Indeed, it would be fitting to apply Judas's example to all who show contempt for the Word of God and betray him, as it were, by committing sin for the sake of money or for any selfish motive. People who behave in this way appear openly to be calling out to the powers of the enemy who offer worldly gain in return for the sin of betraying God's Word
Matthew 26:14-25 Then one of the twelve, who was called Judas Iscariot, went to the chief priests 15 and said, "What will you give me if I deliver him to you?" And they paid him thirty pieces of silver. 16 And from that moment he sought an opportunity to betray him. 17 Now on the first day of Unleavened Bread the disciples came to Jesus, saying, "Where will you have us prepare for you to eat the Passover?" 18 He said, "Go into the city to a certain one, and say to him, `The Teacher says, My time is at hand; I will keep the Passover at your house with my disciples.'" 19 And the disciples did as Jesus had directed them, and they prepared the Passover. 20 When it was evening, he sat at table with the twelve disciples; 21 and as they were eating, he said, "Truly, I say to you, one of you will betray me." 22 And they were very sorrowful, and began to say to him one after another, "Is it I, Lord?" 23 He answered, "He who has dipped his hand in the dish with me, will betray me. 24 The Son of man goes as it is written of him, but woe to that man by whom the Son of man is betrayed! It would have been better for that man if he had not been born." 25 Judas, who betrayed him, said, "Is it I, Master?" He said to him, "You have said so."
Old Testament Reading: Isaiah 50:4-9 I gave my back to the smiters, and my cheeks to those who pulled out the beard; I hid not my face from shame and spitting. 7 For the Lord GOD helps me; therefore I have not been confounded; therefore I have set my face like a flint, and I know that I shall not be put to shame
Meditation by Don Schwager:
Why did Judas betray his Master? Was his treachery motivated by greed, bitter disappointment with Jesus, or hatred because of disillusionment? It may be that Judas never intended for his Master to die. Maybe he thought Jesus was proceeding too slowly and not acting aggressively enough in setting up his messianic kingdom. Perhaps Judas wanted to force Jesus' hand by compelling him to act. Nonetheless, his tragedy was his refusal to accept Jesus as he was.
Origen, a 3rd century bible scholar and church father, comments on Judas' betrayal: "Let us consider what Judas said to the Jewish priests: What will you give me if I hand him over to you? He was willing to take money in exchange for handing over the Word of God. They do the same thing who accept sensual or worldly goods in exchange for handing over and casting out from their souls the Savior and Word of truth who came to dwell with them. Indeed, it would be fitting to apply Judas's example to all who show contempt for the Word of God and betray him, as it were, by committing sin for the sake of money or for any selfish motive. People who behave in this way appear openly to be calling out to the powers of the enemy who offer worldly gain in return for the sin of betraying God's Word, saying, What will you give me if I hand him over to you? And they gave him thirty pieces of silver. The number of coins they gave Judas was equivalent to the number of years the Savior had sojourned in this world. For at the age of thirty, he was baptized and began to preach the gospel, like Joseph was thirty years old when he began to gather grain for his brothers (Genesis 41:46). Just as at that time the grain was prepared by God for the sons of Israel but given also to the Egyptians, so also the gospel was prepared for the saints but preached also to the unfaithful and wicked." [Commentary on Matthew 78.]
Jesus knew beforehand what would befall him. As Jesus ate the passover meal with his twelve apostles he put them under trial and suspicion (one of you will betray me) to teach them to examine themselves rightly, lest they be highminded and think themselves more strong than they were. We, also must examine ourselves in the light of God's truth and grace and ask him to strengthen us in faith, hope, and love that we may not fail him or forsake him when we are tempted. Do you pray with confidence in the words Jesus gave us to pray: Do not lead us into temptation, but deliver us from evil (Matthew 6:13)?
"God our Father, we are exceedingly frail and indisposed to every virtuous and gallant undertaking. Strengthen our weakness, we beseech you, that we may do valiantly in this spiritual war; help us against our own negligence and cowardice, and defend us from the treachery of our unfaithful hearts; for Jesus Christ's sake." (Prayer of Thomas a Kempis)
Supplementary Reading
Bad Alliances by Os Hillman
''Woe to the obstinate children,'' declares the Lord, ''to those who carry out plans that are not Mine, forming an alliance, but not by My Spirit, heaping sin upon sin; who go down to Egypt without consulting Me; who look for help to Pharaoh's protection, to Egypt's shade for refuge.'' ~ Isaiah 30:1-2
Have you ever entered a business relationship with someone you knew you were not supposed to? Throughout the history of Israel, the people were called to come out of an old way of life. Egypt represented that old way; when things got tough, the Israelites reverted to what was comfortable. They always knew they could take a trip to Egypt and find what they lacked. Perhaps this was their reasoning: "If we can't get it accomplished under the new way, why not go back to the way we used to do it? At least we know we can get it there."
When God calls us into a walk of faith, we can expect to be tested in this walk. If we enter into alliances that God has not ordained, it will only bring heartache. Such was the case for Israel. "But Pharaoh's protection will be to your shame, Egypt's shade will bring you disgrace" (Is. 30:3).
Beware what you perceive as an alliance that may advance your business. It may actually bring you great distress if God has not directed you to align it. Ask yourself what the motive is behind this possible alliance. Make sure that it is not based on fear or a quick fix. Get confirmation that God is leading you to make such an alliance. Then you will not end up in the way of Israel, experiencing shame and disgrace.
GOD BLESS US ALL!
PRAY as if everything depended on HIM. ACT as if everything depended on YOU.
http://his-ways-better-than-our-ways.blogspot.com http://www.mabuhayradio.com/Sections/SunSermon.html
Tuesday, April 07, 2009
Wednesday, April 01, 2009
April 7, 2009 - Tuesday Meditation (Betrayal or Denial?)
It is in the Pentecost experience that we find hope for overcoming the human weaknesses we find in today’s Gospel. It is through the Spirit that Peter becomes the man that will lead...
Tuesday of Holy Week
Isaiah 49:1-6
Psalm 71:1-2, 3-4a, 5ab-6ab, 15 and 17
John 13:21-38 21 When Jesus had thus spoken, he was troubled in spirit, and testified, "Truly, truly, I say to you, one of you will betray me." 22 The disciples looked at one another, uncertain of whom he spoke. 23 One of his disciples, whom Jesus loved, was lying close to the breast of Jesus; 24 so Simon Peter beckoned to him and said, "Tell us who it is of whom he speaks." 25 So lying thus, close to the breast of Jesus, he said to him, "Lord, who is it?" 26 Jesus answered, "It is he to whom I shall give this morsel when I have dipped it." So when he had dipped the morsel, he gave it to Judas, the son of Simon Iscariot. 27 Then after the morsel, Satan entered into him. Jesus said to him, "What you are going to do, do quickly." 28 Now no one at the table knew why he said this to him. 29 Some thought that, because Judas had the money box, Jesus was telling him, "Buy what we need for the feast"; or, that he should give something to the poor.30 So, after receiving the morsel, he immediately went out; and it was night. 31 When he had gone out, Jesus said, "Now is the Son of man glorified, and in him God is glorified; 32 if God is glorified in him, God will also glorify him in himself, and glorify him at once. 33 Little children, yet a little while I am with you. You will seek me; and as I said to the Jews so now I say to you, `Where I am going you cannot come.' 34 A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another; even as I have loved you, that you also love one another. 35 By this all men will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another." 36 Simon Peter said to him, "Lord, where are you going?" Jesus answered, "Where I am going you cannot follow me now; but you shall follow afterward." 37 Peter said to him, "Lord, why cannot I follow you now? I will lay down my life for you." 38 Jesus answered, "Will you lay down your life for me? Truly, truly, I say to you, the cock will not crow, till you have denied me three times.
Meditation by Mike Cherney
For me Holy Week is often a time of anguish. On Ash Wednesday I was reminded how I think about Lent. I cannot remember what the person distributing the ashes said, but I remember they were words of hope. I realized instead I wanted to hear the traditional “Remember man that you are dust and to dust you shall return.” Lent brings me to terms with my human weaknesses. I find myself insubstantial in body and frail in will. Today’s Gospel reinforces my sense of human weakness in general. We read about the events preceding two of Jesus’ own apostles turning against Him. Jesus predicts Judas’ betrayal and Peter’s denial.
I think Judas and Peter were people who were finding themselves in difficult situations. I think about how I respond when I am challenged. I try to avoid trouble. One could argue this is a natural and perhaps even a healthy human reaction. I think both Judas and Peter were exhibiting this type of response. These were the men closest to Jesus, yet they turned away. Were these acts of pure evil? The Gospel seems to suggest that at least in Judas’ case it was. I am not sure. These would be dangerous and even life-threatening circumstances for these men. I need to admit that when I face serious challenges I consider the alternatives. Judas was clearly concerned about the events of the week. He likely was worried about how the authorities would respond to the Jesus situation. He may have felt pressure from his religious leaders. Peter would be challenged in the presence of the civil authorities. It is not clear how much time Judas had to reflect about his actions. My impression is Peter had very little time. In addition I think Peter’s personality would likely encourage him to respond before he was completely ready. My feeling reading the Gospel was that these were two men hurled into situations that would challenge most of us as humans.
The Holy Week and Easter stories do offer hope from the perspective of salvation history. The first reading reflects a Divine call. In a Holy Week context we see Jesus fulfilling the role described in this call. Nevertheless the promise of the Easter Season does not bring much resolution to my Holy Week feelings or to the questions of human response posed by today’s Gospel. More than in the things that will transpire in the next few days of Biblical chronology, I find greater hope in that which is still two months away in the New Testament. The events that draw out my faith will be the events of Pentecost. I believe that it is the arrival of the Spirit that truly offers some resolution to the human conflicts that Holy Week presents. It is in the Pentecost experience that we find hope for overcoming the human weaknesses we find in today’s Gospel. It is through the Spirit that Peter becomes the man that will lead and it is through the Spirit that the words of Isaiah become words that can fit all Christians not just the Christ. The Spirit gives us the same confidence in the Lord that the psalmist expresses.
My prayer today is for a better awareness of Jesus’ special role in the Good Friday and Easter events. I further pray for the Lord’s patience with all of us who show human weaknesses. I finally pray for the strength and renewal that the Spirit will bring.
Supplementary Reading
Rainbow of Promises
"I have set my rainbow in the clouds, and it will be the sign of the covenant between me and the earth." – Genesis 9:13
The story of Noah and the ark is one of promise. God's people turned their backs on God, but he reached out to Noah and his family to preserve a remnant of his creation. Noah honored God's call, and in doing so, saved his family and himself from utter destruction from a flood. As a symbol of his promise never to cover the earth again with a flood, God set a rainbow in the sky.
Next time you see a rainbow remember that God always keeps his promises. But you don't have to see a rainbow to know and rest on that assurance. God is a God of positive promises. He has promised never to leave you or forsake you and that you can have an abundant life.
Claim his promises today and believe in them! You have nothing to lose and everything to gain!
* * *
God's promises are scattered all through his Word. Today, choose one or two Bible passages and look for his promises as you read. Then take a few minutes to thank him for the promises you found while reading.
* * *
Note: This excerpt was taken from the "Power for Life Daily Devotional"
GOD BLESS US ALL!
PRAY as if everything depended on HIM. ACT as if everything depended on YOU.
http://his-ways-better-than-our-ways.blogspot.com http://www.mabuhayradio.com/Sections/SunSermon.html
Tuesday of Holy Week
Isaiah 49:1-6
Psalm 71:1-2, 3-4a, 5ab-6ab, 15 and 17
John 13:21-38 21 When Jesus had thus spoken, he was troubled in spirit, and testified, "Truly, truly, I say to you, one of you will betray me." 22 The disciples looked at one another, uncertain of whom he spoke. 23 One of his disciples, whom Jesus loved, was lying close to the breast of Jesus; 24 so Simon Peter beckoned to him and said, "Tell us who it is of whom he speaks." 25 So lying thus, close to the breast of Jesus, he said to him, "Lord, who is it?" 26 Jesus answered, "It is he to whom I shall give this morsel when I have dipped it." So when he had dipped the morsel, he gave it to Judas, the son of Simon Iscariot. 27 Then after the morsel, Satan entered into him. Jesus said to him, "What you are going to do, do quickly." 28 Now no one at the table knew why he said this to him. 29 Some thought that, because Judas had the money box, Jesus was telling him, "Buy what we need for the feast"; or, that he should give something to the poor.30 So, after receiving the morsel, he immediately went out; and it was night. 31 When he had gone out, Jesus said, "Now is the Son of man glorified, and in him God is glorified; 32 if God is glorified in him, God will also glorify him in himself, and glorify him at once. 33 Little children, yet a little while I am with you. You will seek me; and as I said to the Jews so now I say to you, `Where I am going you cannot come.' 34 A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another; even as I have loved you, that you also love one another. 35 By this all men will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another." 36 Simon Peter said to him, "Lord, where are you going?" Jesus answered, "Where I am going you cannot follow me now; but you shall follow afterward." 37 Peter said to him, "Lord, why cannot I follow you now? I will lay down my life for you." 38 Jesus answered, "Will you lay down your life for me? Truly, truly, I say to you, the cock will not crow, till you have denied me three times.
Meditation by Mike Cherney
For me Holy Week is often a time of anguish. On Ash Wednesday I was reminded how I think about Lent. I cannot remember what the person distributing the ashes said, but I remember they were words of hope. I realized instead I wanted to hear the traditional “Remember man that you are dust and to dust you shall return.” Lent brings me to terms with my human weaknesses. I find myself insubstantial in body and frail in will. Today’s Gospel reinforces my sense of human weakness in general. We read about the events preceding two of Jesus’ own apostles turning against Him. Jesus predicts Judas’ betrayal and Peter’s denial.
I think Judas and Peter were people who were finding themselves in difficult situations. I think about how I respond when I am challenged. I try to avoid trouble. One could argue this is a natural and perhaps even a healthy human reaction. I think both Judas and Peter were exhibiting this type of response. These were the men closest to Jesus, yet they turned away. Were these acts of pure evil? The Gospel seems to suggest that at least in Judas’ case it was. I am not sure. These would be dangerous and even life-threatening circumstances for these men. I need to admit that when I face serious challenges I consider the alternatives. Judas was clearly concerned about the events of the week. He likely was worried about how the authorities would respond to the Jesus situation. He may have felt pressure from his religious leaders. Peter would be challenged in the presence of the civil authorities. It is not clear how much time Judas had to reflect about his actions. My impression is Peter had very little time. In addition I think Peter’s personality would likely encourage him to respond before he was completely ready. My feeling reading the Gospel was that these were two men hurled into situations that would challenge most of us as humans.
The Holy Week and Easter stories do offer hope from the perspective of salvation history. The first reading reflects a Divine call. In a Holy Week context we see Jesus fulfilling the role described in this call. Nevertheless the promise of the Easter Season does not bring much resolution to my Holy Week feelings or to the questions of human response posed by today’s Gospel. More than in the things that will transpire in the next few days of Biblical chronology, I find greater hope in that which is still two months away in the New Testament. The events that draw out my faith will be the events of Pentecost. I believe that it is the arrival of the Spirit that truly offers some resolution to the human conflicts that Holy Week presents. It is in the Pentecost experience that we find hope for overcoming the human weaknesses we find in today’s Gospel. It is through the Spirit that Peter becomes the man that will lead and it is through the Spirit that the words of Isaiah become words that can fit all Christians not just the Christ. The Spirit gives us the same confidence in the Lord that the psalmist expresses.
My prayer today is for a better awareness of Jesus’ special role in the Good Friday and Easter events. I further pray for the Lord’s patience with all of us who show human weaknesses. I finally pray for the strength and renewal that the Spirit will bring.
Supplementary Reading
Rainbow of Promises
"I have set my rainbow in the clouds, and it will be the sign of the covenant between me and the earth." – Genesis 9:13
The story of Noah and the ark is one of promise. God's people turned their backs on God, but he reached out to Noah and his family to preserve a remnant of his creation. Noah honored God's call, and in doing so, saved his family and himself from utter destruction from a flood. As a symbol of his promise never to cover the earth again with a flood, God set a rainbow in the sky.
Next time you see a rainbow remember that God always keeps his promises. But you don't have to see a rainbow to know and rest on that assurance. God is a God of positive promises. He has promised never to leave you or forsake you and that you can have an abundant life.
Claim his promises today and believe in them! You have nothing to lose and everything to gain!
* * *
God's promises are scattered all through his Word. Today, choose one or two Bible passages and look for his promises as you read. Then take a few minutes to thank him for the promises you found while reading.
* * *
Note: This excerpt was taken from the "Power for Life Daily Devotional"
GOD BLESS US ALL!
PRAY as if everything depended on HIM. ACT as if everything depended on YOU.
http://his-ways-better-than-our-ways.blogspot.com http://www.mabuhayradio.com/Sections/SunSermon.html
April 6, 2009 - Monday Meditation (Furnace of Life's Trials)
When we are in the furnace of life's trials and allow God to be in there with us when the heat is on, then our true colors will shine.
Monday of Holy Week
Isaiah 42:1-7
Psalm 27:1, 2, 3, 13-14
John 12:1-11 Six days before the Passover, Jesus came to Bethany, where Laz'arus was, whom Jesus had raised from the dead. 2 There they made him a supper; Martha served, and Laz'arus was one of those at table with him. 3 Mary took a pound of costly ointment of pure nard and anointed the feet of Jesus and wiped his feet with her hair; and the house was filled with the fragrance of the ointment. 4 But Judas Iscariot, one of his disciples (he who was to betray him), said, 5 "Why was this ointment not sold for three hundred denarii and given to the poor?" 6 This he said, not that he cared for the poor but because he was a thief, and as he had the money box he used to take what was put into it. 7 Jesus said, "Let her alone, let her keep it for the day of my burial. 8 The poor you always have with you, but you do not always have me." 9 When the great crowd of the Jews learned that he was there, they came, not only on account of Jesus but also to see Laz'arus, whom he had raised from the dead. 10 So the chief priests planned to put Laz'arus also to death, 11 because on account of him many of the Jews were going away and believing in Jesus. 12 The next day a great crowd who had come to the feast heard that Jesus was coming to Jerusalem.
Old Testament Reading: Isaiah 42:1-7 1 Behold my servant, whom I uphold, my chosen, in whom my soul delights; I have put my Spirit upon him, he will bring forth justice to the nations. 2 He will not cry or lift up his voice, or make it heard in the street; 3 a bruised reed he will not break, and a dimly burning wick he will not quench; he will faithfully bring forth justice.
Meditation by Cathy Weiss Pedersen
"Hope springs eternal." writes poet, Alexander Pope. Most of us living in the Midwest celebrate the coming of spring with smiles and anticipation of warmer days, and the return of greening vegetation and the budding trees and flowers after a cold, desolate landscape of ice and snow. It is wonderful to have spring coincide with the coming of Easter.
However, this IS Holy Week,a time in the Christian calendar when we prepare to remember and travel the days of Christ's untimely death, suffering and crucifixion.
But, when I read the texts of today's scriptures, there IS hope permeating the day's readings. Initially, this can be puzzling, as we approach the Triduum. Why these readings today?
In the passage from Isaiah God announces that God's servant shall bring forth justice, yet not breaking a bruised reed or quenching a smoldering wick and that the people have a covenant with God to open the eyes of the blind, and to free captives from prison. As Christians we believe that this servant is Jesus who, in today's gospel is anointed by Lazarus' sister, Mary and is sought by the crowds.
These are passages of hope, of anticipation of the wonders that God has brought to us in the person, Jesus. Jesus' friends and followers are in awe of Lazarus' raising from the dead.and wonder at what/who this Jesus is, and what is coming next.
What are these scriptures calling me to today,in Holy Week? Yes, I know that in a few days, we, as church, remember the death and crucifixion of Jesus and so, I read these passages with a 'knowing' dread. However, fear is not the tone of these readings. There is a pervasive hope and expectation, an anticipation of what God has in store for/with us.
It is the same kind of hope/anticipation that we hold in the changes of the season, or of a healing relationship, or the coming of a new baby. We trust that it will come, but we must patiently wait and we are not in charge of its arrival.
It is the promise of a God who loves us and wants fullness of life for/with us. It is a stance of trust, openness and belief in this loving God's embrace.
And yet, also knowing that with free will, we can reject the promise, the trust, the love.with one another and/or with God - (as those who plotted against Jesus) - and spoil (short circuit?) the fulfillment of life-giving love.
What are we /what am I doing/being this Holy Week to approach God's loving embrace with a trusting anticipation..a willingness to respond and cooperate with my gifts, but also to allow God to work in my life without my needing to be in full control of the outcome?
Lent, and more so, Holy Week, is a time to step back and allow God to speak, to be with us. As the psalmist prays today: "I believe that I shall see the goodness of God. Wait for God; be strong and let your heart take courage. Yes, wait for God!"
Supplementary Reading
The Heat is On
"Cast your cares on the Lord and he will sustain you." - Psalm 55:22
Potters usually glaze their work. Glazes provide the colors to pottery, but when they are applied to the clay, the colors are very muddy and hard to discern. This makes the entire process of glazing pottery difficult. It is not until the pottery is fired in a kiln of 1,000 degrees to 1,200 degrees C that the glaze begins to show its true colors. The intense heat melts the glaze, creating a type of colored-glass coating. This process is what makes the pottery not only beautiful but also durable, even though still breakable.
Similarly, when we are in the furnace of life's trials and allow God to be in there with us when the heat is on, then our true colors will shine. The hotter life gets, the more we can see, feel, and appreciate God's power.
* * *
What trials of life has God used to make your true colors shine through? Write a prayer of thanksgiving today, expressing to God the beauty and durability you've observed in your life because of those trials.
* * *
Note: This excerpt was taken from the "Power for Life Daily Devotional
GOD BLESS US ALL!
PRAY as if everything depended on HIM. ACT as if everything depended on YOU.
http://his-ways-better-than-our-ways.blogspot.com http://www.mabuhayradio.com/Sections/SunSermon.html
Monday of Holy Week
Isaiah 42:1-7
Psalm 27:1, 2, 3, 13-14
John 12:1-11 Six days before the Passover, Jesus came to Bethany, where Laz'arus was, whom Jesus had raised from the dead. 2 There they made him a supper; Martha served, and Laz'arus was one of those at table with him. 3 Mary took a pound of costly ointment of pure nard and anointed the feet of Jesus and wiped his feet with her hair; and the house was filled with the fragrance of the ointment. 4 But Judas Iscariot, one of his disciples (he who was to betray him), said, 5 "Why was this ointment not sold for three hundred denarii and given to the poor?" 6 This he said, not that he cared for the poor but because he was a thief, and as he had the money box he used to take what was put into it. 7 Jesus said, "Let her alone, let her keep it for the day of my burial. 8 The poor you always have with you, but you do not always have me." 9 When the great crowd of the Jews learned that he was there, they came, not only on account of Jesus but also to see Laz'arus, whom he had raised from the dead. 10 So the chief priests planned to put Laz'arus also to death, 11 because on account of him many of the Jews were going away and believing in Jesus. 12 The next day a great crowd who had come to the feast heard that Jesus was coming to Jerusalem.
Old Testament Reading: Isaiah 42:1-7 1 Behold my servant, whom I uphold, my chosen, in whom my soul delights; I have put my Spirit upon him, he will bring forth justice to the nations. 2 He will not cry or lift up his voice, or make it heard in the street; 3 a bruised reed he will not break, and a dimly burning wick he will not quench; he will faithfully bring forth justice.
Meditation by Cathy Weiss Pedersen
"Hope springs eternal." writes poet, Alexander Pope. Most of us living in the Midwest celebrate the coming of spring with smiles and anticipation of warmer days, and the return of greening vegetation and the budding trees and flowers after a cold, desolate landscape of ice and snow. It is wonderful to have spring coincide with the coming of Easter.
However, this IS Holy Week,a time in the Christian calendar when we prepare to remember and travel the days of Christ's untimely death, suffering and crucifixion.
But, when I read the texts of today's scriptures, there IS hope permeating the day's readings. Initially, this can be puzzling, as we approach the Triduum. Why these readings today?
In the passage from Isaiah God announces that God's servant shall bring forth justice, yet not breaking a bruised reed or quenching a smoldering wick and that the people have a covenant with God to open the eyes of the blind, and to free captives from prison. As Christians we believe that this servant is Jesus who, in today's gospel is anointed by Lazarus' sister, Mary and is sought by the crowds.
These are passages of hope, of anticipation of the wonders that God has brought to us in the person, Jesus. Jesus' friends and followers are in awe of Lazarus' raising from the dead.and wonder at what/who this Jesus is, and what is coming next.
What are these scriptures calling me to today,in Holy Week? Yes, I know that in a few days, we, as church, remember the death and crucifixion of Jesus and so, I read these passages with a 'knowing' dread. However, fear is not the tone of these readings. There is a pervasive hope and expectation, an anticipation of what God has in store for/with us.
It is the same kind of hope/anticipation that we hold in the changes of the season, or of a healing relationship, or the coming of a new baby. We trust that it will come, but we must patiently wait and we are not in charge of its arrival.
It is the promise of a God who loves us and wants fullness of life for/with us. It is a stance of trust, openness and belief in this loving God's embrace.
And yet, also knowing that with free will, we can reject the promise, the trust, the love.with one another and/or with God - (as those who plotted against Jesus) - and spoil (short circuit?) the fulfillment of life-giving love.
What are we /what am I doing/being this Holy Week to approach God's loving embrace with a trusting anticipation..a willingness to respond and cooperate with my gifts, but also to allow God to work in my life without my needing to be in full control of the outcome?
Lent, and more so, Holy Week, is a time to step back and allow God to speak, to be with us. As the psalmist prays today: "I believe that I shall see the goodness of God. Wait for God; be strong and let your heart take courage. Yes, wait for God!"
Supplementary Reading
The Heat is On
"Cast your cares on the Lord and he will sustain you." - Psalm 55:22
Potters usually glaze their work. Glazes provide the colors to pottery, but when they are applied to the clay, the colors are very muddy and hard to discern. This makes the entire process of glazing pottery difficult. It is not until the pottery is fired in a kiln of 1,000 degrees to 1,200 degrees C that the glaze begins to show its true colors. The intense heat melts the glaze, creating a type of colored-glass coating. This process is what makes the pottery not only beautiful but also durable, even though still breakable.
Similarly, when we are in the furnace of life's trials and allow God to be in there with us when the heat is on, then our true colors will shine. The hotter life gets, the more we can see, feel, and appreciate God's power.
* * *
What trials of life has God used to make your true colors shine through? Write a prayer of thanksgiving today, expressing to God the beauty and durability you've observed in your life because of those trials.
* * *
Note: This excerpt was taken from the "Power for Life Daily Devotional
GOD BLESS US ALL!
PRAY as if everything depended on HIM. ACT as if everything depended on YOU.
http://his-ways-better-than-our-ways.blogspot.com http://www.mabuhayradio.com/Sections/SunSermon.html
April 5, 2009 - Sunday Meditation (Again, Who is Jesus for You?)
The apostles, the Jewish leaders, the soldiers all did not understand who he was for them. They never knew during these events what he was doing for them. The apostles slept while he prayed his obedient surrender. They fled while he remained faithful.
Palm Sunday of the Lord's Passion
Isaiah 50:4-7
Psalm 22:8-9, 17-18, 19-20, 23-24
Philippians 2:6-11
Mark 15:1-39 As soon as morning came, the chief priests with the elders and the scribes, that is, the whole Sanhedrin held a council. They bound Jesus, led him away, and handed him over to Pilate. Pilate questioned him, "Are you the king of the Jews?" He said to him in reply, "You say so." The chief priests accused him of many things. Again Pilate questioned him, "Have you no answer? See how many things they accuse you of." Jesus gave him no further answer, so that Pilate was amazed. Now on the occasion of the feast he used to release to them one prisoner whom they requested.
A man called Barabbas was then in prison along with the rebels who had committed murder in a rebellion. The crowd came forward and began to ask him to do for them as he was accustomed. Pilate answered, "Do you want me to release to you the king of the Jews?" For he knew that it was out of envy that the chief priests had handed him over. But the chief priests stirred up the crowd to have him release Barabbas for them instead. Pilate again said to them in reply, "Then what do you want me to do with the man you call the king of the Jews?" They shouted again, "Crucify him." Pilate said to them, "Why? What evil has he done?" They only shouted the louder, "Crucify him." So Pilate, wishing to satisfy the crowd, released Barabbas to them and, after he had Jesus scourged, handed him over to be crucified. The soldiers led him away inside the palace, that is, the praetorium, and assembled the whole cohort. They clothed him in purple and, weaving a crown of thorns, placed it on him. They began to salute him with, "Hail, King of the Jews!" and kept striking his head with a reed and spitting upon him. They knelt before him in homage. And when they had mocked him, they stripped him of the purple cloak, dressed him in his own clothes, and led him out to crucify him. They pressed into service a passer-by, Simon, a Cyrenian, who was coming in from the country, the father of Alexander and Rufus, to carry his cross. They brought him to the place of Golgotha -which is translated Place of the Skull- They gave him wine drugged with myrrh, but he did not take it. Then they crucified him and divided his garments by casting lots for them to see what each should take. It was nine o'clock in the morning when they crucified him. The inscription of the charge against him read, "The King of the Jews." With him they crucified two revolutionaries,
one on his right and one on his left. Those passing by reviled him, shaking their heads and saying, "Aha! You who would destroy the temple and rebuild it in three days, save yourself by coming down from the cross." Likewise the chief priests, with the scribes, mocked him among themselves and said, "He saved others; he cannot save himself. Let the Christ, the King of Israel, come down now from the cross that we may see and believe." Those who were crucified with him also kept abusing him. At noon darkness came over the whole land until three in the afternoon.
And at three o'clock Jesus cried out in a loud voice, "Eloi, Eloi, lema sabachthani?" which is translated, "My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?" Some of the bystanders who heard it said, "Look, he is calling Elijah." One of them ran, soaked a sponge with wine, put it on a reed and gave it to him to drink saying, "Wait, let us see if Elijah comes to take him down." Jesus gave a loud cry and breathed his last. Here all kneel and pause for a short time. The veil of the sanctuary was torn in two from top to bottom. When the centurion who stood facing him saw how he breathed his last he said, "Truly this man was the Son of God!"
Meditation by Larry Gillick, S.J. (Deglman Center for Ignatian Spirituality)
PREPRAYING
We are praying with great memories in our liturgy. There are scenes of violence, betrayal, surrender, and regret. We pray with the fidelity and trust with which Jesus walks towards his saving death.
We pray as well with the violence within and around us these days. Humanity is suffering from terrible insults to its being in Christ. We pray with our own sense of helplessness, as did his loving mother and even his friends who denied him and abandoned him. We are praying intensely with our desires to be freed again from the slavery of forgetfulness. We pray to remember again who Jesus is saying we all are by his life of faithful trust. We gather together to do the ancient rituals by which we are saved in our times.
REFLECTION
We might say that this is an "in your face" liturgy today. The face of the prophet is having his beard plucked. The face of Jesus, as He appears riding on the donkey brings exultant joy to the faces of the welcoming people. The bloody face of Jesus looks into our faces and says something to our hearts and souls.
We have several couplets in our liturgy of this Palm Sunday. There are two parades described in the two Gospels. One parade leads into Jerusalem with Jesus' being welcomed and proclaimed. The other pictures Jesus leaving Jerusalem days later in disgrace and abandoned. The Liturgy of palms and the liturgy of the Passion bespeaks the duality of our human response to God through out history; sometimes we allow him in and other times we push him away.
There is in the First Reading for the Eucharistic liturgy, a submissive prophetic figure who is given to speak, but suffers for what he knows. In the Gospel, we hear Jesus' not rebelling, not turning back. The words he speaks are of his personal truth and not a defensive refuting. Jesus' words are of handing over: his teachings, his body in the Eucharist, his spirit on the cross. Judas hands him over as well, but refuses to take in that spirit. The reading from Isaiah speaks of innocence and Jesus lives his own way of doing "no harm" while walking through the shame and guilt which surround him.
This is the major contrast then, the gentleness of Jesus colliding with the human resistance to purity and truth.
The root meaning of the word "innocence" is not "guiltless", but "no harm". This is a prism through which we can watch Jesus while listening to the long narrative of the Passion. He lived and died doing no harm and more positively, doing the infinitely good thing.
How much ink, paint, marble, and glass have been used to attempt to express a theme, a mood, or a presentation of what it all means? We keep the memory alive each time we gather for the Eucharist. We intensify the meaning during this Holy Week which begins with this liturgy. Each conversation Jesus has, each action of his, each event of denial or injury, speaks the same reality. The apostles, the Jewish leaders, the soldiers all did not understand who he was for them. They never knew during these events what he was doing for them. The apostles slept while he prayed his obedient surrender. They fled while he remained faithful. Ah, but here is the comfort for us in it all. For all the art and words, we still do not; can not, fully comprehend the embrace.
We can catch fleeting emotions and ideas about what Jesus' death means, but we have heard it all so often that the embrace can seem more like a handshake or simple nod. There is still some sleeping going on within us as we consider being loved so dearly. There is always the possibility and reality of our denials of his invitations to follow him. What do we do then; with what do we pray during these holy days of our eternal Passover?
We could just rest in the soft comfort of guilt and embarrassing shame; that is too easy and too much of the secular. We can more simply and personally be there and let it all be done onto each one of us again for the first time. We do not have the openness to take it all in at once, but we can allow some part, some word or action to embrace us this year. We can pray by listening to His words about the soldiers and us, not knowing what "we" are doing. We pray also with the words which Jesus thought to Himself, "Forgive them, for they know not what I am doing either."
One of the prayerful ways to receive Jesus' passion and death these Holy Week days is to consider how we might be at the bedside of a very sick or dying friend. We might want to fetch some water, plump up the pillow, straighten the bed clothing. Eventually the best and only thing we do is to sit there and watch with our memories. These memories may bring us some hope.
There is not much we can do with the memories which make up this liturgy and this coming week. Praying might be nothing more than staying "awake" to what is being done, offered, and remembered. We know there will be a resurrection, but we know also that we are all invited to join this parade of walking faithfully with our crosses towards our own participation in that same Resurrection.
"Christ became obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross." Phil.2, 8
Supplementary Reading
Not Junk, but Treasure
"He chose us in him before the creation of the world to be holy and blameless in his sight." - Ephesians 1:4
Dad's brother, Henry, lived on the family homestead in Iowa. We loved spending time there, where, out in a large field ditch, neighbors would dump their old junk. We children loved digging through it for broken toys, pots, pans, baskets, even costume jewelry. Uncle Henry and Aunt Alberta probably shuddered when we inevitably dragged stuff back to the farmhouse. One time we found a trove of copper pots we recycled for cash, and a jewelry box of rings perfect for young girls playing dress-up. Grandpa (Anthony Schuller) rescued, lovingly cleaned, and repaired most of the toys visiting children played with.
I've often thought how God never sees you or me as junk. He sees the potential, the treasure hidden within. He looks beyond our banged up, bruised souls to the beauties we are when we let him redeem, rescue, and restore us.
* * *
Are there any ways you may be treating yourself like you're a piece of "junk"? Take a look at yourself through God's eyes today and let him remind you why he treasures you. Then ask him to help you learn to treasure yourself.
* * *
Note: This excerpt was taken from the "Power for Life Daily Devotional
GOD BLESS US ALL!
PRAY as if everything depended on HIM. ACT as if everything depended on YOU.
http://his-ways-better-than-our-ways.blogspot.com http://www.mabuhayradio.com/Sections/SunSermon.html
Palm Sunday of the Lord's Passion
Isaiah 50:4-7
Psalm 22:8-9, 17-18, 19-20, 23-24
Philippians 2:6-11
Mark 15:1-39 As soon as morning came, the chief priests with the elders and the scribes, that is, the whole Sanhedrin held a council. They bound Jesus, led him away, and handed him over to Pilate. Pilate questioned him, "Are you the king of the Jews?" He said to him in reply, "You say so." The chief priests accused him of many things. Again Pilate questioned him, "Have you no answer? See how many things they accuse you of." Jesus gave him no further answer, so that Pilate was amazed. Now on the occasion of the feast he used to release to them one prisoner whom they requested.
A man called Barabbas was then in prison along with the rebels who had committed murder in a rebellion. The crowd came forward and began to ask him to do for them as he was accustomed. Pilate answered, "Do you want me to release to you the king of the Jews?" For he knew that it was out of envy that the chief priests had handed him over. But the chief priests stirred up the crowd to have him release Barabbas for them instead. Pilate again said to them in reply, "Then what do you want me to do with the man you call the king of the Jews?" They shouted again, "Crucify him." Pilate said to them, "Why? What evil has he done?" They only shouted the louder, "Crucify him." So Pilate, wishing to satisfy the crowd, released Barabbas to them and, after he had Jesus scourged, handed him over to be crucified. The soldiers led him away inside the palace, that is, the praetorium, and assembled the whole cohort. They clothed him in purple and, weaving a crown of thorns, placed it on him. They began to salute him with, "Hail, King of the Jews!" and kept striking his head with a reed and spitting upon him. They knelt before him in homage. And when they had mocked him, they stripped him of the purple cloak, dressed him in his own clothes, and led him out to crucify him. They pressed into service a passer-by, Simon, a Cyrenian, who was coming in from the country, the father of Alexander and Rufus, to carry his cross. They brought him to the place of Golgotha -which is translated Place of the Skull- They gave him wine drugged with myrrh, but he did not take it. Then they crucified him and divided his garments by casting lots for them to see what each should take. It was nine o'clock in the morning when they crucified him. The inscription of the charge against him read, "The King of the Jews." With him they crucified two revolutionaries,
one on his right and one on his left. Those passing by reviled him, shaking their heads and saying, "Aha! You who would destroy the temple and rebuild it in three days, save yourself by coming down from the cross." Likewise the chief priests, with the scribes, mocked him among themselves and said, "He saved others; he cannot save himself. Let the Christ, the King of Israel, come down now from the cross that we may see and believe." Those who were crucified with him also kept abusing him. At noon darkness came over the whole land until three in the afternoon.
And at three o'clock Jesus cried out in a loud voice, "Eloi, Eloi, lema sabachthani?" which is translated, "My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?" Some of the bystanders who heard it said, "Look, he is calling Elijah." One of them ran, soaked a sponge with wine, put it on a reed and gave it to him to drink saying, "Wait, let us see if Elijah comes to take him down." Jesus gave a loud cry and breathed his last. Here all kneel and pause for a short time. The veil of the sanctuary was torn in two from top to bottom. When the centurion who stood facing him saw how he breathed his last he said, "Truly this man was the Son of God!"
Meditation by Larry Gillick, S.J. (Deglman Center for Ignatian Spirituality)
PREPRAYING
We are praying with great memories in our liturgy. There are scenes of violence, betrayal, surrender, and regret. We pray with the fidelity and trust with which Jesus walks towards his saving death.
We pray as well with the violence within and around us these days. Humanity is suffering from terrible insults to its being in Christ. We pray with our own sense of helplessness, as did his loving mother and even his friends who denied him and abandoned him. We are praying intensely with our desires to be freed again from the slavery of forgetfulness. We pray to remember again who Jesus is saying we all are by his life of faithful trust. We gather together to do the ancient rituals by which we are saved in our times.
REFLECTION
We might say that this is an "in your face" liturgy today. The face of the prophet is having his beard plucked. The face of Jesus, as He appears riding on the donkey brings exultant joy to the faces of the welcoming people. The bloody face of Jesus looks into our faces and says something to our hearts and souls.
We have several couplets in our liturgy of this Palm Sunday. There are two parades described in the two Gospels. One parade leads into Jerusalem with Jesus' being welcomed and proclaimed. The other pictures Jesus leaving Jerusalem days later in disgrace and abandoned. The Liturgy of palms and the liturgy of the Passion bespeaks the duality of our human response to God through out history; sometimes we allow him in and other times we push him away.
There is in the First Reading for the Eucharistic liturgy, a submissive prophetic figure who is given to speak, but suffers for what he knows. In the Gospel, we hear Jesus' not rebelling, not turning back. The words he speaks are of his personal truth and not a defensive refuting. Jesus' words are of handing over: his teachings, his body in the Eucharist, his spirit on the cross. Judas hands him over as well, but refuses to take in that spirit. The reading from Isaiah speaks of innocence and Jesus lives his own way of doing "no harm" while walking through the shame and guilt which surround him.
This is the major contrast then, the gentleness of Jesus colliding with the human resistance to purity and truth.
The root meaning of the word "innocence" is not "guiltless", but "no harm". This is a prism through which we can watch Jesus while listening to the long narrative of the Passion. He lived and died doing no harm and more positively, doing the infinitely good thing.
How much ink, paint, marble, and glass have been used to attempt to express a theme, a mood, or a presentation of what it all means? We keep the memory alive each time we gather for the Eucharist. We intensify the meaning during this Holy Week which begins with this liturgy. Each conversation Jesus has, each action of his, each event of denial or injury, speaks the same reality. The apostles, the Jewish leaders, the soldiers all did not understand who he was for them. They never knew during these events what he was doing for them. The apostles slept while he prayed his obedient surrender. They fled while he remained faithful. Ah, but here is the comfort for us in it all. For all the art and words, we still do not; can not, fully comprehend the embrace.
We can catch fleeting emotions and ideas about what Jesus' death means, but we have heard it all so often that the embrace can seem more like a handshake or simple nod. There is still some sleeping going on within us as we consider being loved so dearly. There is always the possibility and reality of our denials of his invitations to follow him. What do we do then; with what do we pray during these holy days of our eternal Passover?
We could just rest in the soft comfort of guilt and embarrassing shame; that is too easy and too much of the secular. We can more simply and personally be there and let it all be done onto each one of us again for the first time. We do not have the openness to take it all in at once, but we can allow some part, some word or action to embrace us this year. We can pray by listening to His words about the soldiers and us, not knowing what "we" are doing. We pray also with the words which Jesus thought to Himself, "Forgive them, for they know not what I am doing either."
One of the prayerful ways to receive Jesus' passion and death these Holy Week days is to consider how we might be at the bedside of a very sick or dying friend. We might want to fetch some water, plump up the pillow, straighten the bed clothing. Eventually the best and only thing we do is to sit there and watch with our memories. These memories may bring us some hope.
There is not much we can do with the memories which make up this liturgy and this coming week. Praying might be nothing more than staying "awake" to what is being done, offered, and remembered. We know there will be a resurrection, but we know also that we are all invited to join this parade of walking faithfully with our crosses towards our own participation in that same Resurrection.
"Christ became obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross." Phil.2, 8
Supplementary Reading
Not Junk, but Treasure
"He chose us in him before the creation of the world to be holy and blameless in his sight." - Ephesians 1:4
Dad's brother, Henry, lived on the family homestead in Iowa. We loved spending time there, where, out in a large field ditch, neighbors would dump their old junk. We children loved digging through it for broken toys, pots, pans, baskets, even costume jewelry. Uncle Henry and Aunt Alberta probably shuddered when we inevitably dragged stuff back to the farmhouse. One time we found a trove of copper pots we recycled for cash, and a jewelry box of rings perfect for young girls playing dress-up. Grandpa (Anthony Schuller) rescued, lovingly cleaned, and repaired most of the toys visiting children played with.
I've often thought how God never sees you or me as junk. He sees the potential, the treasure hidden within. He looks beyond our banged up, bruised souls to the beauties we are when we let him redeem, rescue, and restore us.
* * *
Are there any ways you may be treating yourself like you're a piece of "junk"? Take a look at yourself through God's eyes today and let him remind you why he treasures you. Then ask him to help you learn to treasure yourself.
* * *
Note: This excerpt was taken from the "Power for Life Daily Devotional
GOD BLESS US ALL!
PRAY as if everything depended on HIM. ACT as if everything depended on YOU.
http://his-ways-better-than-our-ways.blogspot.com http://www.mabuhayradio.com/Sections/SunSermon.html
April 4, 2009 - Saturday Meditation (No Dominance in New Creation)
Humans divide. It is God who unifies. What we need to hear and understand is that unity is what God wants. Though we can’t do it ourselves, we certainly can impede it, and we desperately need to understand how doing that would be completely contrary to God’s will.
John 11:45-56 45 Many of the Jews therefore, who had come with Mary and had seen what he did, believed in him; 46 but some of them went to the Pharisees and told them what Jesus had done. 47 So the chief priests and the Pharisees gathered the council, and said, "What are we to do? For this man performs many signs. 48 If we let him go on thus, every one will believe in him, and the Romans will come and destroy both our holy place and our nation." 49 But one of them, Ca'iaphas, who was high priest that year, said to them, "You know nothing at all; 50 you do not understand that it is expedient for you that one man should die for the people, and that the whole nation should not perish." 51 He did not say this of his own accord, but being high priest that year he prophesied that Jesus should die for the nation, 52 and not for the nation only, but to gather into one the children of God who are scattered abroad. 53 So from that day on they took counsel how to put him to death. 54 Jesus therefore no longer went about openly among the Jews, but went from there to the country near the wilderness, to a town called E'phraim; and there he stayed with the disciples. 55 Now the Passover of the Jews was at hand, and many went up from the country to Jerusalem before the Passover, to purify themselves. 56 They were looking for Jesus and saying to one another as they stood in the temple, "What do you think? That he will not come to the feast?"
Old Testament Reading: Ezekiel 37:21-28 26 I will make a covenant of peace with them; it shall be an everlasting covenant with them; and I will bless them and multiply them, and will set my sanctuary in the midst of them for evermore. 27 My dwelling place shall be with them; and I will be their God, and they shall be my people. 28 Then the nations will know that I the LORD sanctify Israel, when my sanctuary is in the midst of them for evermore."
Meditation by Robert P. Heaney
On the cusp of Holy Week, today’s readings give us some hint of what the new creation, which we’ll celebrate at the Easter Vigil, actually looks like.
We will be one.
In the readings from Ezekiel and the psalm from Jeremiah, we hear God promising to gather the scattered remnants of Israel, and in the Gospel, John, interpreting the high priest’s comments, sees Jesus gathering “into one the dispersed children of God”. In both readings it is God who acts. Plainly we can’t do it ourselves. Humans divide. It is God who unifies. What we need to hear and understand is that unity is what God wants. Though we can’t do it ourselves, we certainly can impede it, and we desperately need to understand how doing that would be completely contrary to God’s will.
Think of the ways we divide – all variants of “us” and “them”: white and black, immigrant and native-born, gay and straight, rich and poor, Protestant and Catholic, liberal and conservative, clerical and lay. . . the list is endless. These kinds of divisions are ingrained in our psyches – in our biology even. That’s why what Jesus has done is to make something totally new – totally different.
This is not to suggest that these distinctions are trivial, nor that we can abolish them by willing it. But they're not as important as the equality and unity of the new creation, which has to be given precedence whenever there seems to be conflict with the new creating that God is doing. It's important to remember that we humans use these divisions for dominance. But there is no dominance in the new creation. There is, instead, only self-giving. Recall Paul: “Neither Jew or Greek, neither slave nor free, neither male nor female”. And Jesus, in his prayer to the Father at the last supper, asks God that: “they may be one, as you Father and I are one – so that the world may believe you sent me…..”
“So that the world may believe. . . ” Division doesn’t manifest God. We, as Church, do not show God’s presence so long as we are divided. In just one week we will celebrate – not just remember, but actually relive – that new creating. It is well to keep this emphasis on unity uppermost in our minds and hearts as we approach that holy day.
Supplementary Reading
A Blessed Life
"The Lord Jesus himself said: 'It is more blessed to give than to receive.'" – Acts 20:35
My mother was a blessed woman. The key to her happiness was her giving nature. She habitually gave back to the Lord ten percent of her money. Not only did she give of her meager income, but she also gave of herself. For my mother that meant apple pies. I can still picture her in the kitchen, slicing the apples, piling them high in the deep pie pan, and sprinkling cinnamon, butter, and sugar on top. Then she would wrap the crust over the mile-high pile of apples, sealing it carefully.
Her pies were a work of art, and she never made just one of them. She always made two—one for us and one for somebody in town who could "use" a pie. Mom was her happiest when doing kind things for others.
Learn to give and your life will be blessed.
* * *
Look for at least one opportunity to do something nice for someone else today and see what happens.
* * *
Note: This excerpt was taken from the "Power for Life Daily Devotional
GOD BLESS US ALL!
PRAY as if everything depended on HIM. ACT as if everything depended on YOU.
http://his-ways-better-than-our-ways.blogspot.com http://www.mabuhayradio.com/Sections/SunSermon.html
John 11:45-56 45 Many of the Jews therefore, who had come with Mary and had seen what he did, believed in him; 46 but some of them went to the Pharisees and told them what Jesus had done. 47 So the chief priests and the Pharisees gathered the council, and said, "What are we to do? For this man performs many signs. 48 If we let him go on thus, every one will believe in him, and the Romans will come and destroy both our holy place and our nation." 49 But one of them, Ca'iaphas, who was high priest that year, said to them, "You know nothing at all; 50 you do not understand that it is expedient for you that one man should die for the people, and that the whole nation should not perish." 51 He did not say this of his own accord, but being high priest that year he prophesied that Jesus should die for the nation, 52 and not for the nation only, but to gather into one the children of God who are scattered abroad. 53 So from that day on they took counsel how to put him to death. 54 Jesus therefore no longer went about openly among the Jews, but went from there to the country near the wilderness, to a town called E'phraim; and there he stayed with the disciples. 55 Now the Passover of the Jews was at hand, and many went up from the country to Jerusalem before the Passover, to purify themselves. 56 They were looking for Jesus and saying to one another as they stood in the temple, "What do you think? That he will not come to the feast?"
Old Testament Reading: Ezekiel 37:21-28 26 I will make a covenant of peace with them; it shall be an everlasting covenant with them; and I will bless them and multiply them, and will set my sanctuary in the midst of them for evermore. 27 My dwelling place shall be with them; and I will be their God, and they shall be my people. 28 Then the nations will know that I the LORD sanctify Israel, when my sanctuary is in the midst of them for evermore."
Meditation by Robert P. Heaney
On the cusp of Holy Week, today’s readings give us some hint of what the new creation, which we’ll celebrate at the Easter Vigil, actually looks like.
We will be one.
In the readings from Ezekiel and the psalm from Jeremiah, we hear God promising to gather the scattered remnants of Israel, and in the Gospel, John, interpreting the high priest’s comments, sees Jesus gathering “into one the dispersed children of God”. In both readings it is God who acts. Plainly we can’t do it ourselves. Humans divide. It is God who unifies. What we need to hear and understand is that unity is what God wants. Though we can’t do it ourselves, we certainly can impede it, and we desperately need to understand how doing that would be completely contrary to God’s will.
Think of the ways we divide – all variants of “us” and “them”: white and black, immigrant and native-born, gay and straight, rich and poor, Protestant and Catholic, liberal and conservative, clerical and lay. . . the list is endless. These kinds of divisions are ingrained in our psyches – in our biology even. That’s why what Jesus has done is to make something totally new – totally different.
This is not to suggest that these distinctions are trivial, nor that we can abolish them by willing it. But they're not as important as the equality and unity of the new creation, which has to be given precedence whenever there seems to be conflict with the new creating that God is doing. It's important to remember that we humans use these divisions for dominance. But there is no dominance in the new creation. There is, instead, only self-giving. Recall Paul: “Neither Jew or Greek, neither slave nor free, neither male nor female”. And Jesus, in his prayer to the Father at the last supper, asks God that: “they may be one, as you Father and I are one – so that the world may believe you sent me…..”
“So that the world may believe. . . ” Division doesn’t manifest God. We, as Church, do not show God’s presence so long as we are divided. In just one week we will celebrate – not just remember, but actually relive – that new creating. It is well to keep this emphasis on unity uppermost in our minds and hearts as we approach that holy day.
Supplementary Reading
A Blessed Life
"The Lord Jesus himself said: 'It is more blessed to give than to receive.'" – Acts 20:35
My mother was a blessed woman. The key to her happiness was her giving nature. She habitually gave back to the Lord ten percent of her money. Not only did she give of her meager income, but she also gave of herself. For my mother that meant apple pies. I can still picture her in the kitchen, slicing the apples, piling them high in the deep pie pan, and sprinkling cinnamon, butter, and sugar on top. Then she would wrap the crust over the mile-high pile of apples, sealing it carefully.
Her pies were a work of art, and she never made just one of them. She always made two—one for us and one for somebody in town who could "use" a pie. Mom was her happiest when doing kind things for others.
Learn to give and your life will be blessed.
* * *
Look for at least one opportunity to do something nice for someone else today and see what happens.
* * *
Note: This excerpt was taken from the "Power for Life Daily Devotional
GOD BLESS US ALL!
PRAY as if everything depended on HIM. ACT as if everything depended on YOU.
http://his-ways-better-than-our-ways.blogspot.com http://www.mabuhayradio.com/Sections/SunSermon.html
April 3, 2009 - Friday Meditation (Why Me Lord?)
“Why me, Lord?” There are times of mourning when a family member dies; there are economic crises when we lose a job or even a home; there are spiritual crises of faith when we find it hard to believe in a good God...
John 10:31-42 The Jews took up stones again to stone him. 32 Jesus answered them, "I have shown you many good works from the Father; for which of these do you stone me?" 33 The Jews answered him, "It is not for a good work that we stone you but for blasphemy; because you, being a man, make yourself God." 34 Jesus answered them, "Is it not written in your law, `I said, you are Gods'? 35 If he called them Gods to whom the word of God came (and scripture cannot be broken), 36 do you say of him whom the Father consecrated and sent into the world, `You are blaspheming,' because I said, `I am the Son of God'? 37 If I am not doing the works of my Father, then do not believe me; 38 but if I do them, even though you do not believe me, believe the works, that you may know and understand that the Father is in me and I am in the Father." 39 Again they tried to arrest him, but he escaped from their hands. 40 He went away again across the Jordan to the place where
John at first baptized, and there he remained. 41 And many came to him; and they said, "John did no sign, but everything that John said about this man was true." 42 And many believed in him there.
Old Testament Reading: Jeremiah 20:10-13 For I hear many whispering. Terror is on every side! "Denounce him! Let us denounce him!" say all my familiar friends, watching for my fall. "Perhaps he will be deceived, then we can overcome him, and take our revenge on him." 11 But the LORD is with me as a dread warrior; therefore my persecutors will stumble, they will not overcome me. They will be greatly shamed, for they will not succeed. Their eternal dishonor will never be forgotten.
Meditation by Paul Mahowald S.J. (Creighton)
Today’s refrain from Psalm 18 gives us the theme of the readings: “In my distress, I called upon the Lord, and he heard my voice.”
Outside our church on Sunday mornings is parked a car with vanity plates that read “YMELORD”, i.e., “Why me, Lord?” This is a question that comes up in all our lives. Jeremiah suffered through rejection of his prophetic mission at the time of the exile. And the gospel relates how Jesus also is rejected by “the Jews” who are trying to stone him for blasphemy.
Jesus is threatened by those who witness his “works.” And Jesus challenges his accusers to clarify over which “good work” are they charging him. Jesus’ time had not yet come so he fled down the mountain to the Jordan. His passion and death would come soon but he wanted to celebrate the Passover first with his disciples. Next Friday is Good Friday in our present day liturgy so all this drama fits together.
We asked the question, “Why me, Lord?” There are many ways to respond. We can join with him in his passion and death as we realize in our lives we also have many moments of crisis when we plead for God’s help. There are times of mourning when a family member dies; there are economic crises when we lose a job or even a home; there are spiritual crises of faith when we find it hard to believe in a good God who cares for us, etc.
Our scriptural texts this past week have dwelt on crises: Monday with Jesus saving the woman caught in adultery; Wednesday with Daniel refusing to worship the golden statue of Nebachadnezzar and then being thrown into the fiery furnace with his three campanions and yesterday’s readings where the Jews protest that Jesus could give them eternal life.
We need to remember the comment made to Thomas in the Upper Room the week after Jesus rose from the dead. Jesus said, “Blessed are they who believe even though they do not see.” This can also be translated to “Blessed are they who have trusted even though they do not understand!”
So “Why me , Lord?” If we truly trust the Lord we can respond “why not, Lord because blessed are we who do not understand even though we are bombarded on all sides with terrible pressures and anxieties.
Supplementary Readings
Stop for Directions
"He guides the humble in what is right and teaches them his way." – Psalm 25:9
The Israelites had to cross the wilderness to get to the Promised Land. Since none of them knew the way and there was no guide available or landmarks to provide direction, the people had no choice but to completely rely on God to show them the way. He led them by providing a pillar of clouds by day and fire by night.
God doesn't lead in such conspicuous ways today, but he still guides. STOP! Make a timeline of your life, identifying five pivotal points where your life took a turn. Then answer these questions: How did God guide you through those times? How was he there for you? If you got off track, what did God use to get you back on course?
God wants to guide you as clearly as he did the Israelites. Ask him to.
* * *
Make a timeline of your life, identifying five pivotal points where your life took a turn. How did God guide you through those times? How was he there for you?
* * *
Note: This excerpt was taken from the "Power for Life Daily Devotional"
GOD BLESS US ALL!
PRAY as if everything depended on HIM. ACT as if everything depended on YOU.
http://his-ways-better-than-our-ways.blogspot.com http://www.mabuhayradio.com/Sections/SunSermon.html
John 10:31-42 The Jews took up stones again to stone him. 32 Jesus answered them, "I have shown you many good works from the Father; for which of these do you stone me?" 33 The Jews answered him, "It is not for a good work that we stone you but for blasphemy; because you, being a man, make yourself God." 34 Jesus answered them, "Is it not written in your law, `I said, you are Gods'? 35 If he called them Gods to whom the word of God came (and scripture cannot be broken), 36 do you say of him whom the Father consecrated and sent into the world, `You are blaspheming,' because I said, `I am the Son of God'? 37 If I am not doing the works of my Father, then do not believe me; 38 but if I do them, even though you do not believe me, believe the works, that you may know and understand that the Father is in me and I am in the Father." 39 Again they tried to arrest him, but he escaped from their hands. 40 He went away again across the Jordan to the place where
John at first baptized, and there he remained. 41 And many came to him; and they said, "John did no sign, but everything that John said about this man was true." 42 And many believed in him there.
Old Testament Reading: Jeremiah 20:10-13 For I hear many whispering. Terror is on every side! "Denounce him! Let us denounce him!" say all my familiar friends, watching for my fall. "Perhaps he will be deceived, then we can overcome him, and take our revenge on him." 11 But the LORD is with me as a dread warrior; therefore my persecutors will stumble, they will not overcome me. They will be greatly shamed, for they will not succeed. Their eternal dishonor will never be forgotten.
Meditation by Paul Mahowald S.J. (Creighton)
Today’s refrain from Psalm 18 gives us the theme of the readings: “In my distress, I called upon the Lord, and he heard my voice.”
Outside our church on Sunday mornings is parked a car with vanity plates that read “YMELORD”, i.e., “Why me, Lord?” This is a question that comes up in all our lives. Jeremiah suffered through rejection of his prophetic mission at the time of the exile. And the gospel relates how Jesus also is rejected by “the Jews” who are trying to stone him for blasphemy.
Jesus is threatened by those who witness his “works.” And Jesus challenges his accusers to clarify over which “good work” are they charging him. Jesus’ time had not yet come so he fled down the mountain to the Jordan. His passion and death would come soon but he wanted to celebrate the Passover first with his disciples. Next Friday is Good Friday in our present day liturgy so all this drama fits together.
We asked the question, “Why me, Lord?” There are many ways to respond. We can join with him in his passion and death as we realize in our lives we also have many moments of crisis when we plead for God’s help. There are times of mourning when a family member dies; there are economic crises when we lose a job or even a home; there are spiritual crises of faith when we find it hard to believe in a good God who cares for us, etc.
Our scriptural texts this past week have dwelt on crises: Monday with Jesus saving the woman caught in adultery; Wednesday with Daniel refusing to worship the golden statue of Nebachadnezzar and then being thrown into the fiery furnace with his three campanions and yesterday’s readings where the Jews protest that Jesus could give them eternal life.
We need to remember the comment made to Thomas in the Upper Room the week after Jesus rose from the dead. Jesus said, “Blessed are they who believe even though they do not see.” This can also be translated to “Blessed are they who have trusted even though they do not understand!”
So “Why me , Lord?” If we truly trust the Lord we can respond “why not, Lord because blessed are we who do not understand even though we are bombarded on all sides with terrible pressures and anxieties.
Supplementary Readings
Stop for Directions
"He guides the humble in what is right and teaches them his way." – Psalm 25:9
The Israelites had to cross the wilderness to get to the Promised Land. Since none of them knew the way and there was no guide available or landmarks to provide direction, the people had no choice but to completely rely on God to show them the way. He led them by providing a pillar of clouds by day and fire by night.
God doesn't lead in such conspicuous ways today, but he still guides. STOP! Make a timeline of your life, identifying five pivotal points where your life took a turn. Then answer these questions: How did God guide you through those times? How was he there for you? If you got off track, what did God use to get you back on course?
God wants to guide you as clearly as he did the Israelites. Ask him to.
* * *
Make a timeline of your life, identifying five pivotal points where your life took a turn. How did God guide you through those times? How was he there for you?
* * *
Note: This excerpt was taken from the "Power for Life Daily Devotional"
GOD BLESS US ALL!
PRAY as if everything depended on HIM. ACT as if everything depended on YOU.
http://his-ways-better-than-our-ways.blogspot.com http://www.mabuhayradio.com/Sections/SunSermon.html
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