4 October 2024 - too close for comfort

Today's Readings

(Audio)

Woe to you, Chorazin! Woe to you, Bethsaida!

Chorazin and Bethsaida saw mighty deeds done in their midst and had an opportunity to respond. But it seemed that they continued to indulge in ideas about their own self-sufficient greatness. They didn't get the message and repent. Jesus was clear about the ramifications of that failure. They weren't better off for having seen Jesus do such things. Without a corresponding response they were actually at greater risk of judgment. They thought of themselves of pleasant, modern, places, and felt the presence of Jesus as one more sign of their significance. But other, seemingly much worse places, that did not have the opportunity to respond to Jesus, were actually at less risk of judgment.

For if the mighty deeds done in your midst

had been done in Tyre and Sidon,

they would long ago have repented,

sitting in sackcloth and ashes.

Tyre and Sidon would be judged on the basis of what they had been given, and held accountable only to respond to the grace that they did in fact receive. But from the one who received more, more would be expected (see Luke 12:48). Our own situation is closer to Chorazin, Bethsaida, and Capernaum than it is to Tyre and Sidon. Jesus has come among us and revealed himself to us. We can't just sit around patting ourselves on our backs assuming that just because he has been around us that we are ready for judgment. We are often tempted to suggest that we are good to go, saying "We ate and drank in your presence, and you taught in our streets" (see Luke 13:26). But to this, if we don't add actual repentance and relationship, Jesus will respond, "I do not know where you come from" (see Luke 13:27). We can't simply to exonerate ourselves by comparison with those who have not had the opportunity to respond to Jesus or offer as justification for ourselves that at least Jesus was somewhere nearby and that we noticed him. There are stakes. What was meant to be a great blessing for us can become the greatest liability if we don't allow ourselves to be transformed by the presence of Jesus in our midst.

Whoever listens to you listens to me.

Whoever rejects you rejects me.

And whoever rejects me rejects the one who sent me.

The apostles and their successors were given the authority to teach in the name of Jesus himself. Our opportunity either to respond or to exercise complacency comes primarily through the Church founded by Jesus. But this might well be the place where it is the easiest to take Jesus for granted and to make out of religion a comfortable routine with no teeth, no actual possibility of challenge, or of any danger to our status quo.

Although we probably can't bring ourselves to envy Job, it is still impressive the lengths to which God himself went in order to fully open Job's heart, leading him beyond his tacit understanding and stock answers to a genuine revelation. We can be confident he will do so for us as well if we continue to pursue him.

Behold, I am of little account; what can I answer you?

I put my hand over my mouth.

Though I have spoken once, I will not do so again;

though twice, I will do so no more.

Sara McLachlan - Prayer Of St. Francis

3 October 2024 - ask the master of the harvest

Today's Readings

(Audio)

The harvest is abundant but the laborers are few;

so ask the master of the harvest

to send out laborers for his harvest.

Even the seventy-two disciples that Jesus was sending were a small number compared to the abundant harvest that awaited them. Although Jesus was himself sending this large number of individuals to to out and prepare for the harvest he also asked them to ask the Lord for more. But the specific words did not limit the sending only to the additional help that was necessary. It included the sending of all the laborers, and therefore also the seventy-two disciples themselves who were instructed thus to pray. They were themselves praying to be sent. It was thus not a mission that could be undertaken at individual whim or caprice, but one which needed to have its origin in God's power and plan. This prayer for laborers for the harvest would be rightly directly both to the Father, who would inwardly draw people to Jesus, and to Jesus himself, who was the one visibly sending the laborers out on their mission. That Jesus instructed the disciples to pray in this way suggested that the providential unfolding of the kingdom was in some way dependent on it, and that there would be blessings not bestowed if they were not sought. It was an antidote both against complacency, the idea that everything would just happen anyway no matter what an individual did, and anxiety, as though everything depending on oneself alone.

Go on your way;

behold, I am sending you like lambs among wolves.

Jesus was not sending the disciples out as soldiers. He was sending vulnerable individuals into a danger zone and specifically instructing them to avoid much preparation. They were not to overcome the challenge posed by others by their own prowess, but rather by relying on God's providence. The wolves that tried to oppose Jesus himself would certainly also try to block the work of his disciples. But it was the meek who would inherit the earth, and so they were to remain gentle and humble of heart just like Jesus himself. It would have seemingly made things easier if they were permitted to bring extra provisions for the journey. But Jesus did not want them to rely even on the preparations they made so much as on their trust in him and his word.

Into whatever house you enter, first say,

‘Peace to this household.’

If a peaceful person lives there,

your peace will rest on him;

but if not, it will return to you.

In the order of priority in the instructions Jesus gave, bestowing peace where the disciples arrived came before preaching and healing. In doing so they were extended the message of the angels at the birth of Jesus who proclaimed peace to people of good will (see Luke 2:14). This gift of peace is one of the fruits of the Holy Spirit (see Galatians 5:22-23) and is a blessing that every Christian is invited to spread to others. We are meant to be like the disciples, who were able to be bold because even if others did not welcome their peace they would not be hurt by that because it would simply return back to them. But we're often afraid to share our peace for fear of losing it. This probably means we've become content with flimsy worldly peace that cannot last. We should turn back to the peace given by Jesus himself so that we too can share it without fear.

And a harvest of righteousness is sown in peace by those who make peace (see James 3:18).

Nicole Mullen - My Redeemer Lives

2 October 2024 - my guardian dear

Today's Readings

(Audio)

Amen, I say to you, unless you turn and become like children,

you will not enter the Kingdom of heaven.

The disciples were seeking greatness. But this was a trajectory leading to a dead end. Not only would their desire for greatness not obtain its object, but it would even keep them from entering the Kingdom of heaven. Continuing the pursuit of greatness was not only distasteful but was even deadly. Becoming childlike was not an nice optional extra, but a requirement. The attitude that the disciples had was one that required conversion. And the endpoint of that conversion was to become more like the child Jesus brought into their midst than any image of success that they previously had in mind. That child, to be clear, had nothing to recommend him, no great skills or abilities, no prowess, nothing that the world could recognize as productive or powerful. And yet, precisely because he had no legitimate claim to greatness, he was the perfect example for the disciples in the eyes of Jesus. They too would need to humble themselves and accept that they too had nothing more to offer than a child and allow themselves to be welcomed by Jesus in spite of that. Only from such a place of spiritual smallness could the meaning of greatness in the Kingdom of heaven be unlocked.

Whoever humbles himself like this child

is the greatest in the Kingdom of heaven.

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

Once disciples surrender their desires for greatness and become childlike they discover what true greatness means. They no longer have to be so concerned that they will be received by the world, because Jesus himself will be concerned on their behalf. He will take his childlike disciples reception by others so personally that it will be as though he himself was being accepted or rejected.

See that you do not despise one of these little ones,

for I say to you that their angels in heaven

always look upon the face of my heavenly Father.

The little ones that follow Jesus don't need to be the last line of their own defense. Others might despise them, but if they remain still and small and at rest in God they need not fear because God himself gives priority of access to the angels who watch over them. If Christians are despised God will surely empower their guardian angels with all the graces needed to face such situations. Believers never need to worry that they will have to face them alone or without the necessary resources. In short, they can manifest and maintain childlike trust no matter what circumstances they face. No matter how tightly shut the worldly prison in which they find themselves might be, the doors of that prison are no match for the protection of the spiritual powerhouses assigned to every believer by God. 

Pat Barrett - No Weapon

Bonus Content: Jimmy Akin on Guardian Angels 

1 October 2024 - he set his face

Today's Readings

(Audio)

When the days for Jesus to be taken up were fulfilled,

he resolutely determined to journey to Jerusalem,

and he sent messengers ahead of him.

It appeared that the endgame of Jesus' mission was at hand. The days were fulfilled and there was a new attitude and emphasis in the direction set by Jesus himself, who set his face toward Jerusalem.

But the Lord God helps me; therefore I have not been disgraced; therefore I have set my face like a flint, and I know that I shall not be put to shame (see Isaiah 50:7).

The intensity on the part of Jesus might have indicated to the disciples that the time of judgment for Jerusalem was at hand. One thing it might  have brought to mind was a time when God instructed Ezekiel to make a similar turn:

Son of man, set thy face toward Jerusalem, and drop thy word toward the holy places, and prophesy against the land of Israel (see Ezekiel 21:2)

Or it may have reminded them of something the Lord said to the prophet Jeremiah:

For I have set my face against this city for harm and not for good, declares the LORD: it shall be given into the hand of the king of Babylon, and he shall burn it with fire (see Jeremiah 21:2).

Thus when Jesus sent messengers ahead of his face to prepare his way before him they were in no mood to countenance rejection. They were likely getting exciting about the culmination and climax that was approaching, the hints of the possibility of the Lord Jesus being taken up and enthroned in heaven as king. The disciples seemed to think that Jesus would no longer want to be patient and merciful, but would want the disciples themselves to exercise immediate judgment on those who would not welcome Jesus. After all, if Elijah had called down fire on his Samaritan opponents (see Second Kings 1:12), why should not the one who was greater even than Elijah do at least as much?

Jesus turned and rebuked them,

and they journeyed to another village.

It seemed that the resolute determination on the face of Jesus was not preparation for violence like that which the disciples were so eager to initiate. It was an instead an internal resolve that he himself would persist in spite of rejection, in spite of all of the suffering he knew awaited him at the destination of his journey. His rebuke of the disciples seemed so understated as to suggest that they really ought to have known better by then. It seemed like he was saying, 'Really? Come on, guys. Let's keep moving'.

Somehow we Christians still seem surprised when God doesn't call down fire, or more specifically, allow us to call down fire, on those we perceive to be his adversaries. But if we consider the case of the Samaritans we will quickly realize that their rejection of Jesus was only temporary and that after Pentecost they formed a significant part of the early conversions described in Scriptures. Things probably aren't so dire or urgent as we imagine. We made need to resolve within ourselves to set our faces toward the goal, so that we can wait with patience as God's timing proves quite different from our own, and much better.

Rita Springer - Amen