Category Archives: The Furrow
Includes citations from The Furrow by St. Josemaria Escriva
If You Want to Lord, You Can Make Me Clean. Jesus said… I Do Want To…
Devotional Thought of the Day:
23 Examine me, O God, and know my mind; test me, and discover my thoughts. 24 Find out if there is any evil in me and guide me in the everlasting way. Psalm 139:23-24 (TEV)
40 A man suffering from a dreaded skin disease came to Jesus, knelt down, and begged him for help. “If you want to,” he said, “you can make me clean.” 41 Jesus was filled with pity, and reached out and touched him. “I do want to,” he answered. “Be clean!” 42 At once the disease left the man, and he was clean. Mark 1:40-42 (TEV)
86 With God, I thought, every day seems more attractive. I can see “little bits” at a time. One day I notice some wonderful detail; on another, I discover a sight I had not seen before… At this rate, it is impossible to say what will happen next. Then, I noticed that He was reassuring me: “Your happiness will grow greater every day, for you will be drawn deeper and deeper into that divine adventure, into that great ‘complication’ with which you have become involved. And you will realise that I will never abandon you.”
Good Friday.
A Crown of thorns, a thick “royal robe”, placed on a back that is raw from a whipping, Spikes hammered through each wrist, One more hammered through the ankles. Ankles already tired from carrying the beam up a mountain side.
People mocking Him, the people who called for His death, the people who once praised and followed Him, but followed Him hear for a different reason…..to watch Him suffer and die.
Why?
We were not able to cry out, as the man did at the beginning of Mark’s gospel. A cry that echo’s David’s cry in Psalm 139. Examine us! Make us clean – completely. If you desire to Lord, you can.
And He did. By hanging on the cross.
He cleansed us of every sin, He brought us into Himself – we share in that death – we hang there with Him, nailed to that cross in our baptism. We rise with Him as well, brought into His very glory.
We receive all His promises, He guards us, never abandoning us, never forsaking us, always there, always faithful. The promises that we find more and more of, as we plunge the scriptures, as we meet and pray and hear God’s word together. As we kneel at an altar, and receive the Body and Blood of Christ. These details, declaring God’s desire – that we are all transformed, that explain His patience…His will, what He did, for us, as Christ hung on that cross.
This day, as you consider the cross, as you consider that Jesus endured that pain, for the joy set before Him. The joy of bringing us into the Father’s glory.
And here His answer to you….. I do want to… be clean!
Escriva, Josemaria (2011-01-31). Furrow (Kindle Locations 581-586). Scepter Publishers. Kindle Edition.
Dangerous Thought on Tax Day: A Day of Repentance
Devotional Thought of the Day:
1 Remind the people to respect the government and be law-abiding, always ready to lend a helping hand 2 No insults, no fights. God’s people should be bighearted and courteous. Titus 3:1-2 (MSG)
13 Make the Master proud of you by being good citizens. Respect the authorities, whatever their level; 14 they are God’s emissaries for keeping order. 15 It is God’s will that by doing good, you might cure the ignorance of the fools who think you’re a danger to society. 16 Exercise your freedom by serving God, not by breaking the rules. 17 Treat everyone you meet with dignity. Love your spiritual family. Revere God. Respect the government. 1 Peter 2:13-17 (MSG)
13 Later they sent some of the Pharisees and some of the Herod-party to trap him in an argument. They came up and said to him, “Master, we know that you are an honest man and that you are not swayed by men’s opinion of you. Obviously you don’t care for human approval but teach the way of God with the strictest regard for truth – is it right to pay tribute to Caesar or not: are we to pay or not to pay?” 15 But Jesus saw through their hypocrisy and said to them, “Why try this trick on me? Bring me a coin and let me look at it.” 16 So they brought one to him. “Whose face is this?” asked Jesus, “and whose name is in the inscription?” 17 “Caesar’s,” they replied. And Jesus said, “Then give to Caesar what belongs to Caesar, and to God what belongs to God!” – a reply which staggered them. Mark 12:13-17 (Phillips NT)
67 The scene of the parable is being repeated: it is the same as with those people who were invited to the wedding feast. Some are afraid, others have their own concerns, many… make up stories or give silly excuses. They put up resistance. That is why they feel the way they do: fed up, all in a muddle, listless, bored, bitter. And yet how easy it is to accept the divine invitation at every moment, and live a happy life, full of joy! (1)
It is April 15th, the day annual tax documents are do in the USA.
It’s also a day where we should confess our sins, and be absolved for them.
For disobeying the law, not man’s law (though some of us are guilty of that!), but God’s law. The law which tells us the government is something God has established as a blessing for us.
Now some of you are thinking – but the government uses our money for evil, the government is trying to persecute the church, the government is giving our hard earned dollars to those that do not deserve it, the government is, and the slander and disrespect goes on and on, without end. Unlike Jesus on the cross – who could have called down 10,000 angels while he was hanging on the cross, we want to call down God’s wrath on those who would take our idols, our Benjamins, Franklins and Lincolns. Heck we begrudge even the littlest Lincoln upon which the government has a claim.
Dare someone quote the words from scripture above, and ridicule and scorn will shift, from the government, to the one writing them. People (and pastors too) will start justifying their actions, and especially their words and their thoughts. In do so, they deny that sin occurs in thoughts and words, beside in the things we do. We toss our theology out the window – in order to protect the “rite” to free speech. Even when that speech is sinful.
It’s time to repent, its time to realize that in keeping the fourth commandment, (honor thy Father and Mother) that includes the blessing of the government God established, the government that has the right to tax us, and to set what those taxes are. It’s time to stop stealing, stop bearing false witness, to stop coveting our governments stuff. Instead we should pray for them, bless them respect them (and not just “the office).
We’ve got a much better thing to be doing, we can revel in the presence of God, we can rejoice at His love and mercy. That’s what it means to find our place in the wedding banquet, rather than in the marketplace complaining and slandering. It is what it means to live as forgiven, baptized children of God – to do things (like obeying the government) that we do – for God’s sake.
It’s a time for us to hear our sins are forgiven, that God has rescued us, that we no longer need to protect our idols.
It’s a day to know God’s mercy so well, the we show it to others….
May our Lord Jesus Christ walk with us this day, and may the Spirit of God, dwelling within us, empower us to keep these words above.
AMEN.
I am tired of it.
(1) Escriva, Josemaria (2011-01-31). Furrow (Kindle Locations 500-505). Scepter Publishers. Kindle Edition.
Why Are We Satisfied With GIGO? (garbage in – garbage out)
Devotional Thought of the Day:
7 But Christ has shown me that what I once thought was valuable is worthless. 8 Nothing is as wonderful as knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. I have given up everything else and count it all as garbage. All I want is Christ 9 and to know that I belong to him. I could not make myself acceptable to God by obeying the Law of Moses. God accepted me simply because of my faith in Christ. 10 All I want is to know Christ and the power that raised him to life. I want to suffer and die as he did, 11 so that somehow I also may be raised to life. Philippians 3:7-11 (CEV)
8 In conclusion, my friends, fill your minds with those things that are good and that deserve praise: things that are true, noble, right, pure, lovely, and honorable.Philippians 4:8 (TEV)
65 Once again you had gone back to your old follies!… And afterwards, when you returned, you didn’t feel very cheerful, because you lacked humility. It seems as if you obstinately refuse to learn from the second part of the parable of the prodigal son, and you still feel attached to the wretched happiness of the pig-swill. With your pride wounded by your weakness, you have not made up your mind to ask for pardon, and you have not realised that, if you humble yourself, the joyful welcome of your Father God awaits you, with a feast to mark your return and your new beginning. (1)
In the movie “Footloose”, there is a characterization of Christianity, or at least Christianity that used to be.
A Pharisaical legislative, in your face, take names Christianity where those that danced, or drank, or went to movies rated “PG” or worse were held up and scorned. Where the rules of behavior were set in stone, and by golly, if you weren’t going to obey those rules, you were going to be tossed out. If you questioned the rules, you were considered a rebel and someone to be watched.
A generation later, and perhaps we’ve gone the other way, yet are still “legislating” what is right and wrong. Or more accurately, we are simply legislating everything as right, and banishing any thought of the idea of something being “wrong”.
The Pendulum has reached the other side of the swing, This time, it has done what it rarely does – it has taken the church with it, gotten the church’s okay for what is vulgar, profane, sinful. I look at my fb page and what I and others post, and am shocked. Even if permissible, the things we post aren’t beneficial, (didn’t Paul say something about that?)
As one whose vocation, whose career deals with helping people in their brokenness, I see both these extremes as wrong. I have dealt, and continue to deal, with those damaged by these forms of legalism. The damage is horrendous, the pains are real, the broken families, broken marriages, broken friendships, broken people just mount up,
The ways that would excuse and/or justify any behavior, and the kind that would force behavior modification.
That’s not how it works in scripture, for like the old computer rule, these tactics focus on negative behavior – and even taking them in leads to sin. Garbage in, garbage out. Both ways do this – one by approving it, the other by making it tempting and looking good, in the very way we forbid it.
Holiness is something else though. It is abandoning all of these behaviors, not because we are forced too, but because we realize their value compared to the value of knowing Jesus, to knowing the love of God, to knowing His comfort and peace.
Paul’s idea of Phil. 4 – about concentrating on the “good stuff” isn’t law – it is 100% gospel, when you hear it with chapter 3 still fresh in your mind. Because those things he says to focus on are found in the presence of God. They are God’s nature. They lead us to adore Him, to want to be like Him, and in Him finding the strength to that which is positive. The more we see this, the less desirous the life of the prodigal will be, the more we realize the grip of sin was broken at the cross. There is something about that cross, about the crucifixes and crosses we have, that remind us of His love, of His devotion, of that which is unlike anything else we can now.
Will we see God’s glory for what it is? Will we walk with the Lord? Will we realize the garbage that we feed on daily for what it is, and leave it behind to know the love of God?
Lord have mercy on us, and help us to desire you in our lives, and therefore find the holiness that is found in your peace.
(1) Escriva, Josemaria (2011-01-31). Furrow (Kindle Locations 490-495). Scepter Publishers. Kindle Edition.
Can I Really Be Holy on the “PERFECT” Monday?
Devotional Thought On ANOTHER MONDAY……
22 They strengthened the believers and encouraged them to remain true to the faith. “We must pass through many troubles to enter the Kingdom of God,” they taught. Acts 14:22 (TEV)
77 Sometimes you feel that you are beginning to lose heart and that everything is getting on top of you. This kills your good desires, and you can hardly manage to overcome this feeling even by making acts of hope…Never mind: this is a good time to ask God for more grace. Then, go on! Renew your joy for the struggle, even though you might lose the odd skirmish. (2)
Have I mentioned before that I hate Mondays?
Probably, once or twice.
I get to my office, knowing that my office manager is out sick, A little frustration there, anxiety more ( I pray no little preschoolers get sick…) and I get to answer phones. Sigh
Go to turn on my computer – blue screens of death – call to help desk – their jammed – seems the new windows 8.1 update has some bugs? Sigh…
Finally get to my devotions… a time of peace, of calm.. (interruptions begin)
How the heck on a day like this, am I supposed to be holy, set apart to God, and example for those whom I pastor and shepherd towards His grace?
How can I trust that God’s will, will be accomplished, that He will be in charge, (that He will reign in MY life) Or will I be tempted to cuss and rant and basically act like I don’t believe He is here?
Grace – we have to keep remember the gifts, the promised and fulfilled gifts of God. We have to know He is here. That beyond our ability, beyond even our ability to conceptualize, He is working within us, through us. We don’t set ourselves apart to Him! He has already done this – in the very cross of Christ (read Rom 6:1-8) In His death, which is why we proclaim it as we commune with God.
That is how the Apostles strengthened the church, appointing pastors to care for them, encouraging them by pointing them to Jesus, helping them realize what happens in baptism, and the Lord’s Supper, What happens when we are assured that nothing separates us from God. For they taught we are His children, adopted, cleansed from the filth of the world, forgiven, loved.
We don’t have to do anything to earn this, but oh, how easily this knowledge can fade from our minds, can escape our lips, can be hidden in the depths our our heart… forgotten for the moment. We too easily let the comfort of knowing His presence fade as the challenges of the day overwhelm us…..seemingly crush us, distract and disillusion us.
Perhaps it would help if once an hour – I prayer the Lord’s prayer? Not that it is a holy act, but that I would remember that His kingdom has come, He is in charge here, that His will is being done here, among us, as Luther taught – among us. We need that. That God will provide, that He will show mercy and strengthen us against temptation and save us from evil. Again – this isn’t my act of piety, but my need to be reminded of the work God is doing here….the work we rejoiced in yesterday, as God makes a masterpiece, and reveals to us that we walk in Christ.
Prayer, especially this wonderful prayer that Christ taught us… the anti-dote for Mondays….
Lord, help us to realize you mercy… even…no, especially on Mondays!
(1) Luther’s Small Catechism: Developed and Explained.
(2) Escriva, Josemaria (2011-01-31). Furrow (Kindle Locations 543-546). Scepter Publishers. Kindle Edition.
How life is Built, or How a Temple is… the oft overlooked secret
devotional thought of the day:
7 The stone blocks for the building of The Temple were all dressed at the quarry so that the building site itself was reverently quiet—no noise from hammers and chisels and other iron tools. 1
2 “About this Temple you are building—what’s important is that you live the way I’ve set out for you and do what I tell you, following my instructions carefully and obediently. Then I’ll complete in you the promise I made to David your father. 13 I’ll personally take up my residence among the Israelites —I won’t desert my people Israel.” 14 Solomon built and completed The Temple. 1 Kings 6:7, 12-14 (MSG)
74 You are not happy because you make everything revolve around yourself as if you were always the centre: you have a stomach-ache, or you are tired, or they have said this or that… Have you ever tried thinking about Him, and through Him, about others? (1)
It is ithe plan of the Masterbuilder that all of the business of making rough rock into perfectly fitting, polished stone be accomplished in the stone quarry. There, beyond this place, beyond that door, is only the assembling of what has been done here. (2)
I have read of Solomon’s building of the temple many times, the dedication of that temple is one of m favorite portions of all of scripture. The gathering of God results in God’s presence being so manifest, that smoke fills the temple, and no priest can offer any sacrifice. The people of God pray, and are forgiven. Others come and pray, and God makes Himself real to them. God and people.
Yet in the midst of the work, verse 7 gets overlooked, it gets lost in the details, in the glory, in the imagery. I never even bothered to ask why the work was done in the quarry before.
Thinking on it now, as the son of a man who build tons of stone walls (literally) it amazes me. To so carve the rock as to be sure of its fitting, to so care for the work as it is transported to the temple mount, to then be fitted into place, perfectly. It is mindblowing to think of this with lasers and high power saws and polishers, but this work was done with chisels, and hammers, carved lovingly by hand. And in the temple, even as it is being build, reverent silence…It is built in peace, the joining mortar laid, the stones carefully put in place. Peace, quiet, solemnity.
No wonder the building of the temple of God in its fullness happens outside the walls, outside even the city, the noise of the hammers pounding not heard within its walls. The only noise to be heard there, the tear of a thick curtain….as the Holy of Holies is revealed without its glory. Without the ark, for that which fulfils the covenant, that glory is hanging, nailed to a tree. The Body given, the Blood poured out, the sins forgiven, forever. And peace reigns as the shadows come, and darkness falls…….
To often we don’t wait to get to the silence, to see the glory of God – to know His peace. We are too busy with our issues, with our ailments, with that which pounds and shapes us, Fr. Josemaia is right, we focus on the now, and we don’t see the temple being build, we don’t see God put each one of us in place.
We don’t see the plan, the beauty, the glory coming together because we choose to live back in the quarry, rather than to see where God has put us in His living temple. To trust Him at His word, at His promise. To realize that we aren’t in the quarry, really, Hear how Paul says it…
1 Since you have been raised up to be with Christ, you must look for the things that are above, where Christ is, sitting at God’s right hand. 2 Let your thoughts be on things above, not on the things that are on the earth, 3 because you have died, and now the life you have is hidden with Christ in God. 4 But when Christ is revealed—and he is your life—you, too, will be revealed with him in glory. Colossians 3:1-4 (NJB)
Though we may think we are not finished yet, those who believe have in many ways left the quarry, and are sitting here, in the temple, just waiting for Christ to put us in place. That is where our life is, and we are encourage to see it that way. Our life, shaped and designed and lived out in Christ. We’ve taken some pounding – He has taken more for us. We are in His presence, in a place where the pounding has already been done. We have been delivered and saved… and my prayer for you, is that you realize this more and more, and live in the peace and serenity that is found in Christ. For be assured,
6 And so I am sure that God, who began this good work in you, will carry it on until it is finished on the Day of Christ Jesus. Philippians 1:6 (TEV)
(1) Escriva, Josemaria (2011-01-31). Furrow (Kindle Locations 531-534). Scepter Publishers. Kindle Edition.
(2) Northumbrian Community, Celtic Daily Prayer (devotions from Finian readings for April 5th
Church, Discipleship, and “No pain, no gain”
Devotional Thought of the Day:
10 For our earthly fathers disciplined us for a few years, doing the best they knew how. But God’s discipline is always good for us, so that we might share in his holiness. 11 No discipline is enjoyable while it is happening—it’s painful! But afterward there will be a peaceful harvest of right living for those who are trained in this way. Hebrews 12:10-11 (NLT)
65 Once again you had gone back to your old follies!… And afterwards, when you returned, you didn’t feel very cheerful, because you lacked humility. It seems as if you obstinately refuse to learn from the second part of the parable of the prodigal son, and you still feel attached to the wretched happiness of the pig-swill. With your pride wounded by your weakness, you have not made up your mind to ask for pardon, and you have not realised that, if you humble yourself, the joyful welcome of your Father God awaits you, with a feast to mark your return and your new beginning. (1)
This morning I went to work out. I still am sore from my last work out, still moving slowly.
Instinctively, I wanted to skip this workout, to wait until I feel better, till the pain subsides, til I am no longer stiff, and can move freely. Which is, of course, exactly the wrong thing to do.
The pain is a sign of progress, the soreness is not a bad thing. That’s why coaches talk about “no pain, no gain.”
So why do we think our walk with God is any different?
A few days ago – a friend put a post up on FB talking about how one should never, ever use the Bible to cause pain. The picture was of three men bashing a fourth man nearly to death, with Bibles in their hands. What is interesting is that the meme and the words that accompanied it were as confrontational and divisive as what was being done. It sought to use the bible to bash those who would confront sin. Similarly, there has been of posts and emails about the recent World Vision decision, and counter decision. One of my favorite writers wrote saying it is not right to condemn the sins that we hyper-focus on, then he goes and condemns those who…. yeah…. are guilty (in his opinion) of the very sin he has spent most of his ministry confronting.
Which brings me to the question of this blog.
Does the church, and those who are its shepherds, have a duty to disciple people? What if that discipline will hurt? Do we have the responsibility to still bring the issues to the surface, to confront the sin, so that healing can take place? That the people can be free of its oppression? What if the sin is simply not forgiving the sins committed against them?
There is a need to do all things in love, but that love can require us to do things that can be painful, that can cause heartache, for such is often required, Even so, causing that pain is a daunting and scary proposition. No matter what the sin is, no matter who the person is, For it is not loving, to refuse to disciple someone, because it might hurt.
It is just like working out, where parts of our body need to be broken down, in order to create healthy muscle. That which separates us from God, has to have grace applied to it. The behaviors and thoughts that are not of Christ, have to be nailed to the cross with Christ. And those who love us, our family of God, have to know that we are willing to willing to be challenged, willing to hurt, to be sore. Willing to let God bring healing into our lives, and confront the darkness that clings to us, which we sometimes want to cling to as well.
Are you willing to suffer, that you may know God’s grace all the more clearly? Are you willing to suffer, that someone else will?
That’s not the question to ask..really, for it puts the emphasis on us, when the work of cleansing us from sin is already accomplished, in Christ.
The question is, do we desire the peace God has prepared for us to dwell in, as we dwell in Christ?
Lord – have mercy on us sinners…….
Escriva, Josemaria (2011-01-31). Furrow (Kindle Locations 490-495). Scepter Publishers. Kindle Edition.
How to “Change” Mondays
Devotional Thought of the Day:
22 So let us come near to God with a sincere heart and a sure faith, with hearts that have been purified from a guilty conscience and with bodies washed with clean water. 23 Let us hold on firmly to the hope we profess, because we can trust God to keep his promise. 24 Let us be concerned for one another, to help one another to show love and to do good. 25 Let us not give up the habit of meeting together, as some are doing. Instead, let us encourage one another all the more, since you see that the Day of the Lord is coming nearer. Hebrews 10:22-25 (TEV)
66 It is true: we are worth nothing, we are nothing, we can do nothing, we have nothing. And, at the same time, in the middle of our daily struggle, obstacles and temptations are not lacking. But the joy of your brothers will banish all difficulties, as soon as you are back with them, because you will see them firmly relying on Him: Quia tu es Deus fortitudo mea—because you, Lord, are our strength. (1)
It’s Monday again, the weekend is over, and to be honest, that first sentence of St. Josemaria’s note seems all to real.
On Monday’s we often feel challenged, unequal to the task of a long week, It seems our list of weaknesses is all to real, and we’ve forgotten the lessons learned a short twenty-four hours ago. We may already be tempted to think about and/or do that which is wrong. Or maybe, the temptation is just to overlook that which others are doing wrong, or even the risk to their souls.
Mondays are hard, even thought 24 hours or so before, we found ourselves close to heaven, as we gathered with others who have been called to be part of God’s family. Who have learned that we can trust in Him, that we can know the promises He has made us are sure. To hear God’s word together, and rejoice in the love for us that is revealed. We get to hear that all of our sins are forgiven, erased, that Christ’s merits have brought healing to our souls. and to the relationships that have been marred and broken. Incredibly, God invites us to a feast, one that calls to mind the feast that will occur in heaven, the wedding supper of Christ.
Mondays are hard, because we forget the lessons we learned again on Sunday. We forget the words we professed, the words we know are true on Sunday.
My way of dealing with Mondays is simple.
I start preparing for the next time I will find myself with my brothers and sisters in Christ. I think about the service (pretty much I have to ) and the message God will share with us. (as long as I don’t get in the way) I think about the hands humbly reaching out for the Body of Christ, and the visible change in body language as they receive again the promises of God. the promises of being in Christ. Of our burdens being taken by God, an offering to Him that is pleasing, as we recognize that He is our God, that He will provide and heal.
It is truly good to gather with our brothers and sisters in Christ.
For where two or three, or sixty or thousands are gathered, here He is, in their midst.
And that changes everything… even Mondays!
(1) Escriva, Josemaria (2011-01-31). Furrow (Kindle Locations 496-499). Scepter Publishers. Kindle Edition.
The Lord’s Supper… why it is a regular practice….a regular need in my life…
Devotional/Discussion thought of the Day:
4 “But he endured the suffering that should have been ours, the pain that we should have borne. All the while we thought that his suffering was punishment sent by God. 5 But because of our sins he was wounded, beaten because of the evil we did. We are healed by the punishment he suffered, made whole by the blows he received. 6 All of us were like sheep that were lost, each of us going his own way. But the LORD made the punishment fall on him, the punishment all of us deserved. Isaiah 53:4-6 (TEV)
10 The LORD says, “It was my will that he should suffer; his death was a sacrifice to bring forgiveness. And so he will see his descendants; he will live a long life, and through him my purpose will succeed. 11 After a life of suffering, he will again have joy; he will know that he did not suffer in vain. My devoted servant, with whom I am pleased, will bear the punishment of many and for his sake I will forgive them. 12 And so I will give him a place of honor, a place among the great and powerful. He willingly gave his life and shared the fate of evil men. He took the place of many sinners and prayed that they might be forgiven.” Isaiah 53:10-12 (TEV)
23 For I received from the Lord the teaching that I passed on to you: that the Lord Jesus, on the night he was betrayed, took a piece of bread, 24 gave thanks to God, broke it, and said, “This is my body, which is for you. Do this in memory of me.” 25 In the same way, after the supper he took the cup and said, “This cup is God’s new covenant, sealed with my blood. Whenever you drink it, do so in memory of me.” 26 This means that every time you eat this bread and drink from this cup you proclaim the Lord’s death until he comes. 1 Corinthians 11:23-26 (TEV)
56 Another man of faith wrote to me: “When you have to be on your own, you can notice clearly the help of your brothers. Now, when it comes to my mind that I have to put up with everything ‘all alone’, I often think that, if it weren’t for that ‘company we keep from afar’—the holy Communion of Saints!—I would not be able to preserve this optimism which fills my heart.” (1)
I have served as a pastor for 15 some years, and as a Chaplain prior to that. In that time I have preached in churches of a number of denominations, and have been settled where I am now, in the Lutheran Church, for a good deal of that time. In both groups. (the Restoration Movement/Christian Church/churches of Christ and the LC-MS) the practice has been that of communing often, though “often” is up to local interpretation. (Some celebrate weekly, others bi-weekly, some more often than that!)
My own preference is as often as possible, even to the extent that if a number of people wanted to celebrate it daily, I would, and would rejoice over it.
Why?
Read the passages above. Hear of the love of God, the desire to form with us a community, and the extent to which Christ would suffer and die, in order to make possible this relationship. In participating in this feast, in proclaiming the death of Christ until He comes again, we proclaim a depth of love that extends through every part of our live. We come humbly together, before the throne of God, we celebrate the grace of God, the gifts of God.
We feast with Him, a foretaste of the promised feast to come, because we have been made His children, because He took on every one of my sins, every sin of every person at the altar, who I serve, as I give the Body broken for them, as they take this cup of the New Covenant, shed for the forgiveness of sin. As we with angels and archangels, with all the company of heaven, with everyone who has every trusted in God’s promises made to them, revealed in the scriptures.
As we celebrate His presence, His love, His glory, which we begin to see, simply as we find rest for our souls, as we are gathered.
I love the TEV’s words from Isaiah…. read them again..
We are healed by the punishment he suffered, made whole by the blows he received.
11 After a life of suffering, he will again have joy; he will know that he did not suffer in vain. My devoted servant, with whom I am pleased, will bear the punishment of many and for his sake I will forgive them.
How can you not desire to realize this often? How can you not be comforted by these words, this remembrance not just of the suffering and death, (and resurrection!) But the comfort of the words that reveal to you the love of God who promises to never leave us, never to forsake us.
How can we not proclaim this death, this love, this Lord of Life’s love, and how can we not desire to, often?
It’s our very life… as His people. (this is where I find the greatest source of strength, as I realize His love is for all of us)
Lord, have mercy on us, and teach us to treasure that mercy!!
Escriva, Josemaria (2011-01-31). Furrow (Kindle Locations 456-460). Scepter Publishers. Kindle Edition.
Happiness? Sex, Anxiety and the Daily Grind…. but also…
Devotional Thought of the Day:
4 May you always be joyful in your union with the Lord. I say it again: rejoice! Philippians 4:4 (TEV)
61 “Happy?” The question made me think. Words have not yet been invented to express all that we feel in the heart and in the will – when we know ourselves to be children of God!. (1)
I just entered a chapter in Furrow that is all about happiness, or perhaps, more accurately in English – joy.
I don’t feel all that full of joy today. I have a bear of a sermon to write ( on the plan of God revealed in “Do not Commit Adultery.” to my older congregation. I am dealing with some anxiety because of what I know some friends are enduring things I cannot imagine. I am tired and sore and the idea of putting on a fake smile and saying, “It is well”. I would feel like a hypocrite. a liar, and in this season of Lent, not quite right. I am supposed to be, and in many ways I am lamenting this broken world in which we walk. THere are days when what resonates with me is not “Rejoice!” but the phrase from my teenage years, “Life a b&@*#” or as Siddhartha Buddha put it, “Life is suffering”
Rejoice always?
Yeah, Sure.
Even as I type, I know that tonight, as the beginning notes of the Kyrie are played, as the voices of our congregation sing God’s praises, as they proclaim His love, I will know joy. It will hear such joy in laughter, as they watch an middle age pastor try to preach about God’s masterpiece of life….within the scope of God’s words about….. SEX? I will know such joy as we communion, fellowship, as we share in Christ’s Body and Blood in the Lord’s Supper. It will extend through-out the service, and as we eat together, sharing in each other’s lives.
But what about until then? How will I know that joy? How will I obey Paul’s command to “REJOICE?”
I need to hear it less as a command, more of an encouragement, a reminder,
St . Josemaria does a great job helping me see beyond what I have read (and heard ) for years. It is as we know ourselves as God’s children that we can find that joy. Even in lament, as we know, as we trust God, and know His promises of His presence, of His love, mercy and how He cares for us, It is that incredible love that gives us a sense that all will work it out.
No wonder ancient Jews would bind the word of God to their forehead and to their hands. TO constantly remind them of this. It’s why I usually wear a cross, either the one embroidered on my shirt, or one around my neck.
Paul says that to the church in Phillipi, in that passage ( I chose to use the TEV this morning – because it makes it more clear) Joy is found as we now we are in Christ. In that union. For God has attached us to Christ, to Him in His death, and in His resurrection. And even more, in the very presence of the Father. Again, from Paul,
1 You have been raised to life with Christ, so set your hearts on the things that are in heaven, where Christ sits on his throne at the right side of God. 2 Keep your minds fixed on things there, not on things here on earth. 3 For you have died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God.Colossians 3:1-3 (TEV)
There it is, the words of life, that remind us of our greatest joy…..>
That we aren’t alone, that God is here… with us… and we are more than just walking through this life…
There is our joy, there is our hope, there are we…. with Him.
(1) Escrvia, Josemaria Furrow
The Purpose of Christian Education & Catechesis
Devotional?Discussion Thought of the Day:
1 So, my son, throw yourself into this work for Christ. 2 Pass on what you heard from me—the whole congregation saying Amen!—to reliable leaders who are competent to teach others. 3 When the going gets rough, take it on the chin with the rest of us, the way Jesus did. 4 A soldier on duty doesn’t get caught up in making deals at the marketplace. He concentrates on carrying out orders. 5 An athlete who refuses to play by the rules will never get anywhere. 6 It’s the diligent farmer who gets the produce. 7 Think it over. God will make it all plain. 8 Fix this picture firmly in your mind: Jesus, descended from the line of David, raised from the dead. It’s what you’ve heard from me all along. 2 Timothy 2:1-8 (MSG)
9 As you are going through life, disciple people of every ethnicity, of every nation. Do this by uniting them to Christ in baptism in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, 20 and teach them to treasure everything I have commissioned life to be.. And I will be with you always, to the end of the age.” Matthew 28:19-20 (my own paraphrase)
14 “It’s very difficult”, you exclaim, disheartened. Listen, if you make an effort, with the grace of God that is enough. Put your own interests to one side, you will serve others for God, and you will come to the aid of the Church in the field where the battles are being fought today: in the street, in the factory, in the workshop, in the university, in the office, in your own surroundings, amongst your family and friends. (1)
I was asked the other day, what I thought Christian Education is about.
I thought for a moment, and replied that it is about discipleship. About teaching people what they need to know about Jesus Christ.
It can’t just be about getting them to memorize scriptures, or creeds, or even Luther’s catechism. For memorization often is simply being able to regurgitate on command. This isn’t about imparting facts and forms, about lessons of history and systematic theology. Discipling them, teaching them is far more. It is helping them know Christ, and His word. Knowing personally the Lord who cares for them, even tot he point of dying for them. it’s not about bringing forth stuff we’ve memorized but don’t get, it is about seeing the Spirit at work in our lives, pouring out of us to affect the lives of others by bringing them to the cross.
But there is a part of Christian Education and discipleship that is often overlooked – the bringing up of people to take on teaching and preaching, to replace us as we get older, or are called to other places. To pass on what we know of Jesus, His love, His mercy, and especially His faithfulness. men who will respond with this message as it resonates in them to others. Men who will sacrifice what is needed, to focus on the ministry (reminder – we are called to do that as well) St. Josemaria talks of this as well, for some we train will serve God as clergy, but many more will serve him from their places of work, reaching people we cannot reach, reaching people we will not reach. For that is our ministry in discipling other, seeing them gathered into Christ, united to him, then reaching out to gather others in form their lives.
There is something special in this as well, as we gather men and women together in Christ, as we see them grow and minister to others in return. Such is an incredible blessing it is, when we see men that a congregation raises up to minister start to serve. But we need many more such servants, deacons and pastors, Sunday School Teachers, Bible Study leaders, who invest in others the time, so that they might know Jesus, so tht they might walk with Him, So that they may go throughout all the world, in their workplaces, in their schools, in the doctor’s offices and walmarts, That they may go into the inner cities and rural areas, To every corner, bringing and revealing Christ – for such has been invested in them.
That’s what Christian Education is about,
So shall we engage in it?
Lord have mercy… we must!
(1) Escriva, Josemaria (2011-01-31). Furrow (Kindle Locations 294-298). Scepter Publishers. Kindle Edition.
