Tag: Bishop Morneau

• 2 Kings 24 and 25: Historical Messiness

  
  

  2 Kings 24 and 25: Historical Messiness

  Tuesday, December 20, 2022

  

  Today we read about the end of Judah, the end of Jerusalem, the end of the Jewish kingdom.  Jehoiachim, thinking perhaps that he might buy some time in a compromise, becomes a vassal of Nebuchadnezzar from 604 40 602 B.C.E. But in the end, as we read today, death and destruction, ruin and exile take over. Jehoiachin, who has been king a only few months, surrenders to overwhelming forces.  Zedekiah is named king (his name had been Mattaniah) but he also fails to return the people and himself to Yahweh.

  These are sad and piercing stories in which we see all that is valued being carried off; innocent blood is shed, a way of life ends. And yet does it?

  

  We are passing through a time of year which brings us the message of hope in darkness. We are living in a time when the impossible becomes possible. For as many times as we find ourselves carted off into exile, we will also find ourselves redeemed and even saved – saved from the treacheries that surround us, saved from the treacheries within.

  We have spent time in previous Noontimes reflecting on the times of exile in our lives. Invaders have overrun our sacred precincts. Terror seizes us; all that we hold precious is taken away. Yet, it is the marvel and mystery of living in relationship with God that ultimately saves us.

  Bishop Robert Morneau tells us in Daily Reflections for ADVENT AND CHRISTMAS: Waiting in Joyful Hope: Here was a God of infinite compassion, taking on the human condition and plunging into our historical messiness.  Here was a God who understood our pains and joys from the inside.  Here was the Messiah, the Savior of humankind.

  

  Today we read about the history of our ancestors and we take time to reflect when we are in the midst of our own historical messiness, when our own holy vessels are carted off and melted down to adorn pagan idols, to whom do we turn for sustenance and comfort?  To whom do we cry out for help? There is only one person, as Morneau reminds us, only one being who can truly understand our sorrows and our triumphs. And we are about to celebrate the coming of this being into our presence. As we move through this last week of Advent, let us carry both our grief and our joy to this one who saves, this one who redeems, this one who loves us so that he comes to us as a child, relying on our own willingness and readiness to be one with him . . . despite our historical messiness.

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  Adapted from a reflection written on December 16, 2009.

  We can read more detail about these ancient kings by clicking on their images or at:

  http://www.jewishencyclopedia.com/view.jsp?letter=J&artid=198

  http://www.jewishencyclopedia.com/view.jsp?artid=73&letter=Z&search=zedekiah 

  http://www.jewishencyclopedia.com/articles/11407-nebuchadnezzar 

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  December 20, 2022

  Bishop Morneau, hope in the darkness, union with Christ

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• Mark 8:11-13: The Demand for a Sign

  
  

  Mark 8:11-13: The Demand for a Sign

  Saturday, August 27, 2022

  And he sighed deeply in his spirit . . .

  I am certain that Jesus sighs deeply in his spirit many times in a human day. And I am equally convinced that he smiles with our many little triumphs over self. His humanness wants to celebrate with us. His divinity wants to heal us. Despite all of the evidence we have before us of God’s constancy and love, we still do not trust God. We still ask for signs.

  And he sighed deeply in his spirit . . .

  Luke 3:10-18 is a story of an encounter which John the Baptist had with the Jewish and pagan world.  He cautions the Jews that they must share what they have rather than hoard it for themselves.  He asks the tax collectors to cease cheating people.  And he reminds the soldiers that they ought to be content with the power they have and cease their grumbling. As Bishop Robert Morneau tells us in Daily Reflections for ADVENT AND CHRISTMAS: Waiting in Joyful Hope 2009-2010 when he writes about this episode: Joy lies in perpetual gratitude.   The more we practice gratitude, the easier it is to live in trust and faith.  The more we live in trust and faith, the less need we have to ask for signs.

  And he sighed deeply in his spirit . . .

  In Matthew 21:23-27, Jesus is asked by the chief priests and elders by whose authority he speaks. Jesus replies with a question – as he does frequently when he knows he is being baited. He asks who gave his cousin, John, the authority to baptize.  He wants to know: Was it of heavenly or human origin?  When they refuse to commit themselves, Jesus declines to answer their question. They had not really been looking for an answer. Are we always asking for an answer when we question or are we trying to control God in our lives?

  And he sighed deeply in his spirit . . .

  We humans question God continually. We want to know our next steps. We want to know the reasons, the origins, the causes and the effects. We are a bit afraid, or a bit too proud, to allow our sophisticated selves to experience wonder or mystery; and yet it is through the mystery of Christ’s presence in our lives each day that we are stirred to ask questions, to delve deep within, to step outside of ourselves.

  And he sighed deeply in his spirit . . .

  We imagine that Christ sighs a great deal as he accompanies us in our journey toward him. We also imagine that he smiles a great deal as we learn to capitulate ourselves into the safety of his hands.

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  Image from: http://biblefeet.blogspot.com/2009/03/and-did-those-feetthe-meaning-of-feet.html

  Adapted from a reflection written on December 14, 2009.

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  August 27, 2022

  Bishop Morneau, God’s constancy, God’s love, Luke 3:10-19, Matthew 21:23-27, mystery, trust God, wonder

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• Fidelity

  
  

  Tuesday, December 11, 2012 – Deuteronomy 6 – Fidelity

  Today’s readings are all about fidelity.  Isaiah 54:1-10, Psalm 19, Psalm 30, Psalm 113, Hosea 2:21-22, Luke 7:24-30.  In DAILY REFLECTIONS FOR ADVENT & CHRISTMAS: Waiting in Joyful Hope 2010-2011, Robert Morneau writes about these readings: We need blessed assurance, an anchor that provides stability in a turbulent and changing world.  Is there anyone or anything that we can count on, especially when trials and tribulations fall upon us?  Isaiah the prophet provides an answer: God’s love will never leave us nor can the great covenant of peace be shaken.  The blessed assurance of love and peace flows out of God’s immense mercy . . . When this divine friendship is offered, people must make a decision to accept or reject it.  And even if it is rejected, God’s love and mercy is still available and is given as soon as an individual or community turns back to the Lord. 

  In Deuteronomy today we hear the wonderful Shema of the Jewish people, the beautiful center of morning and evening prayer: Love the Lord with all your heart and all your soul and all your strength.  Drill this into your children.  Keep this attitude about you at all times.  Identify your home and family as ones who remain in God.  This is also the lesson that Jesus comes to enact among us.  How well does the world know that we are Christ followers?  By the fidelity with which we live our lives. 

  What we want is blessed assurance, and yet we have it shown to us constantly in the thousand little ways that God intercedes for us each day.

  What we want is peace and joy, and yet we have it given to us in the small gestures and large actions the Spirit brings to us each day.

  What we want is justice and mercy, and yet we are given it in the thousand little and big ways that Jesus awaits us, calls us, and redeems us.

  We look for something we already have.  All we need do is turn back to God in the fullness of body, mind and spirit.  All we need do is rest in God . . . in trust, in hope . . . in fidelity.

  Written on December 16, 2010 and posted today as a Favorite.

  39.533225 -76.430369

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  December 11, 2012

  Bishop Morneau, blessed assurance, divine friendship, Hosea 2:21-22, Isaiah 54:1-10, Luke 7:24, Psalm 113, Psalm 19, Psalm 30, Shema, tell your children, Trinity

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