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Posts Tagged ‘God’s time’

John 7:1-30: Our Unbelief

Posted in Comparing Scripture, tagged , on March 10, 2023| Leave a Comment »


John 7:1-30: Our Unbelief

Friday, March 10, 2023

James Tissot: The Pharisees Question Jesus

James Tissot: The Pharisees Question Jesus

Today’s Gospel reminds us that if we have the idea that our road to Easter will be a smooth one, we will want to think again. In this portion of John’s story, he describes an interchange between Jesus and those closest to him.

Jesus’ brothers said, “Why don’t you leave here and go up to the Feast so your disciples can get a good look at the works you do? If you’re serious about what you are doing, come out in the open and show the world.” His brothers were pushing him like this because they didn’t believe in him either.

We ask ourselves, “How does Jesus respond?”

Jesus came back at them, “Don’t crowd me. This isn’t my time. It’s your time—it’s always your time; you have nothing to lose. You go ahead, go up to the Feast. Don’t wait for me. It’s not the right time for me.”

We wonder, “And then what happened?”

He said this and stayed on in Galilee. But later, after his family had gone up to the Feast, he also went. But he kept out of the way, careful not to draw attention to himself. The Jews were already out looking for him, asking around, “Where is that man?”

And what if this exchange takes place between us and Jesus?” we ask.

With the Feast already half over, Jesus showed up in the Temple, teaching. The Jews were impressed, but puzzled: “How does he know so much without being schooled?”

“We surely believe Jesus,” we say to one another, “especially when we see him in the Temple”.

Jesus said, “I didn’t make this up. What I teach comes from the One who sent me. Anyone who wants to do his will can test this teaching and know whether it’s from God or whether I’m making it up. A person making things up tries to make himself look good. But someone trying to honor the one who sent him sticks to the facts and doesn’t tamper with reality. It was Moses, wasn’t it, who gave you God’s Law? But none of you are living it. So why are you trying to kill me?”

This stings a bit, and as the crowd surges toward Jesus, we must make a decision to join, defend, or walk away.

The crowd says, “You’re crazy! Who’s trying to kill you? You’re demon-possessed.”

We listen to continued exchanges between Jesus and the differing factions in the crowd and we realize that some of these doubters have a genuine curiosity about Jesus while others are jealous and angry.

They were looking for a way to arrest him, but not a hand was laid on him because it wasn’t yet God’s time. Many from the crowd committed themselves in faith to him, saying, “Will the Messiah, when he comes, provide better or more convincing evidence than this?”

Today we remind ourselves . . . we must make a decision to join, defend, or walk away as we continue our Lenten journey to our Easter home.

To read this entire story using different translations, use the scripture link above. 

We examine our belief, our unbelief, and the dangers and gifts it holds, we continue our Lenten practice. Rather than thinking: “God’s generosity is sometimes not fair,” let us think instead, “When we put away the past and follow God’s example of enormous generosity, we are better able to welcome the lost back home into the kingdom . . . and to give thanks for our own part in God’s great rejoicing”. 

Tomorrow, division.

Image from: https://www.brooklynmuseum.org/opencollection/objects/4549

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Job 19: Suffering and Rejoicing Well

Posted in Favorite, tagged , , , , , , , on November 25, 2022| Leave a Comment »


Job 19: Suffering and Rejoicing Well

Eberhar Waechter: Grieving Job and his friends

Eberhar Waechter: Grieving Job and his friends

Friday, November 25, 2022

The Book of Job is the first in the wisdom portion of scripture and it may be one of our favorites for its honesty and persistence with which this innocent man speaks. Job has been wronged by Satan, yet retains faith and hope in God. He asks the questions we all ask; he makes the observations we all make: why do the wicked seem to skate through life without suffering, and why do the innocent suffer? Each of us has endured hardship as Job does at one time or another; and for this reason his words are so valuable. Job sinks into the lowest of depths with his despair . . . yet he soars with great hope and divine love. This is the gift of his story . . . that he both suffers and rejoices well.

How long will you vex my soul? At times the suffering is too great, too heavy.

I cry for help; there is no redress. In our own lives, and in the lives of others, there are moments that ask too much of human strength and endurance.

My brethren have withdrawn from me, and my friends are wholly estranged. At times we are utterly alone, with no sheltering place, no healing balm.

All my intimate friends hold me in horror; those whom I love have turned against me! In the human experience, there is no greater punishment than isolation.

Why do you hound me as though you were divine, and insatiably prey on me? At times we are so low that we descend into pits we did not know existed . . . and this is when we know that something new is arriving.

But as for me, I know that my Vindicator lives, and that he will at last stand forth upon the dust; whom I myself shall see: my own eyes, not another’s shall behold him. Job understands that it is impossible for us to comprehend the depth, the width, the height or the timelessness of God. Job – although not content with the mystery of his innocent suffering – accepts that from where he stands he cannot see or know the limitlessness of God or the complexity of his plan. Job reminds us that each of us suffers.  Each of us stands accused at times when we are innocent. Since this is so, the rest of his story is also true. We will be vindicated.

From today’s MAGNIFICAT Meditation about the Blessed Mother and her willingness to suffer as an innocent for the good of God’s economy: She neither regretted the past nor wished for the future – she accepted wholeheartedly the magnificent present.  She had found one beautiful pearl, and all she had she gave in order to buy it.  (Mother Marie des Douleurs)

So let us follow the example of Job and the example of Mary. They understood that they, by entering into the mystery of suffering, were sharing in a sacred gift offered by the God who loves us so much that God offers us God’s own divinity.

Let us enter into this story today without looking back in anger or looking forward in despair.

Let us gather all that we have and all that we are to make this one purchase . . . the gift of transformative union where . . . through suffering, we enter into the world of God’s joy.

Image from: http://global.oup.com/obso/focus/focus_on_happiness/

A favorite from March 25, 2009. 

Cameron, Peter John. “Meditation of the Day.” MAGNIFICAT. 25.3 (2009). Print.  

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1 Peter 5: At the Right Time

Posted in Comparing Scripture, Easter, tagged , , , , , on May 9, 2022| Leave a Comment »


1 Peter 5: At the Right Timetime-widescreen-high-definition-wallpaper-for-desktop-background-download-free

Monday, May 9, 2022

Yesterday we considered the ancient words of the timeless covenant we share with God. Today we consider the words of Peter, a pastor who knows both this covenant and God’s people well.

All of you, leaders and followers alike, are to be down to earth with each other, for God has had it with the proud, but takes delight in just plain people . . .

As we move through the coming hours, as we strive to be just plain, let us remove all judgment and anxiety from our thoughts.

Be content with who you are, and don’t put on airs. God’s strong hand is on you; God will promote you at the right time. Live carefree before God; God is most careful with you . . .

As we move though the coming days, as we hope to put away airs and place ourselves in God’s strong hand, let us remove all recrimination and revenge from our actions.

Keep a cool head. Stay alert. The Devil is poised to pounce, and would like nothing better than to catch you napping. Keep your guard up . . .

devil is a lionAs we move though the coming weeks, as we remember to keep a cool head when all around us seem to be losing theirs, let us work at remaining always in Christ.

You’re not the only ones plunged into these hard times. It’s the same with Christians all over the world . . .

As we move though the coming months, as we work to remain always one in the Spirit, let us remind one another that we are not alone.

So keep a firm grip on the faith. The suffering won’t last forever. 

As we move though the coming year, as we struggle to put our suffering in its proper place and proportion, let us unite with neighbors and enemies and remember that God will move us forward . . . in God’s best and most promising time.

These verses are from THE MESSAGE version of Scripture. Use the scripture link above to compare these verses with other versions and discover God’s intimate message of continued Easter joy. 

Images from: http://homes-kid.com/clocks-wallpaper.html and http://biblia.com/bible/esv/1%20Peter%205.8

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Luke 2:1-3: Each to His Own Town

Posted in Mini-Noontime, Web site included, tagged , , , on December 7, 2020| Leave a Comment »


Monday, December 7, 2020

Luke 2:1-3images[1]

Each to His Own Town

So all went to be enrolled, each to his own town.

A universal enrollment of those living in the Roman Empire is unknown outside the New Testament, and there are further difficulties in pegging the year of Christ’s birth to a specific year; yet this lack of tidy detail has not hampered the story of the Christ Child. Scholars tell us that “It is not by chance that Luke relates the birth of Jesus to the time of Caesar Augustus: the real savior (11) and peace-bearer (14; see also 19, 38) is the child born in Bethlehem. The great emperor is simply God’s agent (like the Persian king Cyrus in Is 44, 28-45, 1) who provides the occasion for God’s purpose to be accomplished”.  (Senior 101) The story of this child born in obscure beginnings still reverberates throughout the world today.

God says: Why do you struggle to pin Jesus’ birth to a specific point in your calculation of time when he is eternal in my own time? These are details you need not chase but I understand that there are those among you who crave the feeling of comfort this exactness brings to you. Expand your horizon beyond your small place and strike out to enroll yourselves in your own town which is my own heart. As you journey, remember that the greatest among you are the least, and the least among you are the greatest. Has my own presence among you in the person of Jesus not told you so? Has my own Spirit not abided with you to comfort you and to remind you of my constant presence in your lives? Each of you is precious to me for each of you is my own sweet child.  Always remember . . .

I-give-you-my-heart-e1297118791257[1]The detail of life obscures and fogs our thinking. The big picture draws us away from the many tiny indicators of God’s presence. Somewhere between the large and small is where truth lies and the truth is this: Each of us is a child of God; each of us is precious to God; and each of us makes a pilgrimage to the place we hold as our own.  Let us pray that this place is God’s own heart.

To learn more about the difficulty in determining the exact year of Christ’s birth, go to: http://www.ncregister.com/blog/jimmy-akin/what-year-was-jesus-born-the-answer-may-surprise-you  or https://www.biblestudytools.com/bible-study/topical-studies/what-year-was-jesus-born.html

Senior, Donald, ed. THE CATHOLIC STUDY BIBLE. New York, Oxford University Press, 1990.101. Print.   

Image of Joseph and Mary from: http://incaelo.wordpress.com/2012/12/24/the-road-to-christmas/

Image of hands and heart from: http://www.meghmiller.com/is-gods-heart-good-a-reckoning/

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Psalm 8:3-5: When We Consider

Posted in Mini-Noontime, tagged , , , , on October 13, 2020| Leave a Comment »


Tuesday, October 13, 2020

Psams_8_3_4[1]Psalm 8:3-5

When We Consider

When I consider your heavens, the work of your fingers, the moon and the stars, which you have ordained; what is man that you take thought of us, and the son of man that you care for him?  Yet you have made him a little lower than God, and you crown him with glory and majesty!

We spend far too much time comparing ourselves with others rather than measuring ourselves against our own potential. We pass too many hours lamenting what might have been or what we wish might be instead of giving thanks for all that we are. We lament loss as a deficit rather than leaning into the grief and growing through the suffering.  We struggle to be like gods without realizing that . . . we are already members of Christ’s Mystical Body.

God says: Consider the lilies, how they grow: they neither toil nor spin; but I tell you, not even Solomon in all his glory clothed himself like one of these. But if I so clothe the grass in the field, which is alive today and tomorrow is thrown into the furnace, how much more will I clothe you? Oh, you of little faith! And do not seek what you will eat and what you will drink, and do not keep worrying. For all these things the nations of the world eagerly seek; but your Father knows that you need these things. But seek my kingdom, and these things will be added to you. Do not be afraid, little flock, for I have chosen gladly to give you the kingdom. (Luke12:27-32)

Jesus enters the world as an infant in an obscure place of unremarked parents and yet Jesus is the one who supersedes all powers and principalities. With this inversion we cannot help but see that although our lives are brief in the scope of God’s time, we are precious and vital to God’s plan.

When we consider the gift of Jesus’ suffering and love . . . how can we not return so great a gift?

For a visual meditation of Psalm 8, click on the image above and look for the YouTube link, or go to: Psalm 8, A  visual meditation
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=erTSh-vhuxA

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Matthew 21:33-46: When Vintage Time Arrives

Posted in Prayer, tagged , , , , , , , on October 10, 2020| Leave a Comment »


Saturday, October 10, 2020

Sauvignon_blanc_vlasotince_vineyards[1]Matthew 21:33-46

When Vintage Time Arrives

In this parable we see wicked people kill the owner’s son so that they can take over the land.  We humans tend to interpret our own actions in the best light in order that they suit our own ends.  We explain our lack of unity by calling up examples that support our own version of a story. By our lack of generosity and honesty, we demonstrate our belief that God is not good enough or big enough to help all of us.  Our own stinginess and need to control demonstrate a belief that God is limited in some way.  When we create division, confusion and disunity we forget that God brings order out of chaos and good out of harm.  And we also forget that Jesus calls each of us to do the same. Jesus shows us how to heal with a touch rather than ostracize with a look, yet we reject Jesus as the cornerstone when we refuse to see God’s presence in the least of us.

In this story the wicked men answer their own question in verse 41: [The landowner] will put those wretched men to death and lease his vineyard to other tenants who will give him the produce at the proper time.  There is no doubt about the message here: Fruit at the proper time – this is what we called to bear.

God wishes nothing more than for all of us go to him in unity. So let us ask for forgiveness and forgive.  Let us make reparations and accept a reparation being made.  Let us heal and be healed.  Let us pray our enemies into goodness so that all of us might bear fruit.

God wants to include all of us in the work of the vintage time.  God calls each of us to our seat at the great feast.  God calls the slow as well as the swift, the unfaithful as well as the faithful, the lame as well as the walking.  God makes a Universal Call . . . What will be our response?

Dearest God, we know that you will continue to beckon, continue to wait, continue to love, and continue to unfold your plan.  We know that you ask each of us to bear fruit in your time rather than our own.  Send us your wisdom, perseverance and generosity.  Send us your love and strength.  Speak clearly to us so that we might more readily hear your words as the landowner who sends his messengers to us.  Grant that we come forward willingly with the fruit of your harvest.  Grant that we find the courage to help even our enemies so that they might rise and go to you.  And grant that we be alert and ready when the vintage time arrives.  Amen.

To reflect more on The Wedding Feast and The Wedding Garment, enter these phrases into the blog search bar and explore. 

Adapted from a reflection written on September 13, 2007.

Image from: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Loire_Valley_(wine)

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2 Peter 3:8-9: A Thousand Years

Posted in Mini-Noontime, tagged , , , , , on October 8, 2020| Leave a Comment »


Thursday, October 8, 2020

eternity-time[1]2 Peter 3:8-9

A Thousand Years

But do not ignore this one fact, beloved, that with the Lord one day is like a thousand years and a thousand years is like one day. The Lord does not delay his promise, as some regard “delay,” but he is patient with you, not wishing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance.  

We have reflected before on our lack of patience and our inability to experience life patiently and humbly. We have thought about how our need for immediate gratification causes us anxiety, narrowness and shortsightedness. The millennia seem like immovable objects. The universe is far too vast for us to take in and yet we persist in trying to shrink God’s view into our own narrow field of vision. We are willing to sacrifice immense love and eternal peace for a few immediate moments of independence.

The psalmist sings: Better one day in your courts than a thousand elsewhere.  Better the threshold of the house of my God than a home in the tents of the wicked.  (Psalm 84:10)

God says: My generosity is unlimited because my vision is so broad. My love is so deep because my hope reaches to the heights. My strength is unbounded because I take in all of time. The span of a human life is brief and yet you are precious to me. I want you to enter into my tent so that you might dwell in my heart. And yet if you are unwilling to spend time with me I am willing to wait. My patience is eternal. My endurance is unmatched. My love is all-encompassing. That is why I am able to wait for you to trust me. And although I would rather have you lodged well within my heart I am willing to wait. If you only enter my tent as far as the threshold I will wait for you . . . for thousands upon thousands of years.

We humans believe that we control and even manipulate time. Today we consider the magnitude and depth of God’s presence in our lives. And we imagine the new confidence we might find, the new energy we would have if only we might fully believe God’s promise.

Image from: http://theosophical.wordpress.com/2011/03/17/science-cannot-prove-the-universe-is-eternal/

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Deuteronomy 30:15-20: The Choice Before Us

Posted in Prayer, Web site included, tagged , , , , on June 27, 2020| Leave a Comment »


Saturday, June 27, 2020

two-paths[2]Deuteronomy 30:15-20

The Choice before Us: A Prayer with Psalm 1

Israel has a choice to make. and each of us has this same choice.

Every morning when we wake and rise we greet the day and the Lord with evidence of our choice.  As we dress, as we eat, as we prepare to go into the world.  Every action we take is a sign to God of what he means to us.

As we go to school or enter work places and as we unlock doors and prepare for the day, we are an expression of God’s love for humanity and creation.

As we interact with colleagues and students we tell God what we think of our relationship with God and others.

As we write and administer assessments, evaluate work – that of others and our own – we use the measuring stick with which we will be measured.

As we end our work day to move back into our homes, we see God in the way we live, the people and things which have import for us.

As we bend on our knees or sit in our chair, or lie on our bed to recall the day, we see what treasure we have stored up in heaven to return to God.

We each have choices to make.  As Psalm 1 tells us, we are a forest of trees planted along the bank of the river that flows to the New Jerusalem.  We are to bear fruit many-fold according to our gifts.  We bear this fruit with great Hope.

Blessed are they who hope in the Lord.

Blessed is the one who follows not the counsel of the wicked nor walks in the way of sinners, nor sits in the company of the insolent, but delights in the law of the Lord and meditates on God’s law day and night.

Blessed are they who hope in the Lord.

Not so the wicked, not so; they are like the chaff which the wind drives away.  For the Lord watches over the way of the just, but the way of the wicked vanishes.

Blessed are they who hope in the Lord.

Dearest Lord, may we produce fruit in abundance for you in due season.  Not when we wish, but rather as best suits your plan for all of us . . . in your due season.  May we choose light when we rise, light as we go about our day, light as we tuck ourselves into hearth and home.  May we never stray from you, from your truth, from your Way.

Amen. 

To read the Robert Frost poem, The Path Not Taken that begins with the words: “Two paths diverged in a yellow wood”, go to: http://www.bartleby.com/119/1.html

Adapted from a reflection written on October 11, 2007.

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1 Corinthians 6: Waiting in God’s Time

Posted in Favorite, tagged , , , on May 29, 2020| 2 Comments »


Friday, May 29, 2020

imagescab8djwz.jpg1 Corinthians 6

With Unity, Waiting in God’s Time

Do you not know that your body is a temple for the Lord?            

From the NAB footnotes: Paul’s vision becomes Trinitarian.  A temple: sacred by reason of the indwelling of the Holy Spirit.  Not your own: but “for the Lord”, who acquires ownership by the act of redemption.  Glorify God in your body: the argument concludes with a positive imperative to supplement to avoid the negative “avoid immorality” with v. 18.  Far from being a terrain that is morally indifferent, the area of sexuality is one in which our relationship with God (and his Christ and his Spirit) is very intimately expressed: he is either highly glorified or deeply offended.

We do not belong to ourselves.  We belong to God.  As individuals we are temples.  As a community we are a temple.  We are a temple meant as a dwelling place for the Spirit, for God, for Christ’s Mystical Body.

From the Harper Collins Commentary:  Just as Jewish moral tradition of the Diaspora stressed that sexual immorality is the result of idolatry in order to underline the distinction between Israel and the nations, so too Paul insists that holiness and purity with regard to sexual morality are the distinctive marks of the Christian community. 

In a relativistic society we can be distracted by the idea that God is present in all things that feel good.  This is not so.  God dwells in his temples, the ones he created in us and St. Paul reminds us of this.  In our most dear relationships we find God in the intimate gestures and words we share with another.  We see and feel and hear the God we express . . .  reflected in the other.  This is why God created us: To know him, to love him, to serve him in the here and now and in the forever . . . in God’s timelessness.  We so often forget this and so we might ask ourselves: Do we glorify the Lord in our intimate relationships or do we offend?  Do we build up or do we break down?  Do we bring unity or isolation?  How do we serve and wait on the Lord while also showing that we understand God’s goodness and timelessness?

Tomorrow, learning to trust the Trinity . . .

Mays, James L., ed.  HARPERCOLLINS BIBLE COMMENTARY. New York, New York: HarperCollins Publishers, 1988. 1080. Print.

Adapted from a reflection written on February 7, 2008.

Image rom: http://eternalchurch.net/who-we-are

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