10 August 2026 - scattered and sown

 

Today's Readings

(Audio)

 

Amen, amen, I say to you,
unless a grain of wheat falls to the ground and dies,
it remains just a grain of wheat;
but if it dies, it produces much fruit.

We are called to a transformation that is so comprehensive that our egos represent it to us as dying. The shape we took previously, our understanding of our identity, our boundaries in life and relationships, all must give way. We must reach beyond the boundaries of our finite limited selves in order to put forth roots into the soil, shoots toward the sun, and eventually bear fruit for the sake of others. Ours egos suggest that the appropriate course of action is trying to maintain the structural integrity of the seed for as long as we can, even forever if possible. But how useless, how defective the seed that never becomes a plant after being placed in the soil. It remains inert, lifeless, even sad and pathetic. Can we discern from the image of a seed willfully resisting becoming a full-fledged plant just how narrow are the confines of a life dominated by the ego? If we are unwilling to risk anything we will never become what we are meant to be.

Whoever loves his life loses it,
and whoever hates his life in this world
will preserve it for eternal life.

By loving life in only exactly the shape that it now takes while not being open to more we doom ourselves, since nothing in the mold of the world can last forever. We need transformation to become capable of living life that can truly last forever, eternal life, rooted in the deepest and unchanging reality: God himself. Only by learning to participate in the love that God himself is can we become capable of living with him forever. We see precisely what it means to love in this way through the life and death of Jesus Christ. He offered his own life as a grain, broken open to bear inestimable fruit for the world. In him we see exactly what it looks like for God's divine life to be manifest in the life of human person. Thus, in him, we have the perfect model to imitate.

Whoever serves me must follow me,
and where I am, there also will my servant be.
The Father will honor whoever serves me.

It is not enough to merely imitate Jesus. Or rather, perhaps it would be enough, but our egos resist with such intensity that we can't succeed without the assistance of divine grace. We, the branches, are meant to remain connected to the spiritual energy that flows from Jesus, the vine. He has made it clear that without him we can do nothing (see John 15:5). We remain more or less in the shape of the seed. We need to entrust ourselves to his loving providence in order to become more. This never ceases to be true. It is not something we do once and move on. We never simply crack our shells open and then grow on our own and unassisted, not while this life lasts. We're still in the process of transformation and must continually place ourselves in his hands. Particularly at times when we try to wall ourselves off, close down, and turn in on ourselves, we need to return to him to help us to open ourselves once more.

Once we begin to allow Jesus to tear down our walls and help us move beyond ourselves we begin to exist in a higher mode of life where the miraculous becomes possible in ways that otherwise seem too good to be true. Just listen to how improbable this statement of Paul sounds to the so-called rational mind:

Moreover, God is able to make every grace abundant for you,
so that in all things, always having all you need,
you may have an abundance for every good work.

Not likely, right? But to those seeds who are in the process of becoming fruit bearing plants it makes abundant sense. They know that the limits on which our rational, ego-directed minds insist, are only limits that are based on ourselves as isolated individuals. Being broken open by God reveals that conception for the illusion that it is. Such barriers are only temporary, transitory, meant to give way to something more. So let us learn to trust the plan of the one who supplies the seed "without sadness or compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver".

Dan Schutte - Behold The Wood

 

9 August 2026 - small craft advisory

 

Today's Readings
(Audio)

 

Then the LORD said to him,
“Go outside and stand on the mountain before the LORD;
the LORD will be passing by.” 

Our first reading and our Gospel today tell both recount events of theophany, when God revealed himself to Elijah on Horeb, and to Peter and the other disciples on the sea. In both events there was much to distract and detract from the awareness of God's presence. There were dramatic events that preceded his coming that seemed far more impressive than his presence when he finally came. The earthquake, the wind, and the storm at sea were all such powerful events, so obvious and hard to ignore, that they easily could have been mistaken for God's presence. No doubt pagans had done exactly that in other times and places. But Elijah was not fooled by the preludes. There was nothing in creation adequate to express God's glory. Tying that glory to an earthquake or the wind would only result in deeper confusion about his transcendence. It is likely that Elijah had to gradually learn that the voice of the Lord was unexpectedly quiet, a still small voice, a quiet whispering sound. Those who were the most zealous for the Lord seemed like they would be the ones most likely to assume that the sound of his voice would convey unmistakable glory, that it would be undeniable, and impossible to miss. But Elijah didn't move until he heard the tiny whispering sound. He knew what to expect, and therefore must have learned it previously. Something so subtle could not have been something discerned without time and effort. But having expended such effort in the past he was now able to recognize it instantly. We are reminded of how Samuel had to be instructed by Eli in order to know the voice of the one who called him in the night (see First Samuel 3:8-9). Then, having been instructed, he was able to recognize the Lord speaking to him and respond appropriately.

When the disciples saw him walking on the sea they were terrified. 
“It is a ghost,” they said, and they cried out in fear. 
At once Jesus spoke to them, “Take courage, it is I; do not be afraid.” 

At first, the disciples were unable to separate the presence of Jesus from their fear of the storm. But his voice was familiar enough to Peter to cause him to take the next step. Like Elijah he was drawn toward the voice. For some inscrutable reason he asked to be allowed to leave the boat and go toward Jesus rather than asking Jesus to come to them in the boat. The boat did provide some proof against the storm. But if Peter was not deceived by what he saw, Jesus possessed in himself an even greater stability. If it was not an illusion, Jesus seemed to be a greater shelter in the storm than the disciples' insufficient vessel.

God is our refuge and strength,
a very present help in trouble. 
Therefore we will not fear though the earth give way,
though the mountains be moved into the heart of the sea, 
though its waters roar and foam,
though the mountains tremble at its swelling (see Psalm 46:1-3).

We can't go where Jesus is merely on our own initiative. If we want to live in the shelter of his presence we must learn first, not to be content with the shelter of our inadequate vessels, and second to ask him to call us where he is, into the dynamism and adventure of discipleship. We don't go out because we are foolhardy adventure seekers. We go because it is always better to be close to Jesus than anything else. When we forget this motive there is no way for us to continue existing in that higher mode of living without sinking. We can't live the life we are meant to live as disciples on our own strength. Yet we are often tempted to look away from the one through whose grace we stand (see Romans 5:2) and toward the strength of the wind and waves of worldly circumstances. Slipping back into self-reliance is a pitfall that can probably never be avoided entirely. Fortunately, we have Jesus near at hand to catch us when (and not if) we fall. He can then bring us back to the boat of his Church, in which we now discover a new depth of peace and stability, that we may rest and be restored, recharged for our next adventure with him.

After they got into the boat, the wind died down. 
Those who were in the boat did him homage, saying,
“Truly, you are the Son of God.”

 

Hillsong UNITED - Oceans (Where Feet May Fail)

 

8 August 2026 - if it delays, wait for it

 

Today's Readings
(Audio)

 

Jesus said in reply,
“O faithless and perverse generation, how long will I be with you?
How long will I endure you?  
Bring the boy here to me.”

The disciples lack of faith made them like the generation of Israelites that wandered in the desert after the Exodus. This was a critique that Jesus occasionally leveled at the Pharisees, but here demonstrated that it was a problem that could even affect his own disciples. What was necessary for success for that generation who journeyed through the desert toward the promised land? They needed faith to believe that God would provide for them, and then they needed to act on that belief. They needed to avoid false alternatives or easy answers. When they were led to faced challenges that seemed to great for them alone they were meant to rely on God.

Jesus rebuked him and the demon came out of him,
and from that hour the boy was cured.
Then the disciples approached Jesus in private and said,
“Why could we not drive it out?”

The disciples seemed surprised that Jesus was able to rebuke the demon so easily when they had failed entirely. What was it exactly that made them fail, or what specifically was deficient in their faith? Clearly, by then, they had at least something like faith in Jesus. But it was not the specific faith necessary in this instance. Had they come to take for granted the availability of miracles, and believe that they could simply manifest them themselves, without any need for Jesus beyond a tacit acknowledgement of his name? Had they gotten so caught up in competition amongst one another that they came to believe that the real secret sauce for success was something one or another of them possessed rather than something available equally to all of them from Jesus? Was their failure, whatever it was specifically, a failure to remember God and depend on him as they pursued their goal, as it was for the generation in the desert? Quite possible. We must account for the fact that they had some sort of nascent faith but were unable to apply it in a particular situation. Maybe it was because the raw reality of the situation and their distance from Jesus at the time made it seem overwhelming. Whatever it was, they apparently brought none of such faith as they did possess to their attempts to help the afflicted son of this man, not even a mustard seed's worth.

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.”

The disciples were meant to bring the presence and power of Jesus into every moment of their lives. But instead they seemed to slip back into reliance on their own insufficient resources. Part of practicing the presence of God was remembering the all surpassing sufficiency that God possessed in himself, more than enough to address any challenge one might face in life. Naturally this can't mean that God always gives us everything we ask. But the very idea that he would is not compatible with our need for faith, as if it were finally about our plans for the world, rather than his own. Nothing will be impossible for us precisely when we ask from a posture of faith in which, like Jesus himself, we desire nothing more than that the Father's will be done. Faith allows us to submit with humility to the reality that God's timing is not our own. The answer to our prayers may well be 'Not yet' rather than 'No', provided we "wait for it".

If it delays, wait for it,
it will surely come, it will not be late.
The rash man has no integrity;
but the just man, because of his faith, shall live.

 

 

Graham Kendrick - We Believe

 

7 August 2026 - first step: denial

 

Today's Readings
(Audio)

 

Whoever wishes to come after me must deny himself,
take up his cross, and follow me.

The point was not that we should make ourselves miserable by subjecting ourselves to unnecessary suffering. The point was that our commitment to Jesus must be such that there is nothing on earth that we would prefer. In order to seek first the Kingdom we must be willing to deny ourselves other things, and limit other options. For one in the world there might be a variety of paths that are equally valid. But for the Christian the only valid path is to follow in the footsteps of Jesus. 

 

We are called to live lives of self-sacrificial love. But, as any parent will attest, this involves a fair amount of self-denial. They might prefer to sleep, but often must choose the care of a child instead. They might have a variety of ways they would prefer to spend their income, but they must use it to provide the essentials of food, clothing, and other needs for their kids. They might prefer to sit back and relax. But the child might be hungry, or need a ride somewhere, or any of an infinite  number of other possibilities. Parents know well that having children is a form that the cross of Jesus takes in their lives. But it is an area where they are often most able to perceive that it is worth it. Parents who don't perceive this, who tally up all the effort their children require, who only ever put their children because they feel forced to do so, end up with attitudes of animosity that prevent them from being good parents. But parenthood is a real example were it is often something extrinsic to ourselves that we must prefer over our intrinsic and, in that sense, more natural motivations. Parents can't always do even all of the good things they might wish. How much more, then, are followers of Jesus required to choose love of God and neighbor over the sinful inclinations, tendencies that remain in their hearts even after they come to faith in him. And there are a vast number of things which, good in themselves, must not be allowed to come before the call of Jesus to seek first his Kingdom in our lives.

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

If we analyze the things we are tempted to prefer to life-giving selfless love we will find that they all have limited returns, whereas the return for love is infinite. Relaxation, sensual pleasure, power, and pride all have limits. They can never satisfy entirely no matter how much we dedicate heart and soul to their pursuit. Do we want to commit ourselves to love, which alone can outlast the temporal world? Or do we prefer to anchor our identity in things destined to disappear? This is not to say we don't enjoy the good things of this world in some measure. But we must consider whether the way we enjoy them is ordered to the praise and glory of God, or whether they have become instead idols and ends we pursue for their own sake.

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.

It may seem that we can choose to love or fail to do so without consequence. But assuredly the consequences are only delayed. This delay prevents our love from being motivated only by our selfish desire for reward. But by choosing love we signal our desire to be transformed so as to live in love, love that is the self-definition of God, for all eternity. There is no greater reward possible. But it is possible to receive the reward for failing to choose love, in which our desire to be identified with that which is temporary and destined for destruction is granted. May neither we nor anyone ever so choose.

Amen, I say to you, there are some standing here
who will not taste death
until they see the Son of Man coming in his Kingdom.

Perhaps this passage referred to Peter, James, and John, who were soon to witness the Transfiguration. But it can refer to us as well. After all, this Sunday, and indeed every day, Jesus comes to the Kingdom of his Church as the Eucharistic Lord. We taste, not death, but the bread of life eternal. May we recognize, hidden in the plain white host, the Son of Man coming to us.

 

Hillsong UNITED - Lead Me To The Cross

 

6 August 2026 - We did not follow cleverly devised myths

Today's Readings
(Audio)

  

His clothing was bright as snow,
and the hair on his head as white as wool;

In both our reading from Daniel and from Matthew's Gospel we read of the Son of man being mysteriously identified with the Ancient One, who was God himself. In the first reading we hear of a vision of Daniel in which the Son of man came to the Ancient One, riding on the clouds of heaven, which, needless to say, was not the submissive posture of a typical person, or even of an angel. Yet he was not rebuked, but rather received an everlasting dominion and a kingship that would not be destroyed. In our Gospel we see that Jesus himself shone with the same glory as that of the Ancient One when "his clothes became white as light". The Father was giving Jesus's chosen disciples a preview of what he would later explicitly request, "Father, glorify me in your own presence with the glory that I had with you before the world existed" (see John 17:5). The reason this was not automatically apparent to everyone was that Jesus had chosen to set that glory aside, coming in human form, and found human in appearance (see Philippians 2). But he took this approach at least partially so that the world would not be overwhelmed by it. Eventually, after the resurrection it would be more widely revealed to those to whom he appeared. When Jesus comes again, returning on the same clouds which received him into heaven, his glory will be revealed in fullness. 

 

We can see from the response of Peter and the others to the events of the Transfiguration that even those who were the most prepared to behold his glory still responded with confusion and fear, especially so when the Spirit was manifested as a cloud of glory and the Father's voice was heard. This was a revelation of the Triune God, causing them to see Jesus in a new and divine light. It is only natural that they were at a loss.

And behold, Moses and Elijah appeared to them,
conversing with him.

The two most impressive figures of the Old Testament also appeared during the Transfiguration, not because to show that Jesus was their equal, but to show how much he surpassed them. They were there to be the representative witnesses of the Law and the Prophets that Jesus was the one for whom all of history was waiting, the goal of everything that had come before. Jesus was the center of human history. And the Transfiguration was more or less than center of his ministry, beginning with the baptism, and leading to the cross. Thus he discussed with Moses and Elijah the true exodus which he would accomplish through his Passion, and then set his face definitively toward Jerusalem. Once this was over the fact that Jesus surpassed them was made evident because "when the disciples raised their eyes, they saw no one else but Jesus alone". 

Peter and the others might have preferred to remain on the mountain to bask forever in the glorious light of the Son. But it was not to be. Not yet. It was only a foretaste. It was not even something that could not even be discussed with others until the resurrection. But it was something they were meant to treasure in their hearts, so that when the hour of darkness came they would be able to remember what they had seen. It would not prove to be enough to keep Peter from betraying his Lord. But it might have been part of what helped him to place his hope in the resurrection and dare to believe that reconciliation might be possible. It was part of the grace that helped him answer the charge of Jesus, who said, "when you have turned again, strengthen your brothers" (see Luke 22:32). 

We did not follow cleverly devised myths
when we made known to you
the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ,
but we had been eyewitnesses of his majesty.

As Christians our inheritance is that eye witnesses have handed down to us the truth of what they themselves beheld as eyewitnesses. They explicitly differentiated what they described from "cleverly devised myths" so that we could have confidence that what they described was historical fact. If at times it resembled mythology that must have been because the humans who created myths had hearts that were themselves created by God. Thus God, when he sought to make his definitive communication to humanity in Christ Jesus did so in a form similar in some ways to myths, but different in that it was also true history. It is the glory of the resurrection, of which the Transfiguration was a preview, that has been handed down to us. It is not only something we believe, but even something we experience in virtue of our baptism.

We were buried therefore with him by baptism into death, in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we too might walk in newness of life (see Romans 6:4).

Matt Maher - Shine Like The Sun

 

5 August 2026 - be careful how you hear

Today's Readings
(Audio)

 

“Have pity on me, Lord, Son of David!
My daughter is tormented by a demon.”
But he did not say a word in answer to her.

When we don't get an answer from God right away we tend to give up. When we do choose to persist in prayer it is often persistence of a rote and mechanical sort. Our attempts to rise above that level is often met with voices, external or internal, trying to make us give up.

His disciples came and asked him,
“Send her away, for she keeps calling out after us.”

If even the other disciples of Jesus, let alone the rest of the world, find our needs and desires to be more of an annoyance than deserving sympathy it makes it harder in turn for us to continue to pursue them. Yet the other disciples of Jesus can never fully appreciate how much such things matter to us. They simply can't be as intrinsically motivating to others as the are to ourselves. But other disciples may try to shore up the justification for their lack of compassion by using the mission of Jesus as an excuse. They may even use the priority of the Kingdom as an excuse to justify action or inaction which was actually motivated by stereotypes and prejudice. In this way, the disciples of Jesus were probably less interested in helping this woman specifically because she was a Canaanite.

He said in reply,
“I was sent only to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.”

Sometimes even our understanding of Jesus himself, and what he has told us becomes a problem. It is too easy to find excuses to validate our hypothesis that he must in fact love us less than other people. But when we suspect a lack of love on the part of Jesus, we should listen to him more closely. Because, although he was sent to the lost sheep of the house of Israel, he nevertheless withdrew to the region of Tyre and Sidon, Gentile territory. There was already a hint in this move of his desire that his mercy and grace eventually transcend national boundaries. The fact that he was sent in to a particular time and place, in fulfillment of the specific covenant promises to Abraham, did not mean that he lacked sufficient abundance for others as well. After all, that very promise that made him come to Israel included the fact that Israel was meant to become a light to the nations, through whom all the nations of the earth would be blessed. But that might not have mattered in this particular case if the woman had chosen to accept what seemed in a superficial sense that seemed to be a refusal of her request.

The woman did not flag in her devotion in response to Jesus testing her faith. Rather, her love and and fervor somehow seemed to increase as she "came and did him homage, saying, "Lord, help me."". But there was one final hurdle still to clear.

He said in reply,
“It is not right to take the food of the children
and throw it to the dogs.”
She said, “Please, Lord, for even the dogs eat the scraps
that fall from the table of their masters.”

In order to receive her request she first had to imagine it and believe that she could receive it, even in spite of all of the apparent evidence to the contrary. She had to accept the invitation of the Holy Spirit to hope rather than the easily believable insinuation of the devil that there was nothing for her but despair. She chose hope over despair, and allowed the Holy Spirit to reveal to her that Jesus had so an such an abundance of grace that he could grant her request without in any way diminishing the "food of the children". She saw beyond a partial, merely human version of Jesus, in which he had human constraints and limitations, to see instead the one who was the source of being itself, who could give without limit, without being impoverished thereby.

O woman, great is your faith!
Let it be done for you as you wish.

We should ask why it is often the outsiders who manifest the greatest faith. Should it not be we, the disciples who have walked with Jesus longer who have greater faith in his power? And yet our complacency tends to grow if we are not careful. Being lukewarm tends to lead to regress when we aren't actively pushing forward in the way described by Paul: "forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead, I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus" (see Philippians 3:13-14). We tend to think highly of Paul for doing so, as if it were exceptional. But the fact of the matter is that if we don't strain in that way, our complacency will gradually drain our motivation, rendering us not only unable to believe in Jesus for the extraordinary, but even unwilling to remain near him during the ordinary difficulties of life. Then we will quickly turn to idols who make lower demands of their subjects. But true healing is to be found in Jesus alone. We ought accept no substitutes to the only one who can give us what we need. And if he is the only one who can help we would do well to stake everything on his promises.

With age-old love I have loved you;
so I have kept my mercy toward you.
Again I will restore you, and you shall be rebuilt,
O virgin Israel;
Carrying your festive tambourines,
you shall go forth dancing with the merrymakers.
Again you shall plant vineyards
on the mountains of Samaria;
those who plant them shall enjoy the fruits.

 

Vineyard - Help Us Our God

 

4 August 2026 - washed up?

 

Today's Readings

(Audio)

 

Why do your disciples break the tradition of the elders?
They do not wash their hands when they eat a meal.

Naturally we want to have clean hands before eating, but that was not the concern of the Pharisees and scribes. Neither was this among the ritual washings prescribed by the law, but was rather additional, extending a mandate meant for priests serving in the temple to others. The initial impulse of such a tradition was probably good. They wanted to be pure before God. If it made sense to purify oneself at the highest points of religious life, why not expand it to everyone everywhere for an even greater totality of purity through the nation? The Pharisees hoped that if this was done God would see them as righteous and finally come and vindicate them against their enemies. A corollary to that belief was that anyone who refused to participate was implicitly a traitor, one who couldn't be bothered to change his behavior for God and country. But there were several problems with this insistence on tradition.

Hear and understand.
It is not what enters one’s mouth that defiles the man;
but what comes out of the mouth is what defiles one.

One problem was that these ritual behaviors did not actually effect the purification they were meant to signify. If the heart was engaged, if they were done in a prayerful spirit, there might have been some value in them. But when they were performed only as required routine they could not be helpful. Even such actual requirements as kosher food laws were not in the last analysis about impurity that could be acquired by contagion from animals. At that time it was indeed necessary to keep those food laws. But their point was that the people of Israel might by a people set apart for God. Thus, even there, it was what happened in the will of the individuals, not that external acts, that mattered most. They were signaling by what they would and would not eat that they belonged to God and not to the surrounding nations.

The Pharisees took a tradition that had begun based on a good impulse and weaponized it to assert their own superiority over others. By the time they criticized Jesus and his disciples for not doing it there way they themselves were apparently more concerned to have grounds to criticize Jesus than they were for the righteousness of the nation. Thus the Pharisees were defiled by what came forth from the hearts, rather than Jesus and his disciples being defiled by their failure to wash their hands, since "from the heart come evil thoughts, murder, adultery, unchastity, theft, false witness, blasphemy" (see Matthew 15:19). It is easy to extrapolate how the Pharisees themselves harbored many such evil thoughts in their hearts, particular in their attitude toward Jesus himself, and how those thoughts were expressed in a religiosity that was ultimately superficial.

We have to be careful that we ourselves don't turn our own initially helpful traditions into laws which we insist that others follow. There is a vast treasury of devotional practices in the Church. But no matter how effective any of them are for us we ought not to denigrate people who don't choose to practice them themselves. These lower case 't' traditions of various kinds are of course different from the Traditions handed down to us by the Church, the teachings passed down from Jesus and his Apostles. Of these Saint Paul wrote:

So then, brothers, stand firm and hold to the traditions that you were taught by us, either by our spoken word or by our letter (see Second Thessalonians 2:15).

But this is the point. We need to distinguish our own traditions, preferences, and predilections, from what has been handed down to us for the sake of our salvation. With the first we should be generous and flexible. But with the second we should be steadfast, unwilling to renounce them even in the face of persecution, desirous to be seen as faithful to the entirely of our call to be followers of Christ.

Chris Tomlin - Give Us Clean Hands