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Posts Tagged ‘promises’

Matthew 28:8-15: Fearful Yet Overjoyed

Posted in Comparing Scripture, Easter, tagged , , , , , on April 23, 2024| Leave a Comment »


Matthew 28:8-15: Fearful Yet Overjoyed

Tuesday, April 23, 2024

William-Adolphe Bouguereau: Holy Women at the Tomb

In this Eastertide, we have spent time with the Gospels of the Easter Octave, the eight days comprising the celebration of Easter. We heard Matthew’s account of the discovery of the empty tomb. Today we focus on a few details that bring this story alive. First, we choose a translation that speaks to us most clearly, and then we reflect. Today’s verses are from the USCCB site. (This link also contains an audio version.) We may find other versions by using the scripture link and drop-down menus.

Mary Magdalene and the other Mary went away quickly from the tomb, fearful yet overjoyed . . .

Who among us has not felt this clash of emotions at cataclysmic times in our lives? We are full of joyful anticipation, and at the same time a sense of foreboding. Newness and change confront us, offering both hope and anxiety. Jesus has died, is lying in the tomb and yet his body is not there. Matthew records other details that we do well to spend time with today.

Then Jesus said to them, “Do not be afraid. Go tell my brothers to go to Galilee, and there they will see me.”

Who among us does not need these reassuring words when we find ourselves in dark days? Everyone we have trusted in the past has fallen away in this new present. Every sturdy stone we use to cross the river of the unknown has disappeared. Jesus seems to be present to us, yet is he? Why does he ask us to meet him in Galilee? Why does he not repair all that wounds us here and now? Can we continue to believe all of his promises if we are not physically with him? Matthew gives us another detail to ponder as we reflect on the future that lies ahead.

“And if this [bribe] gets to the ears of the governor, we will satisfy him and keep you out of trouble.”

Mikołaj Haberschrack: The Three Marys at the Tomb

Who among us has not come up against deceit among families, friends and colleagues? Trust seems a rare quality. Truth is warping into alternative realities. Honesty is now self-serving and the common good suffers. Generosity gives way to narcissism. Fidelity is fleeting. Hope is inane. Love insincere. And yet . . .

As we consider the accounting that Matthew gives us of Easter morning at the tomb, we now have another newness we had not anticipated, a newness born out of joyful apprehension, a newness rising from the ashes of old fears and doubts, a newness promised by the one who keeps all promises.

Today we spend time with Matthew’s story of the women at the tomb, and all that followed in the confusing chaos of suspicion threaded through with deep trust and abiding love. As we read this account today, let us see if we are able to move beyond our fears for the world, with the joyful hope of these women.

For an interesting look at the identity of the women at the tomb, visit: http://coldcasechristianity.com/2015/how-many-women-visited-the-tomb-of-jesus/

Images from: http://www.lovettfineart.com/pages/c41_1.html and https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Three_Marys

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1 & 2 Chronicles: Our Sacred History – Part II

Posted in Web site included, tagged , , , , , , , , , , on May 28, 2023| Leave a Comment »


1 & 2 Chronicles: Our Sacred History – Part II

Pentecost Sunday, May 28, 2023

Cornelis de Vos: KIng David handing the Scepter to Solomon

Cornelis de Vos: King David handing the Scepter to Solomon

Thy kingdom come, thy will be done . . . 

As we move from childhood to maturity, we take on commitments and we either fulfill or turn away from promises. As we seize control of as many facets of our lives as possible, we also strive for success as the world around us identifies it. And somewhere in the blur of activity and struggle, they is always the chance that we might move away from the core of who and what we are.

In the story of David and Solomon we find two men, and the women who surround them, scrabble to come out on top and in front, surrounded by security, relaxing into comfort. The details of David’s anointing and rise, his battles with both his enemies and King Saul he has pledged to serve, are all benchmarks in David’s life. So are his interactions with Michal and Bathsheba, and the prophet Nathan. David’s son Solomon must also struggle against heavy odds to survive into adulthood and to assume his father’s seat of power; but later he succumbs to the wishes of others and the lure of success and fame. Details of a temple are laid out and even include specifics about music, vessels and decorations. Life at court attracts both those who support and those who tear down what once was full of hope.

How do we arrive at the peak of power in our lives? What do we store up for the journey ahead and what do we jettison? What do we tend to and what do we ignore? Does our relationship with God grow or diminish? Have we found wisdom that nourishes and serenity that heals . . . and do these gifts from God even matter to us?

Today we take time to examine our lives to see how or if we have followed God’s lead in the living of our hours on earth, and to examine the kind of kingdom we have been building. We consider what we have set aside as having great value and what we have cast off as holding us down. And we discover, in the many relationships and encounters we have experienced, that both our storehouse and the debris we leave behind reveal a great deal about who and what we have become.

The two books of Chronicles have four major portions: a genealogy of our leaders beginning with Abraham (1 Chronicles 1-9), a description of the monarchy under David and Solomon (1 Chronicles 9 – 2 Chronicles 9), the divided kingdom (2 Chronicles 10-18), and the period from Hezekiah to the Babylonian exile (2 Chronicles 19-36). This story of divine promise interwoven with human commitment and infidelity tell a story that we might see reflected in our own personal sacred history. This story is worthy of our time over the next few days.

Image from: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Cornelis_de_Vos_-_King_David_presenting_the_sceptre_to_Solomon.jpg 

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Isaiah 54: Vindication

Posted in Favorite, tagged , , on November 26, 2022| 3 Comments »


Isaiah 54: Vindication

Saturday, November 26, 2022The-Tent

Enlarge the place of your tent; stretch out the curtains of your dwellings, spare not; lengthen your cords and strengthen your pegs. For you will spread abroad to the right and to the left. And your descendants will possess nations and will resettle the desolate cities.

With this beautiful image of a heart that is willing to expand as it meets its creator, Isaiah asks us to contemplate the enormity, eternity, and healing power of God’s love for us.

We can define vindication using the Oxford languages dictionary: 1) the action of clearing someone of blame or suspicion, 2) proof that someone or something is right, reasonable, or justified.

We read these words and realize that we may not have allowed ourselves to be defended by God when we see those who work against us fail at their unhealthy schemes.  In our effort to wipe any thought of revenge from our minds, we have missed out on the gift of God’s affirming action. This is something to think about.

We are always hearing words of comfort from our God. Fear not, you shall not be put to shame.  (Verse 4) In justice shall you be established, far from the fear of oppression, where destruction cannot come near you.  (Verse 14) No weapon fashioned against you shall prevail; every tongue you shall prove false that launches an accusation against you.  This is the lot of the servant of the Lord.  (Verse 17) 

We pause over verses 7 & 8: For a brief moment I abandoned you, but with great tenderness I will take you back.  In a burst of wrath, for a moment I hid my face from you; but with enduring love I take pity on you, says the Lord your redeemer. We reflect on how Yahweh is so often described as a jealous God, wanting our full and total dedication to his truth. We also recall the prophecy of Hosea when he cries in anguish over his wife’s infidelity and lack of respect for herself and others. We understand the burst of wrath, the hidden face and also the tenderness of true love which endures all things without accepting abuse.

isaiah 54We spend time meditating on verse 10: Though the mountains leave their place and the hills be shaken, my love shall never leave you nor my covenant of peace be shaken, says the Lord who has mercy on you.

God is good. God keeps promises even when we do not. When we have stood to affirm God’s goodness with full-throated song we must allow ourselves to be vindicated. For this vindication is a hymn of praise to God and his wondrous, awesome power.

 

Adapted from a reflection written on November 27, 2008.

Images from: https://www.pinterest.com/pin/332210909983710869/

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Hosea 10:11-15: Time to Seek the Lord

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


Friday, March 6, 2020

Hosea 10:11-15: Time to Seek the Lord

morning-dew-fresh-christ-manna-1024x768[1]Ephraim . . . Judah . . . sons of Jacob . . . tribes of Israel . . . northern and southern kingdoms.  Paganism . . . a Covenant relationship with the one true God . . . Infidelity . . . Constancy . . . Pleasure . . . Joy.  Exile . . . Return . . . Repentance . . . Restoration . . . Turmoil . . . Order . . . Chaos . . . Light.

We have seen these words . . . heard these themes . . . so many times . . . yet eye has not seen . . . ear has not heard . . . what God has in mind for us. (1 Corinthians 2:9)

Hosea follows the will of God and marries the harlot Gomer.  His hope is that she will reform.  She does not.  He calls her to love . . . she turns away.  He persists . . . she will return . . . one day . . .

The offenses of Israel are grave and great, almost too much to bear.  And so we look to the end of the story to peek at the outcome.  Looking at the last lines of Hosea’s prophecy:  I will heal their defection; I will love them freely; for my wrath is turned away from them.  I will be like the dew of Israel: he shall blossom like the lily; He shall strike root like the Lebanon cedar, and put forth his shoots.  His splendor shall be like the olive tree, and his fragrance like the Lebanon cedar.  Again they shall dwell in the shade and raise grain; they shall blossom like the vine, and his fame shall be like the wine of Lebanon.  Ephraim!  What more has he to do with idols?  I have humbled him, but I will prosper him.  “I am like a verdant cypress tree” – Because of me you bear fruit!  Let him who is wise understand these things; let him who is prudent know them.  Straight are the paths of the Lord, in them the just walk, but sinners stumble in them.  (14:5-10)

Lily Five[1]Dear Jesus,

We stumble so frequently yet we turn and return.

We seek your path,

We call on your wisdom, we ask for prudence, courage, fortitude, patience.

We know your ways and your statutes.  We know that you await us.

We see these things, we hear these words, we rely on your constancy and your promise.

We look for the harvest, we look for the shade in the noonday sun.

We seek conversion and transformation.

We seek the Lord.

 Amen.

1 Corinthians 2:9: Eye has not seen, ear has not heard by Marty Haugen video at: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rRyOS0nZr7s

For more thoughts on seeking, go to the God Time page on this blog at: https://thenoontimes.com/god-time/

Images from: http://www.agodman.com/blog/enjoying-the-dew-and-the-manna-from-the-lord-to-be-revived-every-morning/ and http://theverticall.blogspot.com/2010/06/dew-to-israel.html

Written on January 31, 2008  and posted today as a Favorite.

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Psalm 81: Worship Worthily

Posted in Favorite, Prayer, tagged , , , , on February 6, 2020| 2 Comments »


Thursday, February 6, 2020

Psalm 81: An Exhortation to Worship Worthily

open[1]Constant renewal of our covenant promises with God is so important because the world in which we live is so good at deceiving us, luring us, easing us into betraying ourselves . . . and then encouraging us to betray others.  We swim in a sea of messages that tell us that we are in control, we are self-sufficient, we need only rely on our own powers, talents and schemes; we are told that we are God.  And that is the irony . . . we are God . . . when we give ourselves over to God, trust God, become vulnerable to God.  That is the irony of the words whispered to Eve and to Adam in the Garden of Eden.  Satan lures them, telling them that they too, can be like gods who know what is good and what is bad.  (Genesis 3:5).  This irony is that we are God.  We are the adopted daughters and sons of God, the sisters and brothers of Christ, the children of the Holy Spirit; yet we so often forget that we demonstrate our understanding of this by trusting God, believing God, loving God.  And we do this best as Jesus did, by being The Word to all and to everything.  We are God when we carry Jesus to all, when we hope and petition for the impossible, when we love our enemies just as we love ourselves and our friends.

Today’s Psalm is a reminder that we must constantly renew the Covenant agreement we have with our creator, we constantly renew our God Contract.  Renewal was the purpose of the Feast of the Tabernacles referred to in verse 4; and renewal is what we must always be about.  Each morning when we rise, each evening when we put our heads upon pillows we must trust God and bring God into our open hearts.  In the last verses of this Psalm, we see how to best sustain ourselves on this trip we are making . . . this earthly pilgrimage.  What are we to eat?  What are we to drink?  What are we to wear?  It is the Eucharist which renews us . . . give us this day our daily bread . . . it is the blood of Christ that redeems us . . . Can you drink the cup I am going to drink? . . . it is Christ whom we wear for protection when we wade into the world . . . take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God . . . it is The Word which sustains, nourishes, renews and brings true life to us.

And so we pray:

Good and everlasting God,

Renew us in your Spirit.

Refresh us for the journey.

Restore us to our promise.

Repair us in Christ’s love.

Replenish our weakened resources.

Remind us we are God’s.

Call us to worship you . . . worthily.

Amen.

Image from: http://scripture-for-today.blogspot.com/2011/03/psalm-81-open-your-mouth-wide.html

First written on April 10, 2008.  Re-written and posted today as a Favorite.

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Deuyeronomy 1: God’s Guidance

Posted in Favorite, tagged , , , , on January 14, 2020| Leave a Comment »


Tuesday, January 14, 2020

Deuteronomy 1: God’s Guidance

guide[1]In this last book of the Torah, we find a reiteration of the covenant relationship between God and his creatures as mediated by the man Moses.  His aim, as we read in commentary, is to enforce with the Israelites “the Lord’s claim to their obedience, loyalty and love”.  (Senior 187)  What we see here is God establishing a firm relationship with his people; much as a parent devotes care to strong enforcement of family values with a toddler . . . knowing that the teenage and young adult years – and even the years that carry us into maturity – will be difficult ones.  God wants to leave nothing to chance where his creatures are concerned.

In verse 10 we see reference to the fact that these tribes are so multiplied they are as numerous as the stars in the sky.  And we remember the promise made to Abraham that even in their advanced years he and Sarah would be the vehicles through which God would create a people dear to him.  This is followed with a plan laid out by God for gaining the territory promised to Abraham and his family.  Scouts are chosen to reconnoiter the land.   This is when they discover that the people are stronger and taller and they have become fainthearted.  They begin to lose courage.  Moses reminds them of the countless times God saved them from death in the hostile desert . . . and we begin to see the purpose of all their wanderings and suffering.

Of course, these people disobey – as do we – and in this Old Testament story we hear how God punishes them for their lack of faith.  Moses reminds them that they have disobeyed and struck out on their own.  As observed above, God disciplines the child nation, calling them to himself with reminders that he has been faithful to them despite their rebellion.

There is no doubt that we are sustained by God’s love and intervention as we muddle through our days.  God continues to provide resting places, to shepherd us with a pillar of smoke, to guard us with a column of fire.  It is easy to become lost, distracted, anxious or discouraged and so as we put our heads to pillows this evening we might reflect on the story we have read today and look at our lives through the filter on this exodus story of God’s people.  And we might ask ourselves how we react when we lose courage . . . how we see our wanderings through the hostile desert.

What is our relationship with God like?  Do we rely on God at all times or only when we need help?

How do we celebrate God’s goodness?  Do we rejoice with others and share the good news that we are well-loved?

What is our belief system?  Are we ready . . . and are we willing to give over to God our obedience, our loyalty and our love?

Senior, Donald, ed. THE CATHOLIC STUDY BIBLE. New York, Oxford University Press, 1990.187. Print.

Tomorrow, more on Deuteronomy.

Image from: http://restministries.com/2011/09/22/devotion-counting-on-gods-guidance-each-day/

First written on July 24, 2009. Re-written and posted today as a Favorite.

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Joshua 12: Conquered Kings

Posted in Easter, Favorite, tagged , , , , , on April 4, 2019| Leave a Comment »


Joshua 12: Conquered Kings

Thursday, April 4, 2019. 

A re-post from Holy Week 2012. 

Ancient Canaanites

I sometimes wonder what life was really like for leaders in the ancient world.  It was such a violent and predatory place and much time and energy were spent merely surviving.  This is still true for many in our modern world in which focus on survival is necessary in order to see the next day’s dawning.  In today’s Noontime we read a roll call of the vanquished along with a description of the division of conquered lands.  Conquest is marked by neat categories; there is no evidence of the horrific jumbled chaos that is war. These verses make the telling of this list so orderly and so tidy that we might think that Joshua and his men performed this work without much personal cost or effort.  We would be wrong.

This territory had belonged to the Hittites, the Amorites, Canaanites and others.  A series of city-states falls, their kings are vanquished: Jericho, Jerusalem, Hebron, Jarmuth, and more.  With a quick reading it might appear the subjugated are nameless, faceless peoples.  If this is our impression, again we would be wrong.

This kind of struggle never comes without a cost, and it comes as part of the fulfillment of God’s promise to Abram in Genesis 15.  He was to have descendants that numbered as stars in the night sky, and these descendants were to inhabit a land that would be delivered with the help of God.

The twelve tribes use violence as they take over the mountains and foothills, deserts, slopes and rivers of this promised place.  Several thousand years later, Jesus arrives to tell his people that this way of violence is over, that now they are to deliver another cheek to an attacker rather than another blow.  He brings the strange message that rather than pray for our friends alone, we are to intercede for our enemies.  We can see how bizarre this thinking must have seemed to a people who had won what they had through the spilling of blood.  We can see how the message will seem strange to us today.

Our question on this Holy Wednesday is this . . . As we go through our days, moving toward the promises made to us by God, do we take care with how we move and why . . . and do we use Old Testament ways or New Testament thinking . . . do we resort to the weapons of violence, or do we use the tools of peace?

For more information on the many tribes cited in Genesis and Joshua, go to:http://biblos.com/ and search the dictionary, encyclopedia, atlas or other resources on this site.  

Image from: http://heavenawaits.wordpress.com 

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Joshua 21:43-45: Completion

Posted in Favorite, tagged , , , on February 13, 2019| Leave a Comment »


Joshua 21:43-45: Completion

Wednesday, February 13, 2019

In Genesis Chapter 15 God promises many descendants to Abram who is childless, a land of goodness and plenty to his descendants when he is a nomad, and renown that will reach to all corners of the earth when there is nothing to declare him as special other than his abiding love for this one true God.  God also warns that Abram’s descendants will live as slaves in alien lands before this promise is fulfilled.  Today we read about the completion of this promise.  We might want to pause to think about promises we have made, oaths we have sworn . . . pledges and vows we have fulfilled or left empty.

Psalm 51 reminds us that we are all prone to err, forget and omit.  It also asks God for mercy and forgiveness.  We know these qualities to be infinite – both our propensity to sin, and God’s willingness to forgive.

From MAGNIFICAT: The most difficult part of ongoing conversion is admitting that we really are sinners and allowing God to see and forgive us as we are, with all our faults unmended and all our flaws showing, especially the ones over which we seem to have no control. 

From today’s MAGNIFICAT Morning Prayer: I John 1:8-10.  If we say, “We are without sin”, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us.  If we acknowledge our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive our sins and cleanse us from every wrongdoing.  If we say, “We have not sinned”, we make him a liar, and his word is not in us. 

We humans are always struggling to be complete, whole and perfect.  This is unreasonable since, by nature, we are meant to be wandering people in constant process and conversion, in search of that which heals and cures both self and companions.  We are built for conflict; yet not the kind of conflict in which we put ourselves.  We are meant for big promises, big struggles . . . not the petty quarrels in which we enmesh ourselves.  We are created for conversion, for promise, for love.

When we meditate on the oaths we have taken . . . kept and not kept . . . we might want to reflect on our capacity to forgive, to endure, to be vulnerable, to be honest . . . to love.  We might want to think about the promise God has created in us for the world.  What are we meant to accomplish in his name?  What are we meant to complete in his name?  What and whom are we meant to love in his name?

Only conversation with God will clarify for us our own oaths made . . . vows kept . . . pledges left undone . . . promises completed.

We all seek completion.  We all number promises.  We all ask the question, When, O Lord, will you answer my call . . .

Let us today begin with ourselves as we ponder . . . vows . . . oaths . . . omissions . . . commissions . . . promises . . . completion . . . fidelity to self and to others.

A re-post from February 13, 2012.

Image from http://phoenixrescuemission.org/2009/05/07/mays-free-book/

Cameron, Peter John, Rev., ed. “Morning Prayer.” MAGNIFICAT. 13 February 20o8. Print.

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Zechariah 10: The New Order

Posted in Favorite, Prayer, tagged , , , , , , , on October 9, 2018| Leave a Comment »


Zechariah 10: The New Order

Tuesday, October 9, 2018

Written on February 17 and posted today as a Favorite . . .

The Golden Calf – Exodus

The teraphim are household idols, used for divination but incapable of true healing, redemption, comfort or transformation.  Those who have relied on wealth and influence will no longer hold power; change is in the wind.  Those who have been led by false shepherds will be visited by the true king; a rout by a new king’s soldiers is predicted.  Those who have wandered aimlessly, searching for the true shepherd will be brought back; the exiled will return home; the faithful will be rewarded.

In the Old Testament readings at Mass this week we hear again the story of Noah.  God sees how wicked man has become and he regrets having created him.  Later he promises to never destroy his creatures again.  In the New Testament readings we have seen the supreme patience of Jesus as he continually instructs his followers in the ways of the New Kingdom, the New Covenant, and the New Promise.  There is a New Order . . . yet they struggle to understand.  He even rebukes Peter (Mark 8:27-33) and scolds the others for not understanding his feeding of thousands from a few fish and loaves (Mark 8:14-21).  These humans God has created seem to believe more in their teraphim than in their God.  And we are so like all of these people.

So we pray . . .

Lord God in heaven, Lord God on earth, Lord God within us, Lord God among us, open our eyes that we might see your new order as you opened the eyes of the blind beggar in yesterday’s Gospel (Mark 8:22-26).  Open our minds and hearts so that we might better hear your call to newness.  Open our lives to you so that we might better understand the new order of your world.  Teach us to cease lusting after money and goods.  Instruct us in your new way.  School us in the ways of the gentle heart and eager mind.  Remind us to throw out our tiny household gods and rely firmly and only on you.  Visit us with your Spirit.  Continue to walk with us as Christ.  And harbor us who wander as wretched sheep in the safety of your enormous arms.  We ask this each day and every day . . . as we strive to remember who you are . . . and how much you love us.  Amen. 

A re-post from September 6, 2011.

Image from: http://www.perplexicon.net/2009/12/false-gods-and-theologians/

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