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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