31 May 2023 - home visit

Today's Readings

(Audio)

Mary set out

and traveled to the hill country in haste

to a town of Judah,

where she entered the house of Zechariah

and greeted Elizabeth.

Mary had only just heard from the angel tidings that were going to be hugely impactful, life-changing, and complicated. Yet she did not get bogged down in analyzing the details but instead trusted in the word of God that came to her through the angel Gabriel. Rather than trying to fit the news she had received into a preexisting mold she allowed herself to be caught up in a new role in a new story. 

One thing Mary did focus on in Gabriel's revelation was the fact that Elizabeth, her relative had conceived, and could no doubt use the help and presence of Mary. Mary's visitation to Elizabeth was as a new ark of the covenant bringing the presence of God powerfully into her life and situation. Although this was true Mary didn't arrive to be admired or to boast but rather to help as a humble servant. It was precisely this emptiness of self that made her such a fit vessel for the presence of her Lord.

Most blessed are you among women,

and blessed is the fruit of your womb.

And how does this happen to me,

that the mother of my Lord should come to me?

What did Mary accomplish by her presence? From our passage we can note two things in particular. The first was that the way she brought her Lord to Elizabeth caused Elizabeth to be filled with the Holy Spirit, making her rejoice as though she heard the exhortation from our first reading:

Shout for joy, O daughter Zion!

Sing joyfully, O Israel!

This impartation of the joy of the Spirit was something that the was accomplished even without words. But the second thing we saw Mary do was to provide the context. She explained better than any theologian could have the way God shown her great favor. But more than that, she invited Elizabeth, and indeed those "in every generation" to be part of that story. She invited Elizabeth to join her as a handmade proclaiming the greatness of the Lord, as one who feared him and revered his strength. Then together they would be among those lowly lifted up, those hungry filled with good things. In short, she insisted that the promises of God were not only to Abraham, nor only a select few, but to anyone who would learn to dispose herself before the Lord as Mary did, therefore, at least potentially, to the whole world.

Mary continues to bring the presence of her Lord to us who have been given to her as sons and daughters by him. She does this not for her own sake but so that we too can share in the joy of the Holy Spirit that she herself came to know and to cherish, and so that, being thus filled, we too can join her in rejoicing in God and proclaiming his greatness. If King David danced with abandon before the arc of the Old Covenant how much more cause have we for joy even than him? And even this great joy that is somehow only a pale reflection of the joy God takes in us when we allow Mary to show us the way.

He will rejoice over you with gladness,

and renew you in his love,

He will sing joyfully because of you,

as one sings at festivals.

K. Lee Scott - Rejoice, Rejoice Believers

30 May 2023 - 100x

Today's Readings

(Audio)

Peter began to say to Jesus,

'We have given up everything and followed you."

Peter was implying that he and the other disciples had in fact done that to which Jesus invited the rich young ruler, but which that man found himself unable to do, that being, "Go, sell what you have, and give to [the] poor and you will have treasure in heaven; then come, follow me" (see Mark 10:21). But although they had done so, the disciples current experience was focused primarily on what they had left behind, which seemed like a lot. Peter had heard that this letting go and following Jesus was a condition of inheriting eternal life. But to him and the other disciples at present it felt more like a drain on their life than a source of it. He looked to Jesus questioningly, as if to implicitly ask, 'But will it really be worth it?'

Jesus said, "Amen, I say to you,

there is no one who has given up house or brothers or sisters

or mother or father or children or lands

for my sake and for the sake of the Gospel

Jesus did not sugarcoat the sacrifices it was necessary for the disciples to make, including being ostracized and separated from others for his sake and the sake of the Gospel. This was inherently a cost of following him since he who was the light of the world and truth itself would be a source of division to those who preferred darkness and lies. Following Jesus meant sharing in his own rejection by those whom he loved and came to save. We imagine ourselves to live in a society where many diverse viewpoints are allowed and yet sharing Jesus Gospel of peace at the dinner table can often be a quick way to ensure we aren't invited back. Jesus was realistic about the sacrifices entailed in following him so that his disciples could set their minds in advance that such sacrifices were in fact worth the cost.

who will not receive a hundred times more now in this present age:

houses and brothers and sisters

and mothers and children and lands,

with persecutions, and eternal life in the age to come.

Even in this present age we are invited to receive and hundred times more than anything we might lose, through the spiritual auspices of the Church. In her we have more and better houses in which to gather than anything one could find on Zillow, and a new family united at a deeper level than shared blood and common ancestry. When we are willing to let go of worldly things Jesus is able to fill us instead with lasting spiritual goods. When we finally forego the well of water that leaves us thirsting we can begin to taste the living water that can quench our thirst for all eternity (see John 4:7-15). In this context even persecutions become a gift given to us that we can offer back to Jesus. When Jesus is first in our lives these persecutions lose their power over us, and no longer threaten our commitment to his Gospel. In experiencing this new life with a new Mother and new brothers and sisters joined together as members of a new and living temple we begin to experience even here and now the eternal life for which we hope in the age to come. And this seems to have been Jesus goal in responding to Peter's unspoken question: to help him to overcome the disconnect between what he was feeling about life in this world and the promise of the world to come.

But many that are first will be last, and the last will be first.

Many will be like the rich man and go away sad because they prefer to cling to earthly things, which, though not bad in themselves, become problematic when they keep us from following Jesus in freedom of heart. Yet there are those who will learn to see things as Jesus sees them and will allow themselves to be last in the eyes of the present age in order to root themselves in the greater, though often still hidden, good of eternal life.

For the LORD is one who always repays,

and he will give back to you sevenfold.

Matt Maher - Lay It Down

29 May 2023 - mother of the living

Today's Readings

(Audio)

When Jesus saw his mother and the disciple there whom he loved,

he said to his mother, “Woman, behold, your son.”

Jesus gave Mary to be the mother not of one disciple only but the Church as a whole and to each of us individually. The disciple whom he loved was likely John, but he was described as he was to serve as a placeholder for ourselves, disciples beloved of Jesus. 

Because her motherhood extended to "those who keep God's commandments and bear witness to Jesus" (see Revelation 12:17) Mary was the true "mother of all the living" that Eve was meant to be (see 

Genesis 3:20). It was clear from the moment that Eve squandered the supernatural life that was God's gift that God was not simply going to abandon his creatures or start again in some unrelated way, but that he had a plan to restore what was lost precisely through a woman and her offspring. 

I will put enmity between you and the woman,

and between your offspring and hers;

He will strike at your head,

while you strike at his heel.

Mary's faith undid the faithlessness of Eve. As Saint Irenaeus wrote, "For what the virgin Eve had bound fast through unbelief, this did the virgin Mary set free through faith" (see Against Heresies, Book 3, Chapter 22, Paragraph 4). It was through her faith that the fruitfulness of the divine life manifested to the world. This was true at the annunciation when she chose to trust in the words of the angel. It was true as she stood near the cross of her Son when the Church was born from his wounded side. And it was true in the upper room at Pentecost when she gathered in prayer with the others for the outpouring of the Spirit. Mary was like a microcosm of the faithful Church. And the Church at its best would always be a reflection of Mary on a larger scale, fidelity giving birth to many children for the Lord. For such faith would always be the path to blessedness. Yet the children of Mary and of the Church were not always nearly so faithful as she, not always nearly so holy as the Church in its essence would always be. For this reason we need to open ourselves to the gift of the motherhood of Mary and of the Church so that the head of the serpent can be crushed in our lives and in our world. And so we should heed Jesus words to the beloved disciple.

Then he said to the disciple, “Behold, your mother.”

The thirst of Jesus on the cross was that the world would ask for and sate itself upon the living water that flowed from his side, the very water that we read was poured out together with his precious blood. Mary was eager for her Son to give this gift to the world as we can see from her involvement at the wedding at Cana. And why? Because she knows that we are children destined for a wedding feast, but that we lack the wine of joy that can come from Jesus alone. This wine was poured out upon the cross but received most fully by the disciples at Pentecost. Mary herself knew what it was like to be filled with the Holy Spirit and so she helped those present in the upper-room to welcome the Spirit and to drink deeply the gift her Son had given at such great cost. If we take heed and behold our mother she will guide us to the spring where we too can drink and be satisfied.

John Michael Talbot - Holy Is His Name

28 May 2023 - unlocked

Today's Readings - Pentecost Sunday

(Audio)

On the evening of that first day of the week,

when the doors were locked, where the disciples were,

for fear of the Jews,

Jesus came and stood in their midst

The locked doors were no obstacle to Jesus, just as the stone that closed the tomb was no hindrance to his resurrection. He came into the locked room and found his disciples with hearts closed down in fear. They heard the words of the women who had seen the risen Lord but could not move themselves to believe. Or if they didn't entirely disbelieve them it was not yet enough to transform their fear into faith. Only an encounter with the risen Lord himself could do this.

Jesus came and stood in their midst

and said to them, “Peace be with you.”

When he had said this, he showed them his hands and his side.

Jesus had given his gift of peace even before his suffering and death but it was only now and in this way that his disciples were able to receive it. The fact that he still bore the marks of his suffering, reminders of the horrible hour when all hope seemed lost, but now on his glorified body, allowed the doubt and fear of that dark hour to be healed.

The nails had pierced His hands, the lance had pierced His side. For the healing of doubting hearts, the marks of the wounds were still preserved. 

- Saint Augustine

As a thought exercise we could imagine a scenario where Jesus did not decide to keep his wounds visible on his glorified body. Could he have assuaged the fear of his disciples on the same way? Or would he not have appeared aloof, abstracted and unconcerned with the things of earth? Would not the lack of obvious connection to his passion seem to have in some way trivialized not only the passion itself but also the disciples experience of it? Yet the Jesus they encountered was one still bearing his wounds, still "a Lamb standing, as though it had been slain" (see Revelation 5:6), still a high priest with "something to offer" (see Hebrews 8:3). We are invited to see something very much like this, albeit with the eyes of our hearts, when we hear "Behold the lamb of God" spoken in the context of the mass. Thus it can be healing for our hearts from the wounds of our own doubts the have arisen in the course of our trials in this life.

The disciples rejoiced when they saw the Lord.

Jesus said to them again, “Peace be with you.

The disciples rejoiced just as Jesus promised they would (see John 16:22). Such promises are difficult to believe during trials and suffering but once they are vindicated we are able to learn to trust more deeply. Jesus spoke a word of peace when he met them, but then a second word, this time from a deeper place of recognition, a place where woundedness was glorified. Such peace was the gift of Jesus to his Church, peace that the world could not take away. That the world had tried was visibly evident. But clearly it had failed to do so.

As the Father has sent me, so I send you.”

And when he had said this, he breathed on them and said to them,

“Receive the Holy Spirit.

Just as God breathed life into Adam and made him alive Jesus breathed life into his Church making it to live by the Spirit. Just as Ezekiel witnessed, the breath of the Spirit came upon the dry bones of the disciples and gave them new life (see Ezekiel 37:9). The chief obstacle to receiving and living this new life was sin, but the remedy to it was provided right here at the beginning.

Whose sins you forgive are forgiven them,

and whose sins you retain are retained.

The disciples experienced the full outpouring of the Holy Spirit on Pentecost. And although certain aspects of that outpouring, like the forgiveness of sin, were given only to those in authority, it was not the case that the Spirit was only for a select few or for a specific early age in the life of the Church. We too are invited to join with Mary and the disciples in the upper room in order to ask and to receive to the gift of the Holy Spirit. And this is true no matter what we have already received, however little or however great, for God always has more for us. 

To each individual the manifestation of the Spirit

is given for some benefit.

God always has more for us, but we tend to place limits on what he can do in us. The doubts that make us place these limits on him can be healed by looking upon his wounded hands and side, even now present on his glorified body. Just as he was transformed there is nothing to stop him from transforming us except our own stubborn resistance. May his risen presence give us the courage to hope for all he desires to do in us.

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.

Kari Jobe and Cody Carnes - Holy Spirit

Songs In His Presence - Psalm 104: Lord, Send Out Your Spirit

Paul Wilbur - Let Your Fire Fall

27 May 2023 - mind your business

Today's Readings

(Audio)

Jesus had just finished telling Peter, albeit in a veiled way, about the death he was to die. During the Passion Peter went where he wanted clothed in a false identity in order to avoid embracing the path of Jesus, which was a way he did not wish to go. But when he was older, Jesus told him, he would take this path at last, and finally follow Jesus even unto death. Jesus told Peter this immediately after he gave him his full restoration and forgiveness. On the one hand Peter must have been gratified to know he would  have another chance to do what he had at first failed to do.

When Peter saw him, he said to Jesus, "Lord, what about him?"

Even at this stage of spiritual maturity and deeper self-knowledge, in the presence of the risen Lord, the thought of giving his life was hard to accept. We can see him grappling with it in this question about John, the beloved disciple The question might be interpreted to ask whether it was only Peter that had to embrace such a difficult path. To Peter others seemed more blessed and shielded from the trials, temptations and sufferings of life. They seemed to be granted a primrose path. Were they simply that much better than he? Was he simply that much worse than the rest to deserve such a fate? There was an implicit protest about fairness hidden within that question.

Jesus said to him, "What if I want him to remain until I come?

What concern is it of yours?  

Jesus did not gratify the curiosity of Peter with an answer. John did indeed undergo his own suffering by being present at the crucifixion and would undergo still more during his persecution and exile to the island of Patmos. But Jesus did not attempt to show how every blessing and curious could by tallied and balanced between each individual. The experience of each was so uniquely personal that it could only remain between an individual and Jesus himself. To compare oneself with others was simply not going to be helpful because the deep interiority of others where they related to God was and would remain inaccessible and invisible from the outside.

You follow me.

We are called to walk the path that Jesus calls each of us to walk as individuals and not that of another. We are not forced into a mold into which we do not naturally fit, but rather are invited down a path prepared especially for us. We see others walking paths that we imagine we might prefer and still others whose paths we are grateful are not our own. But we must trust that what has Jesus has prepared for us is better than anything we could ask for ourselves. And that is not less true if what he has prepared for us is the cross. It is after all his own precious cross that he desires to share with us, that he moves heaven and earth within our mind and desires to allow us to share with him. And so let us also cease with comparison to others and get about the business of following Jesus where he is leading each of us individually, Good Shepherd that he is.

There are also many other things that Jesus did,

but if these were to be described individually,

I do not think the whole world would contain the books

that would be written.

We would of course be curious to know what else Jesus did and said that was not contained in the Scriptures. But the point of the Evangelist is that what we needed, what was essential, was conveyed. What conduced only the curiosity was omitted. The point was to be testimony to Jesus, that he demonstrated that he was who he was by the what he did. The basic message was not overly complicated, and the Gospel writers did not complicate it with many extraneous details. The central message was that Jesus was, as Paul called him, "the hope of Israel" in whom the reign of the kingdom of God had begun at last. This was proven when the Father raised him from the dead and by his ascension into glory. Because of the unavoidable centrality of the suffering and death of Jesus we might have preferred additional details to distract us. But Jesus was clear that that following him was the only path to glory. The Gospel writers ensured that reality was central and hard to miss for those who read their books of testimony.

The just will gaze on your face, O Lord.

Chris Tomlin - I Will Follow

26 May 2023 - do you love me more than these?

Today's Readings

(Audio)

Peter had been so full of certainty that he would not betray the Lord even if all of the others fell away. 

Peter answered him, “Though they all fall away because of you, I will never fall away.”  (see Matthew 26:33).

He even claimed that he was willing to die with Jesus rather than abandon him (see Matthew 26:35). And perhaps he would have been able to die if had been in battle, if Jesus had not commanded him to put his sword away (see Matthew 26:52). But he proved unable to follow the path of humiliation, disempowerment, and surrender that Jesus himself chose. It was when he was gathered around a charcoal fire that Peter denied that he was a disciple of Jesus or that he even knew him (see John 18:18). It seems as though he was swept in in an urgent need to protect himself, to put himself first, that was so intense that it made him forget his friendship with Jesus. It was as though the rooster's crow brought him fully back to himself and made him come to terms with the full tragedy of what he had just done. Peter must have realized that he had not only failed to keep a series of increasingly rash promises he had made in the heat of a charged moment, but had failed at something more vital.

So everyone who acknowledges me before men, I also will acknowledge before my Father who is in heaven, but whoever denies me before men, I also will deny before my Father who is in heaven (see Matthew 10:32-33).

Given the pride of place Peter had as the rock on whom the Church was to be built and the one who received in a special way the keys to the kingdom his failure and his betrayal of Jesus might have seemed unforgivable. It might not have been surprising for him to assume as Judas did that there was no hope left for him in this life and to end it all. But Peter was blessed to know that Jesus knew of his fall and advance, and had a mercy that was greater than any power of Peter to betray him. He had heard Jesus say, "but I have prayed for you that your faith may not fail. And when you have turned again, strengthen your brothers" (see Luke 22:32). Yet even seeing Jesus speak calmly about his betrayal in advance, and his desire to see him restored afterward, Peter must have wondered, could things ever be the same? Surely after all of that he was at best a second class disciple, not at all a rock capable of bearing the weight of the founding of a Church, not at all trustworthy to hold the keys he had been given.

"Simon, son of John, do you love me more than these?"

Simon Peter answered him, "Yes, Lord, you know that I love you."

Jesus said to him, "Feed my lambs."

Because it would not have been enough for Peter to simply hear Jesus say he was forgiven Jesus restored him in a way that recapitulated his earlier denial in such a way as to allow Peter to replace his previously spoken 'no's' to the Lord with 'yes's'. These were not spoken from the same place as his rash promises from before but were rather torn from a heart full of the knowledge of its own limitations, but nevertheless willing to entrust itself to this opportunity for mercy. If he had denied Jesus three times, Jesus would have him affirm his love three times.

Peter was distressed that he had said to him a third time,

"Do you love me?" and he said to him,

"Lord, you know everything; you know that I love you."

Jesus said to him, "Feed my sheep.

Peter had to be emptied of himself, that self that rashly made promises it could not keep, in order to share in the destiny of Jesus and follow his way of the cross. Previously he had too much self will within him that insisted on dressing himself and going where he himself wanted to go. But his betrayal was transformed by Jesus and his mercy into something good, something that broke open the heart of Peter and made it able to love as Jesus himself had first loved him.

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.

Peter was not a second class disciple and his sinfulness did not present an obstacle to Jesus using him as he desired precisely because Peter was willing to keep hoping in Jesus rather than succumbing to despair. He was willing to fully avail himself of the mercy Jesus offered rather than assuming that he was somehow to far gone even for Jesus. And so Peter was made into an even more solid rock than perhaps he would have been had he never fallen. He now deeply understood that everything depended on Jesus and his mercy. He now knew that there was nothing on earth worth betraying his Lord. He was ready now at last, with no terms or conditions imposed from his side, to hear Jesus say, "Follow me" and to obey.

The fearless of the early disciples did not stem from their innate abilities or inborn confidence. Their courage was instead a gift of the Holy Spirit made possible by the mercy of Jesus himself. Paul did not fearlessly appeal for the Emperor's decision because of his own impeccable credentials but because Jesus had saved him and chosen him as his own. He had saved him from a path of evil and showed him what he would have to suffer for his sake. Surprisingly this made him an even stronger witness than he could have been otherwise.

And when Paul appealed that he be held in custody

for the Emperor's decision,

I ordered him held until I could send him to Caesar.

Most contemporary disciples in first world nations remain relatively untested. Some of us make bold and even rash promises and statements about not abandoning our Lord and our faith. And our intentions are good enough. But if we want to be made capable of living these out we need to come to terms in advance with the full scope of our need for the mercy of God, which is not less than it was for Peter and Paul. This mercy can break open our hearts, allowing them to be rooted in something bigger than ourselves, and allowing God himself to fill them with courage and strength by his Spirit.

Casting Crowns - Jesus Friend Of Sinners

25 May 2023 - that they may all be one

Today's Readings

(Audio)

I pray not only for these,

but also for those who will believe in me through their word,

so that they may all be one

Jesus saw beyond his present moment together with his disciples to the age of those who would believe through their testimony, the age of the Church. He prayed for women and men of every age who would believe the word of the disciples, including ourselves, that we would all be one. We read yesterday that the evil one would oppose the work of the disciples, and sow lies to attempt to break the unity Jesus desired for his Church. Thus we are given to understand that this unity that Jesus desired was to have its basis in a community consecrated to the truth. It was not to be a thin or superficial unity, not merely an external conformity of appearance, but a genuine communion of love, based in the truth of the love of the Father for the Son and the Son for the Father. This truth of necessity excluded many falsehoods about love, but always for the sake of preserving the purity of genuine interpersonal communion. Only such love can bring us to perfection as one. In a world like ours where every individual decides for herself the definition of love any overlap is purely coincidental and we end up all pursuing our own isolated projects. We base our unity on lesser elements like a shared sense of persecution and can't find our way to a unity broad enough for all humankind. But it was just for such a broad and robust unity that Jesus prayed.

And I have given them the glory you gave me,

so that they may be one, as we are one,

I in them and you in me,

that they may be brought to perfection as one,

that the world may know that you sent me,

and that you loved them even as you loved me.

It is one thing to wax elegant about this great gift of love and union that Jesus gave to his Church. It is another to actually assess the degree to which the Church is availing herself of that gift. She is meant to be a witness to the whole world of the reality of the love of the Father and the Son for the world. Yet often we see something little better than the dispute between the Pharisees and the Sadducees in our reading from Acts. Jesus prayed for unity in the Church, and this guaranteed access to truth the possibility of our sharing in the communion of the Father and the Son to all the ages. But it did not guarantee that we would so maximally avail ourselves of the gift as to be the best possible witnesses to the world. The world tends to focus on our conflicts, failings and flaws. And who can blame them? Such flaws seem to give the lie to the claims we make. The hidden inner life of the Church that really does remain luminously present is easier to ignore. This is why we can't be content with the way things are at present but must, each in our own sphere, according to the unique gifts we have been given, strive for unity. This may be as simple as opening ourselves to relationships with those in the Church who seem to think differently, and with whom we might have no natural affection. We may do this not so much from a hope of changing such individuals as from a hope that, through genuine relationship, the Holy Spirit may change us both.

Father, they are your gift to me.

When we realize that everyone we meet is an actual or potential gift of the Father to Jesus we ought to begin to treat them differently, even with something like reverential fear. Jesus desires that we be drawn by love into the fullness of the love that he himself receives from  the Father. This is the intended destiny of every human being, whether they know the Father yet or not. And so our mission be the same as was Jesus own mission, and must proceed with the urgency that defined his.

I made known to them your name and I will make it known,

that the love with which you loved me

may be in them and I in them.

It is when we are caught up in this mission, something much bigger than ourselves and our pet projects, that we may become courageous witnesses. We see this exemplified in Saint Paul:

The following night the Lord stood by him and said, "Take courage.

For just as you have borne witness to my cause in Jerusalem,

so you must also bear witness in Rome."

Jars Of Clay - They'll Know We Are Christians By Our Love

24 May 2023 - unity in truth

Today's Readings

(Audio)

Lifting up his eyes to heaven, Jesus prayed, saying:

“Holy Father, keep them in your name

that you have given me,

so that they may be one just as we are one.

Jesus asked the Father protect his disciples just as Jesus himself protected them when he was present with them. The goal of this protection was "that they may be one" and the possibility of its realization was the same when Jesus was present as it would be after his departure, that being "the name that you have given me". The name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit is only one name, hence we do not say 'the names of'. We know that when the Scriptures refer to a name they refer to something more than the syllables that are spoken to address a person. The name conveys the whole identity of the person. Thus, the name of the Triune God brings with it the life that God himself enjoys including his unity. On earth Jesus drew his disciples into unity by his being a living revelation of his Father. They were able to witness the interplay of love with his Father that marked the entirety of the life of Jesus. This drew them up out of their personal squabbles, their merely human commitments, and their pride, making friends out of those who would not naturally have affection for one another. 

I know that after my departure savage wolves will come among you,

and they will not spare the flock.

And from your own group, men will come forward perverting the truth

to draw the disciples away after them.

We see the reason Jesus prayer was so necessary in the prophetic words of Paul. From their own group men would come and pervert the truth thus putting the unity for which Jesus prayed at risk. And we see also in Paul that this unity was no mere dogmatic conformity, but was rather something deeper. Truth was a fundamental prerequisite. But it did not stop at cold definitions or doctrinal statements but resulted in true brotherly affection.

They were all weeping loudly

as they threw their arms around Paul and kissed him,

for they were deeply distressed that he had said

that they would never see his face again.

Just as Paul did we too will face challenges in the world. Some of them will be so overwhelming that we might wish that Jesus had prayed to take us out of the world. But he preferred that we remain to be his presence in the world, to be in the world but not of it. To that end he prayed for us that we would be protected from the chief architect of disunity in the world, the Evil One. He made it clear that on our own apart from this prayer of his we would be susceptible and at risk. Rather than leaving us in this condition he prayed that we be consecrated by truth and for truth, set apart from all lies, and protected from the Father of lies. Jesus himself set himself apart for the Father and for truth and he prayed to share this consecration with us. It was in fact a priestly consecration fully realized when he offered himself to the Father. And in this world of marked by sin and idols competing for our allegiance the consecration in truth always comes by way of sacrifice. The deepest truth is love, which means to be a gift to others. And in our world this means being the grain of wheat that falls to the ground and dies. It means taking up our crosses and following Jesus himself. This consecration for which Jesus prayed applied in a special way to the ministerial priesthood. But we remember that we are all called to be priests, offering our lives as spiritual sacrifices unto God for the world.

Therefore, I urge you, brothers and sisters, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God—this is your true and proper worship (see Romans 12:1).

But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his own possession, that you may proclaim the excellencies of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light (see First Peter 2:9).

Todd Agnew - Romans 12:1

23 May 2023 - to know the Lord

Today's Readings

(Audio)

Father, the hour has come.

Give glory to your son, so that your son may glorify you,

just as you gave him authority over all people,

so that your son may give eternal life to all you gave him.

Jesus came to the hour of the cross intentionally and not accidentally. It was a choice and not a weakness or a failure. He did so as the culmination of a life lived in obedience to the will of his Father. He glorified the Father with all that he was and, as a consequence, the Father would glorify him in turn, making even his humanity reveal to the world the glory that was never lacking to him in his divinity. Jesus acted out of love for the Father and the Father out of love for his Son. But they both together also acted out of love for their creatures. Their mutual love overflowed in such a way that it became the source of eternal life for those who would believe.

Now this is eternal life,

that they should know you, the only true God,

and the one whom you sent, Jesus Christ.

The knowledge about which Jesus spoke was not abstract, but deeply personal. Biblically, we speak of the way a husband 'knows' his wife, and this is much closer to the mark in the present case. It is a knowing the implicates us in the mutual love of the Father and the Son (the love that the Spirit himself is!), making us partakers of the divine nature. At present we have access to this eternal life through faith, which is in some ways like a preview of coming attractions, but which really does in some sense make future realities present and effective even here and now for believers. 

Think of what is above, not of what is on earth.

For you have died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God.

When Christ your life appears, then you too will appear with him in glory (see Colossians 3:2-4).

Jesus desired to impart his words to the disciples, but in doing so he was not dealing in dead letters. Rather, as the one who was himself the Word of God, he was attempting to impart to his disciple everything that he himself was. This is why it is so important for us that we not stagnate in our faith but to ourselves continue to grow in understanding of what it means that Jesus came from the Father, to more and more learn to treasure what that implies about the very precious words he has given us from him.

I pray for them.

I do not pray for the world but for the ones you have given me,

because they are yours, and everything of mine is yours

and everything of yours is mine,

and I have been glorified in them.

We do not struggle on our own to penetrate dense mysteries that are far too exulted for the human intellect. Rather, that we proceed it all in this faith and knowledge is a consequence of the fact that the Son himself asks it of the Father who in turn delights to answer his Son's every desire. This prayer of Jesus manifests in us as the Spirit who draws us by love into the one who is love itself.

Beloved, let us love one another, for love is from God, and whoever loves has been born of God and knows God. Anyone who does not love does not know God, because God is love (see First John 4:7-8).

The results of becoming docile to the Son's gift of the Spirit is visible and evident in Saint Paul. We can see in Paul a heart that was shaped in the mold of the heart of Jesus himself, desiring nothing but to be give all that he himself had received. Life in this world no longer held sway over his mind or his desires because he was already attaining by faith to the eternal life that is the knowledge of God and Jesus Christ whom he sent.

Brotherhood of Hope - To Love You And To Make You Loved

22 May 2023 - Spirit of victory

Today's Readings

(Audio)

Behold, the hour is coming and has arrived

when each of you will be scattered to his own home

and you will leave me alone.

But I am not alone, because the Father is with me.

Jesus said he told his disciples this specifically so that they might have peace in him. The alternative was to allow a false pride and a premature sense of understanding to grow in the disciples. They said they realized that Jesus knew everything and that he came from God. But when that belief was tested by the dark hour of the cross it proved not to be robust. Truly living out what they professed to believe would have meant following Jesus fearlessly even unto death. But when it came to crunch time, their words proved to be mere bravado, thin posturing for approval in the eyes of Jesus. 

Jesus knew his disciples would leave him. He told them in advance not so much in order to cut them down to size as so that they could later return and repent. It was as though he told them, 'In my mercy I see your coming abandonment and look past it to your restoration'. 

Jesus knew what he was getting with his disciples, and the same is true for us. He knew what sins we would commit, how we would betray him, and the moments we would leave him alone, even as he was creating us, restoring us in baptism, and feeding us with his own body and blood. None of our sins surprise him. None present a true obstacle to his plan as long as we are confident enough to return and repent. Therefore, the source of our peace in the world is not our own ability to be perfectly holy at all times, it is rather our confidence in the infinite mercy of the heart of Jesus.

I have told you this so that you might have peace in me.

We are in a better position than that of the disciples who were scattered. We are united to Jesus in a deeper and more unshakable way. Just is he himself was never alone because the Father was with him so too need we never be alone because the Triune God has come to dwell in our hearts. For us that means that, in spite of all appearances to the contrary, in spite of all the real and difficult troubles we encounter in the world, we nevertheless even now share in the victory of Christ who has already overcome them all. His victory, applied to our lives, becomes courage.

But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ (See First Corinthians 15:57).

For everyone who has been born of God overcomes the world. And this is the victory that has overcome the world—our faith (see First John 5:4).

On our own we can't think or act our way into a victorious life. Our efforts leave us tired and disheartened. The one who makes it possible for us to live out the victory of Christ in our own daily lives is circumstances is the Holy Spirit. Yet we often relate to the Spirit only distantly, only vaguely aware that there even is a Spirit at all. Yet we have in fact received him in baptism and in the laying on of hands we experienced in our confirmation. Even so, he often remains relatively dormant and inactive within us. Especially as we approach Pentecost we ought to look to rekindle the gift we have been given, and to fan cooling embers into a robust flame.

For this reason I remind you to fan into flame the gift of God, which is in you through the laying on of my hands (see Second Timothy 1:6).

TobyMac - Catchafire (Whoopsi-Daisy)

21 May 2023 - kingdom go?

Today's Readings for the Ascension

(Audio)

He presented himself alive to them

by many proofs after he had suffered,

appearing to them during forty days

and speaking about the kingdom of God.

Jesus had taken great care to appear to his apostles, demonstrating that he the cross had not been a defeat, but that death itself had in fact been conquered. He was not merely a vision or a spirit or an apparition. He was present to them bodily. He ate and drank with them and was able to be touched and embraced by them. He continued to speak of the kingdom of God which had always been his most frequent theme. Yet he did not use this apparent new found invincibility to go forward into the wider world, bringing about his kingdom by conquest. 

When they had gathered together they asked him,

“Lord, are you at this time going to restore the kingdom to Israel?”

The disciples were still expecting something different of the kingdom than what Jesus himself intended. Their expectations were probably growing by the day, as all of his appearances to them seemed to be preparing them for something. They not doubt recalled that he had promised that they would sit on twelve thrones judging the twelve tribes of Israel (see Matthew 19:28). Was he now gathering the twelve to go forward with him to establish this kingdom on earth? Indeed he was, but not in the way they imagined. The kingdom would not be some visible and immediate change in worldly structures of power. 

But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes upon you,

Jesus taught that the kingdom of God was in the midst of his listeners. And this was true precisely because he was the king, and the kingdom consisted of everyone gathered around him. But there were limits to the ways in which the human body of Jesus could be present to the multitude. Therefore, to accelerate the coming of his kingdom he desired to shift the mode of his presence from visible, through his body, to invisible, through his Spirit. 

and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem,

throughout Judea and Samaria,

and to the ends of the earth.

The disciples were being prepared to do more than sit back and watch the king conquer. They were being prepared to serve as his own hands and feet in the world. They were being prepared not to be conquerors, nor to build up the kingdom by battles with flesh and blood, but witnesses, building up the kingdom through the warfare of the Spirit. The kingdom would be found anywhere Jesus himself was welcomed. This meant that the enemies of the kingdom were not Romans or Jews or any other flesh and blood, but the powers of darkness.

are you at this time going to restore the kingdom to Israel?

Although there was to be a time when the kingdom would go forth in a hidden and invisible way it was nevertheless still the case that a day would come when the kingdom was fully restored and the king himself reigned completely. His reign would not remain forever heavenly and invisible but would one day restore all things even within the visible order of creation. However, the timing of the coming of the kingdom was to remain elusive. The disciples had no guarantees about any specifics regarding the spread of the Gospel, nor about when this project would reach its culmination. Jesus promised them something better than specific details. He promised his abiding presence. He promised that his own power, the power of the Holy Spirit would fill his body of believers from on high.  This was to be an age of trust in the invisible power and presence of God in our midst, the age of the Holy Spirit.

And behold, I am with you always, until the end of the age.

Our celebration of the Ascension can often find us like those "standing there looking at the sky". But the Ascension is not a time to lament the visible absence of Jesus, but rather to celebrate the new fullness of his invisible presence. We are not to simply wait longingly for the kingdom to happen. Rather, the kingdom is still in our midst because Jesus himself is with us. We must learn to let this reality define our lives as disciples and to invite others to experience it for themselves. 

The Holy Spirit is the one who alone can transform us from disciples immobilized by fear and confusion into effective and courageous members of the body of Christ in the world. It is this revelation that Paul prays be given to his readers in our passage from Ephesians. Let us hear ourselves as included in this prayer:

May the eyes of your hearts be enlightened,

that you may know what is the hope that belongs to his call,

what are the riches of glory

in his inheritance among the holy ones,

and what is the surpassing greatness of his power

for us who believe

Because of the Ascension and the gift of the Spirit we are joined to Jesus in a better way than merely physically close to him. From heaven he reigns as head over all things as head the the Church which is his body. He is even now moving to more and more fill all things in every way. Let's stop staring aimlessly at the sky and allow him to equip us with the power we need and then use us as he himself desires.

God mounts his throne amid shouts of joy;

the LORD, amid trumpet blasts.

Sing praise to God, sing praise;

sing praise to our king, sing praise.

Songs In His Presence - Psalm 47: God Mounts His Throne

East B Music Ministry - You Shall Be Clothed With Power

20 May 2023 - whatever you ask

Today's Readings

(Audio)

Amen, amen, I say to you,

whatever you ask the Father in my name he will give you.

We must ask in order to receive, seek in order to find, and knock so that the door may be opened to us. God does much in his providential care for us even when we do not ask. He does not ignore us or wait until we come to him to love us. He loved us before we had our first thought of him and indeed before we were capable of any thought at all. We were known and loved before we were formed in the womb (see Jeremiah 1:5). And yet God reserves many of his gifts to those who ask. This is meant to make us realize that their reception by us is no accident which in turn trains us both to open ourselves in receptivity and to respond with thanksgiving.

Until now you have not asked anything in my name;

ask and you will receive, so that your joy may be complete.

When we ask the Father in the name of the Son we are in effect trying to conform to the image of the Son, molding ourselves in his likeness. We go to the Father not through our own merit nor chiefly for our own desires. Rather, we go to the Father through the merit of the Son, trying to ask as the Son would ask. We should try to use this credit we have from the Son with the Father as the Son himself would spend it. How chaotic and unreconcilable it would be if everyone prayed to the Father in his own name for the desires of his flesh. By contrast, how great a symphony is the unity of prayer among believers united in the Son. It is prayer of this sort that keeps the world turning and keeps history on course to its ultimate goal of consummation in God himself. One consequence of being a part of this process for we who participate is joy. It is a joy that transcends circumstances and reassures us, in spite of appearances to the contrary, that God is in control and that we ourselves are safely on the path.

The hour is coming when I will no longer speak to you in figures

but I will tell you clearly about the Father.

It is the resurrection of Jesus and the descent of the Holy Spirit into our hearts that allow us to hear and understand clearly about the Father. The Spirit of love fills our hearts more and more, making us love Jesus, and as a consequence, making us like him. We come to embody our identity more and more as sons and daughters united in the Son. Therefore the Father himself recognizes us and hears in our prayers the very desires of his only begotten Son himself. The same love with which the Father loves the Son is what moves him to answer us when we pray. Is it any wonder that an overflow of joy into our hearts is a consequence of this?

Jesus sometimes has to revert to figures instead of plain speech for those who us who are reluctant to embrace the paschal mystery. It is only in the transformation made possible by the cross that we become able to open ourselves to the love dynamics of the Triune God. It is from that cross that Jesus poured out living water on the world. In doing so he refashioned human nature twisted and closed in on itself by sin and made it able to love as he himself loves. And it is this cruciform love that Jesus himself imparts to us by the Holy Spirit that his Father recognizes and to which he responds in us.

I came from the Father and have come into the world.

Now I am leaving the world and going back to the Father.

Jesus returned to the Father but his power is still present in the world. The power of his death and resurrection is still transforming weak and sinful creatures, making them joyful, and giving them power to advance the Kingdom in our midst. 

He began to speak boldly in the synagogue;

but when Priscilla and Aquila heard him,

they took him aside

and explained to him the Way of God more accurately.

We see in Apollos an example of someone moving through the stages of transformation, becoming increasingly conformed to the image of Jesus. The first level for him was the ability to speak and teach accurately about Jesus. But these were, more or less, figures of speech. The next level was the sacramental baptism of the Church which united him with Jesus and brought the Trinity to dwell in his heart. This was when he began to learn "clearly" about the Father, not through words as much as through experience. And it is clear that this increased depth of relationship gave him increased power to act in the name of Jesus.

After his arrival he gave great assistance

to those who had come to believe through grace.

He vigorously refuted the Jews in public,

establishing from the Scriptures that the Christ is Jesus.

Those of us who have been baptized often neglect to avail ourselves of the fullness of the gift we have received. We are reluctant to ask for much, telling ourselves that if something is God's will he will do it regardless. Yet this is clearly at odds with revelation. Joy and the fullness of life are meant to be things which we don't receive accidentally, but which we are given from his abundance as a response to prayer. Yet it isn't all about us. Nor is it primarily for our sakes that we must ask. Our prayers are meant to make present Jesus and his mission and Kingdom in the world. We neglect them only at great peril. Let us learn more accurately the Way of God so that we may ask the Father in the name of the Son. Then we will finally begin to taste this joy we say we want. Thus far we have not pursued it with much tenacity. May that change beginning here and now.

Jesus Culture - Break Every Chain

19 May 2023 - joy no one will take

Today's Readings

(Audio)

Amen, amen, I say to you, you will weep and mourn,

while the world rejoices;

you will grieve, but your grief will become joy.

The disciples wept and mourned during the crucifixion and death of their Lord. At the same time, the world, that aggregation of all of the powers hostile to God in society, religion, and politics came together to rejoice. They rejoiced that the enemy who sought to expose their corruption, who would not leave the status quo unchallenged, appeared to have been defeated. Their joy was marked by hostility, by mockery, and by callous indifference to suffering. They enjoyed the death of Jesus as though it was nothing more than a spectacle, as one might watch a TV show. They shouted, as it were, it the screen, and took pleasure in supporting, as they thought, the winning side. How disappointed and unsettled they would be when they heard the tomb was empty.

This pattern of the cross and resurrection was not only descriptive of Jesus, but is also emblematic of Christians who are called to take up our crosses daily and to follow him. Just as Jesus endured suffering and persecution for the joy set before him so too must those who would be his disciples. To be able to do so we must internalize this perspective of Jesus that puts our Godly grief in the proper context of our impending joy. We are called to remember that no matter what suffering we must undergo in our earthly lives that "the bad inn lasts for only a night" as Saint Teresa of Avila said. Or, as Paul said, "this light momentary affliction is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison" (see Second Corinthians 4:17).

When a woman is in labor, she is in anguish because her hour has arrived;

but when she has given birth to a child,

she no longer remembers the pain because of her joy

that a child has been born into the world.

How much strength it must give a woman to know that her labor pains are leading to the joy of childbirth. How different the experience would be if those pains were borne without any understanding or explanation. But we are often like those in labor pains that do not remember toward what those pains are tending. Rather than timing our breathing and efforts to cooperate with the process we lose heart. At best this takes the form of seeking distractions. At worst it leads us on the path of sin. 

The world is not willing to concede that much of what it celebrates as happiness and joy is limited, sinful, and corrupt. It cannot see beyond its own horizon to recognize the places true joy can be found. It is constrained to try to maximize pleasure in this present age and so fails to value things that transcend our earthly lives, not only God and his Kingdom, but even interpersonal relationships with other men and women. For the world things become a zero sum game where every individual must eek out for himself such pleasure as he can.

The world will mock our Christian hope. It can't help itself but to do so. It will often be critical of Christians, calling us irresponsible, ignoring how we do our best to build up the earthly city, even as we seek first the Kingdom. We must be ready to be misunderstood and yet stand our ground as we pursue something more than temporary pleasure.

But I will see you again, and your hearts will rejoice,

and no one will take your joy away from you.

Now it is clear that the fullness of this "see you again" will be realized for us when Jesus comes to bring us home. And yet, as we die to self and learn to live in love more and more, as we open ourselves to the Holy Spirit and his fruit, we begin to experience this unrelenting and unshakable joy even in this life. Already the divine life becomes fruitful within us and we become compelling signs of God's action in our midst to a world without hope.

It is clear that Paul's missionary life was marked by joy. We see that it was not a joy dictated by circumstances but one that required a higher explanation. It no doubt fed into the desire of others to persecute him. But to others it made him irresistible. If we desire the world to see what we have to offer as more than a matter of arguments over doctrine and titles we must embrace this paradigm of Jesus so that the joy he desires to pour out can be a sign to the world that he is himself alive and at work among us, an invitation to those who are barren to come to him to find life.

All you peoples, clap your hands,

shout to God with cries of gladness,

For the LORD, the Most High, the awesome,

is the great king over all the earth.

Newsboys - Joy

18 May 2023 - afraid to ask?

Today's Readings (non-Ascension)

(Audio)

So some of his disciples said to one another,

“What does this mean that he is saying to us,

‘A little while and you will not see me,

and again a little while and you will see me,’

and ‘Because I am going to the Father’?”

So they said, “What is this ‘little while’ of which he speaks?

We do not know what he means.”

Jesus would have known that his disciples couldn't take this teaching in right away. They wanted to know what he meant but seemed to be afraid to ask. So instead, they speculated amongst themselves. Rather than bring the difficult matter to Jesus for definitive judgment they preferred to remain in the realm of subjective opinion. It was true that even in that realm the saying they discussed still seemed quite dark and dire. But at least it wasn't pinned down to something specific. 

The disciples modeled a response to difficult things that we seem wont to imitate. We are all too ready to speculate among ourselves about all manner of things, but are not always ready to bring them to God for his definitive judgment. For what if that judgment includes weeping, mourning, and grief? But by not bringing something to Jesus we allow it to have power over ours minds. By bringing it to him he can put it in its proper place and perspective. Yes, we may first weep and mourn. But in Jesus way may look forward in hope to our grief turning to joy.

Jesus knew that they wanted to ask him, so he said to them

Jesus desires to interrupt our closed and isolated conversations and break in with his good news that, whatever the cross might be, in him, it will always lead to the joy of the resurrection. He will wait patiently for an opportunity to do so, a moment when we let our guard down and stop speaking incessantly of our own opinions about things so that he might get a word in edgewise. Better still, though, if we remember to ask him what he thinks and then to listen for his answer. It may for a moment be chastening to hear of the sorrow that must yet come. But when we know the joy to which it can lead we grow strong and can endure, just as Jesus himself did.

looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God (see Hebrews 12:2).

Mourning and grief might be a part of the picture but Jesus taught that the one who mourned was blessed (see Matthew 5:4). This was not for the sake of the grief itself, but because it was a necessary waypoint on the path to joy. There is on the one hand a worldly grief that is not helpful and leads nowhere. But there is on the other hand a godly grief that leads ever nearer to salvation.

For godly grief produces a repentance that leads to salvation without regret, whereas worldly grief produces death (see Second Corinthians 7:10).

Why are we so eager to keep our worldly grief? What keeps us so attached to it and yet shuns withdraws from Godly sorrow? Do we do this because we feel somehow more in control? Do we do it out of fear of the unknown? Are we afraid of the metamorphosis Godly sorrow might require and catalyze in our souls? Let us learn to trade this worldly sorrow along with our control for something better. Even if we can't know exactly where it leads we can nevertheless trust in our leader to guide us safely. Even if we pass through the valley of the shadow of death we can have courage with him at our side.

Learning not to fear what the world fears and not to avoid what the world avoids were prerequisites to Paul's missionary success. He was not swayed by persecution from Roman authorities nor from lack of acceptance by his listeners. He knew that God could somehow turn even such apparent setbacks as this to joy. He learned through his own experience that, "for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose" (see Romans 8:28).

Crispus, the synagogue official, came to believe in the Lord

along with his entire household, and many of the Corinthians

who heard believed and were baptized.

Darrell Evans - Trading My Sorrows