30 November 2022 - come and see

Today's Readings

(Audio)

As Jesus was walking by the Sea of Galilee, he saw two brothers,

Simon who is called Peter, and his brother Andrew,

Andrew had been helped by John the Baptist to realize that Jesus was the lamb of God, whatever that might have meant to him (see John 1:36). Perhaps it brought to mind the suffering servant of Isaiah who was "like a lamb that is led to the slaughter, and like a sheep that before its shearers is silent, so he opened not his mouth" (see Isaiah 53:7). With that to go on it was not surprising that Andrew might not have been immediately sure what to make of Jesus. He had followed Jesus because of the words of John the Baptist. But he couldn't quite account for why.  When asked by Jesus, "What are you looking for?" he equivocated, saying "Rabbi … where are you staying?" Did he ask this because he wanted to spend more time observing Jesus and come to understand for himself what John might have meant? It was precisely this that Jesus invited he and his companion to do, saying "Come, and you will see" (see John 1:39), and it was as a consequence of doing so that they arrived at the conclusion, "We have found the Messiah" (see John 1:41).

Having been first told about Jesus Andrew discovered who he was directly, by spending time in his presence. He would in turn share his knowledge of Jesus with his brother Peter. But he did not expect Peter to take him at his word but instead, "he brought him to Jesus" (see John 1:42).

Andrew is a model for all of us who are called to be disciples. We too are called to share what we know and to bring others to Jesus. It is not, however, so much our job to prove in detail each and every claim about Jesus, as it is to bring others to Jesus so that he can reveal himself. Certainly we do try to explain our own experience. Here, we might say, was one foretold by the prophets, toward whom all of history seemed to point, a light by which the whole universe was illuminated and began at last to make sense. But however appealing or clever our explanation might be, it will be insufficient if we do not take the step of bringing others into the presence of Jesus. This is a step that is dangerous because it is something that is absolutely beyond our control. We must trust in Jesus to do the work and to reveal himself to others just as he first did to us. 

He said to them,

“Come after me, and I will make you fishers of men.”

At once they left their nets and followed him.

The invitation of Andrew to come and see Jesus seemed to prepare the soil of Peter's heart. It was probably a part of what allowed Peter to listen and respond so quickly and fully to the invitation of Jesus, just as John the Baptist's pointing toward Jesus prepared the way for Andrew to do so. In fact, God delights to use his creatures to share the Good News. This Good News can only be perfectly discovered by coming to Jesus himself. But he has chosen to make we his creatures an important means by which others are drawn to him.

But how can they call on him in whom they have not believed?

And how can they believe in him of whom they have not heard?

And how can they hear without someone to preach?

And how can people preach unless they are sent?

When we witness Andrew and Peter leaving behind their nets and indeed the whole life they had known before to follow Jesus it might seem so radical as to be unrealistic. But if we really knew what they had found in him we would not think so. And if we do not know it, we can, for we too have been invited. The call of Jesus is extended to us as well, "Come and you will see". 

There is much else to be said about this call. We, like Peter, will feel unqualified and unworthy once we begin to realize more fully who Jesus is. But Jesus does not call those who are already qualified but qualifies those whom he calls. He can make us to be rock solid as Peter eventually became, even if we too know ourselves to be sinful men and women. And so we need not fear to allow the Lord to use us to bring others to him. May Saint Andrew pray that we receive the grace to do so.

Newsboys - Fishers Of Men

29 November 2022 - a wise guy, eh?

Today's Readings

(Audio)

for although you have hidden these things

from the wise and the learned

Because, as Paul wrote, "in the wisdom of God, the world did not know God through wisdom" (see First Corinthians 1:20). The wise and the learned would not on that basis, that is, on the basis of their talents or efforts come to know the truth of the Gospel. Such knowledge typically "puffs up" (see First Corinthians 8:1) leading to pride and even arrogance. This sort of wisdom, knowledge, and learning is contrasted with the wisdom, understanding, and knowledge that are the gifts of the Holy Spirit.

The Spirit of the LORD shall rest upon him:

a Spirit of wisdom and of understanding,

A Spirit of counsel and of strength,

a Spirit of knowledge and of fear of the LORD,

and his delight shall be the fear of the LORD.

Those who are prideful in their own abilities are not open to the revelation that is free to the childlike. The wise and the learned are like old dogs that stubbornly refuse to learn a new trick. They are so self-assured that they cannot defer to experts, even when the expert in question is God himself. Only the childlike can truly learn anything at all. We who are wise and learned are too busy trying to figure out how something we are asked to learn is really something we knew already. The childlike instead express wonder before the truth, and a simplicity that, far from making them naïve, actually makes them hard to deceive. This wonder that makes the childlike open to revelation is very much akin to the fear of the Lord, which, we know, is the beginning of wisdom (see Proverbs 1:7).

When we allow ourselves to be childlike in the presence of Jesus we open ourselves to the revelation of the Father by the Son and the Son by the Father. We experience something of the relationship between he who embodied the virtues of childhood perfectly and the Father whose love for his Son never wavered. Our own call to be childlike is actually the gift of an invitation to taste the way in which Jesus himself was the perfect child of his Father. May we not be too proud or preoccupied to receive this call. The paradisical world Isaiah describes is a world in which creation itself has deeply tasted this reality.

Then the wolf shall be a guest of the lamb,

and the leopard shall lie down with the kid;

The calf and the young lion shall browse together,

with a little child to guide them.

This is why creation itself is described as experiencing labor pains by Paul, who wrote, "we know that the whole creation has been groaning together in the pains of childbirth until now" (see Romans 8:22).

We are called to be among the children who are privileged to recognize how blessed are the eyes that see what they see. That vision is hidden from the wise and the learned. May we be more like the children that cried out "Hosanna to the Son of David" (see Matthew 21:9) and less like those rulers of this world, the Pharisees, Sadducees, the Herods and the Pilates. In their deepest hearts they did unknowingly long for the Messiah. But their pride blinded them. We too remain blind until the Spirit opens our eyes. So let us invite him and welcome him into our hearts. In a sense, this is the signal for the nations that calls to us today.

The root of Jesse,

set up as a signal for the nations,

The Gentiles shall seek out,

for his dwelling shall be glorious.

Benedictines of Mary, Queen of Apostles - O Come Divine Messiah

28 November 2022 - but only say the word

Today's Readings

(Audio)

When Jesus entered Capernaum,

a centurion approached him and appealed to him, saying,

"Lord, my servant is lying at home paralyzed, suffering dreadfully."  

Since the centurion was Roman there was a barrier that would have made most Jews unwilling to enter his home. Most of them would have been more inclined to pass by on the opposite side of the road as did the priest and the Levite in the Parable of the Good Samaritan (see Luke 10:30-37). The centurion was in a situation like the Canaanite woman since the mission of Jesus was at first "only to the lost sheep of Israel". He might well have expected the same reaction the disciples gave to her when they urged Jesus, "Send her away" (see Matthew 15:21-28).

The centurion said in reply,

"Lord, I am not worthy to have you enter under my roof;

only say the word and my servant will be healed."

As was the case with the Canaanite woman, faith was a bridge that made what might have been impossible to be possible. The time of the Gentiles had not yet come, but faith reached out into a future as though it was already present, and brought that future into the here and now. 

Both the centurion and the Canaanite woman expressed humility as a definitive characteristic of faith. Their faith ruled out any delusions about deserving that for which they asked. They saw at once that it was not because of their merit that Jesus would answer. Jesus would answer because of who he was, the power he had, the joyful abundance which would not be diminished by sharing. Giving scraps to the Canaanite woman would not diminish the portion meant for the children of Israel. Speaking a word of command to heal the servant of the centurion would not diminish the power of the authority of Jesus himself. These foreigners whose faith was seen by Jesus as so remarkable knew both who they were and who Jesus was by the same light of faith. It was this that amazed him and drew out his response. No wonder then, that we imitate that response in every mass.

Lord, I am not worthy that you should enter under my roof, but only say the word and my soul shall be healed

Like the Samaritan in the parable Jesus was drawn inexorably to the suffering of those who desired his mercy. Even the parameters of his own mission were insufficient to rule out his intervention. An understanding of one's need for mercy and the desire for that mercy were enough to reach outside the bounds of space and time and to render things like chronological order as relative concerns.

In Advent our faith is meant to not only reach back to the incarnation, but also to reach ahead to the time when all of the promises of the incarnation are realized in fullness. If our faith is sufficiently like that of the centurion we can begin to experience the blessings of those future promises even here and now. With that in mind let us look to the words of Isaiah.

The branch of the LORD will be luster and glory,

and the fruit of the earth will be honor and splendor

for the survivors of Israel.

Just as God was present in an undeniable way to the generation of Israel that journeyed from Egypt through desert as a smoking cloud by day and a pillar of fire by night so too does he want his presence in our lives to be an unmistakable reality.

A smoking cloud by day

and a light of flaming fire by night.

For over all, the LORD's glory will be shelter and protection:

shade from the parching heat of day,

refuge and cover from storm and rain.

Let us begin to experience this promise even now by faith. He does not hesitate to bridge the infinite gap between himself and us, ready each and every day to enter under our roof. His Spirit itself can be a pillar of fire for us, to guide us through the darkest of nights.

Great news! One of my favorite Advent songs is finally available online:

Paul Beckman - Our Blessed Hope

27 November 2022 - flood insurance

Today's Readings

(Audio)

In those days before the flood,

they were eating and drinking,

marrying and giving in marriage,

up to the day that Noah entered the ark.

The flood was God's judgment on the earth, which had become corrupt, its people filled with violence (see Genesis 6:11-12). The waters of the flood would take everyone except those left in the ark, the means of salvation which God himself provided through Noah. But what if the ark was a prophetic sign, one which demanded that the wickedness that had come to define the earth be recognized? Even if there were such a sign it would one avail for an individual if he were willing to recognize it. 

The ark did not seem to suffer from a lack of capacity. Even unclean animals found room for themselves in its holds. Might it not have saved more members of Noah's generation? It seems that the status quo acted as a lulling anesthetic that actually held hostage the attention of the majority of those who then lived. The spirit of the age insisted that the thinking of those individuals be bounded by ideas of normalcy, which prohibited a broader spiritual understanding of the circumstances. They idea was that they should preoccupy themselves with eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, to avoid and ignore the genuine spiritual crisis that was overtaking the earth. They were not to be 'those crazy religious people' of whom, to them, Noah must have seemed to be one. They were to focus on the practical, the here and now, even to the point of ignoring the corruption and violence that marked their society. For if they looked too deeply there they would find that violence even in their own hearts, and, having found it, might begin to repent and to look toward the ark with hope.

They did not know until the flood came and carried them all away.

So will it be also at the coming of the Son of Man.

Those who are united with the ark of God's Church will experience spiritual protection, and not be taken as the flood covers the field and sweeps away the mill. This is the purpose of our baptism by which we are united to the ark who is Christ Jesus himself (see First Peter 3:20-21). Yet our baptism is not an automatic assurance of our salvation against the waters of this flood. We must yet stay awake and choose to rely on the protection of the ark to which we have been united when the time of trial comes upon us.

The Lord then said to Noah, "Go into the ark, you and your whole family, because I have found you righteous in this generation" (see Genesis 7:1)

God does not delight to judge his creation, nor to destroy creatures created in his image. But if his creatures willing elect corruption and violence over and against the offered ark of salvation he will not force them onboard. Unlike the clean and unclean animals, women and men must decide for themselves to accept his invitation. Though he doesn't delight in judgment, he will nevertheless not give creation up to violence and war forever, nor forever allow his plans for his elect to be frustrated. Those who cling to such things will be swept away with the old order in order to make way for a new world of peace, a place where righteousness will dwell (see Second Peter 3:13).

They shall beat their swords into plowshares

and their spears into pruning hooks;

one nation shall not raise the sword against another,

nor shall they train for war again.

Great news for us, then, right? We who are united to the ark by baptism have nothing to worry about, then. Right? Not so fast. Although baptism is a good place to begin we must activate the potential of our baptism by remaining awake, or, if we have fallen asleep, by waking up.

You know the time;

it is the hour now for you to awake from sleep.

For our salvation is nearer now than when we first believed;

Even having been baptized we still face the same temptations from the world around us, which will attempt to lull us into a complacency in which we can't see beyond the immediacies of daily life. We must be willing to attend to God's word even before the rain starts falling, and continue to trust it as the waters rise. Otherwise we may find them so high that we have no time to reconsider. Paul expresses this readiness by the metaphor of spiritual armor.

the night is advanced, the day is at hand.

Let us then throw off the works of darkness

and put on the armor of light;

We must conduct ourselves properly as in the day, because the world to come has no room for "orgies and drunkenness", "promiscuity and lust" or "rivalry and jealous". We have seen that it possible to choose such works of darkness over and against God's proposed rescue mission, even for we who have been baptized. So, then, let us wake up and live out our baptism. Let us "put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the desires of the flesh". May our concern and compassion for those under the spell of the spirit of the age grow and grow. The desires of the flesh lead to death (see Romans 8:13). Jesus himself is the only way to life. Let us rejoice that we have been called to follow this way.

I rejoiced because they said to me,

"We will go up to the house of the LORD."

And now we have set foot

within your gates, O Jerusalem.

Chris Tomlin - Even So Come

26 November 2022 - dangerous to go alone

Today's Readings

(Audio)

Beware that your hearts do not become drowsy

from carousing and drunkenness

We are to avoid the example steward who "says to himself, ‘My master is delayed in coming,’ and begins to beat the male and female servants, and to eat and drink and get drunk" (see Luke 12:45). That steward did not forget about his master entirely, but in response to apparent delay he seemed to lose his sense of urgency. Waiting called for patience, and hope in the reward that the master would bring. But that steward seemed to make the decision to try to reap what reward he could then and there instead of waiting for the master. He demanded more of servants and of food and drink than they could rightly provide, seeking from finite realities what could only come from the master. Had the master returned immediately and without delay and the steward had no need to demonstrate fidelity he may well never have fallen so far. This warning remains poignant for us, for Jesus has not, since that time, decided to after all work according to our preferred time tables. Instead, he answers us in a timing that he alone controls and fully understands. And his coming for us at the end of our lives or at the end of time is and remains a mystery, one which requires patience and persistence that can only be sustained by a supernatural hope.

and the anxieties of daily life,

and that day catch you by surprise like a trap.

It is not only against over indulging that we need to be on guard. The anxieties of daily life also present a threat to our readiness for the coming of Jesus. The pressing challenges of daily life feel so immediate that we mistakenly come to believe that they have an importance that is absolute. When we do not see the anxieties of daily life in a larger context we try to respond to them on our own, to solve them on our own, and often end up making things worse rather than better. When we feel alone against our problems we tend to become desperate, and, as a consequence, often dangerous, both to ourselves and others. In order that our anxieties might not make us drowsy and forgetful of God we lean in to our trust in God, thankful because we know that he who was faithful before will be faithful again. The anxieties of daily life are a yoke we are not meant to bear on our own, but only together under the shared yoke of Jesus himself (see Matthew 11:28-30).

Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus (see Philippians 4:6-7).

Since we too will face challenges like these we too must be vigilant at all times. But this vigilance is not primarily about our ability to focus our attention or to fight against physical weariness. It is a vigilance of heart that is always ready to respond to the voice of Jesus rather than the lies we hear from the world, the flesh, and the devil.

For that day will assault everyone

who lives on the face of the earth.

Be vigilant at all times

and pray that you have the strength

to escape the tribulations that are imminent

We are not expected to generate the strength we need to respond entirely through unaided exertion. We are expected rather to ask for that strength and then to rely on it. The Son of Man himself will empower us with the strength necessary to escape the tribulations that threaten us and to come safely home into his presence.

We are intended by God for a Kingdom where the darkness has been forever destroyed and drowsiness is no longer a threat. We will not long for sleep because our strength will not fluctuate or fail. Much less will we desire it as a distraction or a respite from reality. All that makes us wish to flee reality for sleep will be gone from that place. All lies will be cast out along with all sin, all "accursed". The posture of watchful vigilance to which we are called here and now is only a dim foreshadowing of the light of glory into which we are called for all eternity.

They will look upon his face, and his name will be on their foreheads.

Night will be no more, nor will they need light from lamp or sun,

for the Lord God shall give them light,

and they shall reign forever and ever.

Ike Ndolo - Awake, O Sleeper

25 November 2022 - avoiding plan beast

Today's Readings

(Audio)

Consider the fig tree and all the other trees.

When their buds burst open,

you see for yourselves and know that summer is now near;

in the same way, when you see these things happening,

know that the Kingdom of God is near.

The signs Jesus had been describing were difficult and frightful things. Yet this analogy of the fig tree puts put them in a bigger and brighter context. From the perspective of a bud, bursting must be traumatic and even deathlike, much like a grain of wheat that must die before bearing fruit. But the radical nature of the change is necessary to prepare the way for the new reality of summer. The same was true of the frightful signs Jesus had been describing earlier. In themselves they might have seemed to be nothing more than destruction. The they were in fact proof that the Kingdom of God was near, about to burst forth into fruit at any moment, leading to the summer of the Messianic age.

Amen, I say to you, this generation will not pass away

until all these things have taken place.

That generation did indeed witness the signs and see the downfall of Jerusalem in 70 AD. But there is a sense in which no generation will pass away without experiencing something similar albeit often at a different scale. We too are called to recast all of the signs in our own world that give us anxiety and make us almost die of fright as signs that a spiritual summer is coming, and that, during such trials, the Kingdom is especially close. Those in Jerusalem just before the siege of Rome were called to be attentive, ready to flee the city at a moment's notice. Like them we want to be especially attuned to the voice of the Messiah so he can keep us sheltered by his divine protection.

Heaven and earth will pass away, 

but my words will not pass away.

There is no earthly place that is so fixed, safe, and defended, that we are not at risk. No matter how comfortable our lives seem, if they are built on anything other than the word of God, they are built on shifting sands that will not survive the storm. Those in the generation of Jesus were able to survive the siege of Jerusalem precisely by trusting in his words more than they were attached to their lives in the city. We too need to learn to hear his voice and to find our safety and security more in his words than in our status quo. 

If we trust in the words that will not pass away we will not risk accepting the mark of the beast of worshipping its image. By grace and the power of the Holy Spirit we too will in some measure reign with Christ, bringing about his Kingdom by the works of mercy he prepared in advance for us to do. Then, at the end, we too will be among those whose names are written in the book of life. We too will be found worthy to live in the new heaven and the new earth. We too will worship forever in the holy city, the new Jerusalem coming down out of heaven from God, experiencing the fullness of the reality that is present but veiled in our worship here on earth. We will finally know the full meaning of our own existence, "prepared as a bride adorned for her husband", ready to consummate the wedding feast.

Singing Hallelujah

24 November 2022 - don't look back

Today's Readings 

(Audio)

Jerusalem had been given a chance to recognize her promised Messiah, come to her in the person of Jesus Christ. But she did not recognize the time of her visitation (see Luke 19:44). Jesus himself wept over the hardness of heart he encountered in Jerusalem and the desolation that would necessarily follow.

When you see Jerusalem surrounded by armies,

know that its desolation is at hand.

Although Jerusalem as a whole did not embrace Jesus and his message, although he was rejected by the corrupt majority of the Jewish and Roman leadership, there were still those who did recognize him, those who embraced his message, and chose to follow him. However, their position was still precarious, and not guaranteed because of that initial choice. They still might choose to throw in their lot with the corrupt and decadent Jerusalem and perish together with it. Or they could place higher trust in the rescue mission of Jesus, and follow his words to salvation.

Then those in Judea must flee to the mountains.

Let those within the city escape from it,

and let those in the countryside not enter the city,

for these days are the time of punishment

when all the Scriptures are fulfilled.

Those who listened to and trusted in the words of Jesus would be like Lot when he escaped the divine judgement on Sodom. To even look back in such a situation was dangerous. One needed to trust entirely on God's words and cut off completely the affection for the city of sin from one's heart.

Although this pointed historically toward the fall of Jerusalem in 70 AD it probably also points forward to the end of history when Jesus will come again. And in doing so it also provides wisdom for each of us whether or not we live to see the end times. For we too are called to come out from the world insofar as it is defined by corruption and sin, and to not only come out from it, but to even cut off our affection for it, learning that even looking back is a dangerous temptation. We want to be able to rely upon the instructions Jesus gave us to ensure that his rescue mission avails for us. But if we insist on participating in the life of Sodom we will fall with Sodom. If we are so preoccupied that we miss the ark of salvation being built for our sakes it is likely that the flood will sweep us away. A status quo mindset is dangerous in a city and in a world that is under judgement. It is a false belief that this present reality is permanent. It is to alleviate this danger that God desires to shake us from complacency. 

People will die of fright

in anticipation of what is coming upon the world,

for the powers of the heavens will be shaken.

People without hope may die of fright, but Christians need not. When the things around us seem to be shaking this is only permitted so that what cannot be shaken remains (see Hebrews 12:27). We are called to be especially on the lookout for the Son of Man when such signs appear. For it is then especially that we need to trust in him and to believe that, however much the chaos around us, the Lord can make it work for the good of those who love him and who are called according to his purpose (see Romans 8:28). The Lord's coming only represents fearful judgement for those who obstinately refuse his mercy until the end. This need not be us, if we hold fast to our confession of faith. However, even if we have good hope that such will not be our destiny it does indicate the urgency of our mission to share the Good News of this rescue with all around us.

We are thankful that fearful judgement need not be our lot. But we are even more grateful for the gift of salvation, which is more than a mere absence of judgement. We are given the Holy Spirit to live within us, grace to give us life and strength. In Jesus we are even made sons and daughters of the Most High. We are not only called away from destruction but also and especially toward a marriage feast.

“Write this:

Blessed are those who have been called

to the wedding feast of the Lamb.”

Songs In His Presence - Like A Son Of Man

David Ruis - We Will Dance

23 November 2022 - passing our testimony

Today's Readings

(Audio)

They will seize and persecute you

We give thanks that violent persecution is not currently our lot.  But at the same time we recognize that there are places in the world where it is normal, and we pray for the Christians living in such situations and undergoing such struggles. May they be open to Jesus working through them even in the most difficult of moments. May they deliver the testimony Jesus gives them to deliver, with the wisdom in speaking that is his gift to them. He has done so beginning with Saint Stephen and onward throughout the ages, confounding persecutors with the testimony of the martyrs.

It will lead to your giving testimony.

We may, if the Lord wills, not undergo persecution, not have our families divided by faith, not be led before kings and governors. But we are still called to give testimony. This was the call of the first apostles and it is still our call today.

And with great power the apostles were giving their testimony to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus, and great grace was upon them all (see Acts 4:33).

If we are permitted to escape the worst of these trials, should we then be afraid to elicit mild displeasure in those who hear our message? Of course it is naturally that we want to please others insofar as we are able. But we must not subvert the truth of our testimony to make a message that is pleasing to others but deprived of its depth and power. We are not to cater to itching ears and curiosity at the expense of the good of immortal souls. 

Remember, you are not to prepare your defense beforehand,

for I myself shall give you a wisdom in speaking

that all your adversaries will be powerless to resist or refute.

Jesus calls us to be more concerned with what he wants to say than how we want to say it. It is his wisdom that confounds adversaries. It often happens in ways that are surprising. It is not always possible to trace a conversion to this or that specific argument that a hearer found persuasive. Often it is something more like the presence of Christ in the evangelist, and the cruciform shape of her testimony, that eventually renders all of the arguments of the adversary powerless. We think here of Saul before Saint Stephen. Was it finally a specific point from Stephen's scriptural exegesis that opened Saul to conversion? More likely it was the presence of Jesus himself within Stephen. And this did not immediately enchant or gratify Paul. He was still violently opposed to Christians until his encounter on the road to Damascus. But we can hardly doubt that a seed was planted by Stephen that made it make sense to Paul when Jesus introduced himself as "Jesus, who you are persecuting" (see Acts 9:5). He may well have felt as though he had seem him somewhere before.

Remember, you are not to prepare your defense beforehand,

for I myself shall give you a wisdom in speaking

that all your adversaries will be powerless to resist or refute.

The promise of Jesus to give us wisdom in speaking is not to be measured by immediate visible success. The conversion of Saul was not immediate after his encounter with Stephen. The promise does not necessarily mean that our arguments will be obviously decisively victorious. It may well seem from a human vantage point as though we have failed to make much sense at all and done little but anger our adversary. But if it is the concern of Jesus himself for those to whom we witness that we desire above all to manifest. It is this, the logic of love, that is the most likely to yield lasting results of true conversion. At core, our testimony is the willingness to give and expend ourselves for the sake of others, just as Jesus did for us.

And they have conquered him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony, for they loved not their lives even unto death (see Revelation 12:11).

If we are hated because we won't hold back from sharing the full counsel of God (see Acts 20:27) with others this does not mean that we failing. It may well mean that we are finally loving at a level that is more like Jesus himself. And it is love like that which is most able to change the world. Hatred cannot conquer such love, and may eventually exhaust itself and sputter out, leaving an openness for the Gospel.

but not a hair on your head will be destroyed.

By your perseverance you will secure your lives.

If we do not turn aside from Jesus and his testimony we may face the emotional distress of having others with whom we do not agree, or who are even quite hostile to our message. But we can trust in God. Even if our egos die a little, or even if we are called to be martyrs, such suffering is only for a moment. The life to come never ends, and it is to that Kingdom we are called. We are called to be ready to trade this finite world to join in a chorus of praise that will never end. Perhaps the small ego deaths that might result from sharing the Gospel are preparation by which we make the choice of that eternal destiny our own even here and now.

Great and wonderful are your works,

Lord God almighty.

Just and true are your ways,

O king of the nations.

Who will not fear you, Lord,

or glorify your name?

For you alone are holy.

All the nations will come

and worship before you,

for your righteous acts have been revealed.

Maverick City Music (Featuring Phil Wickham and Brandon Lake) - Forever And Ever Amen

22 November 2022 - the time to reap has come

Today's Readings

(Audio)

While some people were speaking about

how the temple was adorned with costly stones and votive offerings

Even the most beautiful things of earth, the wonders of natural and of art and architecture, are only temporary. Yet we can hardly help but be transfixed by them, desiring on some level a beauty that endures. We can become so preoccupied with them that we forget their temporary nature, and with it, the finitude of the world. Without being explicit about it or even fully aware of it we may try to curate a life filled with such temporary beauty, shielded as much as we are able from any appearance of negativity or pain. But the nature of life here below does not long countenance such attempts to live in fairytales.

Jesus said, “All that you see here–

the days will come when there will not be left

a stone upon another stone that will not be thrown down.”

The temple itself, however beautiful it must have been, was only a transitional institution. It was set apart as the place where the presence of God dwelled with humankind (see Psalm 132:14). The glory cloud of the divine presence that once dwelt there must have made it seem as though it was in fact unsurpassable. Having the temple restored after being destroyed must have made it seem as though history was tending toward and not away from a prominent role for this temple. It may well have seemed as though history could reach its culmination with Israel free from Roman occupation and the sacrificial system of the temple continuing indefinitely. In other words, some might have seen the culmination of history as merely a polished and perfected version of what already existed. To utterly upend this notion and be clear that a profound change was coming Jesus was willing to shock his audience as he revealed the destiny of that temple in Jerusalem, which was only an image and a symbol of the heavenly temple. He might well remind us today that the ultimate goal of history is more than political leaders who pass just laws and religious leaders who only clearly teach the doctrines of the Church. Saint Peters and the White House may well have not a single stone present in the age to come.

He answered,

“See that you not be deceived,

for many will come in my name, saying,

‘I am he,’ and ‘The time has come.’ 

If we have a proper sense of in what the end of history will consist we will have a reduced risk at being deceived by the false promises of charlatan messiahs. No merely human figure, president, pope, or otherwise, will bring history to its culmination. As proof of which we see demonstrated before our eyes the very imperfectability of created things.

When you hear of wars and insurrections,

do not be terrified; for such things must happen first,

but it will not immediately be the end.

We obviously must work for peace, provide relief to victims of earthquakes, food to those suffering from famine, and medical services to places ravaged by plagues. These works of mercy were the way of life our Leader and King demonstrated to us. Yet he also commanded us to  to live by faith, to work, without the need to see definitive and permanent results, to give, even when the gift seems far too small in the face of a problem that appears intractable.

Use your sickle and reap the harvest,

for the time to reap has come,

because the earth’s harvest is fully ripe.

It is precisely because we recognize the impermanence of created things, and because we hope for a higher fulfillment and perfection at the end of the age, which no human effort can attain, that we continue to pursue the good goals of mercy by faith. Even the shattering of what seems so good and beautiful in the world of time does not make our task hopeless. Even the fact that we will never by our own effort perfectly solve all of the many real issues of our age need not deter those of faith. The time of the harvest of coming. This we know for certain. And so we must labor in the fields of the world until it comes. 

Then shall all the trees of the forest exult.

Before the LORD, for he comes;

for he comes to rule the earth.

Paul Wilbur - Days Of Elijah

21 November 2022 - gifts and presentations

Today's Readings

(Audio)

When Jesus looked up he saw some wealthy people

putting their offerings into the treasury

Jesus had previously stated that it was difficult for those who are wealthy to enter the Kingdom of God (see Luke 18:24). It was too easy for the rich to become attached to their riches, and to the power having riches entailed. It was too easy to rely on these riches and this power and to never know the poverty of spirit which Jesus told his disciples was truly blessed (see Matthew 5:3). It was not impossible for the rich to be saved and to come to learn a new relationship to their riches, holding them loosely, using them to build the Kingdom, just as we saw with Zacchaeus (see Luke 19:8). In today's Gospel, however, we see another way in which wealth can be a challenge, a way that should act as a warning for all of us moderns with our comparatively great wealth. 

those others have all made offerings from their surplus wealth

What do we offer to God? Is it from what we have leftover, what we don't need to begin with and what really miss once it's gone? Do we always only give from our surplus and then call that love or devotion? Most of us have rigid defenses and strong fortifications built against even the idea of giving out our need. And it is not that case that Jesus is calling us to ruin ourselves by imprudence with those blessings with which he has entrusted us. But he is calling us to see the difference between the genuine love possible in even the smallest gift and the lack of love even truly generous donations might conceal.

If I give away all I have, and if I deliver up my body to be burned, but have not love, I gain nothing (see First Corinthians 3:13).

What the widow offered was more than two small coins. It was her very self. The reason she was praised was not so much because after giving these two coins that she would have nothing left, although that may have been. It was also because of the fact that she thought these two coins worth giving even though they were insignificant in the eyes of the world when compared to the largess of the wealthy. 

she, from her poverty, has offered her whole livelihood.

This was an offering of her own lowliness and insignificance, all that she was, even though it was difficult for her, even though it was all but meaningless to others, because she somehow sensed that it would be pleasing to God. It was as if she said, "I have nothing to give, Lord, so take my heart". And in this way she was a type of Our Lady's own gift of self to God which we celebrate in today's Memorial of the Presentation of the Blessed Virgin Mary.

this poor widow put in more than all the rest;

We recognize that some are specially gifted in gifting (see Romans 12:8). Some are specially called to give away what they have to follow Jesus, whether that is a great amount of wealth or small. Yet should also recognize that we too are called to be poor in spirit. We are called to learn a new and spiritual relationship to our possessions that will allow us to give even if the gift itself seems small and the giving seems difficult. We are called to break from the idea that giving from our surplus is doing the true work of love. Our surplus gifts may be large, but they cost us nothing. We are called to begin to learn to give our very selves. This seems dangerous, and our egos push back. But we know that God delights to see such gifts, which, though often small in the eyes of the world, are great in his eyes.

And God is able to make all grace abound to you, so that having all sufficiency in all things at all times, you may abound in every good work (see Second Corinthians 9:8).

Let's become creative about how we use our two coins, more and more willing to put them into service for the Kingdom. Whether they represent love of God and neighbor, faith and prayer, they can have immense value disproportionate to the way the world would assess them. They can become the coins which the master rewards and increases so that our ability to give grows with our faithfulness.

These are the ones who follow the Lamb wherever he goes.

They have been ransomed as the first fruits

of the human race for God and the Lamb.

When we are no longer ruled by riches but instead live by love we are led by the Lamb himself and free to follow him wherever he goes, just as Mary stayed as close to her son as he permitted during his earthly life. Then, at the hour of our death, she will guide us to the pastures of the blessed where her little Lamb now reigns. Just as Jesus drew Mary after him when he ascended into heaven, so too can our imitation of the fidelity she demonstrated open us to being drawn up to join the chorus of eternal praise, a new song before the throne.

Dan Schutte - Sing A New Song

Roland Palmer - Sing Of Mary

Matt Maher - Great Things

20 November 2022 - the eyes of faith

Today's Readings

(Audio)

Here we are, your bone and your flesh.

David was qualified to unite the tribes of Israel under his kingship because, among other reasons, he was of their bone and their flesh. But in a way this also circumscribed his kingship and limited it to the tribes of a single nation. Jesus was qualified to unite all of humanity because of his incarnation. By sharing in our common humanity Jesus was potentially related not only to his brothers and sisters in Israel, but by all who would have faith in him.

Since the children have flesh and blood, he too shared in their humanity (see Hebrews 2:14).

David was a man after God's own heart (see First Samuel 13:14), and so it was no wonder that it was from tending the sheep that he was called (see First Samuel 16:11) in order to be anointed king.  His reign as king was in turn a call to be a shepherd for the people of Israel. The care and compassion he demonstrated in tending weak and vulnerable sheep was practice for the solicitude to which he was called for the sake of the people of his nation. To David, this king with the heart of a shepherd, God promised to raise up offspring after him to build a house for his name and to establish the throne of his kingdom forever (see Second Samuel 7:12-13). Yet this was obviously not fulfilled in Solomon, although Solomon did build a temple a reign throughout his life. But he himself did not retain a heart like David's, chasing instead after many wives and their pagan gods. And he himself was only the beginning in a long line of kings who were largely sinful and corrupt. It was not long after his reign ended that the kingdom was divided and conquered. It seemed that perhaps the sinfulness of men had canceled out the promises of God. But it was not so. God himself lamented that state of things and promised that the role of shepherd over the people would again be filled.

I myself will be the Shepherd of my sheep and cause them to lie down in peace,” the Lord God says. “I will seek my lost ones, those who strayed away, and bring them safely home again. (see Ezekiel 34:16-18).

‘And I will give you shepherds after my own heart, who will feed you with knowledge and understanding (see Jeremiah 3:15).

First, God himself would come to be the Good Shepherd who would lay down his life for his sheep (see John 10:11). Then he would call his apostles and their successors to share in that role.

At the birth of Jesus we see that it precisely as a fulfillment of the promise God made to David that he had come into the world.

He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. And the Lord God will give to him the throne of his father David, and he will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and of his kingdom there will be no end (see Luke 1:32-33).

David gained fame for his military victories, shepherding his people by uniting them and protecting them from human enemies. It was rather a different sort of victory by which Jesus gained for his people true and lasting peace. It was his victory over sin and even over death itself that made it possible for his sheep to dwell in everlasting peace. Jesus and his Church would shepherd people even through the dark valley of the shadow of death in order that we might dwell in his courts forever more. It was not human enemies that Jesus conquered for our sake but the very powers of darkness themselves, thereby rescuing all of the lost sheep who had been slaves and captives in that darkness, bringing them into his own Kingdom of light.

He delivered us from the power of darkness

and transferred us to the kingdom of his beloved Son,

in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.

The Kingdom of Jesus looked very different from the kingdom of David, almost so much as to be unrecognizable. To the eyes of the world it appeared that he had failed to fulfill the promises that the Messiah was meant to embody. Thus they jeered at him and taunted him as he suffered agony on the cross. But this was not defeat. This was exactly where he intended to be. It was precisely here, in this gift of himself for the world, that he was most perfectly reigning as shepherd and King. It was precisely here, as he took on himself our just condemnation, that he most perfectly revealed God's unchanging love for humankind. When seen with the eyes of faith it was not a defeat but rather a victory, the one true victory without which nothing else would avail for us, his lost and scattered sheep. This was what the good thief was able to recognize.

Then he said,

"Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom."

He replied to him,

"Amen, I say to you,

today you will be with me in Paradise."

Behold the Lamb by Paul Beckman covered by Paul Harvey

Elevation Worship (featuring Brandon Lake) There Is A King

Peter Furler - Psalm 23

19 November 2022 - God of the living

Today's Readings

(Audio)

Some Sadducees, those who deny that there is a resurrection,

came forward and put this question to Jesus

There are many today who deny the possibility of a resurrection because to affirm it would in their minds imply various absurdities. This was the sort of argument made by the Sadducees as well. Thus the tragedies of this fictitious women's life seemed to argue against the possibility of the resurrection. She had been married to each brother in turn, always exclusively given to one alone. But  at the resurrection how could this be honored and restored? How could she be uniquely in a relationship with each brother? And if in the resurrection she was given only to one (perhaps the first or the most recent?) how was that fair to the others and how were they to bear it? Given the strong stance of God against the practice of polygamy there didn't seem to be a viable option to the critique of the Sadducees. 

Finally the woman also died.

Now at the resurrection whose wife will that woman be?

For all seven had been married to her.

The error of the Sadducees is the same error that is shared by many who deny the possibility of the resurrection in modern times. It is an assumption that the present age and the age to come must be identical. The Sadducees for their part could not see beyond the explicit teachings of the Torah. Our modern skeptics are often limited by their perspectives, such as materialism and scientism. Things which don't fit into the framework, or which would result in absurdity within a narrow band of understanding, are discarded. What would be preferable is for such perspectives to recognize their inherent limitations, to be able to open outward, to not insist that they are the exclusive basis for understanding the world, and therefore be open to possibilities that they can't contain or describe. It is not the business of science to explain away miracles or to discover regular laws that can predict them. Yet it also is not the place of science to disclaim or deny the very possibility of miracles. Such declarations are inherently not scientific. 

The resurrection of the body is not only a particular instance of a miracle, it is associated with the age to come when many of the assumptions that mark the present age will no longer be valid. Did the Torah explicitly describe this? No, but, as we will see, it was implied. Does science in fact predict anything like it? No, but by the very contingency of created things there is implied to be an ever greater freedom of the creator himself over his creation.

Jesus said to them,

“The children of this age marry and remarry;

but those who are deemed worthy to attain to the coming age

and to the resurrection of the dead

neither marry nor are given in marriage.

Jesus did not say that those married in this age would have no relationship with their spouse in the age to come. What he did say was that the premise of marriage in this present age was ordered toward the procreation of the species after a fashion that would no longer be necessary once everyone became "like angels" insofar as they could "no longer die". The primary relationship that would define those worthy of the age to come was that they were children of God in a way that was no longer expressed through the symbolic mediation of earthly realities (such as how marriage was a symbol of God's covenant relationship with his Church). Yet there would doubtlessly also be a way that the age to come would make good and bring to fullness the marriages of this present age. It would be a way that could only be understood on the terms of the new realities of that age, not merely by the exigencies of our own. The absurdities suggested by the Sadducees would vanish if they were able glimpse the way that, in the age to come, God would be all in all (see First Corinthians 15:28). The age to come would not contain marriage as it was narrowly understood in this present age. But for those married in this age it would doubtlessly contain something better.

That the dead will rise

even Moses made known in the passage about the bush,

when he called  ‘Lord’

the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob;

and he is not God of the dead, but of the living,

for to him all are alive.

When we try to confine God to our particular moment in time, or limit him to our own point of view or presuppositions, we do not adequately imagine God. We are for the most part limited by this particular point in our linear progression down the timeline of temporal reality. But God is present at every point in that timeline. Indeed, he sustains it by his powerful word (see Hebrews 1:3). His relationships with creatures whom he has destined for immortality is not limited in the way that time and death limit our own relationships. This very fact, this very presence before him of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, and all of the just, along with his love for the goodness of creation, all but implies the resurrection. Indeed, the resurrection itself is something God can already behold, the place where he lives together with all of those who trusted him in their lives in this age. It is his very beholding it, rather than, say, the laws of science, that is the ultimate source of its reality. This perspective shift, from our own limited viewpoints, to humility before the God of the living is that to which Jesus called the Sadducees and calls us now as well. Once we recognize that he is the God of the living we begin to also realize the truth of what was had seemed previously to be only a pious expression, that with him all things are possible. And then our own doubts are silenced.

Some of the scribes said in reply,

“Teacher, you have answered well.”

And they no longer dared to ask him anything.

Once we learn to place our perspectives in second place to God's perspective we can become witnesses, sources of the oil of gladness like olive trees, and lights for the world like lampstands. We can give powerful testimony for the sake of a reality that transcends the limits of the physical and temporal world we see around us, over all of which God reigns as sovereign king.

Debbye Graafsma - To Him Who Sits On The Throne

Songs In His Presence - Our Hearts Will Rise

18 November 2022 - putting his house in order

Today's Readings

(Audio)

Jesus entered the temple area and proceeded to drive out

those who were selling things

Jesus put a stop to these transaction that defied the purpose of the temple, that filled it with noise and worldly concern, and probably all of the vices that often come along with concern for money. This was something worse than a bake sale in the entryway after a mass. It was subverting the purpose of the temple, which was to be a house of prayer for all peoples. How were the Gentiles to pray in this, the Court of the Gentiles, if it was consumed was worldly activity?

these I will bring to my holy mountain,

and make them joyful in my house of prayer;

their burnt offerings and their sacrifices

will be accepted on my altar;

for my house shall be called a house of prayer

for all peoples (see Isaiah 56:7).

God himself had announced through his prophet that even the Gentiles would join themselves to the LORD and participate in the worship of his holy temple. Jesus, as the only Son of the Father, had not forgotten his Father's purpose. Jesus was not overstepping his authority by cleansing the temple since it was the house of his Father and therefore his own as well.

but you have made it a den of thieves.

The first temple had come under judgment for having become a den of thieves and was destroyed as a consequence. This second temple was no declared to be under similar judgment. Its destruction in turn would soon be foretold by Jesus. But although the second temple was destroyed it was in turn replaced by something still more perfect in which worship would be offered "neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem" but rather "in spirit and truth" (see 4:21, 4:24).

Instead of a temple made of stone it was to be a temple made of the "members of the household of God, built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Christ Jesus himself being the cornerstone, in whom the whole structure, being joined together, grows into a holy temple in the Lord" (see Ephesians 2:19-21). It was to be made up of "living stones" (see First Peter 2:5) who were each a temple in miniature.

Do you not know that you are God’s temple and that God’s Spirit dwells in you? (see First Corinthians 3:16).

As pieces of the very temple where God himself is present we are appointed to be the places, individually and collectively, where true worship is offered to the Father through the Son in the Holy Spirit. But it is very possible for us to subvert this purpose just as those who were selling things in the second temple did at the time of Jesus. What worldly concerns do we allow to predominant when we attempt to enter into worship? On the one hand, we can't control ever thought that arises within us. But on the other, we do have the power to prevent distractions from consuming us entirely. When we do so the outer courts of our hearts remain open to others who might otherwise find us distracted and unwelcoming, and as a consequence not find room for themselves in this new spiritual temple that is the Church. More and more let us "take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ" (see Second Corinthians 10:5). Jesus is willing to help us to cleanse the temples of our hearts, though of necessity this will not be a comfortable process. But it is nevertheless worth it precisely because it is so good to live for the purpose for which we were made, offering right praise to the Triune God.

In the way of your decrees I rejoice,

as much as in all riches.

As we become purified as temples, as our worship becomes more and more a pure and fragrant aroma of incense arising before God, we will begin to speak with a voice that is prophetic, a voice that the world needs to hear. 

Then someone said to me, “You must prophesy again

about many peoples, nations, tongues, and kings.”

The world is meant to be God's temple, but the nations that refuse this vocation will be swept away with the vendors and the moneychangers from the Gospel. Let us clear our own courts of that which is non-essential so that all might find a place in God's house.

Vineyard Music - Exodus XV

Randy Rothwell - Salvation Belongs To Our God