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“I Thought I Should…” The Battle of Our Reason Versus Obedience
Devotional Thought of the Day:
11 Samuel asked him, “What have you done?” Saul explained: “When I saw that the army was deserting me and you did not come on the appointed day, and that the Philistines were assembling at Michmash, 12 I said to myself, ‘Now the Philistines will come down against me at Gilgal, and I have not yet sought the LORD’s blessing.’ So I thought I should sacrifice the burnt offering.” 13 Samuel replied to Saul: “You have acted foolishly! Had you kept the command the LORD your God gave you, the LORD would now establish your kingship in Israel forever; 14 but now your kingship shall not endure. The LORD has sought out a man after his own heart* to appoint as ruler over his people because you did not observe what the LORD commanded you.”1 Sam 13:11–14 NAB-RE
Afterward, however, David regretted that he had cut off an end of Saul’s robe.b 7 He said to his men, “The LORD forbid that I should do such a thing to my master, the LORD’s anointed, to lay a hand on him, for he is the LORD’s anointed.”c 8 With these words David restrained his men and would not permit them to attack Saul. Saul then left the cave and went on his way. 9 David also stepped out of the cave, calling to Saul, “My lord the king!” When Saul looked back, David bowed, his face to the ground in homage, 10 and asked Saul: “Why do you listen to those who say, ‘David is trying to harm you’? 11 You see for yourself today that the LORD just now delivered you into my hand in the cave. I was told to kill you, but I took pity on you instead. I decided, ‘I will not raise a hand against my master, for he is the LORD’s anointed.’ 12 Look here, my father. See the end of your robe which I hold. I cut off an end of your robe and did not kill you. Now see and be convinced that I plan no harm and no rebellion. I have done you no wrong, though you are hunting me down to take my life. 1 Sam24:6–12 NAB-RE
Thus she came to understand Chesterton when he described men and women who, signed with Christ’s Cross, cheerfully walk through darkness. Finding this hidden life means releasing the sources of this world’s energy, linking the world to the power that can save it, giving it the resources for which it seeks in vain within itself. It means digging for and uncovering the wellspring of joy which can save and transform things and people and which has the power to undo and make good past suffering. (1)
The line from King Saul typifies the battle that so many “first-world” Christians have to face today. “I thought I should…” Saul was trying to be ready to fight the enemies of God, things weren’t going well. He knew things would change with the sacrifice that was to be offered by the prophet-priest, but he wasn’t there. Saul was King, didn’t that give him the right to take any role in his kingdom?
And so, in thinking, in following and obeying his own mind, rather than the command of God, he lost everything he was trying to protect.
We do that, we enslave ourselves to our logic, to our reasoning. We listen to what we think, rather than what God reveals. We will dismiss what God reveals in scripture, we will dismiss what He commands us to do, and we will find a way to see disobedience and dishonoring God as logical.
We will set our logic, our reasoning in the place of God, make it an idol, and worship it by obeying what it teaches.
Well, maybe it won’t be our reasoning, as in yours and mine. No problem, we can all find brilliant theologians and philosophers whose brilliance is proven by the fact they agree with us. We can find a way to avoid hardship, to avoid self-sacrifice or suffering. We can justify our own pleasure, and we can do it with the resonance of righteousness.
Well at least self-righteousness.
Even as we contend that scripture isn’t as reliable as it should be. Or that it is outdated or outmoded.
Compare Saul’s obedience to his reasoning to David’s obedience ot God. There is a price on David’s obedience, the price of discomfort, the price of being hunted, the price of even being an outcast and an exile. He had the power to change that, one quick action would have given him the kingdom. But he chose to disobey the wisdom and reasoning that would call him to disobey God.
He embraced the darkness, the hardship, the pain. And he worshiped and obeyed God. God brought him through it, and through other challenges. Sometimes David would see it right away, sometimes he too would forget and need to be called to repentance. The key is to find the humility to remember that God is God. To live in the grace of a life forgiven, a life where we hear the Spirit, and the Spirit draws us into obedience, into a life of awe, not matter how dark.
Like the lady in Pope Benedict’s story, David cheerfully embraced the darkness, knowing that God had promised and God had commanded. It was a willingness to obey even though life may have looked freer, and more joyful, had he simply killed off those trying to kill him. He loved instead, and at great personal cost, and cost to those who were loyal to him.
I am not sure what your wisdom and reasoning calls you to dismiss from God’s word. Maybe it is sexual issues, maybe it is a call to servanthood, to give up your “rights”, in order that someone else may benefit. Maybe it is simply accepting that His word is His word.
I know this, it is a temptation for all of us, a chance to say, “I thought”, and in that thought, contradict what God has commissioned. A temptation that can only be overcome by looking to Jesus, and letting His love cleanse us from it.
Together then, let us cry out to God to have mercy on us.
(1) Ratzinger, J. (1992). Co-Workers of the Truth: Meditations for Every Day of the Year. (I. Grassl, Ed., M. F. McCarthy & L. Krauth, Trans.) (p. 26). San Francisco: Ignatius Press.
The Theological Hymn the Entire Church Needs Today.
Devotional Thought of the Day:
22 All around us we observe a pregnant creation. The difficult times of pain throughout the world are simply birth pangs. But it’s not only around us; it’s within us. The Spirit of God is arousing us within. We’re also feeling the birth pangs. 23 These sterile and barren bodies of ours are yearning for full deliverance. 24 That is why waiting does not diminish us, any more than waiting diminishes a pregnant mother. We are enlarged in the waiting. We, of course, don’t see what is enlarging us. 25 But the longer we wait, the larger we become, and the more joyful our expectancy. 26 Meanwhile, the moment we get tired in the waiting, God’s Spirit is right alongside helping us along. If we don’t know how or what to pray, it doesn’t matter. He does our praying in and for us, making prayer out of our wordless sighs, our aching groans. 27 He knows us far better than we know ourselves, knows our pregnant condition, and keeps us present before God. 28 That’s why we can be so sure that every detail in our lives of love for God is worked into something good.
Romans 8:22-28 (MSG)
But I pressed towards Thee, and was thrust from Thee, that I might taste of death: for thou resistest the proud. But what prouder, than for me with a strange madness to maintain myself to be that by nature which Thou art? For whereas I was subject to change (so much being manifest to me, my very desire to become wise, being the wish, of worse to become better), yet chose I rather to imagine Thee subject to change, and myself not to be that which Thou art. (1)
139 Nothing less than Christ’s power is needed for our conflict with the devil. We know that for Christ’s sake we have a gracious God and his promise. And therefore, we pray that the Holy Spirit may govern and defend us, so that we may not be deceived and err, nor be driven to do anything against God’s will. (2)
The congregation gathered around, absolutely devasted by the events they had endured. They humbly gathered, downcast, not know what to do or say. Heartbroken, unaware of how they will continue on, a simple, profound, wondrous hymn breaks out among them…
A hymn maligned, denigrated, and used as an example of poor hymnody, poor theology, poor worship by countless experts. I will contend that if we learn this hymn if we sing it as it was meant to be sung, there are few that express the theological depth it does.
It doesn’t matter to those singing it, for it is a lament that expresses the only hope they have… the gentle words pleading for that which is promised. A prayer expressed in words so significant that they must resonate in the church today.
“Kumbaya my Lord, Kumbaya, Kumbaya my Lord, Kumbaya, Kumbaya my Lord, Kumbaya, O Lord, Kumbaya;”
O Lord, be with us…”
These words express the same sentiment that Augustine reveals he needed. The attitude that is found in brokenness, the attitude of facing death, and dying to self. St. Paul’s words echo this, comparing this life’s brokenness to labor pains, as we await the recreation, the rebirth of all things. It speaks of those moments when our hearts are too broken to know what to pray, and the Holy Spirit must be our intercessor, the translator of the groans too deep for words.
This song speaks of the eschatological hope we have in Christ, which St Peter begs us to be ready to do.
This song is an expression of the Theology of the Cross, the simple hope found in our brokenness and the healing promised and delivered in word and sacrament.
This song speaks of the incarnation, as we count on Christ’s presence in our lives
This song speaks of vocation, as it asks God to be there in every situation we encounter.
This song talks of the Omnipresence of God, who incarnates Himself into our lives, who draws us into Himself.
It speaks of the ministry of the Holy Spirit, our comforter-paraclete, who teaches us of God’s love.
Amazingly, this song speaks of the sacraments, as we know He has come to us as we are united to Him in the waters of baptism, as we hear His words, you are forgiven, as we are fed with His body and Blood.
It does all this in a humble way, not with glorious melodies, not with perfect 4 part harmony, not with a worship that seeks to impress both God and those who are spectators. Rather, it is sung by voices barely able to create an audible noise. It resonates with the depth of the hearts aid open. It can capture the heart of all, growing in fervor, moving us from darkness to the glory found in His presence.
It is sung with hearts who realize their only hope, the only way to find peace, to receive mercy, is to encounter Almighty God in all His glory and plead for mercy, to cry the Kyrie Eleison, to plead, O Lord, be with us…
This must become again the cry of a church, in a broken world, for it points us to what is necessary, what we need to desire more than all, the presence of God. Here, now, in our lives.
May we be able to cry such words in faith, together, knowing that He who has promised is faithful….
Amen!
(1) Augustine, S., Bishop of Hippo. (1996). The Confessions of St. Augustine. (E. B. Pusey, Trans.). Oak Harbor, WA: Logos Research Systems, Inc.
(2) Tappert, T. G. (Ed.). (1959). The Book of Concord the confessions of the Evangelical Lutheran Church. (p. 126). Philadelphia: Mühlenberg Press.
A Prayer for the Right Attitude on a Monday!
Devotional Thought of the Day:
11 iI will set my tabernacle in your midst, and will not loathe you. 12 Ever present in your midst, I will be your God, and you will be my people. Lev 26:10–12 NABRE
40 *They will confess their iniquity and the iniquity of their ancestors in their treachery against me and in their continued hostility toward me, 41 so that I, too, had to be hostile to them and bring them into their enemies’ land. Then, when their uncircumcised hearts are humbled and they make amends for their iniquity, 42 I will remember my covenant with Jacob, and also my covenant with Isaac; and also my covenant with Abraham I will remember. Lev 26:40–42
273 Dear Jesus: if I have to be an apostle, you will need to make me very humble. Everything the sun touches is bathed in light. Lord, fill me with your clarity, make me share in your divinity so that I may identify my will with your adorable Will and become the instrument you wish me to be. Give me the madness of the humiliation you underwent, which led you to be born poor, to work in obscurity, to the shame of dying sewn with nails to a piece of wood, to your self-effacement in the Blessed Sacrament. May I know myself: may I know myself and know you. I will then never lose sight of my nothingness. (1)
It’s Monday, and that means lots of posts and tweets about how Monday is a pain in the buttocks. We grieve over Mondays, we hate them, we struggle with them.
Part of the struggle is that we think we have to deal with Monday’s alone, we somehow decide to be hostile to God. You may say, I am a believer, I went to church for 90 minutes yesterday and didn’t even complain when the pastor kept boring me to death!
But being hostile to God isn’t just about going to church, or saying you are a believer. Being hostile to God includes going off on a Monday without Him. Trying to struggle through the return to work, without considering He is as with you today, as He was when you were receiving His body and His Blood at the altar. We are hostile to God when we deny Him the opportunity to comfort us, the opportunity to walk with us, the opportunity to be in a relationship with us that is more than 90 minutes of visitation a week.
What if your Monday stress is simply a call to humility? To remember that you are His children, that He is your God? To remember His role in your life, and welcome it with you?
That is what St. Josemaria’s prayer is all about; as we find the humility to share in His divinity, in His glory. In setting aside our will, our pleasure, instead revelling in His presence, content in His peace.
That is the key to dealing with the frustration of a Monday. That is how dealing with the stress, or the weight of the workload, or the bad attitudes of those around us. To realize we are nothing, like Christ, who emptied Himself. Because from that place, nothing is impossible, and in every situation we can find joy.
For we are with Him, and He reveals to us His love.
AMEN.
Escriva, Josemaria (2011-01-31). Furrow (Kindle Locations 1341-1347). Scepter Publishers. Kindle Edition.
Forgiveness and Reconciliation – Dividable?
Devotional thought of the day:
12 Forgive us the wrongs we have done, as we forgive the wrongs that others have done to us. Matthew 6:12 (TEV)
16 No longer, then, do we judge anyone by human standards. Even if at one time we judged Christ according to human standards, we no longer do so. 17 Anyone who is joined to Christ is a new being; the old is gone, the new has come. 18 All this is done by God, who through Christ changed us from enemies into his friends and gave us the task of making others his friends also. 19 Our message is that God was making all human beings his friends through Christ. God did not keep an account of their sins, and he has given us the message which tells how he makes them his friends. 2 Corinthians 5:16-19 (TEV)
236 Those who flee like cowards from suffering have something to meditate on when they see the enthusiasm with which other souls embrace pain. There are many men and women who know how to suffer in a Christian way. Let us follow their example. (1)
This post may cause you some grief, some anger. You may want to dismiss it; I know I struggle even writing it. But it is something I am dealing with, and I believe most of us need to work through to see God’s peace revealed.
There are many treasured phrases out there, but they all say the same thing, “forgive – but don’t forget.” I saw several today, basically saying that forgiveness doesn’t mean you have to let them hurt you again. Or that the real reason we are to forgive is to free us from the resentment, not to free them from the consequences of their words and actions.
They are saying this, forgiving someone shouldn’t cause you to suffer more. Even if that suffering is only becoming humble.
So here is the question, can you forgive someone without desiring reconciliation?
Can you really ask God not to hold their sins against, and vow to not hold their sins against them, and desire that the relationship remains in the broken, separated state it is?
I am not talking about their heart, they may refuse the reconciliation, but ours cannot harden to the possibility of it. We have to grow in our desire of it. We have to pray for it, work for it, struggle with the sacrifice and humility of it. And when it doesn’t happen, we have to weep.
It is that simple.
We have to bear that cross. We have to love that deeply.
Reconciliation may be a long process; it may seem beyond our ability, beyond the ability to even desire. It’s not going to be a smooth path, but it is one we are called to embrace. It is our deepest vocation as children of God.
We may not like that; we may not want to hear it. We may rebel against it, find excuses, rationalize the need away. We may say that God wouldn’t ask us to embrace that level of suffering.
We would be wrong.
God desires that none perish, but that all would be changed, their hearts and their minds. Our hearts and our minds.
This is how we live in the baptized life, the reconciled life, the redeemed life.
Even on the days we have to cry out, “Lord, I believe, help me when I can’t believe”; on the days we cry out, “Lord have mercy on me, a sinner.”
He has..so rejoice and love.
AMEN.
(1) Escriva, Josemaria (2011-01-31). Furrow (Kindle Locations 1183-1186). Scepter Publishers. Kindle Edition.
Companions of the Cross – Lesson 2 Mark 9:38-50
Companions of the Cross – Lesson II
Don’t Cause others to Stumble
Mark 9:38-50
† In Jesus Name †
May You so grow to treasure the grace and mercy of God that you diligently strive to make it known, reminding yourself and those around you to depend upon it in all times.
Being Christ’s Companion is Like a Treasured Cup of Coffee
Dr. Anthony Campolo told a story about one of his aha moments, where his faith became real.
He was on his way to an important board meeting in Philadelphia. One of the ministries he headed up was being considered for an extremely generous grant, the kind that allows for incredible expansion of ministry.
With that in mind, he was walking from the parking garage to the office building when he spotted a man. A man with dirty hands and filthy clothes. A man whose torn old clothing could have barely protected him from the bitter cold of a Philadelphia winter. A man with a cup in his hand held out as if hoping for a coin or two to be dropped into the cup. He was coming right at Dr. Campolo.
The guilt and shame became proactive; Tony knew he should try to help the man – after all, helping others is what he trained college students to do. As the man came closer, the cup held out. The nerves rose – there would be no way to avoid the man, he would be late for his meeting, and this guy so looked like he needed the kind of help that Christ would judge Tony for not providing.
As the man approached, he said, “Mister, Mister, here, have this cup of coffee!” As Tony looked him in stunned disbelief, as this poor broken man tried to serve him, the professor and leader, the man continued, “No I don’t want anything, I just had a cup, and it is such an incredible thing on a day like this, I had to share one with someone else”
As Tony brought the cup to his lips, indeed, it was the best coffee he had ever had. An incredible gift from the least expected person in the world. And he would share with the businessmen that morning, not his prepared notes. But the story of a man who just had to share what he’d been given.
Such a lesson is the key to this morning, to these passages that seem confusing, until you realize they are about the same thing.
Being a companion of the cross with Jesus. A treasure so incredible, that you have to share it, that you have to help others know it, that it is worth more than life itself.
A Treasure too great to Insulate
We see that in the first few verses. Last week we heard the disciples getting chewed out because they all want to be the primary disciple, the one who would take over when Jesus died. Now content to serve each other, Jesus opens the gates a little wider.
The disciples get jealous; they want to protect the only man in history who had no need, and no desire to be protected. They wanted permission to shut this man down, Tony could have been happy with some security team member intercepting the man he perceived to be a beggar, but would actually offer a hot cup of coffee instead of a cup of water.
We don’t have to protect the gospel; we don’t need to play god and protect God. Yes, He will call people to trust in Him through the ministry here. And for others we will simply plant the seeds. Allowing others to plant the seeds.
We can’t insulate the gospel, we can’t protect it, it is bigger than us. As one pastor said this week,
“The Church, the holy People of God, treads the dust-laden paths of history, so often traversed by conflict, injustice and violence, in order to encounter her children, our brothers and sisters. The holy and faithful People of God are not afraid of losing their way; they are afraid of becoming self-enclosed, frozen into élites, clinging to their own security. They know that self-enclosure, in all the many forms it takes, is the cause of so much apathy.
So let us go out, let us go forth to offer everyone the life of Jesus Christ. (Pope Francis)
Being a companion of Christ is too good not to share, and so why should we be concerned, when others try to share it? We can help them, together become more consistent with Jesus teachings, but to just stop them?
I am not talking about some required “you must tell your friends and family and force them here.” But a relationship with God is too incredible to stop us from sharing it, so why should we stop someone else?
A treasure too great to not help protect
The same kind of thing goes for Jesus next point, the one this sermon is titled about.
If we know the value of this relationship with God, then we aren’t going to intentionally case someone to stop trusting in God. It would be better for those 1000 pounds millstone to be chained to us, and Lal to drop us off on the way out on his next fishing trip.
The more we value God’s call, the more we will want others to know it, and the more we will want those who know it to treasure it, to value their relationship with Jesus more than any other. If that is true, how would we feel to cause them to be so scandalized that they fall out of the relationship?
As we grow in our understanding of the dimensions of God’s love, our attitude will change, and we will realize that the little children Jesus is talking about include the atheist, the adherent of Islam, the person’s who sins turn your stomach, and it includes you and I.
As we grow in knowing God’s love, it would cause us great distress to think we drove someone away from the relationship with God we treasure!
A Treasure too Great to Love Other – including ourselves.
The section about cutting off hands and feet, of gouging out eyes was always too much for me. Seriously first it seemed a bit over the top. Second, most of us would be crawling around here, for us all too quickly sin.
But the relationship with God is so incredible, that which He offers us is so overwhelming, that we would rather do those things rather than risk it. We would realize that the first commandment is right – as we know what God has done, it doesn’t make sense to have other gods, it doesn’t make sense to put our trust in idols, even in the idol of ourselves.
That is what this is all about – the love of a God who would come to u because He desires us to be His people. Who would rather than overlook our sins, decide to take on their burden and die so that we could be free of them. Who would rise, so that we have the hope of everlasting life, and who would send the gift of the Holy Spirit to us in baptism, so we could know that hope, so we could have a glimpse of it.
A treasure so incredible, so amazing, that we simply can’t help but want others to know it. We would encourage each other to rejoice in it, and guard against causing people to give up on God or His people, and we would rather lose ourselves than lose the relationship.
This is what God gives us… to all. The professor and the homeless guy, the businessman and the child, the pastor and the shut-in.
The hope we preach, that Christ is in you, and, therefore, you have the hope of sharing in His glory. And until that hope is seen, you dwell, guarded by Him, in His peace.
AMEN!
A Necessary Ingredient for Faith in Troubled Times…
Devotional Thought of the Day
8 No, O people, the LORD has told you what is good, and this is what he requires of you: to do what is right, to love mercy, and to walk humbly with your God. Micah 6:8 (NLT)
16 Then the eleven disciples left for Galilee, going to the mountain where Jesus had told them to go. 17 When they saw him, they worshiped him—but some of them doubted! 18 Jesus came and told his disciples, “I have been given all authority in heaven and on earth. 19 Therefore, go and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit. 20 Teach these new disciples to obey all the commands I have given you. And be sure of this: I am with you always, even to the end of the age.” Matthew 28:16-20 (NLT)
581 How humbly and simply the evangelists relate incidents that show up the weak and wavering faith of the Apostles! This is to keep you and me from giving up the hope of some day achieving the strong and unshakeable faith that those same Apostle s had later. (1)
The simplicity and pastoral care with which the Fr. Josemaria Escriva wrote his simple sentences astounds me. I may not agree with everything he writes, but there is so much which resonates with me. Simply put, he often puts the words to what I know and struggle to explain.
This is true today, as I struggle with how the church (myself included) struggles to reflect the love of Christ into a broken and dark world. We get so caught up in our own pain, the sense of betrayal we have felt, our own anxiety and paranoia that we fail to trust God, to have faith in His promises.
The task to have a world, a country, a community that glorifies God seems overwhelming, and even impossible. The world wants what it wants, its version of justice, its version of freedom, its version of love and hope, and we seem surprised that it is at odds with what we know from scripture.
And rather lament over the brokenness of the world, we lament over the loss of power and the loss of our dreams. As we do, or faith wavers, we doubt, we give way to our feelings.
To this loss, the words in blue above speak strongly. We aren’t alone when we struggle; the apostles struggled just as much as we do. They walked for 40 days with the Lord Jesus, after he rose from the dead, after being beaten, crucified and a spear strike into his heart and lungs. And in Matthew’s gospel, it tells us, their faith wavered, they doubted, they knew anxiety and fear. (What else did they need – they had Jesus, risen from the dead!)
That they did, that God continued to work through them, that they would go on to grow in their trust of God is amazing. 10 of 11 of the men there would die, brutally, because they took the task Jesus commissioned them for very seriously. They made disciples, they baptized people and taught them to treasure what God had given them in Christ Jesus.
But first they doubted, first their faith wavered, and Jesus even rebuked them a time or two… for not trusting Him, for not turning to God.
That is where humility comes in, of knowing we are children of God, people who are his, and are welcome to depend on Him. Even when we don’t understand the world any more than it understands us. It is at that point where we need to be humble, to be meek, to find our confidence, not in our strength, not in our ability to argue, not in our witty meme’s or comebacks. We need to be humble, to walk with God, to seek out the justice of the cross. To know the love of God, shown in Jesus bearing the wounds that would bring healing to all the broken people, all the broken relationships in the world. Including us.
As we find that healing in Christ Jesus, we can help others heal.
That requires trusting God… and being humble enough to admit our need, our dependence on Him.
Lord Have mercy on us!
1. Escriva, Josemaria (2010-11-02). The Way (Kindle Locations 1387-1389). Scepter Publishers. Kindle Edition.
A Challenge When Seeking High Education
Discussion Thought of the Day:
29 But it’s obvious by now, isn’t it, that Christ’s church is a complete Body and not a gigantic, unidimensional Part? It’s not all Apostle, not all Prophet, not all Miracle Worker, 30 not all Healer, not all Prayer in Tongues, not all Interpreter of Tongues. 31 And yet some of you keep competing for so-called “important” parts. But now I want to lay out a far better way for you.
1 If I speak with human eloquence and angelic ecstasy but don’t love, I’m nothing but the creaking of a rusty gate. 2 If I speak God’s Word with power, revealing all his mysteries and making everything plain as day, and if I have faith that says to a mountain, “Jump,” and it jumps, but I don’t love, I’m nothing. 3 If I give everything I own to the poor and even go to the stake to be burned as a martyr, but I don’t love, I’ve gotten nowhere. So, no matter what I say, what I believe, and what I do, I’m bankrupt without love. 1 Corinthians 12:29-13:3 (MSG))
For our purpose it will suffice to recall how Augustine tried to sum up the essential part of the Pentecost narrative: World history, he says, is a struggle between two kinds of love—love of self that ends in hatred of God, and love of God that ends in the renunciation of self. This second love is the redemption of the world and of the self. In my opinion, it would already be a significant achievement if the days of Pentecost would turn us from the thoughtless use of our leisure time to a sense of our responsibility; if they would lead us—beyond the merely rational, beyond that knowledge that can be stored up and used in planning—to a rediscovery of “spirit”, of the responsibility inseparable from truth, and of the values of conscience and love. Even if, at first, we should not arrive at what is, in the narrowest sense, strictly Christian, we should, nevertheless, already be touching the hem of Christ and his Spirit. (1)
350 In addition to being a good Christian, it’s not enough to be a scholar. If you don’t correct your rudeness, if you make your zeal and your knowledge incompatible with good manners, I don’t see how you can ever become a saint. And, even if you are a scholar—in spite of being a scholar—you should be tied to a stall, like a mule. (2)
Every year about this time, I consider going back to school part-time. I have had some people that have encouraged it in the past, and again a few are doing so, even now. To get a doctorate, either a DMin or a Ph.D. There is some interest, some desire to be challenged. Even as I do consider this, there is a fear of the change that I know could occur. A distancing of myself from my people, from understanding their lives, from speaking their language. This is without a doubt, one of my biggest fears, the loss of the ability to communicate clearly.
I fear this, partially because I know myself, I love to absorb rather than simply memorize, and that means I forget that others may not use the same language I have acquired. It’s happened before, and I’ve seen it happen to others. I don’t think it is a matter of being condescending, as much as we can forget that we’ve been part of a different environment, a different culture. At least, that is my best construction. ( I am not saying there aren’t condescending academics out there.. just I don’t think many are truly that)
So how does one stay connected? How do you continue to communicate, clearly and efficiently, without getting caught up in those 4 syllable words? How do you remember to explain things in a manner everyone can understand, without insulting people’s knowledge base? (side note: the amount of knowledge one can accumulate has nothing to do with their wisdom or intelligence – for example – guys who are great at trivia and computers who cannot tie their shoes or understand how to use tools like hammers, screwdrivers etc)
I think the key is seen in the two quotes above. First the obvious lesson in scripture. Without the love of God in your life, it is all worthless. Unless driven by God’s love for mankind, the knowledge and learning we have been given will simply echo endlessly without people to listen.
I think that is the same thing Pope Benedict is working through in the quote about Pentecost, that there is something more than just the knowledge, the data, even theological data. Something supernatural that occurs, that we may struggle with, that we need to have. It is that touching the hem of Christ Jesus.
Escriva is blunter, chastising those of us who in danger of becoming rude with our knowledge. Those whose are puffed up by it. Or those who simply do not have the wisdom to understand that others are smarter, more spiritual, more faithful, even when they can’t comprehend certain subsets of vocabulary that we find common. In our use
The answer comes back to the person of Christ, to realize His love for all of us, for us to emulate His charachter, His humility, his coming alongside everyone. To touch His robe, know His healing, and let His Spirit transform us into people who love others, renouncing our own “rights” and that which “benefits” us.
It’s a challenge for all of us, not just the academic, not just the theologian. To realize that we dwell in the glory of God, and that God can use all things, including education, for good for those that love Him, for those He calls with a purpose, His purpose, that is the key.
So let us keep encouraging each other, encouraging each other to be humble, to follow Christ, to use our gifts and ability in a way that is loving and caring…. AMEN.
(1) Ratzinger, J. (1992). Co-Workers of the Truth: Meditations for Every Day of the Year. (M. F. McCarthy & L. Krauth, Trans., I. Grassl, Ed.) (pp. 153–154). San Francisco: Ignatius Press.
(2) Escriva, Josemaria (2010-11-02). The Way (Kindle Locations 889-891). Scepter Publishers. Kindle Edition.
The Method That Works When Dealing With Evil…
Devotional Thought of the Day:
No doubt about it! God is good— good to good people, good to the good-hearted. 2 But I nearly missed it, missed seeing his goodness. 3 I was looking the other way, looking up to the people 4 At the top, envying the wicked who have it made, 5 Who have nothing to worry about, not a care in the whole wide world. 6 Pretentious with arrogance, they wear the latest fashions in violence, 7 Pampered and overfed, decked out in silk bows of silliness. 8 They jeer, using words to kill; they bully their way with words. 9 They’re full of hot air, loudmouths disturbing the peace. 10 People actually listen to them—can you believe it? Like thirsty puppies, they lap up their words.
11 What’s going on here? Is God out to lunch? Nobody’s tending the store. 12 The wicked get by with everything; they have it made, piling up riches 13 I’ve been stupid to play by the rules; what has it gotten me? 14 A long run of bad luck, that’s what— a slap in the face every time I walk out the door.
5 If I’d have given in and talked like this, I would have betrayed your dear children. 16 Still, when I tried to figure it out, all I got was a splitting headache... 17 Until I entered the sanctuary of God. Then I saw the whole picture: 18 The slippery road you’ve put them on, with a final crash in a ditch of delusions. 19 In the blink of an eye, disaster! A blind curve in the dark, and—nightmare! 20 We wake up and rub our eyes… . Nothing. There’s nothing to them. And there never was. 21 When I was beleaguered and bitter, totally consumed by envy, 22 I was totally ignorant, a dumb ox in your very presence. 23 I’m still in your presence, but you’ve taken my hand. 24 You wisely and tenderly lead me, and then you bless me. 25 You’re all I want in heaven! You’re all I want on earth! 26 When my skin sags and my bones get brittle, GOD is rock-firm and faithful. 27 Look! Those who left you are falling apart! Deserters, they’ll never be heard from again. 28 But I’m in the very presence of God— oh, how refreshing it is! I’ve made Lord GOD my home. God, I’m telling the world what you do! Psalm 73:1-28 (MSG)
212 That Christ you see is not Jesus. At best it is only the pitiful image that your blurred eyes are able to form … Purify yourself. Make your sight cleaner with humility and penance. Then the pure light of love will not fail you. And you will have perfect vision. The image you see will really be his: Jesus himself. (1)
Evil.
We encounter it daily.
You see it as the acts of ISIS are discussed, we hear that some think that police are evil, or politicians, or maybe someone close to you. Someone who has betrayed you, or disappointed you. We wonder why there can’t be anything done against evil, whether it is some physical action that stops their work, or a physical judgment in which we can all rejoice.
Psalm 73 looks at this issue, why those who are evil can appear to be successful, we might even dare use the word blessed. But the psalmist can’t even bring himself to ask publicly that question. To do so would betray the people he is set aside to lead in worship and praise of God. But this existence of evil, is too much, and that they succeed, and are not punished, there is no logic to this. There is only questioning, and even that we feel seems to be wrong. For to question, does that mean we don’t trust God?
The answer is not found in words, they fail.
It is found in the sanctuary, the Holy Place, the temple of God. It is found as we realize the presence of God in our lives, in the comfort His presence brings.
That is why I am so completely overwhelmed when we commune, as we receive the Body and Blood of Christ. There is something that is not only humbling, as the Psalmist mentions, but healing as well, Comforting, Assuring, building our confidence in a way that goes beyond words. God, giving Himself, to rid us not only of the evil in the world, but the evil in our lives.
His promise, His action, His death on the cross – giving His life, for us. Letting His blood be poured out, so the nations could be reconciled.
As St. Josemaria says, it is then, our vision cleared by seeing Christ, humble and at peace, we can turn evil over to God. We know His protection, His peace.
We can even find rest, knowing that He is Lord, and Savior, and the One who loves us.
So if you have to deal with evil, at whatever level. Look to Christ – let Him cleanse you.
He will.
(1) Escriva, Josemaria (2010-11-02). The Way (Kindle Locations 604-607). Scepter Publishers. Kindle Edition.
When Will Hand Over the Reins of our Lives?
Devotional Thought of the Day:
1 LORD, my heart is not proud; my eyes are not haughty. I don’t concern myself with matters too great or too awesome for me to grasp. 2 Instead, I have calmed and quieted myself, like a weaned child who no longer cries for its mother’s milk. Yes, like a weaned child is my soul within me. 3 O Israel, put your hope in the LORD— now and always. Psalm 131:1-3 (NLT)
323 Jesus knows very well what is best… and I love his Will and will do so always. He it is who controls “the puppets” and so, provided it is a means to achieving our end, even if there are godless men who are determined to put obstacles in the way, he will grant what I am asking. (1)
“every word, every image used for God is a distortion more than a description.”
“Then how does one speak of God?”
“Through silence”
“Why then, do you speak in words?”
“At that, the Abba laughed uproariously. He said, “when I speak, you must not listen to the words my dear. Listen to the Silence.” (2)
It is the unspoken idol in all of our lives, it is idea that we must be working, we must be cleaning, we must be the sole defenders of the faith. We want to be the heroes, we want our way to be the right way, and then be put in charge of correcting all who are wrong. ( and make them agree with our wisdom) We een justify our Machiavellianism as being faithful to our call, being faithful to doctrine. I am as guilty of it as any other, this idea that it is our responsibility to make life work, to make our denominations work.
As a result, we’ve forgotten God’s desire, we’ve forgotten the work we’ve been given, to proclaim the Kingdom of God is here, that God is in charge, and desires to reconcile all to Himself, to bring all to repentance, to bring all home.
The challenge is one of faith, one of trust. Do I trust God enough to let HIm handle the big stuff, to move the church, and The Church, in the direction it needs to go. Will I allow myself to be quiet, listening to Him speak. Will I put my hope in Him, and not in the princes and leaders of the world. Will I allow Him to deal with those who put obstacles to grace in the way?
Will I encourage others to as well, to seek His face, to find rest in Jesus?
Will I find it myself?
Psalm 103 is a great prayer, may it be our desire to make it ours….
Lord Have Mercy….
(1) Escriva, Josemaria (2011-01-31). The Forge (Kindle Locations 1287-1290). Scepter Publishers. Kindle Edition.
(2) FInian Reading for 11/15 from The Celtic Daily Prayer
