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 23and 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/
Reform your ways and your deeds that I might remain with you in this place . . .
Put not your trust in deceitful words . . .
If each of you deals justly with your neighbor . . .
If you no longer oppress the resident alien, the orphan, and the widow . . .
If you no longer shed innocent blood, or follow false gods to your own harm . . .
These are words we hear from God through the prophet Jeremiah sent to us over the millennia. What might we reform? How might we speak less deceitful words? When have we oppressed those living in life’s margins? Who are our false gods? Let us take notice of ourselves, our actions and our surroundings as we pray.
Gentle and Gracious God, you visit us in this place today. We thank you for your presence.
Faithful and Loyal God, you abide with us in this time today. We thank you for your mercy.
Just and Powerful God, you strengthen us when we falter. We thank you for your fidelity.
Compassionate and Generous God, you forgive us when we stray. We thank you for your understanding.
Healing and Loving God, you restore us when we fail. We thank you for your stillness.
Constant and All-knowing God, you bind up what we tear down. We thank you for your wisdom.
We praise you for abiding. We thank you for enduring. We thank you for remaining. Amen.
For more on Jeremiah 7 and words from the mystic Adrienne von Speyron fidelity, enter the word Remaininginto the post search bar and explore.
Moab, Judah, Israel. Oracles of condemnation not only of enemies . . . but of Israel herself. Atrocities during wartime, horrible scenes of brutality beyond understanding, humanitarian abuses, corruption in places that are meant to be havens. All of these images are difficult to read and even more difficult to comprehend.
God says: You are far too eager to look for scapegoats and for places to place blame for the woes of the world. What I really ask is that you put violence aside and deal with one another lovingly, even as enemies. What good comes from harboring anger? What fruit is born from bitter seed sown in despair? What peace to do you find by dragging your worries along with you each day. It is no wonder that the night brings you no rest. Spend time with me. Speak to me frankly, openly and honestly. Tell me what is bothering you. Tell me what stirs you. Tell me when you are ready to surrender to me. I wait – for an eternity – with forgiving, open, strong and loving arms.
Even the smallest gesture of goodness is a light in the darkness. God pulls good out of all harm. We must be patient enough to see it, humble enough to feel it, and bold enough to share our stories of conversion with those who still live in the shadows. As we move through our Lenten journey, let us decide to move away from condemnation and toward mercy and kindness.
We ask for wisdom so that we might discern your law that lives within each of us.
Blessed the one whom you instruct, O Lord, whom by your law you teach, giving them rest from evil days. Blessed the one you instruct, O Lord.
We look for peace in our turbulent days so that we must rest with you as we move through our days.
For the Lord will not cast off God’s people, nor abandon God’s inheritance; but judgment will be with justice, and all the upright of heart will follow it. Blessed the one you instruct, O Lord.
We look for integrity and uprightness so that we might live out the Gospel as Jesus teaches us.
When I say, “My foot is slipping,” your mercy, O Lord, sustains me; when cares abound within me, your comfort gladdens my soul. Blessed the one you instruct, O Lord.
We look for compassion and forgiveness so that we might live the love the Spirit inspires in each of us.
Blessed the one you instruct, O Lord.
We tap into our interior law, knowing that it always leads us in the best direction, understanding that it flourishes at the best of God’s time, and believing that it nourishes and sustains each of us and all of us.
Blessed the one you instruct, O Lord.
Jesus says, “Do you not yet understand or comprehend? Are your hearts hardened? Do you have eyes and not see, ears and not hear? And do you not remember, when I broke the five loaves for the five thousand, how many wicker baskets full of fragments you picked up?” They answered him, “Twelve.” “When I broke the seven loaves for the four thousand, how many full baskets of fragments did you pick up?” They answered him, “Seven.” He said to them, “Do you still not understand?” (Mark 8:17-21)
God’s love is far greater than we can imagine and far more durable than we can believe. And this is God’s law of love. There is always love in abundance . . . forever. Blessed are those who see and hear. Blessed are those who allow God to soften hearts. Blessed are those who believe that God’s law lives within.
They seemed, in the view of the foolish, to be dead . . . but they are in peace . . . They shall shine, and shall dart about as sparks through stubble . . . they shall judge nations and rule over peoples . . . and the Lord shall be their King forever . . . because grace and mercy and care are with God’s holy ones.
We near the end of our journey through Psalm 119, and today we pause to reflect and consider the insights and wisdom God reveals to us through the written word. We have come to understand that God is too great and too good to describe and therefore we dart about, looking for a time and place to ignite the smallest bit of kindling so that our small spark of life might not be extinguished. In the coming week, we move through the ending stanzas of this psalm and a certain simplicity and intelligence settles over us. As we find new understanding, we pray.
Knowing that we are always in God’s hands although we may not feel God’s presence we pray: Providential God, speak to us in a way that we might hear you.
Knowing that God’s Word lives in and around us although we may not comprehend it, we pray: Consoling God, reveal yourself to us in a way that we might see you.
Knowing that God’s fidelity saves us although we may not believe it, we pray: Faithful God, abide with us in a way that we might sense you.
Knowing that God’s love redeems us although we may not trust it, we pray: Redemptive God, hold and rescue us in a way that we might feel you.
Knowing that God’s grace and mercy are present to and in us although we may not believe it, we pray: Gracious God, continue to wrap us in your kindness and beauty although we may not thank you.
Knowing that we are fallen sparks, little life forces that dart to and fro, seeking origin and end, looking for wisdom and security, we pray: Loving God, although we may not believe that you sacrifice all in order to transform us, bring us insight and serenity so that we might rest eternally in you. Amen.
Tomorrow, we near the end of Psalm 119 . . . Qoph.
“The psalmist shows that the righteous are often defenseless before the cynicism of the machinations and calumnies to which they are prey. Those who weave their intrigues act in shadows and believe they are hidden from view. However, God sees everything, even secret human actions and designs. His judgment overtakes those who evade justice . . . God will turn their evil against the wicked while publicly acquitting the righteous. Each life will be brought before the judgment of God; the righteous will find their joy in the Lord”. (The Psalms 161)
I suspect that every one of us has been the victim of a perfect plot at one time or another in our lives. Perhaps it was an adolescent bullying that set us apart and taught us a lesson. Maybe there is jealousy in our workplace and we have become the object of someone’s campaign to see that we find the office too ugly a place to stay. Or it is possible that within the sanctity of our family or prayer circle – the very refuge where we take shelter from the storms of life – we have been the object of a perfect plot. If this is so, we feel the angst and sorrow in this psalm.
We have visited this theme before. If we type the word couchesor Susana, or plotinto the blog search bar we will find other reflections in which we have struggled with the apparent immunity of those who lie on their dark couches and willfully plot to inflict harm on the faithful. The psalmist today rails against this seeming imperviousness to consequences but he also reminds us that God is in charge . . . that this kind of suffering is part of our human condition . . . and that although we may not see the consequence exacted from these evil ones, still God holds them to an accounting. It is best to let the matter lie there and avoid thoughts of revenge or payback of any kind. It is best to allow God to tend to these perfect, secret plots as only God can . . . with deep wisdom, with unblemished justice, with transparent grace, and with a full and burgeoning love of humanity.
I was taught as a child to pray for my enemies and today, as I read this psalm, I come to understand that only God can handle real evil. Only God can create a plan that saves all. And only God has the wisdom, beauty, and power to convert into goodness our dark and devious conspiracies.
If only we might remember that Jesus died as a result of an evil intent that took hold of those who laid out their perfect plot against him. If only we might follow Jesus’ example as he prays for his killers. If only we too might intervene on behalf of those who construct perfect plots against us . . . and if only we might ask our compassionate and patient God for forgiveness and renewal for all.
Tomorrow, the mystery of God’s reversal . . .
A re-post from June 9, 2013.
THE PSALMS, NEW CATHOLIC VERSION. Saint Joseph Edition. New Jersey: Catholic Book Publishing Company, 2004. 161. Print.
This book is not found in Hebrew or Protestant Bibles, but it is considered inspired by Catholic scholars. So if we have time to spend with these words today, we will want to read as much as we can for it contains “numerous maxims, formulated with care, grouped by affinity, an dealing with a variety of subjects . . . It treats of friendship, education, poverty and wealth, the law, religious worship, and many other matters which reflect the religious and social customs of the time . . . Written in Hebrew between 200 and 175 B.C., the text was translated into Greek sometime after 132. B.C. by the author’s grandson, who also wrote a Foreword which contains information about the book, the author, and the translator himself”. (Senior 822)
The verses we find in this wisdom book are often cited in reference to friendship and this week we are invited to discover the divine in our most intimate relationships as we explore some of the many gems that the author, Jesus son of Eleazar, son of Sirach, has passed to us through the millennia. He has much to share with us and he wastes no time for beginning in the first chapters we may find the entry way to the understanding and knowledge that lead to God’s Wisdom.
Who alone knows the height of heaven, the breadth of earth, the depth of the abyss?
Who alone knows all that was even before the creation of Wisdom herself?
Who alone creates? Who alone pours forth bounty upon his creatures? Who alone consoles the heart?
Who alone brings gladness, and joy and length of days?
It is the Lord, and fear – or love and awe – of this Lord is the first step in gaining true wisdom, God’s Wisdom.
When we act in patience, we receive Wisdom.
When we exercise prudence, we receive Wisdom.
When we attend to the revelation of God through scripture – the Torah, and the Prophets – we receive Wisdom.
Play not the hypocrite before men; over your lips keep watch. Exalt not yourself lest you fall and bring upon you dishonor.
Portion of Sirach Scroll found at Masada
Nothing is held in secret from Wisdom; indeed, she reveals all before all.
When you come to serve the Lord, prepare yourself for trials. Be sincere of heart and steadfast, undisturbed in times of adversity. Cling to him, forsake him not; thus will your future be great.
In fire is gold tested, and worthy ones in the crucible of humiliation.
Trust God and God will help you; make straight your ways and hope in God.
Those who love the Lord prepare their hearts and humble themselves before him. Let us fall into the hands of the Lord and not into the hands of men, for equal to his majesty is the mercy God shows.
First written on February 13, 2010. Re-written and posted today as a Favorite.
Teach them to your children, and to your children’s children . . .
Each time I read from the books of the law, the Torah, I again understand how difficult it was for Jewish leaders to take hold of and believe the words that Jesus spoke to them about the merciful love of God. I also understand how difficult it was for these followers of the Mosaic Code to believe that anyone but God who lived in the temple and out of reach of the ordinary human could forgive sin. These ideas were revolutionary for them, even blasphemous; yet, the man who delivered them was not only able to restore health, he was also able to calm the elements of nature.
What we read today tells us of a God who is faithful, a God who has shown his constancy, a God who continued to reveal himself to his people despite their errant ways.
Did anything so great ever happen before? Was it heard of?
Yahweh rescued his people, he brought them out of slavery, he nourished them and taught them who they were, how they were to be, and what their potential was. Jesus arrived to walk the earth as God among his people. Jesus fulfilled prophecy. Jesus compressed the hundreds of Torah laws into one . . . the Law of Freedom, the Law of Love. Nothing like this had ever been heard of. Nothing like this has ever been heard of.
You must keep his statutes and commandments that I enjoin on you today, that you and your children after you may prosper, and that you may have long life on the land which the Lord, your God, is giving you forever.
The focus in this reading is on the dichotomy between believing in God and believing in idols. One of the rewards for following Yahweh is the gift of physical territory which God grants to his chosen people. Other rewards are his fidelity to us, and his mercy when considering our actions. These are all proofs of God’s love. Further proofs of God’s goodness are that once Jesus is resurrected and returns to God, The Holy Spirit settles upon us to abide with us and to dwell in us, God’s people. This is God’s promise and as we hear in today’s mini-reflection in MAGNIFICAT: God is true: he has a long memory for his own promises and a short memory for our failures to keep ours. In the gift of his promised Spirit, we find our daily joy. The prophet Isaiah reminds us the Morning Prayer: Though the mountains leave their place and the hills be shaken, my love never shall leave you nor my covenant of peace be shaken, says the Lord who has mercy on you. (54:10)
We look for assurances and guarantees; we sign contracts and agreements that we trust more than we trust God’s love for us. He has given us proofs . . . and this is the story that we must pass down to our children and our children’s children . . . so that it may live with us and in us . . . beyond the end of time.
Cameron, Peter John, Rev., ed. “Mini-Reflection.” MAGNIFICAT. 19 May 2010:265. Print.
We have seen this little book a number of times and Joel always has the same message for us: the end days will be arriving – Yahweh will be just and merciful – compassion will reign but he will also pass judgment. Joel calls us to get our spiritual house in order so that we do not suffer, so that we are rescued, so that we might live with God and all of creation in joyful harmony. In this Christmastide, as we begin anew, we might want to consider Joel’s call.
God loves the faithful remnant so dearly that God wants to pour out the spirit upon each one. God loves God’s children so well that God rescues them from the darkest corner and farthest place. God loves all of creation so intensely that God leaves no door closed, no word unsaid, no gesture undone in order to bring the children home. Let us listen to the word of this loving God as given to us by the prophet Joel.
I will pour out my spirit upon all mankind . . . imagine what we might accomplish if we allow God’s Spirit to pour into us.
I will work wonders in the heavens and upon the earth . . . imagine what wonders we might experience if we allow God to work in us.
Everyone shall be rescued who calls upon the name of the Lord . . . imagine how we might free ourselves from old worries and anxieties if we might allow God to lead us.
There shall be a remnant as the Lord has said . . . imagine what we might experience if we come together as God’s faithful remnant.
And so we pray . . .
Grant us fresh hope at the beginning of this day: that we may live it for your glory and our neighbor’s good.
Relieve us of the burden of old worries and stored grievances: that we may pass through the narrow gate that leads to the kingdom.
Protect us from recurring fears: that we may serve you in freedom and in peace.
Heal all those who labor under the pain of depression, scrupulosity, and anxiety: that all may know the joy of your love.
Lord Jesus Christ, you have brought us safely to this new day and this new liturgical year as you promised to bring us safely to dwell with you one day in your kingdom of light. Defend us against all that would weigh us down and slow our steps, so that we may run with delight in the way of our Gospel. Amen.
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