Blessed are the merciful, for they will be shown mercy. (Matthew’s account of the Sermon on the Mount)
Perhaps endurance is the quality we most need if we are to be merciful servants. Endurance indicates our fidelity and perseverance. Endurance reinforces our strength and courage. Endurance in Christ, remaining in the Spirit, commitment to God . . . all of this endurance inGodbrings us the gift of mercy.
We count those blessed who endured. You have heard of the endurance of Job and have seen the outcome of the Lord’s dealings, that the Lord is full of compassion and is merciful. (James 5:11)
It is so difficult to wait for mercy when we need it. It is so difficult to show compassion when we are betrayed; yet Jesus tells us so often that we are forgiven as we forgive. In Psalm 55, the psalmist tells us that when we are betrayed by one near to us – our own intimate friend – we must continue in mercy, even when this seems impossible, by enduring through and with and in God. On this Easter Tuesday let us reflect on the mercy we have granted those who wrong us. Let us remember the mercy we seek in our daily lives. And let us determine to cast our burden upon the broad shoulders of the Lord, for they are wide and broad and ready to take on all that we have to offer.
On this Easter Monday we continue our reflection on the Beatitudes as we re-focus our attention on God’s priorities rather than our own.
Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the land. (Matthew’s account of the Sermon on the Mount)
Perhaps patience is the quality we most need if we are to be humble servants. Patience in our understanding that we are not in charge. Patience in our knowing that it is God’s wisdom and grace that answers our deepest questions. Patience in allowing God’s fidelity and mercy to invade all that we do. Patience in both giving and accepting God’s healing love. Psalm 27 reminds us what we gain when we are able to wait. These verses bring into focus what it is we inherit, and why the land in which the Spirit dwells is worth our offering of meekness.
Though ahost encamp against me, my heart will not fear . . .
On this Easter Monday we celebrate God’s strength . . .
Though war arise against me, I shall be confident . . .
We celebrate God’s hope . . .
I would have despairedunless I had believed that I would see the goodness of the Lord in theland of the living . . .
We celebrate God’s gift of eternal life and love . . .
Wait for theLord; be strong and let your heart take courage . . .
We celebrate God’s gift of promise . . .
Yes, wait for the Lord . . .
We celebrate God’s gift of persistence.
When our quiet strength rises from God we have no need to boast or strut. When our simple humility follows the example of Christ we have no need to exclude or divide. When our genuine meekness grows in the Spirit of God we have no need to hate or avenge. Let us wait on the Lord, let us give thanks for God’s presence, and let us celebrate the patience we inherit that offers us the gift of God’s meekness.
Using the scripture links, explore different versions of these verses and give thanks for our inheritance of meekness.
Julius Schnorr von Carolsfeld: Ruth in Boaz’s Field
February 24, 2022
If you have not read the story of Ruth, a Moabite woman who joins the Israelite people by marriage and lives out her life of fidelity in a remarkable manner, take some time today with this short book. It will be well worth the time spent. “The book contains a beautiful example of piety . . . [and] its aim is to demonstrate the divine reward for such piety . . . [Ruth’s] spirit of self-sacrifice, and her moral integrity were favored by God with the gift of faith and an illustrious marriage whereby she became the ancestress of David and of Christ”. (Senior 278)
Begin in Moabwhere Naomi has migrated with Elimelechand their sons Mahlonand Chilion. Find out why Naomi, Orpah andRuth find themselves alone and seeking help. Return to Bethlehemwith Naomi and Ruth. Meet Boaz, Naomi’s cousin, and discover how he lives out a life of fidelity that dovetails with Ruth’s piety.
Ruth says to her mother-in-law Naomi, “Do not urge me to leave youorturn back from following you; for where you go, I will go, and where you lodge, I will lodge. Your people shall bemy people, and your God, my God. Where you die, I will die, and there I will be buried. Thus maytheLord do to me, and worse, if anything butdeath parts you and me.”When Naomi saw that Ruth was determined to go with her, shesaid no more to her. (Ruth 1:16-18)
Reflect on the concept of pietyand spend time this weekend to re-define the quality. Explore its many meanings and determine how Ruth brings this beautiful essence to bloom in a life that showed only the promise of abandonment and ruin. Then we might explore what kind of devotion this story inspires in each of us.
For more reflections, enter the word Ruth in the blog search bar and explore.
Senior, Donald, ed. THE CATHOLIC STUDY BIBLE. New York, Oxford University Press, 1990.278. Print.
Who covers the earth with clouds and provides rain for the earth; who makes grass sprout on the mountains . . . ?
This is the reply that Job hears when God replies to his plea for understanding how it is that the wicked seem to live unjustly without suffering.
Who gives animals their food and ravens what they cry for . . . ?
This is the reply that we also hear when we ask how long we must endure, when we complain about our stumbling blocks.
God takes no delight in the strength of horses, no pleasure in the runner’s stride . . .
This statement runs counter to the ways of the world which honor those who are most powerful and influential, those who have created a persona that seems bigger than life.
Rather the Lord takes pleasure in the devout, in those who await God’s faithful care . . .
This statement affirms the gentle Way of Jesus, the soothing balm of the indwelling Spirit, and the rewards of fidelity to God. This statement reminds us that placing our trust in the merciful hands of God who holds the answer to all our woes.
We will better understand these verses when we spend time with Job 38-42 and examine the Lord’s speech, when we study Job’s reply and read about Job’s restoration. When we place all our hopes and dreams in God, we will better understand the answer to our questions of How Long and Who? And we will better understand how it is that in God’s Kingdom a humble servant is more exalted than the most powerful and most influential of men.
Click on the scripture links and spend time with Job 38-42, Isaiah 41 and Psalm 147. As we compare different versions of these verses, we listen for God’s voice that speaks to us.
But who can endure the day of the coming? Who can stand firm when he appears?
We humans have a knack for postponing the difficult work needed to more fully integrate ourselves. We see the cautionary road signs, yet continue on our narrow journey without expanding horizons. We ask how long we must wait for rescue. We ask how long we must endure. And God might ask us . . . how long we will delay in rising to the potential God has placed in us.
But who can endure the day of the coming? Who can stand firm when he appears?
The day of reckoning is not some distant past in which we conquer all our anxieties, fears and disasters. The day of reckoning is here in our midst and our God dwells within us to bring joy from our mourning.
But who can endure the day of the coming? Who can stand firm when he appears?
The day of reckoning is not some distant future in which the sheep and goats will divide to the right and the left. The day of reckoning is already upon us and we are asked to put aside animosity and open our hearts to our enemies.
But who can endure the day of the coming? Who can stand firm when he appears?
How do we stand firm when we are overcome with life? We rely on the firmness and healing power of God’s love.
How do we keep our feet on the foundation of God’s fidelity and our dreams in God’s hope? We rely on the authenticity and eternity of God’s love.
But who can endure the day of the coming? Who can stand firm when he appears?
We need not fear a judgment that condemns and destroys. We need only look for God’s presence within . . . and take that presence into the world. This is the life the prophet Malachi calls us to experience.
But who can endure the day of the coming? Who can stand firm when he appears?
We are invited into a disciple’s intimacy with Christ. Jesus offers friendship that is personal, immediate and joyful. Today we remember that Christ is the groom and that we are his bride. And we consider how God’s incredible love calls and binds us together.
John the Baptizer recognizes that his joy increases when he finds union with others in and through Christ.
The Bride and Groom– John 3:25-30: There arose a discussion on the part of John’s disciples with a Jew aboutpurification.And they came to John and said to him, “Rabbi, He who was with youbeyond the Jordan, to whom youhave testified, behold, He is baptizing and all are coming to Him.”John answered and said, “A man can receive nothing unless ithas been given him from heaven.You yourselves are my witnesses that I said, ‘I am not theChrist,’ but, ‘I have been sent ahead of Him.’He who has the bride isthe bridegroom; but the friend of the bridegroom, who stands and hears him, rejoices greatly because of the bridegroom’s voice. So thisjoy of mine has been made full.He must increase, but I must decrease.
Jesus tells us that the union we seek with him – the union we already have if we might recognize it – is the sole source of lasting and satisfying joy.
The Vine and the Branches –John 15:11: These things I have spoken to you so that my joy may be in you, and that your joy may be made full.
Jesus reminds us that his joy is complete in us and that as we turn over the cares of the world to him our joy will increase. Jesus is the vine and we are the branches; he sustains and we celebrate and bear fruit. Our pruning strengthens us and brings us closer to God. Our fidelity and persistence bring us the reward of God’s genuine and enduring joy.
This is the Good News John brings us. Today we might consider how we will share this joy with others.
Click on the image of the bride above to learn more about women in ancient times, or visit: http://www.womeninthebible.net/3.2.Major_Events.htm
If this week’s Noontimes call you to search for more ways to encounter Joy or urges you to investigate the New Testament, click on the word Joy in the categories cloud in the blog’s right hand sidebar and choose a reflection, or enter those words in the blog search bar.
Psalm 13:1: Howlong, O Lord? Will you forget me forever? How long will you hide your face from me?
In yesterday’s Noontimewe gathered our prayers and petitions to carry them to the one who holds all the answers. Today we gather ourselves to listen to the Word of God.
Ephesians 2:13: In Christ Jesus you who once were far off have become near.
Paul answers our question of how long we must wait for God to appearwhen he reminds us that Christ answers our plea with unquestioning patience, indomitable mercy and limitless love. Jesus replies swiftly with his own presence, and with his invitation to join him in his union with the creator. Today we gather ourselves to hear the Word of God.
Luke 10:1-9: The Lord Jesus appointed seventy-two other disciples whom he sent ahead of him in pairs to every town and place he intended to visit. He said to them, “The harvest is abundant but the laborers few . . . Go on your way; behold, I am sending you like lambs among wolves. Carry no money bag, no sack, no sandals; and greet no one along the way”.
God answers our petition for help by asking us to trust in the plan laid out for our rescue. Today we gather to accept God’s invitation to join in the vital work of the harvest.
Psalm 94:3: How long shall the wicked, O Lord, how long shall the wicked exult?
We have asked how long our suffering will endure . . . and the response to this question is not a pat answer that tells us how many days or weeks or years or eons we must wait for God’s justice to prevail. A close reading of the Gospels tells us what we already know. In the person of Jesus we have all the answer we might need. In our finite world we look for finite solutions and well-defined answers that content us for today, but that have no place in God’s infinite world. In our apocalyptic view of the world we seek a justice that will measure out punishment and reward as if we were all small children, but God asks us to step into something much bigger than the little window we have on the God’s justice.
Psalm 13:1: Howlong, O Lord? Will you forget me forever? How long will you hide your face from me?
God does not hide from us. God is with us constantly and everywhere in the person of the rescuing Jesus. God does not forget us. God is within and around us in the person of the healing Spirit. God does not lose hope in us. God protects and guides, cajoles and upholds, saves and teaches, heals and loves us more than we can understand. Despite our faults and infidelities, God persists in waiting, calling, blessing, forgiving and loving.
Psalm 74:9: We do not see our signs; there is no longer any prophet, nor is there any among us who knows how long.
There is no need to ask how long; there is no need to despair for we already have God’s response . . . the surety that God dwells within us, asking for our trust and fidelity, forgiving our missteps and misgivings, calling us to great love and great mercy. In our darkest moment and in our deepest grief . . . God has not been distant or hiding. God has been quite near.
Let us move into the world around us . . . and act in a way that confirms our trust in God.
In 2015, Oxfam produced a study indicating that next year one percent of the world’s population will hold more than half of the world’s wealth. The hungry, the impoverished, the homeless may well ask How Long of God as they manage their daily survival. Read the two views at the links below, and reflect on how each of us might be the presence of God to the marginalized.
The Book of Psalms calls us to praise God and during this first week of Advent we will focus on the power of the psalms in a number of ways: to connect us with God as sisters and brothers in Christ, to give us a healing pathway on which to carry our lament to the Spirit, to call us together as we praise and honor the creator God, and to offer us more examples of how God’s joy calls forth a great shout.
Click on the scripture links and explore other versions of these verses. Share an idea about the surprise of joy in the dark places and times in our lives with a loved one, a neighbor or friend. And allow the surprise of joy to brighten each day as we move forward in the season of hope-filled waiting for the arrival of the Christ.
Psalm 51verse 8: Let me hear the sounds of joy and gladness; and though you have crushed me and broken me, I will be happy once again. Do we acknowledge that God’s joy calls goodness out of harm?
Psalm 65verses 8-13: You have always been my help, Lord. In the shadow of your wings I sing for joy. You show your care for the land by sending rain; you make it rich and fertile. You fill the streams with water; you provide the earth with crops. The pastures are filled with flocks; the hillsides are full of joy. Everything shouts and sings for joy. Are we willing to see all of creation as God’s shouts of joy?
Psalm 66 verse 1: Praise God with shouts of joy, all people! Do we share the good news of God’s fidelity, hope, love and joy?
Psalm 68verse 3: But the righteous are glad and rejoice in his presence; they are happy and shout for joy. Do we willingly come together as community to share the news of God’s goodness?
The story of Judith is full of danger and violence counterpointed by fidelity and great rejoicing. Today we discover that despite grave danger, joy is present. If today’s story calls you to search formore surprises, click on the word Joy in the categories cloud in the blog’s right hand sidebar and choose a reflection, or enter the word Joy in the blog search bar. You may also want to visit the Joy for the Journey blog atwww.joyforthee.blogspot.comto see how joy surprises you there. Today we find joy in miraculous deliverance.
Judith’s story is not included in all versions of the Bible because it is regarded by some to be an historical novel rather than sacred word. Others see is as a kind of allegory in that the name Judithis the feminine form of the word Judah. Still others point to anachronisms and decline to regard these words as inspired. In any case, the story holds is one of consequence, and one in which we see God’s deliverance of the faithful from the most extreme of circumstances. It is a story to which we will want to attend.
Artemisia Gentilischi: Judith and the Maid-servant with the head of Holofernes
If you did not have time to read the introductory chapters, move through them today – if even only quickly. The opening pages of the book prepare us for the dreadful middle and the joyful end. They put us in a time and place we will recognize as much like our own. They will give us a firmer footing from which to view this story, a stronger reason to hope as Judith does, and a clearer image of the desperation and joy she experiences.
Verse 14:9: When she had finished her story, the people cheered so loudly that the whole town echoed with sounds of joy.
Is there a Judith among us who quietly moves forward through God’s plan and surprises us with an outrageous act of hope? Are we the unobtrusive Judith or almost unseen handmaiden who turns history on its head in a surprising way? And when God intervenes withand inus in such startling ways, do we recognize the presence of the Spirit in our hour of desperation?
Verse 15:9: When they arrived, they all praised her, “You are Jerusalem’s crowning glory, the heroine of Israel, the pride and joy of our people!”
Do we recognize the Judiths among us and if so, do we value their quiet persistence and determination? Do we perhaps see ourselves in the gritty and resolute actions of these women? And when God intervenes with and in us in such surprising ways, do we give thanks and honor to the Living God who is in and with all who find joy in great peril and outrageous deliverance?
For more details and insights about the encounters between Judith and Holofernes, visit other Noontime reflections by entering the wordJudithinto the blog search bar.
The Noontimes 