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2 Samuel 24: Bold Penance

Posted in Favorite, tagged , on March 22, 2024| Leave a Comment »


2 Samuel 24: Bold Penance

Friday, March 22, 2024

king david

Angelica Kauffman: The Prophet Nathan reproaching King David

A Favorite from March 8, 2008.

We looked at the beginning of this chapter this past September when we focused on the idea that silence in a division means assent with those who speak. I recalled my Dad’s words that sometimes it is stand up time. Today, when we return to the same place in The Word, when we look deeper we can see another them, and this one is appropriate to our Lenten tide.

From the HARPERCOLLINS COMMENTARY (page 278): Yet once more it is not difficult to be impressed by David. He is boldly penitent (24:10-17). He invites action against himself and his own house rather than the ordinary people: “these sheep, what have they done?” (v.17). He is unwilling to make an offering to [Yahweh] that has cost him nothing (v.24).

And so I ask myself: What is the tone of my penitence? Am I bold as I declare myself openly to God? Or do I cower? Do I take my transgressions openly? Or do I try to conceal them in some way? Do I excuse myself, explain myself, rationalize my action or lack of action? But most importantly . . . 

Am I unwilling to make an offering to God that has cost me nothing?

Mays, James L., ed.  HARPERCOLLINS BIBLE COMMENTARY. New York, New York: HarperCollins Publishers, 1988. 278. Print.

Image from: https://www.ministrymatters.com/all/entry/6391/on-truth-tellers

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Psalm 103: What is Ours – A Reprise

Posted in Favorite, tagged , , , on March 21, 2024| Leave a Comment »


Psalm 103: What is Ours – A Reprise

Thursday, March 21, 2024

A Favorite from March 14, 2009.

It is easy to look on the gifts of others as a threat. We often want what we don’t have and in doing so forget the good that God has given us. But wanting what is not rightfully ours is the root of many serious sins. Let us instead look how generous God has been to us and rejoice in his generosity to others. For this is the way to justice and happiness. (MAGNIFICAT Evening Prayer for Friday, March 13).

As I opened the Bible today to spent time in reflection, the pages fell open to Psalm 103: Praise of Divine Goodness. I remembered the words from last evening’s prayer.

It was out of envy that they handed Christ over.  Matthew 27:18

Love is patient.  Love is kind.  It is not jealous.  1 Corinthians 13:4

It is now the hour for you to awake from sleep . . . 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, not in orgies and drunkenness, not in promiscuity and licentiousness, not in rivalry and jealousy.  But put on the Lord Jesus Christ . . . (Romans 13:11-14)

Wanting what is not ours only brings pain to ourselves and others. This we know and we are quick to realize that we ought not to covet the possessions of others; but do we often think of how we might covet the intangibles of life? We may wish we possessed the friends of others, the jobs of others, the good looks and easy manner of others. Do we wish we had the closeness others have with God? Are there relationships others might have in work and in play that we wish were ours?

When we want what is not ours, we open ourselves to that which grows in the dark. When we give thanks for the gifts freely given us by God, we open ourselves to the light. When we use our feelings of jealousy as opportunities to thank God, we regard each sensation of envy as an opportunity to rejoice in God’s merciful kindness.

Bless the Lord, oh my soul, do not forget all the gifts of God . . . God delivers your life from the pit, surrounds you with love and compassion, fills your days with good things . . .

Psalm 103 is the one designated to be read for Mass today, and the Gospel is from Luke, Chapter 15 verses 1 to 32. It is the story of The Prodigal Son and The Forgiving Father, one that we all know. The jealousy experienced by the straying son draws him away from the father and toward a life of dissipation. The jealousy felt by the son who stays home leads him away from understanding the infinite mercy and generosity of his father. It seems that no matter which course we take in life, we are susceptible to wanting that which is not meant to be ours.

When we feel jealousy and turn to thank God for what we have rather than becoming sad or finding a way to have what it is not ours, we enter into God’s plan of conversion for us. In so doing, we enter into God’s grace. In this way, we enter into the conversion of harm to goodness.

So let us thank God for what is ours, and let us give back to God what is not ours, we pray the intercessions form last evening’s prayer.

Seeking the generosity of God our Father, we pray to him: Deliver us from jealousy. 

When we see the good fortune of others, let us rejoice in their happiness. Deliver us from jealousy. 

When we see our own shortcomings, let us not despise those who excel in areas where we are lacking. Deliver us from jealousy. 

When we feel jealous, let us be happy with the gifts God has given us and not covet that which is not rightfully ours. Deliver us from jealousy. 

Amen.

Cameron, Peter John. “Prayer for the Morning.” MAGNIFICAT. 14.3 (2009). Print.  

Image from: https://www.hawaiipacifichealth.org/healthier-hawaii/be-healthy/a-deeper-discussion-about-emotional-distress/

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Psalm 118: God Saves Those in Distress

Posted in Favorite, Lent, tagged , , on March 20, 2024| 2 Comments »


Psalm 118: God Saves Those in Distress

Wednesday, March 20, 2024

A Favorite from March 13, 2008.

We can never hear this too often, especially during the Lenten tide. If you have the opportunity, make a space of time to pray this psalm today. It will fill your empty spaces to overflowing. It will make sense of all hardship. It will remind us that life is good, that God is mercy, that God and we are one.

Whoever is wise will ponder these things, will ponder the merciful deeds of the Lord.

We wander the path of this life yearning for something that will move us, stir us, create a fire within us; yet not consume us. We can so often lose our way in this search for the fire that does not consume.

Some had lost their way in a barren desert . . .

We have wandered so far, looking for constancy, fidelity, healing. Our lives feel so like a desert. We hunger. We thirst. We feel as though we have lost ourselves, as though something is missing.

They were hungry and thirsty; their life was ebbing away . . .

We have longed for peace, for happiness, for calm, for serenity. Our lives can feel so useless when the search seems futile.

Some lived in darkness and gloom . . .

We hold so many secrets, think of our sins as private errors, separate ourselves from all that is holy. Our lives need compassion rather than anger and despair, love rather than indifference.

In their distress they cried to the Lord . . . who saved them in their peril . . .

We think that we can handle things so much better than you, God because we are here and so often we feel as though you are so distant . . . yet we are not alone. You are always with us. You save us in our distress. You humble us with hardship. You call us to turn and return to you.

Let them thank the Lord for such kindness, such wondrous deeds for mere mortals.  Let them offer a sacrifice in thanks, declare his works with shouts of joy.

When we pause to breathe, when we still the frenzy. We feel you with us. We feel that fire that does not consume. We see the miracles you bring forth through us. We believe that you are mercy. We see the wonder of all you have created. We know that there is no greater God than you.

Whoever is wise will ponder these things, will ponder the merciful deeds of the Lord.

Amen.

Image from: https://www.freepik.com/free-photo/man-stress-out-cover-his-face-by-his-hands_10725897.htm

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The New Testament: Simplicity

Posted in Favorite, tagged , , , , on March 19, 2024| Leave a Comment »


The New Testament: Simplicity

Tuesday, March 19, 2024

Adapted from a reflection written on March 5, 2009.

If your Bible has an introduction to the New Testament, now is a perfect time to read it. The season of Lent is calling us to forgiveness, newness and rescue; this is also the message of the New Testament.

From La Biblia de América. Together, these writings animate, illustrate and consolidate a new faith. They came to life through an oppressed people longing to be free from the constant need to worry about their everyday subsistence. Wealthy landholders held most of the power and control. There was no social safety net.  he little people were left to fend for themselves. These are the people to whom Jesus ministered. They are still his dearest ones. We love Jesus best when we love the marginalized. This is a theology of simplicity.

The thinking and theology presented by Christ brought not only a newness and a simpleness to old ways, but a challenge that required answers. The people who heard the message and embraced it even in the face of death served as the tinder that ignited a movement that has not – and will not – be overcome by darkness. This is what the followers of Jesus know: that we are created out of and for love, and that the creator desires nothing more than our love in return. There is no greater news than this. The story of Jesus and his actions is unparalleled. It has no equal; nothing can be more simple.

How do we communicate our love to God, our understanding of the simplicity to which Christ calls us? Through prayer. Catherine de Hueck Doherty, the foundress of Madonna House, is quoted in today’s Meditation in MAGNIFICAT:  Prayer is conversation with God. It does not require a thousand books. It requires a simple and tremendous love of God and a total simplicity. I am beloved by God. He created me.  his is the first idea. And he wants to be loved by me. We have to get that into our heads. Then we proceed to tell him we love him. 

A simple and tremendous love of God and a total simplicity. This is what the people of the Palestine had and knew. It is what we can come to know. For this we pray . . . Amen.

For more reflections on the books of the New Testament, visit the New Testament link on “The Book of Your Life” page on this blog at: https://thenoontimes.com/the-book-of-our-life/

Cameron, Peter John. “Meditation of the Day.” MAGNIFICAT. 5.3 (2009). Print.  

LA BIBLIA DE LA AMÉRICA. 8th. Madrid: La Casa de la Biblia, 1994. Print.

Image from: http://www.quotemaster.org/simplicity+in+life and 

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Isaiah 30:18-36: The Lord’s Favor

Posted in Favorite, tagged , , , , on March 15, 2024| 1 Comment »


Isaiah 30:18-36: The Lord’s Favor

Friday, March 15, 2024iching_graphic

The Lord is waiting to show you favor . . .

During Lent we so often beat ourselves up, tossing around guilt in an effort to expiate our activity or inactivity in God’s plan.  In a Bible Concordance, the word favor is cited too often to analyze quickly but the enormity of the number of times we see its use tells us something about our creator.

The Lord is waiting to show you favor . . .

Those who give are so often wrapped in giving to others, they forget to be the recipient of gifts from others.

Those who advocate are so frequently caught up in the work of justice, they become accustomed to life always being a struggle.

Those who are frequent recipients of favor from God and others, they may take it as a given, as a requisite to measure the worth of a day, as an entitlement.

The Lord is waiting to show you favor . . .

Perhaps the favors we seek are before us at all times, and the miracle occurs when we truly open our eyes to see them.

Perhaps the words we long to hear are being said but are lost in the cacophony of life.

The Lord is waiting to show you favor . . . He will be gracious to you when you cry out, as soon as he hears he will answer you . . . No longer will your Teacher hide himself, but with your own eyes you shall see your Teacher, while from behind a voice shall sound in your ears: ‘This is the way; walk in it,” when you would turn to the right or left.

There is a tag hanging on the doorknob of the workroom in my classroom that reads: When the student is ready, the master appears.  I first read this a number of years ago in the I Ching and was happy to find this tag in a shop while vacationing with my children and grandchildren at the ocean.  I love to put my hand on that door – the door behind which we store tests, make coffee, have quiet chats.

The Lord is waiting to show you favor . . .

Perhaps all we need to do during this Lenten season is to store away our tests, make coffee . . . and rest in the friendship of God and one another.

The Lord is waiting to show you favor . . .

A Favorite from February 26, 2009.

For more on the I Ching, visit: http://www.iging.com/intro/introduc.htm 

Image from: http://www.ifate.com/i-ching.html

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Titus 1: False Teachers

Posted in Favorite, tagged , , , , on February 17, 2024| Leave a Comment »


Titus 1: False Teachers

Saturday, February 17, 2024beware_of_false_teachers_png_by_madetobeunique-d30spqt

This reflection was written on February 18, 2010 and is posted today as we reflect of false leaders, teachers, and the alternative facts they present as truth.

Paul is not the only one who warns early church members of false teachings and false teachers. In Chapter 3 of his letter, James warns us that we must make the distinction between earthly and divine wisdom. Throughout his letter he cautions us that faith without works is dead. Words without action are meaningless (1:22). And we humans are clever at rationalizing our actions, making sense where there is none to be made. Today, we hear Paul’s words to Titus that he is to silence those who would spread falsehoods, he is to refute counterfeit arguments, he is to witness against the emptiness of any doctrine which does not carry the true message of the new Law of Freedom.

Like James, Paul speculates about what these false teachers may hope to profit for their own sordid gain.  As a minister designated to lead Christ’s flock, Titus is required to speak and act on the deception he hears and sees. He is asked to call God’s people back to honesty and integrity.

How many of us are willing to do the same if it means we make our family, friends, and colleagues – and ourselves – uncomfortable? Are we willing to act if we know that our words and actions may cause discomfort? Are we prepared to give up our worldly wisdom for the divine?  Are we willing to sacrifice our earthly life in order to belong to God?

Both Paul and James remind us often that we are known by the fruit of our labor. Our deeds either support or deny our claims about ourselves. As we make our pilgrimage toward Easter, as we investigate what we are willing to change about ourselves, can we see the places in these verses where Paul speaks to us? As stewards of God’s word, how do we live, how do we play, how do we work, and how do we pray? Are we sayers of God’s word only as James challenges us to ask?  Or are we doers of the Word as well?  Are we following false teachers or – even worse – are we acting as false teachers? Or do we seek to full members in the unifying body of Christ? Do we exhort with sound doctrine to refute opponents?

Paul makes a simple list for us to use as a measuring stick for ourselves. We may want to spend time with verses 7 through 9 sometime today as we explore God’s call to be . . . hospitable, a lover of goodness, temperate, just, holy, and self-controlled, holding fast to the true message as taught so that one will be able both to exhort with sound doctrine and to refute opponents.

Image from: http://www.patheos.com/blogs/religionprof/2012/02/beware-of-false-teachers-and-be-aware-you-might-be-one.html

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Titus 3:8-10: Sparks Among the Stubble

Posted in Favorite, tagged , , , , on February 16, 2024| Leave a Comment »


Titus 3:8-10: Sparks Among the Stubble

Friday, February 16, 2024sparks-586065_960_720

This reflection is adapted from a Favorite written on All Souls’ Day, November 2, 2009 and is posted today for those who feel lost in the present climate of fear and anger.  

The letter to Titus is brief but contains powerful words; we read some of them today.  They have a great deal to teach us and when we reflect on them in light of today’s celebration – the celebration of All Souls – and they tell us that we have some place deeper to go. The body of Christ.

The Mass readings today are the 23rd Psalm along with Wisdom 3:1-9, Romans 5:5-11 and John 6:37-40.  In the Old Testament reading we have the beautiful image of souls flying like sparks rising from a burning stubble.  In the Psalm we receive great comfort in all trials.  In Paul’s letter and in John’s Gospel we have the message that Christ has returned to take each of us into him . . . to return each of us to the Creator where we rightly belong.

As we reune and commune with our loved ones today who have gone before us, let us think of how we suffer for one another that we might be together.  And then let us take on the bigger challenge offered by Christ – that we might suffer as gladly for those who are our enemies.

In his letter to Titus, Paul cautions that once we make an overture to those who have left God’s side we must allow Christ himself to step in so that he might do what is necessary to turn all back to the saving power of God.  As we sing with the souls of the departed that shine and dart about as sparks through stubble, as we receive the love of God poured out into our hearts, and know that this doctrine is sure, we must allow ourselves to be raised in and with Christ so that we might dart and fly among the stubble of the world to bring God’s transformative message of the promise of eternal life in Christ.

Image from: https://pixabay.com/en/photos/spark%20fire/

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Ezekiel 46: Offerings

Posted in Favorite, tagged , , , , , , on February 10, 2024| Leave a Comment »


Ezekiel 46: Offerings

Saturday, February  10,2024balt9f

I am struck by several things as I read this chapter in isolation from the rest of the text: in Ezekiel’s vision of the New Jerusalem, the faithful make offerings each morning, the princes are to provide for their sons from their own resources rather than the resources of the people, and the temple offerings are cooked in the temple kitchens to prevent the risk of transmitting holiness to the people. 

Commentaries give us important information that puts the writing of this priest-in-exile in context for us. Ezekiel, as we can see by his calling the secular celebrant prince rather than king, is clear about the importance of cultic authority over the secular. (Barton and Mulliman 562)  The downside of this is, of course, that priests – be they Levites, Zadokites or princes – serve as intermediaries for the people . . . keeping God’s holiness apart and reserved for the specially anointed.

We live in the Messianic Age, a time at which our high priest has come to walk among us as one of us. This priest, Christ, has torn down the temple to rebuild it in three days. He grants access to all who seek authentic intimacy with God. He comes to break down the barriers between God and man and to transmit holiness to the people. 

As we rise each morning, we – like the Levites, the Zadokites and the princes before us – run the risk of allowing the demands of everyday life to erode this intimacy with God. As we attend to our needs and wants, we run the risk of entering into a mechanical relationship with God – one in which we fulfill a requirement but leave our hearts and minds elsewhere. Meeting deadlines, replenishing resources, tending to a million little tasks each day are activities which are necessary but which must be kept in proper perspective. For there is no joy that lasts but for the joy we know in loving God with body, mind and soul.

When we commit to praying at regular times each day, as we might if we pray the Liturgy of the Hours, we find that we have opportunities to offer both our anxieties and gifts of the previous day back to God. If we able to lay to rest all our worries and anxieties of that present day, we need not carry them into the next. Children, grandchildren, friends, family, house chores, car chores, appointments, work – all of these we are better able to see as gifts from God, as this is what they truly are. And all of our anxieties and worries about these gifts, we offer back along with our best attempts to do the best we are able in each circumstance.

Offerings. Burnt sacrifices from our lives. These we offer to God each day. Yet what our gracious and loving God truly desires is our clear and open hearts, hearts that are broken and dispirited and are ready to know true and lasting joy, hearts ready to take him in, ready to make a home for the Spirit.

Sacrifice and offering you do not want; but ears open to obedience you gave me.  Holocausts and sin offering you do not require; so I said: “Here I am”; your commands for me are written in the scroll.  Psalm 40:7-8.

Those who offer praise as a sacrifice honor me; to the obedient I will show the salvation of God.  Psalm 50:23.

For you do not desire sacrifice; a burnt offering you would not accept.  My sacrifice, God, is a broken spirit; God, do not spurn a broken, humbled heart.  Psalm 51:18-19.

For God remembers your every offering, graciously accepts your holocaust, grants what is in your heart, fulfills your every plan.  Psalm 20:5-5.  Amen.

Blessings on all today.    

Barton, John, and John Muddiman. THE OXFORD BIBLE COMMENTARY. Oxford, UK: Oxford University Press, 2001. 562. Print.

Adapted from a Favorite written on January 29, 2009.

Image from: http://www.bible-history.com/tabernacle/TAB4The_Bronze_Altar.htm

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2 Samuel 11 and 12: Conversion – Part II

Posted in Favorite, tagged , , , , , on February 9, 2024| Leave a Comment »


2 Samuel 11 and 12: Conversion – Part II

Friday, February 9, 2024

Jean II Restout: Ananias Restoring the Sight of St. Paul

Two interesting readings from Acts tell the story of Saul/Paul’s conversion: 9:1-22 and 22:3-16. Again, we see the figure who serves as an instrument of God in the surprising kind of turnabout that can happen when we trust God enough to place ourselves in his hands. This man, like Nathan in the story of David, communes regularly with God so that when he finds himself in a situation that rightfully causes fear, he has the resources to step into the waiting hand of God to go beyond that fear – and to enter into his own conversion of vocation.

Nathan, Ananais, and countless other harvesters in God’s vineyard hear and answer this call by trusting in God. In the Acts readings we see Ananais hesitate, saying to God: Lord, I have heard from many sources about this man, what evil things he has done to your holy ones in Jerusalem. And the Lord replies: Go, for this man is a chosen instrument of mine to carry my name before Gentiles, kings, and children of Israel, and I will show him what he will have to suffer for my name.

In today’s story, we do not read of any trepidation Nathan may have felt on going before the King to give the man an opportunity to repent. What we do read in verse 12:5 is how David reacted in anger to Nathan’s parable. Yet Nathan stands his ground, firm in his knowing that he has been sent.

We might spend time this afternoon wondering about our own Nathan parable. What story might the prophet stand before us to pronounce? How might we react? We also might also spend time thinking about our own role as truth-revealer. When we hear the voice tell us what is required of us, are we willing to do what is required?

We might question as Ananais does, or we might immediately – like Nathan – speak a truth we know others who are far stronger and far more powerful than ourselves wish to keep hidden.  n any case, as children of light we are asked to stand in the truth and to bring truth to others as is required of us by our God, and according to our vocation.

We notice today that Ananais and Nathan respond to God’s call in kindness and with mercy, prepared and even expecting that their work will bear fruit.  s we go about the rest of our day, we might want to think about which role we play in today’s drama.  re we David? Are we Bathsheba? Are we Nathan? Are we truly converted by our vocation? Do we act from God? Do we act with God? Do we act in God’s love? Do we act at all on what we know to be our own conversions – a conversion both of the heart and our vocation?

Image from: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Jean_II_Restout_-_Ananias_Restoring_the_Sight_of_St_Paul_-_WGA19317.jpg

Adapted from a January 25, 2009 Favorite.

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