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Posts Tagged ‘kingdom-building’

Acts 14:21-27: Muscle and Sinew

Posted in Web site included, tagged , , , , , , on May 9, 2023| Leave a Comment »


Acts 14:21-27: Muscle and Sinew

Tuesday, May 9, 2023

Jacob Jordaens: The Apostles, St. Paul and St. Barnabas at Lystra

Jacob Jordaens: The Apostles, St. Paul and St. Barnabas at Lystra

What is our vision of heaven and eternal happiness? How do we imagine the work of the kingdom? Paul and Barnabas today show us that discipleship calls for muscle and sinew just as much as it calls for faith, hope and love. We might learn something from this reading today. These two ardent followers of Christ show us just what kingdom work looks like.

Proclaim the good news – We always have the story of Jesus’ death and resurrection before us.

Strengthen the spirits of the disciples – We always have the Spirit of God to guide us.

Exhort the disciples to persevere in faith – We always have the energy of Christ within us.

Appoint elders – We always have the power and wisdom of God moving us.

Commend the faithful to the LORD with prayer and fasting – We always have the grace of the Spirit to console us.

Call the faithful together to report your progress – We always have the voice of Jesus to call us.

When we join in the work of building the kingdom, we will always have the muscle and sinew for the task before us.

They went forth and preached everywhere, while the Lord worked with them and confirmed the word through accompanying signs. (Mark 16:20)

To learn more about Paul and Barnabas in Lystra, read Acts 14:8-28.

Image rom: https://www.wikiart.org/en/jacob-jordaens/the-apostles-st-paul-and-st-barnabas-at-lystra-1616

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Luke 5:1-11: Putting Out into the Deep

Posted in Lent, tagged , , , on February 8, 2023| Leave a Comment »


Luke 5:1-11: Putting Out into the Deep

Wednesday, February 8, 2023Luke-5_10

Jesus: Push out into deep water and let your nets out for a catch.

The Gospel story reminds us that when we hug the shoreline, we have little room for growth. During this Lenten season we encourage one another to take stock of where and who we are so that we can move away from the safety of the shallows, so that we can trust God and venture into the frightening but rewarding depths of kingdom-building.

Simon Peter: Master, we’ve been fishing hard all night and haven’t caught even a minnow. But if you say so, I’ll let out the nets.

Peter reminds us that the waters, boat and nets all belong to the Lord and that the Lord knows far more than we can hope to know. Peter shows us why we can trust God. Jesus shows us that there is bounty where we have found nothing of value.

We approach the Lenten season when for forty days we will spend time with scripture that gives us the opportunity to open our hearts, un-stiffen our necks; and which allows us to put out into the deep to fish the waters we think are empty.

Let this be practice for the next several days: Rather than think, “This will not work,” let us say instead, “If you say so, Lord”.

Tomorrow, taking care.

Image from: https://www.dlshsi.edu.ph/daily-lasallian-reflection-prayer/luke-51-11 

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Hosea 10: False Heart, True Heart

Posted in Advent, Favorite, Web site included, tagged , , , , , , , , , on December 21, 2022| Leave a Comment »


Hosea 10: False Heart, True Heart

Wednesday, December 21, 2022heart leaf on stone

A favorite from December 22, 2010.

False oaths, fake alliances, evil intrigues, any means to achieve an end: this is what Hosea sees in his community. The kingdom of David has been divided in two. Elijah, Elisha, and Amos have warned the people; Isaiah and Micah will add their prophetic words of warning. Hosea finds himself seeing clearly the devastation that awaits this false-hearted people, but he is ignored.

Yet Hosea persists, telling us that we are people meant to worship God, we are meant to take the yoke upon fair neck, to thresh, to be harnessed by the plow of the true God with a true heart. We are created to be workers in the vineyard, to sow justice and reap piety, we are meant to break new fields so that the rain of God’s justice might bring forth fruit.

Hosea warns that those who have sowed discord and wickedness will reap perversity and eat of the fruit of falsehood. Turmoil will break out among those who have trusted their warriors and chariots rather than trusting God. The fortresses carefully built against the needs of the world will be tumbled and ravaged; the false hearts who take advantage of the poor will be lost in the utter destruction. Hosea does not surrender to the pressures around him, he endures.

Like Hosea, we might want God’s justice to be clearly visible in the present; we may want all of Hosea’s predictions about false hearts to materialize in an instant. Those who seek a settling of scores may wish God’s integrity to rain down on those who sit on comfortable couches to contrive wicked plots. They will want to see a world of integrity replace the world of falsehood they experience. Yet this is the message of Advent: the one of true heart and true words, the one of promises kept and miracles revealed has come to live among us. Advent tells us that the possibility of living a genuine life is here – now – this day. We need only open our eyes to see.

CrossHeartLogo11-300x289If we are dissatisfied with the speed of God’s coming, or if we doubt that God is even here among us, we must look first to ourselves to begin kingdom-building. We must examine our own hearts to see if we remain in truth no matter the social consequence. We must cease the gossip, cease the controlling, cease the lusting after outcomes, fame, possessions, power and people. We must amend our ability – and our willingness – to ignore reality. We must change our hearts so that we do not succumb to the social pressure to acquire goods or supremacy. We must nurture our desire to share, our yearning to heal, and our aspiration for peace. We must ask God to transform the falsehood in our own hearts so that we might receive the goodness from his. We must be open to the reality of Advent.

In this way – with endurance, with fidelity, and with honesty – the prophecy of Hosea will arrive fully. And in this way the false hearts of the world will become the true heart of Christ.

Images from: https://www.flickr.com/photos/33649935@N00/galleries/72157626753383441/

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James 1-4: Good Works

Posted in Comparing Scripture, tagged , , , , on October 20, 2022| Leave a Comment »


James 1-4: Good Works

Thursday, October 20, 2022

North Carolina, Belmont, Lectio divina, a reflective meditation on the Bible, is an essential aspect of monastic life. Several hours are devoted to its study each day.

Perhaps James spent time with Psalm 62 as he learned scripture. We can see clear connections between this hymn and his letter. James knows that when wars and quarrels break out our most effective and most sensible refuge is God alone.

God, the one and only. I’ll wait as long as he says. Everything I need comes from him, so why not? He’s solid rock under my feet, breathing room for my soul, an impregnable castle: I’m set for life.

James knows that when we struggle with temptation and giving in to easy promises and quick bribes, we have no enduring strength.

How long will you gang up on me? How long will you run with the bullies? There’s nothing to you, any of you – rotten floorboards, worm-eaten rafters, anthills plotting to bring down mountains, far gone in make-believe. You talk a good line, but every “blessing” breathes a curse.

James knows that the world offers a foundation of shifting sand but that God offers us solid ground.

My help and glory are in God – granite-strength and safe-harbor-God – so trust him absolutely, people; lay your lives on the line for him. God is a safe place to be. Man as such is smoke, woman as such, a mirage. Put them together, they’re nothing; two times nothing is nothing.

James knows that with God we receive a just wage for our hard-earned works.

And a windfall, if it comes – don’t make too much of it. God said this once and for all; how many times have I heard it repeated? “Strength comes straight from God.” Love to you, Lord God! You pay a fair wage for a good day’s work!

James knows something that he wants to share with us. Today we reflect on his letter in light of Psalm 62 while considering the good works we offer up as we build the kingdom. We are grateful for God’s great generosity, tender compassion and healing love.

Compare varying versions of Psalm 62. Consider the good works we offer each day to God and consider our response.

Image from: http://ryandueck.com/sermons/

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Matthew 9:35-38: The Compassion of Jesus – A Reprise

Posted in Easter, tagged , , , , on May 28, 2022| Leave a Comment »


Matthew 9:35-38: The Compassion of Jesus – A Reprise harvest

Saturday, May 28, 2022

We have spent time with Jesus as he heals leprosy, paralysis and blindness, stills an intense and dangerous storm and enables the mute to speak. We have followed him as he casts out demons, admonishes corrupt leaders and heals an older woman’s hemorrhaging on his way to raise a young woman from the dead. We listen to Jesus when he reminds us to use shrunken cloth to mend our old cloaks and to put our new wine into new skins. Jesus is well aware of the suffering that surrounds him yet he does not shrink from the painful challenge; rather, he brings joy and healing and transformation.

Jesus went around to all the towns and villages, teaching in their synagogues, proclaiming the gospel of the kingdom, and curing every disease and illness.

Let us imagine a world in which we all proclaim the good news, in which we all teach with our example of witness, in which we touch our enemies and friends alike with compassion.

At the sight of the crowds, his heart was moved with pity for them because they were troubled and abandoned, like sheep without a shepherd.

Let us imagine a world in which we shepherd one another when our hearts are low and our spirits falter, in which we act in mercy rather than revenge, in which we look for union rather than separateness.

Then he said to his disciples, “The harvest is abundant but the laborers are few; so ask the master of the harvest to send the laborers for his harvest.

Let us imagine a world in which masters and laborers work together to bring compassion to work places across the globe, in which parents and children act in love and peace in their homes, in which leaders and followers find common ground for the common good.

As we prepare for the Feast of Pentecost and the close of Eastertide, let us imagine a world such as this . . . and let us step into the role that Jesus has in mind for us as we bring Christ’s compassion to the world.

Visit the Dorothy Day Catholic Worker Movement site at www.catholicworker.org or another site of your choice, and be open to the harvesting work to which God may be calling you. Share your experience in a blog comment and invite others to join in Jesus call of compassion for the world.

Image from: http://www.outreach2day.org/our_story_vision.html

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Luke 12:22-34: All

Posted in Comparing Scripture, Lent, tagged , , , on March 26, 2022| Leave a Comment »


Luke 12:22-34: Allfarming for hunger

Saturday, March 26, 2022

If we learn nothing more about ourselves in this Lenten journey, let us pray that we understand how much easier life when we learn the simple lesson Jesus teaches us daily: Where your treasure lies, there also will your heart be.

Where do we place our priorities each morning? Do we jump into our day or do we pause to spend time orienting ourselves to God’s agenda rather than our own?

Where do we place all our energies each afternoon? Do we make plans for vacations, parties, and reunions as frequently as we plan to spend time in prayer and fellowship with others?

Where do we place our petitions each evening as we tumble into sleep? Do we give thanks for the good we have received as much as we worry about all that did not go well?

Jesus is quite clear. Where we focus our attention and anxiety, this is the place we are storing up the essence of ourselves. Where we spend our time in kingdom building, this is the place we are calling our home for all eternity.

farming 4 hungerWhere do we choose to deposit all that we do and are? In our wealth and power? In our influence and possessions? How much better it is to place all we are and all we do in the ample heart of God.

Spend some time with Luke 12:22-34 today and compare biblical texts. How will we change our hearts as we move toward the closing days of Lent?

Visit http://www.farming4hunger.com/, or click on the image to the left, to see how one man’s determination to store up goodness has changed his life and his world. Consider sending some of your Lenten alms to a kingdom-building organization that gives its all to enact God’s goodness and mercy.

Special thanks to a Noontime friend for sharing the good news about Farming 4 Hunger. 

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Psalm 9:15-20: The Hope of the Poor

Posted in Mini-Noontime, tagged , , , , on August 31, 2021| Leave a Comment »


Tuesday, August 31, 2021

PovertyPsalms 9:15-20

The Hope of the Poor

Jeremiah has given us so much to process; he lays out before us a reason for righteous anger . . . and he also proposes that a new order is coming.

The ungodly have fallen into the pit they dug, and in the snare they set is their own foot caught.

Our own life experience tells us that the innocent suffer and the ungodly hold the upper hand.

The Lord is known by acts of justice; the wicked are trapped in the works of their own hands.

And our spiritual life tells us that we must leave judging and condemnation to God.

The wicked shall be given over to the grave, and also all the peoples who forget God.

Rather than preoccupy ourselves with the sins of the ungodly, let us work together to bring all peoples to God.

For the needy shall not always be forgotten, and the hope of the poor shall not perish forever.

God sees even the smallest of us and it is our great work to join God in solidarity with the poor.

Rise up, O Lord, let not the ungodly have the upper hand; let them be judged before you.

God sees even the smallest of our actions to remedy the plight of the poor.

Put fear upon them, O Lord; let the ungodly know they are but mortal.

Rather than pray for the end of our enemies, let us pray for their great conversion of heart.

God says: I realize that you live in a world of injustice. I understand that you want me to remedy even unbalance, each inequality, all corruption and lack of integrity. And that is the great work to which I call each of you. Join me in kingdom-building, in forgiveness and reconciliation. Join me in the greatest and most important work of your lives. Feed the physically poor. Tend to the spiritually poor. Aide the mentally poor. It is in so doing that you will come to see the beauty and worth of my kingdom. It is in so doing that you will put aside your anger and fear. It is in so doing that you will discover the serenity and peace of the kingdom. This is my new covenant with you. Reconcile yourself to me and begin anew, for in this is the hope of the poor. 

And the people reply . . . The Lord is known by acts of justice. Let us join the Lord in the great work of The Kingdom. Let us become, with the Lord, the hope of the poor.

Enter the word kingdom-building into the blog search bar and explore what kingdom-building work God might have in mind for each of us.

For information about poverty and health in the USA, click on the image above or go to: http://blog.oup.com/2013/11/poverty-public-health-united-states/

For a world rural poverty map, visit: http://www.ruralpovertyportal.org/region 

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Amos 7-9: A Prayer for Faithful Servants

Posted in Lent, Prayer, Prophecy, tagged , , , , , , on March 31, 2021| 1 Comment »


Holy Wednesday, March 31, 2021

good and faithful servantAmos 7-9

A Prayer for Faithful Servants

The prophet Amos has accompanied us on our Lenten journey over these past several weeks to bring us the Words of God, to force us to look at the Woes of the world, and to show us stark warnings through his Visions for the future.

Amos is often described as the angry prophet with no tolerance for the corrupt rich who subjugate the poor. This will also be our impression of him if we do not linger with the last images of his prophecy. We will miss the gift Amos brings to us if we do not stay for a while with these ending verses in which we see the beauty of Amos unfold, for it is in these final chapters that we experience his Messianic perspective and promise. It is here in the last pages of Amos’ prophecy that we understand the stories in the New Testament, and fully come to terms with what it means to be faithful servants of God.

And so we pray.

When we feel unimportant and are dwarfed by the colossal forces around us, we petition God as we say with Amos: How can we stand? We are so small!

And God replies: What do you see?

We remember the many times God has rescued us from sure destruction, and we reply: Evil will not reach or overtake us.

And God replies: I will raise you up!

We recall the occasions when only God was able to pull us together after we have been so battered that we can not imagine how we will ever be whole again, and together we ask: Will you wall up our breaches?

And God replies: I will raise your ruins!

We feel frustration and fear when we see all the good that we have built begin to crumble, and so together we ask: Will you rebuild us as in days of old?

And God replies: I will bring about your restoration!

We remember all the work we have done to build your Kingdom. We look into the future and fear for the work yet to be completed, and so together we ask: Who will rebuild and inhabit our ruined cities? Who will plant vineyards and drink the wine? Who will set out gardens and eat the fruits?

And God replies: I will plant you upon your own ground; never again shall you be plucked from the land I have given you. This is my promise. I have spoken. I am the Lord, your God.

And we reply: We who struggle to be your faithful servants thank you. We who strive to follow in the steps of Jesus rely on you alone. We who long to always live in the Spirit look to you for guidance as we say, Amen!

And God replies: Well done, my good and faithful servant.  (Matthew 25:21)

To purchase the plaque above, click on the image.

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Amos 7:7-9: The Vision of the Plummet

Posted in Family, Lent, Mini-Noontime, tagged , , on March 20, 2021| Leave a Comment »


plumb bobSaturday, March 20, 2021

Amos 7:7-9

Vision of the Plummet

As a child I learned to use a plumb bob while helping my Dad lay the foundation for a new wing he was adding to our home. He taught us the importance of walls being plumb and angles being square.  he better the foundation, the better the building. Today, Amos describes the Lord, standing by a wall, holding up a plumb line. What does the Lord see?

God says: Each time you see that you are out of alignment, you need not panic. I hold up the plumb line that always accompanies you. It was established in the moment of your creation. You need not fear this simple measure for it measures you against your potential. When you listen for my voice, when you receive my message, you will find that you are as plumb and square as you need be. You will find that you are a good and sturdy foundation on which I can build my kingdom. When you become distant and turn away, the plumb line fades, and you waver. None of this is difficult to understand. The plummet is not really difficult to see. This measure is quite simple once you agree to look.

How and why are we to be measured? My Dad always assured us that when we measure ourselves against the potential God places in us, we need not worry. As we continue our Lenten journey, let us pause to reflect, to listen, and to open our eyes to the measure of the plummet.

Tomorrow, Amos and Amaziah . . . 

Enter the word Prudence into the blog search bar and explore. What does the virtue does Prudence dangle in her hand? 

For more on how to use a plumb line or a plumb bob, go to: http://www.bobvila.com/articles/495-the-plumb-bob/#.Ux93XF_D_IU

For more on interpreting this passage from Amos, go to: http://biblehub.com/amos/7-8.htm

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