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Matthew 23: Denunciation

Posted in Favorite, Video Link, tagged , , , , , on November 19, 2022| Leave a Comment »


Matthew 23: Denunciation

Saturday, November 19, 2022tassels

How many of us like to widen our phylacteries and lengthen our tassels? The footnotes for this chapter are extensive in the NAB and they are worth reading. This is the list of Christ’s woes as recorded by Matthew and these words have the feel of prophecy. Hypocrisy, lack of integrity when our words and actions do not match. This is what Jesus warns us about.

What do we do when the ugly green monster rears its head? When jealousy strikes, as it always does, what is our reflex? Do we allow ourselves to succumb to the temptation of taking credit even when it is due? Do we put the emotion which overtakes us in its proper place and convert it to humility?

Verses 37 to 39 are Jesus’ lament over Jerusalem, the city which ought to serve as a beacon to all, now drags her skirts in the mire as the prophets foretold. Jesus himself cannot sway these leaders. God’s own word cannot get their attention. The final woe defines Jesus’ audience as murderers of prophets, of the holy ones. This is scary stuff.  Chapter 24 follows with the foretelling of the destruction of the temple which actually occurred in 70 C.E. This event was on the horizon and yet they did not listen. Do we? How far do we have to go until God finally gets our attention? Are we this dense? We pray not.

And so we go to Jesus, hoping to learn how to avoid our own denunciation.

phylacteriesGenerous and faithful Jesus, may we narrow our phylacteries and shorten the tassels on our shawls. May we learn humility from your stories, and mercy from your actions. We ask this in your name. Amen.

To learn more about tassels and phylacteries, click on the lower image.

A favorite from January 28, 2008.

Images from: https://www.myjewishlearning.com/article/tzitzit/ and https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Uh6hLqP-QPY

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Mark 12:13-17: The Mystery of Rendering

Posted in Mini-Noontime, tagged , , , , , on June 18, 2022| Leave a Comment »


denarius

The Roman Denarius

Mark 12:13-17: The Mystery of Rendering

Saturday, June 18, 2022

Repay to Caesar what belongs to Caesar and to God what belongs to God.

These words seem oh so simple . . . and yet they contain such a depth of wisdom that a lifetime of reflection will not uncover all that Jesus wishes to tell us.

God says: When you are perplexed by the world, remember that your confusion comes from believing that there are two worlds you want to reconcile. There is only one world and one life. That world and life are me. Render your confusion to me. You will reap clarity and wisdom. When you are disappointed in the relationships you have forged, remember that no one’s opinion but mine matters. Others who pose and cajole you are speaking only on their own behalf. Truth comes from love and love comes from me. Render your lives to me. You will reap life eternal. When you are hurt and damaged by the hypocrisy around you, remember that integrity is the hallmark of my discipleship. I will deal with the lies and deceptions. Stay away from deceit and it will not ensnare you. Render your fidelity, hope and love to me. You will reap peace and serenity.

Spend time with these verses today. Use the scripture link to compare differing phrases and lexicon. Determine what it is that Jesus is saying when he answers a question with his own question. Decide what it is that Jesus is asking us to give over. And then consider what it is we gain by this rendering.

 Image from http://www.beastcoins.com/RomanImperial/RIC.htm

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James 3:17-18: A Holy Life

Posted in Comparing Scripture, Easter, tagged , , , , , , , , on May 16, 2022| Leave a Comment »


James 3:17-18: A Holy Life
burning-bush1

Monday, May 16, 2022

“Real wisdom, God’s wisdom, begins with a holy life and is characterized by getting along with others. It is gentle and reasonable, overflowing with mercy and blessings, not hot one day and cold the next, not two-faced. You can develop a healthy, robust community that lives right with God and enjoy its results only if you do the hard work of getting along with each other, treating each other with dignity and honor”. THE MESSAGE

Jesus has told us about the nature of true discipleship. God has created us in the image of goodness and light and truth. The Spirit lives within, waking us each day to new possibilities of hope and peace and mercy. In celebration of the continuing gift of Easter life, let us spend time today in God’s intimate company, and let us thank God for the gift of a holy life by striving to live on true discipleship.

Using the scripture link above, compare other versions of these versions from James’ letter

Image from: http://providenceswfl.com/blog/brought-near-a-holy-god/

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Matthew 6:5-15: Living Stones

Posted in Comparing Scripture, tagged , , on May 3, 2022| Leave a Comment »


Matthew 6:5-15: Living Stonesjerusalem-stones-ad-70_dsc03928lmauldin

Tuesday, May 3, 2022

We are to each be living stones in the living temple of the Christ’s risen body. We are here to work on whatever we need to tend to in order that we may become better stones. We are to speak with God each day through our clear and simple prayer life.

When you pray, do not be like hypocrites, who love to stand and pray in their house of worship or on the street corner so that others may see them.

Posing like actors does not bring us solace or reward.

Go to your inner room, close the door, pray to the creator in secret.

Avoiding prayer because we are too preoccupied or busy leaves us at the mercy of the world.

Do not babble like the pagans, who think they will be heard because of their many words. The creator knows what is best for you before you ask.

Prattling before pagan desires will only bring us a hollow and shallow life.

Our Father, who art in heaven . . .

Jesus teaches us this most perfect of prayers.

Let us spend time with these verses today to look at differing versions and, after examining our own prayer life, let us determine to make whatever change is necessary so that we are living stones in the temple of God’s presence. Let us determine to draw ever closer to God’s dream and hope for us.

Click on the image above for a reflection on Jesus’ interaction with his church hierarchy. 

Tomorrow, Jesus’ teaching on fasting.

Image from: https://leonmauldin.blog/2011/08/22/not-one-stone-upon-another/

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Deuteronomy 4:1-2: I am Charging You

Posted in Mini-Noontime, tagged , , , , on February 19, 2022| Leave a Comment »


Deuteronomy 4:1-2

I am Charging Youscroll shema

Saturday, February 19, 2022

Moses says to his people: So now, Israel, give heed to the statutes and ordinances that I am teaching you to observe, so that you may live to enter and occupy the land that the Lord, the God of your ancestors, is giving you. You must neither add anything to what I command you nor take away anything from it, but keep the commandments of the Lord your God with which I am charging you.

Jesus tells the hypocritical leaders of his time, and he tells us today, that no matter the number of religious rules and practices we might proscribe, with God there is one Law that supersedes all others. But when the Pharisees heard that Jesus had silenced the Sadducees, they gathered themselves together. One of them, a lawyer, asked Him a question, testing Him, “Teacher, which is the great commandment in the Law?” And He said to him, “‘You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind.’ This is the great and foremost commandment. The second is like it, ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ On these two commandments depend the whole Law and the Prophets.” (Matthew 22:34-40)

God says: When you find yourself caught up in the details of my Law, you can be certain that what you have focused on is something I do not have in mind. My kingdom is one of forgiveness, of healing and of love for all – even, and especially, our enemies. Do as I do – call to those who would harm you. Do as Jesus does – witness to the hypocrisy in the world. Do as the Spirit does – heal the suffering and anxiety you see in your world. With all of this, you will find great peace. Through all this, you will experience deep serenity. Because of all this, you are my great love in the world.

When we spend time today with these verses and reflect on their meaning, we may discover what portion of our lives we withhold from God. And we may also discover how we honestly and fully love God with all we think, all we believe, all we say and all we do.

To learn more about the mezuzah above and The Shema, the most sacred of Jewish prayers, visit: http://www.hebrew4christians.com/Scripture/Torah/The_Shema/the_shema.html 

Image from: http://www.jewishsource.com/itemdy00.asp?T1=291492

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Joy and Amos – The Bitter Day

Posted in Joy, Social Justice, tagged , , , , , , on January 10, 2022| Leave a Comment »


pope-francis_2541160b

Pope Francis

Monday, January 10, 2022

Joy and Amos

The Bitter Day

The prophets chronicle a people’s yearning for union with their creator and un uncanny understanding of their own vulnerabilities. Their words warn, threaten, exhort, and promise us that God is always present, even though we may not recognize this presence. The Old Testament prophecies foreshadow the good news of the New Testament, and they remind us that no matter our circumstance God’s joy rescues us from sure destruction, Christ’s joy redeems us from our recklessness, and the Spirit’s joy heals us despite the gravity of our wounds. Today Amos brings the past into focus with the present as he foretells the joy we might find even in the bitterness of our own indictment.

Amos was a shepherd “who exercised his ministry during the prosperous reign of Jeroboam II (786-746 B.C.). He prophesied in Israel at the great cult center of Bethel, from which he was finally expelled by the priest in charge of this royal sanctuary . . . In common with the other prophets Amos knew that divine punishment in never completely destructive; it is part of the hidden plan of God to bring salvation to men. The perversity of the human will may retard, but it cannot totally frustrate, this design of a loving God”. (Senior 1126)

Amos 8:10: And I will turn your parties into times of mourning, and your songs of joy will be turned to cries of despair. You will wear funeral clothes and shave your heads as signs of sorrow, as if your only son had died; bitter, bitter will be that day.

More than any other prophet, Amos “speaks directly to the issue of social justice, with a vigor unparalleled anywhere in the Bible . . . No prophet is more easily related to the modern world than Amos, for the social inequities that he denounced in the eighth-century B.C. Israel are still very much with us . . . The first lesson to be learned from Amos is that social justice is the business of religion. The test of piety is what happens in the marketplace rather than what happens in the church or temple”. (Senior RG 365-366)

Amos 5:18: You say, ‘If only the Day of the Lord were here, for then God would deliver us from all our foes.’ But you have no idea what you ask. For that day will not be light and prosperity, but darkness and doom! How terrible the darkness will be for you; not a ray of joy or hope will shine.

Amos witnesses to the corruption and hypocrisy he sees before him. He is expelled from the temple community and then returns to his orchards and flocks but before he goes back to his work, he warns his listeners of the bitter day they hope to avoid, knowing that ultimately – as is always true with God – the joy opportunity for salvation surprises us even as we hear our own bitter indictment.

joyRead about Pope Francis’ recent address to the Curia in which he describes the “spiritual Alzheimer’s” of church leaders; and let us consider our own behavior. Do we contribute to hypocrisy in our own circles by remaining silent when we are called to speak? What joy surprises us in the midst of our indictment? What does our daily living say about our image of God? http://www.religionnews.com/2014/12/22/pope-francis-curia-merry-christmas-power-hungry-hypocrites/ and http://ncronline.org/blogs/distinctly-catholic/pope-francis-address-curia

To read Pope Francis’ June 5, 2014 brief address and consider how we might hear his words in the context of this prophecy, visit: http://w2.vatican.va/content/francesco/en/audiences/2013/documents/papa-francesco_20130605_udienza-generale.html  

Senior, Donald, ed. THE CATHOLIC STUDY BIBLE. New York, Oxford University Press, 1990. 1126, RG 365-366. Print.

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.

Image from: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/the-pope/10342768/Pope-Francis-to-rip-up-and-rewrite-Vatican-constitution.html

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Gnats and Camels

Posted in Uncategorized, tagged , , , on August 17, 2021| Leave a Comment »


Tuesday, August 17, 2021

Camel in the Judean Wilderness

Camel in the Judean Wilderness

Matthew 23:23-26

Gnats and Camels

Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, you hypocrites.

It is too easy to judge others and forget to look in the mirror.

You pay tithes of mint and dill and cumin, and have neglected the weightier things of the law; judgment and mercy and fidelity.

The words come to us quickly: I am too busy. I already know that. This is just the way I am. We cringe when we think we might have to change our perception of self.

Blind guides, who strain out the gnat and swallow the camel!

We fuss with details and avoid authentic conversion.

You cleanse the inside of the cup and dish, but inside they are full of plunder and self-indulgence.

We recognize our sense of entitlement but refuse to move forward in transformation.

Cleanse first the inside of the cup, so that the outside also may be clean.

Jesus is clear. There are steps to be taken. Christ leads the way. There are changes to be made. Do we persist with a lifestyle that is comfortable and known but lacking in judgment, mercy and fidelity? Or do we choose a life of honesty and understanding?

Christ speaks to each of us today of gnats and camels. Christ speaks to us today of honesty and hypocrisy. Christ speaks to us of an opportunity to change. Let us spend some time today with Matthew 23 and look for the occasions we have wanted to strain gnats and swallow camels.

For a humorous post on How to Swallow a Camel with No Gnats, click on the image above or go to: http://www.waynestiles.com/how-to-swallow-a-camel-with-no-gnats/

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Romans 2:17-24: Our Interior Law – Part II

Posted in Family, tagged , , on February 26, 2021| Leave a Comment »


Friday, February 26, 2021

judging-otherss[1]Romans 2:17-24

Our Interior Law – Part II

A guide for the blind. A light for those in darkness. A trainer of the foolish. A teacher of the simple. In teaching others do we fail to teach ourselves? Do we rise to our own preaching? Do measure up to the yardsticks we place alongside others?

Paul asks these and other questions of the Romans and he also asks us today. Paul can speak from the heart about authenticity because he once persecuted the followers of Jesus and came to understand – through his relationship with the risen Christ – the hypocrisy he was living. Paul can call us today to our own assessment of self in our exterior adherence to a complicated written law. Paul asks us today to measure our inner self against our outer self rather than compare ourselves to others.

My Dad was fond of reminding us that our actions speak louder than words. He would frequently remind us that “God will judge the other guy so you don’t need to”.  And he always urged that we measure ourselves against ourselves. “When you compare yourself with others,” he often said when we complained of injustices real or perceived, “you will likely come up short. So don’t bother. Instead of looking at the other guy, ask yourself: did I improve today or did I fall back? If you moved forward, great. If not, God will let you know how to improve”.

judging-others-blue_design[1]A guide for the blind. A light for those in darkness. A trainer of the foolish.  A teacher of the simple. In teaching others do we fail to teach ourselves? Do we rise to our own preaching? Do we measure up to the yardsticks we place alongside others?

How and who and why and what and when do we measure? And with what?

Mother Teresa quote from:http://helpfortheheart.files.wordpress.com/2012/01/judging-others-blue_design.png?w=645

For some practical strategies to heal a judging heart, click on the images in this post or go to: Help for the Heart at WordPress at: http://helpfortheheart.wordpress.com/

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Psalm 50: A Sacrifice of Praise

Posted in Favorite, tagged , , , , , on November 6, 2020| Leave a Comment »


Friday, November 6, 2020

praise[2]Psalm 50

A Sacrifice of Praise

“The problem here is that a dead conscience lies behind the feverish ritual, reeking with sacrificial smoke, on the one side, and, on the other side, ignoring public morality. People think that ritual wraps its sacred mantle round them to hide the rotten morality of their lives. Ritual, however, is no alibi for sinning. The “wicked” addressed in v. 16 should probably be understood as none other than the “people” of v. 6, who are as eager to recite statutes as they are to offer sacrifices, tough without taking to heart the obligations of the covenant . . . It is also possible . . . that the criticism is also directed specifically at them [priests and leaders]. These leaders are afraid to condemn what the people are doing lest they lose their stipends (Deuteronomy 18:8). They even encourage sin to receive greater sin offerings and so “they feed off the sins of my people” (Hosea 4:8). Tolerating such deviousness, they give the impression that God is also deaf and blind to the situation. In concluding the entire psalm, vv. 22-23 echo phrases from the minor conclusion (vv. 14-15) and realistically warn once more against the sin of religious externalism”.  (Mays 413)

We might think about religious externalism, about wrapping ourselves in perfunctory or false ritual. We might also think about what drives us to engage in artificial ritual. We might think about our spiritual hunger.

We want to caution ourselves when we are thinking that perhaps God is deaf and blind to our circumstances. God knows and sees all. This we must trust. This we must believe. When we feel as though our petitions fall on deaf and uncaring ears, we will benefit from standing our sense of loss on its head: perhaps we yearn for God so much . . . perhaps we hunger so much for more of his healing presence in our lives . . . that we feel as though he does not listen . . . is not present . . . does not respond as we might wish. We might consider that our thirst for God is so great that we believe that God is not listening . . . when in fact he is. This might mean that our sense of hunger and thirst is not such a bad thing after all. Consider the words from Psalm 63: O God, you are my God, for you I long; for you my soul is thirsting.  My body pines for you like a dry, weary land without water . . . For your love is better than life, in your name I will lift up my hands . . . On my bed I will remember you.  On you I muse through the night for you have been my help . . .

We long for God. We feel incomplete here on this plane with only God’s Spirit to accompany us, only God’s Son to walk with us. We want to feel the full impact of a constant interaction with the Trinity.  For this we hunger. For this we thirst. This is praise we are willing to offer to God. This is praise as sacrifice.

Mays, James L., ed.  HARPERCOLLINS BIBLE COMMENTARY. New York, New York: HarperCollins Publishers, 1988. 413. Print.

Adapted from a reflection written on March 26, 2008.

Image from: http://delightabidelove.com/2013/02/

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