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Our Need for Prayer
Devotional Thought of the Day:
3 So what makes us think we can escape if we ignore this great salvation that was first announced by the Lord Jesus himself and then delivered to us by those who heard him speak? Hebrews 2:3 (NLT)
6 Don’t worry about anything; instead, pray about everything. Tell God what you need, and thank him for all he has done. 7 Then you will experience God’s peace, which exceeds anything we can understand. His peace will guard your hearts and minds as you live in Christ Jesus. Philippians 4:6-7 (NLT)
The more you suffer, the more you are tempted the more you need to pray; prayer now alone can strengthen you with help and consolation. Let not pain and fierce temptation paralyze you prayer. The devil does all he can to prevent you from praying at these times. But rather than give into weak human nature which absorbs the soul in its paid so that it sees nothing else for the time, turn your eyes to our Lord and speak to Him standing so near. He is with you, looking on you lovingly, listening for your words. He tells you to speak, that He is there to hear you, that He loves you and you have not a word to say to Him, no look to give Him. What ingratitude! Look at Him speak to Him without ceasing, The deeper your agony, the deeper you must bury yourself in the Heart of your Beloved, and cling to His side with ceaseless prayer! (1)
I have to admit, while I don’t spend the time i would like, perhaps as much time I really need in prayer, the words in blue resonate with me.
I know them true, and it is why I can desire to spend more time, more hours, more days in prayer.
You may ask why I put the first reading there, about ignoring salvation. Simply put, because salvation isn’t just about the event, where God cleanses us from sin, washing us clean as He promises in our baptism, replacing our heart of stone with a heart of flesh and giving us His Spirit, (see Ezekiel 36:25). Salvation is rescuing us from and delivering us to something that is incredible.
As we are saved we become something. We become part of the people of God, daughters and sons of God, adopted and marked as His children, we enter into a entirely different relationship with God, one where He promises to never forsake us, never abandon us, never to stop working in our lives. We find life, a life lived in fellowship, in community, in communion with God.
And that is what we should never neglect, that is what we need to grow in, the awareness that the Lord is with you. (and yes, thank you – also with me). We need to learn to depend up this, not as a fact, but as reality. He is with us, ready to listen, ready to comfort, ready to heal, ready to reach out into this broken world.
Prayer then becomes the way of life, the very meaning of our salvation. Walking with God. Please re-read the second scripture passage and the italicized blue above, there is our hope. our peace, our comfort, our very ability to live.
In the past couple of weeks, many people I know have encountered death of their loved ones. I’ve talked to others, who have lost jobs, or are afraid of losing a relationship. Just knowing this is exhausting, tiring, painful, the feeling of emptiness and loneliness I observe is… crushing. For those directly involved, the devotional writer gets it right. The sorrow and grief consumes us. Nothing else can matter in that moment.
Until God breaks through, until He reminds us that He is here. There is a strong correlation between how quickly we hear His voice in those moments, and the time we spend walking with Him at other times. Even if we feel that there aren’t the other times. Yet if we neglect this, if we take Him for granted, it may take a longer time to find Him, when only His comfort is the answer. Don’t neglect Him, don’t
Then we can find rest and peace, dwelling in His love.
So pray my friends, realize God walks with you, and share with Him everything… and spend some time in stillness, and in quiet, and know He is God. AMEN!
(1) from Celtic Daily Prayer: Finian Reading for April 10th.
Who Can Pray?
11 Yet God has made everything beautiful for its own time. He has planted eternity in the human heart, but even so, people cannot see the whole scope of God’s work from beginning to end. Ecclesiastes 3:11 (NLT)
41 “When a foreigner who lives in a distant land hears of your fame and of the great things you have done for your people and comes to worship you and to pray at this Temple, 43 listen to his prayer. In heaven, where you live, hear him and do what he asks you to do, so that all the peoples of the world may know you and obey you, as your people Israel do. Then they will know that this Temple I have built is the place where you are to be worshiped. 1 Kings 8:41-43 (TEV)
20 Some Greeks were among those who had gone to Jerusalem to worship during the festival. 21 They went to Philip (he was from Bethsaida in Galilee) and said, “Sir, we want to see Jesus.” John 12:20-21 (TEV)
I really do believe that a serious danger of losing the way threatens those who launch out into action—activism—while neglecting prayer, self-denial, and those means without which it is impossible to achieve a solid piety: receiving the Sacraments frequently, meditation, examination of conscience, spiritual reading, and constant recourse to our Lady and the guardian angels … Besides, all these means contribute in a way that nothing else can, to making the Christian’s daily life a joyful one, for from their hidden riches flow out the sweetness and joy of God, like honey from the comb.
All who are outside the Christian church, whether heathen, Turks, Jews, or false Christians and hypocrites, even though they believe in and worship only the one, true God, nevertheless do not know what his attitude is toward them. They cannot be confident of his love and blessing. Therefore they remain in eternal wrath and damnation, for they do not have the Lord Christ, and, besides, they are not illuminated and blessed by the gifts of the Holy Spirit. (2)
This post started out as a discussion point, based on a conversation yesterday. The question then was, can a unbeliever pray to God, and can a Christian pray with, instead of for, a unbeliever, or someone who believes in some other deity. (including themselves)
But even as I am writing this, and pulling out the quotes above, I am convinced the question is not whether they can pray. Rather, the question is why people do not, including those who should know the blessing of prayer. For many know the promises of spending intimate time, whether a few minutes or hours or a weekend in prayer.
Finding relief from burdens, finding confidence in God’s presence, even in the midst of adversity, hearing God’s voice and knowing the comfort His presence brings. Learning to understand what brings Him joy, and crying with Him over those who do not hear Him. Just spending time with Him.
Prayer is important enough that Solomon dedicated the temple where God put His name, in order that His people would know nothing, especially their own sin, could separate them from His love. He set aside an area for what is noted above – that those who heard of them but were not God’s people (yet) could pray, That they cold recognise the desire for eternity that was in their hearts, was placed there so they would seek Him! That even those, like the Gentiles (term for people not in a covenant relationship with God) could ask to see Him. That Samaritans and prostitutes and tax collecters and everyone would know HIs desire – that they would be drawn to them.
That they would be His people, that they would become the children of the Father, the brothers and sisters and friends of Jesus.
They would converse with God. That they would share His life, and He would share in theirs. No, that He would be theirs. This is what prayer is, the dialog of those in a special, intimate relationship. God and His people.
It may scare us at first, it usually does. Gideon was afraid, as was Isaiah. David was when he realized his desire gave way to sin, and that meant he would alienate the Holy Spirit. The idea of intimacy with God may be scary, but not if we realize that this is His idea, that this is the scope of His work.
Anyone can call out to God, even if all they know is what general revelation speaks of, as the heavens and earth declare His glory. That cry can be a simple save me, or Lord, I need to know you are out there. And we can pray that with them, for we know the difference it makes in our life.
And we should pray, dear fellow believers. Whether it is simply because we know God commands and encourages it or because we are coming to realize that mercy and love that He has for us. It may start out as an exercise, a discipline. It will turn into a life…. a life walked in/with Christ. A life we all need, desperately, a life of prayer that becomes a joy.
A life that sustains us….and causes us to weep for those who do not know it….yet.
(1) Escriva, Josemaria (2010-11-02). Friends of God (Kindle Locations 502-506). Scepter Publishers. Kindle Edition.
(2) Tappert, T. G. (Ed.). (1959). The Book of Concord the confessions of the Evangelical Lutheran Church. (p. 419). Philadelphia: Mühlenberg Press.
Two Things Needed in Every Church, and in Every Person in Church
Devotional Thought of the Day:
19 My friends, if any of you wander away from the truth and another one brings you back again, 20 remember this: whoever turns a sinner back from the wrong way will save that sinner’s soul from death and bring about the forgiveness of many sins. James 5:19-20 (TEV)
28 “Now, what do you think? There was once a man who had two sons. He went to the older one and said, ‘Son, go and work in the vineyard today.’ 29 ‘I don’t want to,’ he answered, but later he changed his mind and went. 30 Then the father went to the other son and said the same thing. ‘Yes, sir,’ he answered, but he did not go. 31 Which one of the two did what his father wanted?” “The older one,” they answered. So Jesus said to them, “I tell you: the tax collectors and the prostitutes are going into the Kingdom of God ahead of you. Matthew 21:28-31 (TEV)
909 You say that you want to be an apostle of Christ. I’m very glad to hear it. I pray that God may give you perseverance. Remember that from our mouths, from our thoughts, from our hearts, should issue only divine motives, of hunger for souls, of themes that lead us one way or another to God—or at least, that do not take us away from him. (1)
If I could give a gift to every pastor, to every seminarian, to every Sunday School Teacher, to every person struggling to make it to church on Sunday, it wouldn’t be more money, or more skill, or even more knowledge of doctrine. It wouldn’t be to give them a fun and happy church, where everyone’s problems are solved.
Two tiny, invisible things I would give them. Two things that are born from… well, I’ll get to that in a moment.
The two things are this. Desire to minister and Perseverance.
Paul talks about this desire to young Timothy, as part of the description of a bishop, a pastor. Someone who covets the role, who can’t tink of doing anything else, being anything else. I believe this is true for any role in the church as well. It’s not about the title, it is about the work.
The other thing is perseverance, To persevere through a learning curve (and to never forget you haven’t made it to the top) Perseverance with our own mistakes, even our feeling that we are beyond our own capabilities, perseverance fueled by a desire to realize that our work will save a sinners soul from death.
That is what we are about, whether it is the elder visiting the shut-in, the ladies preparing the elements for the Lord’s supper with great care, the Sunday School teacher, preparing hard, throwing everything into their ministry, and mostly praying harder than anything else.
For the desire, and the will that perseveres is not earthly, it is not common, It comes from the highest heaven, it is the transformation that God does in our lives. We are the son who says no to our Father, then cannot but help completing the task. We are compelled as St. Paul will tell young Timothy.
We desire and persevere against what is natural for us, because the grace of God is so overpowering.
That is why tax collector, a bunch of untrained fisherman, and a few others can change their world, even facing death as it happens. It is why those who have gone before us have done amazing things, witnessing the faithfulness of God. it is why a bread baker in a monastery can write one of the foremost books about spiritual life.
Desire and perseverance, two of the characteristics we see in Christ Jesus. That is where we get it from, an alien
Two things that come to us, as we abide in Christ Jesus…. and desire to see sins covered, and souls saved from death… and we cannot help but be driven to see our Father’s work done.
(1) Escriva, Josemaria (2011-01-31). The Forge (Kindle Locations 3210-3214). Scepter Publishers. Kindle Edition.
Are We So Afraid of Our Darkness?
Devotional Thoughts of the Day:
11 I could ask the darkness to hide me and the light around me to become night— 12 but even in darkness I cannot hide from you. To you the night shines as bright as day. Darkness and light are the same to you. Psalm 139:11-12 (NLT)
“Nobody is wise who does not know the darkness. I appreciate the dark hours of my existence in which my senses are sharpened.” (1)
678 From Saint Paul’s teaching, we know that we have to renew the world in the spirit of Jesus Christ, that we have to place Our Lord at the summit and at the heart of all things. Do you think you are carrying this out in your work, in your professional task?
Some recent events corresponded to my devotional readings this morning.
The thing we have in common is the darkness that affects our lives. In some cases, it may be depression, or loneliness. It could also be grief, and dealing with the threat of death, or death itself. It can also be dealing with the consequences of sin, and falling in times of great temptation.
Each of these times have their own level of darkness, and we encounter them in life. They are there, unavoidable. Yes, even Christians have to deal with the darkness of life, the despair that can creep up and oppress us,
The challenge is not the darkness, but rather in not facing the darkness, It isn’t the pain and anxiety the darkness can cause, but in trying to become comfortable with it, rather than being comforted as we endure it.
In one of my devotions, quoted above in green bold print, there was the comment that we can find our senses sharpened by the darkness. Based on the rest of the reading this doesn’t mean we look to embrace the darkness, but rather that there, acknowledging the darkness, we become more aware of God’s presence, as God comforts us, protects us, gives our hearts and minds peace that is…supernatural, unexplainable, glorious.
THe pslamist knew this as well, for even that darkness cannot stop God, He sees us, hears our cries. The Hly Spirit, the gift of our baptism, the one called the Paraclete, the comforter, comes an supports us, and we become aware of it as well.
The Spirit of God reminds us of all the promises given to us, as we are united with Christ, in His death, in His resurrection, and even while we await for His return. (Check our Colossians 3:1-3 about this – it is amazing!) This is why the promise of baptism is so… incredible.
Darkness and light in our lives fade in their meaning, as we realize the presence of God. His presence, His glory.
If we hide in the darkness, if we ignore its oppression, if we try to make people comfortable with it, by diminishing the pain, diminishing the horror, discounting the anxiety and angst, we are not doing them any good. Trauma sucks, Depression is scary and overwhelming. Loneliness is something beyond which we normally can deal with, even introverts. Grave illness and death cause our souls to shrink and become almost fetal as we fear that which we cannot overcome. And sin destroys.
Unless the glorious healing power of Jesus presence is known. Unless we realize that He is here, caring for us, our wonderful Lord and Savior, who does reign. Who is, as Escriva writes, the heart and summit of all things.
So even in the darkness, He is there… eliminating it.
The words of Hebrews 12 come so clearly to mind>
1 Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a huge crowd of witnesses to the life of faith, let us strip off every weight that slows us down, especially the sin that so easily trips us up. And let us run with endurance the race God has set before us. 2 We do this by keeping our eyes on Jesus, the champion who initiates and perfects our faith. Because of the joy awaiting him, he endured the cross, disregarding its shame. Now he is seated in the place of honor beside God’s throne. Hebrews 12:1-2 (NLT)
and take great joy – here is that verse from Colossians
1 Since you have been raised to new life with Christ, set your sights on the realities of heaven, where Christ sits in the place of honor at God’s right hand. 2 Think about the things of heaven, not the things of earth. 3 For you died to this life, and your real life is hidden with Christ in God. 4 And when Christ, who is your life, is revealed to the whole world, you will share in all his glory. Colossians 3:1-4 (NLT)
And rejoice, and sing His praises, for as we endure the darkness of our lives, the lives in which He is the Lord, the darkness simply helps us be aware of His work in our lives……
To Him who sits on the throne, be all glory and honor and praise…. AMEN
(1) From Celtic Daily Book, devotional for 1/8 Finian Series
(2) Escriva, Josemaria (2011-01-31). The Forge (Kindle Locations 2501-2504). Scepter Publishers. Kindle Edition.
Which Do We Look Forward To More: Prayer or Pancakes?
Devotional Thought of the Day:
6 “I will also bless the foreigners who commit themselves to the LORD, who serve him and love his name, who worship him and do not desecrate the Sabbath day of rest, and who hold fast to my covenant. 7 I will bring them to my holy mountain of Jerusalem and will fill them with joy in my house of prayer. I will accept their burnt offerings and sacrifices, because my Temple will be called a house of prayer for all nations. Isaiah 56:6-7 (NLT)
464 Look at the set of senseless reasons the enemy gives you for abandoning your prayer. “I have no time”—when you are continually wasting it. “This is not for me.” “My heart is dry… “ Prayer is not a question of what you say or feel, but of love. And you love when you try hard to say something to the Lord, even though you might not actually say anything. (1)
It was just a comment by a friend this morning, that came back to mind as I was doing my devotions. Basically, the comment on FB was something to the extent of, “I am so looking forward to pancakes this morning” (there was something about gluten-free there… but that seems like an oxymoron) The comment took me back to my youth, to the breakfasts at Downeast Coffee Shop in Salem with my dad (you know the kind of place with the grill opposite the counter where you sat?), the breakfasts with my gramps at the racetrack.
Heck – even though I liked sleep a lot in those days… we would be up before dawn if it meant a good breakfast, incredibly anticipating the bacon, eggs, pancakes, and the fun of going out with grampy or dad.
Which got me thinking – do we desire to have time with out heavenly father like that? Are we willing to get up earlier, to spend time with Him, Do we long for our time of prayer? The way Isaiah describes is, how could we not? Those of us who were outsiders, are now accepted. The sacrifice of Christ for us is accepted. We are made part of God’s family, and He longs to spend time with us. Conversing, feasting, laughing, enjoying each other! That is what prayer is, even in Church. As Josemaria Escriva pronounced, this is not about whether you have just the right words, or have the correct mental attitude. It is about the love, the relationship, the time together.
I can’t remember the topics my dad and I discussed at the coffee shop. But I can picture us there on the stools, me spinning around, him just enjoying his coffee. My brother Stephen enjoying a horrid mixture of half coffee half cream. I can remember the booth at the racetrack. The conversation there was always about the Red Sox, about whether Yaz was better than Williams, about the being the year of the World Series… I remember us together, I see it still as if I was still 10.
That’s the nature of prayer, the time knowing not only are we in God’s presence, but that we have His attention, His love. Some of the things we say are probably quiet silly in other people’s eyes. The problems we bring to Him, the burdens that are lifted… the fun, the joy, the communion.
This is prayer, so act like a 10 year old kid talking to his dad over pancakes…. and as often as you get a chance, partake of the Bread of Heaven with Him as well!
(1) Escriva, Josemaria (2011-01-31). Furrow (Kindle Locations 2047-2051). Scepter Publishers. Kindle Edition.
Faith can’t fit in a meme box or 140 character tweet…
Devotional Thought of the Day:
24 The father at once cried out, “I do have faith, but not enough. Help me have more!” Mark 9:24 (TEV)
8 No, the LORD has told us what is good. What he requires of us is this: to do what is just, to show constant love, and to live in humble fellowship with our God. Micah 6:8 (TEV)
FAITH IS SOMETHING we need to ask for. God forbid that we should fail to be importunate with God and with his saints. One of the most refined forms of arrogance consists in claiming that prayer of petition is inferior to other forms of prayer . Only when we become beggars do we realize that we are creatures. When we don’t honor the faith of humble folk, who can teach us how to ask for what we need, then we think that what saves us is pure faith; but that is empty faith, a faith devoid of all religion and all piety. In such a state, we are unable to interpret religious experience. Our intellects go astray with their feeble lights, and we resort to explaining the truth of faith with slogans borrowed from cultural ideologies . (1)
This quote from a pope is one we desperately need to hear, especially those of us who spend any amount of time on Facebook or any other social media.
For far too often we reduce our faith on social media to a snappy quote, a “gotcha” meme, or even try to debate theology or the existence of God in 140 character bursts. What this does is what Pope Francis talks about above – a faith without experiencing God. A Creed, a statement of “faith” that is not communicated, but forced in a way that eliminates conversation, that eliminates discussion. Such burst messages don’t give the full picture, they miss the context, and therein is the problem.
One of my professors once said that good preaching and good theology contains not only the “what”, but the “so what”. How the message impacts the hearer, or in the case of tweets, the reader. How do those words, seen digitally on the screen communicate the need we have to relate to God, to live in fellowship with Him? How can we help people realize that God is dependable, and that they can depend on Him? Even that sentence doesn’t include the incarnation, the death and resurrection of Christ. It doesn’t shake us from our idol of self-sufficiency, our illusion that we can control our world, our environment. For that is where humility begins, knowing that we can’t possibly be God, and in humility finding out that is okay.
Because God,, loves us enough to give up everything for us.
Neither the Pope or I am claiming you need more words to be holier, or more intellectual, but that deep faith is born in deep need. Holiness originating in us, in our brokenness, healing of our lives comes as we realize how shattered they are. It is at those points, when we cry out to God, that we can hear His voice.
And that is what faith, what the “Christian religion” is about – walking humbly with God, in a conversation, assured that He will guide us, comfort us, heal us. Because He has proven, in Christ, the extent to which He will go, and has gone, to do this very thing.
May we today walk humbly, knowing we are His children, and He is our Heavenly father. …
Pope Francis; Jorge M Bergoglio (2013-11-18). Open Mind, Faithful Heart (p. 28). The Crossroad Publishing Company. Kindle Edition.
Can We Demand A Blessing from God?
Devotional Thought of the Day:
22 That same night Jacob got up, took his two wives, his two concubines, and his eleven children, and crossed the Jabbok River. 23 After he had sent them across, he also sent across all that he owned, 24 but he stayed behind, alone. Then a man came and wrestled with him until just before daybreak. 25 When the man saw that he was not winning the struggle, he hit Jacob on the hip, and it was thrown out of joint. 26 The man said, “Let me go; daylight is coming.” “I won’t, unless you bless me,” Jacob answered. 27 “What is your name?” the man asked. “Jacob,” he answered. 28 The man said, “Your name will no longer be Jacob. You have struggled with God and with men, and you have won; so your name will be Israel.” 29 Jacob said, “Now tell me your name.” But he answered, “Why do you want to know my name?” Then he blessed Jacob. 30 Jacob said, “I have seen God face-to-face, and I am still alive”; so he named the place Peniel. Genesis 32:22-30 (TEV)
70 You asked me if I had a cross to bear. And I answered, “Yes, we always have to bear the Cross.” But it is a glorious Cross, a divine seal, the authentic guarantee of our being children of God. That is why we always walk along happily with the Cross. (1)
I don’t like to wrestle with God, yet I find myself doing it far too often.
Often the wrestling is because I am too much like Jacob, I want things the way I want them. Often times the way I want them seems quite logical, quite loving.
I want couples to grow together, not fight each other. I want my family and friends to be healthy, not dealing with heart issues, or cancer, or even the effects of aging and it slowing them down. I want my friends to be fellow disciples – studying and knowing God’s love, and desiring to spend time in worship and in service, and realizing that those two things, are really the same.
These things aren’t bad, are they? Why can’t they simply happen?
I am tired of wrestling with God over them, there are days, where I want to just walk away, to give up, to let people go there way, and find some nice “normal” life. Like Jeremiah, I have to rant and rave at times:
7 LORD, you have deceived me, and I was deceived. You are stronger than I am, and you have overpowered me. Everyone makes fun of me; they laugh at me all day long. Jeremiah 20:7 (TEV)
I can’t I have to wrestle with Him, I have to fight, I have to realize how He has blessed us. Until I do, like Jacob, I cannot give up. I have to find that blessing, I have to demand it,
I have to realize what it is….I have to realize the nature of the cross that He has chosen me to bear, even as you bear one as well.
The wrestling with God is all about the cross St Josemaria mentions; Jeremiah’s being deceived gives us the answer as well. Here is how Jeremiah sees the matter resolve…..
9 But when I say, “I will forget the LORD and no longer speak in his name,” then your message is like a fire burning deep within me. I try my best to hold it in, but can no longer keep it back. Jeremiah 20:9 (TEV)
It is seen in Jacob realizing the answer to the unanswered question, Who was this man? Jacob’s realization – it is God, I have seen His face. I even wrestled with Him, and He and I survived.
God came to me, He is here. He has come to you as well, and sometimes, the battle is on. We fight him, we try to forget Him, we do everything we can…. and He is still here. King David describes this as well in Psalm 139 – where he tries to flee God, and realizes His silliness.
The blessing? The reason we fight Him? It’s found in the very fight. He will wrestle with us, without destroying us. He comes to us, and engages with us, and cares enough to see the battle through. To let us rant and rave, and yeah – even sometimes cry, but in the end…. realizing His presence… we find peace.
That is the blessing..
A blessing that makes the cross glorious, that makes the struggle amazing, that makes God’s message, something we cannot dismiss or ignore… for it burns inside us.
To realize God has come to us, to you, to me. That He is here, with mercy and comfort, love… and a peace that we cannot explain. Even as we are exhausted from the fight, and weary from the burden of the cross… and though we still don’t get the entire story…. we know all that matters…..
He is here…and that is our blessing.
(1) Escriva, Josemaria (2011-01-31). Furrow (Kindle Locations 514-517). 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.
What is “the Heavenly Prize” for which we seek?
Devotional Thought of the Day:
10 I want to know Christ and experience the mighty power that raised him from the dead. I want to suffer with him, sharing in his death, 11 so that one way or another I will experience the resurrection from the dead! 12 I don’t mean to say that I have already achieved these things or that I have already reached perfection. But I press on to possess that perfection for which Christ Jesus first possessed me. 13 No, dear brothers and sisters, I have not achieved it, but I focus on this one thing: Forgetting the past and looking forward to what lies ahead, 14 I press on to reach the end of the race and receive the heavenly prize for which God, through Christ Jesus, is calling us. Philippians 3:10-14 (NLT)
1033 Make those reflections of your friend your own. He wrote: “I was considering how good God was to me and, full of interior joy, I was ready to shout out loud, there in the street, for everyone to know about my filial gratitude: ‘Father! Father!’ And though not in fact shouting out loud, I kept calling him so—‘Father!’—in a low voice, many times, quite certain that it pleased him. I seek nothing else. I only want to please him and give him Glory. Everything for him. If I desire my salvation and my sanctification it is because I know that he desires it. If in my Christian life I hunger for souls, it is because I know that he has this great hunger. I say this in all truth: I will never set my sights on the prize. I don’t desire a reward: everything for Love!” (1)
As I was completing my devotions this morning, I came across the quote above my St. Josemaria Esciva, one of my favorite writers. My reaction to it, as I was reading it, was “WOW” – this is powerful stuff. And then I got to the last two sentences and was jarred a bit. Okay, more than a bit.
It seems to clash with the Bible passage above, one of my favorites since I could actually run long distances, back in high school and college.
I don’t set my eyes on the prize, or I do? Scripture should win this, the imitation of St/ Paul, an apostle and the author of scripture. RIght?
But what if the prize that Josemaria is speaking of is different than the one St. Paul is speaking of?
I’ve done enough funerals in my life to know that people have all sorts of interesting images of heaven. Most of which have nothing to do with what scripture teaches. A place of no more sorrow and tears for sure, but the idea of our sitting on the porch of our heavely mansions, sipping tea, or getting our wings fitted so we can play in the clouds, those ideas and many others don’t come from scripture. The peaceful, idealized version of heaven is not the prize we seek.
For Paul, and I believe Josemaria, and I pray for me, that the prize is simply knowing Jesus, to realize He is calling us into a relationship with God our Father. To enter into and bear witness to the glory and majesty of God which is seen so clearly in the depth of His love for us. To build up a level of faith, a level of trust in God that Josemaria describes so well. Where our desires become subject to His desires, because we realize the purity of His love. Where heaven is only a word that describes our cming into His presence. To have our trust in Him become such that His will becomes ours, where His righteousness is ours, where His mission, what Jesus was sent for, to seek and save the lost – is ours.
The prize that both seek is not heaven, it is the Lord of heaven.
It is not a reward for our work, but the reward already won, on a brutal cross.
Where communion with God is more than an event, it simply is life.
Lord have mercy on us, and show us your glory!
(1) Escriva, Josemaria (2011-01-31). The Forge (Kindle Locations 3650-3656). Scepter Publishers. Kindle Edition.
Living a Holy Life. Possible for us?
] Devotional/Discussion Thought of the Day:
7 But to keep me from being puffed up with pride because of the many wonderful things I saw, I was given a painful physical ailment, which acts as Satan’s messenger to beat me and keep me from being proud. 8 Three times I prayed to the Lord about this and asked him to take it away. 9 But his answer was: “My grace is all you need, for my power is greatest when you are weak.” I am most happy, then, to be proud of my weaknesses, in order to feel the protection of Christ’s power over me. 10 I am content with weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions, and difficulties for Christ’s sake. For when I am weak, then I am strong. 2 Corinthians 12:7-10 (TEV)
The Christian life is not hard to live, it is utterly impossible to live! Only one can live it, so let Him, in you! (2/18F entry – Celtic Daily Prayer)
1003 Saint Teresa assures us that “anyone who doesn’t pray doesn’t need any devil to tempt him; while whoever prays, even if only for a quarter of an hour each day, will necessarily be saved.” This is because our conversation with Our Lord—who is so loving, even in times of difficulty or dryness of soul—enables us to see things in their proper perspective and discover the true proportions of life. Be a soul of prayer. (1)
This trip to the Phillipines is turning out to be somewhat of a enforced retreat, a time of being broken before God. Some of that brokenness is physical, much more is emotional, as I receive word from home, worry about my wife and children (William and the unborn baby). As i look out my hotel window and see both great riches and great poverty, as I hear of a couple that receives more challenging… no, I can’t just use that word, bad news today about the spread of the wife’s cancer.
Yes, Lord, I am tired, I am beaten, and in my eyes, it is not well with my soul.
The afflictions I face aren’t like Paul’s for the most part. I haven’t been beaten or stoned, The likelihood is that I won’t have my head chopped off, or be crucified upside down.
But as I sit here in this hotel room – far from all my friends but one – and his very gracious family… I can’t do anything. I can’t massage my wife’s back, I can’t bring peace and laughter to my friends, I can’t teach and preach and share in the Lord’s sacrament with my church family. (Oh I missed that on Sunday!)
So what do I come across in my devotions this morning – well – you see it above…. and it is more mindblowing.
I can’t live the life I want to live I read, with the disclaimer that it can only be lived in Christ. Great Theological truth there, I’ve said similar from pulipits and in counseling to people, We have to live in Christ
One saint quotes another saint talking about prayer…. and as usual my head argues with me – I don’t want to be forced to pray, I don’t want to have to depend on this, I want to do something. And then I remember that such calls to prayer are not calls of the Law – do this or else… they are invitations to share in God’s grace.
That’s how, in Christ – we are Christians! Holiness is simply the way to describe our lives as being lived in relationship to Christ that is so imtimate, so much a part of our nature – both conscious and unconcious, that it is who we are, and we realize it. We know it – and when we reach these times of brokenness, these times of despair, we simply realize that our place is in God, that we share in His glory. That His power is at work through us in ways we cannot comprehend (but dang it – there are times I wish we could) Living a life of holiness isn’t about my being perfect, about my sinning less – it is about those 10-20 minutes or somedays an hour… where I remember I am in His presence.
Living a life of Holiness is possible – being a Christian is possible – only in Christ.
That somehow – these times of prayer – sitting in a hotel room – are more critical, more powerful than anything else I can do.
I need to know this – I wish I could see this but even more – I realize I need to see just Him….
Lord Have Mercy on us is a prayer that can only be said… in His presence…
(1) Escriva, Josemaria (2011-01-31). The Forge (Kindle Locations 3536-3540). Scepter Publishers. Kindle Edition.
