Monthly Archives: November 2017
Brighten up! It is Monday!
Devotional Thought for our Days:
14 “You are the light of the world. A city situated on a hill cannot be hidden. f 15 No one lights a lamp and puts it under a basket, but rather on a lampstand, and it gives light for all who are in the house. 16 In the same way, let your light shine before men, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father in heaven. Matthew 5:14-16 HCSB
113 Don’t wait until you are old to start becoming a saint. That would be a great mistake! Begin right now, in earnest, cheerfully and joyfully, by fulfilling the duties of your work and of your everyday life. Don’t wait until you are old to become a saint. Because—I insist—apart from its being a great mistake, you never know whether you will live as long as that.
So it is Monday, and most of us are weary from the time change. (Even though we got an extra hour of sleep yesterday!) Already encountered a number of irritable people, and I know several more who will be irritable as I deal with them today.
Such is life! Not just Mondays, but every day we live.
Yet Jesus calls us to be the light of the world. Please understand, Jesus isn’t saying that He is the light of the world here, nor is He commanding us to be.
He is stating it as a fact.
We can cover the light up, we can hide it, we can waste it away. We do this all too easily when we forget that we are in God’s presence when we choose to ignore the fact that we dwell in His glory. insted of realizing the blessings, we get dismayed, irritated, tempted and exhausted by the things of this world. But we still are the light of the world.
Jesus, in uniting us to Himself at the cross and in our baptism had made this possible. The Holy Spirit’s presence in our lives, nourishing us, comforting us, is the guarantee of
Yeah, today is Monday, and not even as especially good Monday. Never the less, the Lord is with YOU.
So, be a saint, walk with God, know His love. and dwell in His peace. And when you think you can’t be, cry out, “Lord have mercy on me a sinner!” And know He has. That is why you are a saint, why you are the light of the world. AMEN!
Escriva, Josemaria. The Forge (Kindle Locations 599-604). Scepter Publishers. Kindle Edition.
A Different Life, one of the Sabbath
Devotional Thought for our Days:
12 Since God chose you to be the holy people he loves, you must clothe yourselves with tenderhearted mercy, kindness, humility, gentleness, and patience. 13 Make allowance for each other’s faults, and forgive anyone who offends you. Remember, the Lord forgave you, so you must forgive others. 14 Above all, clothe yourselves with love, which binds us all together in perfect harmony. 15 And let the peace that comes from Christ rule in your hearts. For as members of one body you are called to live in peace. And always be thankful. Colossians 3:12-15 (NLT)
102 Peace, and the joy which comes with it, cannot be given by the world. Men are forever “making peace” and forever getting entangled in wars. This is because they have forgotten the advice to struggle inside themselves and to go to God for help. Then He will conquer, and we will obtain peace for ourselves and for—our own homes, for society and for the world. If we do things in this way, you and I will have joy, because it is the possession of those who conquer.And with the grace of God—who never loses battles—we will be able to count ourselves conquerors as long as we are humble.
I am looking out the window of a timeshare, at a schooner being driven by the wind. From a distance, it looks peaceful, calm, the stuff that makes a beautiful portrait or painting.
I am here, on a two day “sabbatical” of sorts, to plan for our Advent services, to find quiet, to get away and rest. A good friend lent me some of his timeshare points to do this, for which I am grateful. And so time away, to pray, to think, to meditate on the incarnation, to have, in a real way, a Sabbath rest.
But like the schooner in the distance, what may appear to be a peaceful time isn’t. The master watches the sales, the quartermaster/pilot is considering the terrain, listening for directions, the sailors working hard to ensure all goes well. And I am tempted to do the same. To think through all the problems and challenges I am escaping from for a brief moment. To think of the chores and the work that will await my return. It is too tempting for my mind to return there, while my body is here.
Dear St. Josemaria is correct, we try to “make peace” but only cause more riots, more violence, more sin. Rather than go to God, who has supplied our peace, we try to create it on our own. We try to even manipulate the silence when we encounter it.
Scripture calls us to something different, a life that is peaceful because God has conquered us internally first, To know and rejoice that He rules over our hearts, that He has come there, even in the dark recesses where our lives truly aren’t peace-filled, but hectic. Those places that we struggle to control, or having crashed our ships on the rocks, struggle to keep afloat.
There is something different that happens when we can relax in His presence. We can allow Him to be the master of our life. We can take a moment to enjoy the Spirit breathing life into us, providing the power and guidance. We can trust God to do all that is necessary, as He moves us from one place to another. as he reconciles our life to His.
It is then we find peace, even in the midst of storms and waves that would threaten us. For it is not a human peace we have made, it is His peace, a peace which will pass all understanding, but in which we shall live, Amen!
Escriva, Josemaria. The Forge (Kindle Locations 568-575). Scepter Publishers. Kindle Edition.
Prophet or Evangelist: The Modern Christian Dilemna
Devotional Thought for All Saints Day:
12 As, therefore, God’s picked representatives of the new humanity, purified and beloved of God himself, be merciful in action, kindly in heart, humble in mind. Accept life, and be most patient and tolerant with one another, always ready to forgive if you have a difference with anyone. Forgive as freely as the Lord has forgiven you. And, above everything else, be truly loving, for love is the golden chain of all the virtues. Colossians 3:12 (Phillips NT)
From this we can understand what the Church really is by nature: the breaking down of the barrier between I and you, the union of men among themselves in eternal love by a fundamental transcendence of self to its very depths. It is the assimilation of humanity into the way of life of the trinitarian God.
Do you know what the Devil thinks when he sees men use violence to propagate the gospel? He sits with folded arms behind the fire of hell, and says with malignant looks and frightful grin: “Ah, how wise these madmen are to play my game! Let them go on; I shall reap the benefit. I delight in it.” But when he sees the Word running and contending alone on the battle-field, then he shudders and shakes for fear.
In the last few days, I have seen a lot of self-appointed prophets out there, both in social media and in real life. And far too few gospel oriented people, people whose mission is to share the good news that is found in the revelation of Christ’s love. And yet, those who are acting like prophets often think that what they are doing is evangelism.
A little defining of terms may help here.
A prophet has a basic task, to represent God when the rules of a covenant are trashed when the relationship God is just simply ignored, or abused, or denied. His or her role is to call people back into that relationship, to honor the way that relationship has been defined. And the prophet does this, primarily by reminding people of the terms of the covenant, the promised punishment or curses the people choose, when they choose to violate the covenant.
Read the Old Testament minor prophets, these guys did their job well, as did John the Baptist. This is where we get the idea that anything goes when sharing the faith – that we can threaten and even use violence to make people repent That it is all out war with the person we are trying to convert.
I’ve seen a lot of this in recent days, in regards to people condemning each other for being on opposite sides of the Reformation, for celebrating Halloween, and a couple of videos going around that are bashing atheists as illogical and unreasonable.
Basically Hellfire and brimstone with a touch of arrogance and pride. “We’re right (not God) and therefore if you don’t join us, God’s promises are not yours.” These are the people Luther said were falling right into the devil’s snare, and making his job all too easily.
Except that most prophets weren’t addressing people outside of a relationship with God, they were addressing people that were God’s already and were walking away from the relationship. Is it possible that this is the reason that so many are de-churched? Rather than being encouraged by other believers, all they see is people trashed? And they are encouraged to do it that way as well if they are real Christians?
Luther says that Satan runs when the Word has its way instead. Similarly, Pope Benedict XVI wrote that the Church is going to break down the walls dividing us, uniting men in the love of God, as God brings us into His presence, into His glory. It happens as we are assumed into the way of life of the Trinity.
This is what we are sent to bring the message of, the reason we have hope. Yes, we point out the fact that this world is broken, but the hope is found, not just in repenting, but in trusting, in depending on this work of God. We become His, we are quickened (brought ot life ) and realize we are dwelling in His presence, and someday, we will be dwelling with Him, face to face.
This is the message the world needs to hear from us. It is this message of Christ’s death, uniting us to God, that will break the power of sin in our lives.
This is what it means to be sent with the gospel message, what it means to be an evangelist, an ambassador or reconciliation.
Lord, even as you mercifully draw us to you, may we invite and bring others with us, so that they too, may know peace, and what it means to be loved. AMEN
Ratzinger, Joseph. Co-Workers of the Truth: Meditations for Every Day of the Year. Ed. Irene Grassl. Trans. Mary Frances McCarthy and Lothar Krauth. San Francisco: Ignatius Press, 1992. Print.
Metaxas, Eric. Martin Luther: The Man W.ho Rediscovered God and Changed the World (p. 284). Penguin Publishing Group. Kindle Edition
