31 May 2022 - parts to play

Today's Readings

(Audio)

Blessed are you who believed

that what was spoken to you by the Lord

would be fulfilled.

The angel of the Lord declared to Mary how God desired to use her in his plan of salvation. Because she already filled with grace by God she was able to respond with a generous heart, accepting the plan God had for her, accepting her role in the story God himself was telling. She was humble and knew that she had no power to accomplish what the angel described on her own. But her faith allowed her to believe that if the Spirit himself would come upon her and kept her under his shadow then he himself would empower her to play her part. She saw clearly how far beyond human limitations this was to be. But she did not despair nor dismiss it out of misplaced humility. Neither did she only accept it, as we might, on the basis of pride and self-assurance. It was only her trust in God on display as she gave her fiat.

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.

By grace Mary embraced the invitation to faith given by the archangel Gabriel. Setting her own heart and mind in accord with the will of God for her had profound results. Whereas we would probably use the knowledge that we were to play such a role as an excuse to pamper ourselves, Mary immediately moved to care for others. She was did not turn inward on herself because she received a special and significant role in salvation history. Instead she immediately embraced the outward movement of love and hospitality, caught up in the part in the story that was now hers.

When Elizabeth heard Mary’s greeting,

the infant leaped in her womb,

Mary brought the presence of God to those around her in a way that was utterly unique. Even more than the ark of the covenant brought with it the glory of God Mary now brought with her that same glory, magnified, causing those open to it to be filled with the Spirit and rejoice.

And how does this happen to me,

that the mother of my Lord should come to me?

Although our role is different from that of Mary we too are meant to be the bearers of the presence of Jesus to others. It can in fact be the case that others actually rejoice when we come because they sense that the presence of Jesus comes with us. If we can put ourselves aside as Mary did and enter into the larger story we can be occasions of joy for our family, friends, and those we meet along the way. 

For at the moment the sound of your greeting reached my ears,

the infant in my womb leaped for joy.

We need to keep in mind that the story God is telling is the main overarching story of history, and the truest one, no matter how things seem in the world around us. We help ourselves to remember this just as Mary did, by praising and magnifying the Lord for who he is and what he has done. With her, we go on to acknowledge the hidden reversals that the Kingdom already makes present in the world, setting ourselves to agree with God's values in the face of a world with other concerns.

He has shown the strength of his arm,

he has scattered the proud in their conceit.

He has cast down the mighty from their thrones,

and has lifted up the lowly.

Many of the greatest moments of salvation history are hidden in acts of humble love, just as was the case for Mary's visitation of her cousin Elizabeth. It is of little consequence whether we are strong, mighty, or rich. What matters is that we learn to trust that the seemingly small part we have to play in God's plans for the world means more than would any of these temporal blessings. Our story is now no longer determined by the goals the world tells us are worth seeking. It is determined by the God who can alone decide what makes for true blessing.

Most blessed are you among women,

and blessed is the fruit of your womb.

We do not need to look for signs of what the world would consider success to know that we are on the right track. We must instead listen to the God who has come so near to us. The more we do so the more we will hear his voice, not just speaking, but singing joyfully over us.

He will sing joyfully because of you,

as one sings at festivals.

This song of God over us will motivate our response, just as it did for Mary. As with her Magnificat we too will be moved to respond by making our lives songs of praise.

John Michael Talbot - Holy Is His Name

30 May 2022 - head to heart

Today's Readings

(Audio)

Now you are talking plainly, and not in any figure of speech.

Now we realize that you know everything

and that you do not need to have anyone question you.

Because of this we believe that you came from God.

Jesus had promised that the hour was coming when, "I will no longer speak to you in figures but I will tell you clearly about the Father" (see John 16:25). The disciples perhaps thought that Jesus was speaking of a difference between parable and metaphor on the one hand and direct statements of fact on the other. Jesus had just then been talking in a relatively straightforward manor about the Father from whom he came and to whom he was soon to go.

I came from the Father and have come into the world. Now I am leaving the world and going back to the Father (see John 16:28).

The disciples thought this was plain and clear enough that they now understood. So Jesus said he came from God? They could acknowledge that. He knew things that only the Father knew, and had a unique authority as a consequence of that? OK, sure, why not? And these incipient beliefs about Jesus were not wrong. He did come from the Father, did know all things, and did have a unique authority utterly unlike the scribes and Pharisees of his time. But these beliefs, when battle tested, would prove immature and insufficient.

Jesus answered them, “Do you believe now?

Behold, the hour is coming and has arrived

when each of you will be scattered to his own home

and you will leave me alone.

The disciples relationship with this knowledge they professed was like that of new Christians who know doctrine but have yet to live it out, who have head knowledge that may be correct, but who do not yet have heart knowledge. The hour Jesus promised, when his teaching would be clear, would come not because his mode of discourse changed from the symbolic to the literal. It would rather come when they would share in the experience of the truth of his teaching by the presence of his Holy Spirit in their hearts.

and you will leave me alone.

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

There was a clear difference in disciples who had the understanding imparted by the Spirit and those who as yet only head knowledge in the abstract. Those filled with the Spirit could be scattered and alone and yet not be alone because of the presence of the Father with them, just as for Jesus himself. Those with mere head knowledge would not find themselves able to stake their lives on that knowledge during the dark hour of the Passion. And it could not be otherwise. Only by sharing in the victory of Jesus himself could they have victory. Once Jesus blazed that trail from death to life and glory and filled his followers with his Spirit, although they would still have trouble, they too could live in victory. Their beliefs could now be true and solid and not turn aside when trouble came. In Christ the victor they too conquered the world.

For our part, we are probably somewhere in between the pre-resurrection and post-Pentecost disciples, with beliefs that are somewhat head knowledge and somewhat heart knowledge. As a consequence, we find that these beliefs are sometimes strong enough to keep us on track no matter our circumstances but at other times too flimsy to be reliable when we are really pressed. What can we do to grow, or how can we invite the knowledge of the facts of faith to transform our hearts? We can invite the Holy Spirit to do so. His reminders of truth are intimately tied to the reality of our relationship with God himself. He does not deal in abstractions. He himself leads us in the renewal of our minds and is himself the source of the new hearts promised by the prophets of old. He can make Jesus present to us, can make our relationship with the Father something real in a way that mere data could never be. It is from our relationship with the Triune God that what Jesus taught can change our hearts and minds and can finally come to actually shape the way we live.

And when Paul laid his hands on them,

the Holy Spirit came upon them,

and they spoke in tongues and prophesied.

Let us seek more of the Spirit so that he can do his work of bringing us into ever deeper relationship with the Father and the Son. Let us ask him to renew our minds and continue to transform our hearts so that we can live in the victory Christ won for us, and "this is the victory that has overcome the world—our faith" (see First John 5:4).

The father of orphans and the defender of widows

is God in his holy dwelling.

John Michael Talbot - You Will Receive Power

29 May 2022 - it is not for you to know the times

Today's Readings - Ascension

(Audio)

He presented himself alive to them

by many proofs after he had suffered,

appearing to them during forty days

and speaking about the kingdom of God.

Our celebration of this season of joy in the resurrection of Jesus himself is drawing to a close once more. In this season we have been offered new assurance of faith and hope that death has been definitively defeated. Hopefully we have taken these proofs more deeply into our hearts in order to fully celebrate this victory of Jesus together with him and his people. But here we reach a point where we acknowledge that the visible presence of the incarnate word seemed to withdraw from the world, as we celebrate his ascent into heaven. As he was about the depart from the disciples they noticed that the world was still unfinished, fragmented, and not entirely under the Lordship of Jesus himself.

When they had gathered together they asked him,

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

Isn't this our perpetual question? Lord, people are still suffering, still neglected, still deeply hurting! Surely you will now, or at least soon, establish a political reign of power where you impose the correction of these flaws upon the world! Surely you will reign in the fashion of an earthly king, and make impossible all that does not please you. 

He answered them, “It is not for you to know the times or seasons

that the Father has established by his own authority.

The response of Jesus is not a rebuke. He does not say that we are wrong to desire the time when all things are set aright. His response is rather that it is not yet the season for his will to be imposed. It is still the season for it to be proposed. It is not yet the season for his Kingdom to be restored through the destruction of his foes. It is the season for the winning over of those foes by the power of his Holy Spirit.

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

and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem,

throughout Judea and Samaria,

and to the ends of the earth.”

Because of his ascension Jesus is no longer visibly present to the Church on earth. She must indeed continue on in a world replete with visible evidence that sin and death is not yet finally defeated. But his ascension does not make Jesus absent from his Church. It is rather the case that his ascension is his enthronement, in his human nature, as Lord. Because this is so his reign can already be present on earth for those united to him by his Holy Spirit, who become priests, prophets, and yes, kings, in union with him. From the reign of Christ on the throne of heaven the Church receives power to spread the Kingdom, not by violence, nor necessarily by political victory, but first and foremost by conversion of heart.

May the eyes of your hearts be enlightened,

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

what are the riches of glory

in his inheritance among the holy ones,

and what is the surpassing greatness of his power

for us who believe

in accord with the exercise of his great might

We don't seem to have much regard for the hope that belongs to our call. In the face of worldly suffering we dismiss the surpassing greatness of his power as merely pious devotional language. As proof of that this is how we feel, we would gladly trade the Spirit we have been given for the power to effect what we imagine to be real change in the world. We seem unhappy with the system Jesus established and unimpressed by his promises. This is why Paul prayed so intensely that his readers would truly realize what they had received. At a superficial glance, yes, the powers of darkness were still running the show in the world. But a deeper look would now reveal the Kingdom moving forward inexorably, and the powers of the world powerless to slow it down. Even death would not deter Kingdom progress for it was built on the fact of the Father of Jesus "raising him from the dead and seating him at his right hand in the heavens".

Today in commemorating the feast of the Ascension we celebrate the enthronement and reign of Jesus as the Lord of heaven and earth. Because of his ascension we know that we too have been seated with him in heavenly places (see Ephesians 2:6) and are therefore equipped with his heavenly gifts to spread the Kingdom.

When he ascended on high he led a host of captives, and he gave gifts to men (see Ephesians 4:8).

However, it remains clear that we are unpersuaded of our "confidence of entrance" into the sanctuary of heaven. How can we receive the confidence of the reality that the King is truly on the throne and that our high priest is over the house of God? The readings offer two directives.

but stay in the city

until you are clothed with power from on high.

We need the power of his Spirit to have the faith, hope, and love, to know and spread the Gospel. It is not enough to wish for these things upon a star. We are encouraged to prepare our hearts to receive more of the gift of the Spirit this Pentecost. There is always more that God wants to give, but as with all things in his Kingdom, he will not force us to receive it. We are weak, and our desires are feeble, but he will himself will help us to open ourselves what he himself desires to bestow.

The second place we can find more assurance and confidence is "through the blood of Jesus" and "his flesh", in other words, his ongoing presence with us in the Eucharist. This combination of Spirit and Sacramental presence forms a virtuous cycle where the Spirit enables us to recognize Jesus ever more clearly though veiled behind bread and wine, though veiled in the sufferings of the world. And receiving the presence of Jesus himself opens us more to sharing in his reign, receiving his Spirit, and functioning as the hands and feet of his body in the world. 

Come Holy Spirit!

MercyMe - Lord I Lift Your Name On High

Kutless - Take Me In

28 May 2022 - until now you have not asked

Today's Readings

(Audio)

For the Father himself loves you, because you have loved me

and have come to believe that I came from God.

Jesus came to demonstrate his love for the Father, and the love with which they together so loved the world. He revealed a heart of compassion for all those who were troubled and abandoned, like sheep without a shepherd. His invitation to the ones to whom he came was that they believe in him, that they come to know him. This faith would give them a window into his own love for the Father. Seeing the love of the Father and the Son had the power to fill the hearts of believers with that same love, nothing less than the Holy Spirit himself. Without faith how could our own love ever come close to resembling the living bond of love who is the Spirit? But with truly personal and relational faith, beginning with our relationship with Jesus himself, we could be genuinely lifted up and incorporated into this great love. The more we chose to do this, and opened ourselves to this transformation, the more we would resemble Jesus himself. The Father would then love the image of his Son in us, like an artist seeing the true form of a statue gradually emerges from the raw materials.

Amen, amen, I say to you,

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

Until now you have not asked anything in my name;

By faith, hope, and love we are conformed to the image of Jesus himself.

For those whom he foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, in order that he might be the firstborn among many brothers (see Romans 8:29).

The more we are conformed to his image the more truly we can live, love, act, and desire, in the name of Jesus. As we grow in union with Jesus our desires become more and more those of his own Sacred Heart. These are desires which the Father cannot refuse, to which he will not say no. But we should not wait until we are perfect to start asking the Father for our needs. Jesus said, "Ask and keep on asking and it will be given to you; seek and keep on seeking and you will find; knock and keep on knocking and the door will be opened to you" (see Matthew 7:7, Amplified). He taught many parables on the value of persevering in prayer (for example Luke 11:5-8, 18:1-8). We know that Jesus did not expect us to change the Father's mind. Rather, he knew that by persistence our own hearts would be changed to be more like his own. Somehow, mysteriously, holding on to our desires for God to work would refine us as we surrendered our stipulations about method and timing and all of the rest. We can even see the agony of Jesus in Gethsemane as a model for this, wherein he did not surrender his desire for the salvation of mankind, yet yielded his human preferences about how this would take place to the will of his Father (see Matthew 26:36-46).

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

but I will tell you clearly about the Father.

The resurrection made it possible for us to be filled with the Spirit and to attain a deep and experiential knowledge of the Father, united to Jesus himself through our baptism. What came before the resurrection as mere "figures" could now be unlocked "clearly" by the Spirit. As for the disciples at Emmaus, Jesus himself could now reveal that all of Scripture was in fact about him. The Spirit by which the all of Scripture was written now corresponded to the Spirit in the hearts of believers, allowing us to experience them as a living and effective reality. The sequence was not in the order we might have guessed. Rather, we would probably have expected that we would need to understand the Scriptures, then believe, and then love Jesus. In fact, Jesus first loved us, and then we were empowered to respond with faith and love. That love, nothing less than the Spirit himself, then enabled us to understand the Scriptures, to draw from them ever increasing depths of meaning and of power.

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

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

Jesus returned to the Father but did not leave us orphans. We remain united to Jesus himself by the power of his Spirit. He continued to teach us and lead us to the Father by this same Spirit. Just as Jesus himself was motivated and even "driven" by the Spirit (see Mark 1:12) so now his body would be as well.

with ardent spirit, spoke and taught accurately about Jesus,

although he knew only the baptism of John.

Apollos may not have had a perfect understanding of the message about Jesus himself, may even have by missing what we recognize as key elements. But this did not disqualify him from speaking about Jesus. Priscilla and Aquilla did not try to silence him for a few years while he brushed up on doctrine or attended seminary. Rather, they recognized that his faith made him ready to receive clarification and correction.

they took him aside

and explained to him the Way of God more accurately.

Perhaps like Apollos there is still much we do not know or things we still get wrong. Perhaps we are therefore afraid to ask the Father in the name of Jesus, afraid to speak the message of Jesus with an ardent spirit. Jesus seems to be inviting us to start now, to begin with our meager attempts to desire what he himself desires, and to speak his message, while trusting him to refine and perfect us as we do so.

After his arrival he gave great assistance

to those who had come to believe through grace.

Kari Jobe - Holy Spirit

27 May 2022 - you will grieve, but...

Today's Readings

(Audio)

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

while the world rejoices;

Does it seem that those who are pursuing the good in God weep while those full of hatred, selfishness, and pride seem to succeed and rejoice on all sides? To the former Jesus said, "Blessed are you who weep now, for you shall laugh", to the later, "Woe to you who laugh now, for you shall mourn and weep" (see Luke 6:21, 6:25). Pursuing the world and the things of this world as if they can deliver ultimate happiness is a strategy which may result in short term success, but which is destined for long term failure. Such failure, if not abandoned before the end, is definitive, absolute, and final.

you will grieve, but your grief will become joy.

Pursuing the things of God isn't always easy in the short term. It means dying to self so as to live for God, and therefore carrying one's cross, following in the path of Jesus himself. But divesting ourselves of disordered commitments to the world is the only way we find the freedom to live for those things which truly matter, which ultimately last, and which can finally satisfy our souls. 

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

but when she has given birth to a child,

she no longer remembers the pain because of her joy

that a child has been born into the world.

Jesus told Nicodemus that those who wished to see the Kingdom of God would need to be born again. Here we see that the new birth is more than a nice sentiment. It is of necessity a complete transformation. But it is not one we can achieve, any more than we can achieve our own birth. It is a transformation given to us in baptism, which is itself properly this new birth, since in it we are born again by water and Spirit. But this reality of grace remains for us to live. The transformation is present potentially, but we must embrace it. Sometimes this only seems to us to be onerous and excessively difficult, not worth the effort. But Jesus promises that the joy that awaits us is worth it, that it is indeed the only joy worth seeking.

So you also are now in anguish.

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

and no one will take your joy away from you.

The more Jesus himself is the source of our joy the less the world will be able to take that joy from us. Anguish is probably an inevitable part of letting go of lesser things in favor of Jesus himself. To the degree that such things seem to be our whole world or our entire life losing them will feel to that degree as a  death. But we are called to remember that it is actually a new birth. As Christians living in the light of the resurrection we are meant to walk and live more and more in the reality of the newness of life. Even here in this valley of tears Jesus wants our taste for the things of heaven and our desire for the joy that is found in him is meant to draw us onward and upward. Clearly this joy is not something we can stir up in ourselves, much less something that the world can provide. But as we begin to live from our union with Jesus himself our own desires become increasingly things we ask the Father in his name. To this same degree his joy will fill our hearts.

Amen, amen, I say to you,

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

If we look at the mission of Paul from a temporal and human perspective we see disaster and failure and only limited success. But Paul saw his mission from the perspective of Jesus himself. He had surrendered his old desires as so much refuse (see Philippians 3:8) and strained toward instead toward Jesus himself. His desires were so much "in the name" of Jesus that he said of himself that he no longer lived, but that Jesus now lived in him and through him (see Galatians 2:20). This was the reason why, in the midst of earthly difficulties, he was able to remain joyful in the courageous.

Do not be afraid.

Go on speaking, and do not be silent, for I am with you.

Darrell Evans - Trading My Sorrows

26 May 2022 - you will see me again

Today's Readings (Non-Ascension)

(Audio)

‘A little while and you will not see me,

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

Even though what Jesus said was ultimately a sign of hope, a promise that they would see him again, they were unable to understand, afraid to ask Jesus himself for clarification. They discussed it among themselves and "wanted to ask him" but did not ask. They had come to suspect that Jesus was talking about his death and could not imagine how anything good could come from that. To them, "going to the Father" only meant he would be far from them. "A little while" could really mean anything for God to whom a thousand years were like a day. If he was going to die in what sense could they see him again? And wouldn't this all represent the failure of his mission?

The disciples still needed the Holy Spirit to interpret these words of Jesus to guide them into the full truth they contained. Spoken here, in a dark hour, they gave some comfort and some hope, but mixed with doubt and confusion. It was only after the resurrection that Jesus was able to reveal what pertained to him in all of Scripture (see Luke 24:27), causing the hearts of his disciples to burn within them as all of what he had said to them in the past crystalized and became fully intelligible. 

Amen, amen, I say to you,

you will weep and mourn, while the world rejoices;

you will grieve, but your grief will become joy.

We have the potential advantage over the disciples that we live on the other side of the resurrection. We know, or have some sense, of why Jesus had to suffer. We appreciate and have tasted the joy of the resurrection in our celebrations of Easter, and every Sunday throughout the year which is itself a little Easter. However, when we are called to bear our own crosses we often act as though this is surprising and unexpected. It seems to us to be something outside of the providence of God, something about which we are afraid to ask. We are afraid that such things befall us because God can't or won't protect us. And we are perhaps even more afraid that such things befall us because he himself permits them to do so. At such times we are deeply afraid to clarify what is meant by a 'little while'. We are afraid to ask him how such things fit into his plans for us. But if we do not let Jesus himself establish the context for our suffering, if we keep them to ourselves and do not bring them to him, we cannot suffer with hope.

you will grieve, but your grief will become joy.

If we bring our sufferings to Jesus, and unite them with his own, it does not immediately dissolve them into joy. But it does allow us to endure them with hope, and, increasingly, it allows his own joy to remain present in us as we follow in the footsteps of Jesus himself. We realize more and more that even if he seems hidden for a moment we will see him again. Each time we will be closer to him than before. Each time our joy will grow until we see him face to face. The same Holy Spirit that revealed the truth about the suffering and death of Jesus as a part of God's plan of salvation also wants to guide us as we face challenges in our own life. He himself desires to be the source of our joy. The more we surrender to his guidance the more we will be filled with his fruits.

“Your blood be on your heads!

I am clear of responsibility.

From now on I will go to the Gentiles.”

The Holy Spirit guides us into all truth. One of the consequences of this can be that we are no longer condemned by failures and setbacks. Our self-worth is transplanted, no longer rooted in self nor in our own achievements. We learn from the Spirit's guidance to brush off the dirt and keep going knowing that every little death has already been swallowed up by life in the resurrection. 

Carl Tuttle - Rejoice

25 May 2022 - he will guide you to all truth

Today's Readings

(Audio)

I have much more to tell you, but you cannot bear it now.

What truths were the disciples unable to bear at first? Among others, they struggled with the idea of a Messiah who would have to die and rise again. They had limited comprehension of the relationship of Jesus to the Father in heaven. And what truths do we find difficult? Is it not often the command to take up our cross and follow Jesus? Further, though we know we are made sons and daughters in the Son through baptism, have we internalized this teaching enough to live our lives in loving abandonment and trust to the Father?

But when he comes, the Spirit of truth,

he will guide you to all truth.

The love that is at the heart of the Christian mystery cannot be fully intellectually grasped from the outside looking in. It can only be experienced from the inside out. Thus the revealing the mysteries of the Kingdom was preceded by the gift of new hearts, hearts for which these mysteries would be intelligible.

I will sprinkle clean water on you, and you shall be clean from all your uncleannesses, and from all your idols I will cleanse you. And I will give you a new heart, and a new spirit I will put within you. And I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh. And I will put my Spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes and be careful to obey my rules (see Ezekiel 36:25-27).

Because the baptized have received new hearts they are able to receive the teaching of the Church. It is the Church that most perfectly receives the promise of being guided into all truth. But insofar as we are united with the Church, and through the body to the head, Christ himself, we too receive the promise and are guided into all truth. 

He will not speak on his own,

but he will speak what he hears

The Spirit does not present us with novelties for our amusement. Rather, he declares what he himself has heard. These are words of the Father and of Jesus that are perhaps familiar to us but of which our understanding is lacking. The Holy Spirit leads us deeper and ever deeper into the faith we have been given.

and will declare to you the things that are coming.

The Spirit also offers us guidance by his charismatic graces. He declares the things that are coming both by revealing the meaning of the word of God to us and also by gifts of prophecy. Prophecy is not so much concerned with sating our curiosity about the future. Rather, it is designed to help us hear what the Spirit is saying even now to the Church. The more clearly we hear that message the more we are able to respond with docility. And so, what if, perhaps, the Spirit has a word he wants to speak through us? Do we know how to listen with open hearts? Do we have enough trust to share such a word once we are convinced that the Spirit is the source? After reminding his hearers that love comes first Paul insisted on the importance of prophecy.

Pursue love, and earnestly desire the spiritual gifts, especially that you may prophesy (see First Corinthians 14:1).

Allowing ourselves to be open to the possibility that the Holy Spirit wants to speak through us is part of what it means for us to allow ourselves to be guided by him into all truth. And even if we do not receive a concrete word that surprises others with its prescience we will not be the worse for having sought this gift, for doing so at the very least makes us better able to listen.

One final point. The fact that revelation is imparted gradually, to us, and even to the disciples, should make us patient with those who don't immediately understand when we try to share the Gospel with them.

“We should like to hear you on this some other time.”

It may sound as though the Athenians had been provoked to a certain unhelpful intellectual curiosity for which they were famous. But, admittedly, Paul's message was a lot to take in all at once. And eventually at least some of them did receive it. The Holy Spirit works in his own time. Listening for his voice has the added benefit of making us patient as we await his action in the world. We grow more and more in the conviction that he will indeed act when the time is right.

But some did join him, and became believers.

Matt Maher - Firelight

24 May 2022 - presence accounted for

Today's Readings

(Audio)

“Now I am going to the one who sent me,

and not one of you asks me, ‘Where are you going?’

But because I told you this, grief has filled your hearts.

The disciples understood well enough the negative shape that things were taking. They were as clear about what Jesus meant as they desired to be, hoping that if they didn't clarify it further it might not come to pass. They understood this implicit prediction of the Passion well enough to be grieved, but not well enough to understand why it might be necessary or be in fact, as Jesus said, "better for you that I go". Sorrow at this level was only worldly sorrow, bearing the fruit of despair and hopelessness. Properly understood, however, the Passion could bring Godly sorrow leading to repentance. It was to this reality that Jesus desired to open the minds of his disciples.

But I tell you the truth, it is better for you that I go.

The disciples had grown to love Jesus not just as a generic religious ideal, but as a unique individual with an distinct appearance, voice, with various idiosyncrasies just as any man would have. Saying that Jesus would not be with the disciples was much more than saying that they would no longer have access to a teacher or a religious leader. It meant that they would no longer have access to a friend for whom they had the deepest affection. Or so they imagined.

For if I do not go, the Advocate will not come to you.

But if I go, I will send him to you.

However intimate was there relationship with Jesus when he was physically present on the earth they were told to expect that the coming of the Advocate would somehow be better. All of the good things they had experienced from being disciples would not be taken away along with Jesus but rather multiplied by the giving of the Spirit. Jesus, as an individual, lived a human life in a fixed location. When he spoke and taught it was as one speaking from the outside of the hearer. The Spirit could instead be everywhere, unbound by location, and speak from the very depths of hearts that had received him.

Because the Holy Spirit was to dwell in the hearts of women and men he could bring about conviction. That is, he could bring about a deep internal understanding and acceptance of all that Jesus said and did. Before the Spirit was given the disciples were at best ambivalent about the words of Jesus, sometimes enthusiastically in favor of what he said, and at other times staunchly opposed, or at least deeply confused and conflicted. The Spirit dwelling in one's heart, by contrast, would make it possible for her to be all in for Jesus. This power was so great that it could even unsettle and conquer previously held commitments to the world's ideas about sin, righteousness, and condemnation. Without the Spirit we would always attempt to keep ourselves a bit of wiggle room to define these realities for ourselves lest they impose too much upon us. But the Spirit within us would not permit that sort of compromise, and would make us restless, longing to embrace the full truth of the Gospel, to be judged by it rather than to judge it.

About midnight, while Paul and Silas were praying

and singing hymns to God as the prisoners listened,

there was suddenly such a severe earthquake

that the foundations of the jail shook;

all the doors flew open, and the chains of all were pulled loose.

We can see that Paul and Silas were both so Spirit filled as to be all in for Jesus. They did not despair when they faced striping, beating, and imprisonment. But rather, as Daniel and his companions sang in the fire, so too did Paul and Silas worship in prison. And this worship was not a strategy of bartering with God to obtain freedom as it might have been for us, it was not seeking the giver for his gifts. The proof of this was that even when freedom was given they did not seize it for themselves alone but remained docile to the Holy Spirit, resulting in the salvation of the jailer and his household.

“Sirs, what must I do to be saved?”

And they said, “Believe in the Lord Jesus

and you and your household will be saved.”

The world can tell the difference between disciples who are empowered by the Spirit to be all in for Jesus and those who are still of two minds about him, those who are, as James wrote, unstable in all their ways (see James 1:8). We will not be able to embrace the Gospel as wholeheartedly as we are meant to do without the power of the Holy Spirit. This Spirit could be given in no other way than by being poured out from the Cross of Christ. This same Spirit now lives within the hearts of all the baptized.  But he moves in power to the degree that we open ourselves to him. Let us go to the foot of the cross so that this living water can fall afresh upon us. Let us seek him with one heart in the upper room of prayer, so that, on this Pentecost, we may be filled more than ever before.

Because of your kindness and your truth,

you have made great above all things

your name and your promise.

When I called, you answered me;

you built up strength within me.

Matt Maher - Every Little Prison (Deliver Me)

23 May 2022 - how hearts are opened

Today's Readings

(Audio)

“When the Advocate comes whom I will send you from the Father,

the Spirit of truth who proceeds from the Father,

he will testify to me.

The Spirit is a living gift from the Father and the Son. Because of him we need not feel as though we are orphaned when Jesus ascends to heaven and departs from the realm of visible existence. If anything, the Spirit makes us closer than ever to the Son and, in him, to the Father, himself crying out "Abba, Father!" from within our own hearts. This testimony that he gives is more than a mere deposition in court. He assures those who receive him that they are sons and daughters of the Father because the Son of the Father himself has come to dwell within. As part of this assurance the Spirit reminds us of the words of the Son, or better, he helps make the presence of the Son's living word an ongoing reality for us. He establishes us in truth and then keeps us there by convicting hearts that stray and inviting them to return and embrace their new identity as children of God.

And when he comes, he will convict the world concerning sin and righteousness and judgment (see John 16:8).

And you also testify,

because you have been with me from the beginning.

Our testimony is not meant to be merely our own. It is not even a story in which we ourselves are the main character. Rather our testimony is like that of Lydia, a story of how the Lord himself opened us to pay attention to the message of the Gospel. When it is time to tell others the story of our own conversion the words we use are meant to be the result of the Spirit of truth testifying within us. Just as we needed the Lord to open our hearts to receive him in the first place so to do we need him to be the one that opens the hearts of those who hear us. 

When they deliver you over, do not be anxious how you are to speak or what you are to say, for what you are to say will be given to you in that hour.

Evangelization happens chiefly when the heart of the hearer and the heart of the speaker are both open to the action of the Holy Spirit. It is then that there is a resonance, a quality of attention in the mind of the hearer that allows her to embrace the Gospel. The sort of response that results from this is often surprising even to the person herself, seen in Matthew leaving his post, Peter leaving his boat, or in the way in which Zacchaeus rejoiced to welcome Jesus into his home. Lydia too experienced this grace of the Spirit to respond to what Paul his companions taught.

After she and her household had been baptized,

she offered us an invitation,

“If you consider me a believer in the Lord,

come and stay at my home,” and she prevailed on us.

Even with the Spirit showing us where to go and teaching us what to say we will not always encounter only success. Jesus shows us that some will respond with hostility, and that many of them will even be sincere, true believers in their opposition to the message with which we have been entrusted. For our part, if we remember that Jesus told us that this was a part of the plan we can remain unshaken and unhindered in our mission. To meet opposition is not only normal, it is the privilege of Jesus himself helping his Church to experience in her members the mysteries of his own life. He suffered rejection and transformed that rejection by love and forgiveness. He suffered pain and transformed that pain into a precious offering for the life of the world. It is part of his plan for us that the life first lived by the head now be manifest in the body. It need not be seen as an obstacle or a detour. We can express our response as very much be a part of our mission. When we let the Spirit remain in control even in times of trial we allow the Lord the freedom he desires to do great things through us.

I have told you this so that when their hour comes

you may remember that I told you.

Bryan & Katie Torwalt - When You Walk Into The Room

22 May 2022 - I love Lamb

Today's Readings

(Audio)

The word that Jesus came to give was not something trivial, not mere opinion, nor superfluous trivia. He made known that which mattered most to himself, everything he heard from his Father, "for all that I have heard from my Father I have made known to you" (see John 15:15). Yet in spite of this overwhelming sincerity not everyone would accept what Jesus taught.

Whoever does not love me does not keep my words;

If people would not love the one sent by the Father they would also not accept his words. It was part of a unified choice about the messenger and his message. 

Whoever loves me will keep my word,

Those who did respond to Jesus with love would keep his words, even when those words were difficult or confusing. Their love for Jesus himself would motivate their response to his words. Out of love for Jesus they would choose to do that which they might otherwise avoid or ignore.

Those who love Jesus care about what matters most to him, and desire to do what pleases him. It is not the case that some people keep his word and thereby earn his love whereas others do not qualify for his love because of their failure to earn it. It is rather the case for everyone that everything begins with the love of the one who loved us first.  It is our response to him that is the starting place that makes the rest possible and desirable to us. We can make a response of love to Jesus because he himself creates in us new and clean hearts. This new heart is more than an art project that he transforms from the outside. He himself comes to dwell in us, bringing with him the Father and the Holy Spirit, renewing our minds, and refining our hearts until they desire only that which is truly good. He brings us, if we let him, into the love of Father, Son, and Spirit. It is this love by which Jesus himself keeps the word of the Father that now makes it possible for us to keep the word of the Son. 

The Advocate, the Holy Spirit,

whom the Father will send in my name,

will teach you everything

and remind you of all that I told you.

The Holy Spirit that Jesus sent to dwell in his followers empowered them to keep his words by reminding them of those words, leading them deeper and deeper into all truth. He did this at an individual level and by the guidance to the Church he demonstrated in our reading from Acts. He himself was the source of the fruits that were commanded by those words, chief among them, love, joy, and peace.

When we hear Jesus asking us to keep his word we should not moan because he is adding to our list of things we need to do. We should rather marvel at the reality into which we are being caught up. We are not simply receiving another list of rules. We are being invited to participate in the love of the Triune God, with all the blessing and assurance that entails, for keeping the word of Jesus means nothing less than this.

Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you.

Not as the world gives do I give it to you.

Do not let your hearts be troubled or afraid.

When we set our minds in agreement with Jesus, and resolve in our hearts to keep his words, knowing that our response is itself a gift that his own love has made possible, it is then that we experience the peace that Jesus himself. This peace rules in the heart of Jesus himself because of how he lives completely and without reservation as a response of love to his Father's love. He knows the Father's love for him so well that it shapes everything he says, does, and desires. When we know the love of Jesus like this there will no longer be anything that the world can do to steal his peace from us. 

The reality of the Triune God coming to dwell in our hearts remains in invisible reality in this life. But it precisely this dwelling together with God that also characterizes the destiny of those who remain in him.

I saw no temple in the city

for its temple is the Lord God almighty and the Lamb.

The city had no need of sun or moon to shine on it,

for the glory of God gave it light,

and its lamp was the Lamb.

Even here below in this valley of tears we are privileged to have a foretaste of this reality, are already in some sense seated in heavenly places (see Ephesians 2:6) The glory of God already begins to give us light, and the word of the Lamb is already a lamp unto our feet.

And we have the prophetic word more fully confirmed, to which you will do well to pay attention as to a lamp shining in a dark place, until the day dawns and the morning star rises in your hearts (see Second Peter 1:19).

Singing Hallelujah

David Ruis - We Will Dance

21 May 2022 - in the world but not of it

Today's Readings

(Audio)

If the world hates you, realize that it hated me first.

The world in this context does not refer simply to creation, which is good, and remains fundamentally good even after the fall. It refers ways both conscious and unconscious that human society is in the grip of the power of darkness, under the authority of the evil one. This is why Jesus called the devil the "ruler of this world" (see John 12:31). It was in this sense that James wrote that "friendship with the world is enmity with God" (see James 4:4). It was also in this sense that John the Evangelist would later warn against the love of the world:

Do not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world—the desires of the flesh and the desires of the eyes and pride of life—is not from the Father but is from the world. And the world is passing away along with its desires, but whoever does the will of God abides forever (see First John 2:15-17).

We would perhaps like to imagine that we are surrounded by neutral ground rather than living in enemy controlled territory. We don't like to imagine a world in the grip of the evil one, the strong man whose possessions, by which we mean souls, were securely held until Jesus came with still greater strength to set us free (see Matthew 12:29). However, the realism of the Biblical world view compels us to realize that we are surrounded by people who are not as free as they appear. They are made to serve their passions and addictions, but without receiving any of the satisfaction these things promise. People thus enslaved are not our enemies. It is rather the principalities and powers controlling them behind the scenes against which we fight.

For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places (see Ephesians 6:12).

Jesus said "I have chosen you out of the world" and therefore empowered us to live free from the domination of the powers of darkness. Those set free by Jesus himself would therefore be truly free (see John 8:36). Do we recognize that Jesus has done this for each of us individually? How precarious was our position and how grateful we should be for the mercy he showed us.

He has delivered us from the domain of darkness and transferred us to the kingdom of his beloved Son (see Colossians 1:13).

We are told to expect the hatred of those who remain enslaved to the world that is still under the dominion of Satan. Why does Jesus insist that we prepare ourselves to face this reality? It seems to be so that it does not present an obstacle when we ourselves take up the mission of Jesus. We are not greater than our master. This means that we must live in service of those themselves still under the power of the world, as he did, prepared to wash their feet, even knowing that we will often be rejected and hated as a consequence. Jesus "came to what was his own, but his own people did not accept him" (see John 1:11). In spite of this rejection Jesus continued to love even those who would ultimately condemn him to die as a criminal. Jesus wants us to be prepared for opposition, not to fight it, but so that we remain ready to love in spite of it.

If they persecuted me, they will also persecute you.

If they kept my word, they will also keep yours.

If we live lives of fidelity to Jesus we may well face persecution. Systems of this world seem to be colluding to make that prospect increasingly likely. Let us not fear, for Jesus told us in advance that this would happen. If we are permitted to walk in the footsteps of the master may we give thanks and seek his strength to do so. Let us remember that no matter what sort of opposition we face it is fundamentally from people who "know not what they do" (see Luke 23:34). These are not our enemies. If we see them that way we might choose to avoid them and thereby escape negative consequences such as persecution. Rather, these are the very people to whom we must bring the Good News, to whom we must offer the freedom, the gift of Jesus himself, with which we have been so blessed.

Paul did not let opposition or hardship deter him from his mission. Indeed, these were to him, if anything, bragging rights. Like Paul, we may not always be successful in our attempts to evangelize. Our own plans must always be malleable, ready to give way to new direction given by the Holy Spirit himself. 

they tried to go on into Bithynia,

but the Spirit of Jesus did not allow them

Paul was so committed to the Gospel that he ever returned to Lystra where the crowds had turned on him and stoned him. This was the heart of someone who did not love the world, but who loved those in its grip with all he had. Paul, pray for us, that we might follow your example!

Hillsong - This Kingdom

Newsboys - Go

20 May 2022 - friends of God

Today's Readings

(Audio)

I no longer call you slaves,

because a slave does not know what his master is doing.

Friendship, according to Aristotle, required equality. For this reason he specifically discounted any possibility of friendship between men and God. But his conception of God was limited, only including what his reason could ascertain. He did not foresee the possibility that God himself would act directly to shift the balance, raising up creatures from their status as slaves to be true friends of God. This was not something one who was merely Prime Mover would do. But it was something that the God of Israel, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit choose to do. There was precedent for this, for Abraham had been called a friend of God, and Moses spoke to God as one would speak to a friend. Yet this was not the experience of ordinary women and men before the coming of Jesus.

I have called you friends,

because I have told you everything I have heard from my Father.

Jesus, by his incarnation, established a certain equality between God and his creatures that could serve as a most genuine and certain ground of true relationship, true friendship. His incarnation was a revelation of the true heart of the Father, previously only glimpsed briefly by the greatest of Old Testament saints. It established an equality both of knowledge and also of power, so that we, as true friends, could be of one mind and one heart with Jesus, willing what he himself willed.

so that whatever you ask the Father in my name he may give you.

It was this friendship with Jesus that Paul shared and that he desired others to share as well, writing, "complete my joy by being of the same mind, having the same love, being in full accord and of one mind" (see Philippians 2:2). This is what it means to be a friend. And Jesus himself has exulted us to become such friends with him, and therefore also friends with the Father and the Spirit, and through them with all the saints in heaven and on earth. The reality of this friendship is what David tried to express when he wrote, "As for the saints in the land, they are the excellent ones, in whom is all my delight" (Psalm 16:3). When Paul said Gentiles and Jews were no longer strangers to one another it was this new supernatural friendship that he envisioned as uniting them (see Ephesians 2:19).

We can not truly share this friendship in name only. Jesus demonstrated the depths of his love by laying down his life for his friends. The love that Jesus displayed is meant to awaken a response in our hearts that motivates us to love as he loved, out of love for him, and for our brothers and sisters. Otherwise we only call ourselves his friends while remaining indifferent to the deepest desire of his heart. We know this wouldn't work with our natural friendships. Much less so then with our Divine Friend. In the past the the commandment was an obligation given only out of fear of punishment. Now the appeal to heed the commandment is now made on the basis of the love Jesus has for us, on the grounds of the friendship that he himself established. May we open our hearts to embrace it.

If you keep free of these,

you will be doing what is right. Farewell.

The Church, for her part, is meant to be the communion of the friends of God, not merely the strangers who occasionally see one another in the pews. It is meant to be the saints on earth who have in common the deepest desires of their hearts. To be this truly and to remain such takes constant effort on the part of all involved. We see this concern working itself out in the reading from Acts as the Council of Jerusalem sent messengers to the Gentile converts to Christianity instructing them on some minimal standards to ensure that they could maintain friendship with Christians from a Jewish background. Friendship between the groups was their goal, not the mere imposition of rules as in a master/slave paradigm. The Church established these guidelines with one accord, by the power of the Spirit, so that those who followed them could also walk in unity, knowing "how good and pleasant it is when brothers dwell in unity!" (see Psalm 133:1)

Matt Maher - What A Friend

Israel Houghton - Friend Of God

19 May 2022 - like Father like Son

Today's Readings

(Audio)

Jesus said to his disciples:

“As the Father loves me, so I also love you.

How does the Father love Jesus? Completely and exhaustively, holding nothing back, giving to Jesus everything that is his own. Some examples:

The Father loves the Son and has placed everything in his hands (see John 3:35).

For the Father loves the Son and shows him all he does (see John 5:20).

For as the Father has life in himself, so he has granted the Son also to have life in himself (see John 5:26).

For just as the Father raises the dead and gives them life, even so the Son gives life to whom he is pleased to give it (see John 5:21).

Jesus is God from God, light from light, true God from true God. Everything he is comes from the Father, from all eternity without beginning. Jesus desires that we open ourselves to receive from his love what he has received from the Father's love. He wants to hold nothing back, and to that end he desires a people who won't pick and choose among his gifts but rather one who will accept all he has to offer.

Remain in my love.

Jesus wants to be for us the source of our very life, the food that sustains us, the power within us that sanctifies us and will one day raise us from the dead. He begins to work this mission of love toward us before we do anything, even while we are yet sinners, and still enemies. But once we become conscious of the offer we are called to embrace it. He lifts the darkness from our eyes so that we can choose to come into the light. But he will allow us, if we insist, to remain in darkness. Let us come into the light and remain there, not running back to the shadows when it reveals more about us than we would prefer.

If you keep my commandments, you will remain in my love,

just as I have kept my Father’s commandments

and remain in his love.

The commandments are not an arbitrary test that we must pass to prove our love. The commandments themselves help define the boundaries of love, and tell us how not to transgress those boundaries through selfishness and vice. When we receive the commandments as from a master they may seem onerous and excessive. But when we receive them from a Father who loves us we realize that they are designed for our good, and to ensure our flourishing as human beings. Hopefully our own parents did their best to keep us safe by the rules they set. But perhaps some of those rules were in fact excessive and others not stringent enough. The command of the Lord, however, is perfect. The context of the commandment is always meant to be that of relationship with the one from whom we have it. Our obedience will be lifegiving to the degree that it stems from faith, from trust in the Triune God. 

“I have told you this so that

my joy might be in you and

your joy might be complete.”

The letter on the page can lead to death when it is read out of the context of a relationship built on trust. But the Spirit can reveal what the letter is meant to be, a love letter, directions showing the way to life. It can become for us a source of joy even more than for the psalmist who wrote, "I open my mouth and pant, because I long for your commandments" (see Psalm 119:131).

We who know the goodness of the law must still be careful how we present it to others. It is too easy to accidentally disconnect it from the context of relationship. If we forget to base everything on the fact that Jesus loved us first the law will always seem insurmountable, and perhaps even hostile to human freedom. 

It is my judgment, therefore,

that we ought to stop troubling the Gentiles who turn to God

Gentiles who turn to God do need to know the commandments, but we ought to keep things simple at first and lead them gradually deeper and deeper on the path of virtue. We must avoid trying to fix their behavior in isolation from their faith in Jesus. As saying goes, we must not try to clean a fish before it is caught. This will also help prevent us from imposing things which have merely been useful for us as absolutes. It will help ensure we do not make ourselves arbiters of the law but show others how to receive from and remain in God's love.

The commandments of God are big enough and sufficiently wise that they can address the whole world, men and women of every race, tribe, and tongue. We ourselves are quite limited and will need to in some sense get out of God's way so that he can love others. But though we risk posing an obstacle to God, we are nevertheless the chosen vehicles for this mission, which we receive from Jesus, who himself received it from the Father. When we approach this plan from a perspective of faith and trust we can experience not only the wisdom of this plan, but the joy that is its goal.

Maranatha! Singers - I Will Delight