7 July 2014 - reconnect
We are accustomed to feeling a disconnect from bible times. We read of amazing things happening.
She said to herself, “If only I can touch his cloak, I shall be cured.”
Jesus turned around and saw her, and said,
“Courage, daughter! Your faith has saved you.”
And from that hour the woman was cured.
And perhaps we do not see those same things happening around us. But why? Jesus tells his disciples that they will do greater works than even his own (cf. 14:12). He tells us that his disciples will be known by the miraculous signs that accompany those who believe (cf. Mar. 16:17). Paul puts this into practice with proclamations which "were not with persuasive (words of) wisdom, but with a demonstration of spirit and power so that your faith might rest not on human wisdom but on the power of God."
These works are not just for a past generation. They are for ours as well.
Generation after generation praises your works
and proclaims your might.
They speak of the splendor of your glorious majesty
and tell of your wondrous works.
So why do we stop discoursing about the power of his terrible deeds in our own time? Why does his greatness become something abstract and lifeless? When we try to spread his fame and sing of his justice, why does it sound like it has so little to do with our own times? The LORD is not different. He is the same LORD in whom there is no shadow of change (cf. Jam. 1:17).
The LORD is gracious and merciful,
slow to anger and of great kindness.
The LORD is good to all
and compassionate toward all his works.
We are afraid of the Holy Spirit. Welcoming the Holy Spirit is playing with fire. It is to welcome a force entirely beyond our ability to control. He may choose to do things that make us uncomfortable. He may reach out to people that we would neglect. And at other times he might not reach out when we would.
“Go away! The girl is not dead but sleeping.”
And they ridiculed him.
Even with the Holy Spirit we encounter situations where the world looks like it is proceeding as it did before Jesus, as it has gone on in many places since then. It ridicules the apparent powerlessness of God. But if God allows this girl to experience that which the world considers death it is only so that the Holy Spirit can demonstrate that the game has changed.
When the crowd was put out, he came and took her by the hand,
and the little girl arose.
And news of this spread throughout all that land.
But we have to be willing to accept the ridicule. We have to be willing to seem powerless even while we believe that God's power is absolute. We have to be able to see the appearance of a world that goes on as it has, to see suffering, dying, and death, and to not let this change our expectations of Jesus. We must not let it change the expectations we have for the power of his Holy Spirit in us.
But our expectations have been muddled. So let us listen to the LORD as he draws us back.
I will allure her;
I will lead her into the desert
and speak to her heart.
She shall respond there as in the days of her youth,
when she came up from the land of Egypt.
Here in the desert God has more direct access to our hearts. Here the world's insistence on its own finality begins to fade. Here we no longer look to the world and its solutions, its "baal" but we begin to trust in the LORD as our "husband". Our bond to him is revealed to be forever, our bond to the world transitory and passing.
I will espouse you in fidelity,
and you shall know the LORD.
Monday, July 7, 2014
Sunday, July 6, 2014
6 July 2014 - little ones
6 July 2014 - little ones
Rejoice heartily, O daughter Zion,
shout for joy, O daughter Jerusalem!
See, your king shall come to you;
a just savior is he,
meek, and riding on an ass,
on a colt, the foal of an ass.
King Jesus comes to us. He does not come as one who conquers, but as one who is welcomed. He does not force his way into our hearts. He asks us to welcome him. If we realize how good his presence is, how much we need what he does in us, we will join the crowds in shouting "Hosanna to the Son of David" when he comes.
He is the king of heaven yet he stoops down to meet us where we are. He is in the form of God but doesn't grasp equality with God if it means that he is thereby able to reveal the Father to us. He allows himself to become poor that we might become rich. Jesus has this meekness because, in a sense, he is the little one of the Father. He is able to trust the Father entirely and therefore to offer himself completely. He doesn't have to insist on his own rights because he knows the Father protects him.
By becoming a little one Jesus reveals the greatness of the Father. But it is not only indirectly that he reveals this. He invites us to share in his own relationship with the Father. He invites us to embrace his littleness and his trust. Only if we do will the Father truly be revealed to us. Only when he is thus revealed will we find rest.
“Come to me, all you who labor and are burdened,
and I will give you rest.
When we do come to Jesus, when we welcome him with shouts of Hosanna, his Spirit begins to dwell in us. We can truly embrace what it means to be little ones. Obedience, even obedience unto death, is possible if we walk in the yoke of Jesus, the yoke from his loving Father. This is true because we know that no matter what we face, we can trust the Father to get us through it. Even death doesn't have the last word.
If the Spirit of the one who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you,
the one who raised Christ from the dead
will give life to your mortal bodies also,
through his Spirit that dwells in you.
We once lived according to the flesh. But that way of life leads to death. And if we face death on our own apart from the Spirit we cannot make it through to the other side. Fortunately, God delights to give us his Spirit, so that we can embrace his yoke, and receive life even to our mortal bodies through his Spirit in us.
We are not consistently faithful or holy. We are constantly falling. We are constantly bowed down in failure. But we have the ever greater Father in heaven to support us. And he is all we need.
The LORD is faithful in all his words
and holy in all his works.
The LORD lifts up all who are falling
and raises up all who are bowed down.
Rejoice heartily, O daughter Zion,
shout for joy, O daughter Jerusalem!
See, your king shall come to you;
a just savior is he,
meek, and riding on an ass,
on a colt, the foal of an ass.
King Jesus comes to us. He does not come as one who conquers, but as one who is welcomed. He does not force his way into our hearts. He asks us to welcome him. If we realize how good his presence is, how much we need what he does in us, we will join the crowds in shouting "Hosanna to the Son of David" when he comes.
He is the king of heaven yet he stoops down to meet us where we are. He is in the form of God but doesn't grasp equality with God if it means that he is thereby able to reveal the Father to us. He allows himself to become poor that we might become rich. Jesus has this meekness because, in a sense, he is the little one of the Father. He is able to trust the Father entirely and therefore to offer himself completely. He doesn't have to insist on his own rights because he knows the Father protects him.
By becoming a little one Jesus reveals the greatness of the Father. But it is not only indirectly that he reveals this. He invites us to share in his own relationship with the Father. He invites us to embrace his littleness and his trust. Only if we do will the Father truly be revealed to us. Only when he is thus revealed will we find rest.
“Come to me, all you who labor and are burdened,
and I will give you rest.
When we do come to Jesus, when we welcome him with shouts of Hosanna, his Spirit begins to dwell in us. We can truly embrace what it means to be little ones. Obedience, even obedience unto death, is possible if we walk in the yoke of Jesus, the yoke from his loving Father. This is true because we know that no matter what we face, we can trust the Father to get us through it. Even death doesn't have the last word.
If the Spirit of the one who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you,
the one who raised Christ from the dead
will give life to your mortal bodies also,
through his Spirit that dwells in you.
We once lived according to the flesh. But that way of life leads to death. And if we face death on our own apart from the Spirit we cannot make it through to the other side. Fortunately, God delights to give us his Spirit, so that we can embrace his yoke, and receive life even to our mortal bodies through his Spirit in us.
We are not consistently faithful or holy. We are constantly falling. We are constantly bowed down in failure. But we have the ever greater Father in heaven to support us. And he is all we need.
The LORD is faithful in all his words
and holy in all his works.
The LORD lifts up all who are falling
and raises up all who are bowed down.
Saturday, July 5, 2014
5 July 2014 - bridegroom with us
5 July 2014 - bridegroom with us
Jesus answered them, “Can the wedding guests mourn
as long as the bridegroom is with them?
This makes sense when we hear it. But Jesus is claiming a centrality that might be shocking to his listeners. The metric for whether or not it is time to fast doesn't have anything to do with old cloaks or old wineskins anymore. It only has to do with how close he is.
Before Jesus there may have been any number of reasons to fast. People might fast in order to try to grow in holiness, to acknowledge God, to move toward the various aspects of virtue. Each reason implicitly chose some greater good over lesser ones. But now, with Jesus, the greatest good of all has come.
The LORD himself will give his benefits;
our land shall yield its increase.
Justice shall walk before him,
and salvation, along the way of his steps.
He himself brings our joy. The rhythms of fasting cannot make sense without reference to him. Indeed we read yesterday about a famine of the word of God. So when the word of God is present in all of his abundance we obviously need to take advantage of that and feast. Yet he does provide that there is a place for fasting in the Christian life. In our lives and in the liturgical life of the Church we live out a rhythm of greater and lesser distance from him. And it is appropriate to acknowledge his supreme good by fasting from lesser goods at those times when he is distant. We don't try to partially assuage the gap his distance creates with lesser goods. We let ourselves hunger for him, knowing that he will fill us.
Without him at the center no other goods we choose will restore us in the way that we need to be restored. Only Jesus sees that full blueprint for creation. Only he sees the entire plan. He knows just where to store the new wine he brings. He doesn't clothe us in patched robes of the Old Covenant. He clothes us in new baptismal garments. We are clothed with Christ himself (cf. Gal. 3:27).
I will bring about the restoration of my people Israel;
they shall rebuild and inhabit their ruined cities,
Plant vineyards and drink the wine,
set out gardens and eat the fruits.
I will plant them upon their own ground;
never again shall they be plucked
From the land I have given them,
say I, the LORD, your God.
The LORD is speaking to us of peace. It isn't a peace we can create in ourselves, no matter how well we practice asceticism. Let us listen so that we can receive all he wants to give us.
I will hear what God proclaims;
the LORD–for he proclaims peace to his people.
Near indeed is his salvation to those who fear him,
glory dwelling in our land.
Jesus answered them, “Can the wedding guests mourn
as long as the bridegroom is with them?
This makes sense when we hear it. But Jesus is claiming a centrality that might be shocking to his listeners. The metric for whether or not it is time to fast doesn't have anything to do with old cloaks or old wineskins anymore. It only has to do with how close he is.
Before Jesus there may have been any number of reasons to fast. People might fast in order to try to grow in holiness, to acknowledge God, to move toward the various aspects of virtue. Each reason implicitly chose some greater good over lesser ones. But now, with Jesus, the greatest good of all has come.
The LORD himself will give his benefits;
our land shall yield its increase.
Justice shall walk before him,
and salvation, along the way of his steps.
He himself brings our joy. The rhythms of fasting cannot make sense without reference to him. Indeed we read yesterday about a famine of the word of God. So when the word of God is present in all of his abundance we obviously need to take advantage of that and feast. Yet he does provide that there is a place for fasting in the Christian life. In our lives and in the liturgical life of the Church we live out a rhythm of greater and lesser distance from him. And it is appropriate to acknowledge his supreme good by fasting from lesser goods at those times when he is distant. We don't try to partially assuage the gap his distance creates with lesser goods. We let ourselves hunger for him, knowing that he will fill us.
Without him at the center no other goods we choose will restore us in the way that we need to be restored. Only Jesus sees that full blueprint for creation. Only he sees the entire plan. He knows just where to store the new wine he brings. He doesn't clothe us in patched robes of the Old Covenant. He clothes us in new baptismal garments. We are clothed with Christ himself (cf. Gal. 3:27).
I will bring about the restoration of my people Israel;
they shall rebuild and inhabit their ruined cities,
Plant vineyards and drink the wine,
set out gardens and eat the fruits.
I will plant them upon their own ground;
never again shall they be plucked
From the land I have given them,
say I, the LORD, your God.
The LORD is speaking to us of peace. It isn't a peace we can create in ourselves, no matter how well we practice asceticism. Let us listen so that we can receive all he wants to give us.
I will hear what God proclaims;
the LORD–for he proclaims peace to his people.
Near indeed is his salvation to those who fear him,
glory dwelling in our land.
Friday, July 4, 2014
4 July 2014 - freedom in dependence
4 July 2014 - freedom in dependence
“Those who are well do not need a physician, but the sick do.
Go and learn the meaning of the words,
I desire mercy, not sacrifice.
I did not come to call the righteous but sinners.”
We're all sick. We're all sinners in need of mercy. All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God (cf. Rom. 3:23). We are all saved by grace as a gift, leaving nothing about which we can boast (cf. Eph. 2:8). The more we realize our need, what we're like on our own, apart from Christ, the more quickly we respond we he says, "Follow me."
Many of us can relate to the condemnation Matthew experiences on all sides. The Pharisees ask the disciples why Jesus eats with sinners and tax collectors. They make Matthew out to be a blemish on the reputation of Jesus. Matthew's whole life before the invitation of Christ is marked by this isolation and rejection. Being a tax collector is known to reward the selfish. Tax collectors profit over and above the taxes they collect. This is more or less expected, but there is little to stop them from taking more and more and more. It is probably that at one time Matthew indulges such selfishness in himself. Since he becomes a tax collector at all we may assume that his heart is at one time marked by greed like those in the first reading.
“When will the new moon be over,” you ask,
“that we may sell our grain,
and the sabbath, that we may display the wheat?”
We will diminish the containers for measuring,
add to the weights,
and fix our scales for cheating!
But it seems that he is now hungry for the word of God. He is experiencing the hunger and thirst that comes from a lack of the word. His life apart from Christ is famine of hearing the word of the LORD. He is tired of being lonely. He is tired of thinking that he deserves the loneliness he feels. But though he might "wander from sea to sea and rove from north to the east" he is unable to find a way out on his own. He is stuck on his own. But Jesus does not leave him on his own.
As Jesus passed by,
he saw a man named Matthew sitting at the customs post.
He said to him, “Follow me.”
We talk about coming to Jesus but Matthew doesn't come to Jesus. Jesus comes to Matthew. And with the simple words, "Follow me", he invites Matthew to make a break with all his past life. He is invited to step out of a life of being dead in sin (cf. Eph. 2:5). He is invited to come out from the kingdom of darkness into the kingdom of light (cf. Col. 1:12-13). The way of escape is open, and Matthew refuses to miss the opportunity. The invitation, "Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand" (cf. Mat. 3:2) does not feel like condemnation to Matthew. To him, the way to freedom is now open. In place of the famine of the word of God, Matthew is now able to follow the one who is that word incarnate.
One does not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God.
Matthew begins to realize that those who seek Jesus "with all their heart" are the blessed who are empowered to "observe his decrees", who do not stray from his commands. In following Jesus, Matthew even begins to long for God's ordinances. He longs for his precepts but can now ask "in your justice give me life." What he couldn't do on his own he is now empowered to do by following Jesus. Following Jesus both increases the "yearning" for righteousness, and at the same time increases his the Spirit power inside him to truly walk in his ways.
We all need the divine physician to change our hearts from stony hearts to hearts of flesh. He does this by his Spirit in us (cf. Eze. 36:26). We all have areas of our lives where we still live according to the flesh, according to the old man, slaves to the powers of the age. We are all still tax collectors in one way or another. Jesus invites us, "Follow me". Let us respond to his invitation, knowing that when we try to follow he gives us the power to do so, to "walk by the Spirit". (cf. Gal. 5:16)
“Those who are well do not need a physician, but the sick do.
Go and learn the meaning of the words,
I desire mercy, not sacrifice.
I did not come to call the righteous but sinners.”
We're all sick. We're all sinners in need of mercy. All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God (cf. Rom. 3:23). We are all saved by grace as a gift, leaving nothing about which we can boast (cf. Eph. 2:8). The more we realize our need, what we're like on our own, apart from Christ, the more quickly we respond we he says, "Follow me."
Many of us can relate to the condemnation Matthew experiences on all sides. The Pharisees ask the disciples why Jesus eats with sinners and tax collectors. They make Matthew out to be a blemish on the reputation of Jesus. Matthew's whole life before the invitation of Christ is marked by this isolation and rejection. Being a tax collector is known to reward the selfish. Tax collectors profit over and above the taxes they collect. This is more or less expected, but there is little to stop them from taking more and more and more. It is probably that at one time Matthew indulges such selfishness in himself. Since he becomes a tax collector at all we may assume that his heart is at one time marked by greed like those in the first reading.
“When will the new moon be over,” you ask,
“that we may sell our grain,
and the sabbath, that we may display the wheat?”
We will diminish the containers for measuring,
add to the weights,
and fix our scales for cheating!
But it seems that he is now hungry for the word of God. He is experiencing the hunger and thirst that comes from a lack of the word. His life apart from Christ is famine of hearing the word of the LORD. He is tired of being lonely. He is tired of thinking that he deserves the loneliness he feels. But though he might "wander from sea to sea and rove from north to the east" he is unable to find a way out on his own. He is stuck on his own. But Jesus does not leave him on his own.
As Jesus passed by,
he saw a man named Matthew sitting at the customs post.
He said to him, “Follow me.”
We talk about coming to Jesus but Matthew doesn't come to Jesus. Jesus comes to Matthew. And with the simple words, "Follow me", he invites Matthew to make a break with all his past life. He is invited to step out of a life of being dead in sin (cf. Eph. 2:5). He is invited to come out from the kingdom of darkness into the kingdom of light (cf. Col. 1:12-13). The way of escape is open, and Matthew refuses to miss the opportunity. The invitation, "Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand" (cf. Mat. 3:2) does not feel like condemnation to Matthew. To him, the way to freedom is now open. In place of the famine of the word of God, Matthew is now able to follow the one who is that word incarnate.
One does not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God.
Matthew begins to realize that those who seek Jesus "with all their heart" are the blessed who are empowered to "observe his decrees", who do not stray from his commands. In following Jesus, Matthew even begins to long for God's ordinances. He longs for his precepts but can now ask "in your justice give me life." What he couldn't do on his own he is now empowered to do by following Jesus. Following Jesus both increases the "yearning" for righteousness, and at the same time increases his the Spirit power inside him to truly walk in his ways.
We all need the divine physician to change our hearts from stony hearts to hearts of flesh. He does this by his Spirit in us (cf. Eze. 36:26). We all have areas of our lives where we still live according to the flesh, according to the old man, slaves to the powers of the age. We are all still tax collectors in one way or another. Jesus invites us, "Follow me". Let us respond to his invitation, knowing that when we try to follow he gives us the power to do so, to "walk by the Spirit". (cf. Gal. 5:16)
Thursday, July 3, 2014
3 July 2014 - seen and unseen
3 July 2014 - seen and unseen
So the other disciples said to him, “We have seen the Lord.”
The disciples mean well, of course. They want to share this life changing experience with Thomas even though he wasn't there. But their enthusiasm backfires.
“Unless I see the mark of the nails in his hands
and put my finger into the nailmarks
and put my hand into his side, I will not believe.”
Thomas is a mix of zeal and doubt before the events of the Passion. He says, "Let us also go, that we may die with Him" (cf. Joh. 11:16) There is faith in this statement, the desire to stay near Jesus, but also pessimism that it will all come to nothing. This is how St. Cyril of Alexandria interprets it, "The language of Thomas has indeed zeal, but it also has timidity; it was the outcome of devout feeling, but it was mixed with littleness of faith." And now the Passion seems to be the final insult. The hands and feet of Jesus are pierced. His side is opened. This is all too real for Thomas. Not only does all apparently end in failure but he can't even make himself follow Jesus to the cross. He can't die with him as he had said before. He had hoped that Jesus was to be the one who would restore Israel, just as did the disciples on the road to Emmaus (cf. Luk. 21:24). But now, in light of all this, how can that ever happen? Thomas now has to remain alive to face this apparently hopeless world.
This is the state of his heart when he is told of the resurrection. To a heart like this the enthusiasm of the others feels more like one more insult. It seems to ignore his obvious pain. He feels isolated from the others, like a stranger and a sojourner, rather than their fellow citizens. If there was to be a resurrection, he might think, why would he be the last to know? Was he loved less than the others? No! Listen to the tenderness with which Jesus reveals himself to Thomas:
Then he said to Thomas, “Put your finger here and see my hands,
and bring your hand and put it into my side,
and do not be unbelieving, but believe.”
Jesus does not simply allow this situation where Thomas doubts and is the last to know. He uses it as a blessing to all future generations. Saint Gregory the Great tells us:
He delights to reveal himself. He doesn't always do it on our schedule as we would prefer. But it is more than worth it when he does come. Locked doors won't keep him out. Even our doubts won't keep him out if we truly want to know him. He is thinking of you and I when he says, "Blessed are those who have not seen and have believed.” He allows Thomas to doubt because from his doubt we are more able to believe. What wondrous good can he bring even from our doubts? It is possible that even in our doubts he is preparing our hearts for mission. He is instilling in us the enthusiasm of the psalmist.
Praise the LORD, all you nations;
glorify him, all you peoples!
For steadfast is his kindness for us,
and the fidelity of the LORD endures forever.
After his encounter with the risen Christ Thomas, we can imagine Thomas reciting that psalm joyfully. It is said he goes as far as India spreading the Gospel. With him let us "Go out to all the world and tell the Good News."
So the other disciples said to him, “We have seen the Lord.”
The disciples mean well, of course. They want to share this life changing experience with Thomas even though he wasn't there. But their enthusiasm backfires.
“Unless I see the mark of the nails in his hands
and put my finger into the nailmarks
and put my hand into his side, I will not believe.”
Thomas is a mix of zeal and doubt before the events of the Passion. He says, "Let us also go, that we may die with Him" (cf. Joh. 11:16) There is faith in this statement, the desire to stay near Jesus, but also pessimism that it will all come to nothing. This is how St. Cyril of Alexandria interprets it, "The language of Thomas has indeed zeal, but it also has timidity; it was the outcome of devout feeling, but it was mixed with littleness of faith." And now the Passion seems to be the final insult. The hands and feet of Jesus are pierced. His side is opened. This is all too real for Thomas. Not only does all apparently end in failure but he can't even make himself follow Jesus to the cross. He can't die with him as he had said before. He had hoped that Jesus was to be the one who would restore Israel, just as did the disciples on the road to Emmaus (cf. Luk. 21:24). But now, in light of all this, how can that ever happen? Thomas now has to remain alive to face this apparently hopeless world.
This is the state of his heart when he is told of the resurrection. To a heart like this the enthusiasm of the others feels more like one more insult. It seems to ignore his obvious pain. He feels isolated from the others, like a stranger and a sojourner, rather than their fellow citizens. If there was to be a resurrection, he might think, why would he be the last to know? Was he loved less than the others? No! Listen to the tenderness with which Jesus reveals himself to Thomas:
Then he said to Thomas, “Put your finger here and see my hands,
and bring your hand and put it into my side,
and do not be unbelieving, but believe.”
Jesus does not simply allow this situation where Thomas doubts and is the last to know. He uses it as a blessing to all future generations. Saint Gregory the Great tells us:
The disbelief of Thomas has done more for our faith than the faith of the other disciples. As he touches Christ and is won over to belief, every doubt is cast aside and our faith is strengthened. So the disciple who doubted, then felt Christ’s wounds, becomes a witness to the reality of the resurrection.The disciples by themselves are unable to give this experience. They must welcome Jesus into their midst to reveal himself to Thomas. As it was with Peter, flesh and blood cannot reveal this. Thomas does need to come to the other disciples. This is the place where Jesus wants to reveal himself. He wants to build a dwelling place of God in the Spirit, not of just one, but of many living stones. He is building a whole structure, a sacred temple, but he himself must always be the capstone which holds it all together. He himself is the only firm foundation. Only in his presence can we say, “My Lord and my God!” And without that confession everything falls apart.
He delights to reveal himself. He doesn't always do it on our schedule as we would prefer. But it is more than worth it when he does come. Locked doors won't keep him out. Even our doubts won't keep him out if we truly want to know him. He is thinking of you and I when he says, "Blessed are those who have not seen and have believed.” He allows Thomas to doubt because from his doubt we are more able to believe. What wondrous good can he bring even from our doubts? It is possible that even in our doubts he is preparing our hearts for mission. He is instilling in us the enthusiasm of the psalmist.
Praise the LORD, all you nations;
glorify him, all you peoples!
For steadfast is his kindness for us,
and the fidelity of the LORD endures forever.
After his encounter with the risen Christ Thomas, we can imagine Thomas reciting that psalm joyfully. It is said he goes as far as India spreading the Gospel. With him let us "Go out to all the world and tell the Good News."
Wednesday, July 2, 2014
2 July 2014 - self, upgraded
2 July 2014 - self, upgraded
“Why do you recite my statutes,
and profess my covenant with your mouth,
Though you hate discipline
and cast my words behind you?”
Jesus insists on integrity. He demands continuity between what we profess and what we do. He wants us to be doers of the word and not hearers only (cf. Jam. 1:22). He has strong words condemning Pharisees and Scribes. He says they "preach but they do not practice" (cf. Mat. 23:3) going so far as to call them whitewashed tombs (cf. Mat. 23:27). He doesn't just value what we do but why we do it. It isn't about how we appear in the eyes of others or even really our appearance to ourselves (cf. 1 Cor. 4:4). We are called to take steps to ensure that our motives are not subverted. We are called to pray in our inner rooms, hidden from the world. We are called to give alms, not letting our right hand know what the left is doing. He has no place for empty show, matters of appearance that have nothing to do with holiness.
Insofar as our piety stems from our desire for self-image it stems from pride. It ignores that we are sinners in need of God's mercy, that all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God (cf. Rom. 3:23). Self-image ignores our utter dependence on God. Without God we can do nothing good. As Paul as all too aware, "For I do not do the good I want, but I do the evil I do not want" (cf. Rom 7:20).
We must therefore be wary of an attitude that acts piously because it somehow helps God. We do not feed the most high with our sacrifices. Even when we feed the poor or spread the gospel it is not that we are needed. We are privileged to be allowed to share in his work, to be his partners (cf. 2 Cor. 6:1). We earn nothing thereby and should consider ourselves unprofitable servants (cf. Luk. 17:10).
“If I were hungry, I should not tell you,
for mine are the world and its fullness.
Do I eat the flesh of strong bulls,
or is the blood of goats my drink?”
When we pray, it isn't because he doesn't know what is going on down here. We pray because it is for our good that we be involved and made agents of his grace. He values the relationships that this fosters. He could have created a world in which all individuals were created directly by himself. Instead, he delights to share the task with mothers and fathers. He could havepreached the gospel to the whole world himself. Instead he delights to share it through his family at large, the Church.
Not realizing that he is the source of all things insulates us from the true intimacy to which we are called. We can't help but look down on some and be jealous with others when we believe that we stand on our own strength.
The Son of God is the only one who can drive these demons from our hearts. The demons themselves look around us and see a wide world into which they think they can run. Pride looks within us and thinks it can move from one habit and vice to the next with impunity. The demons imagine that the herd of swine around us and inside us is allied territory into which they can escape. They think that such places are off limits to Jesus. But they are not safe in the swine. Jesus allows no shelter for demons. He drives them back into the very chaos from which they come.
And he said to them, “Go then!”
They came out and entered the swine,
and the whole herd rushed down the steep bank into the sea
where they drowned.
Once we realize that nowhere is safe from the healing hand of Jesus we might be tempted, insofar as our pride is invested in our old self-image, to be afraid.
Thereupon the whole town came out to meet Jesus,
and when they saw him they begged him to leave their district.
This is why we need to take off the old man and put on Christ (cf. Eph. 4:22-24). We need to get invested in the new identity we have through baptism.
We were indeed buried with him through baptism into death, so that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we too might live in newness of life (cf. Rom. 6:4).
He truly wants to show us his saving power. He wants us to let that power free until we "let justice surge like water, and goodness like an unfailing stream." He really wants us to live, to have life abundantly (cf. Joh. 10:10). He wants to be with us, to be Emmanuel for each of us individually. So let us cast off the works of darkness which keep him at a distance. He doesn't want our bulls and goats, he wants our hearts. And our hearts will be ever restless until they rest in the one for whom they are created.
“Why do you recite my statutes,
and profess my covenant with your mouth,
Though you hate discipline
and cast my words behind you?”
Jesus insists on integrity. He demands continuity between what we profess and what we do. He wants us to be doers of the word and not hearers only (cf. Jam. 1:22). He has strong words condemning Pharisees and Scribes. He says they "preach but they do not practice" (cf. Mat. 23:3) going so far as to call them whitewashed tombs (cf. Mat. 23:27). He doesn't just value what we do but why we do it. It isn't about how we appear in the eyes of others or even really our appearance to ourselves (cf. 1 Cor. 4:4). We are called to take steps to ensure that our motives are not subverted. We are called to pray in our inner rooms, hidden from the world. We are called to give alms, not letting our right hand know what the left is doing. He has no place for empty show, matters of appearance that have nothing to do with holiness.
Insofar as our piety stems from our desire for self-image it stems from pride. It ignores that we are sinners in need of God's mercy, that all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God (cf. Rom. 3:23). Self-image ignores our utter dependence on God. Without God we can do nothing good. As Paul as all too aware, "For I do not do the good I want, but I do the evil I do not want" (cf. Rom 7:20).
We must therefore be wary of an attitude that acts piously because it somehow helps God. We do not feed the most high with our sacrifices. Even when we feed the poor or spread the gospel it is not that we are needed. We are privileged to be allowed to share in his work, to be his partners (cf. 2 Cor. 6:1). We earn nothing thereby and should consider ourselves unprofitable servants (cf. Luk. 17:10).
“If I were hungry, I should not tell you,
for mine are the world and its fullness.
Do I eat the flesh of strong bulls,
or is the blood of goats my drink?”
When we pray, it isn't because he doesn't know what is going on down here. We pray because it is for our good that we be involved and made agents of his grace. He values the relationships that this fosters. He could have created a world in which all individuals were created directly by himself. Instead, he delights to share the task with mothers and fathers. He could havepreached the gospel to the whole world himself. Instead he delights to share it through his family at large, the Church.
Not realizing that he is the source of all things insulates us from the true intimacy to which we are called. We can't help but look down on some and be jealous with others when we believe that we stand on our own strength.
The Son of God is the only one who can drive these demons from our hearts. The demons themselves look around us and see a wide world into which they think they can run. Pride looks within us and thinks it can move from one habit and vice to the next with impunity. The demons imagine that the herd of swine around us and inside us is allied territory into which they can escape. They think that such places are off limits to Jesus. But they are not safe in the swine. Jesus allows no shelter for demons. He drives them back into the very chaos from which they come.
And he said to them, “Go then!”
They came out and entered the swine,
and the whole herd rushed down the steep bank into the sea
where they drowned.
Once we realize that nowhere is safe from the healing hand of Jesus we might be tempted, insofar as our pride is invested in our old self-image, to be afraid.
Thereupon the whole town came out to meet Jesus,
and when they saw him they begged him to leave their district.
This is why we need to take off the old man and put on Christ (cf. Eph. 4:22-24). We need to get invested in the new identity we have through baptism.
We were indeed buried with him through baptism into death, so that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we too might live in newness of life (cf. Rom. 6:4).
He truly wants to show us his saving power. He wants us to let that power free until we "let justice surge like water, and goodness like an unfailing stream." He really wants us to live, to have life abundantly (cf. Joh. 10:10). He wants to be with us, to be Emmanuel for each of us individually. So let us cast off the works of darkness which keep him at a distance. He doesn't want our bulls and goats, he wants our hearts. And our hearts will be ever restless until they rest in the one for whom they are created.
Tuesday, July 1, 2014
1 July 2014 - seaworthy
1 July 2014 - seaworthy
I brought upon you such upheaval
as when God overthrew Sodom and Gomorrah:
you were like a brand plucked from the fire;
Yet you returned not to me,
says the LORD.
One reason the LORD allows us to experience upheaval is so that we return to him. When these desolations come we realize how completely we depend on him. Or at least, that is his desire. He wants us to return to him. Insulated by prosperity we start to act in a self-directed, independent way, without reference to God.
So now I will deal with you in my own way, O Israel!
and since I will deal thus with you,
prepare to meet your God, O Israel.
So let us prepare to meet him now before it is too late. Let us enter his house because of his abundant mercy and come back into his presence. Let us worship at his holy temple, in fear of him. Let us continue until he is first in our hearts, until all our decisions reference him, until he is the LORD of our hearts, and then evermore.
But even when the LORD is in our boat the storms still come.
Suddenly a violent storm came up on the sea,
so that the boat was being swamped by waves;
but he was asleep.
How can he sleep, that is, not act, when circumstances make us cry, "We are perishing!"
But even amidst the circumstances, he says to us “Why are you terrified, O you of little faith?” Apparently, having Jesus in our boats, even when he seems to be sleeping, should be more important to us than whatever violent storms we see around us. Even when our boat seems as though it is being swamped by waves, even when we seem to be sinking, when we seem to be doomed, it should mean more to us that Jesus is with us, even asleep, than anything else we see.
The thing is, if our eyes are on Jesus, we don't even need the boat. The boat represents everything we think we need to stay afloat. But we see that Peter is able to step out from the boat and walk above the waves as long as he keeps his gaze on Christ (cf. Mat. 14:29). When he looks at the strong wind of circumstance he sinks.
And so when we doubt the viability of our craft to face the winds and waves of circumstance let us not fear. Jesus is with us. It is enough to keep our eyes on him, even if he seems asleep. If we do, we will not sink. When we let him sleep, when we consciously embrace his apparent inaction, we grow in relationship with him. We can now recognize his presence even when he isn't giving us presents. Imagine if we thought our parents were only near us on Christmas and our birthdays. Yet we treat God this way. When Jesus sleeps we should imitate Therese and let him sleep:
To just to have Jesus near her is now the source of great joy. In due time he will arise, for some people and some circumstances it will not be until what Therese calls "the great final retreat of eternity." But when he does, he will show that these circumstances which seem so dire never truly hold sway. He is always in control.
Then he got up, rebuked the winds and the sea,
and there was great calm.
We can begin to share in the great calm now if we realize that which makes his disciples exclaim, “What sort of man is this, whom even the winds and the sea obey?”
He is the same one of whom the psalmist says:
You still the roaring of the seas,
the roaring of their waves,
the tumult of the peoples (cf. Psa. 65:8).
and
You rule the raging sea;
you still its swelling waves (cf. Psa 89:10).
and
He hushed the storm to silence,
the waves of the sea were stilled (cf. Psa. 107:29)
He is God, and asleep or not, he is always in control and always good.
I brought upon you such upheaval
as when God overthrew Sodom and Gomorrah:
you were like a brand plucked from the fire;
Yet you returned not to me,
says the LORD.
One reason the LORD allows us to experience upheaval is so that we return to him. When these desolations come we realize how completely we depend on him. Or at least, that is his desire. He wants us to return to him. Insulated by prosperity we start to act in a self-directed, independent way, without reference to God.
So now I will deal with you in my own way, O Israel!
and since I will deal thus with you,
prepare to meet your God, O Israel.
So let us prepare to meet him now before it is too late. Let us enter his house because of his abundant mercy and come back into his presence. Let us worship at his holy temple, in fear of him. Let us continue until he is first in our hearts, until all our decisions reference him, until he is the LORD of our hearts, and then evermore.
But even when the LORD is in our boat the storms still come.
Suddenly a violent storm came up on the sea,
so that the boat was being swamped by waves;
but he was asleep.
How can he sleep, that is, not act, when circumstances make us cry, "We are perishing!"
But even amidst the circumstances, he says to us “Why are you terrified, O you of little faith?” Apparently, having Jesus in our boats, even when he seems to be sleeping, should be more important to us than whatever violent storms we see around us. Even when our boat seems as though it is being swamped by waves, even when we seem to be sinking, when we seem to be doomed, it should mean more to us that Jesus is with us, even asleep, than anything else we see.
The thing is, if our eyes are on Jesus, we don't even need the boat. The boat represents everything we think we need to stay afloat. But we see that Peter is able to step out from the boat and walk above the waves as long as he keeps his gaze on Christ (cf. Mat. 14:29). When he looks at the strong wind of circumstance he sinks.
And so when we doubt the viability of our craft to face the winds and waves of circumstance let us not fear. Jesus is with us. It is enough to keep our eyes on him, even if he seems asleep. If we do, we will not sink. When we let him sleep, when we consciously embrace his apparent inaction, we grow in relationship with him. We can now recognize his presence even when he isn't giving us presents. Imagine if we thought our parents were only near us on Christmas and our birthdays. Yet we treat God this way. When Jesus sleeps we should imitate Therese and let him sleep:
I suffered complete spiritual dryness, almost as if I were quite forsaken. As usual, Jesus slept in my little boat. I know that other souls rarely let him sleep peacefully, and he is so wearied by the advances he is always making that he hastens to take advantage of the rest I offer him.In some ways Jesus seems far from her, but just listen to the intimacy of that relationship.
To just to have Jesus near her is now the source of great joy. In due time he will arise, for some people and some circumstances it will not be until what Therese calls "the great final retreat of eternity." But when he does, he will show that these circumstances which seem so dire never truly hold sway. He is always in control.
Then he got up, rebuked the winds and the sea,
and there was great calm.
We can begin to share in the great calm now if we realize that which makes his disciples exclaim, “What sort of man is this, whom even the winds and the sea obey?”
He is the same one of whom the psalmist says:
You still the roaring of the seas,
the roaring of their waves,
the tumult of the peoples (cf. Psa. 65:8).
and
You rule the raging sea;
you still its swelling waves (cf. Psa 89:10).
and
He hushed the storm to silence,
the waves of the sea were stilled (cf. Psa. 107:29)
He is God, and asleep or not, he is always in control and always good.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)