24 August 2025 - the narrow gate

 

Today's Readings
(Audio) 

Strive to enter through the narrow gate,
for many, I tell you, will attempt to enter
but will not be strong enough.

The entrance to the Kingdom is not wherever and whenever we please. This is difficult, since we would prefer a gate through which we could easily fit with room to spare, one still open after we finally got bored with all other options and conceded to go through it. We are often suspicious of a Kingdom with such a specific entrance. If we were creating it ourselves we would probably have included various gates of various sizes to correspond to the wide variety of people in the world. Even if a door had to close for some reason we would have stationed someone ready and waiting to open it to a person knocking outside. The actual Kingdom, by contrast, has only one door, not broad, but narrow, that will not open again after it closes, no matter how persistent the pleading from those outside. Harsh, we think.

And you will say,
'We ate and drank in your company and you taught in our streets.'

We should realize that the only business we might have in the Kingdom is on the basis of our association with the Lord. It is a Kingdom that was utterly closed off to humanity until he came to open the way in his own flesh (see Hebrews 10:20), by means of his cross, his death, and resurrection. The entrance was therefore narrow in that it was only through Jesus himself and by no other way. There was no other name given under heaven by which we could be saved (see Acts 4:12). Could he have opened a broader way, easier to enter? Not if the core meaning of the Kingdom was life together with God forever. If that was its meaning then it is amazing we could enter at all. Only because Jesus himself chose to become the bridge between heaven and earth was it even possible. The reason we experience the gate as narrow is because of all the baggage we would like to bring but has no business in the life of heaven. There is no room for our disordered affections or our lingering earthly attachments. And the only way to shed our excess is through the grace Jesus made available. Hence he was not only a way, but the way. Yet, although the entrance may seem constricted, we will be amazed by the spaciousness within.

And people will come from the east and the west
and from the north and the south
and will recline at table in the kingdom of God.

We are called to strive to enter this Kingdom. This striving is world's apart from forcing our way in by our own strength and ability, or by somehow earning a place inside. This Kingdom admits whom it will. In what sense, then, must we strive? As Hosea tells us, "Let us know; let us press on to know the Lord; his going out is sure as the dawn; he will come to us as the showers, as the spring rains that water the earth" (see Hosea 6:3). We are called to work out our salvation with fear and trembling remembering always that it is God who himself works within us for his good pleasure (see Philippians 2:11-13). Eternal life isn't ultimately about us or our greatness but rather surrendering ourselves more and more to Jesus and his greatness. As we read, "this is eternal life, that they know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom you have sent" (see John 17:3). It is precisely this connection to the king that makes perseverance possible. It can transform our experience of suffering, so that we can see it as discipline that is not pointless, but goal directed. When we see it this way it is not a guarantee that we will persist. But it will definitely make it less likely that we give up immediately in despair. It will enable us to more easily keep the goal in sight, and to trust in the Father who is helping us attain it.

For what "son" is there whom his father does not discipline?
At the time,
all discipline seems a cause not for joy but for pain,
yet later it brings the peaceful fruit of righteousness
to those who are trained by it. 

 

Hillsong Featuring Darlene Zschech

23 August 2025 - but do not follow their example

Today's Readings
(Audio) 

All their works are performed to be seen.

The scribes and the Pharisees were teachers who were often more interested in having the self-image of people who were wise and righteous than an actually acting with wisdom and righteousness. They were so preoccupied with thoughts of how they would be perceived by others that they didn't have a thought of sympathy to spare for the way their preaching might be received. They were too busy acting according to a preconstructed pattern to much notice or care that the burdens they were laying on the shoulders of others were heavy and hard to carry. They didn't even feel the need to attend to the core ideas that they preached themselves as long as they looked right to those around them. And naturally, if they never really tried to carry the burdens themselves, they would have no sense of how heavy others would find them. Their preoccupation with themselves and with their image made them insensible to the needs of others. Such preoccupation always leads to problems, but was especially egregious in the lives of teachers, who needed, not less, but more sympathy, in order to effectively understand the needs of their students and help them to advance.

Therefore, do and observe all things whatsoever they tell you,
but do not follow their example.

Bad examples did not necessarily invalidate true teaching. There would be a temptation to see selfishness and hypocrisy and react, not against the bad example, but against the valid teaching itself. One could easily imagine that if this is all that was meant by righteousness he might as well dive head first into hedonism and sin, since he wouldn't be missing out on anything by doing so, and would in fact be protesting what he found to be false about such hypocritical teachers. It would take one level of humility to embrace teachings about the path of righteousness at all. But it would take another to receive that teaching from hypocrites and still observe it. Yet since all teachers are human, even those who mean well still end up acting hypocritically at times. And so we must all learn not to reject what is genuinely truth no matter from whom we hear it.

We are called to be concerned with integrity. We must practice. And if we preach we must make even more certain to do so. We must not put burdens on others shoulders with no interest in helping them to carry them. Instead, we must lead them to the yoke of Jesus whose burden is easy and whose yoke is light, who will himself help them to do so. It is all too easy for the tone of a teacher to shift into a mode that is more self-congratulatory than useful. We have no business saying anything at all unless is arises from a genuine concern for others.

Absolutely speaking, the only true teacher, master, and Father is God. The point of caution about titles is that we sometimes forget and imagine that we become little gods ourselves, thinking that we are masters of the truth rather than its servants. But if we can only learn to put service ahead of self-image, doing everything for the sake of our one master, the Christ, we ourselves will remain safe, and even become a useful conduit of the truth to others.

Relient K - For The Moments I Feel Faint

22 August 2025 - I AM, the greatest.

Today's Readings
(Audio) 

"Teacher, which commandment in the law is the greatest?"

It wasn't a particularly devious question designed to entrap Jesus, necessarily. Though one could see a situation where, to any answer he gave, they would have responded by asking about some other commandment that he didn't mention. But it was more likely they intended to give him an opportunity to summarize his teaching by his answer, positioning the whole in relation to the main themes or priorities. Either way, the answer of Jesus didn't leave any openings for them to wonder about the competing priority of various rules. His answer was comprehensive and exhaustive.

He said to him,
"You shall love the Lord, your God, with all your heart,
with all your soul, and with all your mind.
This is the greatest and the first commandment.
The second is like it:
You shall love your neighbor as yourself.
The whole law and the prophets depend on these two commandments."

There really ought to have been no doubt that the commandment to love God above all held the first place among all of the laws of Israel. It had been emphasized again and again since it was first received by Moses, and had been implicit even before that. But there may have been a question of how the large number and variety of other commands related to the first and most important one. It was this that Jesus clarified by saying that the second was like the first. Already, before the coming of Jesus, this answer had a certain intuitive logic to it, since humanity was made in the image of God. One could not love God fully without also loving the creature he gave the dignity of his image and likeness. And love of neighbor could not be well maintained without reference to the God who was the origin and destiny of every person. 

One could not, however, love one's neighbor in lieu of loving God, as though there was nothing else to do beyond one's obligations of mercy and justice to others. We saw in the rich young ruler a person who had in fact kept all the commandments pertaining to love of neighbor from his youth and yet was still lacking something important. He could have achieved harmony between the love of God and love of neighbor by setting aside his worldly attachments and following Jesus. Jesus brought together the opportunity to love both God and neighbor in his own person, and through him, the possibility to embrace the world with a unified love that neglected neither God nor neighbor. Jesus was the bridge between God and man who elevated what was possible for humanity in terms of how perfectly they could love God, who had now come so close, and neighbor, whose dignity was now revealed with awe-inspiring clarity as a consequence of the incarnation.

The inseparability of these two commandments became a common theme of biblical writers such as John the Evangelist: 

If anyone says, “I love God,” and hates his brother, he is a liar; for he who does not love his brother whom he has seen cannot love God whom he has not seen (see First John 4:20).

We Christians are supposed to be recognizable by our love. This means that we need to be more than a spiritual NGO. People should notice that we are not just meeting obligations of justice but that we recognize a greater dignity and destiny in humanity than others, and treat them accordingly, as revelations of the love and the goodness of God.

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

21 August 2025 - free to feast

Today's Readings
(Audio) 

The Kingdom of heaven may be likened to a king
who gave a wedding feast for his son.
He dispatched his servants to summon the invited guests to the feast,
but they refused to come.

At first glance an invitation from the king would have seemed like a great option. It wasn't as though there could have been many highly competitive offers. No one was offering free tickets to Disney or an all-inclusive meal at a fancy restaurant. This wedding feast was the only game in town, and it was likely to live up to the hype. Who was better able to provide all that would conduce to joy than the king? And the king would certainly go all out for the wedding feast of his son. 

Some ignored the invitation and went away,
one to his farm, another to his business.
The rest laid hold of his servants,
mistreated them, and killed them.

It wasn't as though the people refused to come because they had something that could compete with king's invitation as an alternative. What they decided to prefer, the work of daily life, was emphatically not in the same category as the joy of a feast. So why prefer it? It must have been possible for them to take some time away from those things had they so desired. It is unlikely that the farm required twenty-four hour supervision or that the business could not be closed down for a few days. But still, the people felt that their daily lives, on the one hand, were reality, whereas, on the other, the celebration of a king they only knew distantly was an irrelevant fantasy. Their daily lives ensnared them as though they were legally bound to productivity and utilitarian value. They did not demonstrate the freedom of spirit required to enjoy a feast. But we too are like this in regard to the invitation to God's Kingdom. We aren't willing to modify our daily lives much in order to accommodate it. When there is the suggestion that we should do so, we tend to feel threatened, as if the king is encroaching on our rights. This is why prophetic voices are often mistreated and killed. And when we don't heed these voices it is at our peril. Although the response of the king seemed harsh it could be argued that leaving the citizens chained to their lives of servitude would have been worse. The destruction of the city opposed to the king could serve a wake-up call, exposing misplaced priorities.

Then the king said to his servants, ‘The feast is ready,
but those who were invited were not worthy to come.
Go out, therefore, into the main roads
and invite to the feast whomever you find.’

The king was set on seeing the wedding feast of his son well celebrated. He would fill the seats no matter what it took. We see the same sort of enthusiasm in him as we do in the landowner who kept looking for laborers for his vineyard until the last hour. Neither was content until every possible candidate had been invited. People might fail to come as a result of preferring their own disordered will to that of the king, but not because of any omission on the part of the king himself. In this he represented the God who desired all to be saved and to come knowledge of the truth.

He said to him, ‘My friend, how is it
that you came in here without a wedding garment?’
But he was reduced to silence.

Although the king desired all to attend the banquet they could not come in any attire. Their old life in the world was one which they had to leave behind, symbolically, by wearing a wedding garment. So too for our own invitation to the wedding feast of the lamb. We are not invited on the basis of the cleanliness of our attire. But we must attend without too much dirt or detritus staining our baptismal robes. And in fact, we must attend without spot or wrinkle or any such thing. But we do this by accepting the grace of perseverance given by Jesus himself.

that he might sanctify her, having cleansed her by the washing of water with the word, so that he might present the church to himself in splendor, without spot or wrinkle or any such thing, that she might be holy and without blemish (see Ephesians 5:26-27).

David Ruis - We Will Dance

20 August 2025 - living wage

 

 

Today's Readings
(Audio)

The Kingdom of heaven is like a landowner
who went out at dawn to hire laborers for his vineyard.

The master went out again and again to the marketplace to find laborers for his vineyard. He went and recruited when there was still a full day of work to go. And he kept going back, recruiting even when there was only an hour of work remaining. It's hard to imagine that he had this level of commitment for the sake of the vineyard. It seemed, rather, that he was concerned when he saw people standing around idle all day, looking for an excuse to exercise his generosity. It wasn't so much that he needed their work as that he saw the difference it made to their self-perceived dignity when they were able to put their capabilities to use and fully engage themselves, rather than doing nothing and remaining apparently useless. It was good for the individuals he recruited to have this experience of working toward an important goal, of being caught up in a project larger than themselves. Those who were idle in the market were trapped within themselves, probably introspective about precisely why no one had hired them. But everyone who had been chosen, whenever they were chosen, could infer from that the fact that they were in some way worthwhile. Was this lessened if their work did not, in the end, contribute much? Not if what really mattered was not their output but their willingness to participate. If that was what the master truly valued then it accounts not only for his excessive eagerness in seeking out workers but also for his odd strategy for reimbursing them.

And on receiving it they grumbled against the landowner, saying,
'These last ones worked only one hour,
and you have made them equal to us,
who bore the day's burden and the heat.'

If what the master truly cared about was the dignity of the workers, rather than the utilitarian value he gained through their employment, then it is not surprising that he wanted them all to receive a day's wage. He did not penalize those who were only recruited at the last hour since they still needed to in some way account for the whole day and make good on it. Yet he did not feel the need to pay those who began first with more, since what he agreed to pay them was fair, was enough for them to make good on the day. He was really looking to ensure that all of his workers received precisely what they needed. And that was, for all of them, a day's wage. 

He could, perhaps, have simply given some money to those who were idle, rather than insisting that they join the team. Then the workers hired first wouldn't have had occasion to compare themselves with them. But he was interested in more than the end reward. He was interested in helping them make the most of their time, however much remained.

Are you envious because I am generous?

The problem arises when we begin to compare what we receive with what others receive. We tend to make the mistake of assuming that what we receive reflects the value we contribute. But we all have an intrinsic value that is not dependent on what we receive. That we are invited to join the project of the vineyard, and that we receive a reward in the end, are not from us, but rather, from the generosity of the landowner. He himself is generous, and free to dispose of his wealth as he pleases. It is only we who twist it in our minds to make it seem unfair.

However many hours remain, let us thank the Lord for the privilege of being invited to help him with his vineyard. Let us continue to labor until evening falls, knowing that our reward will come, not from what we achieve, but from his goodness. And his goodness is always more than enough.

Andy Park - I See The Lord

19 August 2025 - for men this is impossible

Today's Readings
(Audio) 

Amen, I say to you, it will be hard for one who is rich
to enter the Kingdom of heaven.

We have seen how hard it can be. The rich young man from yesterday's Gospel demonstrated that his riches did not keep him from keeping the second commandment of the law and loving his neighbor. But they were an obstacle to him fully embracing the dynamic call of the Kingdom in his own life. Insofar as he was allowed to remain at the center and in control of his own life he was able to meet the secondary obligations that the law imposed. But when it came down to the decision of whether or not to follow Jesus he balked. He didn't want to lose his ability to be the final decision maker or abdicate his central place of self-governance. He could entertain the ideas someone like Jesus might present. But when asked to walk away from his possessions for the sake of Jesus he refused and went away sad.

Jesus looked at them and said,
“For men this is impossible,
but for God all things are possible.”

The rich young man was being invited to an undertaking that transcended what was humanly possible for him. But it was not impossible absolutely. Where Jesus gave an invitation there was sufficient grace to accept the invitation. But one needed to receive that invitation in faith, believing in the grace provided enough to overcome the doubt resulting from knowledge of one's weakness. The rich young man chose to believe that he was too tied to his riches, that they were too necessary for him to be happy, that could not give them up and follow Jesus. But he might have believed something else. He was free to do so. It was precisely some vague awareness of the reality of the alternate possibility that made his decision to stay on his current path so sad. If it had been, strictly speaking, impossible, he could have more easily shrugged it off. But it had been possible. And in spite of that he walked away.

Then Peter said to him in reply,
“We have given up everything and followed you.
What will there be for us?”

There were rewards for giving up everything and following Jesus. But they were not such that they would justify doing so in advance. They weren't the sort of rewards that the ego could use to justify discipleship in a cost benefit analysis. Peter had already made the choice to follow Jesus. He put first the Kingdom. And so he was free to receive all else besides. He didn't ask about the rewards first to make sure following Jesus would be worth his while. He sought the giver first and only secondarily inquired about the gifts. The reality of the gifts helped reinforce the idea that, although Christianity involved sacrifice, it led to something that was better than anything one had to surrender along the way. But it was able to lead to this new age was precisely because it led to the reality where the Son of Man was seated on his throne of glory. The greatness of the Kingdom could in no way be separated from the greatness of the King. 

And everyone who has given up houses or brothers or sisters
or father or mother or children or lands
for the sake of my name will receive a hundred times more,
and will inherit eternal life.

If we are asked to make sacrifices for our faith let us believe that we are capable of them, up to the task, not because of our strength, but through faith in the grace of Jesus. We can believe that they will be worth it even when our flesh protests and would prefer to keep its current wealth. We need not go away sad.

The LORD himself will give his benefits;
our land shall yield its increase.
Justice shall walk before him,
and salvation, along the way of his steps.

Matt Maher - Your Grace Is Enough

18 August 2025 - what good must we do?

 

Today's Readings
(Audio)

“Teacher, what good must I do to gain eternal life?”
He answered him, “Why do you ask me about the good?
There is only One who is good.

There was indeed a direct connection between the good and eternal life. This man sensed that Jesus had a more complete explanation of that connection than he could find elsewhere. But most likely he didn't know why he thought that. If Jesus was just another man like any other, with an opinion, however informed or interesting, why ask him? But since, in fact, Jesus was not like any other person, he attempted to draw out what was implicit in the young man's question.

If you wish to enter into life, keep the commandments.”
He asked him, “Which ones?” 

The commandments Jesus specifically mentioned were those pertaining to love of neighbor, the second tablet of the ten commandments. It was as though he was expecting the answer the young man gave, "All of these I have observed. What do I still lack?" Jesus seemed to give him the benefit of the doubt, that he sincerely had kept those commandments, so that he could go on to help him to see what he still lacked.

Jesus said to him, “If you wish to be perfect, go,
sell what you have and give to the poor,
and you will have treasure in heaven.
Then come, follow me.”

The young man had kept the second tablet of the law. But the place where more was needed was specifically in regard to the first. It related to Jesus, and why Jesus was an authority capable of speaking to the question. Jesus was himself the One who was good, and it was therefore by following him that the young man could hope to possess eternal life. In this way he could fulfill the first tablet of the law that pertained to love of God. Once there had been an encounter with Jesus fulfilling or not fulfilling those commandments was determined by one's response to him. He could decide to follow him and find joy, or else go away sad, trying to salvage what he could out of his old life. But there was no way to simply ignore the encounter and still honor God in the way God desired. There was no way to the Father except through the Son. To follow Jesus was to honor everything good in the law, and to find fulfillment of all that the young man had already embraced so far. But to turn aside was akin to giving up, seeing the fully realized ideal he had always desired, but determining that it was too difficult.

When the young man heard this statement, he went away sad,
for he had many possessions.

We can be on the path, doing many things well, and still end up walking away because of our attachments to things of this world. Sometimes the things we are asked to surrender will present us with the illusion that they are somehow worthy competitors to the joy of knowing Jesus and living with him forever. We, especially we who do have worldly abundance, must be especially careful to prioritize heavenly treasure. We must be cautious about becoming so attached to anything on earth that we would ever consider walking away from Jesus just to keep it. In the final analysis such things only present the appearance of goodness. God alone is truly good. He himself is the only reward worth seeking with all our hearts.

And this is eternal life, that they know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom you have sent (see John 17:3).

God Alone

17 August 2025 - trail blazer

 

Today's Readings
(Audio)

I have come to set the earth on fire,
and how I wish it were already blazing!

This fire was associated with his baptism, which makes sense. It was promised by John the Baptist that Jesus was the one who would, "baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire" (see Matthew 3:11). However, we also know that baptism related to the death of Jesus since, "all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death" (see Romans 6:3). This was the chalice that James and John naively believed they could drink, of which Jesus assured them, "The cup that I drink, you will drink, and with the baptism with which I am baptized, you will be baptized" (see Mark 10:39).

There is a baptism with which I must be baptized,
and how great is my anguish until it is accomplished!

His goal was the sending forth of the Holy Spirit, but that in order to do so the Passion was a necessary prerequisite. After all, in the Passion, the obstacles to the coming and indwelling of the Spirit were defeated. It was from the side of the crucified Christ that the living water of the Holy Spirit flowed. Before that, "the Spirit had not been given, because Jesus was not yet glorified" (see John 7:39). There was a death to the old that was first necessary in order that the new could come and find a place in us. Jesus first accomplished this death for us so that he could then make it present in us through our own baptism. He defeated sin in the world and would go on to defeat it in the hearts of his followers who learned to live, not by the flesh, but by the Spirit.

Do you think that I have come to establish peace on the earth?

The transformation that the fire of the Spirit was meant to cause in the lives of Christians was something that required their consent and cooperation. It was not something which they could accomplish of their own strength. But they could very much refuse it through their own stubbornness. The consequence of clinging to things that could not last, and the old life, was judgment. The fire of God would consume all that was unfit to stand in his presence since he himself was a consuming fire (see Hebrews 12:29). Those who kept their eyes fixed on Jesus, the leader and perfecter of their faith, would experience the joy of being transformed in the Holy Spirit, and would be made capable of living together with God for all eternity. Those who stubbornly refused to look away from the ego self would turn out to be "chaff he will burn with unquenchable fire" (see Matthew 3:12).

No, I tell you, but rather division.

Jesus desired his Kingdom and his Gospel to spread like a fire on the earth. And this would result in division between those who accepted the message and those who did not. But this division was not necessarily eternal, not the division between those who would live the life of the Spirit forever and those who would experience judgment in the fires of hell. The divisive aspect of Jesus on earth was important because it helped make more clear where people stood. But it did not imply perseverance of those who at one time accepted him. They remained free to turn away. Nor did it imply certainty of judgment for those who at one time seemed to oppose him, and that for two reasons. The first was that they had time to change as long as their lives lasted. The second was that no one can read the soul of another. There may have been mitigating circumstances resulting in invincible ignorance. Since God desires all to be saved, the existence of this time of division before judgment must be precisely so that Christians can give themselves to spreading the Gospel and eliminating insofar as possible the group of those opposed to God by converting them. It is an obligation even greater than that which we bear to our families on the basis of the fourth commandment. Jesus was in anguish to see the fire of his love fill the world. What about us?

 

Dan Purkapile - Come Holy Spirit

16. August 2025 - to such as these

Today's Readings
(Audio)

Children were brought to Jesus
that he might lay his hands on them and pray.

Children were precious in the eyes of God and therefore in the heart of Jesus as well. He wanted to welcome them and bless them whether or not they had any immediate need, such as an illness or demonic possession. It was simply good that they existed, which he celebrated by being near them. Nothing 'productive' needed to happen for this time he spent to be valuable. No doubt having this encounter with Jesus at the beginning of the lives would lead them to subsequent blessings in an otherwise uncertain future. Maybe their parents had such blessings in mind when they brought them to him. But Jesus and the children enjoyed something deeper than the future benefits he might provide. They enjoyed relationship. Any other blessings they might receive in the future were secondary to the beginning to be with Jesus, to knowing him and to be known by him. 

The disciples rebuked them

The disciples represented the worldly view of the situation. It was not necessarily that they despised children so much as that they thought Jesus had other more important, more productive things to do with his time. Children could not apparently yield any utilitarian value for bringing about the Kingdom of God. And these children didn't seem to be in any kind of dire need. The disciples didn't seem to conceive of the value of rest, in which people simply enjoyed one another's presence. Even if they had most probably experienced such time themselves with Jesus they did not yet understand that it was worth valuing and helping to facilitate for others as well, rather than trying to prevent and block it as they in fact did.

Let the children come to me, and do not prevent them;
for the Kingdom of heaven belongs to such as these.

The disciples were worried that Jesus didn't have time for these children, that they were a distraction from the project of establishing the Kingdom on earth. But Jesus demonstrated that his time with them was actually already an experience of the Kingdom then and there, a reality yet to come, but momentarily revealed. 

Maybe we can learn something from these disciples and from these children. We often find ourselves at the mercy of the urgent, chained to the need to be productive, under the tyranny of all the many apparently necessary tasks in our lives. Are we able to slow down and just give Jesus some quality time? More to it, can we help him to have such time with others? Do we recognize how good it is for him to be in relationship even with very young children, even when there is no obvious superficial difference that results from it? Or are our concerns for others more about the apparent exigencies of their lives? We should remember that the things that seem necessary in the light of tomorrow are not necessarily those that matter most in the light of eternity. Since we can experience the light of eternity in the presence of Jesus that would seem to be, not only our goal, but also the proper place to begin.

Elevation Worship - Trust In God

15 August 2025 - checking her assumption

Today's Readings (Vigil Mass)
(Audio) 

“Blessed is the womb that carried you
and the breasts at which you nursed.”

She was indeed blessed, but it went deep than they suspected. Mary wasn't blessed merely on the basis of blood relation to Jesus her son. Rather, she was blessed because she had been chosen by God, and having been chosen, consented to his will. We have seen that others had seemingly been chosen, but did not consent, which was not enough. An example of suchlike was Ahaz who said, "I will not ask, and I will not put the Lord to the test" (see Isaiah 7:11). But this only delayed and did not prevent God's plan. Because of it the promise was given through Isaiah that "the Lord himself will give you a sign. Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel" (see Isaiah 7:14). When Mary was invited to be the virgin through whom Immanuel would be given to the world she did ask for clarification, but she did not doubt or deny God's will. Instead she gave her famous fiat, saying "Behold, I am the servant of the Lord; let it be to me according to your word" in response to the words of the angel (see Luke 1:38). Therefore the blessing with which she was blessed was about something more than was normally entailed in the conception of a child. She was so open to the word of God in her life that the word of God was conceived and took on flesh within her. We can imagine that this openness to the Spirit that marked the birth of the child would have defined her entire relationship to him as he grew and matured. Therefore it was not only the amazing and commendable things done by a normal parent that she did for Jesus. She would also have raised him in response to the movements of the Spirit. After all, had she obeyed only long enough to give birth to the child that would not have created the situation Elizabeth described in which all generations would call her blessed. She never turned aside from the way of obedience, though it was probably the most pronounced in her response to Gabriel.

Death is swallowed up in victory.
Where, O death, is your victory?
Where, O death, is your sting?

Mary had always been a kind of first-fruits, sharing in that which Jesus won for the world as an archetypal example of what the Church could be if she gave her whole heart to God. This was why she was permitted to share in the redemptive grace of Jesus from the moment of her conception. It was revealed when she lived out her entire life without a sin of any kind. She even demonstrated our hope of bodily resurrection and life forever together with Jesus through her being assumed body and soul into heaven. We are meant to follow her example in giving our whole hearts to God, to rejecting every enticement to sin, so that we too may eventually experience the resurrection of the body and the life of the world to come.

“Rather, blessed are those
who hear the word of God and observe it.”

The blessings with which Mary was blessed were not intended for her alone. God blessed specific individuals in powerful ways so that their blessings could overflow for others. Just as he had done through Israel, so now through Mary does the world receive immense light and grace. She gives us the example of her own obedience and then invites us to follow her example. But she does not simply leave us to our own devices after offering instruction and demonstrating the promise. Rather, her motherly care, raising children in the school of the Spirit, has never ceased. There is no more powerful intercession on our behalf than that which she continues to provide. Through obedience we become her true children and the word of God is formed within us, as it first was in her.

the rest of her offspring, on those who keep the commandments of God and hold to the testimony of Jesus (see Revelation 12:17).

Matt Maher - Christ Is Risen

14 August 2025 - debt forgiveness program

 

Today's Readings
(Audio) 

When he began the accounting,
a debtor was brought before him who owed him a huge amount.

We are this debtor. We already owed God an incalculably unpayable amount before Adam and Eve first incurred the debt of sin. To exist at all, to be aware of God, and of the goodness of creation and life in the world was already an entirely unearned gift. Therefore once a single sin was committed there was nothing that the human race possessed in order to pay that debt. Everything was already unmerited favor. 

Since he had no way of paying it back,
his master ordered him to be sold,
along with his wife, his children, and all his property,
in payment of the debt.

Sin changed our relationship with the world such that we were no longer fully under our own rule. The world would not respond to us as its master and guardian, but would rather now at times be our adversary, subjecting us to grueling work, pain, and finally death. Lest we become presumptuous self-styled gods, we could no longer relate to the world or to others as we had before the fall. It was in some way medicinal, designed as a response to what had broken within us. It was not easy. But neither was it the full story. It was meant to lead, not to permanent degradation, but rather to repentance.

At that, the servant fell down, did him homage, and said,
'Be patient with me, and I will pay you back in full.'
Moved with compassion the master of that servant
let him go and forgave him the loan.

Of course the debt was so large that it could never really be repaid. But the important thing was that the servant at least remembered to whom it was owed, remembered from whom he had received so much. He agreed that justice would dictate that he should repay the debt, and decided to set about doing so, though the task be never ending. Yet what the master wanted was not so much that the debt be paid as that the servant return to sanity, to humility, and to charity. Since he understood and expressed contrition he was allowed to experience forgiveness of the entire loan.

When that servant had left, he found one of his fellow servants
who owed him a much smaller amount.
He seized him and started to choke him, demanding,
'Pay back what you owe.'

The response of his servant to the debt of his fellow servant demonstrated that he hadn't fully received the gift of forgiveness from his master. Had he really understood his own situation he would have been sympathetic with that of his fellow servant. Had he been truly grateful for the gift of forgiveness he would have desired to share that gift. But it seemed that he perceived the master's response only as a narrow escape. He did not note the generosity of the master, which should have given him comfort. Rather than live on the basis of the abundance of the master he was motivated by his own perception of scarcity, seizing whatever opportunities he could to horde his own wealth, lest he ever be in a position where he could not pay a debt in the future. But no matter how much he horded it would not change his relationship as debtor to his master. If he refused to depend on the generosity of the master there was nothing left for him but to experience his justice.

Should you not have had pity on your fellow servant,
as I had pity on you?'
Then in anger his master handed him over to the torturers
until he should pay back the whole debt.

The ability to forgive our fellows consistently and from the heart comes from the revelation of what God himself has first done for us. If we lack this realization we will at best only forgive partially and inconsistently, according to some calculus of own, rather than on the basis of the mercy and generosity of God. May we not only receive God's mercy, but realize what we've received, so that we may share it with others.

 

Sword Of The Spirit Worship - Thy Mercy Free

13 August 2025 - binding (and loosing) agents

 

Today's Readings
(Audio)

If your brother sins against you,
go and tell him his fault between you and him alone.

Gossip is excluded, much more social media posts about the issue. Sometimes when someone sins against us we feel the need to talk about it so that we can experience sympathy or vindication that we are in the right. Among the problems with such approaches is that they not only do not help resolve the issue but often more deeply entrench it making it more difficult to be reconciled in the future. It ought to be easier to win over the brother before a significant portion of the internet has cast judgment on him for his action. He should be less vested in defensiveness and his heart may still be less hardened. It may not work to address him in this one on one fashion, as the fact of the subsequent guidance suggests, but it is typically worth a try.

If he does not listen,
take one or two others along with you,
so that every fact may be established
on the testimony of two or three witnesses.

Others can help by demonstrating that the accusation isn't merely the opinion or the subjective interpretation of one's own. The point is not to bully the offender into conceding, since such a tactic would likely not yield any sincere change of heart. In fact it would seem to us that the most effective witnesses one could involve would be those who were the least likely to exhibit any bias. Bringing friends as yes men to agree with every point of ours would be more likely to produce a hardening of the heart than a softening.

If he refuses to listen to them, tell the Church.
If he refuses to listen even to the Church,
then treat him as you would a Gentile or a tax collector.

The Church was intended to serve as an unbiased third party mediator when disputes couldn't be otherwise resolved. There ought to have been wise older members of the local community whose experience could help, and a local authority to which both parties could agree to yield. If the local Church doesn't typically function like this in our day, because of size and scale and other commitments, the authority of the Church as a whole nevertheless still has a part to play. For the Church is the one who speaks clearly about what does and does not constitute sin. Whoever refuses to listen even to the moral teaching authority of the Church, who willfully disagrees with her teaching, places himself outside of her boundaries. And this changes our relationship to such a person. It is not that we should shun them, any more than Jesus shunned Gentiles or tax collectors. Rather, we should treat them as in need of conversion and evangelization. When someone is a committed Christian we can get into individual specifics about how they live, overcoming the vestiges of sin in his life. But when someone has fundamentally walked away from the Church something different is needed. There is no point in trying to clean up individual specific behaviors if an overall commitment to Jesus and his Kingdom is missing.

Amen, I say to you,
whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven,
and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven.

The Apostles and their successors were given authority in the Church to speak definitively about moral disputes, and to adjudicate specific cases when necessary. But this was not to be done arbitrarily or for reasons determined by ego. Rather, it was to arise from a deep life of prayer. They were to gather two or more of their number together so that they could be in the presence of Jesus, and only from that vantage point exercise their power to bind and loose. Yet this privilege of being in the presence of Jesus was not reserved for the Apostles and their successors alone. All of us would be well served to rely on it before we try to resolve any issue we may have with anyone. We're too susceptible to partisanship. But Jesus always keeps the hearts of everyone involved in view.

Songs In His Presence - Our Eyes Are Fixed

12 August 2025 - the greatest?

 

Today's Readings
(Audio)

"Who is the greatest in the Kingdom of heaven?"

The disciples had seen that some among their ranks had received unique privileges, such as Peter being named the rock and given the keys, and he, James, and John, being singled out to accompany Jesus up Mount Tabor. This naturally led the others to wonder why Jesus was prioritizing those few over the rest. What was it about them that made them, apparently, better than everyone else?

Amen, I say to you, unless you turn and become like children,
you will not enter the Kingdom of heaven.

True greatness in the Kingdom did not come from anything that the world would recognize. It was not as a result of their greatness that Peter, James, and John were sometimes specially chosen. It was definitely not because Peter was naturally rock solid that Jesus made him the rock on which his Church was built. But he had been open to the revelation of the Son by the Father. He had, in that moment, surrendered his own judgment to the higher judgment of God, his own will to the will of the Father. Not that this somehow earned what he received. But it was fitting that he received it in a moment when he become the most clearly like a child. In becoming a receptive son he became like the Son who received everything from the Father. 

What Peter, James, and John uniquely received were indeed great blessings, but they were not for themselves alone. They became like children in order that they could grow into people who existed for others. They became, not like the children of this world, much less the children of the devil, but sons of God, united in Jesus. And Jesus was perfectly childlike in receptivity and trust. But he was perfectly mature in his ability to make use of what he received from the Father for the sake of his brothers and sisters on earth. One thing that could, and almost did, sabotage the Kingdom at this early stage was competition. But what the disciples were meant to care about more than their position in the world was being pleasing in the eyes of the Father. And this could never devolve into competition since he was only pleased when his children loved one another as he loved them.

And whoever receives one child such as this in my name receives me.

The disciples didn't need to merit on their own in order to be worthy and deserving of being received by others. Rather, they were to be received, not because they could reward others in some way, but because Jesus himself could do so. It isn't because our local parish priest is necessarily so amazing that God blesses those who honor him. It is because in receiving them we receive Jesus himself in some mysterious way. Though, that said, our parish priests often are quite amazing. Those who are the most childlike, in the sense meant by Jesus, tend to be the ones that are the most transparent to him, the most able to share his love, joy, and peace with others.

See that you do not despise one of these little ones,
for I say to you that their angels in heaven
always look upon the face of my heavenly Father.

The only way we can become like little children if we come to terms with the amazing care God has for us. When we recognize that his angels watch over us and that it is not his will for even one of us to be lost we can begin to relax, to lose some of our anxiety about life, and begin to live on the basis of trust in the goodness of our heavenly Father.

Chris Tomlin - Good Good Father

11 August 2025 - that we may not offend them

Today's Readings
(Audio) 

"Does not your teacher pay the temple tax?"

There was apparently some debate among the religious factions of the time about whether or how often the temple tax ought to be paid. The collectors of the temple tax might have been concerned the Jesus would have opposed the practice, since it was hard to tell exactly into which slot of possible viewpoints he would fall on any question like this. At another time there was a question about on what grounds divorce was permissible and he answered not at all. When he was later asked about paying taxes to Caesar his answer was not a carte blanche approval. But here, about this issue, no public point was made. The collectors of the temple tax were left with the knowledge that Jesus did indeed make the payment. Only Peter received the nuance, which it seems that he himself had not known when he answered the collectors about the practice of Jesus.

“What do you think, Simon? From whom do kings of the earth take toll or tax? From their sons or from others?”

The sons of kings were not typically the source of taxation. Nor would the Son of God be required to pay a tax the reason of which was supposed to be his Father, since it sustained the temple where his Father's presence was found. Jesus did not pay the temple tax out of obligation, since "the sons are free". This also implied that Peter, who would be a son of God by adoption, also shared in this freedom. But even though they were both free they both nevertheless paid in order "that we may not offend them". Some things were just not worth the fight. Yes, if they had fought against it to make the point that Jesus was a Son, in order to exercise his full prerogative as the Word incarnate, he could have used it to teach about his divine nature. But, by contrast, paying it did not concede that he was not divine, nor did paying it imply that he was required to pay it. The sons were free, which meant they were free to choose to pay a tax that was in support of a good, noble, and spiritual cause, such as the temple, although the obligation to support it was strictly speaking only the requirement of others.

Open its mouth and you will find a coin worth twice the temple tax.
Give that to them for me and for you.

This shared source of payment was an example of the unique privilege of Peter to share in that which was proper only to Jesus himself. All of creation was in the service of Jesus, the one for whom and through whom all things were made, and in whom they continued to exist. Peter was destined to be a steward of the Church Jesus founded. But he was not to lord this authority over others, nor even cause offense when to do so would be more a matter of pride than clarity of truth. He would need to follow in the footsteps of Jesus who came not to be served but to serve, who did not grasp at equality with God, or insist on overwhelming others with the force of his innate glory, but embraced humility.

We may speculate that the internet, including the Christian and Catholic corners thereof, have not thought long and hard about this line, "that we may not offend them". We internet culture warriors seem to be more intent on winning and being proven correct than on following the example of Jesus. It isn't just about the truth for us, in the way that the truth was always central to Jesus. It is more about not losing to others. We think, somehow, that our reputation is directly correlated with the credibility of the claims of the Church. And God help us if that were so. Let us lean into this idea of not causing offense when nothing essential is on the line. God's creation has enough abundance that it doesn't all come down to our own resources.

Matt Maher - Who Jesus Is

10 August 2025 - evidence of things not seen

Today's Readings
(Audio) 

Gird your loins and light your lamps
and be like servants who await their master’s return from a wedding,
ready to open immediately when he comes and knocks.

Faith is what plays out during the time when the servants await the master's return. Some remember that he has said he will come back and are eager for his return. They aren't lulled into forgetfulness and don't lapse into vice. They remain motivated by his promises, eager for the reward he will give when he returns. They do not make the mistake of trying to find treasure in his absence, by drunkenness and debauchery, or by beating the menservants and the maidservants. If they did not believe that the master would really return they might seek alternative means of satisfying their desires. Even if they did believe it at first they might eventually forget when the wait became unbearably long. But faith kept the future reality of the return of the master in the present in such a way as to provide perpetual motivation until that time. This faith was the means by which they attained the realization of that for which they hoped. The evidence or assurance of things not seen came on the basis of the the certainty of the truthfulness of the one master who made the promises.

Do not be afraid any longer, little flock,
for your Father is pleased to give you the kingdom.
Sell your belongings and give alms.
Provide money bags for yourselves that do not wear out,
an inexhaustible treasure in heaven
that no thief can reach nor moth destroy.

When we live by faith we live differently. We don't have to be afraid in the way of that people who believe that some continuation of reality in its present form is all that they can expect, who have placed their hope in this world only. To them, lose and pain and death are the greatest evils imaginable. But people of faith can cling to the things of this world loosely, using the good things it offers for the sake of others, making this world as much like their desired world to come as possible. If they neglected this world it would be evidence that they didn't truly care about the good. But if they sought the good in this world only they would quickly realize the futility of such an endeavor. But since they sought treasure in heaven they were also able to do the greatest possible good here on earth.

Much will be required of the person entrusted with much,
and still more will be demanded of the person entrusted with more.

We have been told what the master requires of us while we await his return. It is not necessarily dramatically heroic, but is more precisely to be found in the humble repetition of obedient fidelity. The important part is not to deviate from this path, not seek to supplant it with ill-gotten gains and illegitimate pleasures when we find it unfulfilling. Even those who did do great and dramatic things for God did so by living their faith one day at a time, taking first one step, then another, trusting in his promise.

He has told you, O man, what is good; and what does the Lord require of you but to do justice, and to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God? (see Micah 6:8).

Graham Kendrick - We Believe

9 August 2025 - is our lack of faith disturbing?

Today's Readings
(Audio) 

I brought him to your disciples, but they could not cure him.

How often we let Jesus down in this way! How often we leave those in need hungry or hurting, unable to bring his blessings to others! The disciples had already been empowered by Jesus to heal the sick, raise the dead, cleanse lepers, and cast out demons (see Matthew 10:8). They had done so and returned triumphant that even the demons were subject to them. But now, somehow, they came up short. Faith that ought to have been reinforced by fidelity was too little to assist this possessed boy. The point is that they didn't approach this problem as though they were people who had never seen the power and the promise of Jesus bear fruit. They most certainly had. It wasn't because they lacked sufficient mental focus to visualize the possibility of desired results or something to that effect. They had seen it before and could easily imagine it again. Such mental prowess was not the meaning of faith. It wasn't about manifesting something through their own effort or skill. 

"O faithless and perverse generation, how long will I be with you?
How long will I endure you?

We may surmise, that, like the desert generation failed to maintain trust in the providence of God, the failure of the disciples to heal the boy was a failure of relationship. Perhaps they began to believe that they themselves possessed the power to heal and neglected to remember the need to remain connected to their power source. Perhaps they remembered that Jesus did need to be involved but simply took for granted that he would be. The more they experienced his mighty deeds the more they might have settled into them as a kind of routine. But without intentional connection, through faith, to the source of their authority, their ability to convey the power of Jesus dried up.

"Why could we not drive it out?"
He said to them, "Because of your little faith.

We may never have experienced the power of Jesus working through us in the way that his disciples did. But we can still learn from their failure in this case how to deepen our own faith. Our ability to convey the healing power of Jesus has nothing to do with us or our effort. It has everything to do with remembering and relying on him. It is trust that he can and wants to convey that power to the world, even through us. This kind of trust is not something we can force ourselves to have through exertion of will. But we can gradually learn it by depending on ourselves less, and him more. Our worries and our desire to measure our progress and ability are probably symptoms that we need to let go and let God to a greater degree. Maybe then the healing power that was at work through the disciples will be revealed in our own lives as well.

Amen, I say to you, if you have faith the size of a mustard seed,
you will say to this mountain,
'Move from here to there,' and it will move.
Nothing will be impossible for you.

There are mountains in our world that need moving. And they can be moved, if only we trust more. Lord, we believe. Heal our unbelief (see Mark 9:24).

Praised be the LORD, I exclaim!
And I am safe from my enemies.

 

John Michael Talbot - I Am The Vine

8 August 2025 - whoever wishes to save his life will lose it

Today's Readings
(Audio) 

For whoever wishes to save his life will lose it,
but whoever loses his life for my sake will find it.

This is the sort of statement that we can process logically, which makes a lot of sense when we think about things from the big picture perspective of Jesus, and which nevertheless fails to impact or motivation or influence or actions all that much. We are able to accept this statement more as relating to future abstract contingencies than our present situation. After all, we know already that we can't keep our lives in this world forever. We know that Jesus is the one thing necessary and that seeking his Kingdom is what really matters. But the fact that we will eventually lose all of our earthly treasures isn't really impinging on our ability to enjoy them now. And our need to put Jesus first seems like something we can put off until later. It seems to pertain primarily to judgment, which seems to mean that as long as we attend to it before then we will be fine. 

What profit would there be for one to gain the whole world
and forfeit his life?

What we fail to realize is that all of the things and experiences that we are collecting as earthly treasures are often at the expense of flourishing as the sort of women and men we were meant to be. We're collecting stuff while hemorrhaging life. It isn't just the status of our souls after death that should be our concern. It is the fact that we are molding ourselves to be more or less capable of enjoying heaven. Things that satisfy us in the short-term are usually quick to fade. Things that give us lasting joy are not necessarily those that have the strongest pull on us in the moment. It is in this sense that we must choose the cross over earthly crowns. But it isn't entirely bleak. We are only breaking ourselves of our addiction of that which is only apparently life and joy in favor of that which truly is.

For the Son of Man will come with his angels in his Father's glory,
and then he will repay each according to his conduct.

We can become the sort of people for whom the coming of the Son of Man in glory is the greatest possible reward, one for which we are easily able to trade any lesser good. These lesser things are not, of course, the problem. God pronounced his creation good from the beginning. But they can betray us if they become a hindrance, as the fruit of the tree was for Adam and Eve. And so we let Jesus train us, teach us, and lead us in the way that will finally bring us to the place were we will experience the complete fulfillment he intends for us.

 Matt Maher - Lay It Down

7 August 2025 - shout with joy to the rock

 

Today's Readings
(Audio)

Then, raising his hand, Moses struck the rock twice with his staff,
and water gushed out in abundance for the people
and their livestock to drink.

The rock that Moses struck followed them through the desert, providing water to sustain their journey. This was a prefigurement of Christ, the true rock, from whom flowed springs of living water (see First Corinthians 10:4). It was in fact probably a mediated experience of Christ himself sustaining his people even during the time of Moses and the exodus. The rock that Moses struck in the desert was a representation of God who was the rock of their salvation, as today's psalm says of him. As another psalm reminds us, it is God who "turns a desert into pools of water, a parched land into springs of water" (see Psalm 107:35). Moses was allowed a special level of access to God, mediating the life that flowed from God to the people under his care. If that was the case it is easier to understand why his failure meant more than we might expect. If he was to provide water by issuing an order to the rock he ought not to have allowed his anger move him to the violent act of striking it instead. He allowed his anger at the people to impinge on his duty to treat sacred things with due reverence.

And so I say to you, you are Peter,
and upon this rock I will build my Church,
and the gates of the netherworld shall not prevail against it.

Although Moses facilitated water coming from the rock Peter was privileged to participate in the being of the rock itself. In other places we read about how Jesus himself was the cornerstone or the keystone and this is the, shall we say, bedrock truth. But Peter, who on his own did not possess the solidity of a rock, was transformed to become one through his faith in the revelation of the identity of Jesus as the Son of God. He was changed from one who was motivated by emotion, quick to strike, quick to run in fear, to one who could reliably obey God, going, not where he desired, but where he was led. He was changed from being protective of his life to being able to offer his own life as Jesus had. Because he had been conformed to Christ, and because his martyrdom was in union with Christ, it too served as a channel through which living water could flow into the world. After the resurrection of Jesus and Peter's tears of repentance he became able to faithfully proclaim the truth of who Jesus was without error. He became the source of strength and the point of unity for the other apostles, faithfully fulfilling his commission to strengthen his brethren.

The chair of Moses was a great blessing to the people of Israel, and the authority it possessed helped keep them anchored in the will of God. But those who sat upon that chair were fallen men, even from the start. The chair of Peter that took the place of the chair of Moses was different. Although the men who occupied it were still (sometimes very) fallen men, they now had access to the true and life-giving living water of the Spirit. Transformation of their hearts of stone to hearts of flesh was not only possible but expected. Those who, like Peter, walked with fidelity, would become profound instruments of God's grace. But even though some would not walk with fidelity, God nevertheless guaranteed that the solidity he gave to his Church would never been entirely undone. It would remain rock solid, providing access to the grace of the Spirit in every age. We must not begin to take it for granted and abuse it just because not everything in the church or the world matches our ideal reality. There is nothing we need more than the Spirit. We should be grateful for every sip.

Craig Musseau - Good To Me 

6 August 2025 - dazzling white

Today's Readings
(Audio) 

While he was praying his face changed in appearance 
and his clothing became dazzling white.

Jesus was revealed to be the Son of man from the prophecy of Daniel, dazzling with the brightness of the Ancient One, who received from him dominion, glory, and kingdom that would never be taken away or destroyed. Peter testified to the significance of this moment for him when he wrote, "we had been eyewitnesses of his majesty". They saw Jesus receive honor and glory from God the Father, glory that the Father was giving the Son from all eternity, now bestowed in time, along with the words, "This is my Son, my beloved, with whom I am well pleased".

And behold, two men were conversing with him, Moses and Elijah, 
who appeared in glory and spoke of his exodus 
that he was going to accomplish in Jerusalem.

The face of Moses shone with glory after he conversed with God on Mount Sinai. But Jesus did not merely reflect the light of another. Rather he was radiant with glory which came from within, that he himself possessed. Moses and Elijah appeared, not to stand alongside Jesus as his equals, but to defer to him and bear witness to his arrival as his forerunners as those who had prepared for his coming, since, "[t]o him all the prophets bear witness" (see Acts 10:43). Though Moses had famously led the exodus of the people of Israel from slavery in Egypt to freedom in the Promised Land it was actually Jesus who would lead the true exodus from slavery to sin and death to freedom and the resurrection to eternal life. This was what "many prophets and righteous people longed to see" and to hear but did not see or hear (see Matthew 13:17). But as representatives of the Law and the prophets Moses and Elijah were privileged to bear witness to it then on Mount Tabor as the veil separating heaven and earth was briefly pulled back.

As they were about to part from him, Peter said to Jesus, 
“Master, it is good that we are here;
let us make three tents,
one for you, one for Moses, and one for Elijah.”

To Peter the revelation of that glory felt like something he wanted to savor as long as possible. What more was needed, after all? Couldn't they just stay there in that place savoring the glory of the revelation of Jesus, enjoying the consolation of seeing with their eyes that which had previously only been known by faith? But consolations, even the greatest of consolations, are not destinations, not while the exodus journey of our mortal lives continues. They give us strength for the journey, and fortify our hearts so that when the hour of suffering comes and it seems that the powers of darkness are ascendant we can cling to the consolations for strength. They can provide an anchor for us to which we can return even if we stumble and fail in our walk of discipleship as Peter and the others did. But for this to happen we cannot treat them as trivial or be ready to forget them and move on. They are exactly the sorts of things that we must treasure in our hearts if that are to retain their power to inspire and motivate us. We can't always speak about them with others, since sometimes they will seem too disconnected from reality before the resurrection for others to appreciate. But we must at least remember them in our thanksgiving to God. 

While he was still speaking, 
a cloud came and cast a shadow over them,
and they became frightened when they entered the cloud.
Then from the cloud came a voice that said, 
“This is my chosen Son; listen to him.”

Perhaps we haven't experienced a Mount Tabor type event in our own lives yet. Obviously to receive one isn't something we can provoke or precipitate. But we should be open to the idea that Jesus could at any moment want to show us more truly who he is, that his Father would delight to reveal his Son more fully to us. The Transfiguration is proof the consolation and revelation, though not the whole story, are at least part of the plan, to be welcomed and celebrated, in order that we might live our own walk as disciples with all of the fervor and strength God intends for us.

Vineyard Worship - Shine Jesus Shine