When Jesus enters Jerusalem, his presence creates division, particularly in regards to the origins of the Messiah. In these days of Lent and Eastertide we have reflected on how our encounter with Christ engenders questions and sparks discussion. Scripture has shown us how Jesus, followed by large crowds, is proclaimed the new king of a new kingdom. We have participated in the ancient liturgies of the Triduum and, along with countless generations of the faithful, we declare Christ the Messiah. Despite of, or perhaps because of, Jesus’ message of liberation and rescue, arguments separate us as we react to the call of the Gospel. Today we are reminded that: Never before has anyone spoken like this one.
On this day, as we proclaim Christ risen from a world of death and darkness, we ask, what do we believe?
On this day when we say Jesus has entered our lives in a particular way, how do we enact the Gospel call to love those who hate us?
On this day when we celebrate the presence of God in our lives, how do we proclaim to the world that the one who stands before us has never been seen before?
Wishing Easter peace and blessings to all in the Noontime Circle.
Asking Easter joy and grace for all the faithful.
Trusting in Easter transformation for all of God’s creation.
Amos delivers God’s word to the priests in Bethelfor a year and when he is rejected he returns to his shepherding work. He speaks to the Israel nation about their lack of fidelity. And he reminds us of how we can turn back to God and the covenant once we discover that we have again fallen under the spell of the pagan gods of fame, money, influence and power. Amos reminds us that there is always redemption. Restoration is always possible.
God says: In this time of Lent I call you to examine your conscience and you perform this scrutiny well. You are aware of all that you do when you allow yourself to be honest. You know where and how to return to me when you allow yourself a bit of quiet and a dose of truth. So put your worries and fears aside for your renovation already lies within you. Your recovery from all that plagues you is already in your body, mind and soul. All that needs happen is that you note what you do, that you put aside your pagan gods, and that you turn and return to me. Uprightness lives in you through me. Do what you must to nourish the integrity that dwells in you. This is the Second Word that comes from me through my prophet Amos.
In our modern society we are not much different from our ancient ancestors despite our science and technology; the very real temptation to become Cows of Bashanis as keen and alluring today as it was millennia ago; yet we know that life is more than we see before us. And so we still yearn for union. We still seek wisdom and peace. We are still vessels of the Spirit that creates us. God still dwells within . . . waiting to transform and rescue us.
We re-post this reflection written in 2014 in union with those who stand up for personal and communal freedom justice on every continent. The human race seems determined to create chaos rather than unity. Let us come together with all those who seek the common good. And let us pray not only for the oppressed but also for those who commit acts of oppression.
A Prayer to Nourish Us Here and Now
Matthew records the words Jesus speaks to those who gather round him when he describes the kingdom of God in the Beatitudes, the new Law of Love that supersedes the law of the Torahand Moses. We have spent much time this week reflecting on the Interior Law placed within each of us at our inception. This law flourishes in faith, grows in hope and acts in love. And so we pray, we look for strength as we build God’s kingdom.
BBC News: South Sudan in Crisis
You have heard it said, an eye for eye and a tooth for a tooth. But I say to you, offer no resistance to one who is evil.
Around the planet the peoples of the world constantly look for answers to difficult questions; they consistently yearn for security and peace; they continually hunger for the words that Jesus speaks in his Sermon on the Mount. And so we pray, we look for courage as we build God’s kingdom.
When someone strikes you on the right cheek, turn the other one as well.
In Ukrainethe people struggle to find leadership that is free of corruption. And so we pray, we look for integrity as we build God’s kingdom.
If anyone wants to go to law with you over your tunic, hand over your cloak as well.
In South Sudanthe people struggle to live a life without fear. And so we pray, we look for justice as we build God’s kingdom.
Reuters: Thai Protestors Target Ministries and Threaten Stock Exchange
Should anyone press you into service for one mile, go for two.
In Thailandthe people fight over who will bring them into the light. And so we pray, we look for truth as we build God’s kingdom.
Give to the one who asks of you, and do not turn your back on the one who wants to borrow.
In Venezuelathe people fight over how they will share the power of leadership. And so we pray, we look for peace as we build God’s kingdom.
You have heard it said, you shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy. But I say to you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you.
Swiss Broadcasting: Activists Injured by Gunshots
In West Virginia, USAthe people ask for answers to dark questions. And so we pray, we look for compassion as we build God’s kingdom.
If you love those who love you, what recompense will you have?
In our own home town the people ask for honesty and justice. And so we pray, we look for love as we build God’s kingdom.
We are not much different from those people who listened to Jesus two thousand years ago; we too, hunger for security, healing, truth, forgiveness and redemption.
Be perfect, just as your heavenly Father is perfect. And so we pray, we look for endurance as we build God’s kingdom.
National Geographic News: West Virginia’s Chemical Valley
The perfection God asks of us lies not in our living a life without mishap; rather, it lies in our persistence to return to the Law of Love no matter how far we stray. The kingdom Jesus describes is not in some distant future when all God’s children have suddenly seen and corrected the errors in their lives. The kingdom of God is here and it is now. God’s forgiveness and mercy are here and now. God’s healing and presence are here and now. God’s compassion and love are here and now. Let us take strength from the one who created us, take heart from the one who accompanies us, and peace from the one who dwells within us. Amen.
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.
Listen, my faithful children: open up your petals, like roses planted near running waters . . .
Much like plants that flower and bloom, each of us has our own needs for sun and shade, heat and coolness. Some of us struggle upward, reaching for the nurturing light, fending off the weeds that threaten to choke us out. Some of us tussle with thistles or look for places to put down roots in the hardened ground of the well-traveled path. Others are blessed to find themselves in rich, well-plowed soil. No matter our place or time, we rejoice when we live in days of abundant water, we wait in patience through days of dryness, and always we give thanks as we open our petals to God’s loving kindness.
Send up the sweet odor of incense, break forth in blossoms like the lily. Send up the sweet odor of your hymn of praise; bless the Lord for all he has done.
In Psalm 119, God has sent us a loving letter of welcome, of initiation in Christ’s Law of Love, of consolation in the Spirit. How do we respond to God’s offer of peace and kindness?
Proclaim the greatness of God’s name, loudly sing God’s praises, with music on the harp and all stringed instruments; sing out with joy as you proclaim: the works of God are all of them good.
As we move through our work and play over the next hours, let us compose a list of gifts for which we thank God. Let us put down strong roots into God’s word. And let us open our petals to God’s light so that we might give praise and thanks for the good that comes to us each day.
Tomorrow, a prayer to give thanks for all of God’s works.
I write to you not because you do not know the truth but because you do . . . Let what you have heard from the beginning remain in you . . . then you will remain in the Son and in the Father.
What we have heard we know to be true. What we have seen we know to be authentic. What we have witnessed we know to be God’s gift of light and hope and peace and joy to the world.
On this ninth day of Christmas, enter the word truth into the blog search bar and consider how the truth John writes about is essential to us as Christmas people.
She never left the temple, but worshiped night and day with fasting and prayer.
“A fourth and final [Lucan] theme is expressed in Simeon’s word to Mary (apparently this occurs in the outer court where women were allowed). Jesus will bring truth and light and will effect decision and judgment. However, in so doing he will face opposition and death. When Jesus comes to Jerusalem as an adult, the journey will be his ‘exodus’ (NRSV: ‘departure,’ 9:31).
“Simeon’s words are confirmed by Anna, a devout woman of advanced age . . . The two aged saints are Israel in miniature, poised in anticipation of the new. God is leading Israel to the Messiah, but the Messiah will weep over this city because it did not know the time of the messianic visitation (19:41-44)”. (Mays 932)
Scholars describe Anna as having insight that most of us lack and she appears in this story to affirm the Messiah’s identity. She is likely 105 years old, lives in or near the Temple, and dedicates her days and nights to a life of service to and in God; but she is no doddering ancient. Robin Gallaher Branch describes her saying that “her lifestyle evidently invigorates her, for she is mobile, articulate, alert, spiritually savvy and unselfish”. (Branch)
Elizabeth and Zechariah, Mary and Joseph, Anna and Simeon, servants, disciples, prophets, all announcing that openness and peace and joy have come to a people who yearn to be free, that light and courage and hope have come to a people who wait in darkness, that healing and consolation and union have come to a people who remain faithful despite their fear. As we approach the fourth Sunday of Advent, a time when we near the announcement of joy to the world because the Messiah is come, let us remember that we are Advent people. And let us, like Anna, be articulate, alert, spiritually savvy and unselfish as we declare to all that the one who saves is indeed come to live among us.
Now there were shepherds in that region, living in the fields and keeping the night watch over their flock.
We become so weary with the daily earning of our bread that we are too exhausted to keep the night watch. Our blessing is that the Good Shepherd never flags and he endures when we falter. And this Good Shepherd who keeps a constant watch will awaken us so that we might rise to hear the words of Good News that bring healing, peace and light to the world.
Esteban Murillo: Adoration of the Shepherds
God says: Do not stretch yourselves beyond your strength. Rely on me for power that is eternal. Do not ask too much of your mind. Ask me for wisdom that has always been and always will be. Do not tax your spirit more than it can endure. Call on my Spirit to dwell in you and to bring you peace. If you are able, keep the Night Watch with me. When darkness falls and you have lost your way, settle into the night with the sheep you are tending . . . and know that I am with you. If you are too tired to stay awake, ask for my help . . . and I will keep the Watch. And I will awaken you with the Good News that you will want to share with others.
When we spend energy that we do not have we endanger not only the body and mind but the soul as well. When we find that we falter and cannot stand, we need only call on the one who always endures.
For beautiful prayers at night that strengthen the body, mind and soul when we find ourselves wakeful and uneasy, dip into Phyllis Tickle’s NIGHT OFFICES: PRAYERS FOR THE HOURS FROM SUNSET TO SUNRISE, Oxford University Press, 2006.
The rich man had herds and flocks in great numbers. But the poor man had nothing at all except one little ewe lamb that he had bought.
This is a story with a familiar ending. Those who have much use their influence and power to take from the poor what little they have. The poor man gathers money, plans how he will finally gather around him the small beginning of self-sufficiency and the momentous ending of oppression.
He nourished her, and she grew up with him and his children. She shared the little food he had and drank from his cup and slept in his bosom. She was like a daughter to him.
The poor man empties all that he has and all that he is into this precious possession that promises not only a ladder out of misery but a new feeling of comfort, compassion and love. The little ewe sheep comes to symbolize much more than the object she is. She becomes a unique sign of peace and stability.
Now the rich man received a visitor, but he would not take from his own flocks and herds to prepare a meal for the wayfarer who had come to visit him. Instead, he took the ewe lamb . . .
The two-headed monster of envy and greed raises itself from the shadows and David’s sin is revealed.
David grew very angry . . . then David said to Nathan, “I have sinned . . .”
When we feel anger rise at the honest observation offered by a friend we must turn as David does. And so we pray . . .
Dear and gracious God, it is so difficult to hear our secrets revealed when we believe we have them well-hidden away. Help us to return to you.
Honest and kind God, we are so weak and vulnerable in the harsh light of our own judgment. Send us your persistence and power.
Good and noble God, we need your encouragement and wisdom to lead us to the light of truth. Remind us that truth always reveals itself in your time.
Mighty and compassionate God, we ask for your strength and grace to willingly reveal all that we have concealed. Recount for us all the times you have saved us.
Sweet and loving God, speak to us in parables that enlighten us when we cannot bear the burden of the truth. Help us to understand that secrets only fester in the darkness of guilt.
Forgiving and understanding God, speak to us plainly in words that call us to you. Bring us the simplicity of your peace and love.
Wednesday, April 21, 2021
Wishing Easter peace and blessings to all in the Noontime Circle.
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