23, 2014
23 June 2014 - judge not
23 June 2014 - judge not
“Stop judging, that you may not be judged.
For as you judge, so will you be judged,
and the measure with which you measure will be measured out to you.
Jesus calls us to be merciful just as our Father is merciful (cf. Luk. 6:36). We can't be like the servant who, in spite of being forgiven a massive debt by his master, still insists that his fellow servants pay in full on much smaller debts. We do not stand above our fellow servants on this earth. We stand in no position to condemn them.
Jesus calls us to never judge for the sake of our own pride. We have been bought with a price. We can't go and extract that price from our fellows until we feel self sufficient, no longer indebted to God our savior. Without grace we are no different from anyone else.
Therefore you have no excuse, O man, every one of you who judges. For in passing judgment on another you condemn yourself, because you, the judge, practice the very same things (cf. Rom. 2:1).
Even with grace we still know our own weakness all too well. We read that even the righteous man falls seven times (cf. Pro. 24:16).
When our brothers have planks in there eyes we naturally want to help. And there is a place for this. But it is not something which we can do if we are like Israel in the first reading. "[T]hey venerated other gods. They followed the rites of the nations". We must "remove the wooden beam" from our own eyes so that "then you will see clearly to remove the splinter from your brother's eye." If we really do "practice the very same things" any attempts at eye surgery are going to end disastrously.
Passing judgment is a sign that we are beginning to attempt to live on our own strength and are not relying on the grace of Jesus. Having begun in the Spirit we are starting to rely on our flesh (cf. Gal. 3:3). And it is good to be aware of this because we all do it. We all find ourselves passing judgment on others in our hearts. We imagine that we can't silence that voice. And in one sense we cannot. We cannot silence that voice on our own strength. Pride and judgment will always continue when we rely on our own strength. But with grace we can make real change. We can even "take every thought captive to obey Christ" (cf. 2 Cor. 10:5).
If the armies of our own strength are failing, if the king of Assyria is occupying our hearts, if we are exiled from the lands of grace that are our Christian birthright, let us turn back to God.
Have not you, O God, rejected us,
so that you go not forth, O God, with our armies?
Give us aid against the foe,
for worthless is the help of men.
Help us with your right hand, O Lord, and answer us.
“Stop judging, that you may not be judged.
For as you judge, so will you be judged,
and the measure with which you measure will be measured out to you.
Jesus calls us to be merciful just as our Father is merciful (cf. Luk. 6:36). We can't be like the servant who, in spite of being forgiven a massive debt by his master, still insists that his fellow servants pay in full on much smaller debts. We do not stand above our fellow servants on this earth. We stand in no position to condemn them.
Jesus calls us to never judge for the sake of our own pride. We have been bought with a price. We can't go and extract that price from our fellows until we feel self sufficient, no longer indebted to God our savior. Without grace we are no different from anyone else.
Therefore you have no excuse, O man, every one of you who judges. For in passing judgment on another you condemn yourself, because you, the judge, practice the very same things (cf. Rom. 2:1).
Even with grace we still know our own weakness all too well. We read that even the righteous man falls seven times (cf. Pro. 24:16).
When our brothers have planks in there eyes we naturally want to help. And there is a place for this. But it is not something which we can do if we are like Israel in the first reading. "[T]hey venerated other gods. They followed the rites of the nations". We must "remove the wooden beam" from our own eyes so that "then you will see clearly to remove the splinter from your brother's eye." If we really do "practice the very same things" any attempts at eye surgery are going to end disastrously.
Passing judgment is a sign that we are beginning to attempt to live on our own strength and are not relying on the grace of Jesus. Having begun in the Spirit we are starting to rely on our flesh (cf. Gal. 3:3). And it is good to be aware of this because we all do it. We all find ourselves passing judgment on others in our hearts. We imagine that we can't silence that voice. And in one sense we cannot. We cannot silence that voice on our own strength. Pride and judgment will always continue when we rely on our own strength. But with grace we can make real change. We can even "take every thought captive to obey Christ" (cf. 2 Cor. 10:5).
If the armies of our own strength are failing, if the king of Assyria is occupying our hearts, if we are exiled from the lands of grace that are our Christian birthright, let us turn back to God.
Have not you, O God, rejected us,
so that you go not forth, O God, with our armies?
Give us aid against the foe,
for worthless is the help of men.
Help us with your right hand, O Lord, and answer us.
Sunday, June 22, 2014
22 June 2014 - not deserted
22 June 2014 - not deserted
He therefore let you be afflicted with hunger,
and then fed you with manna,
a food unknown to you and your fathers,
in order to show you that not by bread alone does one live,
but by every word that comes forth from the mouth of the LORD.
Yesterday Jesus told us to seek first his kingdom and not not worry about what we are to eat and drink, since the Father knows our needs. Today we find that the LORD allows us to be tested "by affliction and find out whether or not it was your intention to keep his commandments." It's all well and good to make a mental choice to put the kingdom first. But sometimes he has to let us put it into practice amidst the difficult circumstances of our lives. We then see whether, practically speaking, he is first in our lives.
We spend time in the desert. All of us do. The foods to which we are accustomed cannot be found. But even in the desert "the LORD, your God has directed all your journeying". Even in the desert the heavenly Father knows what we need. We are accustomed to earthly bread. Are we willing to trust him when he tells us that his heavenly bread is even better? If we trust him in the desert we will not starve. We will not die of thirst.
who brought forth water for you from the flinty rock
and fed you in the desert with manna,
a food unknown to your fathers."
There is a certain abundance which the Christian can know even on the desert journeys of life. When we live by the word that comes from the mouth of the LORD, Jesus the Son, we receive the best of wheat which far surpasses earthly bread.
He has granted peace in your borders;
with the best of wheat he fills you.
He sends forth his command to the earth;
swiftly runs his word!
It is not simply food. It is a participation in the body and blood of Christ. It is here that we are made partakers of the divine nature (cf. 2 Pet. 1:4). When we receive him we are made one in him. There is nothing individualistic here. We are opening ourselves to love. And since they will know we are the followers of Jesus by our love we can't miss this opportunity. Since the world will know that Jesus is sent by the Father based on our unity (cf. Joh. 17:21) and since that unity is effected by the Eucharist we can't miss this opportunity. If we want our lives to preach the gospel, we need the unity of the Spirit and the bond of peace (cf. Eph. 4:3) which can be found only here. Listen to the author of the Letter to the Hebrews:
We must consider how to rouse one another to love and good works. We should not stay away from our assembly, as is the custom of some, but encourage one another, and this all the more as you see the day drawing near. (cf. Heb. 10:24-25).
Let us come together and be united in his praise.
Glorify the LORD, O Jerusalem;
praise your God, O Zion.
He therefore let you be afflicted with hunger,
and then fed you with manna,
a food unknown to you and your fathers,
in order to show you that not by bread alone does one live,
but by every word that comes forth from the mouth of the LORD.
Yesterday Jesus told us to seek first his kingdom and not not worry about what we are to eat and drink, since the Father knows our needs. Today we find that the LORD allows us to be tested "by affliction and find out whether or not it was your intention to keep his commandments." It's all well and good to make a mental choice to put the kingdom first. But sometimes he has to let us put it into practice amidst the difficult circumstances of our lives. We then see whether, practically speaking, he is first in our lives.
We spend time in the desert. All of us do. The foods to which we are accustomed cannot be found. But even in the desert "the LORD, your God has directed all your journeying". Even in the desert the heavenly Father knows what we need. We are accustomed to earthly bread. Are we willing to trust him when he tells us that his heavenly bread is even better? If we trust him in the desert we will not starve. We will not die of thirst.
who brought forth water for you from the flinty rock
and fed you in the desert with manna,
a food unknown to your fathers."
There is a certain abundance which the Christian can know even on the desert journeys of life. When we live by the word that comes from the mouth of the LORD, Jesus the Son, we receive the best of wheat which far surpasses earthly bread.
He has granted peace in your borders;
with the best of wheat he fills you.
He sends forth his command to the earth;
swiftly runs his word!
It is not simply food. It is a participation in the body and blood of Christ. It is here that we are made partakers of the divine nature (cf. 2 Pet. 1:4). When we receive him we are made one in him. There is nothing individualistic here. We are opening ourselves to love. And since they will know we are the followers of Jesus by our love we can't miss this opportunity. Since the world will know that Jesus is sent by the Father based on our unity (cf. Joh. 17:21) and since that unity is effected by the Eucharist we can't miss this opportunity. If we want our lives to preach the gospel, we need the unity of the Spirit and the bond of peace (cf. Eph. 4:3) which can be found only here. Listen to the author of the Letter to the Hebrews:
We must consider how to rouse one another to love and good works. We should not stay away from our assembly, as is the custom of some, but encourage one another, and this all the more as you see the day drawing near. (cf. Heb. 10:24-25).
Let us come together and be united in his praise.
Glorify the LORD, O Jerusalem;
praise your God, O Zion.
Saturday, June 21, 2014
21 June 2014 - tombs of kings
21 June 2014 - tombs of kings
Look at the birds in the sky;
they do not sow or reap, they gather nothing into barns,
yet your heavenly Father feeds them.
What do we learn from these birds?
Learn from the way the wild flowers grow.
They do not work or spin.
But I tell you that not even Solomon in all his splendor
was clothed like one of them.
What do we learn from the way the flowers grow?
It isn't there work ethic, necessarily. People sometimes need to sow and reap and gather, to work and spin.
Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life,
Jesus is telling us not to worry, not to be anxious. We may have to labor for our needs, but, just as with the birds and the flowers, it depends more on God's providence than on us.
Can any of you by worrying add a single moment to your life-span?
We are worth more to God than many sparrows, after all. He feeds the birds and clothes the grass. He knows what we need before we ask as we see when Jesus teaches the Our Father. Pagan's have nothing to chase but these things. They don't have treasure in heaven so they are left with treasures of earth. And the treasures of earth are nothing if not sources of anxiety.
Does Jesus tell us how to put this into practice? It is one thing to say not to be anxious. Often this only makes us anxious about being anxious. But Jesus does give us something concrete.
But seek first the Kingdom of God and his righteousness
Our worries and anxieties are a litmus test of where our treasure is. Have we really made Jesus the LORD of every aspect of our lives? Do we really trust him with all of our needs, from the basic to the spiritual? Are we anxious about what we will eat and what we will wear? It isn't just about giving that area to God, though that is important. It is about giving more priority to building his kingdom than to building ourselves. This is what it means to put him first. Are we anxious about our prayer, whether it is good enough? Perhaps we are too concerned with self-image. Let us surrender that, yes. But let us change our focus. When our prayer is consumed with the desire to see the kingdom built it be filled with fire and vibrancy commensurate with our self-forgetfulness. We will find "all these things" given to us besides.
Do not worry about tomorrow; tomorrow will take care of itself.
Sufficient for a day is its own evil.”
The LORD's love is everlasting. By working hard we don't earn more. By messing up we don't exclude ourselves. This is why we can trust him so completely.
“Forever I will maintain my kindness toward him,
and my covenant with him stands firm.
I will make his posterity endure forever
and his throne as the days of heaven.”
We are anxious and worried when we think things depend on our effort. We ultimately tend to believe that either A) God's love also depends on our effort or B) something other than God's love which does depend on our effort is more important. These are the sources of so much pain in our lives. Let us repent of these beliefs. We have to work. We may make mistakes. Sometimes Israel needs to be defeated when they are trusting too much in themselves.
Though the Aramean force came with few men,
the LORD surrendered a very large force into their power,
because Judah had abandoned the LORD, the God of their fathers.
But God's love will never leave us. When our enemies have victory over us he is waiting with open arms like the Father for the prodigal son. The doors of the Confessional await whenever we need them.
“I will punish their crime with a rod
and their guilt with stripes.
Yet my mercy I will not take from him,
nor will I belie my faithfulness.”
He wants us ultimately to be buried "in the tombs of the kings" and not just in the City of David. And we will be, provided we just don't abandon him. Provided we keep coming back to him when we fall there is nothing that can prevent it.
Look at the birds in the sky;
they do not sow or reap, they gather nothing into barns,
yet your heavenly Father feeds them.
What do we learn from these birds?
Learn from the way the wild flowers grow.
They do not work or spin.
But I tell you that not even Solomon in all his splendor
was clothed like one of them.
What do we learn from the way the flowers grow?
It isn't there work ethic, necessarily. People sometimes need to sow and reap and gather, to work and spin.
Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life,
Jesus is telling us not to worry, not to be anxious. We may have to labor for our needs, but, just as with the birds and the flowers, it depends more on God's providence than on us.
Can any of you by worrying add a single moment to your life-span?
We are worth more to God than many sparrows, after all. He feeds the birds and clothes the grass. He knows what we need before we ask as we see when Jesus teaches the Our Father. Pagan's have nothing to chase but these things. They don't have treasure in heaven so they are left with treasures of earth. And the treasures of earth are nothing if not sources of anxiety.
Does Jesus tell us how to put this into practice? It is one thing to say not to be anxious. Often this only makes us anxious about being anxious. But Jesus does give us something concrete.
But seek first the Kingdom of God and his righteousness
Our worries and anxieties are a litmus test of where our treasure is. Have we really made Jesus the LORD of every aspect of our lives? Do we really trust him with all of our needs, from the basic to the spiritual? Are we anxious about what we will eat and what we will wear? It isn't just about giving that area to God, though that is important. It is about giving more priority to building his kingdom than to building ourselves. This is what it means to put him first. Are we anxious about our prayer, whether it is good enough? Perhaps we are too concerned with self-image. Let us surrender that, yes. But let us change our focus. When our prayer is consumed with the desire to see the kingdom built it be filled with fire and vibrancy commensurate with our self-forgetfulness. We will find "all these things" given to us besides.
Do not worry about tomorrow; tomorrow will take care of itself.
Sufficient for a day is its own evil.”
The LORD's love is everlasting. By working hard we don't earn more. By messing up we don't exclude ourselves. This is why we can trust him so completely.
“Forever I will maintain my kindness toward him,
and my covenant with him stands firm.
I will make his posterity endure forever
and his throne as the days of heaven.”
We are anxious and worried when we think things depend on our effort. We ultimately tend to believe that either A) God's love also depends on our effort or B) something other than God's love which does depend on our effort is more important. These are the sources of so much pain in our lives. Let us repent of these beliefs. We have to work. We may make mistakes. Sometimes Israel needs to be defeated when they are trusting too much in themselves.
Though the Aramean force came with few men,
the LORD surrendered a very large force into their power,
because Judah had abandoned the LORD, the God of their fathers.
But God's love will never leave us. When our enemies have victory over us he is waiting with open arms like the Father for the prodigal son. The doors of the Confessional await whenever we need them.
“I will punish their crime with a rod
and their guilt with stripes.
Yet my mercy I will not take from him,
nor will I belie my faithfulness.”
He wants us ultimately to be buried "in the tombs of the kings" and not just in the City of David. And we will be, provided we just don't abandon him. Provided we keep coming back to him when we fall there is nothing that can prevent it.
Friday, June 20, 2014
20 June 2014 - decay cannot destroy
20 June 2014 - decay cannot destroy
Jesus said to his disciples:
“Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth,
where moth and decay destroy, and thieves break in and steal
This reminds us of Paul's call to use "the world as not using it fully. For the world in its present form is passing away" (cf. 1 Cor. 7:31). It reminds us of the admonition of Peter that, "You have been born anew, not from perishable but from imperishable seed, through the living and abiding word of God" (cf. 1 Pet. 1:23).
Jesus calls us to take stock of where we are storing our treasure. Our hearts cry out for something permanent. They cry out for something imperishable. They cry out for that which is built on rock, not sand, for that which moth and decay cannot destroy.
But store up treasures in heaven,
where neither moth nor decay destroys, nor thieves break in and steal.
For where your treasure is, there also will your heart be.
If holding onto our treasure is causing us anxiety we should take note. It is probably not kingdom treasure. If we find our treasure rusting we need to "Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things" (cf. Col. 3:2). When we do this our eyes will be filled with light. How do we fix our gaze on heaven, practically? Listen to Paul: "Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is gracious, if there is any excellence and if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things" (cf. Phi. 4:8). If we do this our eyes will be sound and the light will fill us so much that our "whole body will be filled with light". This is how we are made to be light for the world.
We tend to live with one foot in the kingdom and one in the world. We tend to try to serve the LORD but allow temples to Baal to continue existing in our hearts. No political gain, no earthly love, is worth being thus divided. Let us purify our hearts just as Jehoiada purifies Israel. No longer can consort with Athaliah excuse the divisions within us.
Thereupon all the people of the land went to the temple of Baal
and demolished it.
They shattered its altars and images completely,
and slew Mattan, the priest of Baal, before the altars.
Let us be thorough. Let us be relentless as we seek to rid ourselves of idolatry. Idolatry? Any time we seek from the world more than it is made to give us we practice idolatry. Any time our treasure is here and not in heaven we are, to some degree, leaving the temples and altars of Baal in tact. The LORD wants to bless us abundantly. But if we insist on treasure other than what he gives we will ultimately have nothing. When we purge these idols from our hearts we open ourselves to joy and peace.
All the people of the land rejoiced and the city was quiet,
now that Athaliah had been slain with the sword
at the royal palace.
We need to build our treasure houses on rock, on that which lasts. To do so we must hear the words of Jesus and act on them (cf. Mat. 7:24). In this way we keep ourselves free from idols and open ourselves more to all God wants to give us.
“If your sons keep my covenant
and the decrees which I shall teach them,
Their sons, too, forever
shall sit upon your throne.”
Jesus said to his disciples:
“Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth,
where moth and decay destroy, and thieves break in and steal
This reminds us of Paul's call to use "the world as not using it fully. For the world in its present form is passing away" (cf. 1 Cor. 7:31). It reminds us of the admonition of Peter that, "You have been born anew, not from perishable but from imperishable seed, through the living and abiding word of God" (cf. 1 Pet. 1:23).
Jesus calls us to take stock of where we are storing our treasure. Our hearts cry out for something permanent. They cry out for something imperishable. They cry out for that which is built on rock, not sand, for that which moth and decay cannot destroy.
But store up treasures in heaven,
where neither moth nor decay destroys, nor thieves break in and steal.
For where your treasure is, there also will your heart be.
If holding onto our treasure is causing us anxiety we should take note. It is probably not kingdom treasure. If we find our treasure rusting we need to "Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things" (cf. Col. 3:2). When we do this our eyes will be filled with light. How do we fix our gaze on heaven, practically? Listen to Paul: "Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is gracious, if there is any excellence and if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things" (cf. Phi. 4:8). If we do this our eyes will be sound and the light will fill us so much that our "whole body will be filled with light". This is how we are made to be light for the world.
We tend to live with one foot in the kingdom and one in the world. We tend to try to serve the LORD but allow temples to Baal to continue existing in our hearts. No political gain, no earthly love, is worth being thus divided. Let us purify our hearts just as Jehoiada purifies Israel. No longer can consort with Athaliah excuse the divisions within us.
Thereupon all the people of the land went to the temple of Baal
and demolished it.
They shattered its altars and images completely,
and slew Mattan, the priest of Baal, before the altars.
Let us be thorough. Let us be relentless as we seek to rid ourselves of idolatry. Idolatry? Any time we seek from the world more than it is made to give us we practice idolatry. Any time our treasure is here and not in heaven we are, to some degree, leaving the temples and altars of Baal in tact. The LORD wants to bless us abundantly. But if we insist on treasure other than what he gives we will ultimately have nothing. When we purge these idols from our hearts we open ourselves to joy and peace.
All the people of the land rejoiced and the city was quiet,
now that Athaliah had been slain with the sword
at the royal palace.
We need to build our treasure houses on rock, on that which lasts. To do so we must hear the words of Jesus and act on them (cf. Mat. 7:24). In this way we keep ourselves free from idols and open ourselves more to all God wants to give us.
“If your sons keep my covenant
and the decrees which I shall teach them,
Their sons, too, forever
shall sit upon your throne.”
Thursday, June 19, 2014
19 June 2014 - cause for rejoicing
19 June 2014 - cause for rejoicing
Your Father knows what you need before you ask him.
He does not ask us to pray to tell him things he doesn't know. Our prayers can therefore be simple and even repetitious provided that they come from the heart. It isn't about our words imparting knowledge to the All-Knowing One. Instead, we pray to fix certain holy desires in our hearts. As we pray, these desires are elevated and given agency. They are allowed to be genuine causes of the effects of our prayer.
This is why is it is important to have a model of prayer. Our hearts are going to be used to unleash blessings on the world. God can do the most through us when the desires we express match his plans for the world. We start, therefore, by putting him first, his name, his Kingdom, and his will. When we fail to do this it sometimes seems as though our prayers go unanswered. James tells us, "When you ask, you do not receive, because you ask with wrong motives, that you may spend what you get on your pleasures" (cf. Jam. 4:3). Yet God always answers. Jesus promises us, "I will do whatever you ask in my name, so that the Father may be glorified in the Son" (cf. Joh. 14:13). He is too generous to give us that for which we ask. He gives us more than we can ask or imagine (cf. Eph. 3:20). Our Father is the one who gives good gifts to those who ask him (cf. Mat. 7:11). He does not give us scorpions or snakes even if we ask for them. Instead he gives us what we really need. "How much more will your Father in heaven give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him" (cf. Luk. 11:13).
Interestingly, this does not mean that our mind is always engaged. Above, we discussed our motives and our desires. This has more to do with engaging our will than our mind. These are the situations of praying in the Spirit and they should reassure us. We don't have to know how to pray exactly as we ought. We don't have to have God's will for the world perfectly mapped in our intellects. Scripture tells us that we don't in fact know how we ought to pray. But at such times "the Spirit himself intercedes for us through wordless groans" (cf. Rom. 8:26). Prayer in tongues is a specific instance of this. Paul tells us "if I pray in a tongue, my spirit is at prayer but my mind is unproductive" (cf. 1 Cor. 14:14). It is precisely because it is about opening ourselves to the Spirit in us, and not about our intellect, that we can follow Paul's exhortation to "Pray at all times in the Spirit, with all prayer and supplication" (cf. Eph. 6:18).
It is because they know this that God is able to use Elijah and Elisha so powerfully. Fire from heaven, raising the dead, bringing down nobles, and anointing kings, are all wrought by God through these prophets. Their intellects can't even guess at such marvelous deeds, but their openness to the Spirit makes all things possible.
The mountains melt like wax before the LORD,
before the Lord of all the earth.
There are no mountains the LORD cannot move. He tells us our faith can move mountains. Our prayer can share in his own strength. We should be like Elisha and fear no one. No one should be able to intimidate our will when we stand in the strength of the king.
The LORD is king; let the earth rejoice;
let the many isles be glad.
Clouds and darkness are round about him,
justice and judgment are the foundation of his throne.
Your Father knows what you need before you ask him.
He does not ask us to pray to tell him things he doesn't know. Our prayers can therefore be simple and even repetitious provided that they come from the heart. It isn't about our words imparting knowledge to the All-Knowing One. Instead, we pray to fix certain holy desires in our hearts. As we pray, these desires are elevated and given agency. They are allowed to be genuine causes of the effects of our prayer.
This is why is it is important to have a model of prayer. Our hearts are going to be used to unleash blessings on the world. God can do the most through us when the desires we express match his plans for the world. We start, therefore, by putting him first, his name, his Kingdom, and his will. When we fail to do this it sometimes seems as though our prayers go unanswered. James tells us, "When you ask, you do not receive, because you ask with wrong motives, that you may spend what you get on your pleasures" (cf. Jam. 4:3). Yet God always answers. Jesus promises us, "I will do whatever you ask in my name, so that the Father may be glorified in the Son" (cf. Joh. 14:13). He is too generous to give us that for which we ask. He gives us more than we can ask or imagine (cf. Eph. 3:20). Our Father is the one who gives good gifts to those who ask him (cf. Mat. 7:11). He does not give us scorpions or snakes even if we ask for them. Instead he gives us what we really need. "How much more will your Father in heaven give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him" (cf. Luk. 11:13).
Interestingly, this does not mean that our mind is always engaged. Above, we discussed our motives and our desires. This has more to do with engaging our will than our mind. These are the situations of praying in the Spirit and they should reassure us. We don't have to know how to pray exactly as we ought. We don't have to have God's will for the world perfectly mapped in our intellects. Scripture tells us that we don't in fact know how we ought to pray. But at such times "the Spirit himself intercedes for us through wordless groans" (cf. Rom. 8:26). Prayer in tongues is a specific instance of this. Paul tells us "if I pray in a tongue, my spirit is at prayer but my mind is unproductive" (cf. 1 Cor. 14:14). It is precisely because it is about opening ourselves to the Spirit in us, and not about our intellect, that we can follow Paul's exhortation to "Pray at all times in the Spirit, with all prayer and supplication" (cf. Eph. 6:18).
It is because they know this that God is able to use Elijah and Elisha so powerfully. Fire from heaven, raising the dead, bringing down nobles, and anointing kings, are all wrought by God through these prophets. Their intellects can't even guess at such marvelous deeds, but their openness to the Spirit makes all things possible.
The mountains melt like wax before the LORD,
before the Lord of all the earth.
There are no mountains the LORD cannot move. He tells us our faith can move mountains. Our prayer can share in his own strength. We should be like Elisha and fear no one. No one should be able to intimidate our will when we stand in the strength of the king.
The LORD is king; let the earth rejoice;
let the many isles be glad.
Clouds and darkness are round about him,
justice and judgment are the foundation of his throne.
Wednesday, June 18, 2014
18 June 2014 - lightsource
18 June 2014 - lightsource
“Take care not to perform righteous deeds
in order that people may see them;
otherwise, you will have no recompense from your heavenly Father.
The point is not necessarily to conceal the good we do. We are called to be a city on a hill and a lamp which is not covered by a bushel basket. The point is our motivation. We don't perform these righteous deeds because we want to be seen. We need to check this impulse. This certainly means that at times we should do good and receive no recognition whatsoever. This will be a litmus test for us as to our progress. It will reveal our true intentions. Are we actually growing in love for God and neighbor? Or are we instead just more and more intently striving to present a certain image of ourselves as good people?
Again, we are called to be light. We are called to let our light shine before men that they may see our good deeds and glorify our heavenly Father (cf. Mat 5:14-16). But the world is really good as spotting hypocrisy. We have to purify the superficial motives. We have to purify ourselves "by obedience to the truth for sincere mutual love" so that we can "love one another intensely from a pure heart" (cf. 1 Pet 1:22). As Paul insists, we must "Let love be sincere" (cf. Rom. 12:9).
With spiritual disciplines like prayer and fasting we must be especially careful. We really need to be cautious that we aren't Christians for a self-image boost. The world has a nose for hypocrisy, as we said. If we want to tell them about a great and fulfilling relationship by which they can be saved it can't be a relationship with ourselves. Christianity's power is precisely to liberate us from our selfishness. Without Jesus we are chained within ourselves. We can scarcely shift our gaze to the windows of our soul to realize that there is a world outside. Jesus frees us from this. Within the very center of our soul we find not ourselves but him. And he empowers us to go out with love to others. They will know that we are Christians by our love precisely because this love is qualitatively different from the love of the world. On the other hand, when we pray and fast to be seen we are effectively taking credit due to God. He empowers any meaning our prayer and fasting can have. Even the impulse to do these things is from him. From the beginning to the end the praise should be his. Being seen as a people of prayer is wonderful. Praying to be seen is a disastrous trap.
Even Elijah's assumption, intensely spiritual, personal, and individual is seen by Elisha. We imagine that if we ourselves were so fortunate that it would be easy to be immensely prideful to be seen ascending in fiery chariots. Elijah leaves the ball in God's court. He is not insistent that this be visible. Such insistence would likely be pride. Yet he knows that to see it can be a blessing to Elisha. It can be for him "a double portion" of Elijah's spirit. And, at least in part because of the humility of Elijah, it comes to pass.
This is very difficult teaching. We must realize that if we are left to our own strength we quickly become hypocrites. Let us go to our inner rooms, close the door, and pray to our Father in secret. In the depths of our souls, safe from all false incentives, his presence fills us with the strength to be light in the darkness.
You hide them in the shelter of your presence
from the plottings of men;
You screen them within your abode
from the strife of tongues.
He "more than requites those who act proudly." But if our hope is in him and not in ourselves we find comfort and peace.
“Take care not to perform righteous deeds
in order that people may see them;
otherwise, you will have no recompense from your heavenly Father.
The point is not necessarily to conceal the good we do. We are called to be a city on a hill and a lamp which is not covered by a bushel basket. The point is our motivation. We don't perform these righteous deeds because we want to be seen. We need to check this impulse. This certainly means that at times we should do good and receive no recognition whatsoever. This will be a litmus test for us as to our progress. It will reveal our true intentions. Are we actually growing in love for God and neighbor? Or are we instead just more and more intently striving to present a certain image of ourselves as good people?
Again, we are called to be light. We are called to let our light shine before men that they may see our good deeds and glorify our heavenly Father (cf. Mat 5:14-16). But the world is really good as spotting hypocrisy. We have to purify the superficial motives. We have to purify ourselves "by obedience to the truth for sincere mutual love" so that we can "love one another intensely from a pure heart" (cf. 1 Pet 1:22). As Paul insists, we must "Let love be sincere" (cf. Rom. 12:9).
With spiritual disciplines like prayer and fasting we must be especially careful. We really need to be cautious that we aren't Christians for a self-image boost. The world has a nose for hypocrisy, as we said. If we want to tell them about a great and fulfilling relationship by which they can be saved it can't be a relationship with ourselves. Christianity's power is precisely to liberate us from our selfishness. Without Jesus we are chained within ourselves. We can scarcely shift our gaze to the windows of our soul to realize that there is a world outside. Jesus frees us from this. Within the very center of our soul we find not ourselves but him. And he empowers us to go out with love to others. They will know that we are Christians by our love precisely because this love is qualitatively different from the love of the world. On the other hand, when we pray and fast to be seen we are effectively taking credit due to God. He empowers any meaning our prayer and fasting can have. Even the impulse to do these things is from him. From the beginning to the end the praise should be his. Being seen as a people of prayer is wonderful. Praying to be seen is a disastrous trap.
Even Elijah's assumption, intensely spiritual, personal, and individual is seen by Elisha. We imagine that if we ourselves were so fortunate that it would be easy to be immensely prideful to be seen ascending in fiery chariots. Elijah leaves the ball in God's court. He is not insistent that this be visible. Such insistence would likely be pride. Yet he knows that to see it can be a blessing to Elisha. It can be for him "a double portion" of Elijah's spirit. And, at least in part because of the humility of Elijah, it comes to pass.
This is very difficult teaching. We must realize that if we are left to our own strength we quickly become hypocrites. Let us go to our inner rooms, close the door, and pray to our Father in secret. In the depths of our souls, safe from all false incentives, his presence fills us with the strength to be light in the darkness.
You hide them in the shelter of your presence
from the plottings of men;
You screen them within your abode
from the strife of tongues.
He "more than requites those who act proudly." But if our hope is in him and not in ourselves we find comfort and peace.
Tuesday, June 17, 2014
17 June 2014 - he makes his sun rise
17 June 2014 - he makes his sun rise
But I say to you, love your enemies
and pray for those who persecute you,
that you may be children of your heavenly Father,
It seems like loving ones enemies is impossibly by definition. If we regard others as our enemies then loving them is indeed impossible. We are called, therefore, to regard no one as our enemies. Yet they may regard us that way. They may treat us that way. They may persecute us. In fact, Jesus promises us that they will. "If they persecuted me, they will also persecute you" (cf. Joh. 15:18). It isn't just the people in our lives that irk us, that get our goat, that provoke us more or less unintentionally that we must love. We must even love those who are openly hostile toward us. In doing so we are children of our heavenly Father. After all, our salvation came "while we were enemies" and "while we were still sinners". Yet even then "God so loved the world." In fact, God's love for us is most profoundly on display at the very moment when we are the most hostile toward him.
But we are mere flesh. Fine words, we think, but I know how I'll response the next time I'm cut off in traffic. The pattern is hard to deny. We know we don't have it in us to "be perfect, just as your heavenly Father is perfect." We are reassured that Jesus knows that "this is impossible for man, but with God all things are possible" (cf. Mat. 19:26). Even with this grace offered to us we know that we often fail to avail ourselves of it. We fail to love. We treat others as our enemies just as Ahab and Jezebel do. We trample others to get what we want. Even the convenience of a closer vineyard is sometimes sufficient justification to disregard others, to hurt them, and to deny them due justice. Fortunately, God does not regard us as enemies even when we make ourselves his enemies, even when we hurt him, driving nails into his hands and feet. We see this mercy on display as Ahab is allowed to repent of so heinous a crime.
“Have you seen that Ahab has humbled himself before me?
Since he has humbled himself before me,
I will not bring the evil in his time.
We should cry out with the psalmist, "Be merciful, O Lord, for we have sinned." We should join with Ahab in repenting for treating others as our enemies. We forget our enemies are not flesh and blood, but rather our struggle is against "the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places" (cf. Eph. 6:12). Forgetting this, we fail to treat our brothers and sisters in love. This misplaced hatred is the cause of so much suffering in our world. But in his mercy, God can bring new joy from our failings.
Free me from blood guilt, O God, my saving God;
then my tongue shall revel in your justice.
Jesus wants us to be children of our heavenly Father. He wants to help us to love those who do not love us, even those who persecute us. By his Holy Spirit he makes present his own love in our hearts so that we can love like he does. He loves us while we treat him as an enemy. He empowers us to love those who treat us as enemies with that same love.
And while that still sounds loft, the grace starts with the simple and everyday moments.
And if you greet your brothers only,
what is unusual about that?
Do not the pagans do the same?
So let's start by asking the Holy Spirit to help us to greet those who aren't our brothers. Let us ask him to show us those whom we fail to greet. When we do so, we recognize their shared dignity and personhood. We see that Jesus wants to make them children of his Father in heaven as well.
But I say to you, love your enemies
and pray for those who persecute you,
that you may be children of your heavenly Father,
It seems like loving ones enemies is impossibly by definition. If we regard others as our enemies then loving them is indeed impossible. We are called, therefore, to regard no one as our enemies. Yet they may regard us that way. They may treat us that way. They may persecute us. In fact, Jesus promises us that they will. "If they persecuted me, they will also persecute you" (cf. Joh. 15:18). It isn't just the people in our lives that irk us, that get our goat, that provoke us more or less unintentionally that we must love. We must even love those who are openly hostile toward us. In doing so we are children of our heavenly Father. After all, our salvation came "while we were enemies" and "while we were still sinners". Yet even then "God so loved the world." In fact, God's love for us is most profoundly on display at the very moment when we are the most hostile toward him.
But we are mere flesh. Fine words, we think, but I know how I'll response the next time I'm cut off in traffic. The pattern is hard to deny. We know we don't have it in us to "be perfect, just as your heavenly Father is perfect." We are reassured that Jesus knows that "this is impossible for man, but with God all things are possible" (cf. Mat. 19:26). Even with this grace offered to us we know that we often fail to avail ourselves of it. We fail to love. We treat others as our enemies just as Ahab and Jezebel do. We trample others to get what we want. Even the convenience of a closer vineyard is sometimes sufficient justification to disregard others, to hurt them, and to deny them due justice. Fortunately, God does not regard us as enemies even when we make ourselves his enemies, even when we hurt him, driving nails into his hands and feet. We see this mercy on display as Ahab is allowed to repent of so heinous a crime.
“Have you seen that Ahab has humbled himself before me?
Since he has humbled himself before me,
I will not bring the evil in his time.
We should cry out with the psalmist, "Be merciful, O Lord, for we have sinned." We should join with Ahab in repenting for treating others as our enemies. We forget our enemies are not flesh and blood, but rather our struggle is against "the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places" (cf. Eph. 6:12). Forgetting this, we fail to treat our brothers and sisters in love. This misplaced hatred is the cause of so much suffering in our world. But in his mercy, God can bring new joy from our failings.
Free me from blood guilt, O God, my saving God;
then my tongue shall revel in your justice.
Jesus wants us to be children of our heavenly Father. He wants to help us to love those who do not love us, even those who persecute us. By his Holy Spirit he makes present his own love in our hearts so that we can love like he does. He loves us while we treat him as an enemy. He empowers us to love those who treat us as enemies with that same love.
And while that still sounds loft, the grace starts with the simple and everyday moments.
And if you greet your brothers only,
what is unusual about that?
Do not the pagans do the same?
So let's start by asking the Holy Spirit to help us to greet those who aren't our brothers. Let us ask him to show us those whom we fail to greet. When we do so, we recognize their shared dignity and personhood. We see that Jesus wants to make them children of his Father in heaven as well.
Monday, June 16, 2014
16 June 2014 - resistance, sometimes futile
16 June 2014 - resistance, sometimes futile
But I say to you, offer no resistance to one who is evil.
How can this work in a world full of Ahab's and Jezebels who want our vineyard? How can we lived exposed, vulnerable, and unprotected as vultures circle?
We should remember that we aren't talking about our societies. They have a duty to protect us. We are talking about ourselves as individuals within societies which are, more or less, doing their best. Yet within such societies we still find individuals who are abusive to us and people who demand more of us than is fair or just. How do we deal with them? Do we let them take until we have nothing left?
Sometimes yes. That is, after all, what Jesus does in response to us. We strike him on both cheeks, we take his tunic, and press him into service for the long mile of the cross.
Yet not every cross we see is one which God intends for us. Jesus himself does not give in to ill treatment outside of his hour when to do so is not necessary. "So they took up stones to throw at him; but Jesus hid himself, and went out of the temple" (cf. Joh. 8:58).
We must bring all such burdens to God. He will teach us to discern whether to give ourselves away in a certain situation will be redemptive or harmful to ourselves and even to the people to whom we give.
At dawn I bring my plea expectantly before you.
For you, O God, delight not in wickedness;
no evil man remains with you;
the arrogant may not stand in your sight.
We are not off the hook. We do have to love recklessly and selflessly like Jesus loves. We do have to take up our cross and follow him. But we must come to him and take his yoke upon us. Not any yoke will do. The yoke of the world does not benefit anyone. But in the yoke of Jesus we find peace for our souls even as we give ourselves away. We find that his burden is light. Here no effort is wasted. Redemption is promised and assured.
But I say to you, offer no resistance to one who is evil.
How can this work in a world full of Ahab's and Jezebels who want our vineyard? How can we lived exposed, vulnerable, and unprotected as vultures circle?
We should remember that we aren't talking about our societies. They have a duty to protect us. We are talking about ourselves as individuals within societies which are, more or less, doing their best. Yet within such societies we still find individuals who are abusive to us and people who demand more of us than is fair or just. How do we deal with them? Do we let them take until we have nothing left?
Sometimes yes. That is, after all, what Jesus does in response to us. We strike him on both cheeks, we take his tunic, and press him into service for the long mile of the cross.
Yet not every cross we see is one which God intends for us. Jesus himself does not give in to ill treatment outside of his hour when to do so is not necessary. "So they took up stones to throw at him; but Jesus hid himself, and went out of the temple" (cf. Joh. 8:58).
We must bring all such burdens to God. He will teach us to discern whether to give ourselves away in a certain situation will be redemptive or harmful to ourselves and even to the people to whom we give.
At dawn I bring my plea expectantly before you.
For you, O God, delight not in wickedness;
no evil man remains with you;
the arrogant may not stand in your sight.
We are not off the hook. We do have to love recklessly and selflessly like Jesus loves. We do have to take up our cross and follow him. But we must come to him and take his yoke upon us. Not any yoke will do. The yoke of the world does not benefit anyone. But in the yoke of Jesus we find peace for our souls even as we give ourselves away. We find that his burden is light. Here no effort is wasted. Redemption is promised and assured.
Sunday, June 15, 2014
15 June 2014 - three and undivided
15 June 2014 - three and undivided
In Eden God and Adam are very close. God walks in the garden in the cool of the day (cf. Gen. 3:8). This intimacy must be wonderful at first. But then comes the incident with the fruit of the forbidden tree. After that, the intimacy becomes unbearable. Adam and Eve hide from the voice of the LORD. History from then on is the story of God trying to restore that intimacy. Through many hardships he teaches Moses to long for it for the people entrusted to him.
Then he said, "If I find favor with you, O Lord,
do come along in our company.
This is indeed a stiff-necked people; yet pardon our wickedness and sins,
and receive us as your own."
And God does accompany them. He is constantly at work delivering them. But the intimacy that was lost is not yet restored. Moses asks the LORD, "Now show me your glory" and the LORD does so. But he does so partially. He tells Moses, "you cannot see my face, for no one may see me and live" (cf. Ex. 33:19-20).
And things continue along this way of partial fulfillment until the the fullness of time comes and God executes the plan he has since the beginning.
God so loved the world that he gave his only Son,
so that everyone who believes in him might not perish
but might have eternal life.
Eternal life, after all, is to "know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom you have sent" (cf. Joh. 17:3). And before Jesus comes no one really knows the Father in fullness. This is why Jesus tells us "no one knows the Father except the Son and anyone to whom the Son chooses to reveal him" (cf. Mat. 11:27).
This revelation comes through the Spirit. The Spirit dwelling in us is for Moses the missing piece. Without the Holy Spirit he cannot enter fully into God's self-revelation. We are now privileged to be filled with this Spirit. We are now exulted to be able to see God's glory in fullness, including his Most Holy Face.
All of us, gazing with unveiled face on the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory, as from the Lord who is the Spirit (cf. 2 Cor. 3:18).
All three persons of the undivided Adorable Trinity have come to our rescue. And they rescue us by revealing themselves to us. This very revelation is only possible because it is a sharing in their own divine life. If we did not share in it all else would be mere talk. Telling us about the Trinity would leave us starring blankly, or worse, kill us with misunderstandings. But this is not what they offer. Instead, they give us the free gift of sharing their very life.
The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ
and the love of God
and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with all of you.
We hear this so frequently at Holy Mass that we take it for granted. Yet in it is contained the lofty destiny to which we are called. His promise is nothing less than making us "partakers of the divine nature" (cf. 4 Pet. 1:4).
This morning God calls us to enter more and more into his self-revelation. We are invited to do this through sincere praise. When our hearts are given to praising him, the LORD reveals himself in our praise. It is said that he lives in the praises of his people and this is what that means (cf. Psa. 22:3).
Blessed are you, O Lord, the God of our fathers,
praiseworthy and exalted above all forever;
And blessed is your holy and glorious name,
praiseworthy and exalted above all for all ages.
And, more profoundly still, we enter into the life in the Sacraments, especially the Eucharist. Come, LORD Jesus, come!
In Eden God and Adam are very close. God walks in the garden in the cool of the day (cf. Gen. 3:8). This intimacy must be wonderful at first. But then comes the incident with the fruit of the forbidden tree. After that, the intimacy becomes unbearable. Adam and Eve hide from the voice of the LORD. History from then on is the story of God trying to restore that intimacy. Through many hardships he teaches Moses to long for it for the people entrusted to him.
Then he said, "If I find favor with you, O Lord,
do come along in our company.
This is indeed a stiff-necked people; yet pardon our wickedness and sins,
and receive us as your own."
And God does accompany them. He is constantly at work delivering them. But the intimacy that was lost is not yet restored. Moses asks the LORD, "Now show me your glory" and the LORD does so. But he does so partially. He tells Moses, "you cannot see my face, for no one may see me and live" (cf. Ex. 33:19-20).
And things continue along this way of partial fulfillment until the the fullness of time comes and God executes the plan he has since the beginning.
God so loved the world that he gave his only Son,
so that everyone who believes in him might not perish
but might have eternal life.
Eternal life, after all, is to "know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom you have sent" (cf. Joh. 17:3). And before Jesus comes no one really knows the Father in fullness. This is why Jesus tells us "no one knows the Father except the Son and anyone to whom the Son chooses to reveal him" (cf. Mat. 11:27).
This revelation comes through the Spirit. The Spirit dwelling in us is for Moses the missing piece. Without the Holy Spirit he cannot enter fully into God's self-revelation. We are now privileged to be filled with this Spirit. We are now exulted to be able to see God's glory in fullness, including his Most Holy Face.
All of us, gazing with unveiled face on the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory, as from the Lord who is the Spirit (cf. 2 Cor. 3:18).
All three persons of the undivided Adorable Trinity have come to our rescue. And they rescue us by revealing themselves to us. This very revelation is only possible because it is a sharing in their own divine life. If we did not share in it all else would be mere talk. Telling us about the Trinity would leave us starring blankly, or worse, kill us with misunderstandings. But this is not what they offer. Instead, they give us the free gift of sharing their very life.
The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ
and the love of God
and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with all of you.
We hear this so frequently at Holy Mass that we take it for granted. Yet in it is contained the lofty destiny to which we are called. His promise is nothing less than making us "partakers of the divine nature" (cf. 4 Pet. 1:4).
This morning God calls us to enter more and more into his self-revelation. We are invited to do this through sincere praise. When our hearts are given to praising him, the LORD reveals himself in our praise. It is said that he lives in the praises of his people and this is what that means (cf. Psa. 22:3).
Blessed are you, O Lord, the God of our fathers,
praiseworthy and exalted above all forever;
And blessed is your holy and glorious name,
praiseworthy and exalted above all for all ages.
And, more profoundly still, we enter into the life in the Sacraments, especially the Eucharist. Come, LORD Jesus, come!
Saturday, June 14, 2014
14 June 2014 - don't dis-mantle this yes
14 June 2014 - don't dis-mantle this yes
Elijah is the greatest of the prophets. When Jesus is transfigured Moses appears to represent the law and Elijah to represent the prophets. It is for this reason that Elijah is the one who comes to prepare the way for the messiah, a promise fulfilled in John the Baptist.
Elisha responds to Elijah with radical commitment. He destroys the equipment used for his livelihood showing that he will not turn back from this new path. Yet he does go to kiss his mother and father goodbye. Elijah in turn lets him go. As great as Elijah is, he cannot claim the right to the obedience on which Jesus insists.
And another said, “I will follow you, Lord, but first let me say farewell to my family at home.” Jesus said, “No one who sets a hand to the plow and looks to what was left behind is fit for the kingdom of God.” (cf. Luk. 9:62).
Only the one who himself is "my allotted portion and my cup", who himself is "my inheritance", has the right to insist that he be the non-negotiable first priority of every heart. He demands our all because he alone can fulfill it.
Let's not try to leave ourselves any wiggle room when we make our choice to follow him. Let's let our yes be yes. Let's not set any conditions that limit that choice. Let's never leave room to choose the world the flesh, and the devil over him. Let our no to those things be no. We must not be like those who swear by something less than God so that they are less obligated. Our yes to Jesus must be without reserve.
There is a mantle, like Elijah's mantle, that can help us. We need Mary's mantle covering us, marking us as her own, entitled to her protection and love. After all, more than any one else, her yes with yes. Her yes is given physical form in Jesus. Jesus is also God's yes to all of his promises (cf. 2 Cor. 1:20) and Mary speaks that yes together with the Father. She helps us to speak that yes if we are under the protection of her mantle.
We should therefore have the confidence of the psalmist:
Therefore my heart is glad and my soul rejoices,
my body, too, abides in confidence;
Because you will not abandon my soul to the nether world,
nor will you suffer your faithful one to undergo corruption.
Elijah is the greatest of the prophets. When Jesus is transfigured Moses appears to represent the law and Elijah to represent the prophets. It is for this reason that Elijah is the one who comes to prepare the way for the messiah, a promise fulfilled in John the Baptist.
Elisha responds to Elijah with radical commitment. He destroys the equipment used for his livelihood showing that he will not turn back from this new path. Yet he does go to kiss his mother and father goodbye. Elijah in turn lets him go. As great as Elijah is, he cannot claim the right to the obedience on which Jesus insists.
And another said, “I will follow you, Lord, but first let me say farewell to my family at home.” Jesus said, “No one who sets a hand to the plow and looks to what was left behind is fit for the kingdom of God.” (cf. Luk. 9:62).
Only the one who himself is "my allotted portion and my cup", who himself is "my inheritance", has the right to insist that he be the non-negotiable first priority of every heart. He demands our all because he alone can fulfill it.
Let's not try to leave ourselves any wiggle room when we make our choice to follow him. Let's let our yes be yes. Let's not set any conditions that limit that choice. Let's never leave room to choose the world the flesh, and the devil over him. Let our no to those things be no. We must not be like those who swear by something less than God so that they are less obligated. Our yes to Jesus must be without reserve.
There is a mantle, like Elijah's mantle, that can help us. We need Mary's mantle covering us, marking us as her own, entitled to her protection and love. After all, more than any one else, her yes with yes. Her yes is given physical form in Jesus. Jesus is also God's yes to all of his promises (cf. 2 Cor. 1:20) and Mary speaks that yes together with the Father. She helps us to speak that yes if we are under the protection of her mantle.
We should therefore have the confidence of the psalmist:
Therefore my heart is glad and my soul rejoices,
my body, too, abides in confidence;
Because you will not abandon my soul to the nether world,
nor will you suffer your faithful one to undergo corruption.
Friday, June 13, 2014
13 June 2014 - not elementary
13 June 2014 - not elementary
Yesterday we heard that the LORD has authority over the rain, over the wind, and the waves. We read that the "sky grew dark with clouds and wind, and a heavy rain fell", ending the drought in the time of Elijah. It proves that the LORD, not Baal, commands the elements. Today the LORD reveals that even while he commands the elements he is still above them. They cannot contain him.
“Go outside and stand on the mountain before the LORD;
the LORD will be passing by.”
A strong and heavy wind was rending the mountains
and crushing rocks before the LORD—
but the LORD was not in the wind.
After the wind there was an earthquake—
but the LORD was not in the earthquake.
After the earthquake there was fire—
but the LORD was not in the fire.
Since he is not contained in the elements we might think that the LORD would be therefore more distant from us. But in fact he is even closer than the wind, earthquakes, and fire.
After the fire there was a tiny whispering sound.
This is the famous still small voice of the LORD. It is the voice to which Augustine refers when he says, "You were within me but I was outside myself, and there I sought you! In my weakness I ran after the beauty of the things you have made."
Elijah's heart is prepared to hear the LORD because he can say, "I have been most zealous for the LORD, the God of hosts." This zeal is very similar to the purity of heart which Jesus tells us will allow us to see God. Zeal and purity are the focus on the one thing that is necessary, Jesus. Zeal and purity say, "I long to see your face, O Lord" and have no regard for the face of Baal. Even in drought zeal and purity continue to focus on the face of the one from whom all good things come. This is because zeal and purity allow us to "Wait for the LORD with courage". When the rain does fall zeal and purity continue to gaze in thanksgiving on that face.
Because our earthly expression of love and purity is so closely connected with this zeal Jesus raises the bar for what is expected of God's people in this regard. In order to be zealous for the LORD we must also be zealous in our earthly relationships. In marriage we practice the same one-pointed devotion that is applied, on another level, to God.
But I say to you,
everyone who looks at a woman with lust
has already committed adultery with her in his heart.
This is why this teaching about lust is so important. If our hearts become wishy-washy here we become susceptible to the very impulses which drive people to false gods. We become the harlots and prostitutes that the prophet Hosea criticizes. Let us seek God with all that we are. Let us be zealous for him and pure in all of our earthly affairs, that we may behold his heavenly splendor.
Your presence, O LORD, I seek.
Hide not your face from me;
do not in anger repel your servant.
You are my helper: cast me not off.
Yesterday we heard that the LORD has authority over the rain, over the wind, and the waves. We read that the "sky grew dark with clouds and wind, and a heavy rain fell", ending the drought in the time of Elijah. It proves that the LORD, not Baal, commands the elements. Today the LORD reveals that even while he commands the elements he is still above them. They cannot contain him.
“Go outside and stand on the mountain before the LORD;
the LORD will be passing by.”
A strong and heavy wind was rending the mountains
and crushing rocks before the LORD—
but the LORD was not in the wind.
After the wind there was an earthquake—
but the LORD was not in the earthquake.
After the earthquake there was fire—
but the LORD was not in the fire.
Since he is not contained in the elements we might think that the LORD would be therefore more distant from us. But in fact he is even closer than the wind, earthquakes, and fire.
After the fire there was a tiny whispering sound.
This is the famous still small voice of the LORD. It is the voice to which Augustine refers when he says, "You were within me but I was outside myself, and there I sought you! In my weakness I ran after the beauty of the things you have made."
Elijah's heart is prepared to hear the LORD because he can say, "I have been most zealous for the LORD, the God of hosts." This zeal is very similar to the purity of heart which Jesus tells us will allow us to see God. Zeal and purity are the focus on the one thing that is necessary, Jesus. Zeal and purity say, "I long to see your face, O Lord" and have no regard for the face of Baal. Even in drought zeal and purity continue to focus on the face of the one from whom all good things come. This is because zeal and purity allow us to "Wait for the LORD with courage". When the rain does fall zeal and purity continue to gaze in thanksgiving on that face.
Because our earthly expression of love and purity is so closely connected with this zeal Jesus raises the bar for what is expected of God's people in this regard. In order to be zealous for the LORD we must also be zealous in our earthly relationships. In marriage we practice the same one-pointed devotion that is applied, on another level, to God.
But I say to you,
everyone who looks at a woman with lust
has already committed adultery with her in his heart.
This is why this teaching about lust is so important. If our hearts become wishy-washy here we become susceptible to the very impulses which drive people to false gods. We become the harlots and prostitutes that the prophet Hosea criticizes. Let us seek God with all that we are. Let us be zealous for him and pure in all of our earthly affairs, that we may behold his heavenly splendor.
Your presence, O LORD, I seek.
Hide not your face from me;
do not in anger repel your servant.
You are my helper: cast me not off.
Thursday, June 12, 2014
12 June 2014 - in control, but not remote
12 June 2014 - in control, but not remote
God is in control. In the time of Elijah Baal has a reputation for controlling the rain and the storms. God shows this to be false. He is the one who "makes his sun rise on the bad and the good, and causes rain to fall on the just and the unjust" (cf. Mat 5:45).
He can still any storm to silence.
You rule the raging sea;
you still its swelling waves (cf. Psa 89:10).
And again, no storm can continue when he does not permit it.
He hushed the storm to silence,
the waves of the sea were stilled.
They rejoiced that the sea grew calm,
that God brought them to the harbor they longed for (cf. Psa. 107:28-30).
The drought cannot continue when the LORD decrees the rain should fall.
In a trice the sky grew dark with clouds and wind,
and a heavy rain fell.
God alone is the source of these blessings.
You have visited the land and watered it;
greatly have you enriched it.
God’s watercourses are filled;
you have prepared the grain.
God alone has this power. It is shocking, therefore, that Jesus shares it. Here again the disciples: “What sort of man is this, that even winds and sea obey him?” (cf. Mat. 8:27).
This is theophany. Jesus is the very one who commands the wind and the waves. He is God, the great I AM, as he explicitly tells us later (cf. Joh. 8:58). Therefore we listen when Jesus preaches his new law. From Mount Sinai Moses can only tell us the law that he hears, crashing in thunder, as it is declared by angels (cf. Act. 7:53). Yet, with a voice greater than that of any angel Jesus does not merely report what he hears, he tells us, "I say to you". Let us make no mistake. He says not just to the listeners at that time but to us, to you and to me.
Jesus has the authority to bring the rain into our dry and weary hearts. He is trying to save us from being exposed to a scorching sun unnecessarily. He assures us that "By day the sun will not strike you, nor the moon by night" (cf. Psa. 121:6) in his care. We can stay out in the sun longer than we have to. In our obstinance we often do. We hold grudges, entertain anger, use hurtful words, and cling to unforgiveness. If we do this it does not avail us to bring gifts to the altar. Any such gifts are half-purposed, insincere, and therefore not transformative. If we cling to the scorched earth of our hearts and do not turn to the LORD we are allowed to experience the consequences, even unto Purgatory:
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.”
We can even, if we cling to the various representatives of Baal in our lives, if we refuse the rain of forgiveness which the LORD alone can bring, be allowed to forego that rain forever in "fiery Gehenna." We then cry for Lazarus to bring us just a drop of water but it is too late. Our choice is made.
But, listen! Jesus tells us this because he very much wants to visit the land of our hearts and to water it. He wants to crown the year with his bounty so that the paths of our hearts "overflow with a rich harvest" for the kingdom. He wants to fill us with rejoicing.
God is in control. In the time of Elijah Baal has a reputation for controlling the rain and the storms. God shows this to be false. He is the one who "makes his sun rise on the bad and the good, and causes rain to fall on the just and the unjust" (cf. Mat 5:45).
He can still any storm to silence.
You rule the raging sea;
you still its swelling waves (cf. Psa 89:10).
And again, no storm can continue when he does not permit it.
He hushed the storm to silence,
the waves of the sea were stilled.
They rejoiced that the sea grew calm,
that God brought them to the harbor they longed for (cf. Psa. 107:28-30).
The drought cannot continue when the LORD decrees the rain should fall.
In a trice the sky grew dark with clouds and wind,
and a heavy rain fell.
God alone is the source of these blessings.
You have visited the land and watered it;
greatly have you enriched it.
God’s watercourses are filled;
you have prepared the grain.
God alone has this power. It is shocking, therefore, that Jesus shares it. Here again the disciples: “What sort of man is this, that even winds and sea obey him?” (cf. Mat. 8:27).
This is theophany. Jesus is the very one who commands the wind and the waves. He is God, the great I AM, as he explicitly tells us later (cf. Joh. 8:58). Therefore we listen when Jesus preaches his new law. From Mount Sinai Moses can only tell us the law that he hears, crashing in thunder, as it is declared by angels (cf. Act. 7:53). Yet, with a voice greater than that of any angel Jesus does not merely report what he hears, he tells us, "I say to you". Let us make no mistake. He says not just to the listeners at that time but to us, to you and to me.
Jesus has the authority to bring the rain into our dry and weary hearts. He is trying to save us from being exposed to a scorching sun unnecessarily. He assures us that "By day the sun will not strike you, nor the moon by night" (cf. Psa. 121:6) in his care. We can stay out in the sun longer than we have to. In our obstinance we often do. We hold grudges, entertain anger, use hurtful words, and cling to unforgiveness. If we do this it does not avail us to bring gifts to the altar. Any such gifts are half-purposed, insincere, and therefore not transformative. If we cling to the scorched earth of our hearts and do not turn to the LORD we are allowed to experience the consequences, even unto Purgatory:
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.”
We can even, if we cling to the various representatives of Baal in our lives, if we refuse the rain of forgiveness which the LORD alone can bring, be allowed to forego that rain forever in "fiery Gehenna." We then cry for Lazarus to bring us just a drop of water but it is too late. Our choice is made.
But, listen! Jesus tells us this because he very much wants to visit the land of our hearts and to water it. He wants to crown the year with his bounty so that the paths of our hearts "overflow with a rich harvest" for the kingdom. He wants to fill us with rejoicing.
Wednesday, June 11, 2014
11 June 2014 - same new song and dance
11 June 2014 - same new song and dance
Jesus delivers his sermon on the mount with the following proviso:
“Do not think that I have come to abolish the law or the prophets.
I have come not to abolish but to fulfill.
That he needs to say this is unsurprising in context. He just taught on the beatitudes which are so radically new as we saw two days ago. And just after this he begins the teaching about the things about which "You have heard that it was said" but about which Jesus tells us, "I say to you". Jesus is delivering this teaching from a mountain. He is a law giver like Moses. And it is so radical and new. Even so, he wants us to understand that he isn't coming to replace Moses. He stands in continuity with all that God has done in the history of Israel. Yet it is not mere continuity. He brings it to completion, to fulfillment.
So while the teaching of Jesus does contain novelty it does not excuse us from all that has gone before, save for ceremonial rules which no longer apply to us. And now that we have received the teaching of Jesus there is no further novelty to seek. His revelation is now spoken in fullness. All the partial and various ways God spoke in the past are not abolished but fulfilled.
In times past, God spoke in partial and various ways to our ancestors through the prophets; in these last days, he spoke to us through a son, whom he made heir of all things and through whom he created the universe (cf. Heb. 1:1-2).
Having received this word spoken through the Son we must resist the drive to further novelty. We must resist idle curiosity.
But even if we or an angel from heaven should preach [to you] a gospel other than the one that we preached to you, let that one be accursed! (cf. Gal 1:8)
Much of Christianity is being reminded of what we already know. Apparently reminding people of this is a gift Barnabas had.
When he arrived and saw the grace of God,
he rejoiced and encouraged them all
to remain faithful to the Lord in firmness of heart,
for he was a good man, filled with the Holy Spirit and faith [emphasis mine].
Simply encouraging continued fidelity to what they have received blesses the community at Antioch immensely. One might not think that the results described in Acts would follow, yet they do:
And a large number of people was added to the Lord.
When the Church lives her vocation as Church well she is a more viable witness. Remaining faithful is equivalent to retaining her saltiness, just as Jesus instructed yesterday. Fidelity which begins in the heart can transform the whole being. Building the Church really does bless the nation, as Al Kresta is wont to say.
There is a temptation to grow tired of the teachings we know. There is the temptation to seek new methods and techniques to help us grow in holiness. But, wonderfully or tragically, we know what we need to know. We must now put it to use in fidelity. When we do so we will be the salt and light the world needs. The teaching of Jesus is a song of fidelity. This song sounds superficially repetitive but it is always new. There is no need to seek another song.
Sing to the LORD a new song,
for he has done wondrous deeds;
His right hand has won victory for him,
his holy arm.
The LORD has made his salvation known:
in the sight of the nations he has revealed his justice.
He has remembered his kindness and his faithfulness
toward the house of Israel.
Jesus delivers his sermon on the mount with the following proviso:
“Do not think that I have come to abolish the law or the prophets.
I have come not to abolish but to fulfill.
That he needs to say this is unsurprising in context. He just taught on the beatitudes which are so radically new as we saw two days ago. And just after this he begins the teaching about the things about which "You have heard that it was said" but about which Jesus tells us, "I say to you". Jesus is delivering this teaching from a mountain. He is a law giver like Moses. And it is so radical and new. Even so, he wants us to understand that he isn't coming to replace Moses. He stands in continuity with all that God has done in the history of Israel. Yet it is not mere continuity. He brings it to completion, to fulfillment.
So while the teaching of Jesus does contain novelty it does not excuse us from all that has gone before, save for ceremonial rules which no longer apply to us. And now that we have received the teaching of Jesus there is no further novelty to seek. His revelation is now spoken in fullness. All the partial and various ways God spoke in the past are not abolished but fulfilled.
In times past, God spoke in partial and various ways to our ancestors through the prophets; in these last days, he spoke to us through a son, whom he made heir of all things and through whom he created the universe (cf. Heb. 1:1-2).
Having received this word spoken through the Son we must resist the drive to further novelty. We must resist idle curiosity.
But even if we or an angel from heaven should preach [to you] a gospel other than the one that we preached to you, let that one be accursed! (cf. Gal 1:8)
Much of Christianity is being reminded of what we already know. Apparently reminding people of this is a gift Barnabas had.
When he arrived and saw the grace of God,
he rejoiced and encouraged them all
to remain faithful to the Lord in firmness of heart,
for he was a good man, filled with the Holy Spirit and faith [emphasis mine].
Simply encouraging continued fidelity to what they have received blesses the community at Antioch immensely. One might not think that the results described in Acts would follow, yet they do:
And a large number of people was added to the Lord.
When the Church lives her vocation as Church well she is a more viable witness. Remaining faithful is equivalent to retaining her saltiness, just as Jesus instructed yesterday. Fidelity which begins in the heart can transform the whole being. Building the Church really does bless the nation, as Al Kresta is wont to say.
There is a temptation to grow tired of the teachings we know. There is the temptation to seek new methods and techniques to help us grow in holiness. But, wonderfully or tragically, we know what we need to know. We must now put it to use in fidelity. When we do so we will be the salt and light the world needs. The teaching of Jesus is a song of fidelity. This song sounds superficially repetitive but it is always new. There is no need to seek another song.
Sing to the LORD a new song,
for he has done wondrous deeds;
His right hand has won victory for him,
his holy arm.
The LORD has made his salvation known:
in the sight of the nations he has revealed his justice.
He has remembered his kindness and his faithfulness
toward the house of Israel.
Tuesday, June 10, 2014
10 June 2014 - flour power
10 June 2014 - flour power
“Please bring along a bit of bread.”
She answered, “As the LORD, your God, lives,
I have nothing baked;
there is only a handful of flour in my jar
and a little oil in my jug.
Just now I was collecting a couple of sticks,
to go in and prepare something for myself and my son;
when we have eaten it, we shall die.”
The widow hungers and thirsts, but, as Jesus said yesterday as those who hunger and thirst, she will be satisfied.
For the LORD, the God of Israel, says,
‘The jar of flour shall not go empty,
nor the jug of oil run dry,
until the day when the LORD sends rain upon the earth.’”
O LORD, let the light of your countenance shine upon us!
You put gladness into my heart,
more than when grain and wine abound.
We need to trust the LORD even in dire circumstances. We need to trust him even regarding our basic needs. Jesus tells us "As for you, do not seek what you are to eat and what you are to drink, and do not worry anymore. All the nations of the world seek for these things, and your Father knows that you need them" (cf. Luk. 12:29-30). Elijah himself trusts in the LORD to provide for him by ravens and then by this widow. His journey is possible because he has this trust. The widow trusts in her turn that the LORD is able to provide for her through Elijah.. They all learn the truth of the Psalm which says:
Behold, the eye of the LORD is upon those who fear him,
upon those who count on his mercy,
To deliver their soul from death,
and to keep them alive through famine. (cf. Psa. 33:18-19)
The LORD asks us to seek first his kingdom. But if we are overly consumed with anxiety about our basic survival needs we won't have the attention to spare. The LORD himself can keep our flour jars full until the rains finally come. He can deliver us from the circumstances about which we worry and keep us alive even when our own resources aren't enough.
The LORD himself provides. He is the source of every good thing. But we have a role as well, for Jesus tells us that we "are the salt of the earth." We have a role in preserving and giving a certain flavor to the gifts that come from God. He uses us to elevate the gifts that he gives into something even greater. This is how Elijah is used in the first reading. In the multiplication of the loaves Jesus uses the disciples to make a natural gift of God do far more than it could have otherwise.
This morning we are called to trust in God to provide. Trusting in him, we are called to cooperate and sharing the gifts he gives. Through us we his gifts are well invested (cf. 25:14-30) and bear fruit thirty, sixty, and a hundredfold (cf. Mar. 4:8). In ways both natural and supernatural the administration of his gifts by faithful Christians who seek first the kingdom make more of them than they would be otherwise. They go further and their flavor is better.
We are called to be the light of the world. To do so we must recognize that we ourselves are not the source of light. We are like the moon which shines with light from the sun. We are called to reflect the light of the face of God to all the world.
Lord, let your face shine on us.
“Please bring along a bit of bread.”
She answered, “As the LORD, your God, lives,
I have nothing baked;
there is only a handful of flour in my jar
and a little oil in my jug.
Just now I was collecting a couple of sticks,
to go in and prepare something for myself and my son;
when we have eaten it, we shall die.”
The widow hungers and thirsts, but, as Jesus said yesterday as those who hunger and thirst, she will be satisfied.
For the LORD, the God of Israel, says,
‘The jar of flour shall not go empty,
nor the jug of oil run dry,
until the day when the LORD sends rain upon the earth.’”
O LORD, let the light of your countenance shine upon us!
You put gladness into my heart,
more than when grain and wine abound.
We need to trust the LORD even in dire circumstances. We need to trust him even regarding our basic needs. Jesus tells us "As for you, do not seek what you are to eat and what you are to drink, and do not worry anymore. All the nations of the world seek for these things, and your Father knows that you need them" (cf. Luk. 12:29-30). Elijah himself trusts in the LORD to provide for him by ravens and then by this widow. His journey is possible because he has this trust. The widow trusts in her turn that the LORD is able to provide for her through Elijah.. They all learn the truth of the Psalm which says:
Behold, the eye of the LORD is upon those who fear him,
upon those who count on his mercy,
To deliver their soul from death,
and to keep them alive through famine. (cf. Psa. 33:18-19)
The LORD asks us to seek first his kingdom. But if we are overly consumed with anxiety about our basic survival needs we won't have the attention to spare. The LORD himself can keep our flour jars full until the rains finally come. He can deliver us from the circumstances about which we worry and keep us alive even when our own resources aren't enough.
The LORD himself provides. He is the source of every good thing. But we have a role as well, for Jesus tells us that we "are the salt of the earth." We have a role in preserving and giving a certain flavor to the gifts that come from God. He uses us to elevate the gifts that he gives into something even greater. This is how Elijah is used in the first reading. In the multiplication of the loaves Jesus uses the disciples to make a natural gift of God do far more than it could have otherwise.
This morning we are called to trust in God to provide. Trusting in him, we are called to cooperate and sharing the gifts he gives. Through us we his gifts are well invested (cf. 25:14-30) and bear fruit thirty, sixty, and a hundredfold (cf. Mar. 4:8). In ways both natural and supernatural the administration of his gifts by faithful Christians who seek first the kingdom make more of them than they would be otherwise. They go further and their flavor is better.
We are called to be the light of the world. To do so we must recognize that we ourselves are not the source of light. We are like the moon which shines with light from the sun. We are called to reflect the light of the face of God to all the world.
Lord, let your face shine on us.
Monday, June 9, 2014
9 June 2014 - prior priorities
9 June 2014 - prior priorities
This morning Jesus wants us to understand how different the kingdom of God is from the kingdom of the world.
The world says, 'Blessed are they who are never sad. Blessed are those who don't need to exercise self-control (because that is weakness, yielding to others what we ought to enjoy). Blessed are they who never want for food or drink. Blessed are the pitiless and vengeful. Blessed are those who are well acquainted with worldly pleasures and enticements. Blessed are the powerful who can subject others to their will and who are too strong to be persecuted. Blessed are they who insult others and persecute them because the only reward is here and now and only the strong can get it.'
That even non-Christians appreciate mercy and peace demonstrates the Christian inheritance of our culture. Our culture is gradually detaching itself from this Christian inheritance. It is moving back to a pre-Christian view that cares little for mercy, much for strength, and revels in impurity. Even while still paying lipservice to mercy the culture is clearly enshrining both strength and, notably, vengence. We can see this clearly in our entertainment media. It is clear in the Supreme Court decision of Planned Parenthood v. Casey, “At the heart of liberty is the right to define one’s own concept of existence, of meaning, of the universe, and of the mystery of human life."
Perhaps it does not yet strike us how radical Jesus is in the Sermon on the Mount. But as the culture deviates more and more from these principles it will. When the weakest among us are trampled and ground down by the strong the absence of this teaching will be acutely felt. As the number of strong grows fewer, as more are more are included in the number of the oppressed the more the merit of these teachings will speak. The Sermon on the Mount can be medicine for our culture.
Why is our culture so ready to abandon it's heritage, it's birthright? Because to embrace it requires profound trust in God. It requires this to mitigate our selfish ambition. We insist on our ability to provide for ourselves. We refuse to hunger and thirst if necessary, but in doing so we find ourselves in a land of famine. Ultimately the choice is between trusting in our power and becoming tyrants on the one hand and on the other trusting that, "Our help is from the Lord, who made heaven and earth."
He may call us to leave our places of comfort to provide for us as he does with Elijah. Ravens bring what Elijah cannot provide for himself.
He went and remained by the Wadi Cherith, east of the Jordan.
Ravens brought him bread and meat in the morning,
and bread and meat in the evening,
and he drank from the stream.
And sometimes he calls us to forego these blessings until he gives them to us in the banquet of the kingdom. Sometimes we accept the hunger and thirst longer than we'd prefer. But it is ultimately only in relying on the LORD that we find blessings that last.
We can be assured that the stream of the Holy Spirit will always flow for us. Drinking from this stream, we will always have that which makes us truly blessed. The mountains of our social order look impressive, but let us always remember from where our help truly comes.
I lift up my eyes toward the mountains;
whence shall help come to me?
My help is from the LORD,
who made heaven and earth.
This morning Jesus wants us to understand how different the kingdom of God is from the kingdom of the world.
The world says, 'Blessed are they who are never sad. Blessed are those who don't need to exercise self-control (because that is weakness, yielding to others what we ought to enjoy). Blessed are they who never want for food or drink. Blessed are the pitiless and vengeful. Blessed are those who are well acquainted with worldly pleasures and enticements. Blessed are the powerful who can subject others to their will and who are too strong to be persecuted. Blessed are they who insult others and persecute them because the only reward is here and now and only the strong can get it.'
That even non-Christians appreciate mercy and peace demonstrates the Christian inheritance of our culture. Our culture is gradually detaching itself from this Christian inheritance. It is moving back to a pre-Christian view that cares little for mercy, much for strength, and revels in impurity. Even while still paying lipservice to mercy the culture is clearly enshrining both strength and, notably, vengence. We can see this clearly in our entertainment media. It is clear in the Supreme Court decision of Planned Parenthood v. Casey, “At the heart of liberty is the right to define one’s own concept of existence, of meaning, of the universe, and of the mystery of human life."
Perhaps it does not yet strike us how radical Jesus is in the Sermon on the Mount. But as the culture deviates more and more from these principles it will. When the weakest among us are trampled and ground down by the strong the absence of this teaching will be acutely felt. As the number of strong grows fewer, as more are more are included in the number of the oppressed the more the merit of these teachings will speak. The Sermon on the Mount can be medicine for our culture.
Why is our culture so ready to abandon it's heritage, it's birthright? Because to embrace it requires profound trust in God. It requires this to mitigate our selfish ambition. We insist on our ability to provide for ourselves. We refuse to hunger and thirst if necessary, but in doing so we find ourselves in a land of famine. Ultimately the choice is between trusting in our power and becoming tyrants on the one hand and on the other trusting that, "Our help is from the Lord, who made heaven and earth."
He may call us to leave our places of comfort to provide for us as he does with Elijah. Ravens bring what Elijah cannot provide for himself.
He went and remained by the Wadi Cherith, east of the Jordan.
Ravens brought him bread and meat in the morning,
and bread and meat in the evening,
and he drank from the stream.
And sometimes he calls us to forego these blessings until he gives them to us in the banquet of the kingdom. Sometimes we accept the hunger and thirst longer than we'd prefer. But it is ultimately only in relying on the LORD that we find blessings that last.
We can be assured that the stream of the Holy Spirit will always flow for us. Drinking from this stream, we will always have that which makes us truly blessed. The mountains of our social order look impressive, but let us always remember from where our help truly comes.
I lift up my eyes toward the mountains;
whence shall help come to me?
My help is from the LORD,
who made heaven and earth.
Sunday, June 8, 2014
8 June 2014 - happy birthday, church
8 June 2014 - happy birthday, church
Last night we heard Jesus say, "“Let anyone who thirsts come to me and drink.
As Scripture says: Rivers of living water will flow from within him who believes in me.”"
Today Paul makes the fulfillment of that promise explicit:
For in one Spirit we were all baptized into one body,
whether Jews or Greeks, slaves or free persons,
and we were all given to drink of one Spirit.
And the Spirit is not only the source of baptism but of reconciliation and all of the sacraments of the Church.
“Receive the Holy Spirit.
Whose sins you forgive are forgiven them,
and whose sins you retain are retained.”
We finally understand what Jesus hinted to the Samaritan woman at the well.
Jesus answered and said to her, “Everyone who drinks this water will be thirsty again; but whoever drinks the water I shall give will never thirst; the water I shall give will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life.”
At the crucifixion of Jesus "one soldier thrust his lance into his side, and immediately blood and water flowed out." Now we begin to understand why. The Church is born from the side of Christ just as Eve is brought forth from Adam.
But it would not be fitting for the New Eve to precede her head, Jesus, into life. For this reason, although her body is now ready at the crucifixion she is not given breath until Pentecost. In the old order, God breathes into the nostrils of Adam to give him life. In the new order, the New Adam himself, Jesus, joins the Father in breathing life into his bride.
The strong driving wind of Pentecost is this life-giving breath:
And suddenly there came from the sky
a noise like a strong driving wind,
and it filled the entire house in which they were.
Then there appeared to them tongues as of fire,
which parted and came to rest on each one of them.
And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit
and began to speak in different tongues,
as the Spirit enabled them to proclaim.
And if it is breath is it any wonder that it takes shape in us as words? Is it any wonder it enables us to speak other tongues, to speak prophecy, to speak words of knowledge and words of wisdom? The breath of he who is the Word of God fills us with the need to speak "of the mighty acts of God." Often he gives us specific words for the situations to which he sends us. In prayer he sometimes even gives us words which we don't know, which feel to us as babel, in order to edify and build us up. This is when we "speak in the tongues of men and angels". We "utter mysteries in the Spirit" but "no one understands" us. Understanding is not necessary, nor good feelings. It is a simple act of surrender where we give our capacity for speech directly to God, trusting him. We allow him to shape the breath he gives us into the words he wants us to speak.
There are many different ways in which the Spirit wants to take shape in us. "There are different kinds of spiritual gifts" and so there are different ways in which the LORD wants to shape our speech. He may not be inspiring us to pray in a tongue at this moment (though we must remain open to it). But we can be assured of the meaning he wants these words to convey.
Brothers and sisters:
No one can say, “Jesus is Lord,” except by the Holy Spirit.
Anyone, of course, can utter those syllables. But when we say it our proclamation has power because the Holy Spirit speaks these words in us. So today let us learn to trust him working in our words. Let us proclaim "the mighty acts of God". Let us declare that "Jesus is Lord" even when our own weakness and lack of understanding discourage us. Let us trust that the Holy Spirit speaks within us all.
If you take away their breath, they perish
and return to their dust.
When you send forth your spirit, they are created,
and you renew the face of the earth.
Last night we heard Jesus say, "“Let anyone who thirsts come to me and drink.
As Scripture says: Rivers of living water will flow from within him who believes in me.”"
Today Paul makes the fulfillment of that promise explicit:
For in one Spirit we were all baptized into one body,
whether Jews or Greeks, slaves or free persons,
and we were all given to drink of one Spirit.
And the Spirit is not only the source of baptism but of reconciliation and all of the sacraments of the Church.
“Receive the Holy Spirit.
Whose sins you forgive are forgiven them,
and whose sins you retain are retained.”
We finally understand what Jesus hinted to the Samaritan woman at the well.
Jesus answered and said to her, “Everyone who drinks this water will be thirsty again; but whoever drinks the water I shall give will never thirst; the water I shall give will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life.”
At the crucifixion of Jesus "one soldier thrust his lance into his side, and immediately blood and water flowed out." Now we begin to understand why. The Church is born from the side of Christ just as Eve is brought forth from Adam.
But it would not be fitting for the New Eve to precede her head, Jesus, into life. For this reason, although her body is now ready at the crucifixion she is not given breath until Pentecost. In the old order, God breathes into the nostrils of Adam to give him life. In the new order, the New Adam himself, Jesus, joins the Father in breathing life into his bride.
The strong driving wind of Pentecost is this life-giving breath:
And suddenly there came from the sky
a noise like a strong driving wind,
and it filled the entire house in which they were.
Then there appeared to them tongues as of fire,
which parted and came to rest on each one of them.
And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit
and began to speak in different tongues,
as the Spirit enabled them to proclaim.
And if it is breath is it any wonder that it takes shape in us as words? Is it any wonder it enables us to speak other tongues, to speak prophecy, to speak words of knowledge and words of wisdom? The breath of he who is the Word of God fills us with the need to speak "of the mighty acts of God." Often he gives us specific words for the situations to which he sends us. In prayer he sometimes even gives us words which we don't know, which feel to us as babel, in order to edify and build us up. This is when we "speak in the tongues of men and angels". We "utter mysteries in the Spirit" but "no one understands" us. Understanding is not necessary, nor good feelings. It is a simple act of surrender where we give our capacity for speech directly to God, trusting him. We allow him to shape the breath he gives us into the words he wants us to speak.
There are many different ways in which the Spirit wants to take shape in us. "There are different kinds of spiritual gifts" and so there are different ways in which the LORD wants to shape our speech. He may not be inspiring us to pray in a tongue at this moment (though we must remain open to it). But we can be assured of the meaning he wants these words to convey.
Brothers and sisters:
No one can say, “Jesus is Lord,” except by the Holy Spirit.
Anyone, of course, can utter those syllables. But when we say it our proclamation has power because the Holy Spirit speaks these words in us. So today let us learn to trust him working in our words. Let us proclaim "the mighty acts of God". Let us declare that "Jesus is Lord" even when our own weakness and lack of understanding discourage us. Let us trust that the Holy Spirit speaks within us all.
If you take away their breath, they perish
and return to their dust.
When you send forth your spirit, they are created,
and you renew the face of the earth.
Saturday, June 7, 2014
7 June 2014 - holy spirit spectacular
7 June 2014 - holy spirit spectacular
Who is Jesus and why did he come? We know that he is the lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world. Yet only the Gospel of John makes that explicit, although it is implicit in the Last Supper narratives of Matthew, Mark, and Luke. But there is a common view of the mission of Jesus that all of the Evangelists share. He is the one who baptizes with the Holy Spirit.
I have baptized you with water; he will baptize you with the holy Spirit.” (cf. Mar. 1:8).
I am baptizing you with water, for repentance, but the one who is coming after me is mightier than I. I am not worthy to carry his sandals. He will baptize you with the holy Spirit and fire. (cf. Mat. 3:5).
I am baptizing you with water, but one mightier than I is coming. I am not worthy to loosen the thongs of his sandals. He will baptize you with the holy Spirit and fire. (cf. Luk. 3:16).
I did not know him, but the one who sent me to baptize with water told me, ‘On whomever you see the Spirit come down and remain, he is the one who will baptize with the holy Spirit.’ (cf. Joh. 1:33).
This promise is fulfilled at Pentecost. As we prepare for Pentecost, let us heed the words of Jesus:
While meeting with them, he enjoined them not to depart from Jerusalem, but to wait for “the promise of the Father about which you have heard me speak; for John baptized with water, but in a few days you will be baptized with the holy Spirit (cf. Act. 1:4-5, emphasis mine).
Jesus is the one who gives the Holy Spirit.
Jesus stood up and exclaimed,
“Let anyone who thirsts come to me and drink.
As Scripture says:
Rivers of living water will flow from within him who believes in me.”
He said this in reference to the Spirit
Let us bring this thirst to the Pentecost mass knowing that it will be sated.
Being the one who pours out the Spirit gives Old Testament context to the mission of Jesus. This is how the apostles understand what happens on Pentecost.
No, this is what was spoken through the prophet Joel:
It will come to pass in the last days,’ God says,
‘that I will pour out a portion of my spirit upon all flesh (cf. Act. 2:16-17).
They understand that Jesus is the one who can do this, who can give the Spirit, because he is the one who first rises from the grave. He is the first one filled with that life and becomes the source of life for us. The Spirit that raised Jesus from death will give life even to our mortal bodies (cf. Rom. 8:11).
Then you shall know that I am the LORD,
when I open your graves and have you rise from them,
O my people!
I will put my spirit in you that you may live,
We recognize that the waters of life first give new life to us as individuals in baptism. We hear in Ezekiel our own baptism foreshadowed:
I will give you a new heart, and a new spirit I will put within you. I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh. I will put my spirit within you so that you walk in my statutes, observe my ordinances, and keep them (cf. Eze. 36:26-27).
The Holy Spirit is the new spirit, the resurrection power, that fills us at baptism.
Or are you unaware that we who were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? We were indeed buried with him through baptism into death, so that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we too might live in newness of life (Rom. 6:3-4).
But the call tonight is to not stop there. There is the real risk of which Paul warns the Galatians:
Are you so stupid? After beginning with the Spirit, are you now ending with the flesh?
We did begin in the Spirit at baptism but we do often wind up mired in the flesh. We are that stupid. What do we do? Paul explains to the Galatians:
If we live by the Spirit, let us also walk by the Spirit.
The Spirit has given us life, but now he must let him lead us. Those "Who are led by the Spirit of God are sons of God" (cf. Rom. 8:14). We should follow the advice of Paul to Timothy.
For this reason, I remind you to stir into flame the gift of God that you have through the imposition of my hands (emphasis mine).
The Holy Spirit is strengthened at confirmation when hands are laid upon us (and ordination as well, for Timothy) but we can't stop there. We have to fan this gift into flames. We have to give it air, let it breathe, even agitate the embers until they glow.
The Holy Spirit is the only way to live the Gospel in spite of our human weakness.
In the same way, the Spirit too comes to the aid of our weakness;
for we do not know how to pray as we ought,
but the Spirit himself intercedes with inexpressible groanings.
This is part of what Paul develops at length writing to the Corinthians.
To each individual the manifestation of the Spirit is given for some benefit.
To one is given through the Spirit the expression of wisdom;
to another the expression of knowledge according to the same Spirit;
to another faith by the same Spirit; to another gifts of healing by the one Spirit;
to another mighty deeds; to another prophecy; to another discernment of spirits;
to another varieties of tongues; to another interpretation of tongues.
But one and the same Spirit produces all of these,
distributing them individually to each person as he wishes (cf. 1 Cor 12:7-11).
These sighs and groanings are a gift of the Spirit, deeper than intelligible speech, which is why "if I pray in a tongue my spirit is at prayer but my mind is unproductive" (cf. 1 Cor. 14:14). This is why "Whoever speaks in a tongue builds himself up" (cf. 1 Cor. 14:4) but not the Church. Which is why Paul also wants us all to prophesy. That seems like a lot to ask of God. Surely a few designated prophets would be enough? But Moses had already asked the same thing long ago.
I wish that all the Lord’s people were prophets and that the Lord would put his Spirit on them!” (cf. Num. 11:29).
But let's not miss the point, Paul wants both for us.
Now I should like all of you to speak in tongues, but even more to prophesy (cf. 1 Cor. 14:5).
It isn't greedy. We aren't talking about seeking good feelings. These gifts often happen in the complete absence of any feelings whatever. That can make discerning them a challenge. It is a challenge worth undertaking because we need all the tools we can get to build ourselves up and to build the Church up.
Do we want this? Or have we received it in the past have neglected it? The LORD wants to fill us anew tonight. And if we don't feel him calling us to seek these particular manifestations of the Spirit tonight we must still be assured that he wants to pour out his Spirit on us in abundance. He wants to fill us with new life and power. He wants to give us the fruits of the Holy Spirit, especially love, joy, and peace.
Without him we perish, but in his Spirit tonight let us be renewed.
If you take away their breath, they perish
and return to their dust.
When you send forth your spirit, they are created,
and you renew the face of the earth.
Who is Jesus and why did he come? We know that he is the lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world. Yet only the Gospel of John makes that explicit, although it is implicit in the Last Supper narratives of Matthew, Mark, and Luke. But there is a common view of the mission of Jesus that all of the Evangelists share. He is the one who baptizes with the Holy Spirit.
I have baptized you with water; he will baptize you with the holy Spirit.” (cf. Mar. 1:8).
I am baptizing you with water, for repentance, but the one who is coming after me is mightier than I. I am not worthy to carry his sandals. He will baptize you with the holy Spirit and fire. (cf. Mat. 3:5).
I am baptizing you with water, but one mightier than I is coming. I am not worthy to loosen the thongs of his sandals. He will baptize you with the holy Spirit and fire. (cf. Luk. 3:16).
I did not know him, but the one who sent me to baptize with water told me, ‘On whomever you see the Spirit come down and remain, he is the one who will baptize with the holy Spirit.’ (cf. Joh. 1:33).
This promise is fulfilled at Pentecost. As we prepare for Pentecost, let us heed the words of Jesus:
While meeting with them, he enjoined them not to depart from Jerusalem, but to wait for “the promise of the Father about which you have heard me speak; for John baptized with water, but in a few days you will be baptized with the holy Spirit (cf. Act. 1:4-5, emphasis mine).
Jesus is the one who gives the Holy Spirit.
Jesus stood up and exclaimed,
“Let anyone who thirsts come to me and drink.
As Scripture says:
Rivers of living water will flow from within him who believes in me.”
He said this in reference to the Spirit
Let us bring this thirst to the Pentecost mass knowing that it will be sated.
Being the one who pours out the Spirit gives Old Testament context to the mission of Jesus. This is how the apostles understand what happens on Pentecost.
No, this is what was spoken through the prophet Joel:
It will come to pass in the last days,’ God says,
‘that I will pour out a portion of my spirit upon all flesh (cf. Act. 2:16-17).
They understand that Jesus is the one who can do this, who can give the Spirit, because he is the one who first rises from the grave. He is the first one filled with that life and becomes the source of life for us. The Spirit that raised Jesus from death will give life even to our mortal bodies (cf. Rom. 8:11).
Then you shall know that I am the LORD,
when I open your graves and have you rise from them,
O my people!
I will put my spirit in you that you may live,
We recognize that the waters of life first give new life to us as individuals in baptism. We hear in Ezekiel our own baptism foreshadowed:
I will give you a new heart, and a new spirit I will put within you. I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh. I will put my spirit within you so that you walk in my statutes, observe my ordinances, and keep them (cf. Eze. 36:26-27).
The Holy Spirit is the new spirit, the resurrection power, that fills us at baptism.
Or are you unaware that we who were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? We were indeed buried with him through baptism into death, so that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we too might live in newness of life (Rom. 6:3-4).
But the call tonight is to not stop there. There is the real risk of which Paul warns the Galatians:
Are you so stupid? After beginning with the Spirit, are you now ending with the flesh?
We did begin in the Spirit at baptism but we do often wind up mired in the flesh. We are that stupid. What do we do? Paul explains to the Galatians:
If we live by the Spirit, let us also walk by the Spirit.
The Spirit has given us life, but now he must let him lead us. Those "Who are led by the Spirit of God are sons of God" (cf. Rom. 8:14). We should follow the advice of Paul to Timothy.
For this reason, I remind you to stir into flame the gift of God that you have through the imposition of my hands (emphasis mine).
The Holy Spirit is strengthened at confirmation when hands are laid upon us (and ordination as well, for Timothy) but we can't stop there. We have to fan this gift into flames. We have to give it air, let it breathe, even agitate the embers until they glow.
The Holy Spirit is the only way to live the Gospel in spite of our human weakness.
In the same way, the Spirit too comes to the aid of our weakness;
for we do not know how to pray as we ought,
but the Spirit himself intercedes with inexpressible groanings.
This is part of what Paul develops at length writing to the Corinthians.
To each individual the manifestation of the Spirit is given for some benefit.
To one is given through the Spirit the expression of wisdom;
to another the expression of knowledge according to the same Spirit;
to another faith by the same Spirit; to another gifts of healing by the one Spirit;
to another mighty deeds; to another prophecy; to another discernment of spirits;
to another varieties of tongues; to another interpretation of tongues.
But one and the same Spirit produces all of these,
distributing them individually to each person as he wishes (cf. 1 Cor 12:7-11).
These sighs and groanings are a gift of the Spirit, deeper than intelligible speech, which is why "if I pray in a tongue my spirit is at prayer but my mind is unproductive" (cf. 1 Cor. 14:14). This is why "Whoever speaks in a tongue builds himself up" (cf. 1 Cor. 14:4) but not the Church. Which is why Paul also wants us all to prophesy. That seems like a lot to ask of God. Surely a few designated prophets would be enough? But Moses had already asked the same thing long ago.
I wish that all the Lord’s people were prophets and that the Lord would put his Spirit on them!” (cf. Num. 11:29).
But let's not miss the point, Paul wants both for us.
Now I should like all of you to speak in tongues, but even more to prophesy (cf. 1 Cor. 14:5).
It isn't greedy. We aren't talking about seeking good feelings. These gifts often happen in the complete absence of any feelings whatever. That can make discerning them a challenge. It is a challenge worth undertaking because we need all the tools we can get to build ourselves up and to build the Church up.
Do we want this? Or have we received it in the past have neglected it? The LORD wants to fill us anew tonight. And if we don't feel him calling us to seek these particular manifestations of the Spirit tonight we must still be assured that he wants to pour out his Spirit on us in abundance. He wants to fill us with new life and power. He wants to give us the fruits of the Holy Spirit, especially love, joy, and peace.
Without him we perish, but in his Spirit tonight let us be renewed.
If you take away their breath, they perish
and return to their dust.
When you send forth your spirit, they are created,
and you renew the face of the earth.
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