Thoughts which carry this broken pastor to Jesus, and to the Cross

“Now when Moses went into the tent of meeting to speak with the LORD, he heard the voice speaking to him from above the atonement lid that was on the ark of the testimony, from between the two cherubim. Thus he spoke to him.” (Numbers 7:89, NET)

“So while he was sitting on the Mount of Olives opposite the temple, Peter, James, John, and Andrew asked him privately, “Tell us, when will these things happen? And what will be the sign that all these things are about to take place?” Jesus began to say to them, “Watch out that no one misleads you. Many will come in my name, saying, ‘I am he,’ and they will mislead many. When you hear of wars and rumors of wars, do not be alarmed. These things must happen, but the end is still to come.For nation will rise up in arms against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. There will be earthquakes in various places, and there will be famines. These are but the beginning of birth pains.” (Mark 13:3–8, NET)

The graces received should also make us love as Christ loved, love with Christ’s power, which is why John Chrysostom says nothing is better suited to prolonging the effects of the Eucharist than a visit paid to Christ in his little ones. The poor standing in the public square remind Chrysostom of the majesty of an altar made ready for sacrifice. The poor are an altar on which we can make our sacrifice of almsgiving, so he compares them to the stone altar in the Church by saying they are the living altar.

As the fires burn in Southern California – out of the woodwork comes the seeds of division and chaos. Many are playing the blame game, looking at the past to gain an advantage for their position. Others are saying this is the judgment of the gods on us, or of God himself. The noise is overwhelming, drowning out the cries of people in their 80s and 90s whose material lives are gone, except maybe for a carload of materials.

Some are using this opportunity as well, to present their “gospel”, some are truly preaching Christ, some have skewed messages, some of both are sincere and some are just schemers. Again, the messages are loud, especially of those who would lead people away from Jesus. Mark’s gospel is abundantly clear, these people exist, and we need to be aware of it, even as trauma exists, as it did with the destruction of Jerusalem.

The voice we need to hear instead is the One we meet at the altar, much as Moses met with God between the cherubim, so we do meet Him between the candles on the altar, as we receive His precious Body and Blood that He gives us, as He communes with us, and communicates with us.

Chrysostom notes the extension of that communion into the community, into the lives of those “little ones”, those poor in many ways. whether economically or poor in Spirit – those broken by the world. As Jesus hears us, we learn to hear them, imitating our Lord and the nature of His self-sacrifice. (See Phil. 2), What becomes important is not the division, not the gaining of supremacy for our views, our likes, our desires, our agendas, rather what is important is life- the lives of people.

The church leads through service, our “titles” are all service oriented–they are all geared to taking care of people – as our Lord and Savior did and does. Which brings us back to Moses, and meeting God where He set apart, where we commune with Him.

Fagerberg, D. W. (2019). Liturgical Mysticism (p. 53). Emmaus Academic.