30 June 2025 - a place to rest?

Today's Readings
(Audio)

Teacher, I will follow you wherever you go.

Perhaps some of us have had the experience of having had a really good teacher, one who was not only able to effectively convey content, but who seemed to make us better, and who made us feel closer to achieving the purpose of our lives. Maybe when it came time to part ways with that teacher it was difficult, for we sensed that we would have less direction without him. This scribe appeared so impressed with Jesus that he did not want to be deprived of his influence, so much so that he gave Jesus carte blanche to lead him wherever he would go. Or so he thought. But Jesus sensed limits in his intention that were not present in his words. He knew that the scribe was expecting great things, profound knowledge, and peak experiences. But he knew that the scribe only recognized him as a teacher, as one from whom he stood to benefit. He did not recognize him as Lord, one who could lead him in difficult circumstances and where there was no immediate benefit. A teacher he would follow as long as he continued to receive what he wanted. But he could only follow where Jesus was actually going to go if he recognized him as Lord, and therefore in a better position to judge what he needed and ought to receive than he himself.

Jesus answered him, “Foxes have dens and birds of the sky have nests,
but the Son of Man has nowhere to rest his head.”

Jesus wasn't going to lead anyone to an earthly palace, like the one that belonged to "that fox" (see Luke 13:32) King Herod. He was not actually going to lead to any permanent destination on earth. He was an itinerant preacher leading a pilgrimage or an exodus, with no lasting place to rest his head. He was communicating what the author of the Letter to the Hebrews meant when he wrote that, "here we have no lasting city, but we seek the city that is to come" (see Hebrews 13:14). Had Jesus been the Buddha he might have said to keep his teaching as long as it was useful to get somewhere and then discard it once the goal was reached. But Jesus was not a teacher whose teaching pointed to some final goal or condition apart from him. He himself was the content and goal of his message. Therefore the thought of finding rest in something other than him was inherently flawed.

Another of his disciples said to him,
“Lord, let me go first and bury my father.”
But Jesus answered him, “Follow me,
and let the dead bury their dead.”

Jesus called for a radically different relationship to the world and society than anyone expected. Burial of the dead was after all a sacred duty. Even Elijah had permitted Elisha to go and say farewell to his parents before following him (see First Kings 19:19-21). But the urgency of the call of Jesus was greater than that of Elijah, just as he himself was infinitely more preeminent than Elijah or any other prophet. It was right for Jesus to preempt even one's obligations to one's own family in a way that no mere prophet would have claimed. In order to discharge well one's earthly obligations one would need to first ensure that he was faithful in his obligations to God himself. Since Jesus was Lord, these obligations extended to him as well. But this disciple, like, perhaps many of us, treated Jesus as one obligation, mission, or task, among others, as one no doubt important goal among many. It was this mistaken approach that Jesus sought to correct. Indeed, had he been entirely committed to following Jesus, Jesus might have sent him to perform the burial since it would not in that case have been a conflicting priority, but one assigned, as it were, from the top down.

We can profitably ask ourselves what limits we've placed on where Jesus can lead us. Are we still using him for his teaching only when it suits us, or do we regard him as Lord, and trust him to lead us even more than we trust ourselves? Is Jesus one priority among many for us? Or is he rather the one thing necessary, and therefore the ordering principle for everything else? In order to truly walk in the freedom that Jesus can give, in order to truly call him Lord and mean it, we need the help of his Holy Spirit. And while we've all probably received the Spirit in some measure, Jesus always has more for us.

Therefore I want you to understand that no one speaking in the Spirit of God ever says “Jesus is accursed!” and no one can say “Jesus is Lord” except in the Holy Spirit (see First Corinthians 12:3)

Newsboys - Blessed Be Your Name

29 June 2025 - rock solid Gospel

Today's Readings
(Audio)

“Who do people say that the Son of Man is?”
They replied, “Some say John the Baptist, others Elijah,
still others Jeremiah or one of the prophets.”

We live in a world with a multitude of perspectives and opinions. Somehow there are now far more ideas about who Jesus was than there were during his own time, in spite of the fact that probably everyone who met him had their own unique take on who he was. How can one navigate through the maze of information and arrive at the truth? It is not necessary, as one might fear, to dismiss every other option, if he can find a way to one truth on which he can rely. And Christianity, time tested for two-thousand years, makes a good case that it might be that truth. But what would it mean if it were? Or what is it that it says about itself that we want to confirm or deny? It is fundamentally all about who Jesus is. The world says a myriad of things about him. But the Church says something that is both specific and unique.

He said to them, “But who do you say that I am?”
Simon Peter said in reply,
“You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.”

If Jesus is who the Church claims him to be, and if the Church is the one established by Jesus on Peter the rock, then we as individuals don't have to prove each metaphysical, historical, or ethical claim involved. The surpassing claim of the Church continues to be the one made by Peter himself: "You are the Christ, the Son of the living God". The Church witnessed the reality of that truth against all counterclaims by seeing Jesus risen from the dead. Before they had that experience they understood all too well that he had truly suffered and died. They thought they knew that he would stay dead. After all, he was the only one with sufficient power over life and death to bring back Lazarus and the daughter of Jairus. But since he was who he was, the resurrection and the life, it was finally impossible for death to have any power over him. He returned, giving final verification to everything he had said, to everything they had hoped was true about him. The Church became, and is now, fundamentally, a witness to who it knows Jesus to be in the light of his resurrection. It is a truth for which many of the first generation of Christians were willing to die rather than deny or contradict. It continues to be a truth that is more precious to its members than their temporary lives here on earth.

And so I say to you, you are Peter,
and upon this rock I will build my Church,
and the gates of the netherworld shall not prevail against it.

Jesus wanted everyone to be able to have the experience Peter had of receiving the revelation of his true identity from his Father. But to ensure this was possible he established a Church, against which the gates of hell could not prevail. In history it was not typically ascendant or victorious in the way of nations and empires. It often seemed on the verge of collapse, often due to the all too human failings of its members. But it enjoyed a protection that went beyond the limitations of the humans who comprised it. When it seemed chained like Peter, unable to move or expand, an angel would unexpectedly set it free. Members of the Church might be chained, but as Paul taught, "the word of God is not bound" (see Second Timothy 2:9). Paul too experienced the divine protection of the Gospel message even while he himself was "already being poured out like a libation". He "was rescued from the lion's mouth" and from "every evil threat" that would not conduce to his Kingdom mission. This was not to say that he would not suffer. It was not to say that he would not even fail at times. But it was to say that God's plans for him were built on a rock that was greater than himself. Since he relied upon that rock as his foundation even those things that appeared to be evil and harmful were made to work for good.

We too have the option to build our lives upon the solid foundation established by Jesus, or alternatively, on the shifting sands of the world. The world tends to make promises about comfort that it cannot keep. The Church clearly does not promise comfort or an absence of suffering. But itdoes promise the faithful a protection from the powers of hell, from anything that would ultimately stand between them and the true purpose of their lives. And it promises those who keep their lives built on its foundation the same reward that Peter and Paul now enjoy. It is the safe way to the heavenly Kingdom, where "the crown of righteousness awaits", not just Paul, but "all who have longed" for the appearance of the Lord.

 My Soul Finds Rest

 

Phatmass Featuring Akalyte - Gates Of Hell  

28 June 2025 - only say the word

Today's Readings
(Audio)

Lord, I am not worthy to have you enter under my roof;
only say the word and my servant will be healed.

This centurion had greater faith than those in Israel. They all understood that Jesus was a healer. But they were happy to receive him under their roofs. They did not recognize what a privilege it was to have Jesus among them in the way that the centurion did. Seeing things from a more removed perspective appeared to allow the centurion to have a clearer view. Within the history of Israel there had been healers and prophets who were not entirely different from Jesus, and others had been known to misunderstand him as one more like them. But this centurion was able to recognize and appreciate the newness and uniqueness of Jesus. Those in Israel might expect Jesus to come into their homes or to receive them where he was as though it was his job. But the centurion recognized that in the case of Jesus he should take nothing for granted. He was accustomed to a scale of authority and honor in his own Roman society and somehow sensed that, although Jesus appeared to be common and poor, he was nevertheless deserving of all the honor the centurion could show, including the title 'Lord'.

For I too am a man subject to authority,
with soldiers subject to me.

The centurion probably had no way to realize that Jesus came, not because of the worthiness of those to whom he came, but rather because of his mercy. It was likely therefore not anything lacking in the faith of the centurion, but rather a revelation he had not been given. Without that gap being bridged from the other side, it was appropriate for holy fear to make him respond as he did. But his faith in Jesus still allowed him to believe that Jesus could heal his servant, and moreover, that he was likely to do it if asked. He got more than he planned when Jesus said he would come and heal the servant in person. He felt unready to receive such a guest. Better not to presume on their mercy of God than to take it for granted. Fortunately, his faith in Jesus was such that it did not require Jesus to actually be present to accomplish the miracle he sought.

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."

Those with lesser faith required that Jesus accommodate himself more to their expectations. They had a form in their imagination to which his miracles would need to conform for them if they were to believe. But the centurion presumed no ritual or routine, no specific words or phrases, or even the physical presence or proximity of the healer. He realized that there was nothing specific about the setup that was essential to the result, that the only thing that mattered was the authority of Jesus himself.

And Jesus said to the centurion,
"You may go; as you have believed, let it be done for you."
And at that very hour his servant was healed.

It seemed that because the centurion didn't bring any baggage of expectation, Jesus had more time to engage with others who also needed him. In one way our own expectations can't limit Jesus, since his presence is sufficiently available for all people everywhere. But our expectations can limit his ability to work in us, which can in turn limit his ability to work through us. If we're waiting for healing to come, but will only recognize it if it meets our preconceptions, we may be unknowingly resisting the healing he is actually trying to accomplish. This will keep us in the symbolically similar condition to the mother-in-law of Peter while she had a fever. But if we learn to welcome the healing mercy of Jesus we too can rise and wait on him, doing whatever we can too help his Kingdom mission.

When it was evening, they brought him many
who were possessed by demons,
and he drove out the spirits by a word and cured all the sick,
to fulfill what had been said by Isaiah the prophet:

He took away our infirmities
and bore our diseases.

 

 

All Sons & Daughters - Great Are You Lord 

27 June 2025 - the one percent

Today's Readings
(Audio)

What man among you having a hundred sheep and losing one of them
would not leave the ninety-nine in the desert
and go after the lost one until he finds it?

Many of us might actually choose to be content with our best effort and with a result that seems close enough. When we do get most of the way to a goal, but then go on to insist on perfection, we often seem to put the ninety-nine percent we managed to get right at risk. But it is not so for God. God is able to respond to each individual as if they were the only one on earth. He did not die for a faceless mass of humanity but rather for unique and irreplaceable women and men. He would have died for any of us even had we been the only person on earth. In this world of so many he is nevertheless able to give us his complete and undivided care and attention without putting the rest of his flock in peril.

And when he does find it,
he sets it on his shoulders with great joy
and, upon his arrival home,
he calls together his friends and neighbors and says to them,     
'Rejoice with me because I have found my lost sheep.'

The neighbors might not have understood the joy that the shepherd took when a single lost sheep was found and returned home. They could potentially see this joy as a lack of appreciation for what he already had, as though this one was somehow more than all the others. But for God, ever sheep whose heart becomes his inspires this joy in him. He rejoices over each sheep that is his own as though it were his only one. Just as his death was not for a generic multitude, neither is the joy he takes when lost sheep return to him. The new life of the resurrection and the gift of the Spirit are given to each individual heart. Yes, they come from his Church. Yes, they make us a part of a bigger mystical Body. But they don't diminish our value as individuals in God's eyes. Rather, than are evidence of it.

there will be more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents
than over ninety-nine righteous people
who have no need of repentance.

There is no risk that God will lose us in the multitudes or the faceless masses. But there is a risk that we will lose ourselves there, not approaching our shepherd through the lens of our unique individual relationship with him, but only as part of fitting in with a larger group. We might never notice the specific ways in which we need Jesus to heal our hearts. We might never notice the ways he uniquely gifts us to help us spread his Kingdom. We are parts of his Body, but unique parts, not all having the same function. If had the experience of this lost sheep, being brought home and celebrated after being lost, we might prefer to blend in with the crowd. It might be embarrassing to realize just how much Jesus loves us specifically, in spite of our weaknesses and tendency to wander. But rather than pretending we were never lost, and avoid letting ourselves be found, we need to let the Good Shepherd love us and lead us, helping us found our place within his flock.

I myself will pasture my sheep;
I myself will give them rest, says the Lord GOD.
The lost I will seek out,
the strayed I will bring back,
the injured I will bind up,
the sick I will heal,
but the sleek and the strong I will destroy,
shepherding them rightly.

Peter Furler - Psalm 23 

26 June 2025 - not fooling anyone

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.

It isn't enough to profess to be Christians if we don't actually mean it. If Jesus is truly our Lord won't we want to not only listen to his words, but act upon them, building our lives on the solid rock  foundation that he himself is?

Who are we trying to fool by being Christians in name and appearance only? Others? Ourselves? Jesus? In what way is a Christian facade any more useful than the false piety of the Pharisees? Is it something we attempt precisely because the words of Jesus have authority, and because we sense we have some obligation to obey, but are unwilling to actually do so? Is it a way to bury our heads in the sand so we don't have to confront the disparity between who we are now and who we are meant to be? But this motive must be common to all who look deeply into their own hearts. And it is probably not typically expressed as a binary option. Most of us probably act on the words of Jesus to some extent while, are aware of the progress we still need to some extent, while also still ignoring certain areas where growth is still necessary.

Who can discern his errors? Declare me innocent from hidden faults (see Psalm 19:12).

We need the Lord's help to put his words into practice, since otherwise we tend to fool ourselves. We look for the noisy and spectacular to vindicate our status as Christians, prophecy, exorcism, mighty deeds, and the like. And we often fail to give due credence to the small acts of fidelity to his words that matter more. The thing about the loud exterior displays, like miracles, is that they are exterior. They don't really say anything about the state of our hearts. They may well be an important part of the plan of Jesus for the world. But they are not reliable indicators of our own level of conversion or sanctity. We probably turn to miracles because they seem concrete while the heart is "deceitful above all things" (see Jeremiah 17:9). But there is a better way to make sure we are on the right track.

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

There is a risk of getting lost in too much introspection about how well we are doing. But a better approach is to focus on the words of Jesus himself, and on what he commands. If we keep his words at the forefront of our minds we won't have to reverse engineer a sense of our level of faithfulness or a list of our faults by guessing at our own motivations. Rather, each day and each moment will give us opportunities to make the choice to be faithful. The more often we make the choice to act on the words of Jesus the more solidity and stability our own lives will attain, since they will be more and more built upon the him, the one true foundation.

 

Songs In His Presence - The House Of God 

25 June 2025 - wolves, down

Today's Readings
(Audio)

Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep’s clothing,
but underneath are ravenous wolves.

Jesus warned that there would be people who tried to blend in with his flock, but whose motives were not to follow him. These wolves came among the flock still seeking to satisfy a ravenous appetite, rather than learning to let Jesus give them their daily bread. Jesus had food to give which could truly sate the gnawing hunger in the pits of the stomachs of these wolves. Such satiety could have led them to peace, to acting less and less like hostile wolves, and more and more like docile sheep. And perhaps both sheep and some wolves came into the flock for the same reason, that being looking for a way to appease their hunger. But the sheep were the ones who learned to look to Jesus for the fulfillment of their needs and desires. Some wolves were perhaps those who never stopped insisting on doing it themselves, and therefore remaining in a constant state of desperation.

Others might have joined the flock in disguise to prey upon what they perceived to be easy targets, to take what they wanted from those who had apparently been trained not to question, but merely to obey. But whatever were the motives that brought wolves into the flock, Jesus wanted his sheep to know that they were an ongoing danger. It was not safe to assume someone had the best interest of the flock at heart just because he too looked like a sheep. Though he may have been a member of the same flock, and though his life may have in many ways resembled that of any other member, it did not necessarily mean that he was safe or trustworthy. He could go to Church, profess doctrine that seemed correct, and even have a charismatic and appealing personality, all the while having intentions that were in no way aligned with those of Jesus, seeking to get what he could get rather than to learn what he could give.

By their fruits you will know them.
Do people pick grapes from thornbushes, or figs from thistles?
Just so, every good tree bears good fruit,
and a rotten tree bears bad fruit.

What matters most in Christianity is what goes on in the heart. But this is invisible and impossible to test. Yet it is true that bad fruit is still a sign of a bad heart. This is not to say that Christians are perfect and that they are entirely without thorns or thistles. But they are no longer their distinctive characteristics. They may not be perfect, but they want to improve. They regret the ways in which their selfishness harms other and they lament the fact that they never have as much good fruit as they would wish. Rotten trees may make a pretense of such regrets, but without any clear evidence of change, without any real fruit of repentance.

A good tree cannot bear bad fruit,
nor can a rotten tree bear good fruit.

Being a good tree means that we will bear good fruit. And this analogy implies that it is something intrinsic about our identity as followers of Jesus that gives rise to this fruit, as it were, automatically. Our effort is involved, but is not primary. It is predicated on what the Spirit himself is doing within us. The hope for rotten trees is that the Gardener has remedies for them that can change their disposition from bad to good. There is the possibility of redemption for everyone, even trees that seemed headed for destruction, even for hostile and hungry wolves. But this redemption relies on their readiness to change, their willingness to not remain as they are. 

Identifying the wolves in our midst is a little trickier than watching to see who makes the most charitable contributions or works the most volunteer hours. Yet these are among the signs of evidence that such sheep are no longer living for themselves alone, but for the Kingdom. We should have some leniency in our discernment for works in progress. But we should have sufficient caution to spot those whose works are mere pretense intended to lull our defenses. Additionally, we should make sure that we ourselves are committed to change, to becoming fully and truly the good trees we are meant to be, so that we too can bear fruit that will remain.

 

 

Hillsong - To Be Like You 

24 June 2025 - unprecedented

Today's Readings
(Audio) 

When they came on the eighth day to circumcise the child,
they were going to call him Zechariah after his father,
but his mother said in reply,
“No. He will be called John.”

The neighbors and relatives wanted the child to be born into a world of the familiar. But God had gone to great lengths to ensure that he was born into an environment of faith. Faith often requires a break from the familiar, as it did for Zechariah, who received an angelic messenger and was asked to take him at his word. It often requires a temporary privation so that we can receive something better in the long run, as it did for Elizabeth, who was thought to be barren but then was miraculously able to conceive in old age.

Zechariah hadn't responded to the angel with a full maturity of faith immediately. But God was patient, since he not desire for this child to be raised in an environment in which he would only hear the same old things that had been said so many times before. God desired an environment in which the parents knew how to listen to him, so that they could guide the child to do the same. He wanted them to know how trust in his plan rather than their own so that they could raise a child trained to seek out the plan himself.

He asked for a tablet and wrote, “John is his name,”
and all were amazed.

John had an unprecedented birth and was given an unprecedented name. This was all to ensure that his career too would be without precedent. He would be called to do what no one had ever been asked to do in his mission to prepare the way for the messiah. The way he dressed, ate, lived, and enacted his mission was unique. He had a powerful prophetic voice and radical obedience that made it evident that he was following in the footsteps of Elijah and walking in his spirit and power. He was not afraid to preach his message of repentance to all, no matter their status. Such was his greatness that he might have been someone who would succumb to pride and become infatuated with his own self-image. And yet and continued to walk in humility before God. He never forgot that he was simply a voice crying out in preparation, ready to fade into the background when Jesus appeared. 

All who heard these things took them to heart, saying,
“What, then, will this child be?”
For surely the hand of the Lord was with him.

God has a history of doing great things when it is least expected. He is the most free to work when people trust in his promise more than the comforting familiarity of daily life. He called past generations out from lands they knew to sojourn as strangers, but only so that he could give them something better than what they had left behind. He called many to hope in his word when it seemed that all earthly grounds for hope were lost, and in return gave them more than they asked or imagined. 

John was the result of a family who learned to trust in the promises of God. And he in turned lived a life defined by helping others learn to do the same. After all, being ready to receive the messiah meant being prepared for something new that God was doing, the final fulfillment of his promise to those who would put their faith in him. What was going to come about was by no means the result of circumstances taking the course. It was God's intervention for the salvation of the world. It was the dawn from on high breaking through in a new and definitive way.

I will make you a light to the nations,
that my salvation may reach to the ends of the earth.

Matt Maher - Canticle of Zechariah 

23 June 2025 - when judgment is blind

 

Today's Readings
(Audio)

Stop judging, that you may not be judged.

The Pharisees seemed like they were always ready to judge and to find fault with others. They did so to bolster their own image as fastidious adherents of the law. But it was precisely this disposition that was so fundamentally deceptive for them. They trained their eye to notice minutia in the behavior of others so much that they failed to engage in any introspection about the state of their own hearts.

Jesus himself was different. He was qualified to judge because he was the only one he saw things clearly, as they truly were. The Father had given all judgment over to him, as uniquely proper to the Son (see John 5:22). But this was judgment of a different sort, a definitive verdict, not given out of self-interest, but as a validation of the choices one made during life. During his life on earth Jesus never weaponized his judgment as the Pharisees did. Instead he welcomed sinners and tax collectors and basically anyone who was willing to seriously take accountability for the state of her life and of her heart. He did rebuff those who were unwilling to look seriously at themselves, who considered themselves perfect already, while making the judgment of others a primary purpose of theirs. This was the reality of Jesus helping them to encounter the wooden beam in their eyes, by showing them the ways in which it caused them to stumble and collide with reality. It was not done out of hostility, but kindness. It did not issue from a limitation of his own vision, but rather from a desire to share his clarity about the situation with others.

Why do you notice the splinter in your brother's eye,
but do not perceive the wooden beam in your own eye?

Fortunately we have Jesus, who is able to see clearly and help us to recognize that our moral judgment is too immature for us to be too eager to condemn others or to exonerate ourselves. If anyone else had said something about a board in our eye we would have had to assume that it was an aggressive act trying to discredit us. But from Jesus we can sense in the very way that he phrased the metaphor that he was not trying to undermine us but to guide us and heal us. He used humor to take the edge off of what would have otherwise been a painful revelation. It is not only the Pharisees who judge hypocritically, it is ourselves as well. It is much easier to look outside of us to find fault than it is to look within. Or it can be, if we don't have a compassionate friend who is willing to help us face what we find there, as Jesus wants to be for us. His good humor in the face of our flaws gives us confidence that he isn't out to get us, but to save us, first of all from ourselves.

You hypocrite, remove the wooden beam from your eye first;
then you will see clearly
to remove the splinter from your brother's eye.

We're going to need help if we want to remove the wooden beam from our own eye. We are so accustomed to the distortion of our vision it causes that we are in no position to help ourselves. And as long as it remains we should be very suspicious of our own judgments, and particularly of what our motives are for making them. Are we even interested in helping our brother remove the splinter from his eye or are we actually more interested in celebrating it, and making fun of him for the fact that it is there? We love to say 'I told you so' in events like this, where people clearly ought to have been wearing safety glasses. But is that really what happened? How can we know for sure if our own gaze is so impaired and unreliable? 

It is relatively easy to judge the objective morality of actions in themselves when the conversation remains at the level of the abstract. It is hard when real people and situations are in question. When it is about us we tend to err either in excusing ourselves or giving in to hopeless despair. When it is about others, if we like them, we tend to rush to make excuses. If we're neutral, we may resign them to the same despair we sometimes feel about ourselves. And if we have anything against them, we tend to interpret their every action as malicious on that basis.

For as you judge, so will you be judged,
and the measure with which you measure will be measured out to you.

Jesus desires for us to have hearts like his own, that are ordered toward mercy, forgiveness, and grace. We tend to pass by such statements as the above without realizing their full weight. We don't really imagine the mercy we will receive from Jesus could be limited because of our unwillingness to show mercy. We have a hard time believing that we will encounter a more severe strictness during the last judgment if we have behaved that way toward others during our lives. In the final analysis, it isn't that much that is asked of us if we want to encounter a merciful judgment ourselves. It almost feels like a cheat code to know that we can affect our own judgment simply by acting as Jesus commands toward others. But there it is. It is a demonstration of the fact that to be merciful as the Father as merciful seminally contains all the teachings of Jesus.

Vineyard Worship - Refiner's Fire

22 June 2025 - bread from heaven

 

Today's Readings
(Audio) 

He said to them, "Give them some food yourselves."

Read at the superficial level, the story of the feeding of the five thousand was about a miracle Jesus performed for the crowds. It demonstrated his compassion and sympathy for their human needs, and a desire that they not have to leave his presence to address those needs. He knew that it was already getting late and that it would be difficult for them to fend for themselves. He did not want to send away so many who were benefiting from his teaching and his healing power. And the way he thought to rectify this problem demonstrated the way that he wanted his disciples to share his compassion and to be involved in addressing the needs of his flock. He did so by taking what they had, which was far too little for so large a crowd, and multiplying it, making it more than sufficient, such that there were twelve baskets left over.

Then taking the five loaves and the two fish,
and looking up to heaven,
he said the blessing over them, broke them,
and gave them to the disciples to set before the crowd.

If, however, we only read this story at a superficial level we will miss its deeper spiritual meaning. Given that there isn't an ongoing multiplication of physical bread in our age, many of the lessons would then seem inapplicable. But when we see this story as a preparation for the gift of the Body and Blood of Jesus in the Eucharist there is much more to learn.

Dismiss the crowd

When it is the spiritual needs of the crowds that are in question then there is no question or relying on the surrounding villages for help. When the crowd we are talking about is the Church then especially dispersal is antithetical to his motivation of gathering. He came to seek and save the lost, making them one flock under one shepherd. This means that the Church cannot settle for spiritual impotence. It is her mission to provide this nourishment for her people. When she fails it may seem that she fails because of her insufficiency. But we see from this story that the only failure that is really insurmountable is a failure to entrust our insufficiency to Christ. This can happen at any level, from a Sunday school teacher, to a musician, to the pastor of a Church, all the way up through the hierarchy.

He said to them, "Give them some food yourselves."

It is not unusual to hear this command of Jesus to do something for others, particularly in a spiritual context, and to be unable to identify the necessary resources. In a spiritual sense we never have what others need. Only Jesus does. The only way we can give it to them is to first get it from him. So we should expect to be challenged by Jesus in this way. He expects us in turn to learn to walk by faith and to trust in his ability to help us do what he commands of us. The only alternative to the Church learning to do this is to send the crowds to the surrounding world. And while that world may have enough food to go around if one can pay for it they have nothing to satisfy the human soul, no matter what they advertise.

Then taking the five loaves and the two fish,
and looking up to heaven,
he said the blessing over them, broke them,
and gave them to the disciples to set before the crowd.

In the multiplication of the loaves and fish we are prepared to see the still greater miracle of the abundance of the gift of the Body of Christ. No matter how many times it is divided it is never diminished. However small a fragment of the host, or however small the sip we receive from the chalice, in each we receive the whole Christ, and not only we, but everyone gathered around all of the altars of the world were the Sacrament is celebrated.

They all ate and were satisfied.

Only Jesus himself can truly satisfy our hearts. There is a real sense in which before our first communion the above sentence from the Gospel could not be said of us truly, whereas after it could. But that the Eucharist doesn't always seem so overwhelming satisfy subjectively is not because of anything lacking on the part of Jesus. We receive, as has been said, according to the mode of the receiver. That is, our faith, preparation, and expectation have a lot to do with it. If we have made the Eucharist our treasure we tend to experience this satisfaction to a greater degree. If we have treated it more cheaply, like a routine or ritual, we may experience it only to a lesser degree. But provided our souls are in a state of grace Jesus is always working behind the scenes, even when our subjective reality doesn't fully reflect it. What we need to realize is that if we want this level of satisfaction the Eucharist is where it is to be found.

And when the leftover fragments were picked up,
they filled twelve wicker baskets.

This interesting detail seems to reflect our practice of reserving the remaining consecrated bread in the tabernacle. It is not trivial and to be discarded merely because there is an abundance. It is rather a sacred gift that of whose value we must come to understand, both for our sake, and for the world. That there were twelve baskets specifically reminds us of the tribes of Israel. But this in turn points to the new Israel, the Church, and therefore from that generation down through the ages all the way to our own. It points to the time that was then yet to come, but now is, when from the rising of the sun to its setting this sacrificial offering of Christ would be abundant enough for the entire world to receive.

the Lord Jesus, on the night he was handed over,
took bread, and, after he had given thanks,
broke it and said, "This is my body that is for you.
Do this in remembrance of me."
In the same way also the cup, after supper, saying,
"This cup is the new covenant in my blood.
Do this, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of me.

 

Damascus Worship - Body And Blood 

21 June 2025 - field day

 

Today's Readings
(Audio)

Jesus said to his disciples:
“No one can serve two masters.
He will either hate one and love the other,
or be devoted to one and despise the other.
You cannot serve God and mammon.

Mammon is a cruel master, and yet we are all tempted to serve it. Why is this? Is it not because it holds over our heads the threat of death and the promise of prolonged life in this world? Doesn't wealth seem to promise to protect us from disaster and discomfort, as much as anything really can? Don't the absence of financial resources seem to imply vulnerability and inevitable suffering? When we are tempted to discount the virtues of mammon we have only to look to the impoverished nations on the earth and we quickly find ourselves singing its praises once more. This idea that money must not rule ours hearts is radical and difficult.

Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life,
what you will eat or drink,
or about your body, what you will wear.

We assume that if we don't spend time engaging in focused, prolonged worry about wealth we won't be able to keep it. Perhaps it feels like a diligent repetition of worries and anxieties in our past was how we achieved the financial stability we now possess. But it was never the worry or the anxiety that was helpful. The emotional weight that made it seem necessary for us to serve mammon was always a lie. Prudential planning is one thing, anxiety another. Ruminating on all of the unknowns of the future can lead to paralysis rather than a useful plan. And when the primary concern of our hearts is focused here in this temporary world our priorities will always be too skewed to choose our actions well. The only way to avoid this is to approach life in this world as though it is not the greatest good, as though, compared to eternity, it is in fact trivial. Then we can trust in God to give us our temporal needs for the brief period while this life lasts. 

When we're not trying to desperately appease mammon we're actually more able to appreciate the temporary goods that God's providence allows into our lives. We may not have the wardrobe of Solomon, but God nevertheless cares more for us than for the wild flowers, and the way we are adorned, if it is simple, is nevertheless wondrous. The birds do have to do daily work to attain their food. They even build nests, planning for the future. But they are able to do it all without a sense of desperation, never for a moment doubting that the next day will yield more of the goodness of God. Of course it is appropriate for human beings to store things in barns in preparation for the future. We need to engage our rational faculties for such purposes. But we don't need to build ever larger silos as the foolish rich fool did in the parable (see Luke 12:13-21). We should plan without paranoia or desperation, accounting for those variables of which we know and leaving the rest in God's hands.

Can any of you by worrying add a single moment to your life-span?

The point is not that we should not plan, but rather that we should not engage in unproductive worry. Which, yes, easier said than done. But it is possible or Jesus would not have commanded it. He did not suggest it, saying, 'Consider that it might be better not to worry and stop it if you agree and feel up to it'. He said simply, "do not worry", in the imperative. But he always also empowers us to do anything he commands of us. The specific grace is when the revelation from our faith that time is short and eternity is forever takes root in our hearts. It is then that we are resilient against the lies of mammon and the temptation to indulge in its worship, the worries and anxieties we have been discussing.

Your heavenly Father knows that you need them all.
But seek first the Kingdom of God and his righteousness,
and all these things will be given you besides.

If we seek mammon first we may do so not because we are greedy but rather because we are desperate and afraid. But whatever the reason, it will always directly conflict with seeking the Kingdom of God. Putting our mortal lives here on earth as our top priority is always going to be opposed to taking up our crosses and following Jesus. The only way to seek the Kingdom well and consistently is to learn to trust in God with a trust that extends not only to subjective spiritual things, but even to his ability to order our steps and provide for our needs along the way. Like the disciples who went out with no money bags, if we walk in trust of God we will find that we too lack nothing we truly need.

Take therefore no thought for the morrow: for the morrow shall take thought for the things of itself. Sufficient unto the day is the evil thereof.

Only when we internalize the truth of the Kingdom can we learn how Saint Paul was able to boast of his weakness. Only then will we learn that things that seem to be limits can actually be strength when they are part of God's plan.

Therefore, I am content with weaknesses, insults,
hardships, persecutions, and constraints,
for the sake of Christ;
for when I am weak, then I am strong.

Lindell Cooley - Let The River Flow 

20 June 2025 - where your treasure is

Today's Readings
(Audio)

Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth,
where moth and decay destroy, and thieves break in and steal.

This is not only a prohibition against stockpiling material wealth. As we recently saw, rewards can take many forms, including praise and recognition. But such things are perhaps even more fleeting than material wealth. The question, then, isn't about just whether we do or don't seek wealth, but rather about what we desire, and whether or not it can truly satisfy us.

Can anything on earth truly satisfy our hearts? It can, to a degree, and for a time. It can do so enough to numb some of the aching desire that is at the core of our being, at least for a while. Our lives our pulled in the direction of our what we desire most. But if we are pulled only in the direction of temporary solace we will never actually arrive at our true destination, like turn-by-turn directions that are constantly updating. There are an infinite number of options that initially seem appealing but will not satisfy us in the end. They are not harmful in themselves until we make them into something more than they are by the way that we desire them as though they could give us lasting joy. 

But store up treasures in heaven,
where neither moth nor decay destroys, nor thieves break in and steal.

There is only one option that truly has the power to satisfy every longing, and that is God himself. This does not mean turning our back on the created world, but rather loving the world for God's sake. Then we won't ask of creatures more than can possible give us. We won't seek reward from public recognition for our works of almsgiving, prayer, and fasting, when we know that the reward we have in God is far better. 

The difficulty is that earthly rewards are so much more readily attainable and apparent. It's easier than ever to engage in some retail therapy with sites like Amazon now so prominent. And we can more easily signal our need for appreciation or sympathy from others using social media. We won't find our reward in God if we only look for it among the low hanging fruit. Rather, we need to actually fix our hearts on it and give it the space to draw it to ourselves. Practices such as almsgiving, prayer, and fasting actually help clear out the other debris and detritus in order to help it find room in us. But it must be an intention that we continually call to mind, almost like a mantra, if we don't want to be tricked by the things of the world.

Delight yourself in the Lord, and he will give you the desires of your heart (see Psalm 37:4).

We tend to meditate on the things we want in this life, on our short term goals, and our worldly hopes. But it is this sort of meditation that, when excessively indulged, that can transform innocent pastimes into deceptive distractions, into precisely the sort of false treasure that can never satisfy. But it is similar meditation, albeit focused on God, that can help ensure that we stay oriented in the right direction, and motivated to seek the one who actually can give us the lasting joy we desire.

If your eye is sound, your whole body will be filled with light;
but if your eye is bad, your whole body will be in darkness.

If we look to the things of this world with our insatiable desires, with our greed, and our envy, then our eye is definitionally in darkness, since we are lost and disconnected from the big picture. But when God is in our hearts he illuminates everything. We will not succumb to the temptations to which desperation drives those without an eternal hope. We will use well the things of time for the sake of those that eternally endure. This kind of light can be so genuinely real within us that others might even take notice. They may see in our gaze an echo of that for which they long. It is not ourselves who draw them. It is the light of God himself within us that is so compelling. And this is true even before we fully possess him forever in heaven. When he is our chief desire on earth our hearts are already in some measure lifted up into his presence.

Look to him that you may be radiant with joy,
and your faces may not blush with shame.

Dan Schutte - I Found The Treasure

19 June 2025 - on earth as in heaven

 

Today's Readings
(Audio)

In praying, do not babble like the pagans,
who think that they will be heard because of their many words.

Prayer is not an incantation or a secret code that causes things to happen. Pagans tended to approach prayer as if a sufficient recitation of divine names and other formulae would automatically achieve their desired results. They had no thought of being in relationship with these deities to whom they prayed. Their actions stemmed from their belief that their gods didn't really care about them, that they needed to be made aware of their petitions, and more or less forced into acting on them. It wasn't their perseverance in prayer that Jesus criticized so much as the motives for it, and the image of divinity that caused them to feel it was necessary. It was redolent of human desperation combined with a lack of hope.

Do not be like them.
Your Father knows what you need before you ask him.

In order to avoid praying like the Pagans, Christians would need to appreciate the difference of the Father from all of those false gods. He did not need to be made aware of the needs of his people. He knew them. He did not need to be forced into action. He himself desired their good more than they did themselves.

Our Father who art in heaven

When praying, Christians were to first remember the relationship that made their prayer possible. God had chosen to adopt a people as his own children, allowing them to share in that which was naturally proper only to Jesus Christ. And that image of fatherhood was meant to inspire absolute confidence in his goodness and providential care. It was true that many Christians would have even in those early years have experienced brokenness in earthly family life, now so common, that made the concept of God as Father harder to appreciate. But God was a Father with none of the limitations of human fathers. Their failings could serve to highlight the fullness that could be found in God alone. People were meant to be able to have such absolute confidence in their fathers, and only the fall made that not be the case. But in God, hearts wounded by the lack of a perfect earthly father could be healed. They could find in him what even very good earthly fathers could not always provide.

hallowed be thy name

The name of God was, is, and will be holy in itself. But we ask that it be known to be such in the world. Only on the basis of the world's recognition of the holiness of God can the world be ordered to him. And only when it is properly ordered to its cause and destiny can it reach its potential. Only then will people truly flourish. But we especially need the name of God to be hallowed in our hearts and in our lives. Unless this happens our prayers will be deficient. We'll approach him as though we're merely asking for the help of some powerful being within reality, with his own needs and limitations. Instead, we're meant to pray on the basis of his absolute transcendence. It is precisely this that means he is so fully present and able to help us. If we do not recognize God's holiness we'll try to use him for our own ends rather than asking him to use us for his purpose in accordance with his will. We'll necessarily feel limited in what we can ask if we imagine he himself has a limited capacity to respond. We'll only 'bother' him with prayers that seem especially 'important'. Even then our confidence will be lacking that he can balance these out against the needs of so many others.

thy Kingdom come

The Kingdom is present in the Church, the Body of Christ, where the rule of the king holds sway. But it is still imperfectly present. We still often fail to live as the king would have us live. We do not love consistently or well in the way he commanded. So we pray that the Church can fully embody its identity as the place where the king himself reigns. We pray too that she spreads more and more so that all people can be set free from the kingdom of darkness and experience the goodness of the Kingdom of God. But this means that, above all, we need the Kingdom to come more fully within each of us. Only when we as individuals open ourselves to this petition will the Church become what she is truly meant to be. When this does happen the Church will become more attractive to the world and effective in her mission. But it must begin at the level of individual hearts.

thy will be done,
on earth as it is in heaven.

Heaven is so good because in it the will of God is perfectly fulfilled. And this can be so on earth as well, as least to a much greater degree than it is now. But it will only come to pass when we recognize that his will is that of a loving and holy Father. We tend to doubt the goodness of his will and to wonder if he really has our best interests at heart. But we learn the goodness of his will from reflecting on the fact that, in heaven, where it is carried out in fullness, all desires are fulfilled, and heart finds rest.

Give us this day our daily bread;

After asking for a correct heart and mind toward God we finally have a sufficient basis to ask him for our needs, not out of fear our desperation, but rather based on our hope and trust in him. He is the one who knows what we need better than we ourselves know it. We can now ask him for our daily natural and spiritual needs, for help to live free from sin and unforgiveness, protected from temptations to great for us, and live safe from the power of the evil one. We realize how much greater his will is than our own by the way he consistently over-delivers on our requests. Just one example will suffice. We ask for enough bread to eat each day, but he responds by offering us the Body and Blood of his Son to freely receive. 

The works of his hands are faithful and just;
sure are all his precepts,
Reliable forever and ever,
wrought in truth and equity.

 

Matt Maher - As It Is In Heaven 

18 June 2025 - that people may see?

Today's Readings
(Audio)

Take care not to perform righteous deeds
in order that people may see them;

In the first place we see here the expectation that we will perform righteous deeds, that we will participate in giving alms, prayer, and fasting. Jesus is not so much concerned with whether these actions of ours will be so hidden as to be absolute secrets. In fact he anticipates that others will see the deeds of his disciples and that those deeds will redound to the glory of the Father. His concern is that his disciples not be motivated by the desire to be seen. In other words he seeks a more robust motivation for our works of Christian service than a desire for the praise of others.

One problem with immature motivation, with the desire for the praise of others, is that it can become a limitation. We then only practice almsgiving in situations where other people will notice, or where we at least can directly witness our beneficiaries receiving what we give. We become unable to do tasks that are likely to be unnoticed. We become unwilling to contribute if we won't be able to see whether or not our efforts bear fruit. 

But when you give alms,
do not let your left hand know what your right is doing,
so that your almsgiving may be secret.

Jesus knows that it is easier at first to do things for the wrong motivation rather than the right one. He knows that is seems like a more attainable benefit and a low hanging fruit. He knows, therefore, that we must guard against such motivations if we want to grow in maturity as his disciples. If our right hand notices what the left is doing it means we have lost our focus on loving others for the sake of God and have begun thinking about ourselves and what we can get. But what one hand of ours can get on a human level when we give is not very much, and does not last. It is actually a much better result to be repaid by the Father than by fleeting approval in the sight of others. 

When you pray, do not be like the hypocrites,
who love to stand and pray in the synagogues and on street corners
so that others may see them.

There are many of us within the Church of Christ whose motivations for our piety are mixed. On the one hand we love Jesus and want to respond to him on the basis of that love. But as we do so we tend to experience others thinking highly of us, as though our devotion were somehow that result of our own doing, or a sign of our superiority. And while we know this to be false we nevertheless enjoy the attention. This leads us to be motivated to seek more of this attention going forward. It can be even more subtle. Our prayer in the liturgy, our singing, our gestures and genuflections, can all be virtue signaling. If we are the type to insist on perfection we can enjoy when others notice, even if they aren't impressed. We can then think how much better we are because we do everything with such regard for the rubrics. If we are the type to take a more loose and laid back approach we may still find occasion to judge others who do things differently, perhaps as legalists that don't really know what Christianity is all about. There is actually a minefield of misplaced motivations. There is only one that is actually correct. We are meant to be motivated by our desire to be seen, not by others, but by the Father. The reward we want to seek is the one that only he himself can give.

When you fast, do not look gloomy like the hypocrites.
They neglect their appearance,
so that they may appear to others to be fasting.

When we do hard work for the sake of charity we tend to want others to be sympathetic. This is in some ways a natural human impulse. The support of those with whom we are in fellowship can actually build us back up to go out again and get after it. But when this motivation predominates it becomes another kind of limitation. People may be initially impressed and sympathetic with us. But as we do the same things again in the future they may be less so. We might feel the need to increasingly punish ourselves to achieve the same level of human sympathy. If people cease to be impressed no matter what we do, what then happens to our work? Do we then minimize it, or even stop it entirely? 

And your Father who sees what is hidden will repay you.

What humans can offer us as repayment for our works of service is sometimes very readily attainable but is ultimately a recipe for disappointment. We should instead learn and train ourselves to seek the repayment that only God can provide. This repayment is not natural but spiritual. When our motivation is love of God our reward is growing in that love. It's a reward that is baked in to the logic of love that is at the very heart of the universe. Love, in this sense at least, really is its own reward.

Sonicflood - In The Secret

17 June 2025 - be my neighbor

Today's Readings
(Audio)

You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.

It seems that we have arrived at a world where neighbor is narrowly defined, and enemy broadly. Neighbor, as those with whom one has almost complete ideological agreement. It is no longer necessarily to family or tribe or nation that we feel compelled to show generosity. It is only those useful who are useful to us in our cause and who validate what we believe to be true. In proof of which we can see how clearly such modern ideologies can cut through and divide families. Enemies then become anyone who might potentially prove us wrong, or who might object to the way we feel that the world ought to be run. 

We claim for ourselves and our political beliefs the prerogative of allegiance that really ought only belong to Christ. It is proper for belief in Christ to divide people, even families from one another, at least initially. But this is the result of a belief that is vastly different from political beliefs because it is ordered not to the destruction of enemies, but to loving them, and to their ultimate conversion. It divides only for the sake of the greatest possible eventual unity.

making known to us the mystery of his will, according to his purpose, which he set forth in Christ as a plan for the fullness of time, to unite all things in him, things in heaven and things on earth (see Ephesians 1:9-1).

Because we fail to see our common humanity and God directed destiny we fail to regard every creature made in the image of God as our neighbor, although that is what they are. And so Jesus tells us, "love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you". He says this to eliminate the potential objections against loving people who either seem to be doing nothing for us or actively working to undermine us. He is trying to help us remove the selfish utilitarianism from our motives.  

Even if we had a properly broad definition of neighbor we would still end up with some number who seemed to be our enemies, fighting against us, or even potentially against God. We would then tend to lump these together to excuse ourselves from the demands of charity toward them. But if God himself loves his enemies should we not do so as well? And if those who hate or live in a way that is opposed to God deserve love how much more those whose opposition is only against us as individuals?

For if while we were enemies we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more, now that we are reconciled, shall we be saved by his life (see Romans 5:10).

Ultimately we are not called to help our enemies win elections. We are however called to love them unto God and to eternal life with him. But we can not do this well or consistently if we have blind spots that make us fail even in basic civility toward them. So we ask ourselves, where are our blind spots? Or, are the people whom, if they received a blessing, we would find it repugnant, just because of who they are? God himself is the one who makes the sun to rise on them and the rain to fall on them. How then can we think ourselves important enough to wish to see them excluded from any good things, natural or supernatural?

So be perfect, just as your heavenly Father is perfect.

God is lacking nothing, and works constantly in his creation to draw all things back to himself. We share in this perfection of his when we help become a part of that gravity. Our perfection is lacking when our kindness and compassion is limited or constrained. Our perfection is complete when we love all others whom God loves because he himself loves them. This is no idle sentiment, but is synonymous with being merciful, just as the Father as merciful (see Luke 6:36).

"The Bible tells us to love our neighbors, and also to love our enemies; probably because they are generally the same people." 

- GK Chesterton

Newsboys - Love One Another 

16 June 2025 - rights or wrong?

Today's Readings
(Audio) 

You have heard that it was said,
An eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth.

The legal doctrine of an eye for an eye was meant to put a check on unrestrained retribution. It meant that the punishment ought to correspond in some way to the crime. What to us now sounds somewhat primitive had, at the time, a civilizing influence on society. Yet what was meant for the protection of the civil order was being used to justify private retribution. Jesus insisted that this was inappropriate in the context of private individuals. But he took it further, toward the opposite extreme. People would sometimes use their legal rights to justify a lack of charity. But Jesus said that for the sake of charity people should be prepared to lay down their rights.

But I say to you, offer no resistance to one who is evil.
When someone strikes you on your right cheek,
turn the other one to him as well.

It is so easy for an insult like a slap, which typically does no lasting damage, can mark the end of dialog. Things get heated to that point and then both parties are ready to cut off all relations. But what if there is a reason to pursue relationship that matters more than our pride? How can we expect to share the Gospel if we are so easily triggered and turned aside? This is no justification for domestic violence. It does not mean that one should simply enable another's sinful aggression. But it does mean that there is sometimes a greater good at stake that makes it necessary to endure that aggression with calm dignity.

If anyone wants to go to law with you over your tunic,
hand him your cloak as well.

When people start insisting on taking from us what is our own we quickly put up our walls of defense and give only as little as we must. But what if people genuinely need what we have to give? Will we turn them away because they seem first presumptuous and then ungrateful? What if they really do need something that we can provide? Ought we hold back because of how they asked, demanding rather than groveling at our feet? What if they have been subject to privation throughout their lives? Would this not explain why they might now feel entitled and appear demanding?

Should anyone press you into service for one mile,
go with him for two miles.

When we are forced into service instead of volunteering most of us probably tend to do the least possible. But would doing more sometimes accomplish more? Perhaps it would do no harm to society to aid even the Roman occupation while helping to convince individual Romans of the unique charity and concern proper to Christians. Going the extra mile might be a way for our lives to preach, or at least make them wonder what is different about us. This is not to say that it would be a good idea to be complicit in actual evil, as though we should collaborate with a Nazi regime. But even members of evil regimes are still loved by God and deserve our love as well. Not a love that enables self-destruction, but a love that shows a still more excellent way (see First Corinthians 12:31).

Give to the one who asks of you,
and do not turn your back on one who wants to borrow.

All of these teachings of Jesus seem difficult and impractical. But we must remember that it was Jesus himself who put them all into practice and demonstrated them for us. He was the one of whom Isaiah wrote, "I gave my back to the smiters, and my cheeks to them that plucked off the hair: I hid not my face from shame and spitting" (see Isaiah 50:6). He did not withhold his clothing from the guards who divided his garments by casting lots (see Matthew 27:25). He was pressed into the service of carrying his own cross all the way to Calvary and did not object. It all seemed like a recipe for failure. But it was in fact how he would go on to the victory of the cross from which he would draw all peoples to himself. At other times Jesus reminded his disciples that they too would need to take up their crosses and come after him. Today his teaching shows what forms such discipleship must sometimes take. We may not be able to always give everything to everyone. But we must be prepared to give what we can when we can if we want to follow the example of our Lord. This seems to be what how Paul described his own mission in our first reading today:

We cause no one to stumble in anything,
in order that no fault may be found with our ministry;
on the contrary, in everything we commend ourselves
as ministers of God, through much endurance,
in afflictions, hardships, constraints,
beatings, imprisonments, riots,
labors, vigils, fasts;
by purity, knowledge, patience, kindness,
in the Holy Spirit, in unfeigned love, in truthful speech,
in the power of God

Hillsong - To Be Like You

15 June 2025 - the three in one

Today's Readings
(Audio)

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

Jesus did not immediately launch into a lecture on the finer points of Trinitarian theology. Rather, he presented that theology as a lived reality by the way he lived in relationship to his Father and to the Spirit whom they shared. He showed that he was one who was truly a divine person, capable of every divine prerogative including forgiveness of sins. Yet no one ever lived in such complete dependence on and obedience to God the Father as Jesus did. He was God, yes. But he was also God from God. The Spirit too, was like this. He had fullness of divinity within himself, but was clearly the Spirit of both the Father and of the Son. Hence it was given to him to take from what Jesus and the Father had in common and declare it to the disciples. Everything that the Father had belonged to Jesus. So too did everything that belonged to them both also belonged to the Spirit. 

The human nature of Jesus shows how created beings can participate in the life of the Trinity. Observing his life helps us to realize that the Trinity isn't trivial, something to be understood for the sake of academic knowledge. It is rather a living reality, one which can alone give completion to our lives. Nothing defined Jesus more than his relationship to his Father in the Spirit. We are meant to share in the Sonship of Jesus, crying out "Abba! Father!" through the Holy Spirit just as he did. The Spirit makes us by adoption what the Son is by nature. 

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

The Spirit can help us to study. But this is not the primary way he guides us into all truth. Rather he does so by being our point of access to the life of God, breathed into us, making us new creations. It is by living life under his power and by his direction that we come to a deeper understanding of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, one that is based on participation more than rational comprehension.  The more we live from this reality the greater are the depths to which we can go. We may say of it that in this case loves precedes understanding. But as to understanding, we sometimes find the necessity to speak and try to organize the words we use to talk about this mystery, putting guardrails in place so we don't confuse ourselves too much when we try to speak of what we first experience. Speaking of it wrongly tends to lead to heresy, which has consequences that affect not only our rationality but also the way we live out our spiritual lives. There is nothing so fundamental to Christianity as the Trinity. And so any mistakes about it will impact its ability to be the source from which God's love is poured out into the world. 

The Holy Spirit wants to draw us deeper and deeper into the mystery of God. He wants to guide us into all truth by making the truth something that is a lived experiential reality for us. He has the power to enliven the pages of Scripture and the teachings of Tradition so that they become revelation in the hearts of believers, to the point where believers' lives, and not just the words, speak of the glory of God.

Graham Kendrick - We Believe