12 December 2025 - am I not your mother?

Today's Readings
(Audio) 

Today we celebrate Our Lady in Guadalupe. In doing so we acknowledge the special role given to Mary in salvation history. She was daughter Zion who sang and rejoiced at the coming of the Lord to dwell among us. She was the woman clothes with the sun, between whom and the ancient dragon (or serpent) God promised to put enmity. She was the new Eve who would triumph where the old Eve failed. But she did not do this on her own strength. Eve would have had a better chance of resisting the intimidation tactics of the serpent if her husband Adam had been willing to lend her his strength. But though he was so close to her that she could pass a piece of fruit to him he watched in silence, shirking his duty to guard the garden. But Jesus, the new Adam, did not leave the new Eve to struggle alone. Since the subject who experienced the cross and resurrection was God himself  it was something that transcended time. And because of this, the grace that resulted from it was available to fill Mary from the moment of her conception. That was the reason the archangel Gabriel acknowledged her as full of grace.

Mary said, “Behold, I am the handmaid of the Lord.
May it be done to me according to your word.”

Whereas Eve chose to prioritize herself, her freedom, her desire to decide good and evil for herself Mary instead chose to place her trust in God and his plans for her. It was unlikely that either woman was able to fully grasp what the consequences of either choice would mean to them. Even Mary doubtless had her own plans and expectations prior to the archangel interrupting her life. But Eve resolved to decide for herself, relying on no one. Mary believed that God knew better than she what would lead to the best outcome. Obviously the specific choices these two individuals had to make were more extreme than what will be asked of us. But they are not entirely different from questions with which we must all contend. Will we trust in God, even when we lack all of the details about an ambiguous situation? Or will we insist on relying on ourselves at such times? Will we insist on merely human ways of thinking, or will we trust in the new and spiritual mindset God has given in through his Spirit? Not every choice we make has these dimensions. But every choice that matters probably does.

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.

Mary didn't take her special role in the story of salvation as an excuse to ignore others and focus on herself. In fact, she seemed animated by knowledge of the fact that God was working through her in a special way. It seemed as though she all but ran out the door to spread the blessings of God to others who might benefit. She did so, not so much by bringing herself, helpful as Elizabeth would have found her presence, but by bringing the presence of the Lord within her, the blessed fruit of her womb. It was this presence that caused Elizabeth to rejoice in the Holy Spirit. It was this same presence by which Our Lady of Guadalupe brought about the conversion of millions of indigenous peoples of the Americas. 

It is not surprising that what Mary did once historically at the time of Jesus is an important task still entrusted to her by her Son. The apparitions at Guadalupe are among the most famous of her interventions in the world. But they are by no means the only ones. Many of the interventions with which we are familiar may be obviously miraculous to the extreme. But this should not cause us to miss the times when she desires to intervene in our own lives in ways more humble and hidden. She wants to bring the joy of her son to us as surely as she did to Elizabeth or the peoples in what were then the Mexican territories of the Spanish Empire. 

The presence of Our Lady accomplished what many highly educated missionaries could not in spreading the Gospel to those lands. In our own day the effectiveness of educated and erudite preachers is limited. We need Our Lady to come to us to break open the floodgates of grace, just as she did for other peoples and lands. She can help because her faith, by which she believed that nothing is impossible for God, allows that reality the be realized where she is present. And when it is realized, when God himself demonstrates that for him all things are possible, more and more people join Mary in singing her song of joy.

“My soul proclaims the greatness of the Lord;
my spirit rejoices in God my savior.”

John Michael Talbot - Holy Is His Name

 

11 December 2025 - the violent bear it away

Today's Readings
(Audio)
 

among those born of women
there has been none greater than John the Baptist;
yet the least in the Kingdom of heaven is greater than he. 

Insofar as John was a prophet like others in the history of Israel he was great, but still somehow far less than even the least in the Kingdom of heaven. But John was one who had a foot in both worlds, that of the Old Covenant, and that of the New. He was the first to experience violence being turned against the Kingdom. This was true since the purpose of his coming was to prepare the way for Jesus, and it was this that put him in such a public role as to offend Herod Antipas. He stuck even to subordinate truths about righteousness and repentance, down to insisting on the unlawfulness of Herod's marriage, precisely because to be unfaithful to any truth was to be unfaithful to the one who was the Truth in person, the bridegroom he came to make known. 

Let's pause for a moment to realize what a reversal is being described by Jesus in regard to John. The obvious and evident signs of John's greatness were as a prophet from the long prophetic tradition of Israel. He had such massive success calling people to repentance, a success which, we point out, was not common for the prophets, that people were afraid to say anything negative about him for fear of the crowds (see Matthew 21:23-27). This was the greatness of which Jesus said "among those born of women there has been none greater than John the Baptist". But his Kingdom greatness was revealed by the suffering he endured for the messiah. Outside of the Kingdom, even for a prophet, John's end could only be considered a tragedy that was in some measure a failure. But in the Kingdom it could be regarded as a victory, since in the Kingdom suffering and death were no longer meaningless for lives lived for Christ. It wasn't primarily those who lived successful lives on earth that were considered great in the Kingdom. The great reversal in which the mighty were cast down and the lowly were lifted up was applicable to John the Baptist as a prime example. This reversal had been foreseen in the Old Testament. But in Jesus it finally arrived. And John was among the first to experience it.

the Kingdom of heaven suffers violence,
and the violent are taking it by force. 

The commentators all say that this passage refers to the woes that would mark the world at the time of the messiah, all of the violence that would be directed against Jesus and those who followed him. And we concede this is the primary meaning. Yet we also acknowledge the long tradition of those who say that it refers to the spiritual violence necessary to enter the Kingdom. This spiritual violence is directed primarily at old sinful selves, which we put to death, in order to live more fully the new life given to us in baptism. This is what Paul described in his letter to the Romans, saying, "if you live according to the flesh you will die, but if by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body, you will live" (see Romans 8:13). For this reason the Catholic tradition speaks of mortification as an important part of the spiritual life. After all, no amount of violence from others can actually prevent a follower of Jesus from entering into his Kingdom. But a lax attitude with in regard to the temptations of the flesh can do exactly that. Thus for us, as for John, the true shape of success and victory is not what we might expect. It isn't having our every desire met so much as having those desires reordered to reflect reality. The strength we need, it should be said, does not come from ourselves, even it is through us that it works. 

Therefore do not be ashamed of the testimony about our Lord, nor of me his prisoner, but share in suffering for the gospel by the power of God (see Second Timothy 1:8).

John's role was special. He was called Elijah because he prepared the way for Jesus, his Kingdom, and ultimately, the end of that period of history. The prophets had prophesied up until John, indicating, despite their differences, a common thread. He was the culmination of God's preparation of Israel to receive her messiah. Together with the rest of the passage, the "up to the time of John" implied the ending of one era and the beginning of another. The time of preparation for the Kingdom was over. The Kingdom was now truly at hand. 

Although the Kingdom is among us, the challenge we are given by the Church is to prepare to welcome it in a new way this Christmas. We are rehearsing the original coming of the messiah so that we can welcome him more completely into our own hearts and lives this year. Just as Jesus divided history into BC and AD (or whatever we are to call them now) so too does he divide our individual lives. Our after should be markedly different than our before. But for this to be true and remain true it is required that we continue to pursue it, even with the sort of spiritual violence we have described.

John Michael Talbot - Prepare Ye The Way

 

10 December 2025 - a word to rouse us

 

Today's Readings
(Audio)

Come to me, all you who labor and are burdened,
and I will give you rest.

Today both the first reading and the Gospel speak a word of comfort to those who are weary. We're speaking here of something more than a merely physical sensation. We might define the phenomenon as the result of a flagging of endurance, leading us to want to give up. Why might we be weary? We don't have to look too far to find ample reasons. We pray, but our prayers are not immediately answered. We work for justice, but the powerful still oppress the weak. We try to draw near to God, but encounter dryness. We have been told and so understand that endurance is expected of us, that we need to persist, and maintain our hope even when the circumstances make things seem hopeless. Hope has God for its object, and, as we know, it "does not disappoint" (see Romans 5:5).

Let's look at how Jesus handled temptations to give up. We know that he set his face like flint (see Isaiah 50:7) and "endured the cross, despising the shame" (see Hebrews 12:2). But it was not a matter of merely gritting his teeth and powering through. Even he, Jesus himself, had to have an object in which to fix his hope, something more important than all of the suffering he would endure. He did what he did "for the joy that was set before him", which was not some generic feeling of elation, but his union with the Father. His hope, humanly speaking, was solidly fixed in God. This gave him the strength he needed to endure the cross to bring us salvation.

For our part, we are not meant to merely struggle through on our own strength. Having hope that never wavers like Jesus did often proves too much for us. But when we come to him, share his yoke, and learn from him, one of the things we learn is how to fix our own will in the will of the Father, to have hope just as he did. On our own we may well surrender ourselves to despair. But when we share the yoke of Jesus we see the way that leads to victory. Jesus was able to trust even before he experienced the resurrection because he knew his Father was faithful. But now the resurrection has in fact occurred. When we are united to Jesus we already begin to live this new life in the Spirit. We can endure because we are in some way already at the goal as long as we are in union with him. Burdens that were unbearably heavy thus become light when we share his easy yoke.

Though young men faint and grow weary,
and youths stagger and fall,
They that hope in the LORD will renew their strength,
they will soar as with eagles' wings;
They will run and not grow weary,
walk and not grow faint.

The motivation and strength that we receive from Jesus are primarily of the spiritual order. And yet, when we are so certain of our purpose, and know for sure that victory is possible, even our physical bodies receive new energy. Old women and men who know their purpose and destiny through their union with Christ often have a vitality that is at odds with their years. The youthful spirit of the saints still living on earth seems to animate even their aging bodies. Maybe if our complaints are primarily about such matters, the solution we need is not some new supplement or yoga routine, but rather a new infusion of purpose from our union with Jesus himself. The invitation is both easy and open. We come to him, share his yoke, and learn. Only here, in his arms, can we ever find anything remotely like rest in this fallen world.

 

Bob Fitts - He Will Come And Save You

 

9 December 2025 - the one percent

Today's Readings
(Audio) 

If a man has a hundred sheep and one of them goes astray,
will he not leave the ninety-nine in the hills
and go in search of the stray?

Jesus is not content with good enough. One sheep missing is, for him, one too many. His stated purpose in coming was to seek and to save the lost (see Luke 19:10). When he saw people who seemed like sheep without a shepherd his heart couldn't help but be moved with compassion for them (see Matthew 9:36). 

Most of us have experienced being spiritually lost to some degree at some point. Maybe we were even still in sight range of other sheep and yet succumbed to confusion about our purpose and our worth. Hopefully we have all had the experience of being found by Jesus, being embraced by him, and being carried back to his flock. He has a place for us where we can thrive and truly be, as they say, our best selves. Even from within the flock we might be confused if we try to figure out our place and purpose on our own. But Jesus helps us understand who we are meant to be and why. And in doing so he delivers us from our disoriented confusion.

Though most of us have been lost in small ways we may not relate to those utterly absent from the flock that Jesus desires to bring within his fold. Even if we do relate, it may have been some time since we could be described in similar terms. We are mostly more like the ninety-nine who remain behind when he seeks out the one that is missing. Because of this we often take this parable as a teaching to help us appreciate why it is often those who are more distant from the Lord who seem to receive the most obvious signs of his love. It helps us come to terms with his apparent absence in our own lives while he is out in the field loving those most in need. But is Jesus really limited in this way? Does he love us less in order to love the lost more? If he were merely a man we would have to concede that he must. If he were, he would only possess limited power, capacity, and attention to distribute among all the sheep. But the shepherd who feeds his flock is not merely man, but, as Isaiah points out, "the Lord God", the same one who "comes with power" and "who rues by his strong arm". Therefore we must infer that even if it seems from our point of view that the lost sheep receive special attention it is really the case that they are loved differently, in a way that they particularly need, rather than more. Neither, then, are we loved less, for we are safely ensconced within the mountain heights of his Church. It is not really that he is absent in our lives, any more than the father of elder brother was absent from his life in the parable of the prodigal son. It may feel like Jesus is more present to people who are lost. But if we correctly understand the blessings we have been given here at home within his Church, we will recognize that what the father told the elder brother is the same thing God says to us: "Son, you are always with me, and all that is mine is yours" (see Luke 15:31).

And if he finds it, amen, I say to you, he rejoices more over it
than over the ninety-nine that did not stray.
In just the same way, it is not the will of your heavenly Father
that one of these little ones be lost.

All of the sheep safely within the flock are worthy of the same joy. But it is especially true that the finding of the lost demands special celebration, as did the return of the prodigal son. We may use the parable of the lost sheep to help us understand our own situation and those of others. It does help us to see those mysteries from God's perspective. But the more important point, perhaps, is to let it teach us to have hearts that are more like that of Jesus, who prioritize seeking the lost, who are committed to mission. We should be like the herald described by Isaiah in our first reading:

Go up onto a high mountain,
Zion, herald of glad tidings;
Cry out at the top of your voice,
Jerusalem, herald of good news!
Fear not to cry out
and say to the cities of Judah:
Here is your God!

Bob Dufford - Like A Shepherd

 

 

8 December 2025 - your praises we sing

Today's Readings
(Audio) 

The man called his wife Eve,
because she became the mother of all the living.

Into a situation in which there should have been only life Adam and Eve chose to allow death to enter. They had been told the one thing to avoid, the one thing carrying the consequence of death. But they had chosen to believe the serpent rather than God. They succumbed to fear and chose to decide for themselves about good and evil. They imagined that they could subjectively impose a better order on the world than the one with which it was created by God. In that false world that they imagined they were safe from the serpent, enjoyed delicious fruit, and God didn't mind so much after all. But this was not, as we know, the result. Eve, who had been intended to be the mother of all the living became the mother of all of the spiritual dead, all mortals doomed to die.

I will put enmity between you and the woman,
and between your offspring and hers;
he will strike at your head,
while you strike at his heel.

Adam and Eve didn't take God by surprise with their disobedience. He did not suddenly wish he had not created them with free will after all. No, he always had a plan to restore all things. He only ever permitted evil since from it he could bring still greater good. The enmity that was always meant to exist between the forces of darkness and the children of God would be restored. Where the disobedience of Eve brought sorrow and death, the obedience of Mary, the new Eve, would bring life and forgiveness.

Since Mary was always a part of God's plan we should not be surprised that she was given special grace to play her part. What Paul said of all us of was true of her in particular, that God "chose us in him, before the foundation of the world" and "blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavens". This was why the angel greeted her by saying, "Hail, full of grace!", as though "full of grace" was such an apt description of her as to be her name. The word indicated that she had been completely filled with grace in the past in a way that continued on into the present. Years of reflecting on this mystery led the Church to recognize and gradually clarify the teaching of the Immaculate Conception. We now understand that the grace which filled her had done so from the very moment she was conceived. She had been specially protected by the grace of Christ's Passion so that she could fully cooperate in unleashing his salvation on the world, so that she could fully and without reservation welcome the one who would at last crush the head of the serpent. While Eve expressed the freedom she had been given for selfish ends, Mary used it perfectly to honor God. For this reason it is Mary, and not Eve, whom all generations will forever call blessed. But she would not wish to be alone in honoring God in this way. She desires to help us even now, today, to say yes, just as she did. Mary, mother of God, pray for us!

Mary said, "Behold, I am the handmaid of the Lord.
May it be done to me according to your word."

Damascus Worship Featuring Seph Schlueter  - Hail O Queen

 

7 December 2025 - way prepared

Today's Readings
(Audio)

Zechariah had prophesied of his son John that, "you will go before the Lord to prepare his ways" (see Luke 1:76). And now it was in fact coming to pass. John was calling all who would listen to acknowledge their sins and, to repent, and to bear good fruit as evidence. He was giving the people knowledge of salvation in the forgiveness of their sees (sins Luke 1:77). That forgiveness itself was not yet available. The baptism of John was a mere sign of one's intention and commitment. But the reason he made the proclamation was that the salvation mentioned by Zechariah was indeed at hand. The time to prepare the way was now because the Lord was indeed going to come to them, in a new and utterly unique way. The tender mercy of God was coming into the world and the dawn from on high was beginning to break through. 

Prepare the way of the Lord,
make straight his paths.

We know that the verse from Isaiah referred to the coming of the Lord, the coming of God himself. But interpreters must have assumed that this was meant as mere metaphor. But the dawn from on high of whom Zechariah prophesied, and for whom John the Baptist prepared, was not merely a metaphorical way of describing God's action in the world. It was in fact the person of Jesus Christ himself, the light of the world and the savior of humanity. The Lord for whom John prepared was present in the person of Jesus Christ in a way surpassing all others. It was therefore literally true to say that John prepared, not for a mere human, but for the Lord himself.

When he saw many of the Pharisees and Sadducees
coming to his baptism, he said to them, "You brood of vipers!
Who warned you to flee from the coming wrath?

It was not enough to merely going through the motions without sincerity. Choosing to be baptized because doing so was popular or even as a contingency plan, just in case John was right, seemed to be too insubstantial to motivate any real or lasting change. The baptism of John might not have had the power to forgive sins or bestow the Spirit but it was at least meant to be a choice that would change one's life going forward and definitively set a new direction.

God can raise up children to Abraham from these stones.
Even now the ax lies at the root of the trees.
Therefore every tree that does not bear good fruit
will be cut down and thrown into the fire.

We need not try to acquire salvation based on the accumulation of points or merit. Nothing we do is able to so impress God that he just can't help but give us salvation as a reward. We need to let ourselves be built as living stones, children of Abraham through faith. It is God who does the real work in us, rather than we who do it to prove ourselves to him. We, even we Gentiles, have access to it through faith. The transformation is a gift, given in the form of the Holy Spirit and fire. Practically speaking, this usually happens in the form of the baptism established by Jesus, which that of John only foreshadowed. When we emerge from the water of that fount of life the Spirit descends upon us and we hear the Father calling us beloved daughters and sons. It is then that we have the power to bear good fruit as evidence of our repentance, because we receive all the gifts of the Spirit of which Isaiah spoke.

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.

Songs In His Presence - His Name Shall Be Called

 

6 December 2025 - if God is with us

Today's Readings
(Audio) 

At the sight of the crowds, his heart was moved with pity for them
because they were troubled and abandoned,
like sheep without a shepherd.

These crowds weren't meant to be without a shepherd. Yet ever since the fall people experienced feelings of trouble and of being abandoned, since they no longer had direct access to the presence of God. He no longer walked through the same garden of paradise with them in the cool of the day. It was easy to assume that their expulsion from the garden meant that God no longer cared about them as much as before. They were forced to move from a place where their every need was met to one in which they could only earn their bread by the sweat of their brow. They went from a place where they would never have died to a world marked by age, disease, and illness. Compared to their relationship with God in the garden they often felt isolated and alone. Yet there were still indications that they were not alone, that God had not really given up on them. He did not, as he might well have done, destroy them immediately. He made them clothing. And he made a promise to crush the head of the serpent who was the ultimate cause of the situation. 

As time passed the consequences of the fall began to increasingly define people's experience of the world. The relationship between God and humanity became so tenuous it became possible for people to suspect that God did not exist or to accuse him of being capricious, not truly good. He tried to send shepherds to care for his people, but they often failed, using their positions as a means of exploitation, rather than for the sake of the sheep. But none of this meant that God's heart was not still with his people. The fact that he didn't immediately make the issue of sin disappear was not because he didn't care, but because he cared to much to sweep it away without drawing from it a still greater good. He never stopped wanting to be present to shepherd his flock himself. But he was patient, waiting until the fullness of time, so that the fullness of his intended relationship with humanity could be restored. When Jesus came into the world he did so at a time when people were hoping for a savior, looking for a messiah who could set them free. They had a sufficient sense of their own insufficiency, and began to cry out go God for salvation. Not everyone did, of course, but enough at least that the work could finally begin. We can't determine exactly why God chose the specific time and place he did to begin his project of restoring the world. There is always something mysterious about his timing. This is expected, since he has a higher perspective and a deeper understanding of reality than we do. But we can say for sure that he did what he did when he did because it allowed him to most perfectly show his love for us. Thus, in today's Gospel passage the crowd that was present stood in for all humanity in all the years leading up to that moment, and all the years that would follow. They stood for everyone who felt far from God, who no longer trusted, or believed, or who were desperate for him but could not find him, for all the sheep that felt alone. Jesus himself seemed to desire to reach out and embrace them all and assure them that his love for them had never wavered, would never waver, and never could. 

Then he summoned his Twelve disciples
and gave them authority over unclean spirits to drive them out
and to cure every disease and every illness.

If the compassion of Jesus was really as we have described it, we may go on to say that the mission of his disciples, and indeed our own mission, is to continue to spread that compassion to the world. Our lives too should be signs that no one has been forgotten by God. No one has truly been abandoned. No one should need to face their troubles alone any longer. Since the fall, the snake has been trying to convince us that God either does not care about us or is in fact against us. Our lives are meant to show the world that he is, beyond all doubt, for us.

What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us? (see Romans 8:31).

We ourselves are imperfect. And God's presence is still more hidden than the poetic language of the story of creation seemed to suggest that it was for Adam and Eve. But ours is an age where God is by no means absent. We no longer need to feel alone because of the Eucharistic presence of Our Lord and the gift of his Holy Spirit. These realities mean we have direct access to a shepherd who wants to lead and guide us with such concrete specificity that the words of the prophet Isaiah can be true for us:

No longer will your Teacher hide himself,
but with your own eyes you shall see your Teacher,
While from behind, a voice shall sound in your ears:
"This is the way; walk in it,"
when you would turn to the right or to the left.

Michael Card - Immanuel

 

5 December 2025 - blind faith

 

Today's Readings
(Audio)

As Jesus passed by, two blind men followed him, crying out,
"Son of David, have pity on us!"

Even if nothing else in our lives is clear, the thing that matters most is to know that Jesus is the Messiah, the one who came to save us. When we seek him first he will help open our eyes to anything else that is truly important. Having him as our absolute priority will gradually reorder our other priorities until they more accurately reflect reality. It is then that we will walk without stumbling in the way of the Lord.

Whoever is wise, let him understand these things; whoever is discerning, let him know them; for the ways of the LORD are right, and the upright walk in them, but transgressors stumble in them (see Hosea 14:9).

Most of us are not actually blind, or using a screen reader to read this reflection. But all of us, at least at times, are not sure where to turn for answers, or even what an answer would look like if we saw it. Our paths are often fraught with confusion. And it is often a confusion that doesn't seem directly related to Jesus. We may imagine him waving contentedly from church buildings as we pass by on our apparently urgent errands. But in fact he wants to come with us, to do life together with us. It is only he himself who is the light that illumines our lives. If we only meet him on Sundays or in church buildings a good chunk of our lives will remain in darkness.

The light is among you for a little while longer. Walk while you have the light, lest darkness overtake you. The one who walks in the darkness does not know where he is going (see John 12:35).

In Advent we prepare for the coming of the one who is the light of the world. We do not do this because he is the ultimate Christmas decoration, in addition to all of the other season decor. We do it because we and our world are still in darkness and desperately need more of the light he brings us. We do it because even we ourselves, let along the disinterested secular masses, still frequently stumble without sufficient light. We ourselves are meant to become light to help push back this darkness. But this is only possible when the true light, Jesus himself, is living within us. 

See that no one knows about this.

When people understand Jesus in a superficial way they tend to think of salvation as solving their problems as they understand them. But Jesus actually helps us to understand our lives and the world in a new way that relativizes the things we previously considered important. We might hope that he will fix our houses, our cars, our bodies, our socio-economic situations, or any number of other things. But the main thing Jesus wants to fix is our souls, which is to say, our relationship with his Father. This is what it really means for him to be the savior of the world. The first step is realizing that our vision of God is not yet as crystal clear as we desire. We still superimpose human ways of understanding on the divine. Salvation, if it means relationship, also means coming to see him more clearly. It is by this vision that we become more and more like him.

Beloved, we are God's children now, and what we will be has not yet appeared; but we know that when he appears we shall be like him, because we shall see him as he is (see First John 3:2).

When we finally see him as he is, it is then that the words of Isaiah will be fully realized:

On that day the deaf shall hear
the words of a book;
And out of gloom and darkness,
the eyes of the blind shall see.
The lowly will ever find joy in the LORD,
and the poor rejoice in the Holy One of Israel.

Songs In His Presence - In Your Light

 

4 December 2025 - rock city

Today's Readings
(Audio) 

Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’
will enter the Kingdom of heaven,
but only the one who does the will of my Father in heaven.

Some people may have gotten the wrong impression that mere association with Jesus was enough to allow them to gain access to the Kingdom. Yes, Jesus dined with sinners. But if sinners were unchanged by such experiences, if they had no contrition, and if their hearts were not moved, they could not hope to merely use the name of Jesus like a password in order to enter heaven. 

Everyone who listens to these words of mine and acts on them
will be like a wise man who built his house on rock.

Being able to identify Jesus was not enough. But neither was it enough to merely try to perform good works without him. His words were not words like those of anyone else. His words had power to transform the lives of those who heard, causing them to desire the will of the Father, and giving them grace to carry it out. One needed not only to be familiar with the words of Jesus. One needed to make them the basis for her own life and existence. The concepts contained in the Sermon on the Mount were a recipe for frustration rather than fidelity apart from Jesus, since apart from the vine branches invariably wither (see John 15:5-6). 

The Gospel this morning is not merely advising us to set about obedience and good works on our own. The point is not the things we do or don't do so much as where the foundation of our lives is built. We can try to attain to all of the ideals of the Beatitudes on our own, apart from Jesus and the power of his grace. But we will find such attempts, however good the intentions, to be built on sand. Because the words of Jesus are different from those of others we don't build on them in the same way that we might try to internalize those of a philosopher or a spiritual guru. We don't take his teaching as suggestions that we then run with on or own. The words of Jesus have the power to renew our minds, giving us a new and fresh spiritual way of thinking. But if we don't live in a way that is in harmony with his words we will prove that we do not trust them completely. In doing so their power to transform us will be blunted or even nullified.

The rain fell, the floods came,
and the winds blew and buffeted the house. 

The words of Jesus do not necessarily always change our circumstances. Though, sometimes they do, since there is no limit to their power. They are not, after all, merely subjective. And yet, often we must still endure the rain, the flood, and the winds. Importantly, though, his will always change us if we let them. When we become rooted in Jesus, the source and origin of all things we become immune at the deepest levels to anything the world can throw at us. When we truly build on his words he becomes an anchor for our souls (see Hebrews 6:19) that keep us secure in any storm. The reason his words have such power, that they are unlike any other words, is because the one who is an eternal Rock is none other than the LORD himself.

Trust in the LORD forever!
For the LORD is an eternal Rock.

 

John Michael Talbot - I Am The Vine

 

3 December 2025 - basket case

 

Today's Readings
(Audio)

The disciples said to him,
"Where could we ever get enough bread in this deserted place
to satisfy such a crowd?"

It wasn't all that long ago that Jesus had multiplied bread for an even larger crowd. Did they forget? Was this a different set of disciples who were not present at the earlier event? Or were they the same individuals who were present before, but this time speaking disingenuously? Did they give up immediately because they believed that this crowd was not worthy of the pity of Jesus in the way that they automatically accepted that the five thousand were? Indications from the text suggest that the earlier crowd was a Jewish one. For them there were twelve loaves leftover, suggesting the twelve tribes. But this group of four thousand appears to have been of Gentile origin. This was the reason the text made note of the fact that "they glorified the God of Israel". Otherwise, of course, whom else would they have glorified? But if they were Gentiles then it made since to specify. So too, after the multiplication of the loaves did the amount of fragments left over possibly point to the crowd being made up of Gentiles. The seven baskets full were a possible reference to the seven nations of Canaan. Were the disciples simply not interested in ensuring the well-being of this crowd? Did they begrudge seeing even the crumbs of the childrens' bread being given to the dogs?

Jesus said to them, "How many loaves do you have?"
"Seven," they replied, "and a few fish."

It is a good thing for us that the disciples got over it, since we too (or most of us) are among those of Gentile origin who continue to benefit from the fact that Jesus has pity for us as well as the Jewish people. It is more than noteworthy that the whole world of peoples and nations has come to glorify the God of Israel precisely because the compassion of Jesus was without limit. But he had to train his disciples to achieve this impartiality. Had they been allowed to act naturally they would have allowed prejudices and blind spots to restrict the ways in which they were willing to spread his love to the world. So too with us. We are not permitted to love only when it feels natural to do so. Sometimes we must overcome limiting feelings or perspectives, even if we have had them for our entire lives until now. As we learn to let Jesus use us and our resources he will gradually change our hearts as well. We will act as the people we want to become and in that way actually become such people. This may not always work in every scenario. We may not become rich by acting like rich people. But when we act like the Christians we want to be we allow the grace of Jesus to work within us and help us to make genuine change and forward progress. Even the best of us probably need such progress. Most of us prefer to perform the virtues that come easiest, and avoid the vices that are the least appealing. But Jesus may be asking us to act in ways that don't come naturally, since what we have been used to thus far is by no means automatically unassailably sacred. He may be asking us to actually grow. And that always means leaving our comfort zone to some extent. But with his help, our pathetically limited resources, far insufficient to the task at hand, become so superabundant that we not only don't struggle, but even have a baskets remaining.

Matt Maher - Bigger Table

 

2 December 2025 - the downside up

Today's Readings
(Audio) 

I give you praise, Father, Lord of heaven and earth,
for although you have hidden these things
from the wise and the learned
you have revealed them to the childlike.

Jesus rejoiced in the great reversal being accomplished by his Father. This was same reversal of which Paul wrote, saying "since, in the wisdom of God, the world did not know God through wisdom, it pleased God through the folly of what we preach to save those who believe" (see First Corinthians 1:21). Why was God pleased to make "foolish the wisdom of the world"? (see First Corinthians 1:22). It was in choosing what was "low and despised in the world, even things that are not, to bring to nothing things that are, so that no human being might boast in the presence of God" (see First Corinthians 1:28-29). But God had no need to humble the proud for his own sake, as if he needed to vindicate his ego, or eliminate possible rivals. He did so for the sake of the world, which didn't fully understand how much suffering was caused by all of the bluster, pride, and arrogance of which it was full. 

God himself did not cling to the privileges of divinity or the image of greatness. He was the one most entitled to lord his authority over others. And yet he chose to save the world by sending the Son to be born as a poor carpenter, as one who came to serve. The deepest truth of reality was not pride, but rather, self-emptying love. Pride was ultimately unrealistic and unsustainable. Not only was it trying to usurp the place of God oneself. It was to do so in a way that was inconsistent with the inner life of God. It was by definition a form of idolatry, creating a god of oneself, according to one's own blueprint and design. But such attitudes infected the fallen creation like a cancer. And only the great reversal manifest in the person of Jesus was an adequate cure.

Yes, Father, such has been your gracious will.
All things have been handed over to me by my Father.
No one knows who the Son is except the Father,
and who the Father is except the Son
and anyone to whom the Son wishes to reveal him.

Jesus was the one who came from the Father, who did everything for his good pleasure. His love of the Father made him prefer the Father's will to any alternative. It was in virtue of this that he knew the Father in a way that others could not. But Jesus was able to share his inner perspective, his own relationship to the Father, with those who were united to him as his disciples. But it was not possible to ascertain this perspective from a dispassionate and detached remote analysis of the Son. The only ones who were able to share the life of the Son was those who allowed themselves to be drawn to him by the Father. Flesh and blood was insufficient, as Peter learned (see Matthew 16:17). There was no fixed position in this arrangement for an ego to fortify as its own. It was giving and receiving all the way down. There was no place for possessiveness, no room for boasting as though for one's own accomplishment.

Blessed are the eyes that see what you see.
For I say to you,
many prophets and kings desired to see what you see,
but did not see it,
and to hear what you hear, but did not hear it.

We are living once more the season of Advent in which prophets like Isaiah speak to us of the things that they desired to see, the shoot that would sprout from the stump of Jesse, the root of Jesse, set up as a signal for the nations. We have seen what they desired to see and heard what they desired to hear. And we will do so again, as if for the first time, this Christmas. We have a more exact sense than they of whom we are expecting, the birth on Christmas mourn for which we long. And because of this our yearning and expectation can, if anything, be still the greater. Jesus turned out to be even better than predicted and we have not yet begun to plumb the depths of that greatness. Let's prepare to welcome him once more, knowing that, if our eyes and ears were blessed in years past, there is always more to discover. Let us seek him out, " for his dwelling shall be glorious".

Maranatha! Music - Here I Am To Worship

 

1 December 2025 - only say the word

 

Today's Readings
(Audio)

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.

Most people would probably take it for granted that, if he chose to help at all, Jesus would do so by entering under the roof of the one in need. The centurion in particular had enough authority and importance that he might have assumed that Jesus would either do what he asked because he was impressed by such things, or else not do it at all. But the centurion had a higher view of Jesus than that of mere magician or miracle worker. What the centurion knew of authority led him to suspect something about Jesus that many others missed. However much it was appropriate for him to show deference within the Roman military hierarchy, it was far more so before Jesus. He knew this wasn't a situation in which he was going to impress or intimidate Jesus into doing something for him. But he did not seem to be a man who relied on such assets. He was capable of expressing his need and his vulnerability in a way that left the choice of whether or not to respond entirely in the hands of Jesus, without any attempt at manipulation. Just as he did not attempt to force the hand of Jesus in whether or not to save his servant neither did he attempt to dictate how Jesus would do it. 

For I too am a man subject to authority,
with soldiers subject to me.
And I say to one, 'Go,' and he goes;
and to another, 'Come here,' and he comes;
and to my slave, 'Do this,' and he does it."

It would be silly for civilians who needed defense from their enemies to tell the military how they ought to do their job. But most of us are all too ready to tell Jesus, not only what we need, but exactly how and when. Typically, we barely pause to consider for a minute whether every detail of our desire might truly yield the best result, since it is the result that seems to us to be the most urgent. Those dealing with an enemy invasion might also feel a sense or urgency. But in most cases that would not qualify them to start teaching strategy to the armed forced. The centurion understood both authority and the limitations on that authority. He knew he was not in a position to dictate to those higher up the chain than himself. At the same time he knew what it meant for words of authority spoken by the rest person to have their proper effect. He understood fairly well the limitations of even the greatest imperial or military authority in the face of the suffering of his servant. But he also somehow came to understand that Jesus was all a man with authority, and one with an entirely different scale than his own. Yet it was not without a slight parallel. He himself spoke words of command and his soldiers carried them out. This was how he had come to understand the power of the words of Jesus. They too were words of command that, when spoken, were effective. We know that Jesus did indeed have legions of angels at his beck and call, waiting to carry them out.

When Jesus heard this, he was amazed and said to those following him,
"Amen, I say to you, in no one in Israel have I found such faith.

Perhaps we can learn from the centurion that Jesus is worthy of greater faith and trust than we imagined. We should ease back from trying to force Jesus to do what we assume is the best and instead submit our requests to the discretion of his infinite wisdom, while trusting that he will do whatever is truly for our good and the glory of his Father. We should learn that even if the what of our prayer is spot on the how is less likely to perfectly match God's will. We should surrender to the fact that he may choose the act in a way that does not satisfy our emotions or our curiosity. He probably won't perform his miracles in order to impress us. Our felt need to be present when he works has less to do with end results and more with our own uncertainty and insecurity. When we trust Jesus to work, and trust that the way he chooses to work is for the best, we open doors of faith through which his salvation can enter the world. Such faith is the basis for our relationship with him, the reason why even Gentiles such as most of us can now be called sons and daughters of God, and dine at the banquet in the Kingdom of heaven.

I say to you, many will come from the east and the west,
and will recline with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob
at the banquet in the Kingdom of heaven.

Leeland - Way Maker

 

30 November 2025 - a very particular set of skills

Today's Readings
(Audio) 

As it was in the days of Noah,
so it will be at the coming of the Son of Man.

Noah was not motivated to prepare for the flood by his understanding of climate science. No, what he saw and understood of the world around him were the same as what those who were not preparing, but living life as usual, also saw and understood. The only difference was his faith in divine revelation. So too for Christians in our own day. We see the same world as others do but we understand it differently based on the perspective faith gives us. Divine revelation gives us an interpretive key to reality that is not available to the paradigm of empirical science. Even philosophy was not enough to suggest that Noah ought to build an ark. Nor can it tell us enough about our own eternal destinies to suggest how we ought to prepare. Philosophy can help us to eat and drink and marry virtuously, and therefore without regret. It can help make us the people with whom others won't object to sharing an ark. But it won't actually tell us to help with the building or to watch the skies for rain. It can help make us wise enough to listen when someone makes the case that we should enter the ark. But it won't automatically prevent us from being caught up in daily life in such a way that we don't give the prophets who call to us a fair hearing. There is often a certain amount of believing in the unlikely or apparently impossible that is asked of us when we are called to make an act of faith. Philosophy tends to resist extremes. But the theological virtues of faith, hope, and love, cannot be overdone. They can, it is true, be done in the wrong way. But when they are done in the right way there is no such thing as excess since God himself is their object.

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. 

The only warning we have about the impending judgment we will face at the end of our lives and that the world will face at the end of time is the one that we have because of our faith. A philosophical perspective might recognize that it is not contradicted but rather fulfilled in finding the world to after all be one in which justice is real. But it might stubbornly resist anything, even fulfillment, that is alien to its own way of understanding. It could not, of itself, discover how mercy and justice would be reconciled. It really could not have even made a guess of the direction and goal of history. And given that this perspective, apart from faith, is the best we've got, we need to recognize our need for the warning Jesus gives in today's Gospel reading.

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.
Two men will be out in the field;
one will be taken, and one will be left.

In the flood it was those not taken by the water and the waves who were the fortunate ones. It was those who were left, the divine remnant protected in the ark were those who were blessed. It was often thus in the history of Israel, when those taken into exile or lost in battle were not the ones to envy. It was those who remained, who enjoyed God's protection, that attained a desirable result. That's one of the reasons we can tell that this passage has nothing to do with the rapture or dispensionationalism. In this case we don't want to be among the taken. We want instead to be among those preserved in the ark that is the Church established by Jesus himself, the barque of Peter. 

The rains of the flood may not yet be falling in an obvious and visible way. But we nevertheless need to heed the command of Jesus to stay awake. We can't allow ourselves to be lulled by what seems normal to those around us. Whatever floods may come to us in our lives will require from us a response of vigorous faith. Therefore we must remain alert to what matters most. Those of us who are lukewarm or merely half awake are at risk. We might say, as Augustine did, "Oh Lord, give me chastity, but do not give it yet", assuming that we can get serious about are own conversion at some distant as yet undetermined future date. But it was precisely our reading today from Romans that caused Augustine to wake up and to stop delaying.

not in orgies and drunkenness,
not in promiscuity and lust,
not in rivalry and jealousy.
But put on the Lord Jesus Christ,
and make no provision for the desires of the flesh.

We too are called to have hearts that are ready to welcome the Lord Jesus Christ. Advent is a precious time in which grace is given to us to help us prepare. It is also a time in which it is very easy to be lulled into what the world considers normal by the business and commercial nature of the secular season. And so we must let the words of Jesus and not the world define us and our reality.

O house of Jacob, come,
let us walk in the light of the Lord!

DC Talk - In The Light

 

29 November 2025 - the King shall come

Today's Readings
(Audio) 

Beware that your hearts do not become drowsy
from carousing and drunkenness
and the anxieties of daily life

When our hearts are drowsy they are slow and stupid. The heart is the center of who we are. With it we can engage questions and makes choices with regard to matters of utmost importance. It is the heart that in this way determines our destiny. Thus we can understand the danger of a drowsy heart as the spiritual version of being half asleep at the wheel. We may manage to avoid accidents by noticing things at the last minute and swerving. But it isn't a skill on which we want to rely. 

Physically, we get tired without enough sleep, or as a side effect of medication, and then ought to avoid driving or operating heavy machinery. But when it comes to the drowsiness of the heart, this is more than mere physical exhaustion. It comes about when we've allowed over-stimulation of the wrong kinds, including carousing, drunkenness, and the anxieties of daily life to use up our reserve of attentive spiritual awareness. Drunkenness is a problem in this sense not only because it can make us physically tired, but because it can numb us in a way that makes it hard for us to feel the importance of higher things. Our hearts become drowsy when we live as if this world is absolute, fearing the inevitable evils that the future will bring, and trying to draw as much pleasure and distraction as we can in the moment. Hearts like these have little use for going to meet Jesus when he comes to us in our daily lives and in the mass. Such celebrations will not rival the rancor and volume of secular parties. Hearts given over to fear about tomorrow, the next day, month, or year, will not have sufficient self-possession to give due thought permanent consequences and eternal destinies. The news cycle seems designed specifically to narrow our focus to the next potential disaster and prevent us from seeing the bigger picture from God's point of view.

For that day will assault everyone
who lives on the face of the earth.

The Lord will come whether or not we are ready. His coming can be for us a blessing or a curse depending on how we have responded to the grace he has given us to prepare for it. We want to be among those who remain spiritually vigilant, alert and awake enough to rise to meet the Son of Man at his coming, and to stand without shame in his presence. We are given both ample warnings and plentiful opportunities to practice for the final version of this, which will be at our death or at his coming in glory. We have the mass, the season of Advent, and the countless times he comes to us in the midst of our daily lives, all as opportunities to practice being ready to meet him. If we take opportunities such as these for granted it is unlikely that we will do better later unless we begin making changes now. If, however, we learn to welcome him each day, his coming at the end will not be a shock or unwelcome surprise. It will instead feel like the final version of something mysteriously familiar, like coming home.

Ike Ndolo - Awake, O Sleeper

 

28 November 2025 - when you see these things

Today's Readings
(Audio) 

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 specific "these things" to which Jesus referred included signs in the skies and on earth, the roaring of the seas, and the shaking of the powers of heaven, to the degree that those on earth might die of fright in anticipation of what was to come. But facing these signs was not to make the disciples of Jesus fearful. Rather they were to stand erect and raise their heads, and demonstrate their dignity as followers of the king, and the security their trust in him allowed them to have, even in spite of apparent chaos on all sides. As the leaves of trees indicated that the time for them to bear fruit was near, so too did challenges in life and difficult circumstances indicate it was time for the disciples of Jesus to bear fruit. 

Summer implied judgment for those trees that did not bear fruit, like the fig cursed by Jesus. So too did the signs he predicted indicate coming judgment on those in Israel who refused to bear fruit befitting repentance (see Matthew 3:8). This was the judgment that did in fact take place in the lifetime of the generation of those who listened to Jesus. Yet we ought not smugly congratulate ourselves for not being among those who were then judged. Rather, we should look around us at all of the various ways our own world is shaking and imagine these things too are trees beginning to bud, portending the coming of summer, and of judgment. Are we doing our best to ignore these signs? Are we all but dying of fright? Or are we standing erect with our heads raised, meeting the challenges of our times by pursuing the fruits of the Spirit? 

Heaven and earth will pass away,
but my words will not pass away.

We have an anchor amidst the changing vicissitudes of the world. If we cling to the earth below or even the heavens above (with all due respect to those hoping to colonize other distant worlds) we will eventually pass away together with those realities, which are all ultimately temporary. But if our trust is in the words of Jesus, if he is our anchor, and him our firm foundation, than there is no force in the universe that can take us from his hands.

Leeland - Way Maker

 

27 November 2025 - forgetting what lies behind

Today's Readings - For Thursday, not Thanksgiving
(Audio) 

When you see Jerusalem surrounded by armies,
know that its desolation is at hand.
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.

What lesson can we learn from this text, which was specifically directed toward those who would face the destruction of Jerusalem and its temple in 70 AD? We hope our cities to be safe from such apocalyptic judgment, and even if this isn't so, Jesus does not provide a universal recipe for response. But there is nevertheless a spiritual lesson in his words that still applies. In order to do what he advised, the people could not be like the wife of Lot, and look back because of lingering attachment to what was left behind. They needed to do what Paul advised, "forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead" (see Philippians 3:13). Rather than letting the chaos and destruction dominate their horizon they needed to do what the author of the Letter to the Hebrews advised, "fixing our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of faith" (see Hebrews 12:2). It was important for them to remember that their "citizenship is in heaven" (see Philippians 3:20) rather than any earthly city. They were not to be like those who looked back once they set their hand to the plow (see Luke 9:62). Too much attachment to the things of this world, or too little affection for the things of the Kingdom, could cause delay enough that one risked being overtaken by the coming judgment, rather than successfully escaping to freedom in the place of rest prepared by God. This applied in a literal way to the people that faced the fall of Jerusalem. But it applies in a spiritual way to people in all times and places.

People will die of fright
in anticipation of what is coming upon the world,
for the powers of the heavens will be shaken.

Those who have built their lives on the shifting sands of mortal life in this ever changing world have no recourse when everything begins to shake. There is nothing permanent here below to which they can cling. The only ones who can face such situations standing erect with raised heads are those who know that, no matter what happens here, no matter how bad things seem, their redemption is at hand. This is the posture of those who truly believe that nothing in "all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord" (see Romans 8:39). The same God who shut the mouth of the lion for Daniel and for Paul (see Second Timothy 4:17) can close the mouth of death itself and bring us safely to his eternal shore.

 

Elevation Worship - See A Victory

 

26 November 2025 - you are not to prepare your defense

Today's Readings
(Audio) 

They will seize and persecute you,
they will hand you over to the synagogues and to prisons,
and they will have you led before kings and governors
because of my name.

Jesus wanted his disciple to know in advance what it would cost to bear witness to his name and to share the testimony that he was the messiah. However, knowing this was not enough to give them sufficient courage to actually do so before the resurrection and ascension of Jesus and the descent of his Holy Spirit. Even after the resurrection they still holed up behind closed doors for fear of the Jews. But after Pentecost they went to the streets and demonstrated and utter lack of concern for such threats. After Pentecost these words of Jesus about the difficulties they would face no longer described seemingly insurmountable challenges. When only heard humanly, such challenges seemed overwhelming. Rather, heard in the light of the Holy Spirit, the disciples were able to correctly count the cost and understand the difficulty of what they were being asked.  Heard spiritually they were able to understand that they would be able to rise to meet them with the help of grace. The same Spirit who helped them to listen to these words would also be present to help them speak their own words when necessary. 

We need these words of Jesus to help prepare us to give our own testimony when we are given the opportunity. When we operate at a merely human level we shrink, not only from prisons, king, and governors, but even from embarrassment and inconvenience. Without these words we may only be willing to share our testimony situations so idealized and optimal that they happen only rarely or never. But Jesus clearly envisioned that his disciples would share his Gospel even with those who would reject it. He wanted everyone to have the space of freedom to make their own response. It could not be clear to his disciples in advance that some of the greatest antagonists of the Gospel would go on to become some of the greatest advocates. It probably initially seemed that Stephen had wasted his effort and his many words of testimony to those who stoned him to death. But one who heard him, Paul, went on to become the greatest champion of Christian evangelization in history.

It will lead to your giving testimony.
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.

It is not only in extreme situations, when our lives are on the line, that we need to rely on Jesus for wisdom in speaking. Preparing our defense beforehand in the way against which Jesus warned is a surefire way to make it stale, stagnant, static, and ineffective. People will hear defensiveness in our defense. They will recognize our lack of openness to the living presence to Jesus in the moment, as though we are sticking closely to a carefully prepared script. We will be as easy to dismiss as a flyer or a tract that could just has easily come from anyone and been about anything. We will, in short, sound like a sales pitch, designed to manipulate others while protecting ourselves. If we are instead open to the working of the Holy Spirit in the moment people will sense our vulnerability and sincerity and won't immediately put up their own defenses. We won't be stuck relying on trying to figure out what to say by guessing based on external clues. We will be guided by the one who knows the hearts of those to whom we speak.

You will be hated by all because of my name,
but not a hair on your head will be destroyed.

We're supposed to care more about the Kingdom of Jesus than our own lives. But we often seem to prefer, not just our lives, but our comfort and our other relationships to Jesus. In order to become good witnesses to him and to his resurrection we need to trust that he is able to keep us safe at the deepest levels of our being. Even death is, at worst, only a temporary setback when we are following him. If even death can lead to resurrection what is to stop Jesus from bringing good about any other sacrifices, large or small, that we make for him?

By your perseverance you will secure your lives.

Newsboys - Step Up To The Microphone

 

25 November 2025 - disaster planning

 

Today's Readings
(Audio) 

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 beauty of the temple was appropriate, since it was the place where God himself was preeminently present to his people. But the temple was not permanent. The Jewish people had to know this in some measure already, since this was in fact the second time the temple had been built. They clearly loved it, and enjoyed seeing the earthly footstool of the Most High as beautiful and well appointed. Yet there was still something inherently imperfect about such a structure and such beauty. It still existed within the fallen world as a sign of something greater. It was made with human hands and was therefore subject to corruption and decay. But it pointed to a higher reality not made with hands. The temptation was to so enshrine the tangible and temporary as to forget that it was not itself the ultimate reality. 

Jesus wanted to prepare people for the day when the role of the temple would be relegated to something of the past, and worship would henceforth take place anywhere in the world, in Spirit and truth. It would not do for nostalgia or misplaced loyalty to a building to prevent people from recognizing the greater temple that would replace it, the risen Body of the Lord Jesus. Similarly, we can't let the transitional and temporary nature of the often beautiful signs that we use cause us to lose focus on the reality to which we now have access. Beautiful churches are a wonderful blessing. But every mass, however humble, is a gateway to heaven itself, and to the true temple.

Then they asked him,
"Teacher, when will this happen?
And what sign will there be when all these things are about to happen?"

When a big change or possible disaster is imminent we want as many details about when and how as we can get. When we have such details we feel more in control, more able to plan for any eventuality. But for the radical transition from physical to spiritual temple there was no way to thus simplify things or mitigate the massive impact it would have. There were going to be signs of all kinds as the very world itself seemed to be shaken by the transformation that was coming. These were, in a way, like birth pangs. But the point was not so much that these signs might help one to prepare, but rather that they could cause one to be deceived, or become terrified, or otherwise incapacitated and unable to respond when necessary. 

"See that you not be deceived,
for many will come in my name, saying,
'I am he,' and 'The time has come.'
Do not follow them!

Impending transformation makes us want answers so intensely that we sometimes become willing to accept charlatans whom we would otherwise know better than to trust. The knowledge of our own impermanence tempts us to be more moved by the fear of wars, insurrections, and natural disaster, than we ought. It often seems to us that such things have ultimate power over us and control of our destiny. Everything before the revelation of Jesus, seen in the wrong way and from an earthly perspective, can be a temptation for us to fall away. But if we commit ourselves to trusting his word we can avoid succumbing to deception or fear.

We can't plan our way into obedience in advance. But we can prepare ourselves to be obedient no matter what happens by resolving to trust in Jesus in all circumstances. We need not be shaken, since although all here below can be shaken, we await a Kingdom that cannot be shaken, and a temple that will never be destroyed.

Brian Doerksen - Resting Place