Alpha and OmegaChrist is both creator and saver, Alpha and Omega, lion and lamb. Christ brings hope and optimism to a world sadly needing it. Christ is the full and perfect revelation of God’s self to us, his created. Christ brings to his followers – no matter their circumstances – the wisdom of the creator. Christ brings newness and perfection to the human race – he brings full maturity, a true knowing of self. The Church – which we comprise – is not merely a large number of people who believe the same thing – who hold a story in common. The Church is a spiritual reality – a mysterious community made dynamic with the sap that is Christ. The Church becomes one withand inChrist. Christ is the center of the universe. Christ is universal. Christ is mystery. We are mystery. (Thoughts from the introduction to “Carta a los Colosenses” from page 1787 of BIBLIA DE AMÉRICA.)
We do not complete Christ. Christ completes us. And this is the mystery to me, that despite our faults and our wanderings, Christ persists in his love for us. He remains always open to possibility in us, to newness in us. Christ hopes inand forus. This always was, it is, it always will be. In all the mystery of life we can be certain of this one thing, Christ is. And that alone is enough. This, too, is mystery.
LA BIBLIA DE LA AMÉRICA. 8th. Madrid: La Casa de la Biblia, 1994. Print. I
We have visited the end of Luke’s Gospel several times in the past few years and we have spent time thinking about the enormity of what Jesus’ companions experienced. We have reflected on the faith they had in order to put their lives in danger as they spread the story of Jesus resurrected. We have thought about the immense hope these apostles carried with them into the world. And we have meditated on the limitless love they have for Christ and for us, their followers. These men and women left behind all they knew and risked all they had because they could not do otherwise. Their lives had been changed irrevocably. We are called to do the same. We too may be transformed in Christ.
Our world calls us to other places, the place of fame, the place of prestige, the place of reputation, the place of comfort. Jesus returned to the eleven to help them bridge the gap between the world before and after his resurrection. He walked with them, spoke with them, ate with them, rallied them and sent them on. He does the same for us each day, knocking on our bedroom door to awaken us to the new dawn. All we need do is let him enter.
From last evening’s prayer in MAGNIFICAT:
As people who turned to God from the subtle idols of self-seeking, let us pray in faith: Hold us by the hand!
When the possibility of gain blinds us to the needs of others, keep us from unseen snares of temptation: Hold us by the hand!
When the demands of the Gospel seem impractical amid conflicting values, keep us faithful to your commandment of love: Hold us by the hand!
When those in need of our attention and help inconvenience us, keep our eyes fixed on the compassion of Christ: Hold us by the hand!
When we find ourselves in the hectic whirl of living, being pulled apart by the voices of the world, we will find sanity when we come together to pray. For Christ is always where we gather. And so we might pause at noon each day to abide with one another for a time. May each of us feel Christ’s very real presence today.
Cameron, Peter John. “Prayer for the Evening.” MAGNIFICAT. 26.3 (2008). Print.
Even as a child I was impressed with how quickly Aaron slid from one role to another: loyal brother, facilitator of the making of the Golden Calf, loyal brother once again. He appears to get by unscathed and I remember thinking that he must not be very bright, and this is why God let him off so easily.
Some scholars say that Aaron went along with the crowd because it would have been impossible to go against the unhappy throng. Others point out that Aaron presents an argument we hear often even today; You know how prone the people are to evil. They said to me, “Make us a god to be our leader; as for Moses . . . we do not know what has happened to him.” He further argues, “They gave [the gold jewelry] to me, and I threw it into the fire, and this calf came out.” I was amazed, when I first heard this story, that there seemed to be no consequence. Yet Aaron rallies, aligns himself with Moses and the others who want to stand withhim rather than against him, and he escapes the violent death that awaits those who remain against Moses. A coup takes place, blood is spilled, the Hebrews muddle on through the desert.
I am thinking of the many golden calves I have seen erupt from the fires of anger and jealous, fear and anxiety. I am also thinking of how many times I have been asked if I am for or against and how I have answered. I am also thinking of Jesus’ words in Matthew 12:30, Mark 9:40 or Luke 11:23: He who is not with me is against me, and he who does gather with me scatters. And I am grateful for God’s generous mercy.
As a child I knew I lived in the black and white world my parents had created for our family. In that world the most frequent – and most dreaded – punishment for infractions of rules was the dreaded three word sentence, “We will talk.” Sometimes we waited days or even weeks until Dad or Mother would nod and say, “Now.” We would have worried and gnawed over all of the arguments we might present for our innocence and we had thrown out all that were false. We ended up with the unvarnished truth. During the waiting time we would have sorted through the varied outcomes of the impending conversation. And in the end we were so eager to unload our conscience and to confess to our waywardness that we provided our own best castigation. We came to see that we had been wrong. We admitted openly how we had strayed. And we were anxious to enter into and complete any penalty we were to suffer. It was a wonderful form of coming to terms with what it was we had done, why we had done it, and how we ought to be dealt with. My husband and I used similar strategies with our own children when golden calves appeared in our home and we met with the same success in raising ethical, thoughtful, merciful children. God’s generosity and mercy cannot be outdone. God’s love and patience cannot be matched. And for this we ought to give thanks.
Each time I see the adulation that surrounds a golden calf in my family, community or workplace, I pray for the kind of patience my parents taught us. I ask God to bring me wisdom, good timing, and the fortitude to witness to falsehood in a way that will be effective. And I pray for the good counsel and right thinking of the Holy Spirit. When I allow God’s waiting time to pass, I find I have more success than if I lunge forward on my first impulse with my first reaction.
The people we read about today become unhappy about their circumstances and so they create an immediate world of superficial happiness as they revel and play around an idol of their own making. They quickly learn that there is a price to pay for self-centered thinking, and that golden calves often leave us standing againstour God.
“A pressing theological question asserts itself. Does the writer of Daniel think God’s purpose in bringing history to its end can be changed merely by uttering human prayers?” (Mays 631-632) Commentary will enlighten this passage for us further but if time is brief today we might reflect on this one question: How do we react when we discover that a period of trial will last longer than we had first believed? How do we manage pain that endures not seventy years but seven times that number? Do we reject God in anger or do we go to God in faith? Do we sink into private despair or do we turn to God in universal hope? Do we lash out against those who bring us truth or do we react in love, even toward our enemies? What do we do when we find out that our seventy years of pain are seven times that number? How do we endure?
Daniel provides us with a model, a plan, a pattern we can follow when we receive the news that life is a string of trials interspersed with little triumphs. Chapter 9 lays out a simple map.
I turned to the Lord, pleading an earnest prayer . . . We turn to God and pour our fears into God’s ear. We tell him our worries with honesty. We do not hide any of the details for God already knows them.
With fasting, sackcloth, and ashes . . .We make an outward sign to our inward selves that we have given over all control to God. We put aside all pride. We place ourselves fully into God’s hands for God already holds us firmly.
I prayed to the Lord my God, and confessed . . .We enter into an open and straightforward dialog with God. We say all that is on our minds, all that weighs down our hearts. We admit that we have erred and have sometimes adored false idols.
And we can turn to God because God is good. We can be truthful with God because God is forgiving. We can put away our fears, our defenses and our weapons because God is love.
Know and understand this . . . Jerusalem was to be rebuilt . . .
When we discover that our suffering will not be ending when we first believed it would, we can follow Daniel’s model and remember that God always loves, God is always present, God always forgives and welcomes his tired ones home. God does, indeed, respond to human prayer, and God sends a messenger to bring us the news that God is with us.
More notes on Daniel9: “The prophet Jeremiah(25,11; 29,10) prophesied a Babylonian captivity of seventy years, a round number signifying the complete passing away of the existing generation. Jeremiah’s prophecy was fulfilled in the capture of Babylon by Cyrusand the subsequent return of the Jews to Palestine. However, the author of Daniel, living during the persecution of Antiochus, sees the conditions of the exile still existing; therefore in his mediation, he extends Jeremiah’s number to seventy weeks of years (v 24); i.e., seven times seventy years, to characterize the Jewish victory over the Seleucidsas the ultimate fulfillment of the prophecy”. (Senior cf. 2, 1100-1101)
To re-visit our reflections on other portions of Daniel 9, enter the following words intot eh blog search bar and explore. We begin with Daniel seeking Ultimate Fulfillment in God; Daniel intones a Prayer in the Desert; then suddenly Gabriel Comes to Daniel in rapid flight. A vision ensues through which Daniel understands that an end will come to the anguish he and his exiled nation suffer, but this end is further off than anticipated.
Woven among the threads of practical advice in these proverbs are many other strands that alert us to the presence of evil in our lives. The alarms are not strident and can be easily missed – just as evil itself can approach us disguised as goodness. Evil is seen as being present everywhere: in nature as well as humans.
Friendship is feigned in order to gain some end, intimacies are betrayed, decency is imitated. Only the crucible of life can test the value of the silver and gold we see before us; and only the passion of living life honestly will save us from the fire of life’s furnace. Fools are portrayed as both perpetrators and receivers of evil.
Where do we turn in a place where so much evil abounds? What do we do about evil that knows no limits or boundaries?
Good stewardship is praised and seen as a worthy foil for evil’s assault on the faithful. Striving for unity rather than putting up with division is another antidote. Honesty is encouraged, as is the nurturing of relationships.
But perhaps the most telling piece of advice that speaks to the power of evil is this: The shrewd man perceives evil and hides; simpletons continue on and suffer the penalty. And we are reminded that: As one face differs from another, so does one human heart from another . . .Though you should pound the fool to bits [with the pestle, amid the grits in the mortar], his folly would not go out of him.
Fools and evil keep ready company. So do the faithful and their God. As we near the end of this Book of Common Sense, we might return to earlier chapters where Wisdom is praised for her instruction; power of God is seen as the only vaccination against evil – and these are tools which only work as well as we able to implement them. This is why it is essential to spend time with God each day – because evil is everywhere. It is why it is imperative that we seek God’s counsel in all we do – because only God can deal with the kind of evil that imitates goodness in order to take over the soul.
Evil is described as being omniscient – and even hiding in the most intimate and most cherished places: families, neighborhoods, the closest of relationships. The only surety we have against being invaded by this silent intruder is the defense we are offered by our God. We do well to remember this and to take the proffered gift gladly.
Anthony Frederick Sandys: Mary Magdalene[The women’s resurrection] story seemed like nonsense and [the eleven and all the others] did not believe them.
We must remember this when others scoff at the perseverance of faith.
He is not here, but he has been raised.
We must remember this when we are about to give up hope.
Remember what he said to you while he was still in Galilee.
We must remember this when we are betrayed or abandoned.
And they remembered his words.
We must remember this . . .
Mary Magdalene, Joanna and Mary the mother of James . . .
We must remember that these followers of Christ persisted . . .
even when their words were labeled as . . .
nonsense . . .
Written on October 17, 2009 and posted today as a Favorite.
Who is left among you that saw this house in its former glory? And how do you see it now?
As remnant people we are reminded of our glorious past and our glorious future; and we are called to join with God in creating a glorious present.
But now take courage . . .
We are reminded of God’s presence in each little thing that goes well in a day. And we can also remind ourselves that God is present with us even when things do not go well and we become frustrated with our lack of success.
For I am with you, says the Lord of hosts.
In the end, when we abide with God – as he abides with us – we strive to fulfill our covenant relationship when we remember to go to God with our worries and woes, when we give our anxieties and fears to the one who can resolve them best.
And my spirit continues in your midst; do not fear!
This is a gift we are given. This is a gift we do well to treasure. It is the gift of glory.
Written on October 15, 2009 and posted today as a Favorite.
In these early chapters of Matthew’s story of Jesus, we see the man who is Messiah respond to the voice crying in the desert; he bows to God’s call for baptism – and enters the Jordan to receive this sign of God’s blessing at the hands of his cousin John. Then he confronts the Pharisees and the Sadducees, naming their addiction to power and corruption.
We go with Jesus into the desert where he fasts and meditates on the call he has received and which he also knows will lead to his personal suffering. Jesus establishes the devil’s proper place, naming his lust for darkness and control.
Jesus withdraws into Capernaum, a place in which he grew up, a place he knows well. Jesus begins to preach; and he begins to draw to himself the group of men and women who accompany him in his journey to Jerusalem and the cross. He establishes the Kingdom, naming its source and purpose.
From today’s MAGNIFICAT Meditation by Fr. Maurice Zundel: A human being who barricades himself is an unhappy being; he suffers because he cannot be himself.
Matthew offers us, in this opening of the Jesus story, a model for responding to God’s call and for putting sorrow and happiness into their proper balance. He confronts, he names, he establishes. He remains open to the outrageous possibility that all humankind might be saved and brought into light. He balances his actions with retreats, he keeps poises himself on the pivot point of his life, and he becomes who he is meant to be – the Messiah.
We are offered this same opportunity by God. Each of us stands on the fulcrum of opposites that call us to our potential – for better or for worse. We can choose to sink into despair and sorrow, or we can choose to rise in joy. And we do this each day because the Christ who razes all mountains and fills all valleys makes this choice available to us through his own willingness to rise and obey.
Looking at this example, let us take down the barricades we have erected. Let us move into our true selves and our true ministry. Let us give thanks. And let us be open to this celebration of self.
Written on October 14, 2009 and published today as a Favorite.
We have looked at Jezebel and the role she played in the death of Naboth (1 Kings 21); several weeks ago we reflected on the city of Tyre, the birthplace of Jezebel. Today we pause to think about her end. It is not a pleasant story. In fact, it is dreadful.
My sister passed along to me a recipe for an appetizer which combines horseradish, apple jelly, yellow mustard, and pineapple preserves. This concoction – generously spiced with ground pepper and served over cream cheese, is spread on crackers. It sounds dreadful, but it is divine. Every time I take it to a party – or place it on my own front porch table when my family gathers – it disappears in a flash. It stimulates and tantalizes, is piquant but lovely. It does not remain long on the table. It is called Jezebel. And without fail, each time I put jam and jelly in my shopping cart, I think of this story. What is about this woman who so enamored some and so enraged others? Do we have modern-day Jezebels? How do they rise to power? What draws us to them? What repels us from them?
When we are lured by the Jezebels in our lives to enter into their games of deceit and lies, it is difficult to pull ourselves away. Even after we have escaped their siren call we find them seated next to us in church, working by our side, living in our home. There is only one sure way to avoid the luring call of the dark and exciting killer game of Jezebels. We must put all our decisions about this portion of our lives into the hands of God. God creates us and God creates the Jezebels. God understands people like Jezebel. We do not.
Life consists of opposites attracting and repelling, pulling and pushing. This much we can expect. And when Jezebel moves in next door and covets what we have, we can only turn to God. When she whispers lies to friends to bring about our end, we can only turn to God. Only God can understand her inmost workings.
Our work with Jezebel is that we witness to her schemes. Our plan with Jezebel is that we keep God close while she is near. For in the end, we of ourselves can do nothing on our own but to listen to the voice within which tells us how to behave, what to say and do. And also in the end, when we find that we have sailed dangerously close to the Jezebels in our lives and have escaped with our souls, we will know that God has been watching, protecting and guiding. We will know that the sum and total of their worth is that they are no longer among us. Only God can pronounce with authority the judgment that wipes out their existence so that no one might say . . . This was Jezebel.
Written on September 24, 2008 and posted today as a Favorite.
