Part 1 of 2
Daily Office Readings for Sunday of Proper 14: Year 1
Morning, Psalms 66 and 67; evening, Psalms 19 and 46;
2nd Samuel 13:1 to 22; Romans 15:1 to 13; John 3:22 to 36:
“Whoever receives his testimony sets his seal to this, that God is true. For he whom God has sent utters the words of God, for he gives the Spirit without measure.” (John 3:34 and 35)
I think to study and ponder about our Lord Jesus is to look through Jesus and catch a glimpse of God. We need the recorded words of Jesus and the witness of his signs and wonders. I do believe that with our Gospel accounts we should bring our God-given sense of reason to bear as well. We do need to look at the times that Jesus walked with us, and we need to examine the various language translations that have been handed down to us. But even with all of this, we can still see that God is true, and that God makes our Lord Jesus a two-way path of vision whereby, as we can see God, God can also see, and be us. And through our Lord Jesus, this two-way divine path, God gives us the Spirit of God without measure. Thank You Lord Jesus.
Part 2 of 2
New Testament Eucharistic Readings for Sunday of Proper 14: Year B
Ephesians 4:25 to 5:2 and John 6:35 and 41 to 51:
“It is written in the Prophets, ‘And they will all be taught by God.’ Everyone who has heard and learned from the Father comes to me.” (John 6:45)
Our Lord Jesus says that the people who come to him are in fact sent to him by the Creator. I think this is true for me. I remember taking chemistry and Philosophy in my undergraduate studies. I was attending college classes at night after work. So while it was not a normal, full class load, it was a challenge to compare the two. On the one hand I had an elemental chart which showed all the known elements of which the simplest seemed to me to be hydrogen. How old was hydrogen? In philosophy, there is thought, how old was thought. Then the big question was like the chicken or the egg – which came first, the atom or the thought? Did atoms, in some way assemble together to form thought? Or was the atom itself the product of Thought? (notice the capital “T”). So you can see that my early ponderings brought me to a stronger belief in God. And from God I was brought to our Lord Jesus, not necessarily to the Bible or even Church, but to the Incarnation. The Bible and the Church came later. From the Incarnation came love. And from love, I have not moved.
Let us live to love, rather than just live to live, listening to what the Spirit is saying to, and through the saints of God, while pondering anew what the Almighty can do. John
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