Friday, September 10, 2010
TWENTY-FOURTH WEEK OF THE YEAR
MONDAY OF THE TWENTY-FOURTH WEEK OF THE YEAR (Luke 7: 1-10) Let God be God. That is the simple lesson for today. Everyone else demanded His physical presence, they were putting God into human structures. Only this “pagan” realized that you cannot capture God. We want so much to be in control, even to the extent of telling God how to do His job. Worse, telling Him what He can and cannot do. Look at the way we pray. So often they are controlling, or trying to control. As the soldier instinctively knew, things work out so much better when we let God be God.
TUESDAY OF THE TWENTY-FOURTH WEEK OF THE YEAR (Luke 7:11-17) Compassion is the one virtue that we are called upon to imitate. To suffer with, to endure with, all with the implication of being united. The Lord in his human nature is united to us, He was united to the widow. His compassion flowed from a sense of solidarity with her. Compassion is not only for the “tough times” it is the presence of God in our lives. Compassion implies this walking together. It is not something that is turned on and off, but is always present. The message of the Kingdom, is that God through the Lord is walking with His people.
WEDNESDAY OF THE TWENTY-FOURTH WEEK OF THE YEAR (Luke 7: 31-35) Children can be stubborn. It is their way or no way. Stubbornness by its nature is the inability to see other possibilities. More basic it is not being able to give something up, usually an idea or an attitude. Stubbornness is also a way of protecting our self image. To change would be a sign of weakness, we would admit that we were wrong or that there was a better idea. We can be stubborn with God. The difficulty with this is that His stubbornness far exceeds anything we can imagine. The reason being is that His love is so perfect so full that it already is complete.
THURSDAY OF THE TWENTY-FOURTH WEEK OF THE YEAR (Luke 7:36-50) Generosity to the Lord is something we really do not think of that often. The woman in today’s Gospel displayed a great generosity. All her actions were focused in on the Lord. She was so focused that she did not even ask to have her sins forgiven. One aspect of generosity is use of time. Do I give the Lord a good chunk of my time? It is so easy to forget Him. Our lives do get cluttered. The prayers we had promised to say, those good deeds we wanted so much to do, are remembered late at night when we are tired. To be generous is to have the courage to do the inconvenient, the non-practical. If it is always convenient it is not generous.
FRIDAY OF THE TWENTY-FOURTH WEEK OF THE YEAR (Luke 8:1-3) The fact that women accompanied Jesus on His preaching journey must have caused people to wonder. It was not strange that women would gather around a rabbi but to travel with him was unheard of. Jesus was not afraid to do the right thing. Women as much as men had a right to share in His ministry. It was by doing things such as this that the Lord raised women to a new level. In showing the respect that was their due, He broke down the barriers of prejudice and the walls of marginalization. The family of God which He was going to bring into existence would not stand for inequality.
SATURDAY OF THE TWENTY-FOURTH WEEK OF THE YEAR (Luke 8:4-15) Two things come out of this passage. The one is the absolute generosity of God. He does not say: this is the good soil. He just merrily keeps throwing the seeds up in the air and letting them fall where they may. He is not afraid of rejection. This is the meaning of love. The other is the power of the seed. We look at our hearts and put them into the various categories. However, it must be remembered that the Word has a power to make the hard soft, to make roses out of the thorns. The Word touches and transforms. The Word will make its own.
MONDAY OF THE TWENTY-FOURTH WEEK OF THE YEAR (Luke 7: 1-10) Let God be God. That is the simple lesson for today. Everyone else demanded His physical presence, they were putting God into human structures. Only this “pagan” realized that you cannot capture God. We want so much to be in control, even to the extent of telling God how to do His job. Worse, telling Him what He can and cannot do. Look at the way we pray. So often they are controlling, or trying to control. As the soldier instinctively knew, things work out so much better when we let God be God.
TUESDAY OF THE TWENTY-FOURTH WEEK OF THE YEAR (Luke 7:11-17) Compassion is the one virtue that we are called upon to imitate. To suffer with, to endure with, all with the implication of being united. The Lord in his human nature is united to us, He was united to the widow. His compassion flowed from a sense of solidarity with her. Compassion is not only for the “tough times” it is the presence of God in our lives. Compassion implies this walking together. It is not something that is turned on and off, but is always present. The message of the Kingdom, is that God through the Lord is walking with His people.
WEDNESDAY OF THE TWENTY-FOURTH WEEK OF THE YEAR (Luke 7: 31-35) Children can be stubborn. It is their way or no way. Stubbornness by its nature is the inability to see other possibilities. More basic it is not being able to give something up, usually an idea or an attitude. Stubbornness is also a way of protecting our self image. To change would be a sign of weakness, we would admit that we were wrong or that there was a better idea. We can be stubborn with God. The difficulty with this is that His stubbornness far exceeds anything we can imagine. The reason being is that His love is so perfect so full that it already is complete.
THURSDAY OF THE TWENTY-FOURTH WEEK OF THE YEAR (Luke 7:36-50) Generosity to the Lord is something we really do not think of that often. The woman in today’s Gospel displayed a great generosity. All her actions were focused in on the Lord. She was so focused that she did not even ask to have her sins forgiven. One aspect of generosity is use of time. Do I give the Lord a good chunk of my time? It is so easy to forget Him. Our lives do get cluttered. The prayers we had promised to say, those good deeds we wanted so much to do, are remembered late at night when we are tired. To be generous is to have the courage to do the inconvenient, the non-practical. If it is always convenient it is not generous.
FRIDAY OF THE TWENTY-FOURTH WEEK OF THE YEAR (Luke 8:1-3) The fact that women accompanied Jesus on His preaching journey must have caused people to wonder. It was not strange that women would gather around a rabbi but to travel with him was unheard of. Jesus was not afraid to do the right thing. Women as much as men had a right to share in His ministry. It was by doing things such as this that the Lord raised women to a new level. In showing the respect that was their due, He broke down the barriers of prejudice and the walls of marginalization. The family of God which He was going to bring into existence would not stand for inequality.
SATURDAY OF THE TWENTY-FOURTH WEEK OF THE YEAR (Luke 8:4-15) Two things come out of this passage. The one is the absolute generosity of God. He does not say: this is the good soil. He just merrily keeps throwing the seeds up in the air and letting them fall where they may. He is not afraid of rejection. This is the meaning of love. The other is the power of the seed. We look at our hearts and put them into the various categories. However, it must be remembered that the Word has a power to make the hard soft, to make roses out of the thorns. The Word touches and transforms. The Word will make its own.
Sunday, September 5, 2010
Saturday, September 4, 2010
TWENTY-THIRD WEEK OF THE YEAR
MONDAY OF THE TWENTY-THIRD WEEK OF THE YEAR (Luke 6:6-11)Never stand in the way of letting someone do something good. This means that we must be open to receiving what people would like to do for us. It is very difficult, much more difficult than giving. There may be something in their heart which will find at least a little healing by doing something for someone. The favor which we consider small may take a weight off their hearts. Even when the motivations may not be the highest we have an obligation to let people do the good they can do.
TUESDAY OF THE TWENTY-THIRD WEEK OF THE YEAR(Luke 6:12-19) We can be tugged and pulled in some many different directions. The demands of the day can be suffocating. The noise of life is unending. A time set apart is necessary if we are not to lose the inner person. A time focused on God in whom we are reminded of who we are. A space set aside where we meet the Lord in a very personal way. The space in which we truly find that He is our friend. The mountain, so close to God, the mountain which we must climb and in climbing see things through the prism of God.
WEDNESDAY OF THE TWENTY-THIRD WEEK OF THE YEAR(Luke 6:20-26) To search for and to acknowledge our poverty is what the Lord is asking. How counter culture this is. Everything is geared for wealth. Those who have it want more, those who do not have it would like to have it. It seems that wealth is the primary motivator. What does this search for poverty mean?
The center is God. Complete dependence on God and an awareness that everything we have is gift. The simple acknowledgment that the only thing we can claim for our own is our sins. He stands there telling us that in being poor we come to know how rich we are. In becoming poor we are in solidarity with the millions of people throughout the world who are materially poor. In acknowledging this poverty we stand with open hands before God and our fellow people ready both to give and to receive.
THURSDAY OF THE TWENTY-THIRD WEEK OF THE YEAR (Luke 6:27-38) We are not called to be passive in the face of evil, but active. When we look at this, perhaps the most difficult of all passages in the Scripture, we keep coming up with the word “love” Love is the secret that frees us from the ordinary way of acting. To love someone when everything they do says: do not love me.To love when we are faced with non-love, to let this love conquer the evil which is the absence of love. Forgiveness, compassion are more than slogans, they are the way of life of the follower of the Lord. They have no boundries.
FRIDAY OF THE TWENTY-THIRD WEEK OF THE YEAR (Luke 6:39-42) Riches can blind us. They enter the heart and close eyes to the world outside. Riches become the possessor rather than the possessed. It is seeing that riches are meant to be shared. It is in accepting the fact that the things of this world are meant for all and not for just the privileged few that eyes are open. In the world today there are many people who have been blinded by riches and unfortunately they lead the rest in the same darkness. It is for those whose eyes have been opened by faith to lead others into the sunshine of freedom.
SATURDAY OF THE TWENTY-THIRD WEEK OF THE YEAR (Luke 6:43-49) There are at any time many conversations going on within us. Which one are we going to listen to is the question. Often times we do listen to the wrong voice. A voice which leads us in wrong ways. It is important for us to ferret out of all the voices which are clanging in our hearts the One Voice. We most listen very carefully, we must spend time in silence if we are to hear this voice. The other voices are loud, easily understood,
MONDAY OF THE TWENTY-THIRD WEEK OF THE YEAR (Luke 6:6-11)Never stand in the way of letting someone do something good. This means that we must be open to receiving what people would like to do for us. It is very difficult, much more difficult than giving. There may be something in their heart which will find at least a little healing by doing something for someone. The favor which we consider small may take a weight off their hearts. Even when the motivations may not be the highest we have an obligation to let people do the good they can do.
TUESDAY OF THE TWENTY-THIRD WEEK OF THE YEAR(Luke 6:12-19) We can be tugged and pulled in some many different directions. The demands of the day can be suffocating. The noise of life is unending. A time set apart is necessary if we are not to lose the inner person. A time focused on God in whom we are reminded of who we are. A space set aside where we meet the Lord in a very personal way. The space in which we truly find that He is our friend. The mountain, so close to God, the mountain which we must climb and in climbing see things through the prism of God.
WEDNESDAY OF THE TWENTY-THIRD WEEK OF THE YEAR(Luke 6:20-26) To search for and to acknowledge our poverty is what the Lord is asking. How counter culture this is. Everything is geared for wealth. Those who have it want more, those who do not have it would like to have it. It seems that wealth is the primary motivator. What does this search for poverty mean?
The center is God. Complete dependence on God and an awareness that everything we have is gift. The simple acknowledgment that the only thing we can claim for our own is our sins. He stands there telling us that in being poor we come to know how rich we are. In becoming poor we are in solidarity with the millions of people throughout the world who are materially poor. In acknowledging this poverty we stand with open hands before God and our fellow people ready both to give and to receive.
THURSDAY OF THE TWENTY-THIRD WEEK OF THE YEAR (Luke 6:27-38) We are not called to be passive in the face of evil, but active. When we look at this, perhaps the most difficult of all passages in the Scripture, we keep coming up with the word “love” Love is the secret that frees us from the ordinary way of acting. To love someone when everything they do says: do not love me.To love when we are faced with non-love, to let this love conquer the evil which is the absence of love. Forgiveness, compassion are more than slogans, they are the way of life of the follower of the Lord. They have no boundries.
FRIDAY OF THE TWENTY-THIRD WEEK OF THE YEAR (Luke 6:39-42) Riches can blind us. They enter the heart and close eyes to the world outside. Riches become the possessor rather than the possessed. It is seeing that riches are meant to be shared. It is in accepting the fact that the things of this world are meant for all and not for just the privileged few that eyes are open. In the world today there are many people who have been blinded by riches and unfortunately they lead the rest in the same darkness. It is for those whose eyes have been opened by faith to lead others into the sunshine of freedom.
SATURDAY OF THE TWENTY-THIRD WEEK OF THE YEAR (Luke 6:43-49) There are at any time many conversations going on within us. Which one are we going to listen to is the question. Often times we do listen to the wrong voice. A voice which leads us in wrong ways. It is important for us to ferret out of all the voices which are clanging in our hearts the One Voice. We most listen very carefully, we must spend time in silence if we are to hear this voice. The other voices are loud, easily understood,
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