salvific suffering – The Noontimes

Isaiah 61-63: The Mission of the Afflicted . . . Prayer for the Return of God’s Favor

Isaiah 61-63: The Mission of the Afflicted . . . Prayer for the Return of God’s Favor

Monday, May 27, 2024

The spirit of the Lord is upon me . . . I am called an oak of justice, planted by the Lord to show God’s glory.

The people of Isaiah’s day yearned for the intimate presence of their God. Today, faithful sufferers have this precious union in the protective armor of Christ that they put on each morning. Today these loyal servants have the nurturing presence of the Holy Spirit to drink in each morning at their rising. They live in the days of the Presence, the days between the arrival of the Christ and his second coming. They are the faithful who walk The Way guided by the Maker, accompanied by the Word, dwelt in by the Spirit. And so we pray.

Fellow pilgrims,

When suffering arrives at our door, perches on our shoulders, tears down all that we have seen built up in Christ’s name, we remember this. We are so blessed. We are so honored. We are so loved, for we walk in the footsteps of the Teacher who shows all God’s children The Way. We do not shy away from some dreadful task that is done in Christ’s name; rather, we take it up gladly. For it is in this pain that the kingdom comes. It is in this suffering that dreams are birthed into reality. It is in this dreadful passage from dark to light where miracles transport us to the super reality of our transformation and resurrection with Christ. This is an arduous Way; but it is the way for all who follow Christ. This is the mission of the afflicted. It is the life of the disciple, and it is the reward of the brokenhearted.

When suffering arrives at our door remember this – it is a sign that we have all been set free.

When suffering arrives at our door remember this – it is a spark that will ignite the fire of our love.

When suffering arrives at our door remember this – it is a drink of clear water that quenches in the desert.

When suffering arrives at our door remember this – it is the arrival of the groom who comes in search of his bride.

When suffering arrives at our door remember all of this.

And when suffering arrives at our door . . .

Let us rejoice and be glad!

Images from: http://spiritual12food.blogspot.com/2012/04/gods-favor.html and http://www.huffingtonpost.com/krishna-pendyala/rejoice-the-simple-secret_b_13963082.html

Adapted from a reflection written on May 24, 2008.

May 27, 2024

Christ as armor, rejoice, salvific suffering

Isaiah 61-63: The Mission of the Afflicted . . . Restoration

Isaiah 61-63: The Mission of the Afflicted . . . Restoration

Trinity Sunday, May 26, 2024

Oaks of Justice

The spirit of the Lord is upon me, because the Lord has anointed me; he has sent me to bring glad tidings to the lowly, to heal the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives and release to the prisoners, to announce a year of favor from the Lord and a day of vindication from our God, to comfort all who mourn; to place on those who mourn in Zion a diadem of ashes, to give them oil of gladness in place of mourning, a glorious mantle instead of a listless spirit. They will be called oaks of justice, planted by the Lord to show his glory.

These are the words Jesus reads out in the synagogue in Capernaum to initiate the Kingdom of God on earth; and for delivering this message of hope and freedom, he was accused of heresy and nearly killed by his audience.

Those who suffer well, who offer their pain for the salvation of others, suffer with Christ, in Christ, and through Christ. They make their pain salvific and in this way, together with Christ, they offer to save the world. These sufferers become co-redeemers.

In the old days, we wore white and red robes and caps when we were confirmed as a sign that we were willing to step into the ranks of those who suffered for Christ and for the world. We became “soldiers” for Christ. Today we see the confirmandi as disciples who work for and in Christ, followers who build the Kingdom of God in order to bring transformation to the world, aid to the afflicted, and restoration to the Kingdom.

They shall rebuild the ancient ruins, the former wastes they shall raise up and restore the ruined cities, desolate now for generations. Strangers shall stand by ready to pasture your flocks, foreigners shall be your farmers and vinedressers. You yourselves shall be named priests of the Lord, ministers of our God you shall be called. You shall eat the wealth of the nations and boast of riches from them. Since their shame was double and disgrace and spittle were their portion, they shall have a double inheritance in their land, everlasting joy shall be theirs.

The faithful who suffer are well rewarded for the work they do in Christ’s name, because Jesus knows how difficult it is to walk The Way. The faithful who suffer are transformed when pain brings them closer to God. The faithful who suffer must not remain silent and thus indicate their assent with all that causes their suffering.

For Zion’s sake I will not be silent, for Jerusalem’s sake I will not be quiet, until her vindication shines forth like the dawn and her victory like a burning torch . . . No more shall men call you “Forsaken”, or your land “Desolate”, but you shall be called “My Delight”, and your land “Espoused”. For the Lord delights in you, and makes your land his spouse. As a young man marries a virgin, your Builder will marry you; as a Bridegroom rejoices in his bride so shall your God rejoice in you.

God will not let these faithful, suffering servants come to harm when they speak out to witness to what is unjust and unloving. God cares for these Oaks of Justice constantly, tending to the littlest of details in their lives even when the earth trembles beneath them and the skies darken above them. God sheds favor upon the faithful, urges them to set down deep roots into the richness of The Word, and persistently calls them to stay focused on the light so that they might bear God’s light into the world.

Oh that you would rend the heavens and come down, with the mountains quaking before you.

Tomorrow . . . a prayer for the return of God’s favor.

Adapted from a reflection written on May 24, 2008.

Image from: https://www.christianity.com/wiki/bible/what-are-the-oaks-of-righteousness-isaiah-613.html

May 26, 2024

Capernaum, Oaks of Justice, restoration, salvific suffering, The Way

Philippians 2:6-8: Re-Creation

Philippians 2:6-8: Re-Creation

Monday, April 15, 2024

[Jesus] always had the nature of God, but he did not think that by force he should try to remain equal with God. (GNT)

In this Lenten and Easter season, we have meditated on the humility we might learn on our Emmaus journey; we ponder the outrageous hope we have in the Spirit. We have considered the phoenix rising from ashes as we have pledged to remain in God. We have admitted that we are children of God who rest in Christ; and we have determined to remain in the world while not being of it. We have reflected on the act of allowing ourselves to be de-created so that we might become new in Christ. Today, as we celebrate the wondrous miracle of new life that conquers death, we come to terms with our human yet divine nature.

Jesus emptied himself, taking the form of a slave, being born in human likeness. (NRSV)

Richard Rohr tells us, “All healthy religion shows you what to do with your pain . . . If we cannot find a way to make our wounds into sacred wounds, we invariably become cynical, negative, or bitter . . . If we do not transform our pain, we will most assuredly transmit it – usually to those closest around us: our family, our neighbors, our work partners, and, invariably, the most vulnerable, our children”. (Rohr 119)

Jesus shows us how we might allow our suffering to save ourselves and others.

Having become human, he stayed human. It was an incredibly humbling process. He didn’t claim special privileges. Instead, he lived a selfless, obedient life and then died a selfless, obedient death—and the worst kind of death at that—a crucifixion. (MSG)

On this great day we might celebrate the breaking of chains of death that none thought breakable. When we witness Christ in his interactions with those who were crucified with him, and later the women and men who discovered the empty tomb, we do not see Christ puffed up in glory. Rather, we find a humble and loving shepherd who leaves an entire flock in order to rescue a single sheep.

At this time of year we celebrate the invitation to re-create ourselves in Christ. We give thanks for the invitation to redemption in Christ. And we rejoice in the promise of hope the Spirit offers us. Let us accept these caring gifts with humility, fidelity and love.

Richard Rohr, OFM. The Spring Within Us: A Book of Daily Meditations. Albuquerque, NM: CAC Publishing, 2016.

To spend more time with these verses, use the scripture link to read varying translations of these words, and to open our hearts to these remarkable gifts of faith, hope and love.

Images from: https://www.pinterest.com.au/pin/273101164888773514/ and https://www.pinterest.com/pin/43558321386711784/

April 15, 2024

eternal life, faith, hope, humility, love, salvific suffering, shepherd

Tobit 3:24-25: The Mystery of Trusting Wisdom

Tobit 3:24-25: The Mystery of Trusting Wisdom

Palm Sunday, March 24, 2024

school of Titian Rafael — *The School of Titian: Tobias and the Archangel Rafael*

As we enter the holiest of weeks, we recall the lessons we learned with these verses yesterday: God is good, we are good, life is brutal and unpredictable but also good because it brings us to God; the faithful need not fight, they only need to stand and refuse to do anything that causes them to abandon their God.

There is nothing more important to hear, to learn or to repeat to others than the lessons Tobit teaches us today. All human suffering can be quenched by these precepts. All human understanding is capable of taking in these ideas; but not all humans have the will to enact what they hear. That is why we cannot read this story too often.

Wisdom is sometimes defined as patience in the waiting to hear God’s voice. One definition puts wisdom in its proper place as coming from God over time – in God’s time and not in our time. When we think of the wise people we know, we discover that they share a few characteristics in common.

Wise people do not often react instantly to an emotional moment; they pause to allow God to speak through them.
Wise people declare their thoughts with the wisdom of ages; they have spent a good portion of their lives with and in scripture.
Wise people display a certain amount of serenity; they know that all that surrounds them is not real, the justice of the next world, not this.
Wise people do not regularly become impatient; they understand that we are here to practice for that which is real, the love of the next world, not this.
Wise people display and embody empathy; they have suffered a great deal, and they have allowed themselves to be transformed by this suffering.
Wise people do not think first of saving themselves; they have made their suffering salvific, and freely give themselves as co-redeemers with Christ.

The wisdom of the book of Tobit is just this kind of wisdom. In this story, wisdom maintains her mystery; she is seen as the ultimate act of stepping into the abyss with God. The ultimate act of suffering for and through God. The ultimate act of trust in God.

Wisdom rises from suffering, endures in fidelity, heals in love, restores in hope, and lives in trust. We can never hear this story too often.

In the coming days as we experience the Passion, the suffering and redemption of Jesus whom we finally see as the Christ, we reflect on wisdom. Tomorrow we begin a series of posts about our opportunity to experience the De-Creation and the Re-creation of ourselves in Holy Week 2024.

Adapted from a reflection written on March 10, 2008.

Image from: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Archangel_Raphael_and_Tobias_%28Titian%29

March 24, 2024

fidelity, God’s time, healing, hope, love, Rafael, salvific suffering, Sara, Tobias, Tobit, trust

Job 3: Misery

Job 3: Misery

Wednesday, October 18, 2023

We continue our reflections on peace and we find that even in the depths of misery, there is peace.

In the Biblia de América, the commentary refers to the technique used in this book as a dialog of the deaf. This certainly explains how we so often feel misunderstood, misheard, misspoken, misunderstanding. As humans, we are often poor at expressing ourselves clearly – and we are equally poor at hearing well. Job’s three friends, in an effort to either console Job in his misfortune or to justify themselves in their good fortune, do not fully comprehend the depths of Job’s misery. He is innocent. He has followed God’s precepts well. He has done nothing wrong. He has done all things well; yet he suffers tremendously. This does not fit the Old Testament thinking that if we do as we are asked to do, we will not suffer. Goods and good times come to us as a reward. Suffering and pain come to us as a punishment. Job struggles to find the logic in what has happened to him, and here in the opening chapters he is clear about his grief; yet his friends will reply as if they have not heard the idea their friend struggles to communicate – he has done nothing wrong and still he suffers greatly. Job, looking for justice and compassion, will find only preaching and separation from his friends. It is not until the end of this travail that he will see the wisdom and awesome power of God. And for his fidelity and his willingness to suffer, Job will receive compensation beyond his imaginings.

Still, we are struck by the phrase: a dialog of the deaf. Is this the way we listen to one another? Are we bent on finding answers? On ending pain? On bending circumstances to our own will? Why do we not hear? Perhaps the other’s experience is beyond anything we can imagine. Perhaps others frighten us and we fear contagion. Perhaps we do not want to admit that discipline from God is necessary and that our role is to abide by those who suffer. Perhaps we are not willing to become co-redeemers with Christ and enter into the salvific pain which redeems us as well as our enemies when we pray for their conversion.

Job speaks of wishing he had never been born. This is true misery for this admits that we would rather be without God and free of pain than with God and suffering with God. Yet we only become truly free when we give over our self-control to the guiding hands of God. We can only become truly happy when we agree to live a life which depends on God’s plan for our happiness rather than our own.

True freedom and true joy can wipe out the kind of misery Job expresses here. Authentic faith, enduring hope, genuine love – these are the antidote for deep and inconsolable misery – and these come from God alone. As sufferers here in this life we can listen more to one another, we can abide more with one another, and rather than recriminations, accusations or platitudes, we might offer God’s peace to one another.

This is the power, the mystery and the comfort that comes from saying to one another . . . may Christ’s peace be with you. For it is the only peace that knows the depth of pain that cries out . . . if only I had not been born. It is the eternal peace of God with which God graces all life. If only we might find a way to listen.

Adapted from a reflection written on February 17, 2009.

LA BIBLIA DE LA AMÉRICA. 8th. Madrid: La Casa de la Biblia, 1994. Print.

October 18, 2023

Christ’s peace, fidelity, freedom, hope, innocent suffering, joy, love, salvific suffering

Jeremiah 1: Persecution

Tuesday, July 20, 2021

Jeremiah 1

Persecution

Jeremiah’s prophecy is complex; it consists of judgment oracles, narratives about his life, and sermons. Throughout all of this his voice brings not only a constant warning but also a certain consolation to those who are willing to suffer. To the faithful remnant he says what we long to hear: that we are loved, that God’s name is written on our hearts, and that we are called. He speaks to anyone eager to find the truth embedded in each of us, the truth that is God.

Jeremiah speaks to the experience of persecution and this is a theme that resonates with all human beings for all of us at one time or at many times – either justly or unjustly – are persecuted. We all know what it feels like to be left out, over looked, betrayed, and even punished for what we believe is truth. Ultimately, only God can let us know if we are living an honest life; and God does this frequently. Only God can indicate to us that our suffering has been either self-pitying and pointless or redemptive and fruitful. We all suffer. But do we suffer well? God tells us about the truth of our suffering by pointing out to us the fruits of our labor. And God does this gently by telling us that we are wonderfully made, and that we need not fear. God tells us that there is hope.

From the HARPERCOLLINS NRSV STUDY BIBLE (Meeks 1113): Here indeed was a prophet who combined elegance of form with the ethical and redemptive content of the “word of the Lord”. And perhaps more than anyone in his time, Jeremiah provided the means by which a despairing people could hope for a new future.

Reading the first chapter of this profound prophecy is an invitation to new life and to hope, an invitation to join Christ in the kind of suffering that saves souls and that transforms itself and us into a joy-filled gift. We are invited into this redemptive mystery that is God’s love.

Before I formed you in the womb I knew you . . .

You are mine. You are special. I have a particular job in mind for you.

And before you were born I consecrated you . . .

Because you are mine you are holy. You are my temple. I want to dwell within you.

I appointed you a prophet to the nations . . .

You have words to say and gestures to make in my Name.

Then I said – Ah Lord God! Truly I do not know how to speak, for I am only a child . . .

We reply in fear to this awesome task, believing falsely that we are not up to the journey that lies before us.

But the Lord said to me – Do not say “I am only a child’ for you shall go to all to whom I send you, and you shall speak whatever I command you . . .

You are my gift to the world . . . my gift of joy. I see a wonderful potential in you . . . for you are designed in love by me . . . to love me in all places and times and peoples . . . you are made to put away fear . . . in yourself and in others . . .

Do not be afraid of them, for I am with you to deliver you . . .

Until the end of time . . . Amen.

Meeks, Wayne A., Gen. Ed. HARPERCOLLINS STUDY BIBLE (NRSV). New York, New York: HarperCollins Publishers, 1989. 1113. Print.

Adapted from a reflection written on Friday, January 16, 2009.

Image from: http://maryhess.com/and-mary-pondered-jeremiah-15/

July 20, 2021

hope, new life, remnant, salvific suffering, truth

Isaiah 49: The Cup of the Lord

Monday, August 17, 2020

Isaiah 49

The Cup of the Lord

Hear me, O coastlands, listen, o distant peoples . . . Thus begins this chapter in which the prophet laments his role as servant of the Lord. The cup from which he must drink has become too bitter. He is exhausted from the repeated warnings he delivers to deaf ears. He believes that God has made him a sharped-edged sword and hidden him under his arm, a polished bow hidden in the quiver. He believes that he has toiled in vain and yet he knows that his reward is with the Lord.

Although this servant of God suffers as he drinks this difficult cup of salvation, he knows that God has promised to make him a light to all nations and the chosen one of God. This servant understands that through him lies the liberation and restoration of many for God pities them and leads them and guides them besides springs of water. Still, the work of the prophet-servant is difficult, dangerous and heavy. It exhausts even those who come to the task full of vigor and strength. Yet despite this lament . . . God persists in calling.

Look about and see, they are gathering and coming to you . . . Those who hope in me shall never be disappointed. It is more difficult for the faithful servant to walk away from this important work than it is to persist. And so the prophet perseveres. All mankind shall know that I, the Lord, am your savior, your redeemer, the mighty one of Jacob.

We know that Jesus comes to do God’s will, to restore and redeem, to defend and save. But do we think of ourselves as suffering servants alongside the tireless Jesus?

We know that Jesus is the Son of God. But do we know that we are God’s adopted children created in God’s image?

We know that we – like Isaiah – are now exhausted from the work we do in God’s name. But do we ask Jesus to shoulder the burden with us and to carry us on his own broad shoulders?

The suffering servant is Jesus who is the Messiah. We too will suffer as we serve. Yet we too will become the pathway of freedom and redemption for many. We too will gather many who want to come to God. We too are descendants of Jacob. We too are children of God.

Go to the online Bible dictionary at: http://bibledictionaries.com/ , enter the words suffering servant, and explore the concept of one who drinks from the Lord’s Cup.

Image from: https://www.crossroadsinitiative.com/media/articles/eucharist-our-sustenance-st-gaudentius/attachment/gaudentius-eucharist-our-sustenance/

August 17, 2020

Children of God, made in God’s image, salvific suffering, suffering servant

John 19:1-7: Pontius Pilate

John 19:1-7: Pontius Pilate

Friday, December 27, 2019

pontius-pilate-slice[1] — *Antonio Ciseri: Ecce Homo – Behold the Man*

We revel in the arrival of a babe among us who saves each of us if we but ask.

We enter into Christmastide in joyful hope that the promise we have heard is indeed true.

We struggle with this mystery of a child who knowingly puts himself in danger for the good of all.

We lean forward in anticipation that if we might look closely enough we will better understand this mystery.

Today we spend time with the Gospel of John and we watch as Pontius Pilate searches for a better understanding of who Jesus is. We see him struggle to understand who and what stands before him. We witness his attempt to satisfy his heart and his head. And so we watch and learn . . .

Throughout this portion of John’s Gospel we observe Pontius Pilate as he tries to make sense of the mystery that Jesus presents to him. He wants to make sense of a man who might save himself in an instant but who instead puts himself in the hands of an invisible force. Pilate struggles to understand a man who allows himself to suffer for others – even others who despise him. Pilate cannot use human logic to follow this thinking; and this is because salvific suffering is of the divine.

The mockery of something beautiful makes us cringe and each time we read this story we might try to imagine where we might be standing on this day: with the persecutors or the believers. And then we must transfer that imagining to reality to look at our own life and actions. What we believe we might do must connect somehow with what we actually do each day. If we want to see if we would have been standing with the guards who persecuted Jesus or the followers who cried along the Way of the Cross, we need only look to how we treat the marginalized today. What do we do for the poor and disenfranchised? When do we speak up for those who have no voice? How do we demonstrate our alliance with this one obeys an unseen God? Where do we exert our influence? Who matters most to us? When do we act on the part of those who have few possessions and little power?

From time to time in our lives we will be the Pontius Pilate figure, making decisions that will affect a life in a significant way. In those times, it must be our intent to act in accord with the Law of Love which Jesus taught. We hope to be successful. Sometimes we are not.

We might allow ourselves to be saddened by today’s story or by our own failures, but I do not believe that this is what Jesus asks of us . . . our sadness. I believe that Jesus asks that we act as a result of this story for he has come to save and not to condemn. Jesus asks that we make known the Gospel to any and all who will listen. Jesus asks that we remember who actually holds power and who actually merits glory. He asks that we consider whose is the true kingdom . . . and I believe that Jesus watches us carefully as we make our own decisions sand take our own actions.

The marvelous irony is that Jesus comes to us not as a superior, not as a ruler, not as a priest. He comes as a vulnerable child among us. He comes to an average family. He arrives in difficult circumstances in a difficult time. He is barely noticed except by the lowly and by those who seek him.

This Advent, let us consider both ends of the human Christ’s story – his birth and his death – and then let us reflect on our own journey of faith, our life and its cumulative acts.

First written on Tuesday, May 11, 2010. Re-written and posted today as a Favorite.

Image from: http://collider.com/pontius-pilate-vera-blasi/190526/

December 27, 2019

actions, faith, irony, mystery, salvific suffering, The Way of the Cross

Tag: salvific suffering

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