Blog Archives
How to Stop the Decline of the Church in Post-modern (Post-Christian?) Culture
Thoughts which carry this broken Christian to Jesus, and to the Cross:
“The teaching I gave you is the same teaching I received from the Lord: On the night when the Lord Jesus was handed over to be killed, he took bread and gave thanks for it. Then he broke the bread and said, “This is my body; it is for you. Do this to remember me.” In the same way, after they ate, Jesus took the cup. He said, “This cup is the new agreement that is sealed with the blood of my death. When you drink this, do it to remember me.” Every time you eat this bread and drink this cup you are telling others about the Lord’s death until he comes.” (1 Corinthians 11:23–26, NCV)
40 In Dr. Luther’s Small Catechism we read: “I believe that by my own reason or strength I cannot believe in Jesus Christ, my Lord, or come to him. But the Holy Spirit has called me through the Gospel, enlightened me with his gifts, and sanctified and preserved me in true faith, just as he calls, gathers, enlightens, and sanctifies the whole Christian church on earth and preserves it in union with Jesus Christ in the one true faith.”
For the children who are here brought to Thee in holy baptism, we pray Thee, maintain them mightily in Thy covenant of grace. For their elders we pray: grant them true repentance and, by Thy grace, grant them true absolution from sin; and, cause them to receive the most holy Sacrament of the true body and blood of Christ unto the renewal of their oppressed souls, and the strengthening of their weak faith.
If the sacraments are abandoned, genuine Christian life disappears. Yet we should realize that particularly today there are many people who seem to forget about the sacraments and who even scorn this redeeming flow of Christ’s grace. It is painful to have to speak of this sore in a so-called Christian society, but we must do so for it will encourage us to approach these sources of sanctification more gratefully and more lovingly.
The decline of the church in America is a grievous fact, whether we talk about any denomination or the church as a whole. Seminaries have been in decline, though some like to rejoice that the rate of decline is descreasing. It is still in decline, which means as Boomer pastors finally retire, there won’t be enough, for there are few of us GenX pastors, and we need thousands of pastors in the future. (not to mention church musicians, youth workers, teachers, etc.
I think this is not a theological issue, nor is an issue of worship style and practice–as we consider traditional versus contemporary, liturgical versus less structured worship. I think the issue has to do with the fact we are robbing our churches of the great comfort and enlightenment found in the sacraments, especially the sacraments of Baptism, Confession and Absolution and the Eucharist (aka the Lord’s Supper/Communion)
I think I am not alone in this, as I saw in my readings this morning. Luther, Loehe’s prayer and St Josemaria all note the critical importance of these sacraments. Their reasoning is far more pragmatic than it is abstract.
Luther notes that in these gifts, the Holy Spirit enlightens His people–the whole Christian Church–as they see God at work in their lives. There is something about seeing God’s work revealed in our hearts, souls and minds that is amazing, that should be treasured. Not because of our role in a pietistic ritual, but because of God making sure His promise to us, in a tangible way that we can depend upon in the crazy broken world.
Loehe’s prayer likewise keeps a focus there, that we beg God to help us all stay in the covenant we enter in baptism. This isn’t just a thought, the statistics on who was baptized prior to 18 and still are in the church at 30 are a grievous tragedy. The same for the prayer for those of us who are older, as we need to hear we are absolved and forgiven of our sin, and we need to have our souls, so oppressed by the world, renewed. Some might declare their faith is not weak, and therefore this passage doesn’t apply. To them I ask what faith is, is it knowledge you can defend on Twitter. Faith is being sure we can depend on God for the healing of our brokenness that will find its completion when Christ returns. And that kind of faith is nourished at the altar, it is put in our hands as we eat and drink His body and His blood.
We need this enlightenment; we need this renewal (or my preferred word – healing); we need our faith empowered. St. Josemaria see this, as he grieves–almost 100 years ago–at the possibility of the sacraments being abandoned. Either removed from the service–or making them less that the sermon or the prayers, and never re-instructing people as to their use – to provide this comfort, to provide peace, to assure people that God is with them, working with great intent and diligence in their lives. To remove the sacraments, to even diminish their importance, removes one of the marks of the church, part of the means of grace, and it weakens what should be our refuge.
It is our refuge, not because the buildings were built with human hands, but because God has put His name there, for us to be able to locate Him, for us to be able to interact with Him, for us to receive His gifts and the promises He would pour out on us. So we who lead need to make sure our people realize those promises, and the presence of God who would bless us….
As people learn to treasure God and His gifts, and they realize there is no limit, then they will share them, and then others will desire to distribute them… and help people find what they need!
——
“The Formula of Concord: The Solid Declaration: Free Will or Human Powers” Tappert, Theodore G., ed. 1959. The Book of Concord, the Confessions of the Evangelical Lutheran Church. Philadelphia: Mühlenberg Press.
Lœhe, William. 1914. Seed-Grains of Prayer: A Manual for Evangelical Christians. Translated by H. A. Weller. Chicago: Wartburg Publishing House.
Escrivá, Josemaría. Christ is Passing By (p. 123). Scepter Publishers. Kindle Edition.
How We Need to Talk About Baptism
Thoughts which force me to Jesus, and to the Cross,
3 Did you forget that all of us became part of Christ when we were baptized? We shared his death in our baptism. 4 When we were baptized, we were buried with Christ and shared his death. So, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the wonderful power of the Father, we also can live a new life.
5 Christ died, and we have been joined with him by dying too. So we will also be joined with him by rising from the dead as he did. 6 We know that our old life died with Christ on the cross so that our sinful selves would have no power over us and we would not be slaves to sin. 7 Anyone who has died is made free from sin’s control. Ro 6:3–7.NCV
Hide me within Thyself, that my will subject itself entirely unto Thee, and I be freed from the dominion of self and of every other creature. Let me not be wholly possessed of mine own nature. Grant that the thirst for temporal things be quenched in my heart. Uproot all self-love and selfish desires. Banish all hatred and jealousy, and cut off passion and my attachment to the things of this world. Gather my soul unto Thee and preserve in me a pure and peaceful conscience. Glory, praise, wisdom, thanksgiving, honor, power, and might be unto our God for ever and ever. Amen.
A Christian knows that he is grafted onto Christ through Baptism. He is empowered to fight for Christ through Confirmation, called to act in the world sharing the royal, prophetic, and priestly role of Christ. He has become one and the same thing with Christ through the Eucharist, the sacrament of unity and love. And so, like Christ, he has to live for other men, loving each and every one around him and indeed all humanity.
Yesterday, my devotions forced me to take a different angle at the Lord’s Supper, today, similarly, the readings are leading me towards baptism, not toward the theology of it, or the mode and method, but to the effect of the sacrament. How this act which God ordains and uses, transforms our life as promised. Like the Lord’s Supper, the comfort given to us, as the presence of God is manifested, is something we need–desperately need. By understanding what has been done to us, the transformation began in us.
The more we understand this effect, the more we can meditate on the wonderful work of Jesus, the more we heal.
So let’s start with Josemaria’s words, and how he explains that we are grafted onto Christ, that it transforms us to sharing in the very ministry (and eventually the glory) of Christ Jesus. Confirming that faith (setting aside whether it is a sacrament or simply a sacramental ) and nourishing the relationship not only unties us with Jesus, but with all He came to save! That is the very discussion that Paul shared in Romans – as we die with Christ and experience the life of being born again–even as Christ was raised from the dead. The effect of the grace promised in Baptism is that we live a new life! We are born again, and united with Christ Jesus!
It is the realization of this that Loehe prayed for– for every plea he utters is fulfilled by the promises of baptism! That is where the transformation that has begun as we united to Christ in this new life. Our heart and soul are transformed, a transformation it takes time to learn to live in-but that transformation–but it is happening! That is why Loehe prays, so He can be assured that the promises are indeed his–a gift from the God who loves him.
We have to understand these blessings prior to getting into the mechanics of a sacrament, before trying to create hypothesis to explain the mysteries, before discussing anything-we have to know why God instituted this means of grace. We have to know the promises! The other discussions take form after, including us recognizing we don’t have all the answers – we have the command to do this, and the reason why…. to bring comfort and peace to those God wants to call His children.
Lœhe, William. Seed-Grains of Prayer: A Manual for Evangelical Christians. Translated by H. A. Weller, Wartburg Publishing House, 1914, p. 391.
Escrivá, Josemaría. Christ is Passing By (p. 159). Scepter Publishers. Kindle Edition.
Blessed are those without “Filters”
Thoughts which drag me to Jesus, and to the Cross
23 Then the king gathered all the elders of Judah and Jerusalem together. 2 He went up to the Temple of the LORD, and all the people from Judah and Jerusalem went with him. The priests, prophets, and all the people—from the least important to the most important—went with him. He read to them all the words of the Book of the Agreement that was found in the Temple of the LORD. 3 The king stood by the pillar and made an agreement in the presence of the LORD to follow the LORD and obey his commands, rules, and laws with his whole being, and to obey the words of the agreement written in this book. Then all the people promised to obey the agreement. 2 Kings 23:1-3 NCV
Why we need to learn this is because within each of us is a child of Adam who does not fully trust God. There is someone who wants to control his own life down to the last detail, someone who struggles to believe that God can and will meet all of his needs, someone who questions God’s efficiency and foresight and his unbelievable patience –with all that is wrong in the world and in my life–and someone who absolutely dreads the full implications of the stark order: “Follow Me!”
The correction of this disorder explains why, as the apostles follow Jesus, he constantly does things that set them off. He lets them be frightened at sea, confused on land, and sad and distressed, in his company. He does things that seem to go against common sense, and when provoked, they are very vocal about their frustration, anger, sadness, confusion. And then it gets real. Finally, the unfiltered emotion has broken through and the Physician takes it from there. Healing begins with an exposed wound.
LORD, hear my prayer and let my cry come unto Thee. Hide not Thy face from me for I am poor and needy. Incline Thine ear unto me. When I cry unto Thee, hear me and answer me.
I have a friend, well actually I have several–but I am thinking of one in particular, who has publicly confessed to not have a filter. He is known for saying things without thinking them through, and he gives you, bluntly and honestly, who he is. Sometimes it’s kinda cute, sometimes it is more than abrasive! And sometimes, it is so full of God’s love and hope that everyone sits back in awe,
As I’ve grown older, I have come to appreciate people like this more and more. I long to share the gospel with them, even if they are militant opposed to the Church, and they blame Jesus for the excesses and sins of the people who are sinners, yet are trying to depend on Him. Simply put, the lack of a filter works against them, for that means they have less of a filter defending them. They will put up a fight, but it isn’t hidden behind a false reality that has been carefully constructed. THey end up being wonderful evangelists as well, for they realize their need for God.
You see this with King Josiah. They find for him the scriptures (how they lost them is crazy) and he hearing them goes into high gear and floors it. He and the people repent, and then they begin to clean house – the house of God. And oh do they clean house! and city! and Nation! (Basically a revival breaks out) What an amazing, unfiltered response to hearing about the love of God!
This is what Fr. John is getting at – the extent of the filters we set up to that God has to remove, and then the work of Jesus “Setting us off,” all so that in our state of unfiltered emotion, He can serve us, wash our feet, calm our storms, heal us, and through the cross, the grave and the resurrection, restore us, as broken as we are. But he has to destroy those filters first.
It is then, without filters, without filters, that we can cry out Loehe’s prayer and mean it.
It is then that we can deal with our brokenness honestly, we can confess our sins, and trust God to do what He promised…
Fr. John Henry Hanson, Coached by Josemaria Escriva, p.90
Lœhe, William. Seed-Grains of Prayer: A Manual for Evangelical Christians. Translated by H. A. Weller, Wartburg Publishing House, 1914, p. 321.
What Good are our Broken Lives? More than you know!
Thoughts which call me closer to Jesus, and to the Cross..
43 “A good tree does not produce bad fruit, nor does a bad tree produce good fruit. 44 Each tree is known by its own fruit. People don’t gather figs from thornbushes, and they don’t get grapes from bushes. 45 Good people bring good things out of the good they stored in their hearts. But evil people bring evil things out of the evil they stored in their hearts. People speak the things that are in their hearts. Luke 6:43-45 NCV
LORD Jesus Christ, I am not worthy that Thou shouldst enter my sinful heart; yet, Thou deignest to recognize my great poverty and need. Therefore, I fervently desire Thy presence, to nourish, comfort, and strengthen my poor soul. Speak Thy word to my soul and it shall be well with me. Amen.
‘Remember, man, that thou are dust, and unto dust you shall return. There are implications to be found in this. If man had been fashioned from something that could evaporate, then there would be nothing for him to return to. But a man, even while he is living in the flesh, can return to his constituent element: He does this the moment he is ready to be what God has made him. Dust may not be romantic, but there could be nothing more real..”
When I read the words of Jesus, like those in red above, I feel diseased, depressed, for I look at some of the ways in which I live, and I don’t see good fruit. If I see any fruit it is at best too sour, to overripe, and usually too rotten–if it exists at all. I am not sure I count myself as evil, but if the judgement has too choices, good or evil…. well the preponderance of evidence is not always favorable.
And think about that, guilt and shame builds. I see myself as wretched and as a failure, (Please don’t argue – this is how I and many others feel with such a passage being read or meditated upon. ANd there is hope to come!)
So Loehe’s prayer is simple – and archaic, but the words are encouraging – and often mirror where I eventually come to, the prayer that God doesn’t belong in one such as me–but He doesn’t care what I think and know. He knows me enough to know I needed the cross, I needed HIs presence, and as I encounter it, and the love He has for a sinner like me–oh how I want it even more.
And then comes Zeller and Hanson, reminding me of the blessing of Ash Wednesday – the idea that we can return to the dust we were before our creation, and God can recreate us, by the same power that raised Christ Jesus from the dead. We can exchange that dust and ash for beauty, we become His new masterpiece, we become His…again.
The guilt and shame is removed, and for a moment we glimpse of the God who is ours, whom we are united too in baptism, who we commune with in the Eucharist, who we rise with from death and dust to a new and everlasting life.
Hevenly Father, let us know the weight of our sin, if only for an instant, that we may realize our need for Jesus, and for the healing which You so eagerly work in our lives. We oray this in Jesus name, amen!
Lœhe, William. 1914. Seed-Grains of Prayer: A Manual for Evangelical Christians. Translated by H. A. Weller. Chicago: Wartburg Publishing House.
Hubert con Zeller, “The choice of God”, quoted inJohn Hanson, Coached byJosemaria Escriva, (Scepter,NY, 2024), 54
Impatience, Broken hearts and Christian Ministry.
Dove of the Holy Spirit (ca. 1660, alabaster, Throne of St. Peter, St. Peter’s Basilica, Vatican) (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
Devotional thought of the day:
3 There’s more to come: We continue to shout our praise even when we’re hemmed in with troubles, because we know how troubles can develop passionate patience in us, 4 and how that patience in turn forges the tempered steel of virtue, keeping us alert for whatever God will do next. 5 In alert expectancy such as this, we’re never left feeling shortchanged. Quite the contrary—we can’t round up enough containers to hold everything God generously pours into our lives through the Holy Spirit! 6 Christ arrives right on time to make this happen. He didn’t, and doesn’t, wait for us to get ready. He presented himself for this sacrificial death when we were far too weak and rebellious to do anything to get ourselves ready. And even if we hadn’t been so weak, we wouldn’t have known what to do anyway. Romans 5:3-6 (MSG)
The world is cold and seems to be asleep. You often look on it, from your vantage point, with a glance that would set it on fire. Lord, may it awaken! Channel your bursts of impatience and be sure that if we manage to keep our whole life alight, we shall set every corner of the world alight, and the way it all looks will change. (1)
By no means am I naturally patient. It is not the gift I’ve been given, and this is seen quite easily. This morning, getting some lab work done, I was frustrated that there were 4 others before me. I know ther has been as many as 20 before, but this morning, with places to go, people to minister to – waiting 10 minutes seemed like a month.
I am especially impatient when it comes to dealing with pain. You know – the physical pain of them drawing blood ( 4 quart vials it seemed like! ) Or the spiritual pain of grieving, or the pastoral heart pain of watching people choose to do that which will hurt them.
“Why won’t they listen?” we ask.
“Why won’t they at least try it God’s way?”
“when will they ‘get it’?
Every minister I know has suffered from such impatience, such heart break as people continue to choose their own way.
Most of us have been tempted to hammer them, to “use the law” to crush them until they repent, until they conform to God’s plan. (or at least ours) We want to find something to do to turn them into “supersaints”, to help them overcome all their sin,, to get their acts right and for them to become the next Billy Grahams. We want that prodigal to turn for home as soon as he gets to the end of the driveway. It doesn’t always work that way though.
But can we have God’s patience, the father’s patience with them, and still pray and encourage and take the moments we have to call them back to Christ?
It’s hard… its really hard…dang it, it’s hard.
The apostle Paul notes it as well,
18 I’m passing this work on to you, my son Timothy. The prophetic word that was directed to you prepared us for this. All those prayers are coming together now so you will do this well, fearless in your struggle, 19 keeping a firm grip on your faith and on yourself. After all, this is a fight we’re in. There are some, you know, who by relaxing their grip and thinking anything goes have made a thorough mess of their faith. 20 Hymenaeus and Alexander are two of them. I let them wander off to Satan to be taught a lesson or two about not blaspheming. 1 Timothy 1:18-20 (MSG)
What a challenge this is! How our soul, itself broken and impatent, struggles with such days of ministry! Yet, learning to discern when to speak – and how to speak, and when to let the prodigal go is a skill that comes with maturity.
I find it interesting that Romans finds the solution in trusting Christ, in looking to His promises, the work we expect that He will do, in any time of trial, and that includes this one.
Escriva’s comment is similar – that we funnel our impatience into our own life, opening it up to see God work in us. TO see God eradicate our own sin, and the things that would quench our spirit. Paul mentions this proactively to TImothy as well, telling Timothy not to walk down the road where these brothers walked….
As I thought through this… I think it is an essential part of our ministry, to be ready, in season and out, whether the time is right or not in our mind. For prodigals do return home, and we need to be aware of how we’ve been welcomed back home ourselves.
For it is in realizing the grace we’ve been given, that we find the love and mercy to welcome them home.
So pray, intercede, contemplate God’s love for them and for us and be ready…
to rejoice in their home coming.
Lord have mercy!
(1) Escriva, Josemaria (2011-01-31). Furrow (Kindle Locations 1424-1428). Scepter Publishers. Kindle Edition.
Related articles
- Broken Hearts and Broken Bones (psychologytoday.com)
- Encountering others on Holy Ground. (justifiedandsinner.com)
- Dare to Be Christian Means Dare to Be Broken (justifiedandsinner.com)
Some Advice for Surviving Mondays at Work
English: Icon of Jesus Christ (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
Devotional/Discussion Thought of the Day:
5 Servants, respectfully obey your earthly masters but always with an eye to obeying the real master, Christ. 6 Don’t just do what you have to do to get by, but work heartily, as Christ’s servants doing what God wants you to do. 7 And work with a smile on your face, always keeping in mind that no matter who happens to be giving the orders, you’re really serving God. 8 Good work will get you good pay from the Master, regardless of whether you are slave or free. 9 Masters, it’s the same with you. No abuse, please, and no threats. You and your servants are both under the same Master in heaven. He makes no distinction between you and them. Ephesians 6:5-9 (MSG)
When I made you a present of that Life of Jesus, I wrote in it this inscription: “May you seek Christ. May you find Christ. May you love Christ.” These are three very distinct steps. Have you at least tried to live the first one?
At first, the scripture passage from Ephesians and the quote from Josemaria may seem dissonant, or at least unrelated.
But as I consider this particular Monday morning, they resonate completely.
It is easy, as an employee or the boss, to view our work from what benefits me, that its all about me getting done what I need to get done. We will do a good job at work, but only if we get the wage we feel we deserve. We wil only work as a team, if we get our reward for the job well done, and not the blame when others on the team fail to work hard enough to get the team’s goal accomplished. If we are the boss, it’s easy to expect people to go beyond the average and do their best – without our having to invest ourselves in them.
The answer to being a good boss, or a good employee (and some of us are called to be both) lies not in ourselves. It is found in Christ, it has to be, we have to trust Him. For the one who believes and trusts in Christ – this is our core value. This relationship with God is how we define ourselves. It is what gives us the strength to both know the truth, and to be honest about it. Without knowing this, how can we address our own faults, be honest and work sacrificially, and in th best interests of those around us? How can we find the humility to serve, and the strength and patience to work through things.
It is only in trusting Christ, it is only in seeking first His mastery, His reign, His Kingdom, that this can happen. It is only realizing that He is the one we answer to in life – and that His standards are far different and far higher than our own, or those of our earthly bosses.
Look at Christ – the best of servants – who gave up everything not for His own success, but for the success of those who failed the Boss. Look at Christ the Boss, who trained His servants to the point they were willing to die to achieve that which Christ wanted – the reconciliation of the world.
Believers – seek Him first, find yourself in His presence! Know His love for you…. and work with Him by your side…
Godspeed this Monday.
Escriva, Josemaria (2010-11-02). The Way (Kindle Locations 966-968). Scepter Publishers. Kindle Edition.
Related articles
- A Blog of/for the Tired and Wondering if it all Matters… (justifiedandsinner.com)
- Imitating Christ… in dying to self. (justifiedandsinner.com)
Abandoned to God
Devotional thought of the day:
“Put your head frequently round the oratory door to say to Jesus… I abandon myself into your arms. Leave everything you have—your wretchedness!—at his feet. In this way, in spite of the welter of things you carry along behind you, you will never lose your peace.” (1)
As I review some of my history, in preparing for the remembrance of the Reformation, I dare wonder what would happen if Martin Luther and St. Josemarie Escriva would meet. (Some Lutherans and some Roman Catholics could not see this occur, yet I wonder) For both seem driven in their lives – to connect people to Chrsit, to reveal to them the love of God, that they may live and love Him in return.
Among all the things that they have in common, from being called beasts of burdens, to their dedication to connect people to Christ, to these incredible words – this idea of being abandoned to God, to be stripped of all that isn’t of Christ. It is not an obligation, bu an invitation to an incredible blessing!
It sounds painful, yet Escriva would tell us that can we be released of all that would constrain us, we would know peace. The words of Hebrews 12 encourage the same…
“With so many witnesses in a great cloud all around us, we too, then, should throw off everything that weighs us down and the sin that clings so closely, and with perseverance keep running in the race which lies ahead of us. 2 Let us keep our eyes fixed on Jesus, who leads us in our faith and brings it to perfection: for the sake of the joy which lay ahead of him, he endured the cross, disregarding the shame of it, and has taken his seat at the right of God’s throne.”
Hebrews 12:1-2 (NJB)
He has taken his seat there, our Advocate, our Paraclete, given us the Holy Spirit, and is our Lord, our Master. Not to reign over us like a dictator, but to care and provide for us, the head of our family, the Spirit being the “giver of life” and that life the one acquired for us.
My friends, abandon yourself to His mercy, to His grace, to His work redeeming and restoring us to the Father, to His work so beautifully described in Ephesians 2,
2:10 We are God’s work of art, created in Christ Jesus for the good works which God has already designated to make up our way of life.
Ephesians 2:10 (NJB)
Let Jesus strip you of that which causes anxiety, that which causes shame and guilt and despair,the sin and idolatry, including self idolatry….. and know His peace and joy, as yourself in His presence.
AMEN
(1)Escriva, Josemaria (2011-01-31). The Forge (Kindle Locations 1235-1238). Scepter Publishers. Kindle Edition.
The Secret to Loving and Serving Others
Devotional thought for the day:
“When he had washed their feet and put on his outer garments again he went back to the table. ‘Do you understand’, he said, ‘what I have done to you? 13 You call me Master and Lord, and rightly; so I am. 14 If I, then, the Lord and Master, have washed your feet, you must wash each other’s feet. 15 I have given you an example so that you may copy what I have done to you.” John 13:12-15 (NJB) (
Consider listening to this song –http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4I47c29GvFY while reading this blog
The church has been designed to be a community, a place where people have learned to lay aside their wants and desires, and serve others, to nurture others, to imitate Christ’s life, and the blunt clear lessons like the one in John 13 – where he washes the cracked, dry, smelling feet of men who hadn’t learned yet to love, to be in a relationship – not just with their Lord, but with each other. THe lesson is harsh, and convicting, how often are we willing to get down on our knees, and deal with the muck those we are called to love have walked through?
It cannot be done, not in our own strength at least. Their burdens are too heavy, their pains too deep, the crap in their lives can, indeed cause us to turn away, spiritually and physically nauseated, disgusted. Or we wonder why, as Michael Card sings, we have to do this day after day, after day…..
So where do we find the strength to obey? Where do we find the power to live lives in this holy manner?
A catholic priest once wrote:
“When you start out each day to work by Christ’s side and to look after all those souls who seek him, remember that there is only one way of doing it: we must turn to the Lord. Only in prayer, and through prayer, do we learn to serve others!” (1)
That’s the answer – through prayer – through intimate conversation, through communion/fellowship – through letting Christ wash our feet,through letting him, remove our burdens, through letting Him still – clean up those parts of our lives that have gotten dry, broken, blistered, smelly….. through letting Him be God. It is the only way, as St. Josemarie told us, to find the strength to serve, to be there for people, to bring healing and love to their lives. We don’t have the strength
We have to let Jesus do that to us….cleanse us, heal us…
and then, the Holy Spirit will work through us to do the same for others.
And oh the joy, oh the inexpressible joy that comes from seeing others cleansed, and counted holy and righteous.
It sends you right back in prayer, to the throne of God, to praise and glorify Him!
Lord, show us Your mercy… even as You work through us to bring that mercy to those we serve around us!
(1)Escriva, Josemaria (2011-01-31). The Forge (Kindle Locations 474-476). Scepter Publishers. Kindle Edition.
Post 100! A Challenge..rejoice in trials
Devotional thought of the day:
Wow, it’s post 100, averaging some 20 hits, plus those 40 that are subscribed by email. Every continent has seen my blog – including countries that are amazing to me. Some blogs have gotten a ton of hits – the most about my death 20 years ago, some have have only received 3 or 4. I guess, as I look back – some were good (praise God for those) and some…well sucked. (Blame me.) What to talk about on #100? The following quote stuck out in some reading yesterday.
“To follow Christ—that is the secret. We must accompany him so closely that we come to live with him, like the first Twelve did; so closely that we become identified with him…. But do not forget that being with Jesus means we shall most certainly come upon his cross. When we abandon ourselves into God’s hands, he frequently permits us to taste sorrow, loneliness, opposition, slander, defamation, ridicule, coming both from within and from outside. This is because he wants to mold us into his own image and likeness. He even tolerates that we be called lunatics and be taken for fools.” de Prada, Andres Vazquez (2011-04-18). The Founder of Opus Dei: Volume III, The Divine Ways on Earth (The Life of Josemaria Escriva) (Kindle Locations 7632-7638). Scepter Publishers. Kindle Edition.
There are days I wish that our Lord wouldn’t permit so many trials in the lives of the people I pastor (whether they are part of my congregation or those…that would be..yet…) TO be honest, it can get very tiring to watch, to spend time in prayer for, to try and stand by their side, (when they let me know they are going through it.) While our confidence is in God, it is in such times that such confidence is shaky, not in God, but in us. Yet the closer we are to Him, the more dependent it seems the more burdens we have to endure, the more challenges we come across…..
As I serve and observe people going through such times, as my heart breaks for them, I have found something out. Theologically speaking, this becomes a “first commandment issue”. Can we let God be God? Can we give to our Father the recognition that He does reign over us, but to accept that in His reigning, it is His responsibility to make these things a blessing, something good for us, even as we do not see it? Can we say, not my will, but thine, realizing that it means we are not just ceding what we are going through, but as well – ceding complete control over how it works out?
That is what Jesus had to do at the cross – ultimately – in His humanity He had to entrust Himself to the Father, and know that it was the Father’s plan to do something wonderful.
In trusting the Father, in the midst of trials, in hearing the Holy Spirit’s comforting voice, in realizing we have been united with Christ’s death and resurrection, the outcome of the trial is one thing we don’t have to concern ourselves with.
And trusting in the Father, knowing His promises, we can dwell in His joy and in His peace…
Knowing that He has promised us life, we can cry, “Lord have mercy!”… and rest in the sure knowledge of His love.
The Power and Mean to Accomplish Great Things
Discussion/Devitional Thought of the Day:
I used to have big dreams of doing great things. When I was my sons age,I dreamt of being a president like Abraham Lincoln, just a few years later – a priest whose sermons would change the world, like some of those I read about in school. Time and distance changes some of those dreams, and some of us have left dreams behind. I do not think today I could be a politician, never mind a president – the public is far too mean – and doesn’t respect the office, or the burden it carries – and being a priest – well,…..
But does that mean we have to give up trying to accomplish great things?
Or do we realize how great the normal things God calls us to do are? Like loving our neighbor, like helping those who find themselves without the ability, even for the moment – to help themselves. It is my opinion, that visiting someone who is a shut in, or sitting by a stranger at church is worth more than 10,000 facebook forwards, or eating at a restaurant whose owners are undersiege.
Even greater, forgiving that adversary, working to reconcile a couple of friends, telling someone of God’s grace. These are the great things… things that take sacrifice, things that may actually cost us. And that gets to the point of this entry, the thing I would have us discuss- how do we accomplish the greatest things in life?
One author put it this way:
” The means? They’re the same as those of Peter and Paul, of Dominic and Francis, of Ignatius and Xavier: the cross and the Gospel. Do they seem little to you, perhaps?” Escriva, Josemaria (2010-11-02). The Way (Kindle Locations 1151-1152). Scepter Publishers. Kindle Edition.
The Cross and the Gospel – the Sacrifice of Christ on the cross – that is where our sins our forgiven. The cross which we are linked to in our baptism – where we were united to Christ’s suffering and death, that we would be untied to His resurrected life. And of course in the Feast where we know that sacrifice In this cross – where God comes to us and transforms us – they are the means by which God enables us to do the great things He has planned for us to do.
And the Gospel is that same “means”. The incredible news of God’s love, of His mercy, of His grace. The news that He has come – and dwelt among us, and we behold His glory, even as we will one day share in it.
Comprehending that through the cross, through the gospel, Jesus comes to us, bonds us to Himself and changes us – it is in this that we find our strenghth, our life, our hope…. and the power and means to accomplish the greatest things, the very things God has planned from long ago to do… because He has sent you to do them.
One last thought from St. Josemarie, a prayer:
“Lord, we are glad to find ourselves in your wounded palm. Grasp us tight, squeeze us hard, make us love all our earthly wretchedness, purify us, set us on fire, make us feel drenched in your Blood – and then cast us far, far away, hungry for the harvest, to sow the seed more fruitfully each day, for the Love of You. Amen! ( Escriva – The forge)
