onewhoponders

Daily Office Readings for Wednesday of Proper 24: Year 2

Morning,  Psalm 38; Evening,  Psalm 119:25to 48;

Ecclesiasticus 7:4-14; Revelation 8:1-13; Luke 10:17to24

“Nevertheless, do not rejoice at this, that the spirits submit to you, but rejoice that your names are written in heaven” (Luke 10:20).

As I read this good news for the 70 “others” who just returned, I ponder who they were.  Jesus has previously sent out the twelve apostles on a similar mission among whom was Judas Iscariot who would betray Jesus later.  So who among these seventy others were also not so honorable?  Was Jesus prematurely handing out passage into heaven?

As a priest I see my ministry as one who coaches people into heaven.  I want them to be the best people they can possibly be.  I also need people to know and understand that should they make a mistake later in life, our God is a merciful God.  This comes with a caution however.

As we enter the company of saints in heaven we can’t be upset about Judas and others we know who may be present there.  We are not to judge, only love.  This love, not judge idea, must start now, in this life. Jealousy, vengeance, retaliation and all such feelings are toxic to our hearts and could work against our own entry into heaven.

The experience the seventy received was life changing.  The same is true for us today.  Have you realized any miracles in your life?  I will tell you that I have, several times. They have occurred in your life as well, but you may not have “realized” it.  I can never see where God is, but I can easily see where God was in my life.  And I am thankful. 

Rejoice when you realize that God has acted in your life. I do.  But be even happier that because God is present with you now, you will be present with God for all eternity, even with some folk you didn’t care so much for in this life. We can’t say who will not be in heaven.  That’s God’s job. We just need to work on ourselves, and our less than loving feelings toward some people we have come to know. The seventy were thirty-five pairs of people on a mission for our Lord Jesus.  Maybe even among these pairs of people there was some resentment. Perhaps what they saw as they went out to do the work of the Lord was more about themselves.  Some people in high human positions miss this opportunity.  Jesus said to the seventy, “For I tell you that many prophets and kings desired to see what you see, but did not see it, and to hear what you hear, but did not hear it”  (Luke 10:24).  Let go of ill wills. Just let go and let God. God is tricky.  Sometimes God will send you out to find your own inner self.

The war against Ukraine seems to go back and forth. Please keep Ukraine in your prayers.

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

Daily Office Readings for Tuesday of Proper 24: Year 2

Morning, Psalms 26 and 28; Evening,  Psalms 36 and 39;

Ecclesiasticus 6:5to17; Revelation 7:9to17; Luke 10:1to16

“After this the Lord appointed seventy others and sent them on ahead of him in pairs to every town and place where he himself intended to go” (Luke 10:1)

So our Lord Jesus sent his followers out to places where he himself intended to go.  It is important to note here that Jesus sent them out in pairs.  There are many faith traditions today that follow this example of evangelism. I think there is something about the integrity of two. Also, the two usually consist of a leader and an apprentice.

This idea of pairing appears in the Hebrew Testament as well.  Some examples are Abraham and Sarah, or Abraham and Lot; Ruth and Naomi; Moses and Aaron; David and Jonathan, Elijah and Elisha.  There are others as well.  Partnering, either with one’s spouse or significant other; or a vocational missioner; partnering, is how God designed us to be, and the way God wants us to go about our lives. This is why God, in Christ Jesus, sends us out in twos.

When pairing with a partner for Bible Study or building a shed, one of the two needs to be well informed about whatever the undertaking is, the other needs to agree to follow his or her lead. The other piece about partnering is that often such relationships aren’t permanent and are not intended to be applied to other vocations.  Using the example above, one of the two teaching Bible study should have some kind of biblical education.  For building a shed, one of the two should have experience in carpentry.

Partner relationships evolve.  As we learn and grow we often gravitate to other partners.  In this way we develop greater skills and move on to new and different areas of interests or missions.  Whether we are pondering about our personal spirituality or wanting to learn a new language, there is always someone we can seek out whom we can emulate.  Someone once told me that if you see who you want to be in another person, you can copy him or her. But first, you have to see it. This is the master and protégé or apprentice concept. It still works today.  God made us to copy one another. However, we must choose wisely.  Therefore, you must seek out those who are themselves walking humbly before our Lord and traveling to all the places where Jesus himself intends to go.  Partner with such people and listen to them, learn from them, love, live and then finally, you yourself, will also lead a protégé or apprentice.

 Please remember to keep Ukraine in your prayers, our prayers are making a real difference.

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

Daily Office Readings for Monday of Proper 24: Year 2

Morning, Psalm 25; Evening, Psalms 9 and 15;

Ecclesiasticus. 4:20-5:7; Revelation. 7:1to8; Luke 9:51to 62

“Jesus said to him, ‘No one who puts a hand to the plough and looks back is fit for the kingdom of God.”  (Luke 9:62)

Let’s go deeper using this agricultural metaphor.  If we are plowing a field, we can’t look back and tell where we are going, only where we have been. Once we set out to churn up the soil we must stay focused on where we are going and how the tiller is working.

Just so, as we carry the message of love into the world we must stay focused on the challenges that lie in front of us.  We can’t keep looking back at the places where we succumbed to selfishness, jealousy or hate. We must keep our eyes fixed on the new path ahead.  And like the rows of earth being created by the tiller, the road we are on is often being created by us as we walk it.  Jesus is often sending out ahead of himself to prepare the Way as he did with John the Baptist.

The path we try to build is not always successful. As we read, “he sent messengers ahead of him. On their way they entered a village of the Samaritans to make ready for him; but they did not receive him, because his face was set towards Jerusalem. When his disciples James and John saw it, they said, ‘Lord, do you want us to command fire to come down from heaven and consume them?’ But he turned and rebuked them,”(Luke 9: 52 to 55}. Apparently, John and James had some power and wanted to use it. But revenge and retaliation is not the Jesus Way.

For me, this means that we do what we can do, where we can do it, in the Name of the love of our Lord Jesus.  Where we can’t, we move on. We don’t stay and bring down a fire and brimstone argument about rejection.  We must keep our eyes on the potentially fertile field ahead. Once we set out to churn up the soil we must stay focused on where we are going and how the tiller is working.  Go forth then my beloved of the Lord, stay focused and do good work.

Please remember to keep Ukraine in your prayers, your prayers are making a real difference.

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

New Testament Eucharistic Readings for Sunday of Proper 24: Year C

2^nd Timothy 3:14-4:5 and  Luke 18:1-8

“And will not God grant justice to his chosen ones who cry to him day and night? Will he delay long in helping them?  I tell you, he will quickly grant justice to them. And yet, when the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on earth?”” (Luke 18: 7 – 8)

This parable is so much like the parable about the man who received guest but with nothing to feed them.  He went to his neighbor’s door at midnight and knocked and asked for something to feed his guests. At first the neighbor refused and said that he and his children had gone to bed.  But Jesus says that because the man in need is persistent he will get up and give him whatever he needs (Luke 11: 5 – 8).  We humans are hard wired to give in to requests. It is perhaps in this way that we are created in God’s Image.

We humans are also hardwired to transmit to God any distress we might be experiencing, particularly when we are moved to crying.  God’s ears hears tears. Crying is praying regardless of what the person who is crying thinks in terms of what he or she believes. Our souls believe.

I think intentional  prayer is a state of being. Inwardly we all ask ourselves what is my life all about.  What does God want of me?  We have fancy words for this kind of seeking.  We call it discernment or a calling.  We ask what our “call” is in this life. But we also ask for our needs to be filled.  All of us stand in the need of prayer. And all of us stand in the need to pray continually.

We may not want to admit it, but we are born to beg. Like the parable about the unjust judge and the woman seeking justice in our Luke passage for today, God wants to hear our requests. If we are begging God for something, it means that we at least believe in God. If we persist in our faith-wrestle with God, God gives in just as God did with Jacob and renamed him Israel (Genesis 32:22 to 30).

So when the Son of Man comes, will he come as a result of prayer,  prayer brought on by faith?  Because you see, the genesis of intentional prayer is faith.  Therefore, where there is prayer there already has to be faith; even if we are unaware of it.

We can have faith and yet not pray.  But if we pray it is evident that we believe, and therefore have faith.  And it is through that very faith that we pray.  Jesus wants to know if we will have faith when he comes- when he comes to answer our prayers. You are people of faith. Therefore, pray, and pray always.

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

Daily Office Readings for Saturday of Proper 23: Year 2

Morning, Psalms 20, 21:1-7(8-14); Evening,  Psalms 110:1-5(6-7), 116, 117;

 Ecclesiasticus. 3:17to31; Acts 28:17to31; Luke 9:37to50

 “My child, perform your tasks with humility; then you will be loved by those whom God accepts. The greater you are, the more you must humble yourself; so you will find favor in the sight of the Lord. For great is the might of the Lord; but by the humble he is glorified.”  (Ecclesiasticus 3:17 to 20)

If you look this passage up you will see that there is not a verse 19.  My notes say that verse 19 should read “Many are lofty and renowned, but to the humble he reveals his secrets.”  So 18 and 20, even without the missing verse 19, are still about humility. 

In my own practice of humility, which I still fail from time to time, it is about the humility of invisibility.  The humility of invisibility is about not insisting on my own presence in the group.  We live in a world now where everybody wants to be heard.  Fine. But given air time alone does not make one right. Being heard does not mean being believed. The humble way is to wait to be asked to speak.

When the writer says “The greater you are, the more you must humble yourself,” perhaps it works the other way also; that is, “the more you humble yourself, the greater you are.” What do you think?  Must we insist on being heard?  And if heard, we must realize that what we say may not be valued?

We must perform our tasks with humility. Many of the Mystics that I have learned from were unknown in their own day; Saint John of the Cross and Teresa of Avila, to mention two.  It is through reading their writings that we are able to go to the deep end of the spiritual pool.

Remember, it is in our humility that God is glorified. “For great is the might of the Lord; but by the humble he is glorified.”  And as pointed out, by the missing verse, the humble are blessed with secret wisdom.  I don’t know about you, but being gifted with God’s secret knowledge makes being quiet even harder, it makes being humble even harder. I think having such secret knowledge would make me want run out and share it right away. However, we must listen to the counsel of the Spirit of God in Christ Jesus and learn how to be still and be silent and not to unnecessarily share our thoughts which is the rule of DUST, which is, “Don’t Unnecessarily Share Thoughts.”

Please remember to keep Ukraine in your prayers, your prayers are making a real difference.

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

Daily Office Readings for Friday of Proper23: Year 2

Morning, Psalms 16 and 17; Evening, Psalm 22;

Ecclesiasticus 1:1to10 and18to 27; Acts 28:1to16; Luke 9:28to 36

“For the fear of the Lord is wisdom and discipline, fidelity and humility are his delight.” (Ecclesiasticus 1:27)

This book from the Apocrypha is the Ecclesiasticus, or Wisdom of Jesus, son of Sirach; not to be confused with Jesus, Son of God.  This is a Wisdom writing.  It did not make the canon, which are the traditionally accepted books of the Bible, but is none the less an important teaching tool for the Church.  In this book, there is a close association between wisdom and seeking the will of God.

Perhaps a better word for the word “fear” in this sense is the word respect or belief in the Lord.  For it is in believing in God and trusting in God that we are enlightened.  God reveals to those who believe in God.  Many people refuse to believe because they cannot prove God exists.  But, on the other hand, they cannot prove that God does not exist.  Art is proof of the Artist. Creation is proof of the Creator.  Nothing is happenstance.

For many of us today, frustrations abound.  But “Those who are patient stay calm until the right moment, and then cheerfulness comes back to them” (Ecclesiasticus 1:23).  Patience is key here.  We have to prayerfully wait things out. We have to ponder all things as a people of prayer.  The writer of Ecclesiasticus says of such a people, “They hold back their words until the right moment; then the lips of many tell of their good sense (Ecclesiasticus 1:24).  I like to use the term DUST or “Don’t Unnecessarily Share Thoughts.”  Too quickly sharing of thoughts, even if not meant, or fully developed yet by the speaker, have gotten people fired from their jobs.  All they had to do was keep it to themselves for just a little bit longer.  Again, those who are patient stay calm until the right moment.

In our practice of discipline, fidelity and humility we should try to DUST ourselves. Holding back our hostile thoughts will give us time to ponder about what truly bothers us. It will lead us to better outcomes and we will have fewer regrets. We need to calm ourselves and seek the Creator.

Please remember to keep Ukraine in your prayers, your prayers are making a real difference.

“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

Daily Office Readings for Thursday of Proper 23: Year 2

Morning, Psalm 18; 1 to 20: Evening, Psalm 18: 21 to 50

Jonah 3:1to4:11; Acts 27:27to44; Luke 9:18to27

“Jonah began to go into the city, going a day’s walk. And he cried out, ‘Forty days more, and Nineveh shall be overthrown!’ And the people of Nineveh believed God; they proclaimed a fast, and everyone, great and small, put on sackcloth.” (Jonah 3:4 and 5)

Jonah did not like the people of Nineveh.  He preferred all of them to be destroyed.  But God loved them. God wanted to save them.  I can see Jonah walking through Nineveh sarcastically uttering the words, ‘Forty days more, and Nineveh shall be overthrown!’  He probably said the words in a low tone, hoping the people would not hear him.  That way he could say to God he did the work, but knowing it was not his best effort. 

However, the people did hear him and repented, much to Jonah’s disappointment. Jonah learned that God loved the people that he did not love.  God loved the people who oppressed him and his people.  God loves the people today of the other political party.  God loves the people of the other race. We all need to realize that God’s love is not limited to us and our kind.  God is “all” kinds and loves all kinds. 

In the end, Jonah would rather die than have the people of Nineveh be saved.  I truly hope we don’t sink to that level. More than that, we need to ask God to help us to see the other as God sees them.  And when we have come to our true selves, do the Lord’s work as if we ourselves came up with the idea.  There should be no hint that we are not pleased to do what God is asking us to do.

Please be cautioned however.  People of your group, be it political party, race, gender, orientation, nationality, or any human segregation, your own people may turn against you. But you will always have God near you.  Who else do you need?  When you help the other, do not wish you were dead like Jonah. Whether we like it or not, God loves all people because God is love and God is good, all the time, and everywhere. 

God loves both Russians and Ukrainians, Democrats and Republicans. You and I should be praying for both, in all situations.

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

Daily Office Readings for Wednesday of Proper 23: Year 2

Morning, Psalm 119:1to24; Evening, Psalms 12, 13 and 14;

Jonah 1:17to2:10; Acts 27:9to26; Luke 9:1to17

“Then Jonah prayed to the Lord his God from the belly of the fish, saying, ‘I called to the Lord out of my distress, and he answered me; out of the belly of Sheol I cried, and you heard my voice.” (Jonah 2:1 and 2)

I have a saying, “God’s ears hears tears.”  I know it’s not correct grammar but it works for me.  It is a reminder that when we are at our lowest in life, all we have to do is cry out to God.  Theologians will tell us that we can’t know God. And, maybe there is some truth to that.  But maybe we can know something about God.  Throughout the Bible God comes to the aid of people who come to tears, from Hagar (Genesis 21:16),  to Mary Magdalene (John 20:11), and many points in between. God comes to people who cry from sadness, grief, or abuse.

I have come to believe that it matters not what people believe in terms of getting God’s attention.  God is so attached to the sadness of humans that even if a self declared atheist cries, God is with them. We can’t escape the love of God. God loves us more than we love God. God forgives our shortcomings. God overlooks our ignorance.  God is eternally merciful and therefore,  God’s ears hears tears.

If you think you don’t know how to pray, just cry; it works.  Cry from sadness, Cry from abuse or victimization.  Cry from loss of a loved one.  In all these, God is with you.  God made us with secret alarms that go directly to God which brings God to us in times of distress.  This is why God’s ears hears tears.  This does not mean that God will respond in a way that suits the one crying.  It does mean that God is present and attentive in ways beyond the discernment of mortals.

In the Biblical examples above, an angel attended to Hagar and Ishmael in Genesis, and Jesus called Mary by Name in the Gospel of John. In our story of Jonah the writer has Jonah spit out on the shores of Nineveh. It takes these times of desolation and isolation to become contemplative enough to become aware of the presence of God with us, Emanuel. 

This still happens today.  Don’t wait until something bad happens.  Carve out some time to be still and be quiet and wait for God.  Reflect on your life, the good and the bad.  If you come to tears, watch out! God’s ears, hears tears.

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

Daily Office Readings for Tuesday of Proper 23: Year 2

Morning, Psalms 5 and 6; Evening, Psalms 10 and 11;

Jonah 1:1to17; Acts 26:24to27:8; Luke 8:40to56

“But Jesus said, ‘Someone touched me; for I noticed that power had gone out from me.” (Luke 8:46)

In my Thursday morning Cursillo Reunion Group the gathered group is well aware that I, John, am not a fan of “unexpected opportunities.”  During our sessions the question always comes up, “With what unexpected opportunities has the Lord accomplished through you…” I am a strong “J” on the Myers Briggs personality tests. While this “J” stands for judgment it more readily relates to the “need-to-know” outcomes.  I am so “off the chart” in this category that I will wait until someone has seen a movie that I want to see and then ask them to tell me about it in detail.  If pushed, I would probably pay for them to see the movie so that they can tell me about it.  I know this is bad but I really don’t like surprises. And I don’t think “opportunity” and “unexpected” should be used in the same sentence,, especially with “unexpected” used as an adjective for “opportunity.”

Having said all this, I now learn from our Lord Jesus as he was in route to do a good work when an unexpected opportunity occurs. While on his way to attend to a dying twelve year old girl, a woman, bleeding for 12 years, guided by her faith, touches the garment of Jesus.  She is instantly healed.  Jesus realizes that someone’s faith has made use of his healing power.  He has unknowingly participated in an unexpected opportunity.

I have heard that the reward for hard work is more hard work.  Perhaps the same is true of good opportunities.  That is, the rewards for good opportunities are more good, and even, unexpected, opportunities. This healing is further evidence that Jesus takes the faith in us already, and uses it to heal us.  After the woman was healed, He said to her, ‘Daughter, your faith has made you well; go in peace.” (Luke 8: 48)

I also want to note again, that this is another situation where Jesus takes with him his inner circle of very faithful followers, Peter, John and James along with the parents of the child.  Perhaps he picked those who had both, faith in him, as well as genuine love for the child.  After kicking the doubters out of the room, Jesus focused on the twelve year old girl. “He took her by the hand and called out, ‘Child, get up!’ Her spirit returned, and she got up at once. Then he directed them to give her something to eat;” (Luke 8:54 and 55). Even in this act of healing I would say that Jesus used the faith of the five in the room to do His work. 

Lord Jesus please use our prayers to help Ukraine accomplish victory over tyranny.

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

Daily Office Readings for Monday of Proper 23: Year 2

Morning, Psalms 1, 2 and 3; Evening,  Psalms 4 and 7: 

Micah 7:1to7; Acts 26:1to23; Luke 8:26to39

“The man from whom the demons had gone begged that he might be with him; but Jesus sent him away, saying, ‘Return to your home, and declare how much God has done for you.’ So he went away, proclaiming throughout the city how much Jesus had done for him.” (Luke 8: 38 and 39)

It seems that the many demons in the man only needed a biological host in order to live.  So they asked permission to pass from the man to the pigs.  Jesus grants them the permission.  When they entered the pigs they immediately made the pigs go into the lake (Lake Galilee).  This is the same body of water from which the fishermen caught their fish.  Could not the spiritual demons then go into the fish?  This then would be their cycle of life. For they would go right back to the people who caught the fish and it starts all over again.  This is just my pondering.

I try to keep up with the actual accounts of Jesus actually inviting followers to follow him. I have 5: Simon and Andrew – Matthew 4:18 – 20; John and James – Matthew 4: 21 – 22; Matthew (A-K-A, Levi) Matthew 9:9.  I know we try to claim the twelve as it matches the twelve tribes of Israel.  But we don’t have the actual recorded words of “come, follow me” for the remaining seven.  There is also the Rich young man in Mark 10:21 -22 who was told to “come follow me,” but he rejected Jesus’ invitation because he wanted to keep his wealth. 

Now we have one who asks to follow Jesus but Jesus says no. Jesus wants him to go back among his people and show what God can, and will, do. Of course he “went away, proclaiming throughout the city how much “Jesus” had done for him;” the point being made that “Jesus” and “God” are synonymous.  We don’t get to follow this man as he proclaims our Lord Jesus among non Jews. But Jesus leaves hints about what’s going on. Jesus says in the Gospel of John “I have other sheep that do not belong to this fold. I must bring them also, and they will listen to my voice. So there will be one flock, one shepherd.” (John 10:16) 

The power and love of our Lord Jesus is witnessed by Jew, and Gentile alike.  All report in their communities about Jesus being Lord of all, those seen, and the unseen (like demons). Jesus himself will return to his spiritual nature for all eternity.  But he does not abandon us.  The Spirit of our Lord Jesus is with us, leads us and guides us.  Jesus still asks us to “come, follow me” or to “declare how much God has done for you”

Please remember to keep Ukraine in your prayers, your prayers are making a real difference.

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