Scripture
Luke 2:15-16When the angels went away from them into heaven, the shepherds said to one another, "Let us go over to Bethlehem and see this thing that has happened, which the Lord has made known to us." And they went with haste, and found Mary and Joseph, and the babe lying in a manger.
Matt 2:1-2[1] Now when Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea in the days of Herod the king, behold, wise men from the East came to Jerusalem, saying,
[2] "Where is he who has been born king of the Jews? For we have seen his star in the East, and have come to worship him."
CommentSomething marvellous happened in history and it happened in a cave.
A cave in Bethlehem.
A place where extremes meet.
It is where heaven meets earth.
God comes to make a home in the world and finds himself homeless.
Religion and philosophy come together for the first time
The kings and shepherds kneel down together before a manger in Bethlehem.
Men of different tastes, cultures, lands, education and aspirations all find what they are looking for in the same thing.
The shepherds find their shepherd.
The kings find their king.
It is a story like no other.
The coming of the man called Christ changes everything.
Source: GK Chesterton – The Everlasting Man
Showing posts with label '2 Gospel of Matthew. Show all posts
Showing posts with label '2 Gospel of Matthew. Show all posts
Sunday, April 1, 2012
Why did Jesus have to go through this terrible ordeal?
Scripture Matthew 16:21
From that time Jesus began to show his disciples that he must go to Jerusalem and suffer many things from the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and on the third day be raised.
Comment
Why did Jesus have to go through this terrible ordeal?
What is the meaning of His death?
The question of Jesus death has echoed up and down the centuries.
Let me get at it this way.
Jesus comes as a warrior.
CS Lewis says Jesus came the way He did, a little baby born in a distant outpost of the Roman empire because he was being snuck clandestinely behind enemy lines.
Jesus came as God's own self but entering into a dysfunctional world, a sinful world.
Therefore as He emerged preaching and teaching and performing miracles and radiating the divine presence, He awakened opposition.
We hear that up and down the Gospels from the very beginning.
He's opposed.
Herod tries to stamp Him out and He has to go into exile.
From the minute He appears in the public scene, some cheer, others are opposed to Him.
It comes to His climax of course in the passion.
When you read these great passion narratives in the Gospels, it is as if though all forms of human sin and dysfunction come to meet Him.
We hear for example of the explicit betrayal by Judas.
That you would turn your back on your friend and mentor.
But you also see the more subtle forms of resistance and denial when Peter denies he even know Him and the other disciples fall asleep at His moment of truth.
That sloth in the presence of the good.
You also see the great disorder and injustice of the Sanhedrin.
You see Pontius Pilate who knows the truth but won't follow through on it.
You see the incredible brutality of the Temple guards and the Roman guards as they torture Him and then lead Him out to crucifixion.
You see something even most terrible in those who mock Him even as He hangs dying on this instrument of torture.
It is as though all of human darkness and all of human sin comes out.
It is as though He draws it out by His own goodness and His own perfection and the radiance of His life.
And He's overwhelmed by it. Jesus dies. He really dies.
Not just apparently. Not just as play acting. He dies. Crushed by the evil of the world.
Then in the resurrection, God's love conquers that evil.
He took it on but then in the resurrection what we see when Jesus says shalom to those who had abandoned Him.
He says peace to those who ran from Him, to those who had fallen asleep in His hour of need.
When He says shalom it signals that God's love and forgiveness can swallow up all of the sin of the world.
What you see in the Cross of Jesus is the sin of the world.
The author of life came, Saint Peter said, and you killed Him. That means all is not well with us.
It means you can see in the very wounds of Jesus the dysfunction of the world but now all that sin, all that dysfunction has been swallowed up. It has been conquered by the ever greater forgiveness and love of God.
And that is why in Romans, Paul can say I am certain that neither death not life, nor angels nor principalities... can separate us from the love of God.
Paul knows it because we killed God. We threw all the dysfunction of the world at God and God still loves us.
God can swallow that up in His forgiveness.
That's Christianity.
That's why the Cross of Jesus was necessary.
That's why the Cross of Jesus saves us.
That is why we hold it up on Good Friday and say there is the Cross on which hung the salvation of the world.
We know we are saved.
We are saved precisely through that terrible Cross.
Source: Fr Robert Barron
From that time Jesus began to show his disciples that he must go to Jerusalem and suffer many things from the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and on the third day be raised.
Comment
Why did Jesus have to go through this terrible ordeal?
What is the meaning of His death?
The question of Jesus death has echoed up and down the centuries.
Let me get at it this way.
Jesus comes as a warrior.
CS Lewis says Jesus came the way He did, a little baby born in a distant outpost of the Roman empire because he was being snuck clandestinely behind enemy lines.
Jesus came as God's own self but entering into a dysfunctional world, a sinful world.
Therefore as He emerged preaching and teaching and performing miracles and radiating the divine presence, He awakened opposition.
We hear that up and down the Gospels from the very beginning.
He's opposed.
Herod tries to stamp Him out and He has to go into exile.
From the minute He appears in the public scene, some cheer, others are opposed to Him.
It comes to His climax of course in the passion.
When you read these great passion narratives in the Gospels, it is as if though all forms of human sin and dysfunction come to meet Him.
We hear for example of the explicit betrayal by Judas.
That you would turn your back on your friend and mentor.
But you also see the more subtle forms of resistance and denial when Peter denies he even know Him and the other disciples fall asleep at His moment of truth.
That sloth in the presence of the good.
You also see the great disorder and injustice of the Sanhedrin.
You see Pontius Pilate who knows the truth but won't follow through on it.
You see the incredible brutality of the Temple guards and the Roman guards as they torture Him and then lead Him out to crucifixion.
You see something even most terrible in those who mock Him even as He hangs dying on this instrument of torture.
It is as though all of human darkness and all of human sin comes out.
It is as though He draws it out by His own goodness and His own perfection and the radiance of His life.
And He's overwhelmed by it. Jesus dies. He really dies.
Not just apparently. Not just as play acting. He dies. Crushed by the evil of the world.
Then in the resurrection, God's love conquers that evil.
He took it on but then in the resurrection what we see when Jesus says shalom to those who had abandoned Him.
He says peace to those who ran from Him, to those who had fallen asleep in His hour of need.
When He says shalom it signals that God's love and forgiveness can swallow up all of the sin of the world.
What you see in the Cross of Jesus is the sin of the world.
The author of life came, Saint Peter said, and you killed Him. That means all is not well with us.
It means you can see in the very wounds of Jesus the dysfunction of the world but now all that sin, all that dysfunction has been swallowed up. It has been conquered by the ever greater forgiveness and love of God.
And that is why in Romans, Paul can say I am certain that neither death not life, nor angels nor principalities... can separate us from the love of God.
Paul knows it because we killed God. We threw all the dysfunction of the world at God and God still loves us.
God can swallow that up in His forgiveness.
That's Christianity.
That's why the Cross of Jesus was necessary.
That's why the Cross of Jesus saves us.
That is why we hold it up on Good Friday and say there is the Cross on which hung the salvation of the world.
We know we are saved.
We are saved precisely through that terrible Cross.
Source: Fr Robert Barron
Sunday, June 26, 2011
Matthew 10:29-31 - Atheism
Scripture Matthew 10:29-31
Are not two sparrows sold for a penny? And not one of them will fall to the ground without your Father's will.
But even the hairs of your head are all numbered.
Fear not, therefore; you are of more value than many sparrows.
Comment
Who made God?
***********
A follow up question is generally raised which is:
If functional complexity requires a designer how do you account for the functional complexity of the mind of this designer you are compositing?
Basically what was asked is:
Maybe God did create the universe.
Maybe some complex mind created the world but who created that complex mind?
I think that question is irrelevant to our investigation.
It can be answered by an analogy –
We search for life on other planets and lets say we go to Saturn or Jupiter and we discover that there are all kinds of artefacts and monuments.
So we say we conclude there are intelligent beings on this planet they must have done this.
An atheist concludes that is a ridiculous explanation and they raise a follow up question –
Who created those intelligent beings?
And the answer is “who cares!” I don’t know who created the intelligent being.
I am simply trying to prove that the existence of intelligent artefacts and intelligent life shows that there must be intelligent beings that did this.
Who caused them is a matter for a separate investigation.
The fact that we don’t know where the intelligent beings came from is irrelevant.
The fact is we are trying to explain the artefacts and the presence of an intelligent alien is an acceptable explanation of the facts at hand.
We have an experience of artefacts.
Somebody must have made them.
We have no experience of alien intelligent beings.
We don’t know if those intelligent beings could live forever or someone made them at all.
We have no basis for inferring causation about intelligent beings because alien intelligent beings are alien to our experience.
Artefacts are not.
Therefore the first logical move – artefacts leads to alien intelligent beings is valid – the rest of it “there must have been other aliens” is conjecture because that is too remote from our experience for us to say anything about it.
So the bottom line of it is, if we can show an intelligent being – God – created the universe then that is a full and adequate explanation.
We can debate tomorrow if God is self sufficient, do God/gods require a cause themselves, we have no direct experience of that question therefore the logical problem of who created God does not arise. The fact that we don’t know who created the intelligent beings doesn’t mean that the intelligent beings didn’t do that.
Source: D’Souza vs Loftus Debate - Does The Christian God Exist.mp3
And
Source: Dinesh D’Souza vs Dan Barker – The Great God Debate.mp3
QUOTE
Are You Paying for Atheism?
"Children spend the majority of their waking hours in school. Parents invest a good portion of their life savings in college education and entrust their offspring to people who are supposed to educate them.
Isn’t it wonderful that educators have figured out a way to make parents the instruments of their own undoing?
Isn’t it brilliant that they have persuaded Christian moms and dads to finance the destruction of their own beliefs and values?
Who said atheists aren’t clever?"
Dinesh D'Souza - What's So Great About Christianity
Are not two sparrows sold for a penny? And not one of them will fall to the ground without your Father's will.
But even the hairs of your head are all numbered.
Fear not, therefore; you are of more value than many sparrows.
Comment
Who made God?
***********
A follow up question is generally raised which is:
If functional complexity requires a designer how do you account for the functional complexity of the mind of this designer you are compositing?
Basically what was asked is:
Maybe God did create the universe.
Maybe some complex mind created the world but who created that complex mind?
I think that question is irrelevant to our investigation.
It can be answered by an analogy –
We search for life on other planets and lets say we go to Saturn or Jupiter and we discover that there are all kinds of artefacts and monuments.
So we say we conclude there are intelligent beings on this planet they must have done this.
An atheist concludes that is a ridiculous explanation and they raise a follow up question –
Who created those intelligent beings?
And the answer is “who cares!” I don’t know who created the intelligent being.
I am simply trying to prove that the existence of intelligent artefacts and intelligent life shows that there must be intelligent beings that did this.
Who caused them is a matter for a separate investigation.
The fact that we don’t know where the intelligent beings came from is irrelevant.
The fact is we are trying to explain the artefacts and the presence of an intelligent alien is an acceptable explanation of the facts at hand.
We have an experience of artefacts.
Somebody must have made them.
We have no experience of alien intelligent beings.
We don’t know if those intelligent beings could live forever or someone made them at all.
We have no basis for inferring causation about intelligent beings because alien intelligent beings are alien to our experience.
Artefacts are not.
Therefore the first logical move – artefacts leads to alien intelligent beings is valid – the rest of it “there must have been other aliens” is conjecture because that is too remote from our experience for us to say anything about it.
So the bottom line of it is, if we can show an intelligent being – God – created the universe then that is a full and adequate explanation.
We can debate tomorrow if God is self sufficient, do God/gods require a cause themselves, we have no direct experience of that question therefore the logical problem of who created God does not arise. The fact that we don’t know who created the intelligent beings doesn’t mean that the intelligent beings didn’t do that.
Source: D’Souza vs Loftus Debate - Does The Christian God Exist.mp3
And
Source: Dinesh D’Souza vs Dan Barker – The Great God Debate.mp3
QUOTE
Are You Paying for Atheism?
"Children spend the majority of their waking hours in school. Parents invest a good portion of their life savings in college education and entrust their offspring to people who are supposed to educate them.
Isn’t it wonderful that educators have figured out a way to make parents the instruments of their own undoing?
Isn’t it brilliant that they have persuaded Christian moms and dads to finance the destruction of their own beliefs and values?
Who said atheists aren’t clever?"
Dinesh D'Souza - What's So Great About Christianity
Matthew 6:24-25 - No one can serve two masters
Scripture Matthew 6:24-25
"No one can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other.
You cannot serve God and mammon.
"Therefore I tell you, do not be anxious about your life, what you shall eat or what you shall drink, nor about your body, what you shall put on. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothing?
Comment
Attachment to Things
Our enslaving attachment to things prevents our inner freedom. How to overcome it?
We make too many concessions to the world, as a result, we condemn ourselves and those around us to mediocrity.
Today, it is tremendously difficult to live amidst the world and not succumb before the spirit of the world. The saints compare it to a cobweb which traps men and women and never lets them go.
Create a New World
We must live differently from the others. We have to act differently in marriage, in family life, in business and employment, in politics, in all our relationships. In all of these areas, we are to distinguish ourselves from others by means of our Christlike character.
The first Christians had the audacity to be different and therefore, they created a new world, a world filled with Christian values.
To be different often means to appear crazy as the first Christians did.
It also means to do battle against sin in all of its forms, beginning with oneself, but also battling against the many situations of sin in the world which surrounds us, such as, abortion and same sex union.
The first Christians were willing to give themselves up for the new creation, and became martyrs for the sake of the Kingdom of God.
They would say: Non sine sanguine, not without blood.
Without blood, the world does not transform itself nor does the Kingdom of God advance.
God is his perfect will permits the blood of martyrdom, but he might be asking much less from you.
Are you willing to go the extra mile for the sake of the Kingdom?
Thus, in spite of everything, we have to dare to be different, to appear crazy, to battle against the evil in ourselves and thus live in advance the world of tomorrow.
Lifestyle
On the other hand, it is necessary that we consequently cultivate a style of evangelical poverty in our life. God asks us to conquer an austere style of life centered on being more and not on having more, centering on having confidence in God and his loving providence and not trusting in our material goods.
Therefore, we must create a new style of living, simpler and more solid.
For example, let us think about our clothing, our food, our types of parties, our vacations, our homes, our gadgets, our cars, etc. Do these reflect Jesus’ lordship in your life? Are they instruments to take the Gospel to others?
Also in our social interactions we should seek concrete ways of being able to grow in simplicity and moderation, in how to become unattached and how to be supportive and share. A Christian cannot allow himself to be guided in this area by the society of consumerism or by the materialistic or secular culture.
We have to be different. We must live the Christian way.
We should distinguish ourselves from the others by our simple and restrained lifestyle, by our independence from the society of consumerism.
Source: by Father Nicolás Schwizer
http://www.catholic.net/the_road_to_heaven/template_channel.phtml?channel_id=16
"No one can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other.
You cannot serve God and mammon.
"Therefore I tell you, do not be anxious about your life, what you shall eat or what you shall drink, nor about your body, what you shall put on. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothing?
Comment
Attachment to Things
Our enslaving attachment to things prevents our inner freedom. How to overcome it?
We make too many concessions to the world, as a result, we condemn ourselves and those around us to mediocrity.
Today, it is tremendously difficult to live amidst the world and not succumb before the spirit of the world. The saints compare it to a cobweb which traps men and women and never lets them go.
Create a New World
We must live differently from the others. We have to act differently in marriage, in family life, in business and employment, in politics, in all our relationships. In all of these areas, we are to distinguish ourselves from others by means of our Christlike character.
The first Christians had the audacity to be different and therefore, they created a new world, a world filled with Christian values.
To be different often means to appear crazy as the first Christians did.
It also means to do battle against sin in all of its forms, beginning with oneself, but also battling against the many situations of sin in the world which surrounds us, such as, abortion and same sex union.
The first Christians were willing to give themselves up for the new creation, and became martyrs for the sake of the Kingdom of God.
They would say: Non sine sanguine, not without blood.
Without blood, the world does not transform itself nor does the Kingdom of God advance.
God is his perfect will permits the blood of martyrdom, but he might be asking much less from you.
Are you willing to go the extra mile for the sake of the Kingdom?
Thus, in spite of everything, we have to dare to be different, to appear crazy, to battle against the evil in ourselves and thus live in advance the world of tomorrow.
Lifestyle
On the other hand, it is necessary that we consequently cultivate a style of evangelical poverty in our life. God asks us to conquer an austere style of life centered on being more and not on having more, centering on having confidence in God and his loving providence and not trusting in our material goods.
Therefore, we must create a new style of living, simpler and more solid.
For example, let us think about our clothing, our food, our types of parties, our vacations, our homes, our gadgets, our cars, etc. Do these reflect Jesus’ lordship in your life? Are they instruments to take the Gospel to others?
Also in our social interactions we should seek concrete ways of being able to grow in simplicity and moderation, in how to become unattached and how to be supportive and share. A Christian cannot allow himself to be guided in this area by the society of consumerism or by the materialistic or secular culture.
We have to be different. We must live the Christian way.
We should distinguish ourselves from the others by our simple and restrained lifestyle, by our independence from the society of consumerism.
Source: by Father Nicolás Schwizer
http://www.catholic.net/the_road_to_heaven/template_channel.phtml?channel_id=16
Matthew 10:16-22 - I send you out as sheep in the midst of wolves
Scripture Matthew 10:16-22
"Behold, I send you out as sheep in the midst of wolves; so be wise as serpents and innocent as doves.
Beware of men; for they will deliver you up to councils, and flog you in their synagogues, and you will be dragged before governors and kings for my sake, to bear testimony before them and the Gentiles. When they deliver you up, do not be anxious how you are to speak or what you are to say; for what you are to say will be given to you in that hour; for it is not you who speak, but the Spirit of your Father speaking through you.
Brother will deliver up brother to death, and the father his child, and children will rise against parents and have them put to death; and you will be hated by all for my name's sake. But he who endures to the end will be saved.
Comment
Who are the wolves we are up against today?
Are they those who ridicule us when we stand up for refugees, or howl us down when we criticise the government for their lack of compassion.
We don't know what it's like to live in an occupied country, though we see images of this on our television screens every day.
But we do know what it's like to live in a country that sets the economy above justice and spending on defence ahead of caring for the poor and underprivileged.
We may not be brought before heads of government, as Jesus predicted would happen to the apostles, but we may need to bring ourselves to the notice of the decision-makers if we are to follow the lead of Jesus and speak out when we see injustice in our society.
Jesus says, 'Don't worry about how to speak'. The Spirit will give us the words to speak.
All we need is faith!
Source: Daily Prayer Online
"Behold, I send you out as sheep in the midst of wolves; so be wise as serpents and innocent as doves.
Beware of men; for they will deliver you up to councils, and flog you in their synagogues, and you will be dragged before governors and kings for my sake, to bear testimony before them and the Gentiles. When they deliver you up, do not be anxious how you are to speak or what you are to say; for what you are to say will be given to you in that hour; for it is not you who speak, but the Spirit of your Father speaking through you.
Brother will deliver up brother to death, and the father his child, and children will rise against parents and have them put to death; and you will be hated by all for my name's sake. But he who endures to the end will be saved.
Comment
Who are the wolves we are up against today?
Are they those who ridicule us when we stand up for refugees, or howl us down when we criticise the government for their lack of compassion.
We don't know what it's like to live in an occupied country, though we see images of this on our television screens every day.
But we do know what it's like to live in a country that sets the economy above justice and spending on defence ahead of caring for the poor and underprivileged.
We may not be brought before heads of government, as Jesus predicted would happen to the apostles, but we may need to bring ourselves to the notice of the decision-makers if we are to follow the lead of Jesus and speak out when we see injustice in our society.
Jesus says, 'Don't worry about how to speak'. The Spirit will give us the words to speak.
All we need is faith!
Source: Daily Prayer Online
Tuesday, May 10, 2011
Matthew 7:7 - The Problem in Asking God
Scripture – Matthew 7:7
Ask and it will be given you; search, and you will find; knock, and the door will be opened for you.
Comment
The Problem in Asking God
We have all asked for something in prayer and not received it.
How can Jesus say, “Ask, and it will be given you?”
There are no guarantees our prayers will be answered the way we want.
Sometimes we ask and God says, “No!”
One Bible expert suggests that we mistranslated Jesus’ words. He said the gist of what Jesus meant was, “Keep on asking, keep on seeking, keep on knocking.” He thinks Jesus was telling us to persist in prayer.
We’ll never know the context in which Jesus spoke these challenging words.
Matthew puts them in one setting; Luke (11:9) in another. Luke ties them to Jesus’ urging perseverance in prayer.
In practice we are face to face with mystery. We do not know why God does what God does, or doesn’t do.
We comfort ourselves by remembering two things.
First, Paul tells us that when we pray, it is the Holy Spirit praying with us (see Romans 8:26). The idea of God asking God should give us some confidence.
Second, remember the blessing of seemingly unanswered prayer.
Sometimes we ask for what is not good for us, even if we can’t understand it at the moment.
Pray
Lord Jesus, when you taught us to pray you added, “Your will be done.”
That phrase has always been the kicker.
Just when I am about to tell you what I want, you remind me that all prayer must be couched in terms of the will of God.
So here are the things I ask for…. Let them happen if you think it is a good idea.
Amen.
Act
Ask God for something that seems beyond the realm of possibility.
Don’t ask for something selfish (a million dollars or a new car).
Pray for world peace, for an end to abortion, for all people to come to know Jesus Christ.
Source: Lent 2009 - Daily Reflections for Lent by Rev. Norm Langenbrunner
Ask and it will be given you; search, and you will find; knock, and the door will be opened for you.
Comment
The Problem in Asking God
We have all asked for something in prayer and not received it.
How can Jesus say, “Ask, and it will be given you?”
There are no guarantees our prayers will be answered the way we want.
Sometimes we ask and God says, “No!”
One Bible expert suggests that we mistranslated Jesus’ words. He said the gist of what Jesus meant was, “Keep on asking, keep on seeking, keep on knocking.” He thinks Jesus was telling us to persist in prayer.
We’ll never know the context in which Jesus spoke these challenging words.
Matthew puts them in one setting; Luke (11:9) in another. Luke ties them to Jesus’ urging perseverance in prayer.
In practice we are face to face with mystery. We do not know why God does what God does, or doesn’t do.
We comfort ourselves by remembering two things.
First, Paul tells us that when we pray, it is the Holy Spirit praying with us (see Romans 8:26). The idea of God asking God should give us some confidence.
Second, remember the blessing of seemingly unanswered prayer.
Sometimes we ask for what is not good for us, even if we can’t understand it at the moment.
Pray
Lord Jesus, when you taught us to pray you added, “Your will be done.”
That phrase has always been the kicker.
Just when I am about to tell you what I want, you remind me that all prayer must be couched in terms of the will of God.
So here are the things I ask for…. Let them happen if you think it is a good idea.
Amen.
Act
Ask God for something that seems beyond the realm of possibility.
Don’t ask for something selfish (a million dollars or a new car).
Pray for world peace, for an end to abortion, for all people to come to know Jesus Christ.
Source: Lent 2009 - Daily Reflections for Lent by Rev. Norm Langenbrunner
Mark 9:28-29 - Fasting
Scripture Mark 9:28-29
And when he had entered the house, his disciples asked him privately, "Why could we not cast it (the unclean spirit) out?"
And he said to them, "This kind cannot be driven out by anything but prayer and fasting."
Comment
Lent is just around the corner, and is a time when many Christians introduce fasting one again into their spiritual exercises.
Of course you don’t need to fast only in Lent as www.e5men.org attests to.
I was in a local Christian bookstore recently I noticed a book written by Franklin Jentezen (senior pastor of a nondenominational church) entitled “Fasting”.
I haven’t read this book in order to recommend it however it has highlighted the fact that fasting is a Christian tradition that is gaining some momentum in some Christian denominations. Fasting is biblical. Fasting permeates both the Old and the New Testaments. The prophets fasted, Moses fasted, Jesus fasted, and the apostles fasted. Jesus told his apostles to ratchet up the power of prayer by adding fasting.
I am not trying to promote this book as I would offer other alternative resources to consider however the following points below about fasting taken from the introduction to this book and two reviews highlight the surprising reward on offer to any Christian who fasts.
***********
Experience for yourself the deeper, stronger relationship with God that comes through prayer and fasting. Know about the purpose and practice of biblical fasting, and the blessings that flow from it!
I was so thankful I bought this book. It confirmed what I had previously learnt about fasting and brought added revelation. An easy read. Motivated my own fast which resulted in blessing and victory. A must for every Christian to bring Jesus his reward.
Reviewing Biblical fasts from the Old & New Testaments, this easy to read book sets out the motivations behind the fasts and the breakthroughs that happened as a result. It also applies those principles to our own lives. It started off my own personal journey of fasting, and I have not looked back since.
And when he had entered the house, his disciples asked him privately, "Why could we not cast it (the unclean spirit) out?"
And he said to them, "This kind cannot be driven out by anything but prayer and fasting."
Comment
Lent is just around the corner, and is a time when many Christians introduce fasting one again into their spiritual exercises.
Of course you don’t need to fast only in Lent as www.e5men.org attests to.
I was in a local Christian bookstore recently I noticed a book written by Franklin Jentezen (senior pastor of a nondenominational church) entitled “Fasting”.
I haven’t read this book in order to recommend it however it has highlighted the fact that fasting is a Christian tradition that is gaining some momentum in some Christian denominations. Fasting is biblical. Fasting permeates both the Old and the New Testaments. The prophets fasted, Moses fasted, Jesus fasted, and the apostles fasted. Jesus told his apostles to ratchet up the power of prayer by adding fasting.
I am not trying to promote this book as I would offer other alternative resources to consider however the following points below about fasting taken from the introduction to this book and two reviews highlight the surprising reward on offer to any Christian who fasts.
***********
Experience for yourself the deeper, stronger relationship with God that comes through prayer and fasting. Know about the purpose and practice of biblical fasting, and the blessings that flow from it!
I was so thankful I bought this book. It confirmed what I had previously learnt about fasting and brought added revelation. An easy read. Motivated my own fast which resulted in blessing and victory. A must for every Christian to bring Jesus his reward.
Reviewing Biblical fasts from the Old & New Testaments, this easy to read book sets out the motivations behind the fasts and the breakthroughs that happened as a result. It also applies those principles to our own lives. It started off my own personal journey of fasting, and I have not looked back since.
Matthew 5:39-43 - Love your enemies
Scripture Matthew 5:39-43
But I say to you, Do not resist one who is evil. But if any one strikes you on the right cheek, turn to him the other also; and if any one would sue you and take your coat, let him have your cloak as well; and if any one forces you to go one mile, go with him two miles. Give to him who begs from you, and do not refuse him who would borrow from you. "You have heard that it was said, `You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.'
But I say to you, Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you,
Comment
Love the Romans and Herod. Bless those who curse you and kick you. To those who strike you on the cheek. To those who take your coat.
So we hear this very tough teaching that Jesus is saying but we don’t realize how challenging that would be given the historical context, given the Roman occupation of Israel.
Jesus gives this teaching but He isn’t just going to talk the talk. This is exactly what Jesus is going to do when the Romans take him and they slap him on the cheek, they stripped him of His robe.”
(Although not specifically mentioned by Tim Gray, the Romans used force on Jesus while He carried His Cross “two miles”, Jesus prayed for those who persecuted Him while on the Cross and a criminal hanging next to Jesus on the Cross begged Jesus to remember him).
Source: Tim Gray – the Gospel of Matthew
But I say to you, Do not resist one who is evil. But if any one strikes you on the right cheek, turn to him the other also; and if any one would sue you and take your coat, let him have your cloak as well; and if any one forces you to go one mile, go with him two miles. Give to him who begs from you, and do not refuse him who would borrow from you. "You have heard that it was said, `You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.'
But I say to you, Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you,
Comment
Love the Romans and Herod. Bless those who curse you and kick you. To those who strike you on the cheek. To those who take your coat.
So we hear this very tough teaching that Jesus is saying but we don’t realize how challenging that would be given the historical context, given the Roman occupation of Israel.
Jesus gives this teaching but He isn’t just going to talk the talk. This is exactly what Jesus is going to do when the Romans take him and they slap him on the cheek, they stripped him of His robe.”
(Although not specifically mentioned by Tim Gray, the Romans used force on Jesus while He carried His Cross “two miles”, Jesus prayed for those who persecuted Him while on the Cross and a criminal hanging next to Jesus on the Cross begged Jesus to remember him).
Source: Tim Gray – the Gospel of Matthew
Matthew 2:2 - Advent - God Has Style
Scripture Matthew 2:2
Where is he who has been born king of the Jews? For we have seen his star in the East, …
Comment
God has style.
I don’t know a lot but I know that God has style.
Not too long ago we had our second little girl.
I’m in the delivery room.
There is frenetic pacing, mass chaos and my wife has never looked more beautiful.
It was a beautiful moment and I was so excited.
I am holding this miracle.
I was so proud of myself emailing photos, texting messages.
I’m a good dad.
I had the announcements out and we were not even home from the hospital yet
I am the best dad.
I say to my wife, I’ll be right back I just got to run to get a few groceries and I run to the party store and ask them to give me 50 balloons, pink would be good.
I am driving home and become a moving traffic hazard.
I tie them every where – inside and outside the house.
I was dad of the year.
And as usual God came to remind me that He is bigger than I.
Just when I was starting to think I am the greatest dad in the history of the world I opened up the Gospel of Matthew to chapter 2 verse 2
[2] "Where is he who has been born king of the Jews? For we have seen his star in the East, …
I bought 50 balloons and God made a star.
God made a star.
It puts you in your place.
We just take those things for granted don’t we?
We read the story over and over and we kind of get lost in it.
Oh yeah the angel Gabriel visited Mary. Uh huh.
If an angel visits me I would soil my draws. Are you kidding me?
Come on, think about it for a second.
I mean, think about some of these situations.
God made a star.
Do you think about it?
He is not just a proud papa. He is the proudest papa ever.
Source: Mark Hart – the Bible Geek – 2006 Young Adults Conference - Holy Spirit Fire of Love.mp3
Where is he who has been born king of the Jews? For we have seen his star in the East, …
Comment
God has style.
I don’t know a lot but I know that God has style.
Not too long ago we had our second little girl.
I’m in the delivery room.
There is frenetic pacing, mass chaos and my wife has never looked more beautiful.
It was a beautiful moment and I was so excited.
I am holding this miracle.
I was so proud of myself emailing photos, texting messages.
I’m a good dad.
I had the announcements out and we were not even home from the hospital yet
I am the best dad.
I say to my wife, I’ll be right back I just got to run to get a few groceries and I run to the party store and ask them to give me 50 balloons, pink would be good.
I am driving home and become a moving traffic hazard.
I tie them every where – inside and outside the house.
I was dad of the year.
And as usual God came to remind me that He is bigger than I.
Just when I was starting to think I am the greatest dad in the history of the world I opened up the Gospel of Matthew to chapter 2 verse 2
[2] "Where is he who has been born king of the Jews? For we have seen his star in the East, …
I bought 50 balloons and God made a star.
God made a star.
It puts you in your place.
We just take those things for granted don’t we?
We read the story over and over and we kind of get lost in it.
Oh yeah the angel Gabriel visited Mary. Uh huh.
If an angel visits me I would soil my draws. Are you kidding me?
Come on, think about it for a second.
I mean, think about some of these situations.
God made a star.
Do you think about it?
He is not just a proud papa. He is the proudest papa ever.
Source: Mark Hart – the Bible Geek – 2006 Young Adults Conference - Holy Spirit Fire of Love.mp3
Matthew 2: 1-2 - Advent
Scripture Matthew 2: 1-2
Now when Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea in the days of Herod the king, behold, wise men from the East came to Jerusalem, saying, "Where is he who has been born king of the Jews? For we have seen his star in the East, and have come to worship him."
Comment
On Christmas Eve as evening settled in and darkness tightened its grip, a kind of quiet calm seemed to descend over all of us. There was nothing more to do now except to wait patiently and, of course, it was time to switch on the light of the Christmas Star on the roof. Even though it was just the flicking of a switch, for us it was a special moment, because in the gathering darkness it reminded us what Christmas was all about. As the golden light in the tissue-papered star cast its warm glow just enough to light up the garden and a bit of the roof it was comforting and gently soothing. I have always loved that custom and I think it is one of the richest of our Christmas symbols.
Later in the night before we left for the midnight Mass I would love to slip outdoors by myself and walk around the silent neighbourhood by myself. There were quite a few houses with stars above their doors. They seemed rather dim yet they shone boldly in the gloom. They became a kind of silent prayer for me. They spoke of the “light that shines in the darkness and which no darkness can overpower.” They spoke of the light of faith that gently consoles and beckons. They spoke of hospitality and safety: if Mary and Joseph arrived in our neighbourhood that Christmas night, they would not be consigned to a stable. There would be shelter and a warm welcome for them in our homes.
Yes, I loved those Christmas stars shining over the doors of our homes, and I still do. And yet, somehow, I find them less comforting now than I did then.
Today I cannot help thinking of all those for whom the Christmas Star seems to be a mockery: the homeless, travellers who live in squalor by the roadside; the homeless men, women and children who end up, for whatever reason, on the streets of our cities with nowhere to go; the marginalized and those who experience disdain or rejection or exploitation.
I hope we hold on to the custom of the lighting up our Christmas Stars outside our homes on Christmas Eve. And may the Light that comes to us at Christmas dispel all the darkness of selfishness and insensitivity that lurks in our hearts.
Source: Fr. Edwin D'Souza SDB - www.donboscosmadonna.org
Now when Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea in the days of Herod the king, behold, wise men from the East came to Jerusalem, saying, "Where is he who has been born king of the Jews? For we have seen his star in the East, and have come to worship him."
Comment
On Christmas Eve as evening settled in and darkness tightened its grip, a kind of quiet calm seemed to descend over all of us. There was nothing more to do now except to wait patiently and, of course, it was time to switch on the light of the Christmas Star on the roof. Even though it was just the flicking of a switch, for us it was a special moment, because in the gathering darkness it reminded us what Christmas was all about. As the golden light in the tissue-papered star cast its warm glow just enough to light up the garden and a bit of the roof it was comforting and gently soothing. I have always loved that custom and I think it is one of the richest of our Christmas symbols.
Later in the night before we left for the midnight Mass I would love to slip outdoors by myself and walk around the silent neighbourhood by myself. There were quite a few houses with stars above their doors. They seemed rather dim yet they shone boldly in the gloom. They became a kind of silent prayer for me. They spoke of the “light that shines in the darkness and which no darkness can overpower.” They spoke of the light of faith that gently consoles and beckons. They spoke of hospitality and safety: if Mary and Joseph arrived in our neighbourhood that Christmas night, they would not be consigned to a stable. There would be shelter and a warm welcome for them in our homes.
Yes, I loved those Christmas stars shining over the doors of our homes, and I still do. And yet, somehow, I find them less comforting now than I did then.
Today I cannot help thinking of all those for whom the Christmas Star seems to be a mockery: the homeless, travellers who live in squalor by the roadside; the homeless men, women and children who end up, for whatever reason, on the streets of our cities with nowhere to go; the marginalized and those who experience disdain or rejection or exploitation.
I hope we hold on to the custom of the lighting up our Christmas Stars outside our homes on Christmas Eve. And may the Light that comes to us at Christmas dispel all the darkness of selfishness and insensitivity that lurks in our hearts.
Source: Fr. Edwin D'Souza SDB - www.donboscosmadonna.org
Monday, April 18, 2011
Scripture Matthew 14:12-13
And his disciples came and took the body (of John the Baptist) and buried it; and they went and told Jesus. Now when Jesus heard this, he withdrew from there in a boat to a lonely place apart. But when the crowds heard it, they followed him on foot from the towns.
Comment – Feeding the Five Thousand
This scene is recounted in all four gospels, which is very rare.
Jesus feeding the five thousand.
This event must have struck them with great power because it is so central in the Gospels and it is so central really in our tradition for artists, for poets and for preachers.
I want you to know something first.
How darkly this account begins.
The story opens with the news of the death of John the Baptist. In some ways Jesus is continuing the ministry of John – baptising and preaching repentance. So He has heard that this colleague of His has just been killed. Jesus withdraws.
Well there is something frightening here at the beginning. Something menacing and threatening.
I think those who have a Biblical mind would see in this all kinds of Old Testament overtones.
Christians, how often the prophets and patriarchs of the Old Testament were threatened – whether it was Abraham, Jacob, Joseph, Elijah, Moses.
Again and again those who speak the Word of God find themselves under threat from a sinful world.
So here is Jesus withdrawing after the death of John the Baptist.
Then, the people attracted by His power and charisma – the people come out by the thousands to look for Him and they find themselves with Him in a deserted place. Now, again for Biblically minded people, this large crowd of thousands of people in a deserted place calls to mind Israel having left Egypt in search of the promised land now finding themselves a bit adrift and lost in a desert place.
The threatened prophet.
The wandering people.
There are very very powerful Old Testament motifs as this story begins.
Scripture Matt.14:14-16
[14] As he went ashore he saw a great throng; and he had compassion on them, and healed their sick.
[15] When it was evening, the disciples came to him and said, "This is a lonely place, and the day is now over; send the crowds away to go into the villages and buy food for themselves."
[16] Jesus said, "They need not go away; you give them something to eat."
Comment
How does it unfold?
Well, the disciples realise the problem.
Jesus has been healing and teaching this crowd in a deserted place and there are thousands of them.
Evening comes on and they say “Lord, dismiss the crowds, so that they can go to the villages and buy food for themselves”
Notice something here.
The movement of sin is always in the direction of dispersion.
The Greek word ‘diabollane’ from which our word ‘devil’ comes from (think of diablo in Spanish) – diabollane means to scatter.
Scattering is always the work of the dark power. Scattering is always the work of sin.
The disciples here in some ways maybe unwittingly, against their own best intentions, but nevertheless are speaking the language and words of sin.
“Lord, send them away, dismiss them so they can get some food for themselves”.
Everyman for himself. There is the voice of sin
What is the voice of grace?
Bearing each others burdens in love.
That is the voice of grace.
That is the voice of God’s kingdom.
That is the voice of God’s communion.
But this tendency to say ‘split them up, let everyman fend for himself’ is the permanent danger in the Church.
But Jesus as always is the voice of communion, compassion, together.
Listen to what He says.
There is no need for them to go away. Give them some food for yourselves.
First of all – no breaking up of the group.
Even when they are in danger. These people are threatened. They are in an isolated place and hungry.
There is no food available. They are in danger.
Our first instinct is to dispel the crowd, to disperse the crowd. Jesus says no, especially now we hang together, especially now we stay as one.
But then, that wonderful and deeply challenging instruction.
Give them some food yourselves.
Remember they had said ‘let them go and buy food for themselves in the villages. Let them go do it.
The Lord says ‘No’. In the communion of the kingdom of God we bear each others burdens in love.
We don’t say that’s your problem – it is our problem.
We don’t say that is your joy and I am jealous of it. No, we say that is our joy.
We are in this together.
You know what I hear often is
‘you know what the Church ought to do is’
‘somebody ought to take care of this’
‘here’s what they should do’
Well, in all these cases it is someone in the church abdicating responsibility.
We are the Church, we are the people of God.
Well good, but there is a responsibility attached to that.
That means you just can’t say ‘there is a problem, now you take care of it.
The Lord says ‘you give them something to eat’
You do something to solve this problem.
Scripture Matt.14:16-21
[16] Jesus said, "They need not go away; you give them something to eat."
[17] They said to him, "We have only five loaves here and two fish."
[18] And he said, "Bring them here to me."
[19] Then he ordered the crowds to sit down on the grass; and taking the five loaves and the two fish he looked up to heaven, and blessed, and broke and gave the loaves to the disciples, and the disciples gave them to the crowds.
[20] And they all ate and were satisfied. And they took up twelve baskets full of the broken pieces left over.
[21] And those who ate were about five thousand men, besides women and children.
Comment
God loves dispensing His providence through secondary causes.
God gives us the privilege of participating in His own providence.
You do something about it.
You take the steps needed.
There was an old principle – See, Judge, Act
That is all contained, I think, in this beautiful command of Jesus – ‘You give them something to eat.’
Now what do the disciples do?
They say, ‘Lord, all we have got are five loaves and two fish. There are five thousand people here not counting women and children’
So we are supposed to do something?
We have got five loaves and two fish!
Now explain that one to us.
What does Jesus say?
Give them to me and then He multiplies them in such a way that every person is fed and filled and in fact there are twelve baskets left over.
Spiritual lesson
You give what you have, even if it is very little, to Christ and it will be multiplied.
You give Christ your mind, your will, your energy, your compassion.
Even if they are very small.
Even if it is only you and a couple of friends.
You give it to Christ and you will find that the whole thing becomes multiplied for His purposes.
Jesus wants us to cooperate with Him and we do it by giving the little that we’ve got and we will be shocked and surprised to find the effect that it has on the world.
What is the worst thing we can do?
It is to hang on to even the little we have and then say to the rest ‘you go fend for yourselves.
No! Even give away that little pittance and you will be surprised what Christ can do with it.
Do you ever think Christians, that every major movement began small.
For example think of Mother Teresa.
This nun in her thirties who left the relative comfort of her high school where she was teaching and she walked into the worst slum in the world and simply began caring for those who were dying.
What if some said to her ‘we have to do something about this crisis in Calcutta’ she would have said who am I to address it?
Well she didn’t say that.
She just went and began caring for the dying.
Soon she was joined by her former students and then her friends and then by admirers and now the Missionaries of Charity – the order she founded covers the whole world and their works have been of enormous power in transforming the world and in serving Christ and His Church.
The kingdom of God is like a mustard seed.
It begins very small but in time it grows into this great tree and the birds of the air make their nest in it.
The kingdom of God is like a boy giving five loaves and two fish to Christ Jesus and watching it grow.
Source : Fr Robert Barron –audio sermons wordonfire.org
And his disciples came and took the body (of John the Baptist) and buried it; and they went and told Jesus. Now when Jesus heard this, he withdrew from there in a boat to a lonely place apart. But when the crowds heard it, they followed him on foot from the towns.
Comment – Feeding the Five Thousand
This scene is recounted in all four gospels, which is very rare.
Jesus feeding the five thousand.
This event must have struck them with great power because it is so central in the Gospels and it is so central really in our tradition for artists, for poets and for preachers.
I want you to know something first.
How darkly this account begins.
The story opens with the news of the death of John the Baptist. In some ways Jesus is continuing the ministry of John – baptising and preaching repentance. So He has heard that this colleague of His has just been killed. Jesus withdraws.
Well there is something frightening here at the beginning. Something menacing and threatening.
I think those who have a Biblical mind would see in this all kinds of Old Testament overtones.
Christians, how often the prophets and patriarchs of the Old Testament were threatened – whether it was Abraham, Jacob, Joseph, Elijah, Moses.
Again and again those who speak the Word of God find themselves under threat from a sinful world.
So here is Jesus withdrawing after the death of John the Baptist.
Then, the people attracted by His power and charisma – the people come out by the thousands to look for Him and they find themselves with Him in a deserted place. Now, again for Biblically minded people, this large crowd of thousands of people in a deserted place calls to mind Israel having left Egypt in search of the promised land now finding themselves a bit adrift and lost in a desert place.
The threatened prophet.
The wandering people.
There are very very powerful Old Testament motifs as this story begins.
Scripture Matt.14:14-16
[14] As he went ashore he saw a great throng; and he had compassion on them, and healed their sick.
[15] When it was evening, the disciples came to him and said, "This is a lonely place, and the day is now over; send the crowds away to go into the villages and buy food for themselves."
[16] Jesus said, "They need not go away; you give them something to eat."
Comment
How does it unfold?
Well, the disciples realise the problem.
Jesus has been healing and teaching this crowd in a deserted place and there are thousands of them.
Evening comes on and they say “Lord, dismiss the crowds, so that they can go to the villages and buy food for themselves”
Notice something here.
The movement of sin is always in the direction of dispersion.
The Greek word ‘diabollane’ from which our word ‘devil’ comes from (think of diablo in Spanish) – diabollane means to scatter.
Scattering is always the work of the dark power. Scattering is always the work of sin.
The disciples here in some ways maybe unwittingly, against their own best intentions, but nevertheless are speaking the language and words of sin.
“Lord, send them away, dismiss them so they can get some food for themselves”.
Everyman for himself. There is the voice of sin
What is the voice of grace?
Bearing each others burdens in love.
That is the voice of grace.
That is the voice of God’s kingdom.
That is the voice of God’s communion.
But this tendency to say ‘split them up, let everyman fend for himself’ is the permanent danger in the Church.
But Jesus as always is the voice of communion, compassion, together.
Listen to what He says.
There is no need for them to go away. Give them some food for yourselves.
First of all – no breaking up of the group.
Even when they are in danger. These people are threatened. They are in an isolated place and hungry.
There is no food available. They are in danger.
Our first instinct is to dispel the crowd, to disperse the crowd. Jesus says no, especially now we hang together, especially now we stay as one.
But then, that wonderful and deeply challenging instruction.
Give them some food yourselves.
Remember they had said ‘let them go and buy food for themselves in the villages. Let them go do it.
The Lord says ‘No’. In the communion of the kingdom of God we bear each others burdens in love.
We don’t say that’s your problem – it is our problem.
We don’t say that is your joy and I am jealous of it. No, we say that is our joy.
We are in this together.
You know what I hear often is
‘you know what the Church ought to do is’
‘somebody ought to take care of this’
‘here’s what they should do’
Well, in all these cases it is someone in the church abdicating responsibility.
We are the Church, we are the people of God.
Well good, but there is a responsibility attached to that.
That means you just can’t say ‘there is a problem, now you take care of it.
The Lord says ‘you give them something to eat’
You do something to solve this problem.
Scripture Matt.14:16-21
[16] Jesus said, "They need not go away; you give them something to eat."
[17] They said to him, "We have only five loaves here and two fish."
[18] And he said, "Bring them here to me."
[19] Then he ordered the crowds to sit down on the grass; and taking the five loaves and the two fish he looked up to heaven, and blessed, and broke and gave the loaves to the disciples, and the disciples gave them to the crowds.
[20] And they all ate and were satisfied. And they took up twelve baskets full of the broken pieces left over.
[21] And those who ate were about five thousand men, besides women and children.
Comment
God loves dispensing His providence through secondary causes.
God gives us the privilege of participating in His own providence.
You do something about it.
You take the steps needed.
There was an old principle – See, Judge, Act
That is all contained, I think, in this beautiful command of Jesus – ‘You give them something to eat.’
Now what do the disciples do?
They say, ‘Lord, all we have got are five loaves and two fish. There are five thousand people here not counting women and children’
So we are supposed to do something?
We have got five loaves and two fish!
Now explain that one to us.
What does Jesus say?
Give them to me and then He multiplies them in such a way that every person is fed and filled and in fact there are twelve baskets left over.
Spiritual lesson
You give what you have, even if it is very little, to Christ and it will be multiplied.
You give Christ your mind, your will, your energy, your compassion.
Even if they are very small.
Even if it is only you and a couple of friends.
You give it to Christ and you will find that the whole thing becomes multiplied for His purposes.
Jesus wants us to cooperate with Him and we do it by giving the little that we’ve got and we will be shocked and surprised to find the effect that it has on the world.
What is the worst thing we can do?
It is to hang on to even the little we have and then say to the rest ‘you go fend for yourselves.
No! Even give away that little pittance and you will be surprised what Christ can do with it.
Do you ever think Christians, that every major movement began small.
For example think of Mother Teresa.
This nun in her thirties who left the relative comfort of her high school where she was teaching and she walked into the worst slum in the world and simply began caring for those who were dying.
What if some said to her ‘we have to do something about this crisis in Calcutta’ she would have said who am I to address it?
Well she didn’t say that.
She just went and began caring for the dying.
Soon she was joined by her former students and then her friends and then by admirers and now the Missionaries of Charity – the order she founded covers the whole world and their works have been of enormous power in transforming the world and in serving Christ and His Church.
The kingdom of God is like a mustard seed.
It begins very small but in time it grows into this great tree and the birds of the air make their nest in it.
The kingdom of God is like a boy giving five loaves and two fish to Christ Jesus and watching it grow.
Source : Fr Robert Barron –audio sermons wordonfire.org
Sunday, April 10, 2011
Matthew 6:1
Scripture – Matthew 6:1
"Beware of practicing your piety before men in order to be seen by them; for then you will have no reward from your Father who is in heaven.
Imagery
Imagine yourself in the crowd listening to Jesus say these words.
For a moment His eyes fall on you, His face shows no expression as He looks into your eyes.
The moment passes and He continues.
Consider your own life and the times where you have felt the need to show others your virtue.
What reward did you win for showing others how ‘good’ a person you are?
Thinking on what Jesus has just said to you, consider what reward you may have forsaken.
What would this reward be like?
Did Jesus communicate something of this reward when He looked into your eyes?
Reflection
It can feel good to parade our good deeds before others. It reassures us of our own worth in the eyes of others.
Through it we may draw permission to hold our heads up in the company of our friends and peers.
Yet what are we doing?
When we ask people to praise us for our efforts, to nod at us approvingly, isn’t it so we can feel better about ourselves?
This is merely a form of trade in which good deeds are exchanged for approval.
Although it may give our pride a boost does such a trade have any worth?
Perhaps it is time to sacrifice the pleasure of approval and esteem from others and find a richer choice.
Let us consider the One who gives us our talents and capabilities. Let us give thanks to God for the good that comes from our hearts and hands.
When we ‘give up’ the worldly trade of our piety and seek no reward we make ourselves worthy of the love of God.
Prayer
Jesus, help me to know the cost of my pride and the value of your love.
Source: Lent – A Window To God by Peter Kelly – Ash Wednesday reflection
"Beware of practicing your piety before men in order to be seen by them; for then you will have no reward from your Father who is in heaven.
Imagery
Imagine yourself in the crowd listening to Jesus say these words.
For a moment His eyes fall on you, His face shows no expression as He looks into your eyes.
The moment passes and He continues.
Consider your own life and the times where you have felt the need to show others your virtue.
What reward did you win for showing others how ‘good’ a person you are?
Thinking on what Jesus has just said to you, consider what reward you may have forsaken.
What would this reward be like?
Did Jesus communicate something of this reward when He looked into your eyes?
Reflection
It can feel good to parade our good deeds before others. It reassures us of our own worth in the eyes of others.
Through it we may draw permission to hold our heads up in the company of our friends and peers.
Yet what are we doing?
When we ask people to praise us for our efforts, to nod at us approvingly, isn’t it so we can feel better about ourselves?
This is merely a form of trade in which good deeds are exchanged for approval.
Although it may give our pride a boost does such a trade have any worth?
Perhaps it is time to sacrifice the pleasure of approval and esteem from others and find a richer choice.
Let us consider the One who gives us our talents and capabilities. Let us give thanks to God for the good that comes from our hearts and hands.
When we ‘give up’ the worldly trade of our piety and seek no reward we make ourselves worthy of the love of God.
Prayer
Jesus, help me to know the cost of my pride and the value of your love.
Source: Lent – A Window To God by Peter Kelly – Ash Wednesday reflection
Matthew 27:26-32
Scripture Matthew 27:26-32
Then he released for them Barab'bas, and having scourged Jesus, delivered him to be crucified. Then the soldiers of the governor took Jesus into the praetorium, and they gathered the whole battalion before him. And they stripped him and put a scarlet robe upon him, and plaiting a crown of thorns they put it on his head, and put a reed in his right hand. And kneeling before him they mocked him, saying, "Hail, King of the Jews!" And they spat upon him, and took the reed and struck him on the head. And when they had mocked him, they stripped him of the robe, and put his own clothes on him, and led him away to crucify him.
As they went out, they came upon a man of Cyre'ne, Simon by name; this man they compelled to carry his cross.
Reflection
Jesus falls a third time.
Jesus fell once.
The first time for those who set the murderous wheels in motion, the inhabitants of palace and court and temple, shielded from weakness by their power, blinded by power to their weakness. He fell that they might know the power of weakness when that power and weakness are called Love.
Jesus fell twice.
The second time for those who followed and watched, dulled to life through their guilt and blindness, caught in spiritual paralysis and numb nervous energy. He fell that they might run to their merciful God.
Jesus fell three times.
The third time for us, that we might not fall. Or that falling, we might love Him whose battered brow and eyes cast the look of love our way – and who picks us up because He fell bearing a Cross of Love.
Source: Meditations on the Stations of the Cross by Dr. Ron Thomas
Then he released for them Barab'bas, and having scourged Jesus, delivered him to be crucified. Then the soldiers of the governor took Jesus into the praetorium, and they gathered the whole battalion before him. And they stripped him and put a scarlet robe upon him, and plaiting a crown of thorns they put it on his head, and put a reed in his right hand. And kneeling before him they mocked him, saying, "Hail, King of the Jews!" And they spat upon him, and took the reed and struck him on the head. And when they had mocked him, they stripped him of the robe, and put his own clothes on him, and led him away to crucify him.
As they went out, they came upon a man of Cyre'ne, Simon by name; this man they compelled to carry his cross.
Reflection
Jesus falls a third time.
Jesus fell once.
The first time for those who set the murderous wheels in motion, the inhabitants of palace and court and temple, shielded from weakness by their power, blinded by power to their weakness. He fell that they might know the power of weakness when that power and weakness are called Love.
Jesus fell twice.
The second time for those who followed and watched, dulled to life through their guilt and blindness, caught in spiritual paralysis and numb nervous energy. He fell that they might run to their merciful God.
Jesus fell three times.
The third time for us, that we might not fall. Or that falling, we might love Him whose battered brow and eyes cast the look of love our way – and who picks us up because He fell bearing a Cross of Love.
Source: Meditations on the Stations of the Cross by Dr. Ron Thomas
Wednesday, June 9, 2010
Matthew 19:16-21 Rich Young Man
Matthew 19:16-21 –Rich Young Man
And behold, one came up to him, saying, "Teacher, what good deed must I do, to have eternal life?" And he said to him, "Why do you ask me about what is good? One there is who is good. If you would enter life, keep the commandments." He said to him, "Which?"
And Jesus said, "You shall not kill, You shall not commit adultery, You shall not steal, You shall not bear false witness, Honor your father and mother, and, You shall love your neighbor as yourself."
The young man said to him, "All these I have observed; what do I still lack?" Jesus said to him, "If you would be perfect, go, sell what you possess and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow me."
Comment
Jesus responded to the rich young man with many commandments. Which one’s are missing?
The first three commandments about loving God alone, keeping the Sabbath and not taking the Lord’s name in vain.
In other words, all of the commandments relating to God.
Jesus doesn’t mention any of those. He only mentions those relating to ‘neighbour’.
In fact, the Jews have a tradition in that of the two tablets Moses brought down the mountain, the first tablet had the first three commandments about our relationship with God and the second tablet had the remaining seven about love of neighbour.
It seems rather odd! It seems like Jesus is leaving God out of the picture.
The man responded to Jesus by saying “All these I have observed; what do I still lack?"
The man has observed the love of neighbour commands.
What does he lack?
The love of God.
It is the first tablet that he lacks.
How does Jesus respond?
“Go, sell what you possess and give to the poor … and come, follow me”
Give up all of your possessions so you are free to follow me totally.
He is saying that by following Him is the same as loving God.
He lacks the love of God, so Jesus is saying you can love God by giving everything up and following Me.
Jesus says there is one thing you lack – the love of God – so He says Follow Me!
In other words, don’t you get it? I am God!
Follow me and you will fulfil love of God as you have love of neighbour.
Source: The Gospel of Saint Matthew Bible Study – by Prof Tim Gray
And behold, one came up to him, saying, "Teacher, what good deed must I do, to have eternal life?" And he said to him, "Why do you ask me about what is good? One there is who is good. If you would enter life, keep the commandments." He said to him, "Which?"
And Jesus said, "You shall not kill, You shall not commit adultery, You shall not steal, You shall not bear false witness, Honor your father and mother, and, You shall love your neighbor as yourself."
The young man said to him, "All these I have observed; what do I still lack?" Jesus said to him, "If you would be perfect, go, sell what you possess and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow me."
Comment
Jesus responded to the rich young man with many commandments. Which one’s are missing?
The first three commandments about loving God alone, keeping the Sabbath and not taking the Lord’s name in vain.
In other words, all of the commandments relating to God.
Jesus doesn’t mention any of those. He only mentions those relating to ‘neighbour’.
In fact, the Jews have a tradition in that of the two tablets Moses brought down the mountain, the first tablet had the first three commandments about our relationship with God and the second tablet had the remaining seven about love of neighbour.
It seems rather odd! It seems like Jesus is leaving God out of the picture.
The man responded to Jesus by saying “All these I have observed; what do I still lack?"
The man has observed the love of neighbour commands.
What does he lack?
The love of God.
It is the first tablet that he lacks.
How does Jesus respond?
“Go, sell what you possess and give to the poor … and come, follow me”
Give up all of your possessions so you are free to follow me totally.
He is saying that by following Him is the same as loving God.
He lacks the love of God, so Jesus is saying you can love God by giving everything up and following Me.
Jesus says there is one thing you lack – the love of God – so He says Follow Me!
In other words, don’t you get it? I am God!
Follow me and you will fulfil love of God as you have love of neighbour.
Source: The Gospel of Saint Matthew Bible Study – by Prof Tim Gray
Matt 2:13 First Refugees
Matt 2:13
Now when they had departed, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream and said, "Rise, take the child and his mother, and flee to Egypt, and remain there till I tell you; for Herod is about to search for the child, to destroy him."
Reflection
Jesus, Mary and Joseph were the first refugees of the Christian era.
Countless others were to share their fate later on.
Since the night when the angel woke Joseph and told him to flee to Egypt with the child and His mother, the world has been full of the hunted, the persecuted and the refugees in whom Christ begs for love and help.
And just as once the shepherds may have brought the Christ Child and His family food and just as there were kind hearted people here and there on the way to Egypt who took pity on the Holy Family, so it is now our task to help the persecuted Christ of today wherever He is suffering need in the least of His brothers.
Source: Fr Werefried van Straaten, founder of aid to the Church in Need
Now when they had departed, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream and said, "Rise, take the child and his mother, and flee to Egypt, and remain there till I tell you; for Herod is about to search for the child, to destroy him."
Reflection
Jesus, Mary and Joseph were the first refugees of the Christian era.
Countless others were to share their fate later on.
Since the night when the angel woke Joseph and told him to flee to Egypt with the child and His mother, the world has been full of the hunted, the persecuted and the refugees in whom Christ begs for love and help.
And just as once the shepherds may have brought the Christ Child and His family food and just as there were kind hearted people here and there on the way to Egypt who took pity on the Holy Family, so it is now our task to help the persecuted Christ of today wherever He is suffering need in the least of His brothers.
Source: Fr Werefried van Straaten, founder of aid to the Church in Need
Matthew Ch7:24-27 Build Your house on Rock
Deuteronomy 11:18.
“Take these words of mine into your heart and soul.”
Matthew Ch7:24-27.
"Every one then who hears these words of mine and does them will be like a wise man who built his house upon the rock; and the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and beat upon that house, but it did not fall, because it had been founded on the rock. And every one who hears these words of mine and does not do them will be like a foolish man who built his house upon the sand; and the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and beat against that house, and it fell; and great was the fall of it."
Comment
Notice something too, the author of Deuteronomy warns against something too. Turning aside from the way I ordain for you today and following other god’s.
Now that is a good way to put it.
Where do you follow gods? That means of ultimate concern. You follow those at the level of your heart, at the level of your soul.
I mean you can seek after material success, fame and all that, but you should be seeking God at this deeper level.
Don’t run after false god’s because that will lead to a skewing of your soul. That will lead ultimately to a breaking of your heart.
Now we can find much the same thing, this summary statement, in the Sermon on the Mount in the Gospel of Matthew Ch7:24-27.
Jesus says “Everyone who listens to these words of mine and acts on them will be like a wise man who built his house on rock. The rain fell, the floods came and the winds blew and buffeted the house but it did not collapse.
Friends, this is the heart of it.
If you are rooted in God at the level of your heart and your soul you are following the intentions and commands of God.
Then what?
You can withstand anything.
Why?
Because you are linked at the very centre of your life to that very power that is here and now creating the cosmos.
That power which transcends all of space and time. You are linked to God and the storms will come, the floods will come and they will not touch you.
How about the one who does not take Jesus words to heart?
He will be like the fool who built his house on sand. The rain fell, the floods came and the winds buffeted the house and it collapsed and it was completed ruined.
Now friends, notice something here.
The winds and floods come in both cases.
Jesus here is giving us the proper reading of Deuteronomy. It does not mean follow God’s command and the winds and floods will never come. No no.
Both the one who follows God’s command and the one who doesn’t experience the rain and the floods. That means all the trials and temptations and difficulties at the surface of your life. That isn’t the question here.
The question is. Where are you rooted?
If you are rooted in something other than God, then when those rains and winds and floods come you will collapse and if you are grounded in your heart in the commands of God you can stand and withstand anything.
I have known lots of people who have got it all together. They have got everything.
Look at that beautiful house but then there comes sickness, there comes loss, there comes failure, there comes the premature death of one of their children.
There comes the death of a friend. Whatever it is, all those normal winds and floods that bedevil us and that house can come crashing down.
So the question is, where do you stand?
How goes it with your heart?
On what precisely, is the whole of your life built?
On the commands of God, then you are built on rock.
On anything else, you are built on sand.
And from that everything else will flow.
And may God bless you.
Source: Father Robert Barron www.wordonfire.com
This reminds me of that famous quote by Saint Augustine
You have formed us for yourself, and our hearts are restless until they rest in You.
“Take these words of mine into your heart and soul.”
Matthew Ch7:24-27.
"Every one then who hears these words of mine and does them will be like a wise man who built his house upon the rock; and the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and beat upon that house, but it did not fall, because it had been founded on the rock. And every one who hears these words of mine and does not do them will be like a foolish man who built his house upon the sand; and the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and beat against that house, and it fell; and great was the fall of it."
Comment
Notice something too, the author of Deuteronomy warns against something too. Turning aside from the way I ordain for you today and following other god’s.
Now that is a good way to put it.
Where do you follow gods? That means of ultimate concern. You follow those at the level of your heart, at the level of your soul.
I mean you can seek after material success, fame and all that, but you should be seeking God at this deeper level.
Don’t run after false god’s because that will lead to a skewing of your soul. That will lead ultimately to a breaking of your heart.
Now we can find much the same thing, this summary statement, in the Sermon on the Mount in the Gospel of Matthew Ch7:24-27.
Jesus says “Everyone who listens to these words of mine and acts on them will be like a wise man who built his house on rock. The rain fell, the floods came and the winds blew and buffeted the house but it did not collapse.
Friends, this is the heart of it.
If you are rooted in God at the level of your heart and your soul you are following the intentions and commands of God.
Then what?
You can withstand anything.
Why?
Because you are linked at the very centre of your life to that very power that is here and now creating the cosmos.
That power which transcends all of space and time. You are linked to God and the storms will come, the floods will come and they will not touch you.
How about the one who does not take Jesus words to heart?
He will be like the fool who built his house on sand. The rain fell, the floods came and the winds buffeted the house and it collapsed and it was completed ruined.
Now friends, notice something here.
The winds and floods come in both cases.
Jesus here is giving us the proper reading of Deuteronomy. It does not mean follow God’s command and the winds and floods will never come. No no.
Both the one who follows God’s command and the one who doesn’t experience the rain and the floods. That means all the trials and temptations and difficulties at the surface of your life. That isn’t the question here.
The question is. Where are you rooted?
If you are rooted in something other than God, then when those rains and winds and floods come you will collapse and if you are grounded in your heart in the commands of God you can stand and withstand anything.
I have known lots of people who have got it all together. They have got everything.
Look at that beautiful house but then there comes sickness, there comes loss, there comes failure, there comes the premature death of one of their children.
There comes the death of a friend. Whatever it is, all those normal winds and floods that bedevil us and that house can come crashing down.
So the question is, where do you stand?
How goes it with your heart?
On what precisely, is the whole of your life built?
On the commands of God, then you are built on rock.
On anything else, you are built on sand.
And from that everything else will flow.
And may God bless you.
Source: Father Robert Barron www.wordonfire.com
This reminds me of that famous quote by Saint Augustine
You have formed us for yourself, and our hearts are restless until they rest in You.
1 Cor 11:2 Passing on True Teaching
Matt 28:19-20
Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, to the close of the age."
1 Cor 11:2
I commend you because you remember me in everything and maintain the traditions even as I have delivered them to you
Quote
But Polycarp also was not only instructed by apostles,
and conversed with many who had seen Christ,
….., having always taught the things which he had learned from the apostles,
and which the Church has handed down, and which alone are true.
To these things all the Asiatic Churches testify, as do also those men who have succeeded Polycarp down to the present time,—a man who was of much greater weight, and a more stedfast witness of truth, than Valentinus, and Marcion, and the rest of the heretics. He it was who, coming to Rome in the time of Anicetus caused many to turn away from the aforesaid heretics to the Church of God, proclaiming that he had received this one and sole truth from the apostles,—that, namely, which is handed down by the Church.
Source: Irenaeus - Against Heresies: Book III – Ch III
Who was Polycarp?
Polycarp was the bishop of Smyrna on the West Coast of Asia Minor (now Turkey) in the first half of the second century.
He reportedly sat at the feet of the apostle John and knew St. Ignatius of Antioch.
On account of this, he is one of the apostolic fathers, the earliest group of the fathers of the church who play a special role in transmitting to us the teachings given to us from the apostles themselves (also referred to as apostolic tradition).
Polycarp was apprehended by the Roman authorities when in his eighties, around the year 155AD.
Source – www.crossroadsinitiative.com.au
Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, to the close of the age."
1 Cor 11:2
I commend you because you remember me in everything and maintain the traditions even as I have delivered them to you
Quote
But Polycarp also was not only instructed by apostles,
and conversed with many who had seen Christ,
….., having always taught the things which he had learned from the apostles,
and which the Church has handed down, and which alone are true.
To these things all the Asiatic Churches testify, as do also those men who have succeeded Polycarp down to the present time,—a man who was of much greater weight, and a more stedfast witness of truth, than Valentinus, and Marcion, and the rest of the heretics. He it was who, coming to Rome in the time of Anicetus caused many to turn away from the aforesaid heretics to the Church of God, proclaiming that he had received this one and sole truth from the apostles,—that, namely, which is handed down by the Church.
Source: Irenaeus - Against Heresies: Book III – Ch III
Who was Polycarp?
Polycarp was the bishop of Smyrna on the West Coast of Asia Minor (now Turkey) in the first half of the second century.
He reportedly sat at the feet of the apostle John and knew St. Ignatius of Antioch.
On account of this, he is one of the apostolic fathers, the earliest group of the fathers of the church who play a special role in transmitting to us the teachings given to us from the apostles themselves (also referred to as apostolic tradition).
Polycarp was apprehended by the Roman authorities when in his eighties, around the year 155AD.
Source – www.crossroadsinitiative.com.au
Matthew 5:13-16 Salt of the Earth, Light of the World
Matthew 5:13-16
Jesus said, ‘You are the salt of the earth. But if salt becomes tasteless, what can make it salty again? It is good for nothing, and can only be thrown out to be trampled underfoot by men.
‘You are the light of the world. A city built on a hill-top cannot be hidden. No one lights a lamp to put it under a tub; they put it on the lamp-stand where it shines for everyone in the house. In the same way your light must shine in the sight of men, so that, seeing your good works, they may give the praise to your Father in heaven.’
Reflection
Just a few short miles from here is the National Gallery of Art, containing one of the world’s finest collections of paintings, sculpture and other works of art dating from the early Middle ages until the present. One of the most frequented of the galleries houses a beautiful exhibit of French impressionist paintings. Manet, Renoir, Cezanne, Degas and Monet are all represented. Earlier in my life I painted quite a bit and I loved to do Monet studies. The real beauty of his impressionist paintings, their most notable feature and challenge, is the interplay between color and light in nature.
The color is in the object itself. Its appearance and its beauty, however, depend upon the light to bring it out, to give it life. Impressionist artwork can be breathtaking as you see how important light is to color, as you realize how light can capture and change the way you look at the world.
The scripture readings of today’s Mass are brief, only a few sentences each. Good things come in small packages, so they say. As with impressionist painting, the thing that comes to the surface in both scripture readings today is the notion of light.
St. Paul writes of “the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God … who said ‘let light shine out of darkness’.” St. Paul reminds us, as he did the Corinthian people, that the darkness gives way to the light that is “on the face of Jesus Christ.” No greater work of art, no greater subject for light can be imagined. The more we look on the face of Jesus, like an impressionist painting, the more light we see and the more we are transfixed by it. As the psalmist says, “In your light, we see light itself.”
This idea, this word, is a good lead-in to today’s Gospel selection from St. Matthew. Our brief passage today follows on the heels of the sermon on the mount, Jesus’ beatitudes: “blessed are the poor, the sorrowful, the meek,” and so forth. Our Gospel today presents a commission from Jesus to his followers: “you are the salt of the earth … you are the light of the world.”
In the ancient world, salt was a precious commodity. It gave flavor and zest to food; it served as an important preservative; salt also made people thirst for something more. These meanings, these values attributed to salt were not lost on Jesus. He wanted his disciples to give flavor and zest to the world through his teaching; to preserve the truth as he proclaimed it to the world; to make the world thirst for more, more not only of what he had to say, but more of what he was and is.
In addition to being salt for the earth, Jesus called his followers to be the light of the world. The word “light” is used hundreds of times in the scripture. God’s first words, his first action: “Let there be light.” In St. John’s Gospel, Jesus says of himself and his mission “I am the light of the world.” And so he is, but curiously, in the sermon on the mount, Jesus transfers his light to those who follow him: “You are the light of the world.” There is the most integral connection between who he is and what he does and all of us who take his name, “Christian.” Discipleship is not an abstraction. His Gospel is not a painting, it is not simply an impression of light and color and nature.
To follow the Lord Jesus, to be salt and light for the world, is as real as it gets.
When he says, “I have come that you may have life,” he is speaking to everyone: born and unborn, healthy and sick; rich and poor; innocent and guilty, young and old --- and he is asking us to be that kind salt and light for the world, the kind that brings life. When he says, “I was a stranger and you welcomed me,” he was speaking for everyone, not only for those within our borders but for those who cross them, no matter how they got here --- he is asking us to be that kind of salt and light for the world, the kind that welcomes people home. When he says, “Whatever you do to the least of my sisters and brothers, you do to me,” he is speaking with everyone, whatever color or nationality or state in life, God in our midst, the word made flesh and dwelling among us. He is asking us to be that kind of salt and light for the world.
Why?
Because that is who HE is. Because that is what HE does. And he invites us to follow him.
Earlier I characterized the genius of impressionist art as bringing light to color, as presenting light so that it changes the way one looks at the world. Jesus is the light of the world. Jesus calls us to be that same light. What a different view of the world that light gives! Let the light shine!
Source: Very Reverend David M. O’Connell, C.M.,
Jesus said, ‘You are the salt of the earth. But if salt becomes tasteless, what can make it salty again? It is good for nothing, and can only be thrown out to be trampled underfoot by men.
‘You are the light of the world. A city built on a hill-top cannot be hidden. No one lights a lamp to put it under a tub; they put it on the lamp-stand where it shines for everyone in the house. In the same way your light must shine in the sight of men, so that, seeing your good works, they may give the praise to your Father in heaven.’
Reflection
Just a few short miles from here is the National Gallery of Art, containing one of the world’s finest collections of paintings, sculpture and other works of art dating from the early Middle ages until the present. One of the most frequented of the galleries houses a beautiful exhibit of French impressionist paintings. Manet, Renoir, Cezanne, Degas and Monet are all represented. Earlier in my life I painted quite a bit and I loved to do Monet studies. The real beauty of his impressionist paintings, their most notable feature and challenge, is the interplay between color and light in nature.
The color is in the object itself. Its appearance and its beauty, however, depend upon the light to bring it out, to give it life. Impressionist artwork can be breathtaking as you see how important light is to color, as you realize how light can capture and change the way you look at the world.
The scripture readings of today’s Mass are brief, only a few sentences each. Good things come in small packages, so they say. As with impressionist painting, the thing that comes to the surface in both scripture readings today is the notion of light.
St. Paul writes of “the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God … who said ‘let light shine out of darkness’.” St. Paul reminds us, as he did the Corinthian people, that the darkness gives way to the light that is “on the face of Jesus Christ.” No greater work of art, no greater subject for light can be imagined. The more we look on the face of Jesus, like an impressionist painting, the more light we see and the more we are transfixed by it. As the psalmist says, “In your light, we see light itself.”
This idea, this word, is a good lead-in to today’s Gospel selection from St. Matthew. Our brief passage today follows on the heels of the sermon on the mount, Jesus’ beatitudes: “blessed are the poor, the sorrowful, the meek,” and so forth. Our Gospel today presents a commission from Jesus to his followers: “you are the salt of the earth … you are the light of the world.”
In the ancient world, salt was a precious commodity. It gave flavor and zest to food; it served as an important preservative; salt also made people thirst for something more. These meanings, these values attributed to salt were not lost on Jesus. He wanted his disciples to give flavor and zest to the world through his teaching; to preserve the truth as he proclaimed it to the world; to make the world thirst for more, more not only of what he had to say, but more of what he was and is.
In addition to being salt for the earth, Jesus called his followers to be the light of the world. The word “light” is used hundreds of times in the scripture. God’s first words, his first action: “Let there be light.” In St. John’s Gospel, Jesus says of himself and his mission “I am the light of the world.” And so he is, but curiously, in the sermon on the mount, Jesus transfers his light to those who follow him: “You are the light of the world.” There is the most integral connection between who he is and what he does and all of us who take his name, “Christian.” Discipleship is not an abstraction. His Gospel is not a painting, it is not simply an impression of light and color and nature.
To follow the Lord Jesus, to be salt and light for the world, is as real as it gets.
When he says, “I have come that you may have life,” he is speaking to everyone: born and unborn, healthy and sick; rich and poor; innocent and guilty, young and old --- and he is asking us to be that kind salt and light for the world, the kind that brings life. When he says, “I was a stranger and you welcomed me,” he was speaking for everyone, not only for those within our borders but for those who cross them, no matter how they got here --- he is asking us to be that kind of salt and light for the world, the kind that welcomes people home. When he says, “Whatever you do to the least of my sisters and brothers, you do to me,” he is speaking with everyone, whatever color or nationality or state in life, God in our midst, the word made flesh and dwelling among us. He is asking us to be that kind of salt and light for the world.
Why?
Because that is who HE is. Because that is what HE does. And he invites us to follow him.
Earlier I characterized the genius of impressionist art as bringing light to color, as presenting light so that it changes the way one looks at the world. Jesus is the light of the world. Jesus calls us to be that same light. What a different view of the world that light gives! Let the light shine!
Source: Very Reverend David M. O’Connell, C.M.,
Matthew 5:14-16 Light of the World
Matthew 5:14-16
‘You are the light of the world. A city built on a hill-top cannot be hidden. No one lights a lamp to put it under a tub; they put it on the lamp-stand where it shines for everyone in the house. In the same way your light must shine in the sight of men, so that, seeing your good works, they may give the praise to your Father in heaven.’
Reflection
"I see now, that true charity consists in bearing with the faults of those about us, never being surprised at their weaknesses, but edified at the least sign of virtue.
I see above all that charity must not remain hidden in the bottom of our hearts: `nor do men light a lamp and put it under a bushel, but on a stand, and it gives light to all in the house.'
It seems to me that this lamp is the symbol of charity; it must shine out not only to cheer those we love best but all in the house"
St. Therese of Lisieux
"The Autobiography of a Saint", Chapter 9
‘You are the light of the world. A city built on a hill-top cannot be hidden. No one lights a lamp to put it under a tub; they put it on the lamp-stand where it shines for everyone in the house. In the same way your light must shine in the sight of men, so that, seeing your good works, they may give the praise to your Father in heaven.’
Reflection
"I see now, that true charity consists in bearing with the faults of those about us, never being surprised at their weaknesses, but edified at the least sign of virtue.
I see above all that charity must not remain hidden in the bottom of our hearts: `nor do men light a lamp and put it under a bushel, but on a stand, and it gives light to all in the house.'
It seems to me that this lamp is the symbol of charity; it must shine out not only to cheer those we love best but all in the house"
St. Therese of Lisieux
"The Autobiography of a Saint", Chapter 9
Matthew 5:13-16 Salt of the Earth
Matthew 5:13-16
Jesus said, ‘You are the salt of the earth. But if salt becomes tasteless, what can make it salty again? It is good for nothing, and can only be thrown out to be trampled underfoot by men.
‘You are the light of the world. A city built on a hill-top cannot be hidden. No one lights a lamp to put it under a tub; they put it on the lamp-stand where it shines for everyone in the house. In the same way your light must shine in the sight of men, so that, seeing your good works, they may give the praise to your Father in heaven.’
Reflection
Whenever I eat a dish that does not have much salt in it, something always seems to be missing for the food tastes bland. However, when salt is added, the food becomes much tastier, and the meal is more enjoyable. The essence of salt is its taste; its purpose is to enhance the food of the taste. Hence, if salt loses its taste, it would no longer be added to our food. It would become useless.
Like salt, we all have an essence and a purpose in our lives. What is this essence, you might ask? I believe that our essence is the light within us which manifests itself in many ways: love, joy, peace, hope, strength, patience, kindness, forgiveness, gentleness, wisdom, maturity, etc. All of us have this light within us. Some of us have a light which shines brightly; others have a dimmer light - but we all have a light nonetheless.
In our world which is becoming increasingly self-centered, to discover this light shining in each other is becoming a rarity. Nonetheless, the privilege of witnessing the glow of this light in another is always heart warming and inspiring.
For example, witnessing a simple gesture of someone give up his/her seat in a bus for another always makes me feel like there is still goodness and light in people. It always makes me feel like wanting to be that person: to do more good deeds and look for opportunities to give my seat up for another. I suppose light never remains in one person but always has the power to inspire others.
Therefore, let us continually look for ways to reveal our light to others so that the light within them may be kindled by our flame. Let us also hold on to the truth that we, you and I, are the salt and light of the world. The spirit of darkness would try to convince us that we are not; that we are not good enough; that we are bad so that we would give up on doing good deeds. However, as long as we are still alive, every moment presents a new opportunity to shine for the glory of God.
Prayer:
Lord, help us to reject the lies of the evil one and to believe that we truly are your salt and your light in this world. Help us to shine in “small” and big ways to glorify you.
Thanksgiving:
We give thanks to God who entrusts us with the responsibility of bringing light to others.
Source : Jean Cheng
http://thecatholicwriter.com/oxygen/
Jesus said, ‘You are the salt of the earth. But if salt becomes tasteless, what can make it salty again? It is good for nothing, and can only be thrown out to be trampled underfoot by men.
‘You are the light of the world. A city built on a hill-top cannot be hidden. No one lights a lamp to put it under a tub; they put it on the lamp-stand where it shines for everyone in the house. In the same way your light must shine in the sight of men, so that, seeing your good works, they may give the praise to your Father in heaven.’
Reflection
Whenever I eat a dish that does not have much salt in it, something always seems to be missing for the food tastes bland. However, when salt is added, the food becomes much tastier, and the meal is more enjoyable. The essence of salt is its taste; its purpose is to enhance the food of the taste. Hence, if salt loses its taste, it would no longer be added to our food. It would become useless.
Like salt, we all have an essence and a purpose in our lives. What is this essence, you might ask? I believe that our essence is the light within us which manifests itself in many ways: love, joy, peace, hope, strength, patience, kindness, forgiveness, gentleness, wisdom, maturity, etc. All of us have this light within us. Some of us have a light which shines brightly; others have a dimmer light - but we all have a light nonetheless.
In our world which is becoming increasingly self-centered, to discover this light shining in each other is becoming a rarity. Nonetheless, the privilege of witnessing the glow of this light in another is always heart warming and inspiring.
For example, witnessing a simple gesture of someone give up his/her seat in a bus for another always makes me feel like there is still goodness and light in people. It always makes me feel like wanting to be that person: to do more good deeds and look for opportunities to give my seat up for another. I suppose light never remains in one person but always has the power to inspire others.
Therefore, let us continually look for ways to reveal our light to others so that the light within them may be kindled by our flame. Let us also hold on to the truth that we, you and I, are the salt and light of the world. The spirit of darkness would try to convince us that we are not; that we are not good enough; that we are bad so that we would give up on doing good deeds. However, as long as we are still alive, every moment presents a new opportunity to shine for the glory of God.
Prayer:
Lord, help us to reject the lies of the evil one and to believe that we truly are your salt and your light in this world. Help us to shine in “small” and big ways to glorify you.
Thanksgiving:
We give thanks to God who entrusts us with the responsibility of bringing light to others.
Source : Jean Cheng
http://thecatholicwriter.com/oxygen/
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