Daniel before NebuchadnezzarI am thinking of all the negative things that happen to Daniel which he calmly allows God to transform into good – his exile, his imprisonment, his gift as an interpreter of dreams which may be used against him because of envy on the part of the king’s magicians. He knows that the very prediction he is called to announce may bring about his execution. Daniel withstands all of this – and even more when we read the entire story – by placing his trust, hope, faith and love in God. and by allowing God to work his wonderful will with those who are opposed to him, to the Jewish people and to their God. I am reminded of Psalm 37: Commit your life to the Lord, trust in him and he will act, so that your justice break forth like the light, your cause like the noon-day sun.
Daniel does not let fear of failure or a reluctance to commit to God or to obey God to deter him from his path of fidelity.
Be still before the Lord and wait in patience; do not fret at the man who prospers; a man who makes evil plots to bring down the needy and the poor.
Daniel does not abandon God or allow the world and its worries to lure him away from following God.
Calm your anger and forget your rage; do not fret, it only leads to evil. For those who do evil perish; the patient shall inherit the land.
Daniel abides with God just as God abides with him. Daniel waits upon the wisdom of the Lord, knowing that for God time is eternal.
A little longer – and the wicked shall have gone.
Daniel knows that the only true emotion, the only lasting force is God’s love for us. It is greater than anything we can imagine. It is bolder, more persistent and persevering than anyone we know. It is the only energy that matters, this love and peace of God that comes to us in the form of the man, Christ.
Look at his place, he is not there. But the humble shall own the land and enjoy the fullness of peace.
Daniel makes a public statement when he expresses his love of God; and as we read his story we may join him to enter into our own public statement about our intensely personal relationship with God.
And so we might ask ourselves: Do we love God enough to make a public statement about our fidelity to him?
For the humble shall own the land . . . and enjoy the fullness of peace. Amen.
Giovanni Francesco Barbieri: Saul Attacking DavidAs human beings, we have a desire to record the emotions of great events so that the effect they hold on us will not be lost. We retain love letters, programs from special ceremonies, photographs and recordings, all in an attempt to recreate an emotion or a feeling we once had. Rather than press flowers or save baby teeth and ringlets of hair, what might we find within ourselves if we were to create hymns of praise for the ways God has been present in our lives in a palpable way? More importantly, how might we magnify God – each in our own small way – if we began to speak to one another of the wondrous transformations we experience rather than the daily toil and drudgery of our lives?
The story of David is such a good one because David is so human. He has both smallness and greatness. He succumbs to his human frailty and he glorifies God with abandon when goodness comes to him. David is not ashamed or embarrassed to acknowledge God. David knows how to wait on the Lord.
Today’s reading follows other less happy events in David’s life: his hiding in fear from the anger of King Saul against whom he had done nothing to merit persecution, the sad and unnecessary death of Saul and his son Jonathan (David’s boon companion), his taking of Bathsheba and the arranged murder of her husband Uriah in battle, the death of their son Absalom after a bitter civil war. Yet despite the unhappiness he has experienced, David rises from the ashes of sorrow and pain to praise God who is his strength and his rock.
Today’s song is also found in the Psalter as Psalm 18; and it is fitting that these verses appear twice in scripture as they so beautifully express the emotion we all long to feel. For it is with these verses that we magnify God, it is with these verses that we form a scrap book of memories and emotions that will never fade. These verses bring us what we seek; they answer the ancient yearning to acknowledge and to be acknowledged. They are all we truly need.
My rock, my fortress, my deliverer, my God, my savior, my stronghold, my refuge . . . from violence you keep me safe.
David suffered years of persecution by Saul, years of struggle as the young king of a small desert nation; yet he places all of this anguish where it belongs, at the feet of God.
In my distress I called on the Lord and cried out to my God. From his temple he heard my voice, and my cry reached his ears.
In this Lenten season we also must raise our voices in appeal to our God who hears all petitions. Let us not be shy about seeking peace from the Lord; but rather let us intercede for ourselves and for our enemies as we have been taught by Christ the saver of all.
He rescued me from my enemy, from my foes, who were too powerful for me. He set me free in the open and rescued me, because he loves me.
We also can number the times we have been pulled from despair and its downward tug by some sudden and surprising turn of events. Enslavement comes to us in many forms; so does deliverance.
You have given me your saving shield; you girded me with strength for war.
We also find this same strength when we put on our armor of Christ to walk humbly but with authority, to live justly and mercifully, to love well and always – no matter the cost.
Therefore will I proclaim you, O Lord, among the nations, and I will sing praise to your name.
We also might pronounce stories of the times we have been rescued and upheld. We also might sing a pilgrim’s song of praise for our deliverance from all that drags us down and brings us fear.
So let us sing praise to the Lord our God, who hears our voices when we call, and who answers our cries for help. Let us join ourselves in a Warrior’s Song of Praise to the one true God who loves us all, and loves us all so well.
Some time ago we reflected on the effects of idolatry in our lives; today we look at the reward for maintaining authenticity through tribulation. As human beings, with our many fears and anxieties, we succumb quickly to the turmoil of life, and fidelity to self and others is too often given over quickly so that we might take up convenience, comfort and ease. God is always faithful to us; God never forgets to think about us, God never forgets promises made. We, on the other hand, too often find it difficult to stand by God when challenged by the pressures and influences of modern living.
Just over two years ago we looked at chapters 20 to 24 of Exodus to reflect on the two-way relationship we have with God as represented by the Covenant agreement mediated through Moses and represented in a very visual way by the Ten Commandments. Today we can zero in on 23:20-33 and spend some time with the image of the angel of the Lord who goes before us, to guard us on our way and to bring us to our destination, a place prepared for us by God in the New Jerusalem.
We need not doubt that there is a dwelling place for us and a purpose for us beyond this life. John records what Jesus tells us in Chapter 14 of his Good News: Do not let your hearts be troubled. You have faith in God; have faith in me. In my father’s house there are many dwelling places. If there were not, would I have told you that I am going to prepare a place for you? The apostles knew – and we know today – that this man Jesus who has always acted in compassion will not lie to us for the sake of easing fear. He speaks truth to us because he can do other thing – he cannot lie. This we know and hold through faith, we believe through hope, and we act in through love.
The Pillar of SmokeThis Exodus story today reminds us of another of God’s promises: not only does Jesus go before us to prepare our place, but God sends his messenger to accompany us, to bring us safely to that home. The voice of God tells us how important it is for us to look for this angel as we wander through the desert and cross through seas and rivers: Be attentive to him and heed his voice. Do not rebel against him . . . my authority rests in him. The tough part, of course, is to discern the angel in the smoke and haze of living, to hear the voice of God and his messengers through the cacophony of life; however, today’s reading indicates that we need not have a physical explanation of why we believe. We need only muster our faith. The reward of this fidelity to our belief is the guidance and protection we so keenly seek.
I have noticed something about life and perhaps you have, too. I cannot miss the fact that the more often and the more deeply I trust the God who goes before me as a column of smoke in the day and as a column of fire by night (Exodus 13:20-22), the more confidence I feel, the less fear I experience, and the easier it becomes to do what God asks of us in today’s reading: Be attentive to the voice. Do not rebel against it. My children, grandchildren and friends know that when I feel frightened, I step into that column – which seems a foolish thing to do when we notice how it roils and churns. And yet there is something mystical in this pulsing smoke and intense fire – it empowers more than it overcomes; it gives life rather than consumes it.
Be attentive to the voice. Do not rebel against it. What is the reward we receive for this kind of fidelity? To live within this column of smoke and fire and never be consumed. To know the touch of God within and without. To shed fear, to love well, and to walk humbly with our God.
Be attentive to the voice. Do not rebel against it.
Early Egyptian Storage Silos, University of Chicago
From the notes in the New American Bible: Solicitude for acquiring wealth and anxiety over preserving it disturb repose and easily lead to sin and ruin. See Matthew 6:26-34. A rich man who has not sinned or been seduced by wealth is worthy of praise (8-11).
At first glance we will read this advice from Jesus ben Sirach along with this story from the Book of Matthew and we will check it off as one of the ways we are confident that we do not allow ourselves to become separate from God. We have kept money in its proper place in life. We are careful to render both to Caesar and to God. But now I go a step further. Where in my life do I amass wealth, and do I let it color my decisions in any way?
Lent, as we have been observing over the past weeks, is the perfect time to take an interior pilgrimage to examine dusty corners and cabinets full of things we have forgotten. As I unlock files of memories I thought were well-sorted and archived, I discover some old injuries and wounds. Perhaps I have hoarded these, thinking that by keeping them from the light I have prevented them from maintaining safe harbor in my dreams. Have they taken on a life which seduces me? Do I spend time keeping watch over them to keep them from escaping my control, or do I trust God enough to release them into the present winds?
Anything which we store up is where our heart lies (Luke 12:34) so this causes me to wonder wherehave I put my energies and talents? Whatdo I lose sleep over? What do I protect from moths and thieves? Whatdo I take to the granary to keep? Whatdo I measure out with care?
If when we open the storehouse doors we find the silos are full of petitions answered and hopes fulfilled, this is a sign of God’s blessing on us and this is good news indeed. If the stores are meager, that is fine. We only need to begin today to bring the harvest of our lives. God is so loving that he pays all workers in the vineyard equally – no matter the number of hours spent at the vines.
And once we begin to see the balance sheet rise to numbers higher than we might have imagined, what do we do then? Do we seal up the bins and vats to put them away for another quick glance on another day? Do we cover over the chinks to keep every grain inside the tower, or do we fling open the doors as our father does with his own bounty, to share what has been given? What kind of harvester is he or she who has much but who is not seduced?
Who is he that we may praise him? He, of all his kindred, has done wonders, for he has been tested by gold and come off safe, and this remains his glory; he could have sinned but did not, could have done evil but would not, so that his possessions are secure, and the assembly recounts his praises.
The wealth we store is the wealth we have to share. What we have been freely given, we must freely give (Matthew 10:8).
When we go to the storeroom today, what will we find. And what will we share?
A re-post written on March 19, 2009, and posted today as a Favorite . . .
The faithful will always have a priest willing to intercede for them. Today we read about Aaron who intercedes as a spiritual leader for the Israelites; every day we have Jesus who intercedes for us in all that we petition.
Bridge-building is important to a Christian community for without the lifelines that we toss out to connect ourselves to one another, we run the risk of sinking into oblivion. Just as camel caravans link the living water and sheltering palms of desert oases, we reach out to one another so that we do not become stranded in the lonely desert parts of life. We must celebrate life where we find it, and build bridges to call together the limbs of Christ’s Mystical Body.
Forgiveness – both the asking and the granting – is the essential construction material that we will need for these Jesus bridges. There is no one among us who has not needed to ask and to give forgiveness and so we pray.
The world is rent asunder by our refusal to forgive, we pray: Bring us, Lord, your perspective of hope.
For the hardness of heart we have shown toward those we have hurt, we pray: Bring us, Lord, your openness of heart.
For the breaches in relationships we have allowed to live and grow, we pray: Bring us, Lord, your depth of wisdom.
For the resentments we have accumulated, we pray: Bring us, Lord, your counsel and courage.
If the Lord rescues me from the snare of my faults, should I not extend the same hand of rescue to my neighbor? Resentment, grudges, retaliation do not help the one who offends me. They merely confirm the breach between us. Bridge-building is costly, as the cross demonstrates, but the people stranded on both banks are all freed by the bridge.
These prayers and thoughts are adapted from yesterday’s MAGNIFICAT, and as always, when I think about bridge-building, I am aware that there is a difference – although small – between pardoning behavior and allowing abuse to continue. There is a reality that exists in bridge-building that comes into being when we empower people – they are freed from a former unhealthy behavior that has stunted growth and dried up life. When we enable people to continue in an unhealthy behavior, we become part of the problem. When we gently confront people, we set into place the pillars of the bridge.
When we allow Christ to show us what tool to use next, what material to bring out of storage for use as the struts and cables of the bridge, we begin to make links, we will see that we are building a bride that will last for all time. We will also see that it is a bridge of and to salvation.
This work does not happen without physical and spiritual exertion; but when we have the Master as our project planner, the work becomes less arduous and less frightening.
When we find ourselves stranded in a small, backwater oases, looking through the burning sun in the day and the cold darkness of night, waiting for something to appear on the horizon, we will know that it is time for bridge-building. Let as ask the Master Planner to intercede for us. Now. Today. And all days.
Adapted from a Favorite written on March 18, 2009.
Cameron, Peter John. “Prayer for the Morning.” MAGNIFICAT. 3.17 (2009). Print.
BaalToday we read about the effects of living a life of enslavement to the many little gods that appear in our lives. These tiny dieties may appear suddenly and either announce their arrival or enter our lives to take hold of our habits stealthily. They come with no warning and have little or no overt manifestation. If we take a moment to review commentary for Isaiah 46we understand that this is a familiar theme to Old Testament people who lived among the many tribes of Baal worshipers. Looking at cross references to the New Testament we see that it is a well-known theme in Jesus’ day. Even today we daily come upon incidents of little gods holding sway over us and hijacking our decisions. Many of us carry Beland Nebo on our shoulders allowing them to govern our spiritual, political, social and family life. Today we ponder these little gods who demand much of our time, and bring us no enduring consolation or lasting hope.
Who are these demons who haunt us and how do we recognize the fact that they govern our lives?
They must be borne up on shoulders, carried as burdens by the weary.When we find ourselves enslaved to a custom or habit that exhausts and does not edify us, it is time to call out these little gods.
They stoop and bow down together; unable to save those who bear them, they go into captivity. When we realize that we are drained of energy and that the structure we believed in has abandoned us, it is time to put an end to the demands of the little gods.
Although they cry out it does not answer; it delivers no one from distress. When all that we relied upon has taken our life force and has disappeared into nothingness, it is time to amend our ways and turn our allegiance to the Living God who saves.
Remember this and be firm, bear it well in mind, you rebels; remember the former things, those long ago . . .And so as we continue in our Lenten journey, what do we do to shed our faith in these little idols?
I am God, there is no other; I am God, there is none like me.We turn to God who has loved us despite our folly in abandoning him, and we see that God has always been beside us, even when we were blind to him. We hear the voice of God calling to us and we know that this voice has been guiding us, even when we could not hear God. We see the works of God in the many little graces and in the enormous saving actions he has granted us, and we realize God has loved us all through our comings and goings, even when we have ignored and even reviled God.
I am bringing on my justice, it is not far off, my salvation will not tarry . . .
We have a clear choice before us today. We can muddle along with our little gods or we can choose to follow the Living God. St. Paul writes to the Romans: Our salvation is nearer now than when we first believed; the night is advanced, the day is at hand. Let us then throw off the works of darkness [and] put on the armor of light; let us conduct ourselves properly as in the day. (Romans 13:11-13)
Psalm 27 is one of my favorites and it reminds us simply of this: The Lord is my light and my help; whom shall I fear? The Lord is the stronghold of my life; before whom shall I shrink?
If we are too afraid of our little gods to turn them out of the temple of our lives, we turn to God for strength. If we fear that the Living God has tired of our constant wandering and will not welcome us home, we need only remember the many promises the Living God has kept, and the savior he has sent to redeem us all.
MosesYesterday we considered our Lenten Journey and how we might create for ourselves and our loved ones a physical sign of this promise of fidelity to the Living God who is Alive Among Us. Today we spend time with Moses’ words as he calls the Israelites to conversion and urges them to consider a change of heart and habit. Moses calls his people, and he calls us, to a love that will endure forever. He calls us to love as God loves.
From commentary: In the style of the great prophets, the speaker is often God himself. The whole song is a poetic sermon, having for its theme God’s benefits to Israel (vv 1-14) and Israel’s ingratitude and idolatry in turning to the gods of the pagans, which sins will be punished by the pagans themselves (vv 15-29); in turn, the foolish pride of the pagans will be punished, and the Lord’s honor will be vindicated (vv 30-43). (Senior 222)
Who are these gods of the pagans to whom we turn? Our obsession with immediate and empty gratification? Our desire to put ourselves first and others last?
Jesus reminds us that in the Kingdom the world is turned on its head. The meek will inherit, the first will be last, what is empty will be full.
Where do we see our own foolish pride? In the pumping up of self? In the building of self rather than the building of Kingdom?
Jesus lays out for us the life and work of his disciples so that we might see that we are to act in servant leadership with salvific love.
How is this foolish life punished? The unwise are destined to become enslaved by the chains they put on others. The reckless eventually find themselves enveloped in the same dangerous plots they weave for others.
Jesus shows us that forgiveness and compassion are the tools he uses to engender a love that endures forever and cannot be outdone.
Moses makes a final appeal to the people, asking that theytake to heart all the warning. Let us too, take up the counsel to root out our foolish pride and banish false gods. Let us climb our own Mount Horto see the Promised Land from a distance, and then let us ask the Living God for safe passage in this journey of conversion of the heart.
A re-post from March 19, 2012. Senior, Donald, ed. THE CATHOLIC STUDY BIBLE. New York, Oxford University Press, 1990.222. Print.
We have spent the past few days looking at how the Israelites struggle to remain faithful to Yahweh, the Living God who led them from slavery to freedom, from the desert to a land of promise. We can see ourselves in these stiff-necked people as we turn to and away from God as the season suits us. We read the story of how an unassailable enemy eventually falls once the Israelites turn themselves over to Yahweh’s ways. And we can see ourselves being delivered from adversaries we once thought unbeatable. The Israelites are such simple and predictable people that Moses knows they will fall away from the covenant they have entered into; and so he tries to prepare them for the days when they will yield to temptation. We too, know that we will be lured by the many attractions the world holds for us, and so in our Lenten journey we may want to spend a bit of time reflecting on how to best cleave to the promises we make to this amazing God who persists in loving us into goodness.
Take this scroll of the law and put it beside the ark of the covenant of the Lord, your God, that there it may be a witness against you.The Law of the New Covenant, the New Testament, is not complicated. It is brief, universal and compelling: Love one another as I have loved you. Perhaps this weekend we can write out a simple promise to love God by loving others – even and especially our enemies – and put it in a special place that we will see each day as a reminder, a witness to ourselves. A new ark of a new promise made in a new hope of conversion.
I already know how rebellious and stiff-necked you will be. And the Living God loves us despite these faults.
Even now, while I am alive among you, you have been rebels against the Lord! And the Living God who loves us so fiercely has returned as the Christ to save us.
Assemble all your tribal elders and your officials before me, that I may speak these words for them to hear, and so may call heaven and earth to witness against you. Perhaps we can gather our family or a group of trusted friends and agree together to turn ourselves toward the goal of living the law of love. Perhaps we can support one another in our hope of softening our stiff necks, in our Lenten journey of conversion.
We are blessed to have the Lord always among us each day, all day. As New Testament people we experience Eucharist with Christ, the indwelling of the Spirit, and the abiding protection and love of the Living God. Let us take a moment today to think about the passage we make from Ash Wednesday to Easter Sunday, the passage that we call Lent. And let us pause to give thanks to the God who loves us so well, and who is always alive among us.
Francesco Hayez: The Destruction of the Temple of Jerusalem
Today’s reflection follows yesterday’s Noontimereading and here we see the Babylonian Captivity is a seminal episode in our Judeo-Christian history; it is an experience against which we measure many others.
A cruel site, revealed to me. Trauma, upheaval, betrayal, suffering, turmoil – this is what Isaiah sees coming. The conqueror will be conquered. This is unimaginable.
I am too bewildered to hear, too dismayed to look. Terror, shock, horror, panic, dread – this is what we fear is around the corner, up the street, in our own backyard. We turn away confused by what we see and hear. Nothing makes sense.
My mind reels, shuddering assails me.We are so upset that we make ourselves ill. This is an experience we know. We also know that we cannot endure unless someone somehow brings us relief. We struggle to stay afloat; we flail our arms to remain upright. We cannot believe we are in this situation.
For thus says the Lord to me: Go, station a watchman, let him tell what he sees. We pull ourselves together and decide that rather than fall completely to pieces we have to trust someone. Tentatively we put out a hand to God.
And I stay at my post through all the watches of the night.As long as nothing more happens we can stand erect watching, waiting for our deliverance. We scan the horizons to see how God will come to our rescue. We wait and keep watch, fearful yet hoping.
James Tissot: The Flight of the Prisoners [The Babylonian Exile]Here he comes now: a single chariot, a pair of horses; he calls out and says, “Fallen, fallen is Babylon, and all the images of her gods are smashed to the ground.We hear the news we never thought we would hear. The impossible has taken place. An old foe has fallen. A former enemy begs forgiveness. We are stunned and know how to respond as the truth of our deliverance seeps into our consciousness.
Oh my people who have been threshed, beaten on my threshing floor! What I have heard from the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel, I have announced to you.At first we think we have miss-heard, misunderstood but it dawns on us that God has brought about the impossible. God has answered our prayer. And although others may encourage us to take revenge upon a vanquished opponent we choose to react as Jesus asks. We give thanks, and we heed the words of St. Paul to the Colossians (3:12-14).
Put on then, as God’s chosen ones, holy and beloved, heartfelt compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness, and patience, bearing with one another and forgiving one another, if one has a grievance against another; as the Lord has forgiven you, so must you also do. And over all these put on love, that is, the bond of perfection.
And so we pray . . .
Good and generous God, we are tempted to crush the enemy we see fallen; but we know that you call us to intercede for those who have plotted our downfall. The enemy who wished to annihilate us has in turn been vanquished; you have saved us from destruction. Help us to forgive as we have been forgiven. Remind us to bless as we have been blessed. Let us love as we have been loved. Amen.
The Noontimes 