31 May 2025 - making haste to help us

Today's Readings
(Audio)

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.

The response of Mary to the gift of the conception of her son was immediate and powerful. There was no inertia to slow her down as there often is for us sinners. When Jesus is born into the hearts of Christians there is still the reality of concupiscence preventing us to one degree or another from being all in and going all out in response. By the grace of God the gift of Jesus does nevertheless make a huge difference in our lives. And his grace makes some conversions seem as profound as the difference between night and day. But most of us, even in our Christian lives, sometimes experience the presence of Christ in our lives as a burden and a difficulty. Rather than sending us outward in service as it did for Mary, it draws us inward with paralyzing introspection. We think of the difficulties the Christian path presents us, and do not feel equipped to do much more than stay home and do the bare minimum. Mary is more than just a contrast by which we can see how far short we fall. She is actually the key to learning the enthusiasm and motivation that we are all meant to have. 

When Elizabeth heard Mary’s greeting,
the infant leaped in her womb,
and Elizabeth, filled with the Holy Spirit,
cried out in a loud voice and said,
“Most blessed are you among women,
and blessed is the fruit of your womb. 

When we are attentive to Mary we are made aware of the joy that the presence of Jesus brings. Wherever she went people like Elizabeth were filled with the Holy Spirit. Just as for Elizabeth, so too was Mary present for the decent of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost. She was, as it were, a kind of lightning rod for the Spirit. Elizabeth did, and people of all generations would, call Mary blessed because Mary helped them to experience the presence of her son. Elizabeth was almost overwhelmed that Mary, the new ark of the covenant, could bring the presence of God specifically to her in this way. But during their earthly lives Mary never attempted to keep Jesus for herself, but contributed as she was able, to helping him be known to others. As with Elizabeth, and Simeon, and the people at the wedding in Cana, so too does she want us to realize the joy that she herself first experienced in the gift of Jesus. As she was given to the beloved disciple to be his mother, so too does she want to be a mother to all who keep the commandments of her son, and to help give birth to the image of Jesus in us. To do so is a great joy for her, like the joy she shared with Elizabeth. And if we open ourselves to her, and to the presence of him whom she brings to us, it will be joy for us as well.

Shout for joy, O daughter Zion!
Sing joyfully, O Israel!

Mary, as a living embodiment of daughter Zion, did break forth into the song of the Magnificat. But this song was not for the purpose of bragging, but rather to inspire us to join her, to share her joy in singing. God has looked on our lowliness as well, giving Jesus to us as he did first to her. This means that we too have the only blessedness that will stand the test of time. Mary was someone that understood that the hiddenness and apparent smallness of the presence of God concealed the greatness and the power of what he was accomplishing in the world, the great reversal he was bringing about. He was even then exulting the lowly and scattering the proud. Mary and Elizabeth were already experiencing such exultation, whereas those proud rulers of this world were nowhere to be found. In our own world, where it often seems that the powers of darkness are ascendant we need to remember that the victory of God, if hidden, is nevertheless present and real.

From Mary's presence we learn that the Lord "has removed the judgment again" us. This is proven by the fact that the "King of Israel, the LORD, is in your midst" and so "you have no further misfortune to fear". We begin to understand from Mary, the human being most transparent to the heart of God, that her own song of joy was only a response to God's song of joy over us.

He will rejoice over you with gladness,
and renew you in his love,
He will sing joyfully because of you,
as one sings at festivals.

John Michael Talbot - Holy Is His Name

30 May 2025 - your grief will become joy

Today's Readings
(Audio)

Amen, amen, I say to you, you will weep and mourn,
while the world rejoices;
you will grieve, but your grief will become joy.

It has not yet happened that we experience only joy with no admixture of grief. But the grief that we experience while we continue to live our mortal lives on the earth is meant to be a sharing in the sufferings of Christ. And that union with Christ is meant to lead to increasingly unshakable joy. We are meant to become increasingly rooted in the power of the resurrection, less subject to vicissitudes of the world. Yet the closer we come to Jesus the more we will share his heart for the sufferings of the world. And to have joy even while having this compassion is only possible if we remain near to Jesus and learn to trust him as he himself trusted the Father.  

Going forward there is some sorrow that we should leave behind. This is the worldly sorrow we experience because of our selfishness, because we can't get what we want, or because we get what we don't want, or because we can't keep what we have. But there is a Godly sorrow that produces repentance (see Second Corinthians 7:10), that is, that leads us ever closer to the heart of Christ, where true joy is found. Suffering, even that which apparently natural and morally neutral, united to that of Christ helps to redeem the world (see Colossians 1:24). That means that even our own daily difficulties are not so trivial as they seem since they have the potential to unleash resurrection power.

When a woman is in labor, she is in anguish because her hour has arrived;
but when she has given birth to a child,
she no longer remembers the pain because of her joy
that a child has been born into the world.

The cross opened up the possibility for people to be born again by the Holy Spirit. Seeing us reborn was such a joy to Jesus that it made him forget, as it were, all of the pain of the cross. This new birth is meant to be so joyful to us that it entirely relatives all the sorrows that precede it. In fact, even those things that we previously counted as our joys become relativized, as for Paul who said, "I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord" (see Philippians 3:8). 

So you also are now in anguish.
But I will see you again, and your hearts will rejoice,
and no one will take your joy away from you.

In the present life we are partially in anguish and partially filled with joy. But even here below we are meant to grow in joy by coming ever closer to the risen Lord, encountering him, and spiritually seeking his face. And yet, as great as the joy Jesus gives us in this present life can be, we look forward to still more. A day is coming when we will see him face to face. And on that day, if we remain faithful, we will receive a joy that will finally cast out all sorrow.

He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away (see Revelation 21:4).

On that day we will ask for the one thing that can truly fulfill all of the desires of our hearts, God himself. And when make that request in Jesus name, and united to him, God will hold nothing back, and give himself to us.

Chris Tomlin - Resurrection Power

29 May 2025 - a little while?

Today's Readings
(Audio)

A little while and you will no longer see me,
and again a little while later and you will see me.

Jesus wanted his disciples to understand that his death was not the end, and neither did it mean he was defeated. It would remove him, for the moment, from their sight. But it did not mean that he was even momentarily incapacitated. He was at work the whole time, both in dying, and in death. The disciples couldn't see the later, but would later learn about the descent into hell, where Jesus triumphed over the devil and gave freedom to all the Old Testament era saints who awaited his coming. Jesus never referred to the death of anyone in a way that made it sound ultimate. Of others, he sometimes said they fell asleep. But of himself even sleep was an insufficient metaphor. He was out of their sight, but not inactive. He rested from his worldly work, and from the pain and sorrow that accompanied it. But he continued his work of the spiritual liberation of creation.

So some of his disciples said to one another,
“What does this mean that he is saying to us,
‘A little while and you will not see me,
and again a little while and you will see me,’
and ‘Because I am going to the Father’?”

The disciples were already reluctant to ask Jesus about his death. But even coming to terms with that eventuality could not help them understand what he meant we he said he would be missed only for "a little while". They really didn't want to think about the predictions of the death of Jesus any more than they had to. And they probably also felt somewhat inadequate for not understanding, since it seemed that Jesus expected them to understand. But Jesus did not at that moment expect them to understand perfectly. He had just told them as much when he said there was much that they could not yet bear to know. Even so, he did not leave them in complete confusion. He wanted them to have the context as clear as possible so that when he speech was illuminated by the events of his death and resurrection it would become fully intelligible. 

Amen, amen, I say to you,
you will weep and mourn, while the world rejoices;
you will grieve, but your grief will become joy.”

Before Jesus rose from the dead the only resurrection anyone expected was slated for the end of time, and for everyone all at once. No one guessed that Jesus would experience this first, after only "a little while" as a kind of "firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep" (see First Corinthians 15:20). Nor was it clear why such a thing would happen. In hindsight we can see that, in a way unique to Jesus, his dying defeated death. By contrast others can only hope to rise by being united to him. He blazed a trail which he can now bring to bear on our own lives and struggles, and eventually on our own dying and death. 

While the world rejoiced over the death of Jesus the disciples wept and mourned. But on the third day their grief was turned to joy. They thought that all hope was lost until the impossible happened and they realized they never suspected how much hope there had been all along. All of us too in some measure experience sorrow and grief in this life, even in our spiritual lives when things don't always go smoothly on a linear path of progress. But our hope is often too narrow as it was for the disciples. We are meant to see beyond this little while of sorrow to the joy that lies before us. We can recognize that those who mourn in this way are truly blessed, for we may hope to share in the same joy that filled the disciples when they encountered the risen Lord Jesus. We have encountered him, even in our recent celebration of Easter. But in just a little while, if we remain united to him, we will see him face to face.

Elevation Worship Featuring Brandon Lake - There Is A King

28 May 2025 - to all truth

Today's Readings
(Audio)

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

They couldn't bear it then because they couldn't make themselves come to terms with passion of Jesus that was soon to come. It was something that they couldn't accept because it was both too terrible and too wonderful for them to believe. They sensed the sadness of the impending events, but could not bring themselves to ask Jesus about them. They were too afraid of how bad they might be and too afraid that the hope of which Jesus spoke was unrealistic. On the one hand, Jesus was so good, that it seemed hard to imagine that he could ever be taken from them. It seemed impossible that his life could ever be taken from him, or that the Father would permit it. Yet on the other hand, the cross was increasingly imminent as the foes of Jesus plotted to take his life. But what could this be but tragedy? What could it indicate except that Jesus was a failure, not truly the promised messiah? They wouldn't let themselves look at things head-on and so they couldn't conceive of why the cross would have a place in the plan of God. That he would be raised was something so distant from their minds at that time as to seem to be a fanciful fairy tale. This went hand in hand with in inability to learn the deeper truth of the identity of Jesus. Rather than seeing Jesus as a divine person for whom enduring the cross and being raised had the deepest purpose their minds fluctuated between seeing him as a man headed for defeat or escaping it and continuing teach and work as he had before.

But when he comes, the Spirit of truth,
he will guide you to all truth.

The Spirit was the living water that flowed from the side of Christ on the cross. Just as the Jerusalem temple had aqueducts to manage the large volume of blood from the sacrificial offerings so too did the water of life flow forth from the true temple of the body of Christ in order to cleanse the world. This gift of the Spirit was the result of sacrifice and could only happen through the cross. Previously "the Spirit had not been given, because Jesus was not yet glorified" (see John 7:39). But on the cross this glorification was begun, as he was lifted up so as to draw all people to himself.

In seeing the glorification of Jesus on the cross, and in his resurrection, the Holy Spirit acted within the disciples to lead them to understand what they had not previously been able to bear. They were led deeper into the truth of the plan of Jesus, of his person, and of their destiny. The cross had previously seemed to imply that any tenuous link between the Father and the Son was unreal. But the Spirit showed them that the cross happened precisely because that bond was unbreakable. Just as Jesus was broken open by his passion for the sake of the world so too were those who witnessed it broken open to receive and accept it. The heart of Jesus was opened so the Spirit could flow forth. But our hearts were opened in turn to receive him.

He will not speak on his own,
but he will speak what he hears

Jesus too only spoke of what he heard from the Father, because all that he had and all that he was came from the Father. The Spirit was different in that he also declared what he had from Jesus, for the Spirit came from both the Father and the Son. The Spirit, since he is given to us by the Son makes us sons and daughters in him, and makes us cry, "Abba! Father!". Since he is the Spirit of the Father as well he helps us come to know and love Jesus himself. Thus the Spirit works to glorify the Father and the Son in us, and then through us. He not only speaks what he hears to us, but himself teaches us the words by which we can speak what we hear from him to others. 

and will declare to you the things that are coming

The Spirit does give the gift of prophecy by which the future is sometimes revealed. But the things that are coming in this context are not merely isolated private revelations revealed only to a few. For he also declares with certainty the ultimate destiny of humanity, which is to stand in judgment before God, and to face either everlasting joy or sorrow. He definitively declares that this world is not ultimate, but that Jesus will come again and establish a new heaven and a new earth. The reality of these last things is more important and more pressing than any private revelation could be.

When they heard about resurrection of the dead,
some began to scoff

We need to rely on the Spirit because scoffing at the resurrection isn't new, and is in fact the basic human condition. Even the disciples, before the cross, could hardly countenance the idea. But the declarations of the Spirit, including even those that he makes through us, are powerful creative actions of God that open hearts to accept the truth of his message. The Spirit wants to continue to guide us deeper and deeper into the truth of our faith so that we can speak with ever greater confidence the reality that Jesus is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.

 

Matt Maher - Come To The Water/I Will Run To You

 Matt Maher - Overflow

27 May 2025 - the courage of conviction

Today's Readings
(Audio)

Now I am going to the one who sent me,
and not one of you asks me, 'Where are you going?'
But because I told you this, grief has filled your hearts.
But I tell you the truth, it is better for you that I go.

The disciples were aware that something bad was going to happen to Jesus. In spite of their repeated refusal to comprehend, it seems that his repeated predictions of his passion did eventually begin to get through to them. But they couldn't bring themselves to face the reality head on. They ought, probably, to have asked Jesus why such a thing could happen to him, and in what way it was a part of the divine plan of providence. They obviously had no conception that it could be better that he go. But it was. What was the alternative, after all? They could live out their human lives in his presence, making the same sort of halting progress they always had, but without the inner transformation they needed. They could have continued to benefit from his presence, his friendship, and his wisdom, but not from the salvation he desired to give. That depended upon the cross, which was in fact the best way by which he could reveal the his and his Father's love for humanity.

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

The Advocate would not come because he could not dwell in fallen unredeemed humanity. It was only after human nature had be refashioned and restored to the divine likeness by Jesus on the cross that it became a fitting temple for the Spirit. God had breathed life into Adam at creation. But the new creation needed Jesus to breath forth the Spirit to give it life. The fruitfulness of Adam was ordered to the natural procreation of offspring. But the fruitful of Jesus was the supernatural source of the Church. God brought forth Eve from the side of Adam, but he brought forth the Church from the wounded side of Christ. Jesus had always been filled with the Holy Spirit, and always capable of giving him without measure. But the only truly appropriate context for the gift was a result of the love he showed on the cross. It was a love that was revealed by being broken open so that rivers of living water could flow. It demonstrated that the Spirit was no ordinary gift, but the best that love could offer.

And when he comes he will convict the world
in regard to sin and righteousness and condemnation

The Holy Spirit had previously made cameo appearances as he helped this or that individual to more deeply understand the identity of Jesus. But by coming to dwell in the Apostles he would unleash the missionary activity of the Gospel in a new way. Previously the world had believed that Jesus was a sinful criminal who received a just condemnation. But the Spirit would cause the words of the disciples to convince the world that the opposite was true. He would convict those who heard the Gospel preached so that they could receive the forgiveness of their sins and its result, righteousness before God. They would lead the world to realize that it need no longer remain in the tyrannical sway of the devil, since he had been condemned, and was no longer in control. This conviction sometimes came about in startling ways as we see with the prison guards from today's readings from Acts.

He asked for a light and rushed in and,
trembling with fear, he fell down before Paul and Silas.
Then he brought them out and said,
"Sirs, what must I do to be saved?"

When we read that people were "cut to the heart" (see Acts 2:37) as a consequence of hearing the Gospel we can be sure that it was the Spirit doing his surgical work, beginning to turn old hearts of stone into new hearts of flesh.

Have we internalized the gift of the Spirit enough that we believe Jesus that his presence within us is better than the physical presence of Jesus in our midst would have been? No? Well, then it seems we all have room to grow. It can only mean there is more of this gift remaining to be appropriated and appreciated. This is good for us, since it will help us grow as disciples. And it is good for the world, which desperately needs the conviction of the Gospel that only the Spirit can give.

Andy Park - The River Is Here

26 May 2025 - not a court of opinion

Today's Readings
(Audio)

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

Since the devil can be defined as an accuser, as the one who tries to make the case against us (see Revelation 12:9-11), the Holy Spirit is fittingly described as the Advocate. The Holy Spirit is the one who acts as a teacher and guide as we navigate the trials of life.  

Jesus said that when we stand before rulers and authorities we need not be anxious about how we should defend ourselves or what we should say (see Luke 12:11). The reason we need not fear is because the Holy Spirit is able to teach us how to give testimony. He himself assists us both from within and without. He helps us know what to say even as he helps prepare the hearts of others to receive what our message. This is what happened with Lydia when "the Lord opened her heart to pay attention to what Paul was saying".

Since the Holy Spirit is the Spirit of Jesus, who is the Way, the Truth and the Light, he himself is the "Spirit of Truth". When we are tempted to embrace dishonesty because it seems easier he himself reminds us that the truth is essential. Like in any courtroom it is in some sense our relationship to the truth that determines our judgment. When we are tempted to think things like, 'Well just this once', or, 'Something so small doesn't matter', he reminds us that sin is sin, and that complicity in small sin makes larger sin harder to avoid.

When the fear of men makes us want to capitulate the Spirit comes to our aid and gives us courage. When we are tempted to think, 'I can't', he reminds us that we can do all things in Christ (see Philippians 4:13). When we think we've already lost and the game is over he reminds us that Jesus said, "take heart; I have overcome the world" (see John 16:33). When the struggle doesn't seem worth the effort and the suffering seems too great to bear he reminds us of the joy promised to us by Jesus, and that "no one will take your joy from you" (see John 16:22).

Our life is in some sense a trial, but one which is only secondarily about us. It is rather one in which the testimony of Jesus is once again put to the test. And so the goal is not simply for us to be excused as innocent, but for Jesus to be validated and vindicated once more in the eyes of the world in the context of our own lives. We do, however, have a part to play. But we have seen that the Spirit himself teaches us precisely how to play that part. We don't have to worry that it is all up to us. The Spirit himself is the one that, in every age, produces sufficient evidence to prove our claims about Jesus. He is the one who teaches us persuasive words with which to give testimony. He not only works from within us, but even within our enemies, to soften their hearts and open them to the truth. The exhibit of our lives as evidence of the truth of the Gospel, however, is something he will not fabricate whole cloth.

I have told you this so that you may not fall away.
They will expel you from the synagogues;
in fact, the hour is coming when everyone who kills you
will think he is offering worship to God.

In this era of our nation Christians may not be persecuted in the same ways they were in the time of the Apostles. But even so, we still need to be prepared to give testimony. The world is gradually chipping away at the Christian moral consensus. The God-given dignity of others is more and more forgotten, as living for the sake of self-interest is increasingly normalized. We may fear that the main reason Christians aren't persecuted in our nation is because those who would stand to benefit from silencing our voice of moral protest haven't realized yet that they could probably get away with it by now, or, if not now, then in the decades to come. It's not inevitable that our nation goes down that path. But in the absence of a mainstream political alternative, it does seem frighteningly likely. We remember this now, so that, if it happens, we can be prepared to face it. Just as looking back to what the Apostles endured can help give us firm resolve, so too can fact that the future will inevitably be filled with challenges, whatever they may be. The key to being prepared for such a future is the same thing that will make us ready for any eventuality. That is learning to rely more and more on our Advocate, the Holy Spirit.

I have told you this so that when their hour comes
you may remember that I told you.

 

Elevation Worship Featuring Chris Brown - Trust In God

Newsboys - Truth Be Known

25 May 2025 - he will teach you all things

Today's Readings
(Audio)

Whoever loves me will keep my word,
and my Father will love him,
and we will come to him and make our dwelling with him.

It is the love of Jesus that makes it possible for us to keep his word since, "We love because he first loved us" (see First John 4:19). And this implies that it the Holy Spirit, who is love, that makes us able to love Jesus and keep his words. On our own, the best we can hope for a superficial response. We might momentarily grasp the expediency of obedience and respond with our best efforts. But in order for it to be more than a momentary response we need the teaching of Jesus to penetrate more deeply until it is imprinted on our hearts. Then it will be more than our strategic evaluation that makes us decide each moment whether or not to obey, leaving each consecutive decision at the same risk of failure as the previous.

The Advocate, the Holy Spirit,
whom the Father will send in my name,
will teach you everything
and remind you of all that I told you.

Once the Holy Spirit is teaching us from within we begin to learn to obey Jesus in a new, more integrated, and more sincere way. It is no longer a utilitarian calculus where we choose the greatest benefit to ourselves. Instead, it begins to be the urgency of love that the Holy Spirit makes us experience that motivates us, as it did, for instance, for Paul (see Second Corinthians 5:14). 

When it would be convenient, from the point of view of our ego, to forget the words of Jesus, the Spirit makes us remember. He draws us from lesser to higher goods, when previously the immediacy of the gravity of lesser goods held us at the level of earthly things. He gives us, as has been said, 'a new want to'. But this must be properly qualified and understood. It does not mean that henceforth we only need obey when we feel like it, or that obedience will always be easy going forward. The 'old want to' of the old self still remains within us, and complains and protests to get its way. But once we are renewed by the Holy Spirit we also have another option, a new heart, and a renewed self that is rightly called a new creation. Living from the new self is synonymous with living life in the Spirit. Living from the old self means trying to make do with only our own resources, limited by our own weakness. 

The Spirit is the one that joins us to the Father by uniting us to the Son. He makes us cry 'Abba' where before, without him, we were orphans. He is therefore the seal that guarantees our promised inheritance, the life we hope to share with God forever in eternity (see Ephesians 1:14).

Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you.
Not as the world gives do I give it to you.
Do not let your hearts be troubled or afraid.

The world gives peace by the presence of pleasure and by the absence of pain. But Jesus, through his Spirit, offers us a peace that transcends circumstances. It is more constant than the fickle nature of calm feelings. We know that in this world we may stay calm for weeks or months or even years at a time, but then, in a moment, our lives can be turned upside down by catastrophe. But even in the midst of the storms and trials of life, the peace of God can guard our hearts and minds in Christ Jesus (see Philippians 4:5-7). The circumstances themselves may press upon us, and insofar as we experience ourselves alone to face them they will always steal our peace. But no matter what happens it is possible to remember that there is nothing that we face in this life that we need to face alone. The peace of Christ is what comes when we experience the revelation that God himself is for us, that he loves us, and that he makes all things work together for our good. That revelation, and not the feelings of fear and anxiety we sometimes feel, is the deeper truth of reality.

‘I am going away and I will come back to you.’

If we were to sum up our message for today we would say this: we are not alone, and never have been. Jesus is at work to draw us from experience of life as orphans to life secure in the love of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. It is from the firm footing of this love that we become empowered to love ourselves, with constancy, and with courage.

Audrey Assad - How Can I Keep From Singing

24 May 2025 - you do not belong to the world

Today's Readings
(Audio)

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

From this we realize that the message of Jesus was more than a mere spiritualized version of 'be nice to everyone'. It was more even than a more rigorous insistence on virtue. Many where the philosophers who taught unshrinking adherence to the good and conformity to the natural law without particularly arousing the ire of the world. Jesus did indeed cause a commotion by insisting on integrity and criticizing hypocrisy. He made people want to stop asking questions by the way he insisted on perfection as his Father was perfect, the way he accepted nothing that fell short of love of God and love of neighbor. Yet there was something more to the world's hatred for him than even all of this.

If you belonged to the world, the world would love its own;
but because you do not belong to the world,
and I have chosen you out of the world,
the world hates you.

Within the world prideful people would clash against others who were similarly puffed up with pride. Greedy people would contest against others who were greedy to maximize their own gains. Their sins per se did not unite them. But some deeper commitment to the fallen world that they all shared did unite them. They were willing to make alliance with one another over what they perceived to be a greater threat. They could not risk the creation of a new world in which their former ways would have no place. The disciples were, in a way, already living in that world. Their very existence was experienced by others as a threat to their status quo, just as was that of Jesus. They caused those caught in a lifestyle of sin to feel what Jesus the same thing Jesus had.

Let us lie in wait for the righteous one, because he is annoying to us;
he opposes our actions,
Reproaches us for transgressions of the law
and charges us with violations of our training (See Wisdom 2:12).

The reason the disciples were a threat to the world in a way that philosophers were not was because they represented more than an abstract ideal. They were the envoys of the King before whom all of the world would one day sit in judgement. Because what they conveyed were not just enlightened opinions, but prophetic words about reality itself, it was more difficult to ignore them. 

Remember the word I spoke to you,
'No slave is greater than his master.'
If they persecuted me, they will also persecute you.

The world was motivated to fight harder against the message of Jesus than any myth or fiction could have motivated them. There was something sinister or diabolical in their intolerance for the truth. They were, it is true, trying to preserve their own lifestyles of sin. But they were also in active rebellion against the one who claimed to have the authority to tell them to live differently. It wasn't just the hatred toward some random figure making demands of them. Such a one was really no threat and could be safely ignored. It was also a nagging sense that, if they did not oppose the king, he would have his way eventually.

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

There would be many who opposed the disciples because they opposed Jesus himself, and the disciples were, as we have said, his envoys. But there would also be those who would love the disciples, not for what they were in themselves, but for the sake of the name of Jesus. In hearing and accepting them they heard and accepted Jesus and the one who sent him. If someone gave a glass of cold water to one of those little ones for the sake of Jesus he would not lose his reward.

And they will do all these things to you on account of my name,
because they do not know the one who sent me.

If Jesus had been a normal earthly king he would have slain his enemies at once. He would have had those wretched men put to a wretched death, as his opponents themselves answered him (see Matthew 21:41). But we can see that the world was not a threat to Jesus in the way that it would have been to any mere earthly king. He didn't have to strike at once to ensure self-preservation. Rather, we can see that, after a fashion, he excused their oppressors on account of their ignorance. He said they did not know the one who sent him. And this was the same excuse he made on their behalf from the cross when he pleaded for their forgiveness.

And Jesus said, “Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do.” And they cast lots to divide his garments (see Luke 23:34).

From all this we can discern that the point of Jesus was not that we should simply accept evil in this world as a matter of course. Yes, until they were called out of the world people would behave in a way consistent with the world's fallen nature. Yes, the disciples and we ourselves needed to be mentally prepared to face opposition. But the point of that knowledge and that preparation was not merely so that we ourselves could survive. It was so that we ourselves could help to convey the same message of forgiveness that for which our savior died. Our desire is that of the psalmist: "Let all the earth cry out to God with joy".

Hillsong Worship - What A Beautiful Name

23 May 2025 - I have called you friends

Today's Readings
(Audio)

 This is my commandment: love one another as I love you.

One might take issue with this statement, thinking perhaps that love cannot be commanded. But this is false. It is true that love cannot be forced. But it can be commanded because in such a case the choice to obey is still left to the one who is thus commanded. A second possible objection is similar. Say we accept that love can be commanded. We might still say that it ought not to be commanded, but only invited, elicited, or encouraged. After all, is not the imperative form of commandment opposed to the freedom that is necessary for genuine love? And this second objection may be answered in two ways. The first is by analogy. Children can and should be commanded to do what is best, because they might not know what should be done, or might not recognize the importance that it be done. And yet, though it is commanded, when they choose to do it it is still possible that they do it for the sake of the love of their parents. The second possible reason we can give for the importance of commandments is that sometimes suggestions are insufficient guides for our fallen will. As a soldier in the army may benefit from hearing orders rather than suggestions, so to do we benefit from hearing commandments as things necessary rather than optional. It helps our weak wills seek that which is best rather than that which is easiest. An army of conscripts considering the suggestions of their commanding officers is unlikely to do well in battle if they only obey when they find doing so agreeable.

No one has greater love than this,
to lay down one's life for one's friends.

The command of Jesus is what makes it possible for us to love as he loves. His command not only instructs us in what we must do, but also, in virtue of the divine person by whom it is commanded, gives us the grace to carry it out. We need such a command to supersede our egos which will otherwise find every possible reason to avoid the apparent extinction that the giving our lives would seem to imply. We are called to imitate a love so great that if we were not commanded to do it we neither would nor could do it. It is a love which is entirely committed to the love of our neighbors unto their true end and destiny in God. It is love that causes us to desire to make others our friends just as Jesus first made us his friend, so that together we can share the gift of life that Jesus died to give us.

You are my friends if you do what I command you.
I no longer call you slaves,
because a slave does not know what his master is doing.

Jesus wants us to understand because he wants us to be involved. He doesn't merely want to use us as inanimate tools to carry out his will. Rather, he wants us to join him as free agents. But that implies that he must make the Father's plan and the desires of his own heart known to us, that we may share in them. All things are directed toward their true ends by the divine will. But creatures with free will and directed one way, irrational animals in another, and inanimate matter in another. A consequence of this is that we, as free creatures, can't just coast or ride the current. Our achieving our destined end requires a response on our part. And yet, though we do have this freedom, it is not something we can use arbitrarily or on a whim. It is not something that begins or ends with us.

It was not you who chose me, but I who chose you
and appointed you to go and bear fruit that will remain,
so that whatever you ask the Father in my name he may give you.

There is a right way and many wrong ways to use our human freedom. Jesus came to show us the right way. In this he was a true friend, teaching and demonstrating the way we are meant to live, here summarized in the commandment to love as he first loved us. We might imagine that there would be no purpose to human freedom if there was, in the end, only one valid use for that freedom. But it is not so. To be able to freely choose God who freely chose to create us is a great dignity and a high honor. The fact that there are so many other less valuable and illusory choices only illustrates that God himself is the only choice worth making. Obedience to the Father was the bread that gave Jesus strength, the source of his fulfillment. Obedience to Jesus can be the same for us. 

Israel Houghton - Friend Of God

22 May 2025 - that my joy may be in you

Today's Readings
(Audio)

Jesus said to his disciples:
"As the Father loves me, so I also love you.

Not to the same degree that the Father loved Jesus, which was infinite, but in the same way, that is to say, perfectly. We are finite creatures but cannot find true satisfaction in a finite world. All love in this world is in some measure imperfect. And even such worldly love as is not defective on the part of the one loving is still insufficient to fully fulfill the beloved. They would eventually both find their resources exhausted as mortality eventually brought their love to an end. The lover could not say, except in poetic hyperbole, that her love was stronger than death. Unlike human love, the love of the Triune God is inexhaustible. Even though he pours himself out entirely to the Son, the Father is undiminished. And the Son, in reciprocating that love, also retains the fullness of his own identity. The divine interchange of love does not cause the Holy Spirit to run dry. Their love for us is like their own love for each other because it is entirely sufficient to perfectly fulfill those whom they love, and because, in spite of the greatness of the love they give, they give it without losing anything of themselves in the process. Such is the love that can only have its origin in God himself. And it is for this love, and nothing less, that we were made.

Remain in my love.
If you keep my commandments, you will remain in my love,
just as I have kept my Father's commandments
and remain in his love.

Remaining in the love of Jesus is something different the the ongoing awareness of sentimental attachment. It is something concrete, something that implies a real difference, not only in how we feel, but in how we live as a response to that love. However, it is not the case that we must prove ourselves worthy of love by keeping the commandments. If we choose to remain in the love of Jesus we will have the grace to keep the commandments. His own love is what makes our own obedience possible. But he will not force us to remain in his love or keep his commandments. Yet the two are inseparable. We cannot say that we want his love but not his commandments when we know what those terms mean. It would be like an abusive husband telling his wife that yes, he wanted her with him, but that also wanted to continue to abuse himself through problematic habits of smoking, drinking, and gambling, and her as well, through violence either physical or emotional. Love is not merely an abstraction. Indeed, it is more than a mere absence of vice. It is a commitment to love the other as oneself, or even more. The commandments that come first, according to Jesus, are precisely the ones that insist on love, both of God and neighbor. All other commandments are only the logical consequences of these. To keep them does not always feel easy. But God himself makes it possible. The effort of going the extra mile might feel extreme. But to leave one's neighbor high and dry is clearly abhorrent. To not acknowledge God the who made us, in what we say and in what we do, is among the greatest of failures.

"I have told you this so that
my joy might be in you and
your joy might be complete."

Jesus insisted on our obedience because he himself knew that obedience was the secret of joy. He knew that the path to fulfillment and even to exaltation lay in conformity with the Father's will, in placing oneself perfectly in the service of the Father's plan. Jesus himself, "for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God" (see Hebrews 12:2). Because he was "obedient to the point of death ... God has highly exalted him" (see Philippians 2:7-9). He was only insisting on that of which he was certain from his own experience. Neither can we say that what he enjoined on us was a lofty but ultimately unlivable abstraction. He himself was tested in every way, and perfectly able to sympathize with our weaknesses (see Hebrews 4:15). This is our ground for hope. Joy is possible, because the love of Jesus makes it possible for each one of us. We must only desire it enough to respond by remaining open as he himself fills us with sufficient grace for every challenge.

Newsboys - Joy

21 May 2025 - without me

Today's Readings
(Audio)

I am the true vine, and my Father is the vine grower.
He takes away every branch in me that does not bear fruit

The Father knows that the purpose of branches is to bear fruit. It is for this reason that the vine supports them and gives them nutrients. To be part of the vine and yet remain unfruitful means to selfishly exhaust resources that ought to be put to better use. It is similar to the situation of the one who received the talents but hid them and made no profit. He was given the talent, not for discretionary spending, but to make a profit for the master (see Matthew 25:14-30). As with the barren fig tree, if it would not bear fruit, why should it be allowed to exhaust the soil? But in that case we see that the vine-dresser himself was concerned to optimize the conditions for growth as much as possible, to give the fig tree every possible chance to be what it was meant to be (see Luke 13:6-9). The implication was that the environment would not be at fault in the case of failure.

Remain in me, as I remain in you.
Just as a branch cannot bear fruit on its own
unless it remains on the vine,
so neither can you unless you remain in me.

It cannot be the case the branches prove their place on the vine by bearing fruit. Rather, this is the natural course for branches that remain on the vine. The real risk for branches is that they become disconnected from the source. This happens when they begin to dry out and become lifeless. Such a state implies nutrients can no longer flow freely through the branch. It becomes increasingly static and loses the dynamism that defines living things.

In reality, branches have no say, no agency in determining their well-being. But when we consider ourselves as branches we see that the only threat to us, once we are part of the vine, is if we interrupt what God himself initiated. Nutrients will continue to flow, and fruit will be produced. Jesus describes a casual relationship when he says, "Whoever remains in me and I in him will bear much fruit". This will be the case, then, unless we begin to reject the flow and stifle the fruit.

We don't typically go immediately from fruit bearers to soil exhausters. Instead it is more typical that we gradually increase our resistance for the flow of life coming from the vine until we are no longer capable of the dynamism of bearing fruit. We become overly invented in our life as isolated branches and forget that we are meant to be part of a wider ecosystem. At first we assume that fruit is something of which we ourselves are capable. But the more we apply a tourniquet to the source of our life the more we discover this is not the case. We may do this to avoid constant change, and the demands on the branch that producing fruit implies. But we will eventually find that if we refuse to let life flow through us, the gardener will eventually prevent it from flowing to us at all.

everyone that does he prunes so that it bears more fruit

In order to ensure that we do not become lifeless parts of the vine we ourselves need to have the parts of us that are threatening to become isolated, dry, or cancerous, to be pruned. The blueprint for what we are meant to be as part of the vine is found in the word of God. Because this word is living and effective (see Hebrews 4:12) it itself is capable of causing the pruning we need in us, therefore we are in part, "already pruned because of the word that I spoke to you". But since we are called to continuous growth we need his word to remain in us. This is fundamental to remaining in union with him. Without his definitive say in what constitutes our relationship with him we tend to make things up, to engage in the self-definition that does not have reference to the vine. The Word of God helps us to treasure our place on the vine, and our union with Christ. It teaches us the importance, indeed the necessity, of bearing fruit. It gives us confidence, because it is not all about our own efforts, which we have seen amount to the precisely nothing we can do apart from Christ. Rather, it is the Father himself who is glorified when we bear fruit. And this means that he, his Son, and the Holy Spirit will do everything possible to see it happen.

John Michael Talbot - I Am The Vine

20 May 2025 - not as the world gives

Today's Readings
(Audio)

Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you.
Not as the world gives do I give it to you.

Peace that the world can give is fickle and finite. It is a peace that as inherently limited and incapable of lasting. The reason is that the peace of the world is based on a chance combination of desirable circumstances. This implies that it can be just as easily undermined by chance occurrence, in areas ranging from our emotions to the economy, from storms to the stock market.

The peace that Jesus promised was different, and therefore he could legitimately command, "Do not let your hearts be troubled or afraid". He did not tell them this because things were suddenly about to get easy for them. They were about to experience all of the heartache of seeing Jesus "going away" from them, by the way of the cross, to his Father. They were not going to enjoy a simple lack of conflict in the world. Rather, the conflict between the ruler of that world and Jesus was about to reach its peak. Instead, Jesus spoke about a peace that was possible with a perspective that was bigger than the obvious and the immediate, that had an eternal horizon. It was a realization that the ruler of the world had no power over Jesus, even when he seemed to be at the peak of his power.

You heard me tell you,
'I am going away and I will come back to you.'
If you loved me,
you would rejoice that I am going to the Father;
for the Father is greater than I.

The peace Jesus gave was based on trust that, even if he was going away, he would not abandon them, would not leave them orphans, but would come back to them, and be with them always (see Matthew 28:20). It was a peace that deepened the more they themselves loved Jesus and learned how good it was, not just for Jesus, but for them, that he was going to the Father, bringing his human nature to heaven, there to be exulted.

And now I have told you this before it happens,
so that when it happens you may believe.

The posture of peace is one we can maintain only when we aren't surprised to see the darkness that is still present in the world. Even after the resurrection and ascension of Jesus and the sending of his Spirit it remains true that, "In the world you will have tribulation". But this need not shake our peace when we continue to remember that he went on to say, "But take heart; I have overcome the world" (see John 16:33). Jesus did not promise that there we would not encounter evil, but that he would make all things work together for the good of those who loved him and were called according to his purpose (see Romans 8:28). We don't have his kind of peace because we can perfectly control our circumstances or because we know exactly what the future holds. If we have it, it is because we know the one who holds the future, the one who makes those circumstances produce good beyond what we could ever guess. Peace is, in a way, recognizing this divine conspiracy that is at every moment undermining every gain the darkness seems to make.

He has no power over me,
but the world must know that I love the Father
and that I do just as the Father has commanded me.

The reason Jesus was able to perfectly demonstrate his love of the Father and walk in perfect obedience to his will was that his own heart had enough peace so as to not be shaken by circumstances. When, in his human nature, that peace was threatened by natural repulsion for suffering and death, he refused to give in to anxiety or fear, but turned to his Father, and was strengthened by an angel (see Luke 22:43). From what Jesus himself did and demonstrated it follows that the peace he promised us is a genuine possibility, but one that requires us to make an active response. We are free, if we choose, to let our hearts be both troubled and afraid. But we are also free to avail ourselves of the peace that can transcend such trouble and fear, that he himself never ceases to give to those who ask. Like the other fruits of the Holy Spirit, peace is not simply an optional nice-to-have extra. It is necessary for mission, required if we want, as friends of Jesus, to make known "the glorious splendor" of his kingdom.

 

Chris Tomlin - Resurrection Power

 

19 May 2025 - not to the world?

Today's Readings
(Audio)

Judas, not the Iscariot, said to him,
"Master, then what happened that you will reveal yourself to us
and not to the world?

This other Judas wondered why Jesus would choose to reveal himself only to an inner circle of disciples obedient to his commandments. He seemed to understand them to be something like club rules, and the revelation of Jesus as a privilege reserved for club initiates.

Jesus answered and said to him,
"Whoever loves me will keep my word,
and my Father will love him,
and we will come to him and make our dwelling with him.

It was not that Jesus was intentionally excluding those who didn't keep his commandments so much as that they were excluding themselves. The commandments were not a list of arbitrary rules but something more like a definition of love in action. Those who obeyed them not only signaled that they loved Jesus by observing them, but loved him in actual fact. It was in this way, by opening themselves in response to the words of Jesus, that they became ready to know him more deeply. The invitation to know Jesus was actually open to everyone. But only the few who kept his words demonstrated a desire to know him.

Whoever does not love me does not keep my words;
yet the word you hear is not mine
but that of the Father who sent me.

We should add that the commandments were not only directly about Jesus, but also about ordering everything else in our lives to him. Because of who he was, a partial or limited response wouldn't cut it. Halfhearted obedience was not enough. The Son of God was so great that he could be known when one was willing for him to be the center of her life. If he was anywhere else, on the peripheries, he could only by seen at best partially and in passing.

When disciples embraced obedience they opened themselves to the revelation of Jesus. One of the reasons for this was that obedience to the Father was what mattered most to the heart of Jesus himself. Thus inviting his disciples to keep his commandments was, in a way, a sharing of his own heart with them. And Jesus did not find the commandments of his Father burdensome. Nor did he experience his Father as an oppressive tyrant. The commandments, it is true, led to difficult experiences, but Jesus never wavered in his belief that his Father had his best interests at heart. It was this love for God and confidence in him that Jesus wanted to reveal to those who would receive it.

"I have told you this while I am with you.
The Advocate, the Holy Spirit
whom the Father will send in my name--
he will teach you everything
and remind you of all that I told you."

The disciples could not simply obey the commandments through their own strength. They needed the grace of the Holy Spirit to guide them, and to remind them of all he had said, especially when they would be tempted to forget. It was on the one hand an abstract promise, ensuring that the Church would always be led into all truth. But, on the other hand, it was a personal promise to each believer that the Holy Spirit would always be present to help them respond to the words of Jesus. The Holy Spirit was a counselor, a tutor who helped disciples become ever more open to the revelation of the Son.

Nevertheless, I tell you the truth: it is to your advantage that I go away, for if I do not go away, the Helper will not come to you. But if I go, I will send him to you. And when he comes, he will convict the world concerning sin and righteousness and judgment (see John 16:7-8).

 Sonicflood - I Want To Know You

18 May 2025 - glory defined

 

Today's Readings
(Audio)

Now is the Son of Man glorified, and God is glorified in him.

Jesus explained that what was about to happen was in fact his glorification. He did so because when it happened it would appear to be anything but. It was a glory that Judas was unwilling to recognize, one which he thought unfitting for a messiah. It caused him to choose to leave them, to separate himself from them, a goat from the sheep.

The glory that was then beginning was the glory of Jesus' passion and of his cross. Jesus regarded the cross as his glory because by it he would reveal the degree to which he loved both the Father, and the degree to which he and the Father so loved the world. Enduring the cross for the sake of his love and trust in the Father also meant that his Father was "glorified in him" as his very life became a testimony to the goodness of the Father and his plan.

We may be tempted to think that calling the cross glory was a nice poetic device, but that the true glory came in the resurrection and ascension of the Lord. And these things, it is true, were glorious. But if the primary motivation of the incarnation was love, then that motivation was realized nowhere more perfectly than on the cross. Spiritually, what happened on the cross was in fact the most perfectly glorious moment the world had ever known. The glory of the resurrection was in fact dependent on it, and could not have availed for us without the first all surpassing act of love. Therefore Paul said, "God forbid that I should glory, save in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ" (see Galatians 6:14). This is why the cross is more than a painful memory for believers, why we wear them, and use them to decorate our homes. It is the reason they are given pride of place in our Churches and why the Exaltation of the Holy Cross is a feast on our liturgical calendars, why we sing hymns such as "Lift High the Cross".

Jesus insisted that the cross glorious because he knew it would be hard to watch, that we would be tempted to turn from it or to flee from it as did Peter. But he knew that, although difficult, it was worth watching, since seeing his glory would in turn transform us as we "with unveiled face, beholding the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from one degree of glory to another" (see Second Corinthians 3:18). Thus it was prophesied that we would, "look on me, on him whom they have pierced" (see Zechariah 12:10). It was this vision that moved the centurion and those who were with him to exclaim, "Truly this was the Son of God!" (see Matthew 27:54). If it had the power to do that to people with basically no context for what saw, imagine what it can do to us.

If God is glorified in him,
God will also glorify him in himself,
and God will glorify him at once.

The glory of the cross was such that it could not but receive a response from the Father. The unwavering love of his Son could not be ignored or trivialized. Indeed, the only possible result of the cross, from the point of view of the Father, was the resurrection, and finally the enthronement of the humanity of Jesus in heaven. Already the glory began breaking forth in the earthquake, in the darkening of the sun, in the rending of the temple veil. But it would shine forth like a new and radiant dawn on the third day.

I give you a new commandment: love one another.
As I have loved you, so you also should love one another.

The people of Israel knew that they had been commanded to love God with all of their heart, mind, and strength, and their neighbor as themselves. But they did not know the magnitude this love was meant to have until they witnessed it demonstrated by Jesus himself. They were called to a love that surpassed human standards. If Jesus had not shown it possible, people would have dismissed it as an unrealizable abstraction. To love in this way was also to be perfect as the heavenly Father was perfect. It would indeed have been impossible had not Jesus made it possible. His disciples loving as he loved was therefore a supernatural proof of the glory of Christ who was loving within them.

This is how all will know that you are my disciples,
if you have love for one another.

On the one hand, the fact that we don't often love each other well is a reason why the Church is not as persuasive as she might be. If we more committed to loving others as Jesus loved us there would be less conflict about politics, or philosophy, or doctrine. More people would be drawn to the beauty of goodness and the splendor of the truth. But that said, Jesus was not naive when he said this, as though it wishful thinking that would never actually be happen. The lives of holy men and women, the saints throughout the ages, have lived lives of love that marked them as disciples of the Lord. And such disciples, then and now, are among the best proofs we have that Jesus is alive and present to his Church.

Building 429 - Glory Defined

Maranatha! Music - Bless God

17 May 2025 - show us the Father

Today's Readings
(Audio)

Jesus said to his disciples:
"If you know me, then you will also know my Father.
From now on you do know him and have seen him."

They all did know the Father, after a fashion. Seeing the life of Jesus and his proximity to the Father gave them a better understanding of the Father's heart than the religious leaders of their time, or indeed, anyone prior to the coming of Jesus, could have possessed.

Philip said to Jesus,
"Master, show us the Father, and that will be enough for us."

Was Philip saying that he did not in fact know the Father, but wished to? Probably not. Probably he was saying that, precisely because Jesus made the Father so compelling, he desired to see him with all of the implicit intensity of his request. He believed that Jesus had taught him about the Father, and that Jesus was so close to the Father that he could provide for Philip an experience like when God showed himself to Moses (see Exodus 33:18-20).

Jesus said to him, "Have I been with you for so long a time
and you still do not know me, Philip?
Whoever has seen me has seen the Father.

Philip was right that Jesus had a unique relationship to the Father, and that the Father was every indeed so desirable that to truly see him was to be perfectly satisfied, that it would truly be "enough" for him. But he was missing out on that vision and the joy it entailed because he was still trying to look off somewhere in the distance beyond Jesus to see it. He had been meant to understand that the proximity of Jesus to the Father was not merely small, but in fact, non-existent. The Father was in Jesus to such a degree that to see Jesus was to see the Father. Philip could have discovered the answer to his deepest longings by looking to Jesus himself.

How can you say, 'Show us the Father'?
Do you not believe that I am in the Father and the Father is in me?
The words that I speak to you I do not speak on my own.

We may give Philip a pass since it was a little confusing. After all Jesus was in the Father and the Father was in Jesus, but there was also a distinction. Jesus did not say that Philip ought to forget about the Father and look at him alone. He wanted Philip to see the interplay of the love of the Triune God that Jesus made present in time and space.

The Father who dwells in me is doing his works.
Believe me that I am in the Father and the Father is in me,
or else, believe because of the works themselves.

Jesus called attention to himself as revealing an utterly unique relationship with God the Father. He did not presume to usurp the role of the Father. But neither was he merely the closest thing in creation to the Father. His was a relationship that had always been, and would always be, world without end. The words of Jesus revealed this relationship, as did the works that the Father performed through him. Jesus was motivated by his desire to glorify the Father, and not himself. The Father worked to give glory to his Son. This was how Jesus could at once be so exulted but act with such humility. He was God, but did not need to pursue his own ends, or seek his own glory. He was in the form of God but did not regard equality with God as something to which he had to cling. Therefore the disciples had the unique and probably unsettling experience of seeing one who was at once higher than the angels and yet more humble than any other man. This could only be true of the one who was the incarnate Son of God, and it was part of the reason his presence was a revelation of the Father.

Amen, amen, I say to you,
whoever believes in me will do the works that I do,
and will do greater ones than these,
because I am going to the Father.

The works the Father performed in Jesus were meant to lead people to faith. But after Jesus was glorified his disciples would by instruments by which sanctifying grace and the Holy Spirit himself would be conveyed to others. Through the sacraments sinners would be justified, and the spiritually dead would be raised to life. We note the way the Jesus didn't feel himself to be in competition about his works. He desired to be glorified precisely in and through the works of his disciples. It wasn't a zero sum game where if they did too much it would diminish his own status. Rather, the more they did, the more it redounded to the glory of God.

And whatever you ask in my name, I will do,
so that the Father may be glorified in the Son.
If you ask anything of me in my name, I will do it.

According to Aquinas, when we pray for ourselves (since we can't force our will on others), for things necessary for our salvation, and do so piously and perseveringly, these prayers are always granted. And these are truly the prayers that matter the most. Requests that don't fully match these requirements can be made. In particular we should obviously pray for others. But it is the prayers that Jesus always grants that ensure we are properly situated in regard to the divine will. It is secure in that position that we can be helpful for others, or have a sense of what temporal things may be beneficial, for ourselves or for them. For some reason, this fact tends to disappoint us. We would prefer that Jesus always answer prayers about our lottery tickets, or some other lesser goods. But if we don't recognize that what Jesus promised is in fact the best possible thing we should reevaluate our own priorities. Even in the case of prayer for others, we should not wish to usurp their own freedom to choose for or against the Lord, though we may and must certainly pray that they be open, and drawn, and that they do use their freedom to cooperate. But by explaining to us what he always gives Jesus intends for us to see what we ought to desire the most. It leads to that which Philip desired in his request, "Master, show us the Father, and that will be enough for us".

 

Passion - Holy Ground

16 May 2025 - many mansions

Today's Readings
(Audio)

Do not let your hearts be troubled.
You have faith in God; have faith also in me.

Their hearts were troubled because the sensed the approaching hour of the death of their Lord. In the face of such darkness Jesus sought to teach them how to hold onto hope. Humanly speaking, things were indeed likely hopeless. But not when viewed from the perspective of faith. The same sort of faith that one had in God the Father was also appropriate to God the Son. The Father was deliverer, help, stronghold, shield, and refuge. As a consequence Jesus knew that he himself need not fear. He was secure in the love of his Father. And because the Father had these attributes, Jesus, who revealed the Father, did as well. And therefore his disciples too ultimately had nothing about which to worry.

In my Father's house there are many dwelling places.
If there were not,
would I have told you that I am going to prepare a place for you?

Jesus was going to prepare a place where, together with him, humanity could rest in the love of the Father. He himself was the true temple, but would be torn down and raised up so that we could be built upon him as living stones. He was the Body that would suffer and die so that we could be united with him as his members. No impressive design, size, or features, of an innate building could compare to the mansion Jesus was promising. The Father's house on earth, the physical temple in Jerusalem, was only a dim image of what awaited in heaven. To be his hands and his feet was a more exulted destiny, and more secure, than any inert and lifeless construction.

And if I go and prepare a place for you,
I will come back again and take you to myself,
so that where I am you also may be.

This place Jesus desired to take his disciples was not yet ready and could only be prepared by his going the way of the cross. He had to reshape human nature, twisted and tainted by sin, and render it capable of receiving divine life. Then, finally, he himself had to become that life for them, by the power of his resurrection. His human nature was exulted and enthroned so that his disciples and we ourselves could hear it said of us, "You are my Son", not begotten as he was, but adopted into the life of the Trinity.

Where I am going you know the way.
Thomas said to him,
"Master, we do not know where you are going;
how can we know the way?"

Sometimes we know more than we think we know, just because we know Jesus himself. We may not be able to map it out or to list all of the steps in the form of turn-by-turn directions. But we do know the way, because Jesus himself is the way. The more we follow him the more we come to experience in our own lives that he himself is the Truth who sets us free. We grow in increasing confidence that he himself, together with the Father and the Spirit, is also our goal, the source of the life for which we long, the place now prepared to receive and welcome us, our true heavenly mansion.

 

Matt Maher - Deliverer