Category Archives: Joseph Ratzinger/Pope Benedict XVI
How Do We Apply This Bible Passage Today?
Thoughts which drive me to the cross…and therefore to Jesus!
17 Do not be unfair to a foreigner or an orphan. Don’t take a widow’s coat to make sure she pays you back. 18 Remember that you were slaves in Egypt, and the LORD your God saved you from there. That is why I am commanding you to do this.
19 When you are gathering your harvest in the field and leave behind a bundle of grain, don’t go back and get it. Leave it there for foreigners, orphans, and widows so that the LORD your God can bless everything you do. 20 When you beat your olive trees to knock the olives off, don’t beat the trees a second time. Leave what is left for foreigners, orphans, and widows. 21 When you harvest the grapes in your vineyard, don’t pick the vines a second time. Leave what is left for foreigners, orphans, and widows. 22 Remember that you were slaves in Egypt; that is why I am commanding you to do this. Deut. 24:17-22 NCV
One of the great words in our language is, at the same time, one of the emptiest and most debased—the word love. One can hardly speak the word nowadays, it has become so banal, so degraded. And yet, no language can actually dispense with such a word. For if we stopped speaking about love, we would stop speaking about men. We would also stop speaking about God, about him who holds heaven and earth together. In consequence, we find ourselves in a strange situation: we have no choice but to speak of love if we are not to betray God and man, but it is almost impossible to do so because our language has already betrayed love so often. In such a situation, our help must come from without. God speaks to us of love; “Holy Scripture”, which is God’s word cast in human words, raises the word, as it were, out of the dust, purifies it, and restores it to us purified
3 With regard to the time, it is certain that most people in our churches use the sacraments, absolution and the Lord’s Supper, many times a year. Our clergy instruct the people about the worth and fruits of the sacraments in such a way as to invite them to use the sacraments often. On this subject our theologians have written many things which our opponents, if they are but honest, will undoubtedly approve and praise.
Any time I look at the books of Leviticus, Numbers and Deuteronomy, I know I have to be careful. Simply put, while the Law of Moses is not binding on those in the New Covenant, that doesn’t mean we can simply disregard it, dismiss it, and say it doesn’t apply to us.
One of the ways to deal with it then, is to look for the “spirit of the Law” rather than just the “letter of the law.” Even then, we face the temptation to make our understanding binding on those around us. You must do this, you must do that! You can’t do this… and oh my gosh – you did that! And we move quickly from talking to a person, to labelling the person “them” and talking about “them” even when they are standing right there. We try and separate from “them” as if breaking our law is somehow worse than blasphemy.
I think a better way is to look at how they Law of Moses would have us love.
Of course, then we get into the problem Pope Benedict XVI (when he was a cardinal) wrote about, the idea that we stripped the meaning of the word love away from it, cheapening it by talking about loving a cheeseburger or an piece of fruit, or confusing it with a thousand other ways that strip from it the dedicated, the devotion, the sacrifice that all goes into loving someone, loving our family, loving our neighbor, loving God.
What Deuteronomy is describing here can be seen as a loving act. Leaving behind for those who have less our excess, heck, it might even be more than our excess–if our work wasn’t focused. But in this world, where most of us don’t farm, but work in places, how are we willing to “leave behind” for others. How do we love like this, without turning it into a law that our minds can qualify and measure?
As I struggled with the passages, and trying to figure out how to not step over the line from doing that which demonstrates love, to either legalism or apathy, I couldn’t work it out. For I believe we need to love our neighbor, and assisting those around us should be done…
As I read the 5 or 6 selections set out for me each day, I often go through these thoughts, and usually 2 or 3, sometimes even 4 all resonate with each other, and I either journal the thoughts, or walk off content. Sometimes is like today though, and I get to the last reading with no clue how it will resolve.
And today it did, as my reading from the Apology of the Augsburg Confession – a theological discourse of the finest nature, provided a simple, pastoral answer to my question of how to apply to my life the lesson from Deuteronomy, and to restore the love of God.
The answer is found in regularly experience the love of God, a love that is found in confessing sins and knowing they are forever forgiven separated from me, and as the Lord Supper, the body and blood of Jesus present in the visible bread and wine, brings me into God’s presence, and He into mine, in a way that is precious and the kind of love that this passage advises – to love without thought, without considering consequence – to just give, and provide for, to show a devotion and love that is beyond expectation.
As we experience this, as we think through it, as we, dare I say it, enjoy it–God does things to us that we don’t see, we instinctively love. as we become more and more like Jesus, as the Spirit transforms us.
This is who we are to be, to share in the glory of God, to reflect it into the world, and the law simply is a description of how we live…
Ratzinger, Joseph. 1992. Co-Workers of the Truth: Meditations for Every Day of the Year. Edited by Irene Grassl. Translated by Mary Frances McCarthy and Lothar Krauth. San Francisco: Ignatius Press. Feb 10
“The Apology of the Augsburg Confession, Article XII Confession”, Tappert, Theodore G., ed. 1959. The Book of Concord the Confessions of the Evangelical Lutheran Church. Philadelphia: Mühlenberg Press. p.180
Hope only is good in the challenging times!
Multiple thoughts – all leading me back to Jesus, and the cross!
Why am I so sad?
Why am I so upset?
I should put my hope in God and keep praising him, my Savior and my God.
Psalm 42:5 NCV (repeated word for word in verse 11)
What the Church is underscoring here is more than the ceaseless alternation of dying and becoming, more than the consoling fact that a new generation with new ideas and new hopes always succeeds the old one. Were that all that was being commemorated here, then the Child would have offered no hope for Simeon, but only for himself. But it is more than that; it is hope for everyone, because it is a hope that extends beyond death.
Arise, oh God! display Thy might—
Attend Thy people’s cries;
Since mercy is Thy chief delight,
To show it, Lord, arise:
From earth let all the wicked cease,
And give Thy chosen people peace.
Oh God! how bright shall be that day,
When all our toils are o’er,
And our glad souls shall fly away
To yonder blissful shore:
Oh, how supremely blest are they
Who make the Lord their only stay!
LORD Jesus Christ, our only comfort, our hope, our righteousness, our strength and sure defence, we beseech Thee, kindle in our breasts a fervent desire, hunger, and thirst for that eternal food of the soul,—Thy true body and blood,—that we may gladly and frequently receive the glorious Sacrament in true realization of our sins and strong reliance upon Thee, unto the strengthening and assurance of our souls, until at last life’s pilgrimage ended, we come to Thee in the true Fatherland, to see Thee face to face, and abide with Thee through all eternity. Amen.
Let us, then, labor for an inward stillness— An inward stillness and an inward healing; That perfect silence where the lips and heart are still, and we no longer entertain our own imperfect thoughts and vain opinions, But God alone speaks in us, and we wait In singleness of heart, that we may know His will, and in the silence of our spirits, That we may do His will, and do that only!
A lot of my devotional reading this morning reflected the same thought – dealing with sadness, and not being satisfied with the situation we are dealt in life. I have been there, far more often than i share, and i muddle through it, struggling, yet confident that God is somehow at work
The Psalmist’s words hit home in the mist of this paradox, noting not only the depression/despair/angst one dwells within, but the fact they can still find hope in God–and keep praising Him – for He is our Savior.
This was Pope Benedict’s point about Simeon and Jesus. Simeon can die in peace, having witnessed the horrors of Roman occupation, because he knew that the Messiah would not only bless the younger generations, but give the “hope that extends beyond death.” A hope that can be known, even as we are dreading getting out of bed in the morning, or dealing with some trauma or sin – there is still hope there… (if there wasn’t such experiences, why would we need hope anyway?_
Martin Luther takes on the thought – focusing on the joy awaiting us and the fact that God does show us mercy, and brings us peace in the midst of the hurricane–but the greatest joy awaits us in the presence of God the Father, the place we belong, the place assured for us at the cross we are drawn to, and share with Jesus.
The Jesus whom Loehe points out in this incredible prayer, meant to be prayer before the Lord’s Supper. Not because the supper is magic, but it is because that moment is one commanded for us to commune with God. It takes our sin and brokenness, things that crush us, and wipes them away for we recognize Jesus in that moment, His body and blood–and the promise of healing and the assurance that we are welcome in the presence of God. Loehe isn’t some kind of mystic, but the promises of the Eucharist are there to sustain us until this life ends, and we finally find ourselves at home.
Which brings us to Longfellow – and the promises of Psalm 46 – of being still – and knowing God. And we let HIm minister to us, we let Him speak, and we finally listen. “given for you!” “shed for you!”
IN the 20 years I have been a Lutheran, my dedication to celebrating the Eucharist ha only grown, and I rejoice in weeks like this – where i get to share it with more shut-ins, as well as with the church on Sunday morning. For its been a rough week one were the Psalmist’s words I’ve actually used…..acknowledging the brokenness – and more importantly – the hope…..
And so I will praise Him for the hope.
Ratzinger, Joseph. 1992. Co-Workers of the Truth: Meditations for Every Day of the Year. Edited by Irene Grassl. Translated by Mary Frances McCarthy and Lothar Krauth. San Francisco: Ignatius Press.
Luther, Martin, and John Hunt. 1853. The Spiritual Songs of Martin Luther: From the German. Translated by Thomas Clark. London: Hamilton, Adams, and Co.
Lœhe, William. 1914. Seed-Grains of Prayer: A Manual for Evangelical Christians. Translated by H. A. Weller. Chicago: Wartburg Publishing House.
HW Longfellow, “Christus: A Mystery.” Nolasco, Rolf, Jr. 2011. The Contemplative Counselor: A Way of Being. Minneapolis, MN: Fortress Press.
Wait! They were allowed to do what?
Thoughts which pull me toward Jesus, and to His cross!
“Tell the people this: ‘If any citizen of Israel or foreigner living with you offers a burnt offering or sacrifice, 9 that person must take his sacrifice to the entrance of the Meeting Tent to offer it to the LORD. If he does not do this, he must be cut off from the people. Leviticus 17:8-9 NCV
Oh Holy Ghost! Thy grace impart,
Thy people give one mind and heart;
Stand by us in our final strife,
And bring us safe from death to life.
One who can say “Father” to the Lord of the Universe has a firm foundation for his confidence. The future belongs to him. Why should it not be possible for us to experience, even in our own day, the infectious power of this confidence?
Tucked away in the book of Leviticus, I found an incredible statement that I need to process.
The “foreigner” living in the midst of Israel, probably servants, were able to offer a sacrifice at the tabernacle. The blood that was shed would cover their sin, as well as those who were part of the “family” of God. The implications of this are staggering – for it talks of God finding them as part of the “people”, even if they were not genetically part of the family. They shared the same risk for disobedience, but that means they also shared the same blessings offered–for they are part of the covenant community.
I think about that as I read Martin Luther’s hymn, that God was wanting them included in the group that would have one mind and heart. That He would stand by them, and us, in the midst of strife. That they would know the promise of the resurrection. They are welcomed in that group of people who are able to call God “Father”, they should have the confidence this brings.
This should be noted today as well – there should be no outsiders at church – no “foreigners” – all should be welcomed to come in, and receive the blessings of God. It doesn’t matter where one comes from, it matters where one will be going, and welcoming people into that hope – that is our role. It always has been – even back to the days of Moses.
This is our hope and joy–as we welcome others, as we know we are welcome–we aren’t the outsiders, even if we think we are. No one is, who is willing to depend on God, Father, Son and Holy Spirit is excluded, we are all are made part of the family, and our sacrifice ( see Romans 12:1-15) are acceptable to God, for Jesus’s sacrifice!
Martin Luther and John Hunt, The Spiritual Songs of Martin Luther: From the German, trans. Thomas Clark (London: Hamilton, Adams, and Co., 1853), 63.
Joseph Ratzinger, 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), 10.
Does He now? Yes…
Thoughts which drag me to Jesus, and to the cross…
13 The slave girl gave a name to the LORD who spoke to her: “You are ‘God who sees me,’ ” because she said to herself, “Have I really seen God who sees me?” Genesis 16:13 NCV
But this supportive community abandons him just when he has most need of it—where his work ends and he is on his own. In reality, the isolation of death and suffering reveals only what has already been true of his whole life. Where dying has no meaning, life itself becomes insecure. Where suffering finds no answer, the individual finds himself alone just when his questioning actually begins.
It is a sacrifice of thanksgiving and a service most pleasing to God if you acknowledge and proclaim His acts of kindness and call Him רֳאִי, He who sees me, as if you were saying: “I thought I had been completely forsaken by God. But now I see that He had regard for me and did not cast me aside when I was in trouble.”
This is a most beautiful name for God. Would that we all could bestow it on Him, that is, conclude with certainty that He has regard for us and cares for us, especially when He seems to have forgotten us, when we think we have been forsaken by Him. For he who can say in affliction: “God sees me” has true faith and can do and bear everything, yes, he overcomes all things and is triumphant.
Though Pope Benedict’s words were about death, I think that any major transistion we go through in life leaves us as alone as he describes about the one who is dying. I witness this in divorce situations, especially in the lives of children. I have seen it in the business world, as someone is terminated or promoted and they are as abandoned and left alone. Those dealing with illness and dying, or memory failure encounter this as well.
It is frustrating, and it adds significantly to the pain encountered. Indeed, I would rather have the pain than the isolation that occurs. Let me be honest, I am the source of at least some of that isolation, fearing it, but also fearing the lack of ability to engage with people.
I’ve known the same feelings I hear, that those I turned to for community- they don’t seem to be there. They too are going through there own transition and grief, and if anything – we need each other more in those moments.
There are times, where befoe we can engage with others, we must encounter the presence that means the most – we must encounter God. We need the experience of finding ourselves in the wilderness, and coming to the conclusion that God still sees us, He still cares, He hasn’t abandoned us. HE will not… HE CANNOT…
And knowing that allows for one to depend on HIs strength, rather than our weakness. It allows us to see HIs victory, which not only is a victory to win us, but a victory He shares with us! Assured of that, one can reach out through the transition, finding the hope we have encountered is the hope others need as well–the hope that was an si to be found in community.
We all go through many transitions – we all find ourselves in Hagar’s spot…sometimes frequently. And there, if we slow down, we find that our refuge, our sanctuary has a lot of room for those we have shared that refuge with before.. and others that come to realize they need it, and are part of our home.
A home where God just doesn’t see me, where He sees us.
Joseph Ratzinger, 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), 354.
Martin Luther, Luther’s Works, Vol. 3: Lectures on Genesis: Chapters 15-20, ed. Jaroslav Jan Pelikan, Hilton C. Oswald, and Helmut T. Lehmann, vol. 3 (Saint Louis: Concordia Publishing House, 1999), 70.
All the Saints… the Image of the Holy Spirit..
Thoughts which bring me to Jesus, and to the Cross
26 Then God said, “Let us make human beings in our image and likeness. And let them rule over the fish in the sea and the birds in the sky, over the tame animals, over all the earth, and over all the small crawling animals on the earth.”
27 So God created human beings in his image. In the image of God he created them. He created them male and female. 28 God blessed them and said, “Have many children and grow in number. Fill the earth and be its master. Rule over the fish in the sea and over the birds in the sky and over every living thing that moves on the earth.” Genesis 1:26-28 NCV
In the artistic tradition of the East, the Church of the beginning, the Church of Pentecost, is the icon of the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit can be seen and represented in this Church. Just as Christ is the icon of the Father, the image of God, and, at the same time, the image of humanity, so the Church is the icon of the Holy Spirit. 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.
I believe in the Holy Spirit, the holy Christian (catholic) church, the communion of saints,
As I have tried to think through the Creed over the years, I always wondered why we explain the work of God the Father, and the life of Jesus, and we just mention the name of the Holy Spirit and move past Him, to explain how we are part of the church–and then to contemplate what it means to be part of that incredible catholic body…
Today, as we celebrate All Saints Day, the readings made me think – that the way we see the Holy Spirit is to see the people of God, created in the image of God. That means we bear a likeness to Him, a likeness that over time becomes more visible to others, usually those within the body of Christ first.
This then works with the words of Pope Benedict XVI about Eastern Christian icons of the church. We are the icon of the Holy Spirit, who is transforming us, restoring the image of God in us.
This is why we confess we believe in the Holy Spirit who lives in this church that is us.
Now live in the strength of the Lord and giver of life in whom you trust!
Joseph Ratzinger, 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), 347.
Theodore G. Tappert, ed., The Book of Concord the Confessions of the Evangelical Lutheran Church. (Philadelphia: Mühlenberg Press, 1959), 18.
Do We Take The Liturgy and Preaching Too Seriously?
Thoughts which drive me closer to Jesus, and to the Cross!
13 Whoever acts without mercy will be judged without mercy but mercy can afford to laugh at judgement.
James 2:13 (NJB)
In the Baroque period the liturgy used to include the risus paschalis, the Easter laughter. The Easter homily had to contain a story which made people laugh, so that the church resounded with a joyful laughter. That may be a somewhat superficial form of Christian joy. But is there not something very beautiful and appropriate about laughter becoming a liturgical symbol?
Therefore as in the preceding verses the passion and death of Christ are prophesied, so in this verse his resurrection is predicted, though by a somewhat obscure allusion. Who would have thought, while Christ was suffering and the Jews triumphing, that God was laughing at them all the while! So also while we are oppressed, how shall we believe that God is holding our adversaries in derision, when it seems to us as though we were held in derision both by God and men? What a power of faith is required in all these words!
In my office hangs a copy of the painting entitled Jesus laughing.
I often thought of it as a reaction to something Peter said, or when some well-meaning rabbi complimented Him on His understanding of scripture.
The words of Luther gave me another insight–as the Father endures watching the Son endue the cross…there is a slight grin on His face, a grin like the A-Team’s Colonel as he says, “I love it when a plan comes together.” In that same moment, as Jesus screams it is finished, a victory cry through the pain can be slightly heard…
The God who tells us to rejoice without ceasing himself rejoices without ceasing.
This attitude needs, no, it has to invade our liturgy, to invade our preaching. The joyous laughter that knows that no matter what, the plan of God will succeed, and the people of God are His. We are HIS!
That is why when Pope Benedict XVI, one of the greatest theologians and teachers on the liturgy brings up laughter, but only from his own perspective. He brought up the history of the liturgy, and the fact that the rubrics required laughter in the homily! For the very reason that this was a celebration–a time when laughter is more than appropriate!
Do you think Simeon, when holding the baby Jesus, knowing He was the Messiah, wasn’t giggling with laughter? Do you not think the disciples were laughing and crying in the upper room when Jesus appeared? That Thomas, on His knees, wasn’t smiling–even as Jesus said he could touch his wrists and put his hand in Jesus’ side.
This is part of our minsitry, this odd, paradoxical sense of humour in the midst of complete reverence and awe of the God who comes to us, to die for us, to use all of His power to save and re-create us… which brings God the greatest joy, and glee.. and laughter!
Joseph Ratzinger, Behold The Pierced One: An Approach to a Spiritual Christology, trans. Graham Harrison (San Francisco: Ignatius Press, 1986), 119–120.
Martin Luther and John Sander, Devotional Readings from Luther’s Works for Every Day of the Year (Rock Island, IL: Augustana Book Concern, 1915), 391.
The Core of Worship….A Lesson Learned at a Homicide Scene…
Thoughts that draw me to Jesus and toi the cross
2 When the LORD first spoke to Israel through Hosea, he said to Hosea, “Go and get married; your wife will be unfaithful, and your children will be just like her. In the same way, my people have left me and become unfaithful.” Hosea 1:2 GNT
Jewish thought continually returned to that mysterious moment when Isaac lay bound on the altar. Often enough, Israel was obliged to recognize its own situation in that of Isaac, bound and ready for the fatal knife, and was thus heartened to try to understand its own destiny. In Isaac, Israel had as it were meditated upon the truth of the word, “God will provide”. Jewish tradition tells that, at the moment when Isaac uttered a cry of terror, the heavens opened and the boy saw the invisible mysteries of creation and the angelic choirs. This is connected with another tradition according to which it was Isaac who created Israel’s rite of worship; thus the Temple was built, not on Sinai, but on Moriah.2 It is as though all worship originates in this glimpse on the part of Isaac—in what he then saw and afterward communicated.
Two years ago today, I found our George had passed away.
He greeted me a few times as I stopped in his store to buy a bottle of sparkling water, or some quick snack. But few people in my life have I been as close too as we became that night
On October 15, 2021, he was bunch in the face by a young man, just one punch, and George fell back, and proceeded to bleed from his nose, ears, mouth and his skull where in cracked open. For twenty minutes I held this man, a man I learned later was a man whose trust was unshakably in Chirst Jesus.
I just held him, and prayed.
The Sherriff’s department showed up- they said the Fire Department was on the way – best if we don’t move till they got there. I was on the ground for nearly 20 minutes, it seemed like so much longer, til the only thing I could do was to cry, “Lord, have mercy…”
And yet those words took on a deeper meaning that evening… as I went from despair to grieving to oddly, being at peace.
It was a Friday night, and worship on Sunday was never sweeter, as my people reminded me that the Lord was also with me.
I wasn’t Issac, I wasn’t the one being sacrificed. Nor did a ram appear in the bushes outside the 7-11. I didn’t hear the Lord’s voice, though I got to speak about him to the deputies on scene. I still would prefer, like Hosea, that the event wouldn’t have happened. Too many nightmares, to many tears driving by the 7-11 come, even to this day. Yet, there are moments where insights into the presence of God gained in those moments amaze me.
When I went to his service, as I greeted and told his son I was praying for them, I said I was there… He and his mom broke into tears as they realized the person that held him was a pastor. They started praising God…in the midst of their grief, their loss.
Life is short…God is there!
Life is painful…God is there!
Life doesn;t have to be alone…for the message of Hosea is not only that we’ve walked a way and betrayed God… but that we are welcomed back, cleansed, and dressed for a party!
And then, life is eternal, and filled with joy and peace!
Somehow, this truth is more relevant in the presence of death, and even in the presence of suffering and horrid sin.
Hosea learned that, and the man Joseph Ratzinger did as well.
Joseph Ratzinger, Behold The Pierced One: An Approach to a Spiritual Christology, trans. Graham Harrison (San Francisco: Ignatius Press, 1986), 115.
Are You Where You Are Supposed to Be?
Thoughts that drive me to Jesus, and to the Cross.
10 One day spent in your Temple is better than a thousand anywhere else;
I would rather stand at the gate of the house of my God than live in the homes of the wicked. Psalm 84:10 GNT
For the entire gospel testimony is unanimous that Jesus’ words and deeds flowed from his most intimate communion with the Father; that he continually went “into the hills” to pray in solitude after the burden of the day (e.g., Mk 1:35; 6:46; 14:35, 39). Luke, of all the Evangelists, lays stress on this feature. He shows that the essential events of Jesus’ activity proceeded from the core of his personality and that this core was his dialogue with the Father.
Thus the spiritual life of the minister, formed and trained in a school of prayer, is the core of spiritual leadership. When we have lost the vision, we have nothing to show; when we have forgotten the word of God, we have nothing to remember; when we have buried the blueprint of our life, we have nothing to build. But when we keep in touch with the life-giving spirit within us, we can lead people out of their captivity and become hope-giving guides.
A good deal of my time this year has been spent contemplating the question that is the title of this post. I’ve had three distinct possibilities, three times I was a finalist for a position, and once I received a call to pastor a different church. All three interested me, and I dread the idea of having to decide between my present call and them.
But the question about where I am supposed to be is far deeper than a geographical location, or what vocation I have. In fact, the locations where we live and what we do are meaningless without the insight of “where we are” offered by the psalmist.
We have to imitate Jesus, and rely on our location in response to our God, Father, Son and Holy Spirit. Our identity is determined by our awareness of our proximity to God. If we know we are in HIs presence, everything else takes on a new dimension, a new meaing. Our families, our workplaces, our hobbies all become a way in which to experience God’s love, and to see the Holy Spirit at work in our lives.
This is essential for the entire church – and it resolves with all of us taking our positions as ministers, as those who serve people, that they might know Jesus. Intimacy with God is the core of our spiritual leadership–it is also the core of our spiritual lives. Without interaction with God prayer, meditating on the gospel and the sacraments, there is little that we can and should attempt to do. Ratzinger (later Pope Benedict XVI ) is correct – all we are and do flows from our intimate – yeah – intimate connection with God.
I believe that is what the psalmist knows, and puts into words… it is being there in God’s presence that is the most desirable place to be.
And then we can give people the hope we find there, with Jesus,… as they are called and drawn to the One lifted up on the cross.
Joseph Ratzinger, Behold The Pierced One: An Approach to a Spiritual Christology, trans. Graham Harrison (San Francisco: Ignatius Press, 1986), 17–18.
Nouwen, Henri J. M.. The Living Reminder (p. 73). HarperCollins. Kindle Edition.
Who has a right to commune?
Devotional Thought of the Day:
“You’re blessed when you’ve worked up a good appetite for God. He’s food and drink in the best meal you’ll ever eat. Matthew 5:6 The Message
Twelfth, you see, that is what happens when one tries to make people pious and lead them to the right by means of commandments and laws. It only makes them worse. Thanks to such tactics, they do unwillingly and drearily whatever they do. This becomes a hindrance to God’s grace and sacrament. God neither wants to nor will he grant this grace to those who were forced, pressed, and driven to the sacrament by commandment and law, but only to hearts that long and pine and thirst for it, to hearts that come voluntarily……
(a little further Luther writes) Therefore, these words of his must be understood to refer to the labor and the burden of the conscience, which is nothing else than a bad conscience oppressed by sins committed, by daily transgressions, and by a leaning toward sin. The Lord does not drive all such people from him, as do those who teach that we must come to the sacrament with purity and worthiness. Nor does he issue a command or compel anyone to go to the sacrament, but rather he kindly invites and encourages all who are sinners and find themselves burdened and who yearn for help. The sublime sacrament must be regarded by us not as a poison, but as a medicine for the soul.10 Christ himself declares in Matthew 9 [:12], “Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick.” The only question is whether you thoroughly recognize and feel your labor and your burden and that you yourself fervently desire to be relieved of these. Then you are indeed worthy of the sacrament.
1359 The Eucharist, the sacrament of our salvation accomplished by Christ on the cross, is also a sacrifice of praise in thanksgiving for the work of creation. In the Eucharistic sacrifice the whole of creation loved by God is presented to the Father through the death and the Resurrection of Christ. Through Christ the Church can offer the sacrifice of praise in thanksgiving for all that God has made good, beautiful, and just in creation and in humanity
In some denominations, including mine, there is a concern about who should commune, and who should not. Arguments abound in regards to what it means to have a close communion policy, Argmenets and division have blossomed over this idea, of who we can allow to commune.
There is something important in this, there is a Biblical basis for denying someone the Lord’s Supper, and it is found in several places – notable 1 Corinthians 11, where it talks of the consequences of approaching the Lord’s Supper without examining yourself first.
But that examination isn’t about whether we are good enough, or getting at least a B- on doctrine test, or having our membership in the right facility. (Remember – we confess that there is only one, holy catholic and apostolic church!) Yet we always seem to make it about such self-centered things.
One of my weight loss groups talks about the idea of eating when you are at the appropriate hunger level. Not to eat just because of stress, or pattern, (aka tradition) or because it seems like time too. Eat too soon, gain weight. Eat too late, and find that you overeat – and gain weight.
I think it is the same with God – we need to learn to hunger for Him and feed on Him regularly. For some, that does mean daily reception, for others weekly. But it is based on need – not on qualification. It is for those whose souls are tormented by sin and brokenness, who realize their need for Jesus because there is no other hope.
That is why I do not understand why there are people that say there is no emergency need for the Lord’s Supper. As long as there are sinners who need to know God’s grace, who are oppressed and haunted by their pasts, there is a need for this blessing for which Jesus gave thanks, even as He offered it. Luther makes this case clear. It is worth repeating the words, “he kindly invites and encourages all who are sinners and find themselves burdened and who yearn for help.” Yearn does not indicate they would like to have it, it means they desire it, they hunger for God, they hunger for the work He does, as He draws us into the death and resurrection of Christ Jesus.
This is where we find hope, there is where we meet God in a very unique and powerful way, and it is where we know we are welcome.
Look at the Catholic Catechism – and see the beauty we need in this! The incredible unity that is found in the Lord’s Supper, as united in Christ, we find ourselves in the presence of God the Father! (see Colossian 3:1-3)
Caught in sin? Struggling with the burden of guilt and shame? Need to know God’s love and forgiveness?
Come… and find peace at the altar of grace.
Martin Luther, Luther’s Works, Vol. 42: Devotional Writings I, ed. Jaroslav Jan Pelikan, Hilton C. Oswald, and Helmut T. Lehmann, vol. 42 (Philadelphia: Fortress Press, 1999), 176–177.
Catholic Church, Catechism of the Catholic Church, 2nd Ed. (Vatican City: Libreria Editrice Vaticana, 1997), 342–343.
The Strongest People in Times of Crisis
Devotional Thought of the Day:
4 Love is patient and kind. Love is not jealous or boastful or proud 5 or rude. It does not demand its own way. It is not irritable, and it keeps no record of being wronged. 6 It does not rejoice about injustice but rejoices whenever the truth wins out. 7 Love never gives up, never loses faith, is always hopeful, and endures through every circumstance. 1 Corinthians 13:4-7 (NLT2)
What made saints, saints? What makes the cynical, skeptical world turn its head at a Mother Teresa? What made the hard-nosed Roman Empire convert to the religion of a crucified Jewish carpenter? The world did not say: “See how they explain one another!” but “See how they love one another!” The most effective argument for Christianity is Christians who are saints, lovers. The saints are the Spirit’s salesmen. You cannot argue with a saint. He would just kiss you, as Jesus did to Judas and as He did to the Grand Inquisitor in Dostoyevski’s parable in The Brothers Karamazov. How do you fight love? You don’t. You lose. That is, you win.
Unity does not come about by polemics nor by academic argument but by the radiance of Easter joy; this is what leads to the core of the Christian profession, namely: Jesus is risen. This leads, too, to the core of our humanity, which yearns for this joy with its every fiber. So it is this Easter joy which is fundamental to all ecumenical and missionary activity; this is where Christians should vie with each other; this is what they should show forth to the world.
I encountered the reading from Kreeft first this morning and knew it would be part of these thoughts. It hits the basic thought I have about ministry and evangelism – it is not about appealing to logic and reason – it is about loving people.
Kreeft mentions Jesus allowing Judas to embrace him, and one can think of the deacon Stephen, loving the people who were torturing and stoning him. The stories of such saints are easy to find, even if they are hard to understand how people can love so completely!
Loving like this is hard, it requires sacrifice, It requires humility, it requires all the things that 1 Corinthians 13 discusses.
But then I came across Pope Benedict’s (aka Joseph Ratzinger) words, and the idea of how we can love others appears – we love them because we are united in Jesus. The death and resurrection of Christ, the purest love ever seen in history, unites us in a way that nothing else can. At the cross, we all have died to sin and been raised, without that sins eternal stain. All that was there to not love about another person has been done away with, all that remains of it is a shadow.
In the resurrection, we not only see the power of love, we are enveloped by it, transformed by it, we are united to it, united to the God who is love.
And therefore, unity is possible.
Therefore, there is hope.
You want to know how to remain strong in this time, know God loves you, then ask Him to help you love others.
It makes all the difference.
Lord, help us revel in Your love, help us soak it in, to the extent that loving others is a natural inclination. † Amen!
Joseph Ratzinger, The Feast of Faith: Approaches to a Theology of the Liturgy, trans. Graham Harrison (San Francisco: Ignatius Press, 1986), 131.
Peter Kreeft, The God Who Loves You (San Francisco: Ignatius Press, 2004), 133.
