18 August 2026 - threading the needle

Today's Readings
(Audio) 

 

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

One who is too tethered to this world by attachments may end up like the young man about whom we read yesterday, who was able to live a generally moral life, discover the truth about Jesus, and yet remained unable to take the final steps forward into the freedom offered to him by Jesus. We may think that the problem was with the young man specifically. If so, we underestimate the difficulty of what was asked. The fallen ego is simply too large and the way proposed is far too narrow. Camels are massive. And they are meant to be used precisely to carry other things. Even unladen they aren't going to fit through any knitting needle. Unladen they also all but lose their purpose. The only thing intended for the eye of a needle is a thread. Thus, our egos need a complete transformation from one sort of thing to another if they are to enter the Kingdom of God. The question of the disciples and the response of Jesus makes clear that this is not something that is within our natural capacity.

“Who then can be saved?”
Jesus looked at them and said,
“For men this is impossible,
but for God all things are possible.”

The point then, as it were, is not about merely removing a few things we are carrying. It is about being transformed by God into threads of the beautiful tapestry of the Kingdom he is creating. Rather than receptacles for worldly things we become docile to the higher purpose of unleashing beauty in the world. This does mean leaving behind things to which we were formerly attached. We recognize that doing so can often leave us feeling sorry for ourselves, with a scarcity mindset.

“We have given up everything and followed you.
What will there be for us?”

This is how things look from the perspective of the self-protective ego that always wants to know, 'What about me?'. But from the perspective of the Kingdom we see things differently. This new perspective begins in baptism and will be brought to completion "in the new age" which will be inaugurated when our Lord returns. In the new age worldly realities will be revealed as mere shadows of deeper and more profound truths existing within the Church, the Mystical Body of Christ. The disciples themselves did have had to renounce many earthly goods, and any claim on earthly authority, but their authority as the first leaders of the Church was, if less immediately evident, more important in the grand scheme of history. We may have to give up things or even relationships for the sake of the Kingdom. But even here on earth we already receive compensation that is far greater, if we have but the eyes of faith to see it.

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.

Jesus himself had divine riches beyond all telling and yet allowed himself to become poor so that he could enrich us by his power and presence among us. This gives us confidence that what is impossible for man is possible for God, for whom "all things are possible". What was first accomplished in Jesus can also be accomplished in us. We can have among ourselves "this mind" that is ours in Christ Jesus (see Philippians 2:5). May the Holy Spirit come and help us to experience the renewal of our minds (see Romans 12:2) so that we can live, no longer as beasts of burden, but as citizens of the Kingdom. 

 

 

Matt Maher - Lay It Down

 

17 August 2026 - There is only One who is good

 

Today's Readings
(Audio)

 

Why do you ask me about the good?
There is only One who is good.

Sometimes it is good to ask clarifying questions about why we have come to Jesus. Yes, he is good. But what does that mean? Have we understood the full ramifications of that fact? If it is true that Jesus is good, but that there is only One who is good, how do we respond? Are we content to make Jesus one source of advice and information among others? Do we defer to his teaching when it suits our fancy? Do we enthrone him partially, but not more highly than various idols in our lives? If we are to truly hear the words of Jesus we can't interpret them as if they were merely human words. If we are to be his disciples we must give him the central place in our lives that his goodness deserves.

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

The young man knew that he needed more than a mere external obedience. He sensed that there was a deeper issue that could not be corrected by superficially observing the commandments directed toward love of neighbor. No doubt he had truly believed that he observed all of those things, and yet still felt unsatisfied. He knew that even in obeying them there was something missing, some central unifying element that he lacked. He may have felt as though his efforts were insufficient, diffusing inadequate energy toward multiple unattainable goals. Without being able to put it into words, he may have sensed that he was not adequately able to practice love of neighbor, because his life was not properly ordered to the love of God as expressed in the other tablet of the commandments to which Jesus did not directly refer, but was conspicuous exactly for that reason. Had he been drawn to Jesus precisely because in Jesus he sensed the possibility of making this connection and at last ordering his life toward something eternal? There was a sense in which the second tablet of the law was superficially easy to obey, whereas the first seemed more nebulous. But the presence of Jesus, properly understood, made the first tablet concrete. In doing so it also added a new depth of meaning to the second tablet, since love of neighbor became a way to love Jesus himself. It was in fact the case that Jesus was the missing connection and central point that the young man desired.

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.

It wasn't so much the heroic selling of his goods that was essential. That preamble was just to remove some final obstacles that apparently still tied him down. The main thing the young man needed was the same as the one necessary thing, the better portion that Mary had chosen: Jesus himself. The otherwise abstract and unsatisfying nature of the first tablet of the law took on concrete form in the command to follow Jesus. This was not merely a performance or a ritual. It required giving Jesus the central place in his life, of allowing Jesus to reign in him, giving him the authority to direct his choices, not just once, but in an ongoing way. But sadly, as we so often do, the man chose comfort and familiarity over obedience. He did this even though the he immediately experienced the choice to be sad. We know that when people do decide to put Jesus first they experience just the opposite, as did Zacchaeus, who "received him joyfully" (see Luke 19:5) into his home. Let us not choose sin and disobedience when we know they lead to sadness. Let us instead make our constant choice to put Jesus himself on the throne of our hearts. This is the path, the only path, to eternal life, and lasting joy.

 

Newsboys - He Reigns

 

16 August 2026 - not hearing a no

Today's Readings

(Audio)

 

And behold, a Canaanite woman of that district came and called out,
"Have pity on me, Lord, Son of David! 
My daughter is tormented by a demon." 

It might have seemed as though Jesus was indifferent to the Canaanite woman, or, worse, in some way hostile to her because of racial prejudice. But though it would have been easy for the woman to assume this, it should not be so for us. The first reading made it clear that God intended to allow "foreigners" to join themselves to him, even to minister to him, becoming his servants. The signs of this plan go back even before the time of Isaiah. We can see it in the divine blueprint of the temple, which had a court intended for the Gentiles. Back further still God's covenant promise to Abraham included the blessing of all nations through his offspring. This was the context of God's plan that Jesus himself came to fulfill. During the time of Solomon the nations came to Israel to seek the wisdom of God. But Jesus was the promised Son of David even more perfectly than was Solomon. Thus his momentary silence before the petitionary prayer of the Canaanite woman had to be something other than indifference or hostility. 

 

The subjective experience of the Canaanite woman must have included the fear that is was precisely because of her nationality that she was not immediately able to find the same access to the healing power of Jesus that others apparently had. No doubt the enemy tried to tempt her into giving up immediately, into assuming that the thoughts of fear and doubt that appeared in her mind were the unchangeable reality of the situation. We face a similar temptation when God does not respond immediately. Our default assumption tends to be that he doesn't care about us. Sometimes this takes the form of us thinking that he doesn't care about this or that specific concern of ours. But we tend to assume the implicit corollary that he would not be indifferent to such a concern if his care for us were real in any meaningful way. Of course, in this way our desires are much like those of children who want what they want when they want it and go on to pout if they can't get it immediately.

There is, however, another way we might and should be like children that is much more dangerous to the enemy and effective in the Kingdom. It is being like the child who refuses to give up because he knows that his parents love him and can provide for him. The situation may still arise where he demands something that would not be beneficial to him. In such a case the parents would not provide him with that particular thing. Yet they would doubtlessly see to it that the underlying need or desire that made the child want that thing, whether happiness, or security, or comfort, or something else, was addressed, to the degree that they were able.

Still we may ask if human parents ever act like Jesus and intentionally place some initial resistance to a request that might have been addressed immediately. The answer to this is yes. Parents often ask children to put in work of their own, even though such work does not necessarily earn the result, so that children can appreciate the value of what they receive. There is often a deeper comprehension that results from persistence and struggle that is otherwise absent.

Although there is an apparent analogy between Jesus and human parents his approach nevertheless also had an aspect that would be inappropriate for human parents. This was his desire to test and thus strengthen the faith of the Canaanite woman. He wanted her to understand that his abundance was not limited by the normal constraints of reality. The only way to believe this was through faith. Faith allowed her to see that apparent barriers and obstacles to receiving the grace and mercy of God were only that, apparent. 

 

Jesus been sent only to the lost sheep. And yet here he was in the Gentile region of Tyre and Sidon, showing that his intended destination would not be the only place to receive the grace of his presence. He never denied the possibility of collateral grace for those whom he encountered along the way. It did not require taking food from the children to feed others. There was such an abundance that all could eat and be satisfied. But he did not explain those things for the woman, in an attempt to ease her difficulty. He wanted her faith to reach out and take hold of them. They would thus become more fully her own faith, rather than mere data, data that she would inevitably take for granted to one degree or another. Parents, on the other hand, aren't the object of such supernatural faith, and thus typically ought not test the degree to which their children believe in them. The analogy goes so far as to say that push back and resistance to some requests is sometimes appropriate. But if parents put their children's belief in them to the test it is likely to result only in uncertainty and even trauma. Whereas here, as a result of Jesus testing her, the Canaanite woman was that she was able to achieve a level of faith in him that would have been otherwise impossible. 

She said, "Please, Lord, for even the dogs eat the scraps
that fall from the table of their masters." 
Then Jesus said to her in reply,
"O woman, great is your faith! 
Let it be done for you as you wish." 

There is a real way in which faith brings the blessings of the future, of the world to come, and of the life of the resurrection, into the here and now of the present. To do so it must contend victoriously with all the negative thoughts and doubts that try to make us believe that things are hopeless. Paul knew that the mind was a battlefield and that faith required a strategy, which was to "take every thought captive to obey Christ" (see Second Corinthians 10:5).

Perhaps there are strongholds of fear and uncertainty in our minds that are preventing us from exercising our faith to lay hold of the promises of God. If so, let us turn to his word, and not our doubts, so as to build ourselves up in the truth. If we really know that "the gifts and the call of God are irrevocable" we won't believe the lie that we have been abandoned. When we are tempted to believe that we have been forgotten we should remind ourselves that God "will not leave you or forsake you" (see Deuteronomy 3:6). We will then have confidence that his plan is not just for some people, not most others while excluding ourselves as we are often tempted to think but rather "that he might have mercy upon all".

 

Phil Wickham - House Of The Lord

 

15 August 2026 - a place prepared by God

 

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.

The story of the visitation of Mary to Elizabeth intentionally parallels the time was David brought the ark of God to the house of Obed-edom. We can hear this in various echoes from one story to the next, but in particular in these proclamations, first of David, then Elizabeth:

How can the ark of the Lord come to me? (see Second Samuel 6:9).

And how does this happen to me,
that the mother of my Lord should come to me?

The first ark was meant to symbolize the presence of God among men, his dwelling place on earth. But the second ark was actually in a more literal sense that dwelling place, since  within her womb God himself became incarnate. The ark was not merely a disposable temporary vessel in the Old Covenant. So we can discern that Mary's role was not meant to cease once the child was born or once he was raised. She meant to and did in fact help convey the presence of her son to others even after the Visitation. She helped Joseph to find him when he was missing, having stayed behind in the temple. She helped those celebrating a wedding at Cana avail themselves of his intercession. She was a presence around whom other disciples could gather to experience the presence of Jesus, at the cross, and then later, on Pentecost as they prayed for an outpouring of the Holy Spirit. We can't describe her role in the early Church as highly active as we might do for Paul or for Peter. But nevertheless it is hard to deny she had a central role. Elizabeth was not misguided when she said that among all women of all times and places Mary herself was the most blessed. It was a fact so incontrovertible that all subsequent generations, if they were honest, would have to acknowledge it, not to her own glory, but rather, to that of God.

From this day all generations will call me blessed:
the Almighty has done great things for me
and holy is his Name.

We know that even in recent centuries Mary still helps the world to experience the presence of her son, whether at Lourdes, Guadalupe, or Fatima. Even as recently as the nineteen-nineties in Slovakia there her presence has been credibly attested, receiving a nihil obstat from the Vatican.

We ought not be surprised at Mary's ongoing role when we consider where and how Ark of the Covenant is described in the book of Revelation.

God’s temple in heaven was opened,
and the ark of his covenant could be seen in the temple.
A great sign appeared in the sky, a woman clothed with the sun,
with the moon under her feet,
and on her head a crown of twelve stars.

She was involved in an ongoing way in the spiritual struggle against the ancient serpent, here represented as a red dragon. It was prophesied in Genesis that the offspring of Eve would be the one to crush the head of the serpent. And now the new Adam had clearly involved Mary in the fight. But where Eve was vulnerable and compromised Mary was protected and remained immaculate. Eve was meant to be the mother of the living, but became, in fact, the mother of the spiritually dead. But Mary became the mother of those disciples who keep the testimony of Jesus, the ones who live in the truest sense. She who was now in "a place prepared by God" would from that place continue to intercede on behalf of her children as queen mother of the King of kings and Lord of lords. Her presence continues to matter to us because Jesus intends to bestow his own blessings on us through her. She brings us, safely and securely, to into the presence of her own son, there to help us express our inchoate needs and desires, and to plead to her son that he grant them. 

Mary helped John and Elizabeth connect to the presence of Jesus in a way that would have been otherwise impossible.

When Elizabeth heard Mary’s greeting,
the infant leaped in her womb,
and Elizabeth, filled with the Holy Spirit,
cried out in a loud voice 

This was not a gift intended for them alone, which is why so many archetypes of salvation history were fulfilled in Mary, demonstrating her ongoing role in the New Covenant of Christ. But perhaps we aren't currently experiencing the joy that Elizabeth and John both knew in her presence, or the fullness of the Holy Spirit that filled the disciples at Pentecost. Perhaps we've been treating Mary more like a devotional decoration rather than a person with whom we can have a real relationship. It is, in the end, only through such a relationship that the blessing she is meant to be for us can be realized. Mother of God, new Eve, and new Ark of the Covenant, pray for us!

 

Songs In His Presence - Bright As The Sun

 

14 August 2026 - what God has joined

Today's Readings
(Audio)

  

Some Pharisees approached Jesus, and tested him, saying,
"Is it lawful for a man to divorce his wife for any cause whatever?"

Is there ever any cause so severe that divorce is a valid option? The Pharisees certainly believed that there were such causes, though they disagreed on the severity required in order to be sufficient grounds to justify divorce. But it seemed that Jesus may have acquired a reputation for being much more rigorous about marriage than any Pharisaical school of thought. This should not surprise us since he was the one who taught, "I say to you that everyone who looks at a woman with lustful intent has already committed adultery with her in his heart" (see Matthew 5:28) during the Sermon on the Mount. 

 

The Pharisees knew that Jesus wasn't afraid to speak his mind and wanted to provoke him to say something that contradicted the fact that, to their mind, Moses had permitted divorce when he commanded, "that the man give the woman a bill of divorce and dismiss her". But Jesus was on to their game. Rather than referring immediately to Moses, he reached further back, to God's original intention for marriage, to the Garden of Eden. He saw there a blueprint for a relationship that was intended to be a union that could not be broken. Only such a union could serve as an image of the love of the Triune God, or the love of Christ for the Church. Such love was not sometimes yes, and sometimes no, but always and unwavering.

For this reason a man shall leave his father and mother
and be joined to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh?

From the fact that the union of marriages is something that was brought about by God, that God himself was in fact the one who joined couples together in each individual case, it follows that such a union could not be broken by the decision of man. What, then, of Moses? Was God being inconsistent when Moses seemed to authorize divorce? Didn't it make the most sense to do what the Pharisees did and project back from the apparent permission and interpret that which came before as well as that which came after in light of it? 

He said to them, "Because of the hardness of your hearts
Moses allowed you to divorce your wives,
but from the beginning it was not so.

Jesus taught that Moses was not exactly giving permission for divorce, so much as it was that he was regulating it. It was an unfortunate and, for the time more or less unavoidable practice, that was happening anyway. It wasn't a best case scenario from which God's purpose for marriage could be discerned. It was the best attempt of Moses to mitigate the disaster that the fall had been to marital fidelity. It can be difficult for us to see behind the consequences of the fall, to the time when God looked upon all things and saw that they were very good, and discover his purpose in ordering things as he did. Only the eyes of Jesus was sufficiently clear and courageous to boldly speak that original intention into a world clinging to any license to sin that it could find. Not only the Pharisees, but even his own disciples, found this to be so drastic as to be apparently untenable, practically speaking.

His disciples said to him,
"If that is the case of a man with his wife,
it is better not to marry."

Jesus did not walk it back, even for his disciples. Rather he let them know that this word could not be accepted by everyone intellectually, and was not something that would necessarily make sense in the abstract. If they looked at the possibilities of various difficulties they might face in marriage it would seem impossible, because, humanly speaking, it was impossible. But those who were called to marriage would receive grace that made what was impossible for others possible in their case. It was grace for a specific call. Those who were thus called would be the ones to whom it was granted to accept it, not intellectually perhaps, but in the concrete reality of their relationships together.

Because Jesus referred to a grace specific to the call to marriage, and explained that it was not for everyone, he went on to speak of a different vocation with different graces attached to it, specifically those who "have renounced marriage for the sake of the Kingdom of heaven". This is a vocation we see reflected in the tradition of celibacy for priests in the Roman Catholic tradition. Like Jesus himself, the Church calls out to those who might be called: "Whoever can accept this ought to accept it".

 

 

Songs In His Presence - Isaiah 12: You Will Draw Water

 

13 August 2026 - thy mercy free (but ours?)

 

Today's Readings
(Audio)

 

"Lord, if my brother sins against me,
how often must I forgive him?
As many as seven times?"
Jesus answered, "I say to you, not seven times but seventy-seven times."

If we look at forgiveness as a mere obligation, something we do because we know we should, we're always going to approach it in a very human way, looking for the upward bound of the maximum effort we must expend to fulfill this obligation. From a human perspective doing so is a practical matter, since the thought and effort we expend on forgiveness must be balanced against other priorities and concerns. We are finite, hence we look for a finite amount of forgiveness that will suffice. But this perspective is what happens when we take ourselves as the starting place of our contemplation. Really, we need to remember that our starting place is different, more like the servant in the parable then someone starting from a neutral situation.

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.

Before we forgive anyone we should remember that we ourselves have been forgiven a much greater amount. The sheer magnitude of the unearned gift of our very existence is already a debt we can never repay. And we have all, in some measure, squandered that gift. Yet the giver remains generous, giving us chance after chance to demonstrate our gratitude for his gift. In justice he could have extracted from us exactly what we owed. But he was too moved by his own love for us to go directly to that option. He demonstrated a love that was meant to transform us from people who operated based on the assumption that we must pay for everything from our own limited and finite resources to people who could live on the basis of his own generosity. He did not forgive our debt in order to make us self-sufficient but in order to transform us so that we could rely on him. We are meant to rely on him not once, for a single event of forgiveness, but continually. The point is not that we show one moment of contrition and then return to life as usual. Rather, we are to rely on him in such a way that we cannot help but become like him. In doing so we transcend our own human limitations regarding forgiveness and become channels of God's own mercy to the world. Since it doesn't come down to us and our resources we don't have to stop when we forgive seven times, but can offer forgiveness without limit, as we have ourselves first received.

When that servant had left, he found one of his fellow servants
who owed him a much smaller amount.

Sometimes we learn the wrong lessons from God's forgiveness. We think it means we narrowly escaped and must now live from an even more all engrossing scarcity mindset. We saw what it would look like to be accountable for our debts and we take all possible measures to avoid ever feeling dependent on God again in the future. But there is no way to do this. Even if we extract everything our fellow servants possess it will never be enough to make us independently wealthy enough to be in a position to bargain with God on equal terms. There is no amount of human effort that will suffice. Any attempt to live out our religion without relying on grace will always result in such a shortfall. If our religion is making us mean and desperate, fearful, and unmerciful, something has going very wrong indeed. We may not literally be choking our fellow servants. But there are many toward whom we show much less compassion and sympathy than God does toward us. There are too many people who beg us, "Be patient with me", while we, in our hubris, refuse.

As with Ezekiel God tries to reveal his plans in advance so that we can learn of them and make our lives correspond to his purpose for us. It is much easier to learn by his instructions than to persist until we face the consequences.

Then in anger his master handed him over to the torturers
until he should pay back the whole debt.

Let's allow the generous mercy that God never ceases to offer to transform us now, not putting it off until later, or ignoring it. How much better it is to be a conduit of grace than a miser of unforgiveness. We can change lives in a way that is analogous to what God himself has done for us. Who are we to hold it back?

 

Sword Of The Spirit Worship - Thy Mercy Free

 

12 August 2026 - fraternal correctional facilities

Today's Readings

(Audio)

 

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

We aren't supposed to let our relationships with our Christian brothers and sisters become compromised by unaddressed issues. As brothers and sisters we have a shared context that should make mutual understanding and reconciliation possible that the wider world does not possess. But even in these relationships we experience the temptation to avoid such problems. We don't see why it should be necessary for us to take the initiative when it was someone else who sinned against us, not we them. We don't fully appreciate the value of restored relationships, so we are willing to let anger fester overnight (see Ephesians 4:26). Or we minimize the problem, so as to avoid an uncomfortable conflict. This is one way we can go wrong when a brother sins against us, by ignoring it. The other is by doing everything except telling the brother his fault between ourselves and him alone. Instead we tell everyone, possibly everyone on the entire Internet, about his fault. But when we tell others in this way it is not because we have any hope that doing so will solve the issue. It will of course only exasperate it. More people will line up to tell us why we are right and ought not be reconciled, now or ever. We will feel increasingly vindicated in our condition as victims making honest and open communication with the brother who sinned almost impossible.

There are situations where the brother will not listen to us, and these are perhaps not uncommon. After all, he probably saw things differently and may already feel righteous, not in need of correction. In such cases we need, not the entire Internet, nor a smaller subset of a population that is only looking for the most recent rage bait, but enlightened objective third parties such as we may hope to find among our other brothers and sisters. If we can find such individuals that are not likely to default to taking our side, but can give both of us a fair hearing, this is the best scenario.

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.

If the situation is so serious that the brother has committed to something that cannot be condoned within the life of the Church it is still best to solve it with him at the smallest scale possible. But if this is impossible it is disingenuous to let him go on pretending that everything is fine. If we can find someone who can let him know, in an official capacity, what the truth of the matter is, we ought to even go that far. We do this as a last resort, in hope that our brother will at last listen and be reconciled. This step is our full due diligence after which no more steps are necessary or indeed possible, hence we "treat him as you would a Gentile or a tax collector". This does not necessarily mean that we have no relationship, or that we shun such an individual. Rather it means they are seen once again as one who still needs to receive the Gospel. Jesus, after all, welcomed sinners and tax collectors, but in order that they might eventually become disciples.

Again, amen, I say to you, if two of you agree on earth
about anything for which they are to pray,
it shall be granted to them by my heavenly Father.

Why is it so important to reconcile with brothers and sisters when we have something against them? Because the potential release of power when we are united in the Church is something too good to ignore. When we are united, Jesus is present, prayers are answered, and the world may know and believe in the love of the Father and the Son for humanity (see John 17:23). This is why Paul strongly encourages us "to maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace" (see Ephesians 4:3). It is why the psalmist finds such delight in thinking of brothers dwelling in unity, comparing it to "the precious oil on the head, running down on the beard" (See Psalm 133). Probably, we don't value this unity as much as we should. So let us learn to appreciate it enough to work for it.

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