2 Sm 15:13-14, 30; 16:5-13 - Ps 3:2-3, 4-5, 6-7 - Mk 5:1-20
The readings today interest me greatly. In one case you have David, one of God's chosen who fell into sin, forgiven by God was spared. David's punishment, which God forsaw, came at the hands of people who could not forgive. Then you have another example of the demon(s) Legion who entreated Christ for mercy and was shown mercy. God is merciful even unto those who hate and dispise him, who utterly work against him.
It is the heart of the human world which causes the suffering and retribution. It is the heart of humankind that laughs at the misfortune of another saying: "You who were sinful have reaped what you have sown." Yet, when they fall on hard times it is the devil or his minions at work to torment them because the eye of the enemy sees their righteousness.
So I ask when the psalmist writes: "O Lord, rise up and save me!" from whom, really, is he asking to be saved?
Monday, January 30, 2006
Wednesday, January 25, 2006
Conversion, 2 points
Acts 22:3-16 - Acts 9:1-22 - Ps 117:1bc, 2 - Mk 16:15-18
Like Paul, we all feel like we've had the horse knocked out from under us. Many of us feel like we are blind and wandering around in the dark. It is difficult to spread the Good News blindfolded... but is it a question of success or simply to try?
Like Paul, we all feel like we've had the horse knocked out from under us. Many of us feel like we are blind and wandering around in the dark. It is difficult to spread the Good News blindfolded... but is it a question of success or simply to try?
Wednesday, January 18, 2006
A Blind Eye
1 Sm 17:32-33, 37, 40-51 - Ps 144:1b, 2, 9-10 - Mk 3:1-6
What was it that wounded the Pharisees? What hurt or pain had they suffered that so blinded them to who Christ was? The reactions of the Pharisees seem to be irrational. What counsel did they keep when they were away from Christ and therefore not recorded in the Gospel?
Thomas Merton said that once an arrogant man believed he was humble that he would be hard to reach. Is this where the pharisees were? Is this not where we are from time to time?
There are those that might think, after reading this and my other postings that I am down on being human. There are those that think I am saying that God and religion are harsh things that belittle us and make us small... This is not the case at all.
We are a fantastic people with so much potential, but we, like the pharisees have a blindness. Where the pharisees were blind to Christ we are blind to Christ in each other. Our own interest will allow us the conciet of comprehending Christ in ourselves, but it is almost alwas easier to see the good in ourselves then in another. ( Except when we want them to do something for us. ) Everyday however one does not have to go very far to see the effects of selfishness in the world. Take the simple task of driving. For whatever reason our roads have become a place of self-interested mayhem. Nobody gives anybody half a chance. People are constantly cut off, honk at and worse. The streets are full of impatience and anger... So thick you can taste it in the air.
It is this self centered focus I believe that put the pharisees where they were, eventually leads Saul and David to their down falls, and keeps everyone separated. People are more interested in how they appear to others than being friends. People are more interested in their lives than the lives of others. If all we do is gauged only by what we gain then it will not be long before our schools, churches, markets, and homes will be in much the same condition as our roads. It has already begun.
We each stand as David facing our own self centered interest in the form of Goliath. Do we take our sling and charge, or drop our rocks and run? I know that I have done my fair share of running and will do so in the future. God knows this and still loves me, but when I manage to defeat my self interest, even for a short while, it makes him happy. Each time the monster goes down, he is easier to defeat... but each time I give in he becomes stronger.
What was it that wounded the Pharisees? What hurt or pain had they suffered that so blinded them to who Christ was? The reactions of the Pharisees seem to be irrational. What counsel did they keep when they were away from Christ and therefore not recorded in the Gospel?
Thomas Merton said that once an arrogant man believed he was humble that he would be hard to reach. Is this where the pharisees were? Is this not where we are from time to time?
There are those that might think, after reading this and my other postings that I am down on being human. There are those that think I am saying that God and religion are harsh things that belittle us and make us small... This is not the case at all.
We are a fantastic people with so much potential, but we, like the pharisees have a blindness. Where the pharisees were blind to Christ we are blind to Christ in each other. Our own interest will allow us the conciet of comprehending Christ in ourselves, but it is almost alwas easier to see the good in ourselves then in another. ( Except when we want them to do something for us. ) Everyday however one does not have to go very far to see the effects of selfishness in the world. Take the simple task of driving. For whatever reason our roads have become a place of self-interested mayhem. Nobody gives anybody half a chance. People are constantly cut off, honk at and worse. The streets are full of impatience and anger... So thick you can taste it in the air.
It is this self centered focus I believe that put the pharisees where they were, eventually leads Saul and David to their down falls, and keeps everyone separated. People are more interested in how they appear to others than being friends. People are more interested in their lives than the lives of others. If all we do is gauged only by what we gain then it will not be long before our schools, churches, markets, and homes will be in much the same condition as our roads. It has already begun.
We each stand as David facing our own self centered interest in the form of Goliath. Do we take our sling and charge, or drop our rocks and run? I know that I have done my fair share of running and will do so in the future. God knows this and still loves me, but when I manage to defeat my self interest, even for a short while, it makes him happy. Each time the monster goes down, he is easier to defeat... but each time I give in he becomes stronger.
Tuesday, January 17, 2006
Book covers and Blinders
1 Sm 16:1-13 - Ps 89:20, 21-22, 27-28 - Mk 2:23-28
Consider Saul. Appointed by God at the request of the Hebrews. A request that God warned the Hebrews about. God picked Saul knowing he would be the kind of king he prophisized. Is this an example of self fulfilling prophesy? What would have become of Saul had he not been anointed by Samuel? Does God raise up a king just to prove a point? Granted Saul had remarkable features but would he have been happier as a farmer? Does God pick us so that we play to our weaknesses?
One might say that Saul could have chosen better, but yet God knew he would not. Therefore God must have known that the Hebrews would act as they did. Today God chooses David, is he again setting up a simple man for a fall. True David accomplished great things, but did God not know when he chose David that he would ultimately betray Uriah?
The answer is of course He knew. He did not compel these events, but he knew how they would turn out, and conversely knowing all, he knew what would happen if those men had not been where He called them to be. No one can guess what David would be without Saul, where the Hebrews would be without David. It goes back to Job's moment of despair when he asks God why and God replies where were you when I founded the earth?
It makes the harshest kind of sense. God understands all time and space in a single instant, and applies himself throughout time in an instant as if Michelangelo could have painted all his works in a single brush stroke. WE unfold history minute to minute, but to God it has happened, will happen and is happening now. We can but judge the temporal fact of the lives of these men through our own narrow perception. The will of God cannot be denied, it matters not whether the world believes or disbelieves it still unfolds as the painter paints. Will it be a work that brings Him joy or pain, is what we determine.
You may think that I overstate our place in the world, but if God did not desire us then the universe makes little sense. Christ says as much today the Sabbath was created for man not man for the Sabbath... Think of the implications of that single statement. The "holy day" whatever or however you imagine it was a gift by God for us. Not as a steadfast rule that the pious could break over the heads of the unworthy for that holy day is not controlled by man. It is a celebration that once seen one cannot help but join. Our understanding of it in this life is like a man participating in a feast by satellite. We get but only the palest meager understanding of what the Sabbath is. All of our law and tradition at this moment in history amounts to so many leaves in a breeze. What we understand today will be swept away in time by revelation by God, as it has been and continues to be. The apolstles standing with Christ were closer to the Sabbath then any man or woman before or since.
The lesson of today is one of humility. We cannot judge God. God could tell Samuel who he would pick and what that person would do, but Samuel standing there looking at David had no idea what this simple Shepard would become. Just as a meek woman from Nazareth had no idea what the path of her son would be. Are we going to be like the pharisees and presume the wisdom of God or like Mary whose humble acceptance of God's will despite the slander she knew she would incur in her day and the suspicion with which she is treated even now. I say to you if God is pleased with this existence he has created, then truly it was Mary who put the smile on his face. Not us weak, foolish and presumptuous fools, driven by this world of substance, who think in our hearts we can understand God, and of this I am no less guilty. In fact, I would wager a guess that few could achieve the levels of arrogance I have built up around myself over the years.
Consider Saul. Appointed by God at the request of the Hebrews. A request that God warned the Hebrews about. God picked Saul knowing he would be the kind of king he prophisized. Is this an example of self fulfilling prophesy? What would have become of Saul had he not been anointed by Samuel? Does God raise up a king just to prove a point? Granted Saul had remarkable features but would he have been happier as a farmer? Does God pick us so that we play to our weaknesses?
One might say that Saul could have chosen better, but yet God knew he would not. Therefore God must have known that the Hebrews would act as they did. Today God chooses David, is he again setting up a simple man for a fall. True David accomplished great things, but did God not know when he chose David that he would ultimately betray Uriah?
The answer is of course He knew. He did not compel these events, but he knew how they would turn out, and conversely knowing all, he knew what would happen if those men had not been where He called them to be. No one can guess what David would be without Saul, where the Hebrews would be without David. It goes back to Job's moment of despair when he asks God why and God replies where were you when I founded the earth?
It makes the harshest kind of sense. God understands all time and space in a single instant, and applies himself throughout time in an instant as if Michelangelo could have painted all his works in a single brush stroke. WE unfold history minute to minute, but to God it has happened, will happen and is happening now. We can but judge the temporal fact of the lives of these men through our own narrow perception. The will of God cannot be denied, it matters not whether the world believes or disbelieves it still unfolds as the painter paints. Will it be a work that brings Him joy or pain, is what we determine.
You may think that I overstate our place in the world, but if God did not desire us then the universe makes little sense. Christ says as much today the Sabbath was created for man not man for the Sabbath... Think of the implications of that single statement. The "holy day" whatever or however you imagine it was a gift by God for us. Not as a steadfast rule that the pious could break over the heads of the unworthy for that holy day is not controlled by man. It is a celebration that once seen one cannot help but join. Our understanding of it in this life is like a man participating in a feast by satellite. We get but only the palest meager understanding of what the Sabbath is. All of our law and tradition at this moment in history amounts to so many leaves in a breeze. What we understand today will be swept away in time by revelation by God, as it has been and continues to be. The apolstles standing with Christ were closer to the Sabbath then any man or woman before or since.
The lesson of today is one of humility. We cannot judge God. God could tell Samuel who he would pick and what that person would do, but Samuel standing there looking at David had no idea what this simple Shepard would become. Just as a meek woman from Nazareth had no idea what the path of her son would be. Are we going to be like the pharisees and presume the wisdom of God or like Mary whose humble acceptance of God's will despite the slander she knew she would incur in her day and the suspicion with which she is treated even now. I say to you if God is pleased with this existence he has created, then truly it was Mary who put the smile on his face. Not us weak, foolish and presumptuous fools, driven by this world of substance, who think in our hearts we can understand God, and of this I am no less guilty. In fact, I would wager a guess that few could achieve the levels of arrogance I have built up around myself over the years.
Monday, January 16, 2006
Pride and Prejudice... Revisited.
1 Sm 15:16-23 - Ps 50:8-9, 16bc-17, 21 and 23 - Mk 2:18-22
Today's readings are all about blindness. What was Saul's crime really? He presumed to know better then God. He chose to do as he felt best not as God commanded. The pharisees treated Christ in much the same way. They presumed to know what God wanted from the situation, citing as did Saul, tradition and law before God's will.
How often do we find ourselves in the same situation though? Advising someone with the desires of our hearts? Urging someone to do something because it's what we want? This is no different, and whose voice is at the center of it?
There is a voice that speaks to us and tells us how to use law and tradition for our own gains, and it does not come from the Lord. This is the voice that tells us it is ok to bend a law in our favor because we are righteous, but when someone we dislike bends the same law we are first to call them on it. Most of us don't even realze we do it, that is how deep the voice speaks to us.
Again I say to anyone reading this, if you think yourselves above the darker characters in the Gospel stories then you have little understanding of what Christ teaches. No one in these stories was evil at heart. I feel deeply that each man or woman was striving to do good, but simply had been driven inwards by the opposing side. God draws us out, and the opposing force draws us in. God calls us to consider others first and the other side calls us to consider ourselves first.
Today's readings are all about blindness. What was Saul's crime really? He presumed to know better then God. He chose to do as he felt best not as God commanded. The pharisees treated Christ in much the same way. They presumed to know what God wanted from the situation, citing as did Saul, tradition and law before God's will.
How often do we find ourselves in the same situation though? Advising someone with the desires of our hearts? Urging someone to do something because it's what we want? This is no different, and whose voice is at the center of it?
There is a voice that speaks to us and tells us how to use law and tradition for our own gains, and it does not come from the Lord. This is the voice that tells us it is ok to bend a law in our favor because we are righteous, but when someone we dislike bends the same law we are first to call them on it. Most of us don't even realze we do it, that is how deep the voice speaks to us.
Again I say to anyone reading this, if you think yourselves above the darker characters in the Gospel stories then you have little understanding of what Christ teaches. No one in these stories was evil at heart. I feel deeply that each man or woman was striving to do good, but simply had been driven inwards by the opposing side. God draws us out, and the opposing force draws us in. God calls us to consider others first and the other side calls us to consider ourselves first.
Saturday, January 14, 2006
Judgment, Christ and the Cross
1 Sm 9:1-4, 17-19; 10:1 - Ps 21:2-3, 4-5, 6-7 - Mk 2:13-17
I am presently working on some video montages and power point slides for the formation sessions at my parish this weekend. The point of the exercise is to show the impact of the media on our lives and as one would expect almost the whole presentation is geared towards how bad things are. Neglecting of course any of the positive effect of the media and treating it as some vile brood of evil men who seek to corrupt and destroy the world.
I think the Gospel message today should absolutely be read and heeded. Christ came for the sinners... He came for the oversexed, overdosed, confused masses who seek to fill the ever expanding void they feel as part of the human condition with the love and light of God. It is interesting to note that the high and mighty righteous who held those scantily clad adulterers, money obsessed businessmen and people possessed by demons of their own making in such contempt are the ones who feared Christ most and so led by their fear instead of by love put Him on the cross. It was the weak, weary, destitute, and bankrupt in the spiritual, mental, emotional and physical that embraced Christ. They washed his feet with their tears and died them with their hair while the righteous of the age stood on and mocked.
Saul being chosen today keeps well along this theme. God chose Saul directly because that's what the elders wanted. He chose Saul because the elders wanted a king like Saul. While Saul did some good, he eventually falls pray to the same corruptions and weaknesses that drove the elders to entreat God for a king in the first place. They wanted a warrior king anointed by God to lead them to earthly glory and they got what they asked for. Christ was the king God chose for us and when He fought daily and bodily for love, peace and the will of the Father the elders because fearful and killed him.
Now go and watch TV, surf the Net, listen to the radio and see if it is your fear that leads you to contempt and disdain to your fellow sinners or love that leads to to compassion and understanding of your brother's and sister's confusion and pain.
For every bad decision made, behind it is a wounded heart.
I am presently working on some video montages and power point slides for the formation sessions at my parish this weekend. The point of the exercise is to show the impact of the media on our lives and as one would expect almost the whole presentation is geared towards how bad things are. Neglecting of course any of the positive effect of the media and treating it as some vile brood of evil men who seek to corrupt and destroy the world.
I think the Gospel message today should absolutely be read and heeded. Christ came for the sinners... He came for the oversexed, overdosed, confused masses who seek to fill the ever expanding void they feel as part of the human condition with the love and light of God. It is interesting to note that the high and mighty righteous who held those scantily clad adulterers, money obsessed businessmen and people possessed by demons of their own making in such contempt are the ones who feared Christ most and so led by their fear instead of by love put Him on the cross. It was the weak, weary, destitute, and bankrupt in the spiritual, mental, emotional and physical that embraced Christ. They washed his feet with their tears and died them with their hair while the righteous of the age stood on and mocked.
Saul being chosen today keeps well along this theme. God chose Saul directly because that's what the elders wanted. He chose Saul because the elders wanted a king like Saul. While Saul did some good, he eventually falls pray to the same corruptions and weaknesses that drove the elders to entreat God for a king in the first place. They wanted a warrior king anointed by God to lead them to earthly glory and they got what they asked for. Christ was the king God chose for us and when He fought daily and bodily for love, peace and the will of the Father the elders because fearful and killed him.
Now go and watch TV, surf the Net, listen to the radio and see if it is your fear that leads you to contempt and disdain to your fellow sinners or love that leads to to compassion and understanding of your brother's and sister's confusion and pain.
For every bad decision made, behind it is a wounded heart.
Friday, January 13, 2006
Generations in conflict...
1 Sm 8:4-7, 10-22a - Ps 89:16-17, 18-19 - Mk 2:1-12
When I look at both the first reading and the Gospel one thing strikes me. The Israelites elders go to Samuel to appoint a king, and desire to do so even after Samuel warns them about what will happen. God states that it is not Samuel that the people reject, but God as their unseen king. The Israelites elders insist upon having a king, so God tells Samuel to appoint one.
The Gospel speaks today directly of Christ's authority not over people but sin itself. Christ in absolute authority forgives the sins a paralyzed man. People are literally crowding Jesus out of his home, something in them is obviously drawn to this authority. However there are still those in the crowd, scribes and elders of the community, who question Jesus's authority.
The elder generation tends to get locked into a pattern of protecting the people at large, yet their position of earthly authority cuts them off from the very people they wish to serve. Is it the doom of all authority when placed upon the head of a person for them to become haughty and forget the very reasons they took office in the first place. So poignantly portrayed in the Gospel that when Christ comes with demonstrable acts of God's authority the community elders are so wrapped up in their job as protectors and guardians of truth that they fail to see what the common man so readily embraces.
Before though, like generations past it is easy scapegoat the society elders and hold them responsible for all the world's problems. Let us first discuss why they are so wrapped up in this desire to protect. The non-elder portions of society, contrary to popular press do have a habit of making mistakes and getting caught up in movements that experience has taught elders to avoid. The real question is how does the younger generation learn from the elder class but yet keep the elders open to new experience and ideas? How do the elders keep from becoming blinded by experience and success?
We tend to think of the pharisees and scribes as evil or stupid because they couldn't see what was so obvious to us, but how obvious is His authority to us really? Do we still not gauge success in terms of money or at least consider money first when changing jobs or when some event has an impact on our economy? How many of us give up a momentary present pleasure for a "treasure stored in heaven"?
The thought on the readings today is not about how silly the Israelite elders of Samuel were or how blind the Hebrew scribes of Jesus's time were but how blind are we today? How much do we take for granted that we will recognize Christ when He comes? Will you recognize Him when He approaches you today clothed in the trappings of the least of this world? God is the present and real king of all at this very moment, not in the future or fullness of time, nor at the end of our lives, but right this very minute. So before we condemn quickly the elders of old or even today let us learn from them, so that we may elders of God's kingdom someday, then we might be able to forever sing the goodness of the Lord.
When I look at both the first reading and the Gospel one thing strikes me. The Israelites elders go to Samuel to appoint a king, and desire to do so even after Samuel warns them about what will happen. God states that it is not Samuel that the people reject, but God as their unseen king. The Israelites elders insist upon having a king, so God tells Samuel to appoint one.
The Gospel speaks today directly of Christ's authority not over people but sin itself. Christ in absolute authority forgives the sins a paralyzed man. People are literally crowding Jesus out of his home, something in them is obviously drawn to this authority. However there are still those in the crowd, scribes and elders of the community, who question Jesus's authority.
The elder generation tends to get locked into a pattern of protecting the people at large, yet their position of earthly authority cuts them off from the very people they wish to serve. Is it the doom of all authority when placed upon the head of a person for them to become haughty and forget the very reasons they took office in the first place. So poignantly portrayed in the Gospel that when Christ comes with demonstrable acts of God's authority the community elders are so wrapped up in their job as protectors and guardians of truth that they fail to see what the common man so readily embraces.
Before though, like generations past it is easy scapegoat the society elders and hold them responsible for all the world's problems. Let us first discuss why they are so wrapped up in this desire to protect. The non-elder portions of society, contrary to popular press do have a habit of making mistakes and getting caught up in movements that experience has taught elders to avoid. The real question is how does the younger generation learn from the elder class but yet keep the elders open to new experience and ideas? How do the elders keep from becoming blinded by experience and success?
We tend to think of the pharisees and scribes as evil or stupid because they couldn't see what was so obvious to us, but how obvious is His authority to us really? Do we still not gauge success in terms of money or at least consider money first when changing jobs or when some event has an impact on our economy? How many of us give up a momentary present pleasure for a "treasure stored in heaven"?
The thought on the readings today is not about how silly the Israelite elders of Samuel were or how blind the Hebrew scribes of Jesus's time were but how blind are we today? How much do we take for granted that we will recognize Christ when He comes? Will you recognize Him when He approaches you today clothed in the trappings of the least of this world? God is the present and real king of all at this very moment, not in the future or fullness of time, nor at the end of our lives, but right this very minute. So before we condemn quickly the elders of old or even today let us learn from them, so that we may elders of God's kingdom someday, then we might be able to forever sing the goodness of the Lord.
Thursday, January 12, 2006
Day of Defeat...
1 Sm 4:1-11 - Ps 44:10-11, 14-15, 24-25 - Mk 1:40-45
Isreal is defeated today. By this point in scripture Isreal had been doing whatever they pleased and only in a time of defeat do they call on God... not in a voice of humility, but of arrogance. As if God was a weapon they could pull out and use. The ark only has the signifigance that God gives it, without his grace it is just a pretty box. Today Eli's sons fell to the Philistines swords just as the rest of Isreal did. It is interesting to note the Philistines. The Philistines did not believe in God, but did not believe because God had not yet been revealed to them. However, they had heard of his works and were fearful and redoubled their efforts. They respected the power of God and were victorious. The responsorial psalm is downbeat to match the place of Isreal after this battle.
Christ in the gospel has hard times. Everyone I have heard interpret this story interpets it differently then I understand it to be. They say that Christ tells the leper to keep his miracle secret, knowing that he will tell all. However, I strongly do not agree. That would put Christ in the deception category, and sets a precedent that God asks us to do what he knows we cannot. I think this story gives us insight into God's role in the world. Our obedience or disobediance can make the God's task easier or hard. His will, much like Christ's mission, will be done but it makes things very much harder for God in the mean time. After this point in the gospel we will hear about how Christ is so surrounded by people that he cannot even eat in peace. Are the people being selfish or worshiping who they know to be as God. Do they cluster around him in awe or do they try to see what they can get from him. Are they trying to use him as their ancestors used the ark? and are they still not defeated?
C.S. Lewis tells us in the Screwtape Tape letters that God will not be used as a convience, as a stamp that will bring about worldly success. God's plan and will are his own we must conform to him, not the other way around.
Isreal is defeated today. By this point in scripture Isreal had been doing whatever they pleased and only in a time of defeat do they call on God... not in a voice of humility, but of arrogance. As if God was a weapon they could pull out and use. The ark only has the signifigance that God gives it, without his grace it is just a pretty box. Today Eli's sons fell to the Philistines swords just as the rest of Isreal did. It is interesting to note the Philistines. The Philistines did not believe in God, but did not believe because God had not yet been revealed to them. However, they had heard of his works and were fearful and redoubled their efforts. They respected the power of God and were victorious. The responsorial psalm is downbeat to match the place of Isreal after this battle.
Christ in the gospel has hard times. Everyone I have heard interpret this story interpets it differently then I understand it to be. They say that Christ tells the leper to keep his miracle secret, knowing that he will tell all. However, I strongly do not agree. That would put Christ in the deception category, and sets a precedent that God asks us to do what he knows we cannot. I think this story gives us insight into God's role in the world. Our obedience or disobediance can make the God's task easier or hard. His will, much like Christ's mission, will be done but it makes things very much harder for God in the mean time. After this point in the gospel we will hear about how Christ is so surrounded by people that he cannot even eat in peace. Are the people being selfish or worshiping who they know to be as God. Do they cluster around him in awe or do they try to see what they can get from him. Are they trying to use him as their ancestors used the ark? and are they still not defeated?
C.S. Lewis tells us in the Screwtape Tape letters that God will not be used as a convience, as a stamp that will bring about worldly success. God's plan and will are his own we must conform to him, not the other way around.
Wednesday, January 11, 2006
Reflections on the Readings
1 Sm 3:1-10, 19-20 - Ps 40:2 and 5, 7-8a, 8b-9, 10 - Mk 1:29-39
The readings today deal with the call of God and chosing to conform to His will. The responsorial psalm today speaks very much to me; "Here am I, Lord; I come to do your will." I feel like Samuel most days, without an Eli. I hear the voice sometimes, but I lack the wisdom to discern from where it comes. Christ, in today's Gospel, demonstrates his clarity of purpose and understanding of what it was he is supposed to do.
Uncertian as I am, I long for that kind of clarity. God would have to have infinite patience with me for the number of times a day I ask; "Am I doing it right? Is this the direction you want me to go?" This is especially poingiant at the moment because of my current work situation. I am working with a great group of guys for an excellent purpose. Everything fits and meshes well together, except for one minor detail... funding. I know that Christ tells us to "seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things shall be yours" ( Mt 6:33 ) as he discusses the flowers of the field and the bird of the sky. It's difficult to be true to this though in the face of all those who say "God helps those who help themselves."
Of course this last is not actually a lesson from scripture. In fact, from today's reading one might infer that God helps those who come to do his will... His will almost always calls us to act for the good of someone else and not ourselves. Might this be a possible pointer to what is and what is not the will of God?
The readings today deal with the call of God and chosing to conform to His will. The responsorial psalm today speaks very much to me; "Here am I, Lord; I come to do your will." I feel like Samuel most days, without an Eli. I hear the voice sometimes, but I lack the wisdom to discern from where it comes. Christ, in today's Gospel, demonstrates his clarity of purpose and understanding of what it was he is supposed to do.
Uncertian as I am, I long for that kind of clarity. God would have to have infinite patience with me for the number of times a day I ask; "Am I doing it right? Is this the direction you want me to go?" This is especially poingiant at the moment because of my current work situation. I am working with a great group of guys for an excellent purpose. Everything fits and meshes well together, except for one minor detail... funding. I know that Christ tells us to "seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things shall be yours" ( Mt 6:33 ) as he discusses the flowers of the field and the bird of the sky. It's difficult to be true to this though in the face of all those who say "God helps those who help themselves."
Of course this last is not actually a lesson from scripture. In fact, from today's reading one might infer that God helps those who come to do his will... His will almost always calls us to act for the good of someone else and not ourselves. Might this be a possible pointer to what is and what is not the will of God?
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)