Daily Office Readings for Friday of the 3rd Week of Easter: Year 2
Morning, Psalm 105:1 to 22; Evening, Psalm 105:23 to 45;
Exodus 2 4:1 to 18; Colossians 2:8 to 23; Matthew 4:12 to 17:
He left Nazareth and made his home in Capernaum by the lake, in the territory of Zebulon and Naphtali.” (Matthew 4:13)
I can still remember looking from a boat to the coast of Israel, in particular, Capernaum. This is the first place our Lord Jesus went of his own free will and accord. Everywhere else, he was taken by his parents; to Bethlehem to be born; to Egypt to be saved, to Nazareth to be raised, to Jerusalem to be dedicated, back to Nazareth, to Jerusalem again at age 12, and even to a wedding in Cana by invitation and always back to Nazareth. But now, he left Nazareth and made his home in Capernaum by the lake. I took a picture of Capernaum and Galilee of Israel and was so impressed with it that I made it the representation or icon of this blog page.
It is around Capernaum that our Lord Jesus walked along the shore and said to John and James; and to Andrew and Simon Peter; “follow me.” Capernaum then was his preaching and teaching area. I have discovered that Capernaum is only mentioned in the Bible in the Gospels. Therefore, Capernaum is Christ centric.
Our Lord Jesus bloomed where he planted himself. We too, in our very transitional world, move around a lot. I think now however we are beginning to see that we can pretty much live wherever we want to because we can reach out, or bring the world to our laptops or phones wherever we are. The stay at home; work from home, Coronavirus showed us this. We too can bloom from right where we are. Our home town can, and should, become our “preaching and teaching area” for the Church.
None of us knows where our Jerusalem or Capernaum is. None of us knows where our lives will end on earth. We must always do the best we can wherever we are today, and let tomorrow take care of itself. Wherever you are right now, it is your Capernaum!
We must still hold up prayers for the Capernaum of Ukraine. This is where Jesus needs to walk today and feel the Jerusalem-like agony that they are going through, and then raise them up.
“Thus the heavens and the earth were finished, and all their multitude. And on the seventh day God finished the work that he had done, and he rested on the seventh day from all the work that he had done” (Genesis 2:1 and 2). So, for this evening and tomorrow day my friends, Shabbat Shalom.
What is Shabbat? Intro to the Jewish Sabbath – YouTube
As we listen to what the Spirit is saying to us, let us live to love, to serve, and to teach, while pondering anew what the Almighty can do. John
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