Jesus gave hope where there seemed to be no human cause for it because his hope was directed to God. He spoke words of hope to the woman (Take heart, daughter!) to ignite the spark of faith in her (your faith has made you well!). And he also gave divine hope to a father who had just lost a beloved child. It took considerable courage and risk for the ruler of a synagogue to openly go to Jesus and to invite the scorn of his neighbors and kin.
Matthew 9:18-26 While he was thus speaking to them, behold, a ruler came in and knelt before him, saying, "My daughter has just died; but come and lay your hand on her, and she will live." 19 And Jesus rose and followed him, with his disciples. 20 And behold, a woman who had suffered from a hemorrhage for twelve years came up behind him and touched the fringe of his garment; 21 for she said to herself, "If I only touch his garment, I shall be made well." 22 Jesus turned, and seeing her he said, "Take heart, daughter; your faith has made you well." And instantly the woman was made well. 23 And when Jesus came to the ruler's house, and saw the flute players, and the crowd making a tumult, 24 he said, "Depart; for the girl is not dead but sleeping." And they laughed at him. 25 But when the crowd had been put outside, he went in and took her by the hand, and the girl arose. 26 And the report of this went through all that district.
Meditation by Don Schwager
Do you take your troubles to the Lord with expectant faith and confidence in his help? People in desperate or helpless circumstances were not disappointed when they sought Jesus out. What drew them to Jesus? Was it hope for a miracle or a word of comfort in their affliction? What did the elderly woman who had suffered greatly for twelve years expect Jesus to do for her? And what did a grieving father expect Jesus to do about his lost beloved daughter? Jesus gave hope where there seemed to be no human cause for it because his hope was directed to God. He spoke words of hope to the woman (Take heart, daughter!) to ignite the spark of faith in her (your faith has made you well!). And he also gave divine hope to a father who had just lost a beloved child. It took considerable courage and risk for the ruler of a synagogue to openly go to Jesus and to invite the scorn of his neighbors and kin. Even the hired mourners laughed at him in scorn. Their grief was devoid of any hope. Nonetheless, Jesus took the girl by the hand and delivered her from the grasp of death. In both instances we see Jesus' personal concern for the needs of others and his readiness to heal and restore life.
In Jesus we see the infinite love of God extending to each and every individual as he gives freely and wholly of himself to each person he meets. Do you approach the Lord with confident expectation that he will hear your request and act?
"Lord Jesus, you love each of us individually with a unique and personal love. Touch my life with your saving power, heal and restore me to fullness of life. Help me to give wholly of myself in loving service to others."
Supplementary Reading
Night is O'er by Sheila Schuller Coleman
"The night is nearly over; the day is almost here." – Romans 13:12
In the depth of darkness, everything feels more overwhelming. It is during these times, when it is difficult to look to the future with any semblance of hope that you need to remember that the night is always temporary. The night will not last. It always comes to an end! If you hang in there you will live to see the sunrise and with it hope is reborn.
God is a powerful God who dispels gloom, breaks through depression, and energizes your life with the assurance that a new day is about to break on the horizon. Proclaim that hope. Cling to the promise that the night is o'er. The new day is born. Hope is alive—empowered of God—who sends the rays of his Son into the dark corners of your life, shattering the night with his light!
* * *
Are you going through a dark time in your life? Look to God's word and let the promises you find there bring light to the dark corners of your life.
* * *
GOD BLESS US ALL!
PRAY as if everything depended on HIM. ACT as if everything depended on YOU.
http://www.facebook.com/bobot.apit
http://his-ways-better-than-our-ways.blogspot.com/
http://www.mabuhayradio.com/sections/the-daily-bread.html
http://www.tlig.org/en/messages/
Friday, July 03, 2009
July 5, 2009- Sunday Meditation (Be an "Exclamation Mark!" )
Jesus did not argue or defend, or reject his neighbors; he continued being who he was and doing who he was as prophet. The questionings of others did not move him to question himself, but remain a question mark in the minds of those who thought they knew the answers. We who follow Jesus are moved to live not as commas, but always as exclamation and question marks ourselves.
Sunday in the Fourteenth Week in Ordinary Time
Ezekiel 2:2-5
Psalm 123:1-2, 2, 3-4
2 Corinthians 12:7-10
Mark 6:1-6 He went away from there and came to his own country; and his disciples followed him. 2 And on the Sabbath he began to teach in the synagogue; and many who heard him were astonished, saying, "Where did this man get all this? What is the wisdom given to him? What mighty works are wrought by his hands! 3 Is not this the carpenter, the son of Mary and brother of James and Joses and Judas and Simon, and are not his sisters here with us?" And they took offense at him. 4 And Jesus said to them, "A prophet is not without honor, except in his own country, and among his own kin, and in his own house." 5 And he could do no mighty work there, except that he laid his hands upon a few sick people and healed them. 6 And he marveled because of their unbelief. And he went about among the villages teaching.
Meditation by Larry Gillick, S.J.
PREPRAYING
When we entered the grace-life through Baptism, we were anointed also into Christ’s manner of living as a prophet. This means more than being able to predict the future of course; it means living as humans were meant to live. There is a certain non-conformity to the way Jesus lived as prophet and while extending the divine love towards humanity, he did not expect, demand or manipulate popular acceptance.
We are praying these days for the grace of fidelity to our baptismal vocation of being an insult to the spirits, manners and dependencies of this-world’s ways. We can pray for an independence from such tendencies as can prevent us from loving and relating with the marginal, needing to be identified by our family’s history, or doing only those actions which create a popular image. We are prophets when our life style reflects an alternative to the easy conformities of our cultures. Ezekiel had to stand up; Jesus and the disciples had to stand up for who they were. We can pray to stand up and stand by who God says we are and how we will find peace by how we live. We pray these days for such graces so we can amaze those who think they know us.
REFLECTION
This weekend in the United States we are celebrating the successful rebellion against King George and the English domination of our country’s beginning. There were rebels who desired to live free from what they experienced as tyranny. Independence and freedom are so precious to the human heart and yet we live constantly under the tyranny of what can appear as freedom.
Ezekiel, in our First Reading, gets a “stand-up call”. He receives the word in the form of a scroll which he is commanded to literally eat. He is to prepare to go to the people of Israel who are hard of face and heart. They are in a constant state of rebellion against a God whom they experience as a tyrant. He is told to go at least there so they know that God is still sending them invitations through a prophet’s presence.
We will be seeing Mark’s Jesus for a few more weeks beginning with this picture of Jesus’ returning to his hometown. The crowd who has been listening to him and watching his miracles can only accept him through his family roots by which they think they know him. He is the carpenter’s boy and the son of Mary down the road. They are confined by what they know and so move to reject him as anything new or different. Jesus remarks that a prophet or special person is not accepted at home where people think they have him or her in a convenient envelope.
I have a friend who while in high school was kicked out of his neighborhood drug store and told never to return again, for causing the owner some grief more than a few times. Twelve years later, while visiting home after his ordination, his mother sent him to the same store. When he walked in the owner looked up and said, “I told you out!” This is a true story and is not a unique one either. Jesus is someone new and different; he has been ordained to be so, but others mistrust and reject his differentness.
Many of the great saints from Peter and Paul to modern-day, holy people have had to live with their pasts in the presence of those who knew them when. More than that, each of us has to live with our pasts which might be known only to ourselves. We can be tempted to reject, resist and deny the newness, the graceful growth of the healing Jesus within us. We have many experiences of our being rebels ourselves; demanding, fighting for our independence. The great freedom for us as humans is to recognize God as, not tyrant, but creator and sustainer. God continues sending us prophets and prophetic moments and events to announce our rebellion and the way to live less troubled lives which result in giving lots of others, grief more than a few times.
Growing, changing, becoming new again are all very frightening, but Ezekiel had to eat the scroll and we too eat God’s word and share his life’s grace in the Eucharist. Jesus did not argue or defend, or reject his neighbors; he continued being who he was and doing who he was as prophet. The questionings of others did not move him to question himself, but remain a question mark in the minds of those who thought they knew the answers. We who follow Jesus are moved to live not as commas, but always as exclamation and question marks ourselves. Jesus left his watchers and listeners scratching their heads by what he taught and what and how he did. We may have scratched our heads many times at these ways. Slowly, we grow in his style of expanding the envelopes into which we have, or others have, put us. We are meant to rebel against the tyrannies of unfreeing expectations and grow into the free state of allowing God to be our loving Lord.
I’d like to think my relationship with Jesus frees me to be a puzzlement, a head-scratcher, and of whom, “they shall know that a prophet has been among them.”
“Taste and see the goodness of the Lord.” Ps.. 34
Supplementary Reading
Peace in Prayer by Juan Carlos Ortiz
"Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts." – Colossians 3:15a
The wedding feast at Cana was as good as anyone could have hoped for. In fact, it was maybe too good—the festive guests had exhausted the wine supply.
Mary was there with Jesus. Even though his ministry had not blossomed, she knew that there might be something he could do about this little problem that no one else could.
"They have no wine," she told him. That's all. She didn't say, "Son, make wine."
We must understand the difference if we are to better understand prayer. Mary stated the need: she did not dictate the solution. She brought the problem to Jesus and trusted him with the outcome. Now the problem was out of her hands.
Mary's prayer demonstrates a key attitude in how we approach God: peace. The way of the flesh is to worry. It comes as natural as rebellion. We need no training to learn to worry. But we can all use some help in cultivating a heart of peace. As we do, that communication pathway between us and God will be so much smoother.
* * *
The poem, "Broken Dreams," talks about how we bring our dreams to God. But instead of leaving God alone to work, we try to help in our own way. Then we wonder why we don't see God answer. It's because we never completely let go. Is there anything you're praying about right now that you haven't let go of yet? Open your hands!
* * *
GOD BLESS US ALL!
PRAY as if everything depended on HIM. ACT as if everything depended on YOU.
http://www.facebook.com/bobot.apit
http://his-ways-better-than-our-ways.blogspot.com/
http://www.mabuhayradio.com/sections/the-daily-bread.html
http://www.tlig.org/en/messages/
Sunday in the Fourteenth Week in Ordinary Time
Ezekiel 2:2-5
Psalm 123:1-2, 2, 3-4
2 Corinthians 12:7-10
Mark 6:1-6 He went away from there and came to his own country; and his disciples followed him. 2 And on the Sabbath he began to teach in the synagogue; and many who heard him were astonished, saying, "Where did this man get all this? What is the wisdom given to him? What mighty works are wrought by his hands! 3 Is not this the carpenter, the son of Mary and brother of James and Joses and Judas and Simon, and are not his sisters here with us?" And they took offense at him. 4 And Jesus said to them, "A prophet is not without honor, except in his own country, and among his own kin, and in his own house." 5 And he could do no mighty work there, except that he laid his hands upon a few sick people and healed them. 6 And he marveled because of their unbelief. And he went about among the villages teaching.
Meditation by Larry Gillick, S.J.
PREPRAYING
When we entered the grace-life through Baptism, we were anointed also into Christ’s manner of living as a prophet. This means more than being able to predict the future of course; it means living as humans were meant to live. There is a certain non-conformity to the way Jesus lived as prophet and while extending the divine love towards humanity, he did not expect, demand or manipulate popular acceptance.
We are praying these days for the grace of fidelity to our baptismal vocation of being an insult to the spirits, manners and dependencies of this-world’s ways. We can pray for an independence from such tendencies as can prevent us from loving and relating with the marginal, needing to be identified by our family’s history, or doing only those actions which create a popular image. We are prophets when our life style reflects an alternative to the easy conformities of our cultures. Ezekiel had to stand up; Jesus and the disciples had to stand up for who they were. We can pray to stand up and stand by who God says we are and how we will find peace by how we live. We pray these days for such graces so we can amaze those who think they know us.
REFLECTION
This weekend in the United States we are celebrating the successful rebellion against King George and the English domination of our country’s beginning. There were rebels who desired to live free from what they experienced as tyranny. Independence and freedom are so precious to the human heart and yet we live constantly under the tyranny of what can appear as freedom.
Ezekiel, in our First Reading, gets a “stand-up call”. He receives the word in the form of a scroll which he is commanded to literally eat. He is to prepare to go to the people of Israel who are hard of face and heart. They are in a constant state of rebellion against a God whom they experience as a tyrant. He is told to go at least there so they know that God is still sending them invitations through a prophet’s presence.
We will be seeing Mark’s Jesus for a few more weeks beginning with this picture of Jesus’ returning to his hometown. The crowd who has been listening to him and watching his miracles can only accept him through his family roots by which they think they know him. He is the carpenter’s boy and the son of Mary down the road. They are confined by what they know and so move to reject him as anything new or different. Jesus remarks that a prophet or special person is not accepted at home where people think they have him or her in a convenient envelope.
I have a friend who while in high school was kicked out of his neighborhood drug store and told never to return again, for causing the owner some grief more than a few times. Twelve years later, while visiting home after his ordination, his mother sent him to the same store. When he walked in the owner looked up and said, “I told you out!” This is a true story and is not a unique one either. Jesus is someone new and different; he has been ordained to be so, but others mistrust and reject his differentness.
Many of the great saints from Peter and Paul to modern-day, holy people have had to live with their pasts in the presence of those who knew them when. More than that, each of us has to live with our pasts which might be known only to ourselves. We can be tempted to reject, resist and deny the newness, the graceful growth of the healing Jesus within us. We have many experiences of our being rebels ourselves; demanding, fighting for our independence. The great freedom for us as humans is to recognize God as, not tyrant, but creator and sustainer. God continues sending us prophets and prophetic moments and events to announce our rebellion and the way to live less troubled lives which result in giving lots of others, grief more than a few times.
Growing, changing, becoming new again are all very frightening, but Ezekiel had to eat the scroll and we too eat God’s word and share his life’s grace in the Eucharist. Jesus did not argue or defend, or reject his neighbors; he continued being who he was and doing who he was as prophet. The questionings of others did not move him to question himself, but remain a question mark in the minds of those who thought they knew the answers. We who follow Jesus are moved to live not as commas, but always as exclamation and question marks ourselves. Jesus left his watchers and listeners scratching their heads by what he taught and what and how he did. We may have scratched our heads many times at these ways. Slowly, we grow in his style of expanding the envelopes into which we have, or others have, put us. We are meant to rebel against the tyrannies of unfreeing expectations and grow into the free state of allowing God to be our loving Lord.
I’d like to think my relationship with Jesus frees me to be a puzzlement, a head-scratcher, and of whom, “they shall know that a prophet has been among them.”
“Taste and see the goodness of the Lord.” Ps.. 34
Supplementary Reading
Peace in Prayer by Juan Carlos Ortiz
"Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts." – Colossians 3:15a
The wedding feast at Cana was as good as anyone could have hoped for. In fact, it was maybe too good—the festive guests had exhausted the wine supply.
Mary was there with Jesus. Even though his ministry had not blossomed, she knew that there might be something he could do about this little problem that no one else could.
"They have no wine," she told him. That's all. She didn't say, "Son, make wine."
We must understand the difference if we are to better understand prayer. Mary stated the need: she did not dictate the solution. She brought the problem to Jesus and trusted him with the outcome. Now the problem was out of her hands.
Mary's prayer demonstrates a key attitude in how we approach God: peace. The way of the flesh is to worry. It comes as natural as rebellion. We need no training to learn to worry. But we can all use some help in cultivating a heart of peace. As we do, that communication pathway between us and God will be so much smoother.
* * *
The poem, "Broken Dreams," talks about how we bring our dreams to God. But instead of leaving God alone to work, we try to help in our own way. Then we wonder why we don't see God answer. It's because we never completely let go. Is there anything you're praying about right now that you haven't let go of yet? Open your hands!
* * *
GOD BLESS US ALL!
PRAY as if everything depended on HIM. ACT as if everything depended on YOU.
http://www.facebook.com/bobot.apit
http://his-ways-better-than-our-ways.blogspot.com/
http://www.mabuhayradio.com/sections/the-daily-bread.html
http://www.tlig.org/en/messages/
July 4, 2009- Saturday Meditation (Feasting or Fasting?)
Which comes first, fasting or feasting? The disciples of John the Baptist were upset with Jesus' disciples because they did not fast. Fasting was one of the three most important religious duties, along with prayer and almsgiving. Jesus gave a simple explanation. There's a time for fasting and a time for feasting (or celebrating)..
Matthew 9:14-17 Then the disciples of John came to him, saying, "Why do we and the Pharisees fast, but your disciples do not fast?" 15 And Jesus said to them, "Can the wedding guests mourn as long as the bridegroom is with them? The days will come, when the bridegroom is taken away from them, and then they will fast. 16 And no one puts a piece of unsprung cloth on an old garment, for the patch tears away from the garment, and a worse tear is made. 17 Neither is new wine put into old wineskins; if it is, the skins burst, and the wine is spilled, and the skins are destroyed; but new wine is put into fresh wineskins, and so both are preserved."
Meditation by Don Schwager
Which comes first, fasting or feasting? The disciples of John the Baptist were upset with Jesus' disciples because they did not fast. Fasting was one of the three most important religious duties, along with prayer and almsgiving. Jesus gave a simple explanation. There's a time for fasting and a time for feasting (or celebrating). To walk as a disciple with Jesus is to experience a whole new joy of relationship akin to the joy of the wedding party in celebrating with the groom and bride their wedding bliss. But there also comes a time when the Lord's disciples must bear the cross of affliction and purification. For the disciple there is both a time for rejoicing in the Lord's presence and celebrating his goodness and a time for seeking the Lord with humility and fasting and for mourning over sin. Do you take joy in the Lord's presence with you and do you express sorrow and contrition for your sins?
Jesus goes on to warn his disciples about the problem of the "closed mind" that refuses to learn new things. Jesus used an image familiar to his audience - new and old wineskins. In Jesus' times, wine was stored in wineskins, not bottles. New wine poured into skins was still fermenting.. The gases exerted gave pressure. New wine skins were elastic enough to take the pressure, but old wine skins easily burst because they were hard. What did Jesus mean by this comparison? Are we to reject the old in place of the new? Just as there is a right place and a right time for fasting and for feasting, so there is a right place for the old as well as the new. Jesus says the kingdom of heaven is like a householder who brings out of his treasure what is new and what is old (Matthew 13:52). How impoverished we would be if we only had the Old Testament or the New Testament, rather than both. The Lord gives us wisdom so we can make the best use of both the old and the new. He doesn't want us to hold rigidly to the past and to be resistant to the new work of his Holy Spirit in our lives. He wants our minds and hearts to be like new wine skins - open and ready to receive the new wine of the Holy Spirit. Are you eager to grow in the knowledge and understanding of God's word and plan for your life?
"Lord Jesus, fill me with your Holy Spirit, that I may grow in the knowledge of your great love and truth. Help me to seek you earnestly in prayer and fasting that I may turn away from sin and wilfulness and conform my life more fully to your will. May I always find joy in knowing, loving, and serving you."
Supplementary Reading
Fasting or Feasting
Matthew 9:15 And Jesus said to them, "The attendants of the bridegroom cannot mourn as long as the bridegroom is with them, can they? But the days will come when the bridegroom is taken away from them, and then they will fast."
Recently, I was asked to teach on the subject of fasting. I knew I was dealing with a subject that is not practiced a whole lot these days. What's more, I live in a country where the national pastime is eating. Let's face it-we all love our edibles. So it's kind of strange to talk about fasting to a group of people who would prefer discussing their favorite fast food!
Long ago, the disciples of Jesus were feasting at a time when fasting was considered the religiously correct thing to do. Not surprisingly, they were criticized for not fasting as the other people were doing (Matthew 9:14). Jesus stated that His disciples would fast only after He was taken away from them (v.15). Many Bible scholars believe that we are living in the time He was referring to-between His ascension and His second coming (Acts 1:9-12). If that's true, this is the time for us to fast.
Jesus asked: "Do wedding guests mourn while celebrating with the groom?" (Matthew 9:15). By this question He revealed a key reason for fasting- repentance and sorrow for sin. When convicted of idolatry, the Jews repented with fasting (1 Samuel 7:3-6). And due to national emergencies, they fasted again, humbly trusting God to act on their behalf (2 Chronicles 20:1-4; Esther 4:16).
Only one direct command to fast is found in Scripture. The Israelites were to fast once a year on the Day of Atonement. On that day, the high priest entered the Holy of Holies to offer sacrifices to atone for the sins of the whole nation (Leviticus 16:29-31). Fasting also reminds us that it is God who sustains us. Food may keep us going physically, but God's Word sustains us spiritually (Matthew 4:4).
Feast on God's Word and fast when necessary! - K.T. Sim, Our Daily Journey
GOD BLESS US ALL!
PRAY as if everything depended on HIM. ACT as if everything depended on YOU.
http://www.facebook.com/bobot.apit
http://his-ways-better-than-our-ways.blogspot.com/
http://www..mabuhayradio.com/sections/the-daily-bread.html
http://www.tlig.org/en/messages/
Matthew 9:14-17 Then the disciples of John came to him, saying, "Why do we and the Pharisees fast, but your disciples do not fast?" 15 And Jesus said to them, "Can the wedding guests mourn as long as the bridegroom is with them? The days will come, when the bridegroom is taken away from them, and then they will fast. 16 And no one puts a piece of unsprung cloth on an old garment, for the patch tears away from the garment, and a worse tear is made. 17 Neither is new wine put into old wineskins; if it is, the skins burst, and the wine is spilled, and the skins are destroyed; but new wine is put into fresh wineskins, and so both are preserved."
Meditation by Don Schwager
Which comes first, fasting or feasting? The disciples of John the Baptist were upset with Jesus' disciples because they did not fast. Fasting was one of the three most important religious duties, along with prayer and almsgiving. Jesus gave a simple explanation. There's a time for fasting and a time for feasting (or celebrating). To walk as a disciple with Jesus is to experience a whole new joy of relationship akin to the joy of the wedding party in celebrating with the groom and bride their wedding bliss. But there also comes a time when the Lord's disciples must bear the cross of affliction and purification. For the disciple there is both a time for rejoicing in the Lord's presence and celebrating his goodness and a time for seeking the Lord with humility and fasting and for mourning over sin. Do you take joy in the Lord's presence with you and do you express sorrow and contrition for your sins?
Jesus goes on to warn his disciples about the problem of the "closed mind" that refuses to learn new things. Jesus used an image familiar to his audience - new and old wineskins. In Jesus' times, wine was stored in wineskins, not bottles. New wine poured into skins was still fermenting.. The gases exerted gave pressure. New wine skins were elastic enough to take the pressure, but old wine skins easily burst because they were hard. What did Jesus mean by this comparison? Are we to reject the old in place of the new? Just as there is a right place and a right time for fasting and for feasting, so there is a right place for the old as well as the new. Jesus says the kingdom of heaven is like a householder who brings out of his treasure what is new and what is old (Matthew 13:52). How impoverished we would be if we only had the Old Testament or the New Testament, rather than both. The Lord gives us wisdom so we can make the best use of both the old and the new. He doesn't want us to hold rigidly to the past and to be resistant to the new work of his Holy Spirit in our lives. He wants our minds and hearts to be like new wine skins - open and ready to receive the new wine of the Holy Spirit. Are you eager to grow in the knowledge and understanding of God's word and plan for your life?
"Lord Jesus, fill me with your Holy Spirit, that I may grow in the knowledge of your great love and truth. Help me to seek you earnestly in prayer and fasting that I may turn away from sin and wilfulness and conform my life more fully to your will. May I always find joy in knowing, loving, and serving you."
Supplementary Reading
Fasting or Feasting
Matthew 9:15 And Jesus said to them, "The attendants of the bridegroom cannot mourn as long as the bridegroom is with them, can they? But the days will come when the bridegroom is taken away from them, and then they will fast."
Recently, I was asked to teach on the subject of fasting. I knew I was dealing with a subject that is not practiced a whole lot these days. What's more, I live in a country where the national pastime is eating. Let's face it-we all love our edibles. So it's kind of strange to talk about fasting to a group of people who would prefer discussing their favorite fast food!
Long ago, the disciples of Jesus were feasting at a time when fasting was considered the religiously correct thing to do. Not surprisingly, they were criticized for not fasting as the other people were doing (Matthew 9:14). Jesus stated that His disciples would fast only after He was taken away from them (v.15). Many Bible scholars believe that we are living in the time He was referring to-between His ascension and His second coming (Acts 1:9-12). If that's true, this is the time for us to fast.
Jesus asked: "Do wedding guests mourn while celebrating with the groom?" (Matthew 9:15). By this question He revealed a key reason for fasting- repentance and sorrow for sin. When convicted of idolatry, the Jews repented with fasting (1 Samuel 7:3-6). And due to national emergencies, they fasted again, humbly trusting God to act on their behalf (2 Chronicles 20:1-4; Esther 4:16).
Only one direct command to fast is found in Scripture. The Israelites were to fast once a year on the Day of Atonement. On that day, the high priest entered the Holy of Holies to offer sacrifices to atone for the sins of the whole nation (Leviticus 16:29-31). Fasting also reminds us that it is God who sustains us. Food may keep us going physically, but God's Word sustains us spiritually (Matthew 4:4).
Feast on God's Word and fast when necessary! - K.T. Sim, Our Daily Journey
GOD BLESS US ALL!
PRAY as if everything depended on HIM. ACT as if everything depended on YOU.
http://www.facebook.com/bobot.apit
http://his-ways-better-than-our-ways.blogspot.com/
http://www..mabuhayradio.com/sections/the-daily-bread.html
http://www.tlig.org/en/messages/
July 3, 2009- Friday Meditation (His Kind of Peace!)
One other insight about Thomas is that he is the Apostle who insists on closely inspecting the wounds and suffering of Jesus. Thomas, perhaps more than anyone else, is able to face the heinous suffering of Jesus and take seriously the pain of the cross. Do we as Christians not have an obligation to take seriously the suffering of Jesus on the cross, the suffering of our world today, and be willing to follow Jesus despite that pain?
Feast of Saint Thomas
Ephesians 2:19-22
Psalm 117:1bc, 2
John 20:24-29 (alternate reading: Matthew 9:9-13) Now Thomas, one of the twelve, called the Twin, was not with them when Jesus came. 25 So the other disciples told him, "We have seen the Lord." But he said to them, "Unless I see in his hands the print of the nails, and place my finger in the mark of the nails, and place my hand in his side, I will not believe." 26 Eight days later, his disciples were again in the house, and Thomas was with them. The doors were shut, but Jesus came and stood among them, and said, "Peace be with you." 27 Then he said to Thomas, "Put your finger here, and see my hands; and put out your hand, and place it in my side; do not be faithless, but believing." 28 Thomas answered him, "My Lord and my God!" 29 Jesus said to him, "Have you believed because you have seen me? Blessed are those who have not seen and yet believe."
Meditation by Ken Reed-Bouley
“Don’t be such a “Doubting Thomas”! I remember hearing that line as a child from adults or sometimes from other children parroting what they had heard adults say to them.
For a long time that phrase puzzled, even frightened me. It seemed to imply there was something inherently wrong, perhaps sinful, about not being certain about something. And when I finally connected its origin with St. Thomas, one of Jesus’ Apostles, I was even more confused. How can an Apostle be so wrong? Is it always wrong to doubt? Is it even possible not to have some doubt about lots of thing?
Despite the snickering of the other Apostles that I often picture, as the Resurrected but not yet Ascended Jesus approaches Thomas, I think Jesus shows understanding and compassion for Thomas’s doubt. Jesus does not condemn Thomas for not believing until he had seen and experienced the Risen Jesus for himself. Instead Jesus (and the author of John’s Gospel) teaches all of us generations and centuries later that we are blessed for believing without the benefit of physical confirmation.
Faith without doubt is certitude. Doubt without faith is cynicism. Although I have experienced moments of both certitude and cynicism in myself and others, I don’t think either extreme is often healthy or attractive. In my experience, doubt and faith can complement one another. Just because Thomas was not yet ready to believe his friends about seeing the Risen Jesus does not mean he lacked all faith. In fact, Thomas’s doubt probably led to a deepening of his faith after he experienced Jesus as Risen.
One other insight about Thomas is that he is the Apostle who insists on closely inspecting the wounds and suffering of Jesus. Thomas, perhaps more than anyone else, is able to face the heinous suffering of Jesus and take seriously the pain of the cross. Do we as Christians not have an obligation to take seriously the suffering of Jesus on the cross, the suffering of our world today, and be willing to follow Jesus despite that pain? We might be tempted not to inspect too closely the suffering of people today from war, poverty, disease, etc. But once we inspect these wounds ourselves, rather than doubt their severity we must face the truth and act accordingly.
For me Thomas is a saint and apostle who is down to earth, easy to relate to, and an inspiration for not turning away but for being willing to inspect and take seriously the pain and suffering of Jesus, the cross, and our world – no doubt about it.
Supplementary Reading
Not the World's Peace
By Juan Carlos Ortiz
"And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus." – Philippians 4:7
Salvation is more than an insurance policy to keep us from having to accept uncomfortable surroundings in eternity. Salvation is for here and now. If we believe in the Son, we have eternal life—now—and we should start reflecting a bit of eternity in this temporal environment. Like Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego, we should be dancing mid the fire.
So what stops us? One problem is that we get confused about different kinds of peace. Jesus said, "Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you; not as the world gives it, do I give to you. Let not your heart be troubled, nor let it be fearful" (John 14:27).
The peace that the world gives is what you have if you have a good salary, no sickness, obedient children, a loving spouse, two new cars, a well-trained dog, and more cable TV channels than you can count. Even so, people with all these things, and much more, find that deep, lasting peace escapes them. But we know how the world defines peace in this way—an absence of surface trouble.
The peace Jesus gives "passes all comprehension" (Philippians 4:7). There is no outward reason to possess this peace. Every circumstance may be upside down, but you still have this elusive peace. It's what Paul and Silas had in jail. They had plenty of reason to complain. Or they could have been religious and prayed for God to release them. Instead, they prayed and sang hymns to the same God whose business got them in this fix to begin with.
The peace that Christ gives is founded in him and we cannot lose him once he comes to live in us. Yet how easy it is to lose the world's peace—children disappoint, marriages go sour, jobs suddenly end, sickness and death are inevitable, your faithful dog chews up the television cable right before your favorite show comes on. The very fragility of worldly peace makes it practically impossible to sit back and enjoy its fleeting appearances.
And yet, with Christ, we can experience peace.
* * *
What things keep you sidetracked, upset your well-being and balance or steal your peace? Make a list. Pray, inviting Jesus to guard your heart and mind today.
* * *
GOD BLESS US ALL!
PRAY as if everything depended on HIM. ACT as if everything depended on YOU.
http://www.facebook.com/bobot.apit
http://his-ways-better-than-our-ways.blogspot.com/
http://www.mabuhayradio.com/sections/the-daily-bread.html
http://www.tlig.org/en/messages/
Feast of Saint Thomas
Ephesians 2:19-22
Psalm 117:1bc, 2
John 20:24-29 (alternate reading: Matthew 9:9-13) Now Thomas, one of the twelve, called the Twin, was not with them when Jesus came. 25 So the other disciples told him, "We have seen the Lord." But he said to them, "Unless I see in his hands the print of the nails, and place my finger in the mark of the nails, and place my hand in his side, I will not believe." 26 Eight days later, his disciples were again in the house, and Thomas was with them. The doors were shut, but Jesus came and stood among them, and said, "Peace be with you." 27 Then he said to Thomas, "Put your finger here, and see my hands; and put out your hand, and place it in my side; do not be faithless, but believing." 28 Thomas answered him, "My Lord and my God!" 29 Jesus said to him, "Have you believed because you have seen me? Blessed are those who have not seen and yet believe."
Meditation by Ken Reed-Bouley
“Don’t be such a “Doubting Thomas”! I remember hearing that line as a child from adults or sometimes from other children parroting what they had heard adults say to them.
For a long time that phrase puzzled, even frightened me. It seemed to imply there was something inherently wrong, perhaps sinful, about not being certain about something. And when I finally connected its origin with St. Thomas, one of Jesus’ Apostles, I was even more confused. How can an Apostle be so wrong? Is it always wrong to doubt? Is it even possible not to have some doubt about lots of thing?
Despite the snickering of the other Apostles that I often picture, as the Resurrected but not yet Ascended Jesus approaches Thomas, I think Jesus shows understanding and compassion for Thomas’s doubt. Jesus does not condemn Thomas for not believing until he had seen and experienced the Risen Jesus for himself. Instead Jesus (and the author of John’s Gospel) teaches all of us generations and centuries later that we are blessed for believing without the benefit of physical confirmation.
Faith without doubt is certitude. Doubt without faith is cynicism. Although I have experienced moments of both certitude and cynicism in myself and others, I don’t think either extreme is often healthy or attractive. In my experience, doubt and faith can complement one another. Just because Thomas was not yet ready to believe his friends about seeing the Risen Jesus does not mean he lacked all faith. In fact, Thomas’s doubt probably led to a deepening of his faith after he experienced Jesus as Risen.
One other insight about Thomas is that he is the Apostle who insists on closely inspecting the wounds and suffering of Jesus. Thomas, perhaps more than anyone else, is able to face the heinous suffering of Jesus and take seriously the pain of the cross. Do we as Christians not have an obligation to take seriously the suffering of Jesus on the cross, the suffering of our world today, and be willing to follow Jesus despite that pain? We might be tempted not to inspect too closely the suffering of people today from war, poverty, disease, etc. But once we inspect these wounds ourselves, rather than doubt their severity we must face the truth and act accordingly.
For me Thomas is a saint and apostle who is down to earth, easy to relate to, and an inspiration for not turning away but for being willing to inspect and take seriously the pain and suffering of Jesus, the cross, and our world – no doubt about it.
Supplementary Reading
Not the World's Peace
By Juan Carlos Ortiz
"And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus." – Philippians 4:7
Salvation is more than an insurance policy to keep us from having to accept uncomfortable surroundings in eternity. Salvation is for here and now. If we believe in the Son, we have eternal life—now—and we should start reflecting a bit of eternity in this temporal environment. Like Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego, we should be dancing mid the fire.
So what stops us? One problem is that we get confused about different kinds of peace. Jesus said, "Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you; not as the world gives it, do I give to you. Let not your heart be troubled, nor let it be fearful" (John 14:27).
The peace that the world gives is what you have if you have a good salary, no sickness, obedient children, a loving spouse, two new cars, a well-trained dog, and more cable TV channels than you can count. Even so, people with all these things, and much more, find that deep, lasting peace escapes them. But we know how the world defines peace in this way—an absence of surface trouble.
The peace Jesus gives "passes all comprehension" (Philippians 4:7). There is no outward reason to possess this peace. Every circumstance may be upside down, but you still have this elusive peace. It's what Paul and Silas had in jail. They had plenty of reason to complain. Or they could have been religious and prayed for God to release them. Instead, they prayed and sang hymns to the same God whose business got them in this fix to begin with.
The peace that Christ gives is founded in him and we cannot lose him once he comes to live in us. Yet how easy it is to lose the world's peace—children disappoint, marriages go sour, jobs suddenly end, sickness and death are inevitable, your faithful dog chews up the television cable right before your favorite show comes on. The very fragility of worldly peace makes it practically impossible to sit back and enjoy its fleeting appearances.
And yet, with Christ, we can experience peace.
* * *
What things keep you sidetracked, upset your well-being and balance or steal your peace? Make a list. Pray, inviting Jesus to guard your heart and mind today.
* * *
GOD BLESS US ALL!
PRAY as if everything depended on HIM. ACT as if everything depended on YOU.
http://www.facebook.com/bobot.apit
http://his-ways-better-than-our-ways.blogspot.com/
http://www.mabuhayradio.com/sections/the-daily-bread.html
http://www.tlig.org/en/messages/
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