freedom – The Noontimes

John 10:9: “I Am the Gate”

John 10:9: “I Am the Gate”

Thursday, June 5, 2025

Jesus tells us, “I am the gate. Those who come in by me will be saved; they will come in and go out and find pasture”. (GNT)

We notice that Jesus does not trap his sheep in an enclosure with strict rules. Knowing their love for others – even their enemies, he invites them to come in and go out through the safe gate of The Way.

I am the door. By me, if any man enter in, he shall be saved: and he shall go in, and go out, and shall find pastures. (DRA)

We see that Jesus does not confine his followers in tight corners. Knowing their fidelity, he gives them the freedom to come and go in his Truth.

I am the door. If a man goes in through me, he will be safe and sound; he can come in and out and find his food. (Phillips)

We watch Jesus who does not micromanage the faithful. Believing in their hope, he invites them to walk in The Light.

I am the Door; anyone who enters through Me will be saved [and will live forever], and will go in and out [freely], and find pasture (spiritual security). (AMP)

We know that Jesus understands the difficulty of our journey. Loving our persistence, he invites us to become a branch on the great vine of life. If we doubt his patience as he offers this invitation, we remind ourselves of this story’s details.

Jesus told this simple story, but they had no idea what he was talking about. So he tried again. “I’ll be explicit, then. I am the Gate for the sheep. All those others are up to no good—sheep stealers, every one of them. But the sheep didn’t listen to them. I am the Gate. Anyone who goes through me will be cared for—will freely go in and out, and find pasture. A thief is only there to steal and kill and destroy. I came so they can have real and eternal life, more and better life than they ever dreamed of. (MSG)

Today we receive a loving invitation to walk in The Way, to hope in The Light and the Life, and to live in the truth that is Christ. Let us move toward this door to authenticity. Let us enter this gate to transformation.

Tomorrow, the Narrow Gate and The Great Reversal.

When we compare varying versions of this verse, we see that despite the circumstances of our lives, we might look for the doors that Christ opens for us.

Image from: https://www.journeywithjesus.net/essays/2626-i-am-the-gate

June 5, 2025

freedom, The Narrow Door, The Narrow Gate, vine and branches

Tobit 5: Rafael

Tobit 5: Rafael

*Jacopo Vignali: Tobias and the Arcangel Raphael*

Monday, March 24, 2025

A Favorite from May 12, 2010.

I have always loved this story of synchronicity, healing and steadfastness and each time I read it I reflect upon – and marvel at – the number of times that the angel Rafael has been present in my life. Sometimes I know he is present in the healing hands of physicians, ministers and friends. Other times it is only until well after an event that I realize I have been visited by an angel. God constantly sends us his guides; we may or may not be aware of their presence.

We are created to experience joy rather than sorrow, reunion rather than separation, salvation rather than abandonment. We are meant to be free from bondage, free to enter into relationship with the force that created us, free to enter fully into our divinity. In yesterday’s MAGNIFICAT Meditation by Fr. Maurice Zundel we read: We are called into a heart-to-heart relationship with the Lord in which our whole being must enter . . . The only way to enter into the mystery of the universe is through the divine presence. When we are hidden in the presence of God . . . we are at the heart of the true universe.

Humans have a yearning to belong, an ache to be part of something significant, and I believe that this is what makes human love so alluring to us. We want to be the center, the axis point, the object of someone’s love . . . and yet we already are. Rafael walks with us and guides us more times than we even know; and he arrives as the healing messenger of God. Let us give thanks and be glad. Let us rejoice and praise God.L et us keep a sharp look out for the Rafaels in our lives, and let us repeat our stories of God’s power to save, of God’s infinite and compassionate love, for we are creatures of joy and not woe.

Cameron, Peter John. “Meditation of the Day.” MAGNIFICAT. 3.11 (2010). Print.

To learn more about Fr. Maurice Zundel, a Swiss theologian, visit: https://amishcatholic.com/2018/02/28/maurice-zundel-on-prayer/

Images from: https://www.pictorem.com/99562/Tobias%20and%20the%20Archangel%20Raphael.html and https://amishcatholic.com/2018/02/28/maurice-zundel-on-prayer/

March 24, 2025

angels, Fr. Maurice Zundel, freedom, healing, joy, love

Job 22: Beyond Human Limits – Part II

Job 22: Beyond Human Limits – Part II

Thursday, February 6, 2025

Job’s “friend” in today’s Noontime lives by absolute, simplistic thinking. Eliphaz tells Job that once he admits his sins, his pain and suffering will cease. We know – because we have looked at this story many times and have paused to ponder the wisdom held within, that Job suffers innocently. His goodness surfaces in a conversation between God and Satan. The devil tells the Almighty that the only reason Job is so devout is because God cares for this servant so well. It is true that for Job, life is good; yet God knows the depth of this man’s love for his creator. And so God tells Satan that he may do anything he likes to Job except terminate his life. God believes that they will see deep fidelity from this servant; he knows that Job will remain faithful. The devil delights in this bargain, believing that humans cannot suffer well, and so Job loses all: his family, his resources, his health. His wife tells him to curse God and die. His three “friends” sit with him and offer the kind of advice we read about today. Job counters repeatedly, never giving in to the temptation to curse God and capitulate. He never loses faith in God. He never loses hope that all will be revealed. He never loses the love engendered in him. He questions God, he defends himself against the poor advice from his “friends” and he waits. He is supremely patient. And he is ultimately rewarded for his fidelity.

Job has the freedom to choose how he will react to the circumstances in which he finds himself. Eliphaz baits him – much like the devil baits Jesus in today’s Gospel (Luke 4:1-13). Jailed, and later executed by the Nazis, Fr. Alfred Delp understands this kind of suffering. He writes . . . During these long weeks of confinement I have learned by personal experience that a person is truly lost, is the victim of circumstances and oppression only when he is incapable of a great inner sense of depth and freedom. Anyone whose natural element is not an atmosphere of freedom, unassailable and unshakable whatever force may be put on it, is already lost; but such a person is not really a human being anymore; he is merely an object, a number, a voting paper. And the inner freedom can only be attained of widening our own horizons. We must progress and grow, we must mount above our own limitations. It can be done; the driving force is the inner urge to conquer whose very existence shows that human nature is fundamentally designed for this expansion.

Tomorrow, the freedom to suffer, and final words from Father Delp.

Cameron, Peter John. “Meditation of the Day.” MAGNIFICAT. 21.2 (2010). Print.

Adapted from a reflection written on February 21, 2010.

Image from: https://andrewcohen.com/truth-suffering/

February 6, 2025

fidelity, Fr. Alfred Delp, freedom, Luke 4:1-13, patience

Job 22: Beyond Human Limits – Part I

Job 22: Beyond Human Limits – Part I

Wednesday, February 5, 2025

When you make a decision, it shall succeed for you, and upon your ways the light shall shine.

The Book of Job speaks to those who suffer innocently; and thus it prepares us to better understand the great sacrifice that Christ made on our behalf. Today we read the words of Eliphaz who urges Job to admit guilt so that he may prosper, and we understand that Job’s true freedom comes not from avoiding his calamity, but through going beyond human limits, by turning to God in the midst of this personal cataclysm.

Many times we witness God’s hand in turning harm into goodness. We see those who walk in pride fall by their own hands. We listen attentively to the stories people tell of having been saved, converted or transformed. Through these stories, it is easy to fall into the thinking that those who suffer must have somehow brought the negative consequences they endure upon themselves. We have heard – or we have thought – if the poor would only work they would not be poor, if that woman had not worn that dress she would not have been raped, if the people in that country would choose good leaders they would not experience famine, if people would just behave there would be no genocide. This is simplistic, black/white, off/on, binary thinking. Situations are either good or bad; decisions are either yes or no. With this kind of absolutism, there is no room for the in-between-ness that is the reality of human existence. Nor is there much of a reason to invite Christ into our lives because this kind of living follows a rulebook of regulations and checklists that lead us to see life as best lived by following rules; and this stiffness leads us to think of ourselves first. Christ calls us to liberate ourselves from this bondage and it is this kind of “setting free” that is addressed in yesterday’s MAGNIFICAT Meditation from the writings of Father Delp. He died in 1945, condemned to death in a wave of frenzy in Germany during World War II. He writes about the freedom Jesus offers to Levi, the tax collector, in Matthew 5:27-32. Humans need freedom. As slaves, fettered and confined, they are bound to deteriorate. We have spent a great deal of thought and time on external freedom; we have made serious efforts to secure our personal liberty and yet we have lost it again and again. The worst thing is that eventually humans come to accept this kind of bondage – it becomes habitual and they hardly notice it. The most abject slaves can be made to believe that the condition in which they are held is actually freedom.

Tomorrow, Job’s goodness amidst evil, and more from Father Delp.

Adapted from a reflection written on February 21, 2010.

Cameron, Peter John. “Meditation of the Day.” MAGNIFICAT. 21.2 (2010). Print.

Image from: https://www.americamagazine.org/faith/2008/01/21/jesuit-martyr-nazis-hitler-wanted-alfred-delp-forgotten-his-way-resistance-still

February 5, 2025

choose divinity, dualistic thinking, Eliphaz, Fr. Alfred Delp, freedom, God turns harm to good, Matthew 5:27-32

Ezekiel 4: Inevitability – A Reprise

Ezekiel 4 – Inevitability

Sunday, September 15, 2024

16a-Ezechiel[1] — *Michelangelo: Ezekiel*

Today’s post is a reprise from December 24, 2011. We have an opportunity to consider the possibility of recovering from calamity, an opportunity to accept the gift of Christ, God Among Us. Let us imagine that we are about to celebrate the gift of the Nativity. And let us be grateful for God’s greatest gift of self for God’s generosity, love and goodness are inevitable.

There is a certain inevitability about Ezekiel’s prophecy. He is certain that his predictions will come to pass. From our place in history centuries later, we can easily see that what seemed impossible for Judah and Jerusalem does indeed take place. Their fortified city is besieged and destroyed; their powerful and comfortable leaders are killed or deported. Why did anyone doubt Ezekiel and the other prophets? They reported what they saw in the present and what they saw to come. They were accurate, so why did anyone have reservation about their words? Most likely it was because the naysayers had too much invested in the corrupt system. We might learn a lesson from all of this.

There is a certain inevitability about Jesus’ story. He comes to tell us that he is Emmanuel – God Among Us. From our place in human history we can read about the miracles he performed. We can also number the times that impossibilities take place in our own lives. Jesus tells us that he will be destroyed and yet rise again in new life. He tells us that he has come to take us with him on this amazing journey as his well-loved sisters and brothers. Jesus tells us what the Creator has asked him to report to us: that we are free, liberated from anything that holds us to the material world in which we live. This freedom includes freedom from anxiety and stress. Why do we cling to our old and familiar discomfort when there is a newness offered to us without cost? Why do we behave as those who heard but ignored Ezekiel’s words? Do we doubt what Jesus has told us? What are the reservations we have about his words or his actions? On this eve when we celebrate his coming into the world as a vulnerable baby, why do we continue to ask for additional proofs and for further assurance that he will complete his promise to bring us to the new life he experiences? Why do we hang on to our fears and reject the possibility of joy?

250px-Gerard_van_Honthorst_001[1] — *Gerard Van Honthurst: The Nativity*

So on this Christmas Eve, as we await midnight in order to join in praise of God’s goodness to us, we have this to ponder about our own acceptance of what we have heard and what we have seen. What is it about Jesus’ story we do not believe? What are the further proofs we demand before we accept the prophecy of his coming as true? Who has lured us away from the one true story of redemption and the promise it holds for all? How have we become like those who hear but so not listen? When will we tire of hiding behind subterfuge, of supporting corrupt systems and people? Why do we persist in being as blind as the inhabitants of Jerusalem to whom Ezekiel spoke?

Let us reflect on God’s gift of inevitability as we pray . . .

Tomorrow is the feast of Christ’s birth . . . the feast of the birth of newness in each of us.

Tomorrow is the celebration of a new-found freedom . . . the celebration of our release from fear and anxiety.

Tomorrow is the commemoration of the arrival of hope and God’s promise . . . the commemoration of God’s coming to dwell among us.

God’s love is inevitable. Let us cease our resistance. Let us rejoice in this good news and be glad. Amen.

Ezekiel image from: http://ldolphin.org/ezekiel/

Nativity image from: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Gerard_van_Honthorst_-_Adoration_of_the_Shepherds_(1622).jpg

September 15, 2024

Ezekiel, freedom, hope, joy versus fear, Nativity, rebirth

Mark 12:1-13: Cornerstone – Part IV

Mark 12:1-13: Cornerstone – Part IV

Saturday, March 9, 2024

*James Tissot: The Pharisees and the Herodians Conspire Against Jesus*

Again we hear the Parable of the Tenants in Mark’s Gospel but today we focus on the aftermath of Jesus’ teaching.

And have you not read this scripture, The stone which the builders rejected, the same is made the head of the corner: By the Lord has this been done, and it is wonderful in our eyes. And they sought to lay hands on him, but they feared the people. For they knew that he spoke this parable to them. And leaving him, they went their way. And they sent to him some of the Pharisees and of the Herodians; that they should catch him in his words. (DRA)

We know that Jesus came to bring us the Good News, and we also know that his stories were not always welcomed. Those in control of the power structure did not want their carefully constructed world to crumble. They had forgotten – or perhaps had never learned – the lesson that Jesus comes to set us free from our old hatreds and fears. They rejected – or perhaps feared – the promise that we are all equal in the eyes of the one who created us. They dissembled – or perhaps lied – to achieve their ends. For this reason, it is important for us to take this parable in once again; it is vital that we watch the aftermath that follows. We must look for signs of rejection and deceit for when we see them, we will know that those who look out for themselves are building walls of hate and fear between us. They are plotting to catch us out with our words. But it is our very words that – when spoken with and in Christ – will set us and the world truly free.

When we spend time with the aftermath of this Parable of the Tenants that we begin to know and have confidence in the reality the rejection of the cornerstone is an act that sets us free. If this Douay-Rheims translation does not suit us, we can use the scripture link and drop-down menus to explore other versions.

For more on the Pharisees, religious leaders, and the Herodians, political leaders visit biblehub.com: http://biblehub.com/topical/p/pharisees.htm and http://biblehub.com/topical/h/herodians.htm

The Herodians family tree can be found at: http://www.bible-history.com/herod_the_great/HERODThe_Herodians.htm

Tissot image from: https://www.brooklynmuseum.org/opencollection/objects/4489

March 9, 2024

deceit, freedom, lies, Pharisees and Herodians, The Parable of the Tenants

Matthew 5:38-48: About Revenge – Part I

Matthew 5:38-48: About Revenge – Part I

Sunday, February 25, 2024

For the next several days we will explore Jesus’ words from his Sermon on the Mount. Today, what does Jesus tell us about the freedom we find when we stay clear of the temptation to seek revenge?

Here’s another old saying that deserves a second look: “Eye for eye, tooth for tooth”. Is that going to get us anywhere? Here’s what I propose: “Don’t hit back at all”. If someone strikes you, stand there and take it. If someone drags you into court and sues for the shirt off your back, giftwrap your best coat and make a present of it. And if someone takes unfair advantage of you, use the occasion to practice the servant life. No more tit-for-tat stuff. Live generously. (MSG)

Jesus challenges us to live generously; yet what does this mean?

This is impossible, we say to ourselves as we hear his words. And a life lived in this way will never work. Who will protect me and my loved ones if I do not? How will I keep the bullies at bay? And how will I avoid being everyone’s doormat? This is impossible we repeat. And then . . .

God says: I am quite aware that many of you see Jesus’ suggestion as an idealistic, and even ridiculous, plan for living. You see the Law of Freedom as a threat to your autonomy. You see the world viewed from this perspective of love – without defenses and using liberal amounts of revenge – as childish. But I say to you that it is childlike. I do not ask you to go into the world completely open to assault; rather, I ask that you use my enormous power, presence and love as a bulwark and as your rock of safety. I ask you to trust me more than you trust your own resources and your little powers. I also ask that you replace your bluster and bravado with my own call to love those who hate you and wish you harm. When you surrender to my Law of Freedom, you give up all pretense of power – and yet you will have more power than you ever imagined. When you remain in and with me, you need not build the walls you falsely believe will protect you. I ask that you put away your childish ways of dependence of self and replace them the childlike life of generosity and openness. I tell you that this new interaction with the world brings you a new freedom and even a new authority, the authority of my love that surpasses all.

Jesus challenges us to live generously. Do we see ourselves as willing to follow this call?

Images from: http://faithbaptistauburn.org/god-is-love/ and https://uk.pinterest.com/explore/revenge/

February 25, 2024

being child-like rather than childish, freedom, generosity, Law of Love, love your enemies, Sermon on the Mount

Psalm 112: Rising in the Darkness

Psalm 112: Rising in the Darkness

Monday, February 19, 2024

Whether we know it or, once we commit to loving God as we see God in others, we begin to generate light in the darkness.

Those who love the LORD rise in the darkness as a light for the upright; they are gracious, merciful, and righteous.

We may be unaware that others are watching us but they are. When we say that are committed to Christ, do our actions betray or support our words?

It is well with those who deal generously and lend, who conduct their affairs with justice.

If we hope to make a mark in human history, all we need do is follow Christ. In this way we will find ourselves in the story of hope and generosity rather than the story of fear and exclusion.

For the righteous will never be moved; they will be remembered forever.

Once we begin to think and move in Christ, all fear falls away for we know that we are not in charge and that the long arc of human history is moving toward the light of Christ.

They are not afraid of evil tidings; their hearts are firm, secure in the Lord.

When we feel ourselves moving in that great tide of humanity that yearns for universal justice, impartial freedom and eternal peace, we will know that all is well.

Their hearts are steady, they will not be afraid; in the end they will look in triumph on their foes.

The honor we seek is not the reward of this life; it is the quiet, humble, everlasting honor that Christ bestows when we follow after him.

They have distributed freely, they have given to the poor; their righteousness endures forever; they are exalted in honor.

We cannot think that our progress is smooth for the way of discipleship is difficult in the best of circumstances.

The wicked see it and are angry; they gnash their teeth and melt away; the desire of the wicked comes to nothing.

And we must remember that in our gladness of living and loving in Christ, we are called to invite all those who weary from their journey of opposition, mistrust, and manipulation to join in this great generation of life and light and love.

Those who love the LORD rise in the darkness as a light for the upright; they are gracious, merciful, and righteous.

We give thanks for the times when are the light. We ask forgiveness for the times we have brought darkness to others and ourselves. And we remember to look for the face of Christ in every soul that passes our way.

When we spend time with various translations of this psalm, we find that our hearts are lighter, our path more easily seen and trod, and our journey more full of peace.

Images from: http://blogs.studentlife.utoronto.ca/lifeatuoft/2014/12/10/amnesty-international-u-of-t-cities-for-life/ and http://indianapublicmedia.org/amomentofscience/a-candle-in-the-dark/ and http://www.butchfemmeplanet.com/forum/archive/index.php/t-1247-p-14.html

February 19, 2024

compassion, discipleship, freedom, honor, justice, light, light in the darkness, love, mercy, peace, the marginalized, the wicked

Deuteronomy 15:12-18: Slavery

Deuteronomy 15:12-18: Slavery

Wednesday, February 7, 2024

A Favorite from January 23, 2009.

We experience all sorts of slavery in our lives: slavery to work, slavery to ideas, and slavery to people. Paul characterizes himself many times as a slave of Christ, obeying to the utmost, owning nothing, being strength itself in his earthly weakness and poverty.

Gossip repeated commits us to a kind of slavery. The speaker can never move out of an entrenched opinion; the victim remains stuck in an unpleasant characterization. The irony of slavery is that it reduces the owner more than the slave; and perhaps that is why we see the recommendation in today’s reflection that the slave be set free . . . For remember, you were once slaves in the land of Egypt, and the Lord your God ransomed you.

At the time the book of Deuteronomy was written, and also in Jesus’ day, slavery was an accepted fact of life. Only the Essenes of Qumran rejected it in principle (Achetemeier 1031) as we can read in the works of Josephus, a Jewish historian. The famous stoic philosopher Epictetus was a slave, as was the family of St Paul. Slaves in Old Testament days were mainly for domestic service, and they “played a minor economic role in the ancient Near East” (Achetemeier 1029). Crown and temple slaves were usually captured during war; private slaves were defaulting debtors and their families, or indigents who resorted to self-sale. In New Testaments days under Roman rule, slaves comprised as much as thirty five percent of the population. Poor masters were to be punished; slaves were to participate in the Sabbath rest. Many of the rules regarding slaves were established in an effort to maintain the dignity and humanity of these human beings; but no matter its form or purpose, slavery is something to be abolished. It meant “social death” in ancient times (Achetemeier 1030) and remains so today – cutting the slave off from family, friends, homeland and resources.

To what are we slaves today? Who do we enslave by our words and actions? How might we free ourselves and others from chains real or unreal?

The only freedom that is eternal and redeeming is that which comes when we give ourselves over to God’s love. Placing ourselves in the compassionate hands of Christ is the single most effective method of ensuring that we are slaves to no one and to nothing; for when we place God before all else in our lives we put ourselves in a place which no shackle can chain.

God always rescues; he always keeps his promises. As the prophet Zechariah tells us (8:7-8): Thus says the Lord of hosts; Lo, I will rescue my people from the land of the rising sun, and from the land of the setting sun. I will bring them back to dwell within Jerusalem. They shall be my people, and I will be their God, with faithfulness and justice.

No matter where we are or what our condition, we are well-loved by our creator. When we turn to him and agree to serve him only, we live in a state of freedom which can never be enslaved. Would it not be wonderful if we might set ourselves and others free from the chains in which we have entrapped them?

From this morning’s MAGNIFICAT intercessions:

For those who feel hopelessly trapped by the habits of sin: grant them forgiveness and peace.

For those who fear your anger: show them also your love.

For those who delay examining their decisions and habits: let them see how quickly life passes.

God in heaven, deliver us, rescue us, set us free from all that keeps us from you. Amen.

Achetemeier, Paul J. HARPERCOLLINS BIBLE DICTIONARY. 2nd edition. San Francisco: Harper San Francisco, 1996. 1031. Print.

Cameron, Peter John. “Prayer for the Morning.” MAGNIFICAT. 1.23 (2009). Print.

For more on the Essenes of Qumran, click on the image above or visit: http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/religion/portrait/essenes.html

February 7, 2024

Essenes of Qumran, freedom, gossip, Zechariah 8:78

Tag: freedom

Share this:

Share this:

Share this:

Share this:

Share this:

Share this:

Share this:

Share this:

Share this: