30 April 2016 - open doors

The world is going to hate us if we are faithful to you Jesus. If really live out the faith you give us we become an indictment of the world's selfish ways, just as you do.

He professes to have knowledge of God
and styles himself a child of the LORD.
To us he is the censure of our thoughts;
merely to see him is a hardship for us,i
Because his life is not like that of others,
and different are his ways (see Wisdom 2:13-15).

This is the reality of the life to which we are called. We can choose to hide it and bury our light. But we ought instead remember the word you speak to us. We aren't a part of that world anymore. We don't belong to it. You chose us out of the world. We can't let ourselves slip back into that way of acting just to fit in. Fit in to what? Why? Help us to remember your word. Help us to stay close to you and the one who sent you.

The world needs the truth of real love that you possess Jesus. But not every door is open to us.

When they came to Mysia, they tried to go on into Bithynia,
but the Spirit of Jesus did not allow them,
so they crossed through Mysia and came down to Troas.

If we find closed doors it is because there are others you open to us instead.

A Macedonian stood before him and implored him with these words,
“Come over to Macedonia and help us.”
When he had seen the vision,
we sought passage to Macedonia at once, 
concluding that God had called us to proclaim the Good News to them.

So we must not let persecution slow us down or make us give up. There are people calling out for us to help them and you want to send us to them. If we hide our light we help no one and we ourselves risk losing the blessings you bestow.

But you do not begrudge the world that persecutes you. It is that very world for which you die. And you want us to love even as you love. If the doors we try seem closed to us today let us keep knocking until we find the one through which you want us to bring your love to the nations.

The LORD is good:
his kindness endures forever,
and his faithfulness, to all generations.

29 April 2016 - as i have loved you

[ Today's Readings ]

This is my commandment: love one another as I love you.
No one has greater love than this,
to lay down one’s life for one’s friends.

You command us to love, LORD. You command us to live in the only way that brings joy and satisfaction. You command us to be who we are meant to be. You yourself show us what this looks like. The world's attempts at love are too distorted by pride and selfishness. We can't even figure out what direction to go or what step to take next by looking at examples like that. Concealed within every attempt of the world to love we find selfish motives mixed in. When we look at our own hearts we find the very same thing. If we really scrutinize our motives, we find that even our motives for scrutinizing our motives aren't entirely pure, let alone our motives for the other acts of love we attempt. But you show us what real love looks like. You show us love that doesn't count the cost. You show us love that pays no heed to one's own life, but lays that life down for one's friends. And who is your friend? You make friends from those who were once your enemies.

I no longer call you slaves,
because a slave does not know what his master is doing.
I have called you friends,
because I have told you everything I have heard from my Father.

This isn't what we do. We keep some of it to ourselves to keep a slight edge or advantage. But you pour out grace without measure and mercy beyond all telling. You motive is simply that you want to see us living the fullness of joy that you intend for us. You want a world full of joy and the other fruits that last, the fruits of the Holy Spirit.

It was not you who chose me, but I who chose you
and appointed you to go and bear fruit that will remain,
so that whatever you ask the Father in my name he may give you.
This I command you: love one another.

The Holy Spirit doesn't want to place any burdens on us that aren't strictly necessary. He is interested only that we turn from idols to serve the living God (see First Thessalonians 1:9). So let us do nothing without the mandate that comes to us from God. His mandate is to love. We receive it through the Spirit and the Bride, the Church. Any other mandate is tainted, selfish, and will ultimately fail. Any other mandate is full of teachings that upset the mind and disturb one's peace. Jesus, help us to go forth by your mandate to love you and one another.

My heart is steadfast, O God; my heart is steadfast;
I will sing and chant praise.
Awake, O my soul; awake, lyre and harp!
I will wake the dawn.

28 April 2016 - that your joy might be complete

[ Today's Readings ]

If you keep my commandments, you will remain in my love,
just as I have kept my Father’s commandments
and remain in his love.

But why commandments? Are they arbitrary? Are they just ways we prove ourselves to you? By keeping them do we earn your love? Well, clearly not. You tell us that we can remain in your love not that we can ever get there on our own. We "are saved the through the grace of the Lord Jesus". Keeping the commandments is only possible because you first love us. And the goal of these commandments is not arbitrary. It isn't to do something for you, Jesus, who exist in the perfect bliss of Trinitarian love and need nothing. It is for our own sakes that you give us these commandments.

“I have told you this so that
my joy might be in you and
your joy might be complete.”

Your call on us to be good is at one and the same time your call to choose the one who alone is good, God himself (see Mark 10:18). This is why the commandments bring us joy. This is why they make us remain in your love.

What does receiving this love look like? The usual way involves "signs and wonders" so that our belief might rest on the power of God rather than human wisdom (see First Corinthians 2:5). The supernatural outpouring of the Holy Spirit is the source of these signs and wonders. It is him who empowers us to keep the commandments, purifying our hearts by faith.

And God, who knows the heart,
bore witness by granting them the Holy Spirit
just as he did us.
He made no distinction between us and them,
for by faith he purified their hearts.

Jesus, you want us to remain in your love. You want this anointing of the Holy Spirit to be ongoing in our lives. You want to favor your people with signs and wonders and to continue to purify our hearts until we can see you clearly, for it is only the pure of heart who see God (see Matthew 5:8). This is so essential because this is how you rebuild the fallen hut of David from its ruins and raise it up again. It is the Spirit dwelling in us the erects this new temple. And it is only when we shine with this light that humanity "may seek out the Lord, even all the Gentiles on whom" the name of God is invoked.

Let's stop troubling ourselves and others about inconsequential details that pertain more to self-image than to reality. Let's find the spout where the grace comes out, as they say, and plant ourselves underneath.

Sing to the LORD a new song;
sing to the LORD, all you lands.
Sing to the LORD; bless his name.
Announce his salvation, day after day.
Tell his glory among the nations;
among all peoples, his wondrous deeds.
Say among the nations: The LORD is king.
He has made the world firm, not to be moved;
he governs the peoples with equity.

27 April 2016 - real fruit flavor

Guess which part is you.

[ Today's Readings ]

Help us to remain in you Jesus. We need the life which we can only get from you. We can't bear fruit apart from you.

I am the vine, you are the branches.
Whoever remains in me and I in him will bear much fruit,
because without me you can do nothing.

Help us to remain in you even in seasons of pruning. Pruning can hurt. It seems like losing parts of ourselves. But really it is just removing wasted effort. It is removing parts of us that aren't bearing fruit. In other words, it is removing the selfish parts of us. Precisely because they are the selfish parts of us we cling to them tightly. And precisely because we cling so tightly it hurts to lose them. But they are actually useless. They don't bear fruit. They're lifeless! Help us to let them go. If we insist on holding on we risk becoming entirely what these dead and withered pieces are.

Anyone who does not remain in me
will be thrown out like a branch and wither;
people will gather them and throw them into a fire
and they will be burned.

There is a less painful option, LORD, if we are willing to let ourselves be pruned. If we accept the word you speak to us that very word prunes us. Rather than insisting on learning the hard way, rather than chasing after things which do not satisfy, and seeking life where there is no life, we can choose to learn the easy way. We can trust your word enough that we don't have to test it out for ourselves.

You are already pruned because of the word that I spoke to you.

After all, this word itself can cut. 

For the word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and of spirit, of joints and of marrow, and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart (see Hebrews 4:12).

The experience of it actually doing this is different from mere reading. It is actually quite intense.

Now when they heard this they were cut to the heart, and said to Peter and the rest of the apostles, “Brothers, what shall we do?” (see Acts 2:37).

Now we are able to let go of things we need to let go. Whereas once circumcision was and the Mosaic law were required for salvation they now no longer are. There are plenty of things in our lives which are good for a season but then no longer bear fruit. We must remain supple. We can't just be open to being pruned once. As longing as we continue to grow we need it. Jesus, help us to choose the easy way. Help us remain in your word! This is the journey we're on and it is meant to be joyful.

I rejoiced because they said to me,
“We will go up to the house of the LORD.”
And now we have set foot
within your gates, O Jerusalem.

26 April 2016 - peace different

[ Today's Readings ]

Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you.
Not as the world gives do I give it to you.
Do not let your hearts be troubled or afraid.
You heard me tell you,
‘I am going away and I will come back to you.

We know that the way the world gives peace doesn't work. In the world there are times when we ride high and other times when we are troubled and afraid. No matter how well we work to stack the circumstances in our favor we still experience both.

You do things differently Jesus. You want us to have peace beyond all understanding which the world cannot take away. But if we want this peace we have a response we have to make. It is still possible, as Christians, to let our hearts be troubled and afraid. If we're honest we do it all the time. We fear even those things which we know in our minds don't matter that much. And if we think about it, nothing the world can do matters that much now that you have conquered death. You deliver us from the fear of death that makes us slaves (see Hebrews 2:15).

What is it that casts out fear and gives us peace? Love! Perfect love casts out fear (First John 4:18).

For some reason hearing that makes us more afraid. We're afraid to fail at love. But it isn't our love that casts out fear. It is your love. True enough, it has to fill us and take root in our hearts. But that is a work that you do not one which we do. We just have to allow it. Are we feeling afraid to fail? We don't have to let ourselves fear. We can trust you instead. Your love gives meaning to all of the trials and hardships we undergo for the kingdom. They no longer appear as things that can stop us from reaching our goal.

I am going away and I will come back to you.’
If you loved me,
you would rejoice that I am going to the Father;

Because when our goal is your goal nothing can stop us. And that goal is union with us. That goal is love.

I will no longer speak much with you,
for the ruler of the world is coming.
He has no power over me,
but the world must know that I love the Father
and that I do just as the Father has commanded me.

It is hard to stop people who truly understand this from spreading the good news. Paul is stoned but he gets back up and heads straight back into the city.

All your works give you thanks, LORD
and your faithful bless you.
They speak of the glory of your reign
and tell of your mighty works,
Making known to the sons of men your mighty acts,
the majestic glory of your rule.

25 April 2016 - letting ourselves be loved

[ Today's Readings ]

So humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God,
that he may exalt you in due time.
Cast all your worries upon him because he cares for you.

Help us to clothe ourselves in humility. We can only entrust you with all of our worries when we are humble enough to realize that you are God and we are not. We are not ultimately in control even though we act like everything depends on us.

The Lord is at hand; do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus (see Philippians 4:5-7).

This peace beyond understanding will only guard our hearts and minds if we are humble enough to cast our cares on you. It is a matter of being humble enough to let ourselves be loved. So help us to clothe ourselves with humility. Even the garment itself is something we are given. It is you yourself who wear it first.

Do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit, but in humility count others more significant than yourselves. Let each of you look not only to his own interests, but also to the interests of others. Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus, who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied himself, by taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross (see Philippians 2:3-8).

You first entrust yourself to the Father's love just so that we can entrust ourselves to yours. It is this humility that allows you to come as close to us as you do. It lets you strip off your outer garments so that you can wash our feet while clothed with humility. You don't think, although you rightly could, 'I'm too good for this.' It is this very same humility which allows you to surrender your Spirit into the hands of the Father on the cross.

Teach us that the power is not within ourselves but in you. We can only resist the devil when we remain steadfast in this faith and don't fall back on our own resources. But when we trust you, Jesus, you give us amazing power to conquer all of the works of the enemy.

These signs will accompany those who believe:
in my name they will drive out demons,
they will speak new languages.
They will pick up serpents with their hands,
and if they drink any deadly thing, it will not harm them.
They will lay hands on the sick, and they will recover.

This is the true grace of God in which we need to remain firm. It is this faith and grace which sustains us through our sufferings and unites us with our brothers and sisters throughout the world. We know that you yourself will "restore, confirm, strengthen and establish" us after we have suffered a little. We learn "the joyful shout".

Blessed the people who know the joyful shout;
in the light of your countenance, O LORD, they walk.
At your name they rejoice all the day,
and through your justice they are exalted.

24 April 2016 - all things new

[ Today's Readings ]

I give you a new commandment: love one another.
As I have loved you, so you also should love one another.

LORD, from the earliest times you tell us that what matters is to love you with all of our heart and to love our neighbor as ourselves. But you make this command to love new.

Beloved, I am writing you no new commandment, but an old commandment that you had from the beginning. The old commandment is the word that you have heard. At the same time, it is a new commandment that I am writing to you, which is true in him and in you, because the darkness is passing away and the true light is already shining (First John 1:7).

The darkness of former times prevents us from loving you the way we should. It prevents us from loving our neighbors as we know we should. We try. But it's hit or miss. Sometimes we do pretty well. Other times we fall flat on our faces in selfishness. But when you yourself are glorified by your death and resurrection you renew the whole world at that same moment.

The One who sat on the throne said,
“Behold, I make all things new.”

In Mel Gibson's "the Passion" these words are on your lips as you suffer and die for us. And this is right. It also makes sense for them to be on your lips as you rise for us. The very sand of the earth is new sand because the feet that touch it are your risen feet. In your passion all things are truly made new. Now the old commandment to love is made new by the grace you give us to carry it out. The oldness of the letter becomes the newness of Spirit.

For the letter kills, but the Spirit gives life (see Second Corinthians 3:6).

Now the Holy City, the New Jerusalem can begin to take root on earth even before the end times. In your Holy Church the Holy City becomes real and manifest on earth. All things begin to be renewed in your love. That is why the commandment is no longer simply to love, but to love in the same way that you have loved.

As I have loved you, so you also should love one another.

It is only in this way, united to your passion, that we can truly love at all. And it is so much more than we hope, ask, or imagine. It is your very presence among us.

He will dwell with them and they will be his people
and God himself will always be with them as their God.
He will wipe every tear from their eyes,
and there shall be no more death or mourning, wailing or pain,
for the old order has passed away.

This is the love you want us to reveal to the world. This is how you yourself love us. You make all things new in order to make this kind of love possible. Even if we must undergo many hardships to enter the kingdom of God it is clearly worth it. May the door to this faith be open to more and more people just as we read that it is to the Gentiles. The deepest longing of every human heart is the love with which you love us, LORD, the love we are now called to share.

The LORD is gracious and merciful,
slow to anger and of great kindness.
The LORD is good to all
and compassionate toward all his works.

23 April 2016 - show us the Father

[ Today's Readings ]

LORD, open our eyes. We think we know you but there is always so much more to know. We think we see you but we don't realize we're looking at the Father. Do we? We have a genuine relationship with you Jesus. You are our friend and our elder brother and our LORD. But do we have a relationship with the Father? We acknowledge that we are made sons of the Father by your sacrifice. But even though the Spirit is within us trying to cry out "Abba!" doesn't the Father seem more distant to us than you do, LORD? Doesn't he seem less personal and more abstract?

How can you say, ‘Show us the Father’? 
Do you not believe that I am in the Father and the Father is in me? 

The revelation of the Father's love is already here before our eyes. We just need to be open to see it. If this is true, there is no reason to be any less intimate and personal in our relationship to the Father than in our relationship to you Jesus. Help us to see this. In your love for us we see the love of the Father revealed.

The Father who dwells in me is doing his works. 
Believe me that I am in the Father and the Father is in me,
or else, believe because of the works themselves. 

Jesus, just as you reveal the Father, your people are meant to reveal you.

I have made you a light to the Gentiles,
that you may be an instrument of salvation
to the ends of the earth.

The world may contradict us with violent abuse. Even so, help us to speak out boldly. Just as for Philip, to know the Father is the desire of the whole human race. Don't let us keep quiet about it. Let us share it so that everyone can be "filled with joy and the Holy Spirit." Let us be bold until the words of the psalmist are true.

All the ends of the earth have seen
the salvation by our God.
Sing joyfully to the LORD, all you lands;
break into song; sing praise.

22 April 2016 - next step

[ Today's Readings ]

In my Father’s house there are many dwelling places.
If there were not,
would I have told you that I am going to prepare a place for you?
And if I go and prepare a place for you,
I will come back again and take you to myself,
so that where I am you also may be.

Where are you going, Jesus? Is it a place of fluffy clouds or pearly gates? There may be a sense to those images. But more than that, you are going to a place on the far side of death. It is a place which is not prepared before your cross and resurrection but only after.

But God raised him from the dead,
and for many days he appeared to those
who had come up with him from Galilee to Jerusalem. 

That is how you can say, "Where I am going you know the way."

Even though we've never been there this is true. Even though we may not fully appreciate what it means to take up our cross and follow you we still know the way. 

The next day Jesus decided to go to Galilee. He found Philip and said to him, “Follow me.” (see John 1:43).

We don't have a map memorized. Instead, we follow someone who knows the way and who won't leave us behind.

“Master, we do not know where you are going;
how can we know the way?” 
Jesus said to him, “I am the way and the truth and the life. 
No one comes to the Father except through me.”

This is a good thing to remember when we feel lost. LORD, when we don't know the next step to take let us look to you. You lead us and guide us to the place you prepare for us. Even though we may pass through dark valleys we need not fear with you at our side with your rod and your staff to comfort us.

Ask of me and I will give you
the nations for an inheritance
and the ends of the earth for your possession.

You guide us to our inheritance. It is the homeland of the blessed where the children of the Father dwell in endless peace. It does involve usually involve death. Even if you come again in glory first it involves dying to ourselves. But the destination is the life of the resurrection. Renewed in body and soul we are united with you forever. You wipe away every tear from our eyes.

He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away (see Revelation 21:4).

21 April 2016 - as promised

[ Today's Readings ]

From this man’s descendants God, according to his promise,
has brought to Israel a savior, Jesus. 

LORD, you are the promise fulfilled.

You are faithful to the children of Israel throughout history. You guide them and protect them because you love them. You raise up great prophets and leaders to protect and guide them. Among these none are greater than John the Baptist (see Luke 7:28). But even John must say, "I am not he."

This leads the world to ask, 'Who is?' and 'What does that mean?'

From now on I am telling you before it happens,
so that when it happens you may believe that I AM. 

You are, LORD. 

‘What is his name?’ what shall I say to them?” God said to Moses, “I AM WHO I AM.” And he said, “Say this to the people of Israel, ‘I AM has sent me to you.’” (see Exodus 3:14)

You are the fullness of being. You are not simply one thing among many.

who is the refulgence of his glory,
the very imprint of his being,
and who sustains all things by his mighty word (see Hebrews 1:3)

It is overwhelming to realize this. Because you look like one among many. Your flesh is like our flesh. The human nature which you take to yourself is like our nature. But for you this is no limit. Combined to the ineffable Godhead this human nature becomes the source of fulfillment for all of the promises you make. Godhead alone is too distant and incommunicable. Human nature alone is too weak and partial. Combined in you is the Yes of God, the fidelity of God, and the love of God for all of his people throughout all of history.

For all the promises of God find their Yes in him. That is why it is through him that we utter our Amen to God for his glory. And it is God who establishes us with you in Christ, and has anointed us (see Second Corinthians 1:20).

Help us to believe, LORD. Send people in your name to help us. Give us the grace to receive them so that we can receive you and the one who sent you. We ask with the synagogue officials "My brothers, if one of you has a word of exhortation for the people, please speak." Exhort us. Bring us to believe you when you say, "I AM".

“My faithfulness and my mercy shall be with him,
and through my name shall his horn be exalted.
He shall say of me, ‘You are my father,
my God, the Rock, my savior.’”

20 April 2016 - into specifics

[ Today's Readings ]

I came into the world as light,
so that everyone who believes in me might not remain in darkness. 

Jesus, help us come into the light. You don't want to condemn us. But you need us to see things they way they really are. You tell us the truth straight from the Father not to condemn us but to save us. But since what you are telling us is the truth we must obey it. If we don't we remain in darkness ignorant of the truth, possibly ignoring it. But it remains the truth even when we don't see it. 

Whoever rejects me and does not accept my words
has something to judge him: the word that I spoke,
it will condemn him on the last day,
because I did not speak on my own,

These words of yours are truth. You speak them to set us free. But they remain truth if we don't choose freedom. You don't take delight in saying, 'I told you so.' But you do tell us so. Help us to listen.

LORD, we need to listen. Listening is how we come to believe in you and the one who sent you. It is how we come into the light of truth and how we become connected to the Triune God. It is precisely this posture of the heart that the Church in Antioch manifests in today's first reading.

While they were worshiping the Lord and fasting, the Holy Spirit said,
“Set apart for me Barnabas and Saul
for the work to which I have called them.” 
Then, completing their fasting and prayer,
they laid hands on them and sent them off.

This is how the Church truly works as your body, LORD. It listens and you move within it, pushing it out to the work for which you have called it. It is not content to just listen once and go. Instead hands are laid on the missionaries so that they can manifest a continual openness to your voice as they are "sent forth by the Holy Spirit" to proclaim your word.

This seems, as it often does, like more specificity than we can expect when we try to listen in modern times. But it is not. You want to speak to us. You want us to hear you so clearly that we also hear the Father and the Spirit. You want to send us out so that we can turn the dark places of this world into places where your light shines.

May God have pity on us and bless us;
may he let his face shine upon us.
So may your way be known upon earth;
among all nations, your salvation.

An oldie but a goodie..

19 April 2016 - voice recognition

[ Today's Readings ]

Jesus, teach us to follow you to life. We have heard that you are the Christ. Help us to fully believe in the words you speak and the works you do.

My sheep hear my voice;
I know them, and they follow me. 

We want to be among your sheep. We need to be among your sheep. It is only here that we are safe.

I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish. 
No one can take them out of my hand. 

There is someone who would take us out of your hand if he could. But you are stronger. You have conquered. He has no power over your sheep. But woe to those who remain outside of your hand by their own choice. How can they be anything but easy pickings for the wolves? They are not excluded by your choice but by their own.

Soften all of our hearts to listen to you, believe you, and follow you more completely. Help us all to remain in your hand and to avail ourselves of the safety and security that can only be found here.

My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all,
and no one can take them out of the Father’s hand. 
The Father and I are one.

LORD, your Spirit is at work in us. Your grace is in our midst. But we still need reminders to remain "faithful to the Lord in firmness of heart". We still need to rejoice and be encouraged about the great things you are doing. We need to appreciate it all so that we can own it more fully and so more fully embody it in our lives.

For a whole year they met with the Church
and taught a large number of people,
and it was in Antioch that the disciples
were first called Christians.

All the nations are invited to embrace this reality. Every man, woman, and child, is invited to share this joy.

They shall note, when the peoples are enrolled:
“This man was born there.”
And all shall sing, in their festive dance:
“My home is within you.”

18 April 2016 - athirst is my soul

[ Today's Readings ]

Jesus, you want us to have life and to have it more abundantly. In order to keep us safe from the thieves and robbers and to lead us to life you teach us to hear your voice.

When he has driven out all his own,
he walks ahead of them, and the sheep follow him,
because they recognize his voice.

You Spirit enables us to hear you. He enables us to listen. He allows us to recognize were you are at work in the world.

As I began to speak, the Holy Spirit fell upon them
as it had upon us at the beginning,
and I remembered the word of the Lord, how he had said,
‘John baptized with water
but you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit.’ 

We need him so even when you tell us something hard or unexpected we can still listen.

The Spirit told me to accompany them without discriminating. 

This is the stream of living water for which we thirst.

As the hind longs for the running waters,
so my soul longs for you, O God.
Athirst is my soul for God, the living God.
When shall I go and behold the face of God?

Without it we only have our own agendas to fall back on.

But I said, ‘Certainly not, sir,
because nothing profane or unclean has ever entered my mouth.’ 

But your plans are so much better than our plans. You give us supernatural gifts in order to hear you. You give us words of wisdom and knowledge, prophecy and discernment so that we can know with concrete specificity both your plan and our part in it.

When they heard this,
they stopped objecting and glorified God, saying,
“God has then granted life-giving repentance to the Gentiles too.”

Teach us to come to the source and drink the water you give. If we need more of the Holy Spirit we know that you pour him out without measure. We have only to ask.


Then will I go in to the altar of God,
the God of my gladness and joy;
Then will I give you thanks upon the harp,
O God, my God!

17 April 2016 - what sheep do

[ Today's Readings ]

On the following sabbath almost the whole city gathered
to hear the word of the Lord.

Help us to listen, LORD. In you we find light and salvation. 

LORD, we are actually slow to listen. We are often distracted by selfishness. Like the Jews in today's first reading jealousy often distracts us from listening to you. We think we already know everything worth hearing and so we only listen to ourselves. But we still need your guidance. 

Jesus said:
“My sheep hear my voice;
I know them, and they follow me.

We are not home yet. These are not yet "the pastures of the blessed." The only way home is to follow the shepherd who leads us home. And the surest way to follow you is to listen to your voice. False shepherds arise and try to trick us. But with your voice to guide us we are not fooled. We need to practice listening right now today so that when we walk through the dark valley we can still hear you. We know that even then we are still your flock.

Know that the LORD is God;
he made us, his we are;
his people, the flock he tends.

This is how we receive the eternal life that you have for us. It isn't by knowing a thing and doing it. It is by hearing a voice and following it. Doing is something which we would have to achieve by our own effort. But we are sheep. We are not very smart or very skilled. But if we let ourselves listen to you so that we know and trust your voice we can follow. It is what sheep do.

You yourself show us the way because you yourself are the way. Your are the Lamb who blazes the trail. You purify us by your own blood so that we can stand before God's throne. This is where your voice ultimately leads us, if we just continue to listen.

For the Lamb who is in the center of the throne
will shepherd them
and lead them to springs of life-giving water,
and God will wipe away every tear from their eyes.

This is not something we can achieve through our own efforts. Even efforts of understanding are good but insufficient. Only the Holy Spirit helps us to recognize your voice when you speak to us. We don't need to fear that you will not or do not speak to us. You are speaking now. We have only to listen.

The disciples were filled with joy and the Holy Spirit.

That guy who used to head the Newsboys..

16 April 2016 - the Spirit gives life

[ Today's Readings ]

 “Master, to whom shall we go?
You have the words of eternal life.
We have come to believe
and are convinced that you are the Holy One of God.”

Convince us, LORD. We believe. Heal our unbelief. We try to figure you out using our flesh when only the Spirit can get this.

And Jesus answered him, “Blessed are you, Simon Bar-Jonah! For flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but my Father who is in heaven (see Matthew 16:17).

For the letter kills, but the Spirit gives life (Second Corinthians 3:6).

Help us to realize who are are so that we can take you at your word. You are the risen LORD of glory. You have ascended to where you were before. You are seated at the right hand of the Father. May the Father draw us to you. May he grant us to believe in you. Concealed in bread and wine is the very same LORD seated on high in heaven.

When we walk in fear of you and have faith you build us up with the consolation of the Holy Spirit. He makes your power and presence available to us here now on earth even though your body is seated in heaven. He changes the elements of bread and wine to make you perfectly present to us. But he is more than capable of bringing your presence to other situations as well.

There he found a man named Aeneas,
who had been confined to bed for eight years, for he was paralyzed. 
Peter said to him,
“Aeneas, Jesus Christ heals you. Get up and make your bed.” 

This sort of healing is hard to believe. Yet the change of Peter that happens to make you present in this situation is no more amazing than what you the Spirit does every day in the mass.

Because it is you the Spirit makes present, and because you have conquered sin and death, there is no limit to what can happen if we believe.

Peter sent them all out and knelt down and prayed. 
Then he turned to her body and said, “Tabitha, rise up.” 
She opened her eyes, saw Peter, and sat up. 

These are great gifts, to be sure. But none of them is so great as you yourself. How can we ever thank you enough? All you ask is that we receive your gift. You yourself become our thanksgiving.

How shall I make a return to the LORD
for all the good he has done for me?
The cup of salvation I will take up,
and I will call upon the name of the LORD

15 April 2016 - not to scale

[ Today's Readings ]

He is there praying,
and in a vision he has seen a man named Ananias
come in and lay his hands on him,
that he may regain his sight.

We too need to regain our sight, LORD Jesus. We don't recognize you in your people.

The reply came, “I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting. 
Now get up and go into the city and you will be told what you must do.” 

We don't recognize you in the Eucharist

“How can this man give us his Flesh to eat?” 

The trouble is that we think we see. We tacitly acknowledge these truths. But they don't penetrate us the way we know they should. You may need to blind us to what we think we see. This is frightening and disorienting.

Saul got up from the ground,
but when he opened his eyes he could see nothing;

It is frightening. But in this condition we are willing to be led.

so they led him by the hand and brought him to Damascus.

But you only blind us so that we can come to truly see. You take away the shadows to reveal the substance.

Immediately things like scales fell from his eyes
and he regained his sight. 

Now we see you even in our brothers and sisters. Now we can look at the Eucharist and see it for who it is. No longer is it just a platitude we acknowledge. It is a truth for which we live and which impacts everything that we do.

Whoever eats my Flesh and drinks my Blood
has eternal life,
and I will raise him on the last day.
For my Flesh is true food,
and my Blood is true drink. 

And now that we see it we willing to step beyond our fear to share it.

“Lord, I have heard from many sources about this man,
what evil things he has done to your holy ones in Jerusalem.
And here he has authority from the chief priests
to imprison all who call upon your name.” 
But the Lord said to him,
“Go, for this man is a chosen instrument of mine
to carry my name before Gentiles, kings, and children of Israel,
and I will show him what he will have to suffer for my name.” 

We ourselves receive the true sight and purity of vision from the Holy Spirit. And we ourselves receive the strength from the bread of life. Now even people like Saul who seem to be not only lost causes but dangerous don't scare us. If the LORD leads us we become courageous and tell even such as him about the good news.

Praise the LORD, all you nations;
glorify him, all you peoples!
For steadfast is his kindness toward us,
and the fidelity of the LORD endures forever.

or

14 April 2016 - taught by God

[ Today's Readings ]

“Do you understand what you are reading?” 
He replied,
“How can I, unless someone instructs me?” 

We all feel this way about the word of God occasionally. Not just the readers of this blog, not just its author, but even the greatest of scripture scholars occasionally encounter things which they don't understand. But there is good news for us and for them.

They shall all be taught by God.

Jesus reveals the Father to us. He is the Father's spoken word.

Everyone who listens to my Father and learns from him comes to me.

That is why there is a sense in which we don't need teachers.

But the anointing that you received from him abides in you, and you have no need that anyone should teach you. But as his anointing teaches you about everything, and is true, and is no lie—just as it has taught you, abide in him (see First John 2:27).

The teachers we don't need are those who teach only according to the wisdom of the world. They might be intellectual and academic but they are not spiritual.

For Christ did not send me to baptize but to preach the gospel, and not with words of eloquent wisdom, lest the cross of Christ be emptied of its power (see First Corinthians 1:17).

And yet there are teachers who open themselves to the Spirit and become channels of the divine wisdom for us. We do need such teachers as these. Everyone who listens to the Father comes to these teachers just as they come to Jesus. The same word is spoken.

The Spirit said to Philip,
“Go and join up with that chariot.” 

...

Then Philip opened his mouth and, beginning with this Scripture passage,
he proclaimed Jesus to him.

So where does this leave us when we're confused? It means we don't need to be frustrated by our lack of understanding or our lack of training and scholarship. These things are not essential to the kerygma, the core truth of the scriptures. It means that when we don't understand we can trust God to teach us. We can rely on the anointing he gives us and the teachers he sends to teach us the truth he wants us to know.

Jesus, help us to know more deeply the truth of who you are today. This is what the Father wants us to know. This is why you yourself are the word he speaks.

I am the living bread that came down from heaven;
whoever eats this bread will live forever;
and the bread that I will give
is my Flesh for the life of the world.

Spirit anoint us and open our eyes to this glorious truth that is so easy to miss amidst the accidents of bread and wine.

Hear now, all you who fear God, while I declare
what he has done for me.
When I appealed to him in words,
praise was on the tip of my tongue.

13 April 2016 - all things for our good

[ Today's Readings ]

There broke out a severe persecution of the Church in Jerusalem,
and all were scattered
throughout the countryside of Judea and Samaria,
except the Apostles.

When we encounter hardships we think that they interfere with your plans, Jesus. We know that suffering is not your will. You don't will the persecution of the Church that scatters the people. But you certainly anticipate it. And you make all things work together for the good of those who love you (see Romans 8:28).

Now those who had been scattered went about preaching the word.

Philip might not be happy to be scattered by persecution. But he doesn't let it hinder him. Because he doesn't he is able to bring great joy to the city of Samaria.

With one accord, the crowds paid attention to what was said by Philip
when they heard it and saw the signs he was doing.
For unclean spirits, crying out in a loud voice,
came out of many possessed people,
and many paralyzed and crippled people were cured.

If the persecution caused Philip to retreat into himself, to become selfish or afraid, Samaria would not know this joy. But the will of Philip is now like the will of Jesus: completely submitted to the Father.

And this is the will of the one who sent me,
that I should not lose anything of what he gave me,
but that I should raise it on the last day.

Even when we see but do not believe you do not reject us, LORD. You still invite us. You tell us to come to you that we may never hunger. When you say this we realize our hunger. We realize that we are not satisfied. Only you can satisfy. You tell us to believe in you that we may never thirst. And we are, it turns out, so very thirsty. You do not reject us, LORD. You are the bread of life and only you can quench these desires. Only you can nourish us in the midst of worldly privation. Only you can bring joy from the sorrow of persecution and suffering.

through the river they passed on foot;
therefore let us rejoice in him.
He rules by his might forever.

12 April 2016 - loosening up

[ Today's Readings ]

You stiff-necked people, uncircumcised in heart and ears,
you always oppose the Holy Spirit;
you are just like your ancestors.

Aren't we stiff-necked sometimes? We get so set in looking in only one direction that it is actually hard to look and see when there is something new we need to learn. Perhaps we're afraid of what we'll see. There is always the possibility that it will shake up our lives. But there is always the possibility that our lives need shaking.

"Yet once more I will shake not only the earth but also the heavens." This phrase, "Yet once more," indicates the removal of things that are shaken—that is, things that have been made—in order that the things that cannot be shaken may remain (see Hebrews 12:26-27).

We're comfortable now. But is this good enough? Is the direction we're looking exactly right? Not likely. But how can we know the truth? If we start looking around again don't we risk deception?

And your ears shall hear a word behind you, saying, “This is the way, walk in it,” when you turn to the right or when you turn to the left (see Isaiah 30:21).

If we aren't willing to look and listen we risk missing what is already before our eyes.

So Jesus said to them,
“Amen, amen, I say to you,
it was not Moses who gave the bread from heaven;
my Father gives you the true bread from heaven. 
For the bread of God is that which comes down from heaven
and gives life to the world.”

So they said to Jesus,
“Sir, give us this bread always.” 
Jesus said to them, “I am the bread of life;
whoever comes to me will never hunger,
and whoever believes in me will never thirst.”

We risk condemning people who act in accord with the truth as Stephen does. But Jesus, if we learn to look for your glory and listen for your Spirit we ourselves become unshakable even if the world tries to stone us.

But Stephen, filled with the Holy Spirit,
looked up intently to heaven and saw the glory of God
and Jesus standing at the right hand of God,
and Stephen said, “Behold, I see the heavens opened
and the Son of Man standing at the right hand of God.”

Stephen's neck is not stiff. He does not cover his ears to the truth as do his persecutors. He looks to you standing in heaven and commends his spirit into your hands. 

Into your hands I commend my spirit;

But he also looks on his persecutors with your own compassion and love. Stiff necks can't do this. Loosen us up, LORD. Let your gentle Spirit rain down peace, joy, and love on us. Spirit give us the freedom you have for us. Stiffness, rigidity, and the letter of the law, all lead to death. You alone can give us life. 

Let your face shine upon your servant;
save me in your kindness.

11 April 2016 - don't break the seal

[ Today's Readings ]

Jesus answered them and said,
“Amen, amen, I say to you, you are looking for me
not because you saw signs
but because you ate the loaves and were filled.

If we work only for food that perishes we are unstable. We are "children, tossed to and fro by the waves and carried about by every wind of doctrine, by human cunning, by craftiness in deceitful schemes" (see Ephesians 4:14). When princes start meeting and speaking against us we are quick to conform because we're really only interested in the loaves. And they can keep the loaves from us. They have the power to kill the body.

Though princes meet and talk against me,
your servant meditates on your statutes.
Yes, your decrees are my delight;
they are my counselors.

Jesus, your law shows us the way to true freedom. It shows us what is more important than bodily food. It shows us who we should fear more than people who can kill the body (see Matthew 10:28).

Do not work for food that perishes
but for the food that endures for eternal life,
which the Son of Man will give you. 

If we seek this food we are changed from being double-minded and unstable in all of our ways to being wise and faithful (see James 1:8).

Make me understand the way of your precepts,
and I will meditate on your wondrous deeds.

The food that endures for eternal life comes from you alone. Only this food can save us from our own ability to fool ourselves:

For the time is coming when people will not endure sound teaching, but having itching ears they will accumulate for themselves teachers to suit their own passions (see Second Timothy 4:3).

This is the secret that Stephen knows.

Stephen, filled with grace and power,
was working great wonders and signs among the people.

We can tell that he knows it because he is utterly unphased by persecution. He has no fear whatsoever of those who can and do kill his body.

All those who sat in the Sanhedrin looked intently at him
and saw that his face was like the face of an angel.

The Father sets his seal on you Jesus. You in turn seal us with the Holy Spirit. 

In him you also, when you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation, and believed in him, were sealed with the promised Holy Spirit (see Epheisans 1:13)

One aspect of this seal is that he can keep all of the lies of the enemy out of our minds. He makes us, as it were, air tight. He is the advocate who reminds us of the truth from God (see John 14:26). He keeps us safe from the enemy who has been a liar from the first (see John 8:44).

Remove from me the way of falsehood,
and favor me with your law.
The way of truth I have chosen;
I have set your ordinances before me.

This is the bread that truly sustains us. These are your words, O LORD, which give us life. Our task isn't as lofty or complicated as we might imagine. This is how we fool ourselves. Instead, we must simply trust you.

Jesus answered and said to them,
“This is the work of God, that you believe in the one he sent.”

10 April 2016 - the sake of the name

[ Today's Readings ]

Simon Peter said to them, “I am going fishing.”
They said to him, “We also will come with you.”

LORD, we distract ourselves with the ordinary things of daily life. But you enter into these circumstances and reveal yourself. You help us as we try to meet our daily needs.

So they cast it, and were not able to pull it in
because of the number of fish.
So the disciple whom Jesus loved said to Peter, “It is the Lord.”

Even simple things like breakfast become an opportunity to draw close to you.

Jesus said to them, “Come, have breakfast.”
And none of the disciples dared to ask him, “Who are you?”
because they realized it was the Lord.

You do this in the midst of our daily struggles. We need to know who you are so we can help others to know you. We need to be convinced so that when things get hard we stand firm.

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.”

Peter is able to get this, LORD. You love him where he is. You help him to move past his betrayal of you. He becomes an apostle who rejoices that he is found worthy to suffer dishonor for the sake of the name.

But Peter and the apostles said in reply,
“We must obey God rather than men.
The God of our ancestors raised Jesus,
though you had him killed by hanging him on a tree.

This is why the scene of worship in heaven is so overwhelming. It is comprised of voices like those of Peter and the apostles. These are voices which the world cannot silence.

They were countless in number, and they cried out in a loud voice:
“Worthy is the Lamb that was slain 
to receive power and riches, wisdom and strength,
honor and glory and blessing.”

Your resurrection is what makes this possible. It is the definitive act by which you change our mourning to dancing. You draw us clear so that our enemies don't rejoice over us. Help us to encounter you in ordinary places. Guide us with your love so that we can make a break with our sinful past lives. Give us your Spirit so that we can love you without reserve. Make our own voices fit to join the heavenly chorus of your praise.

Then I heard every creature in heaven and on earth
and under the earth and in the sea,
everything in the universe, cry out:
“To the one who sits on the throne and to the Lamb
be blessing and honor, glory and might,
forever and ever.”

9 April 2016 - walking on the sea

[ Today's Readings ]

It had already grown dark, and Jesus had not yet come to them.

Jesus, we are prone to fear. When we don't perceive you nearby we assume that you are far from us. Then when the seas are dark and dangerous we focus on the danger and on the fear. We focus on them because we only know how to focus on you when you make your presence obvious to us. But even when your presence is not obvious it does not mean that you have forgotten us or that you are far away. Teach us to look up from the crashing waves. Teach us to find you even in the storms. Even when you aren't in our boats and haven't yet come to us in the ways we expect don't let us give up.

When they had rowed about three or four miles,
they saw Jesus walking on the sea and coming near the boat,
and they began to be afraid.

We think that you can't have any part of these crazy storms. We think you only belong on calm and still waters. And so when we see you in the storm we don't recognize you and we fear.

But he said to them, “It is I. Do not be afraid.”
They wanted to take him into the boat,
but the boat immediately arrived at the shore
to which they were heading.

Help us to look for you even amidst the waves. Help us to recognize that you come to us with your mercy and love even in the storms.

I have set the LORD always before me;
because he is at my right hand, I shall not be shaken (see Psalm 16:8).

Continue to spread your word, LORD Jesus. Continue to increase the number of people who are obedient to the faith. Fill you Church with your Holy Spirit and nourish her by the word of God. We need this message LORD. The waves are getting high. The winds are fierce and the night is dark. But with you at our right hand we shall not be shaken.

See, the eyes of the LORD are upon those who fear him,
upon those who hope for his kindness,
To deliver them from death
and preserve them in spite of famine.

8 April 2016 - what good are these for so many?

[ Today's Readings ]

“There is a boy here who has five barley loaves and two fish;
but what good are these for so many?”

Your grace is always enough for us, Jesus. But sometimes the actual count of loaves and fish comes up short. We wonder where we can get enough food to feed the people. We are embarrassed even to mention the five barley loaves and two fish. Rationally speaking, it isn't enough for all of these people. Yet they are essential to your plan.

He said this to test him,
because he himself knew what he was going to do.

With miraculous multiplication of the food we might wonder why these loaves and fish are even important. They are of human origin. Why not just directly create the food you want to use to feed the people LORD? Why do you bring us to the edge of our own insufficiency before your grace takes over? On the one hand, it would be more convenient for us to sit back and watch as you just do everything yourself. But then we do not grow. Nothing is on the line for us when we are spectators. As mere observers we don't really have to trust you in the same way that Andrew has to trust you to even mention the five loaves and two fish. 

You call us to the edge, LORD. You call us to our own limits precisely so that we can trust you to surpass them by your grace in us. The world sees the boy come forward with his meager offering and doesn't know what to make it of it. Christianity itself seems like a meager offering in the face of a dark and damaged world. The world is quick to judge the whole thing to be of human origin.

For if this endeavor or this activity is of human origin,
it will destroy itself.

But we know it is not. The world just needs to keep watching.

But if it comes from God, you will not be able to destroy them;
you may even find yourselves fighting against God.

 If the world continues to watch they see your grace at work. They see loaves and baskets leftover.

When the people saw the sign he had done, they said,
“This is truly the Prophet, the one who is to come into the world.” 

Will this happen if we are afraid to come forward with our meager gifts? Well, even then you don't give up. But why leave it to chance? Give us the courage to use the talents you give us so that there can be a rich harvest for the kingdom.

The LORD is my light and my salvation;
whom should I fear?
The LORD is my life’s refuge;
of whom should I be afraid?

I'll bet you were expecting Matt Maher...