silversmith – The Noontimes

Sirach 33:16-19: Gleaning

Tuesday, September 9, 2025

Written on March 3 and posted today as a Favorite . . .

gleaner1[1] — *Francois Millet: The Gleaners*

We keep our sorrows to ourselves, thinking that no one wants to hear what has gone wrong for us. This is a mistake. We are called to share sorrow and to accompany one another in this journey of discerning how to best word in God’s vineyard. It does not matter how or when we come to this realization. It only matters that we eventually arrive there.

Now I was last to keep vigil; I was like a gleaner following the grape-pickers; by the blessing of the Lord I arrived first, and like grape-pickers I filled my wine press.

By dwelling on our sorrows or by thinking that our lives are more pain-filled than anyone else’s we rob ourselves – and our companions in life’s journey – of the opportunity to experience Christ’s healing presence. It does not matter if we feel we have little to offer, it only matters that we offer who we are to others in need.

Consider that I have not labored for myself alone, but for all who seek instruction. Hear me, you who are great among the people, and you leaders of the congregation, pay heed!

Patience, fidelity, generosity, trust in God. When I think of those who have taught me to climb out of sorrow and into joy, these are the qualities that make these teachers greater than any titled leader with power. If we turn to the beginning of Sirach (2:1-6), we find more instruction.

My child, when you come to serve the Lord, prepare yourself for testing. Set your heart right and be steadfast, and do not be impetuous in time of calamity. Cling to him and do not depart, so that your last days may be prosperous. Accept what befalls you, and in times of humiliations be patient. For gold is tested in fire, and those found acceptable in the furnace of humiliation. Trust in him, and he will help you; make your ways straight and hope in him.

We have frequently reflected in our Noontimes that the silversmith’s fire is essential to smelt out the detritus that makes us less bright and pure. The prophet Malachi (3:1-3) reminds us that the refiner must remain constantly by the fire in order that it burn just hot enough to do its work without destroying the ore. The life of those who choose to respond to God’s call is laden with many burdens, but these burdens convert to sweet justice when we lay all our complaints and pains before God. We who come to God’s fields to glean what is left after the harvester passes by, engage in holy work for we lift up lost souls to God. When we enter fully into this work to place the world’s sorrows in God’s capable hands, we – like the sadness we bear to God – are transformed by the smelter’s fire into bright, lovely and holy offerings, and we become the delight we imagine. So as we glean, let us imagine God’s joy well.

A re-post from August 17, 2011.

Image from: https://arnoldzwicky.org/2019/02/01/gleaning/

September 9, 2025

fidelity, generosity, joy, Malachi 3:1-3, offerings, patience, silversmith, Sirach 2:1-6, smelting, test by fire, trust in God

Psalm 12: Plea for Help in Evil Times

Psalm 12: Plea for Help in Evil Times

Monday, September 8, 2025

The human character seems determined to bring about evil. No epoch escapes the lust for power. No era is exempt from the pursuit of wealth or the competition for survival. The chase for fame is a goal that exacts a lethal price; but dark consequences deter few. Many of us are bent on building a life of celebrity, affluence and supremacy and this quest destroys both individuals and whole societies.

In ancient days, and in our own, we long for a serenity that comes with the cessation of conflict. We look for ways to de-stress our lives, to slow down the headlong pace of our digital interface with the rest of humanity. We complain about the divisions we experience and yet feel powerless to bring our world together; yet somewhere deep within we know that we must change our circumstances. And so we turn to the eternal wisdom of the Spirit. We follow the model Christ gives us. And we ask for God’s intervention and help.

Today, as we look for transformation, we search various translations of this holy prayer. We place our trust in God’s plan and love. We remember the promises God keeps. We consider the furnace of evil times that we survive while the silversmith of life watches over us. And we ask for help in evil times.

When we use the scripture link and the drop-down menus, we consider God’s hope for humankind, and how we might make a plea for God’s help in evil days.

Image from: https://www.bereaproject.org/verse-of-the-day/2016/6/3/psalms-126-7

For more posts on God as silversmith, use the blog search bar and explore.

September 8, 2025

furnace, God’s love, God’s plan, silversmith

Malachi 2: The Law of Being

Thursday, February 3, 2022

Malachi 2

The Law of Being

This brief prophecy was written just as the Jewish people were about to return to Jerusalem from their Babylonian exile. It gives us a view of life among these people at a time full of intense anticipation and great promise; yet Malachi warns of potential problems. “It is likely that the author’s trenchant criticism of abuses and religious indifference in the community prepared the way for . . . necessary reforms. The chosen people had made a sorry return for God’s love. The priests, who should have been leaders, had dishonored God by their blemished sacrifices . . . The author then turns from priests to people, denouncing their marriages with pagans and their callous repudiation of Israelite wives”. (Senior 1170)

I once heard a lecture about this prophecy in which this axiom was stated: A friend is one who wishes us better rather than wishing us well. The prophet understands the importance of learning from the obstacles in life and he likens our earthly existence to a smith’s crucible in which the concentrated heat of living allows impurities to rise up and fall away . . . leaving the true metal shining and beautiful.

Our very nature requires us to be interested in others. When there is something beautiful within us, we desire to communicate it to others. When we see others who are worse off than we are, we desire to help them with something of ours. This need is so original, so natural, that it is within us before we are conscious of it. We call is the law of existence. We do charitable work to satisfy this need. We become ourselves to the extent that we live this need and this requirement. Msgr. Luigi Giussani – MAGNIFICAT Meditation July 9, 2009

Msgr. Giussani sees people differently from the Malachi perspective. He sees the potential that God sees in us, the potential that Christ came to reveal to and in each of us. He continues . . .

We do charitable work so that we may learn to fulfill the task of becoming ourselves. But it is Christ who enabled us to understand the ultimate reason for this, revealing the ultimate law of being and of life: charity.

Malachi speaks to people who have abandoned the women of their tribes to intermarry with non-believers, they have even abandoned their covenant agreement with God. Reforms ensue, measures are taken, albeit harsh ones, to rectify wrongs. It is a brutal story.

Christ, in giving his total self over to the creator, works to bring us to our full potential in himself, through himself . . . so that we might be one with him. This too, is the Law of Being . . . The New Law of Love.

Senior, Donald, ed. THE CATHOLIC STUDY BIBLE. New York, Oxford University Press, 1990.1170. Print.

Cameron, Peter John. “Meditation of the Day.” MAGNIFICAT. 9.7 (2009). Print.

Adapted from a Favorite written on July 9, 2009.

For more reflections on this prophecy, enter the word Malachi in the blog search bar and explore.

Image from: http://www.riseearth.com/2011/07/forgiveness-and-law-of-love.html

February 3, 2022

crucible, Law of Love, silversmith

Malachi 1:God’s Messengers

Tuesday, February 1. 2022

Malachi 1

God’s Messengers

The last of the Minor Prophets, this anonymous writer gathers a collection of oracles in which he reproaches the authority caste – the priests and rulers. It is likely because his criticism is direct and pointed that he does not reveal his identity and he chooses the name Malachi, or My Messenger. This prophet writes about how a life of discipleship is equivalent to the process which silver or gold undergo during smelting – hard and fast fire under the watchful eye and in the careful hands of the smith. This particular book gives us an historical perspective of life in the Jewish community returned from exile, between the period of Haggai and the reforms instituted by Ezra and Nehemiah. It is likely that this writer’s words helped to prepare the community for the necessary reforms which took place in about 480 – 460 B.C.E. This prophecy is perhaps a response to the great skepticism and apathy of the time; it recalls God’s love for us, and his divine retribution and justice. It is perhaps the most cited of the prophetic books in the New Testament. This Messenger has come as a precursor to John the Baptist, announcing the impending arrival of the Messiah. (Senior 1170 and La Biblia de América 1022)

When we look at these verses today, we can see that Malachi points directly to the leadership for their lack of stewardship and even for their pollution of sacred rituals and rites; but any one of us might examine our role as shepherd to see where and how we have served poorly and well. Each of us is called to guide others as we journey together toward the New Kingdom. And each of us can find ourselves in conversation with God, discerning how we have done well and how we might improve.

Today we might take a wider look at ourselves to see how we – as priests and leaders in our families and places of work and play – have brought Christ’s message to others. Have we been good and faithful messengers on God’s behalf? Have we incarnated this message to speak about it through our actions rather than through our words? Have we been a constant bride to the constant bridegroom? Do we tell the story well that God walks among us to release us from our fears and anxieties? Have we let others know that our salvation is already been purchased for each of us? Have we proclaimed aloud the good news that we are each born as children of God, and that we each have gifts freely given to us to share with God’s humanity?

Part of the evening prayer in MAGNIFICAT today is from the Acts of the Apostles 13:32-33: We ourselves are proclaiming this good news to you that God promised our ancestors he has brought to fulfillment for us, [their] children, by raising up Jesus, as it is written in the second psalm, “You are my son; this day I have begotten you”.

So as we prepare for evening, we might turn to God in prayer with these words.

Good and gracious God of all of us gathered here before you,

We come humbly before you to learn how we might better shepherd ourselves, and how we might better shepherd those you send along your Way to accompany us. May we be ever mindful of this work, may we be ever truthful to your Way. And when we lose our footing, may we always turn to you as the source and summit of all that is good. We ask this in the name of our brother, Jesus Christ, who lives and walks with us today. Amen.

Cameron, Peter John. “Prayer for the Evening.” MAGNIFICAT. 24.8 (2009). Print.

Senior, Donald, ed. THE CATHOLIC STUDY BIBLE. New York, Oxford University Press, 1990.1170. Print.

LA BIBLIA DE LA AMÉRICA. 8th. Madrid: La Casa de la Biblia, 1994. 1022. Print.

A Favorite from August 24, 2009.

For more reflections on this prophecy, enter the word Malachi in the blog search bar and explore.

Image from: http://samluce.com/2014/02/free-bible-lesson-malachi-book-obedience/

February 1, 2022

discipleship, silversmith, stewardship

Joy and Malachi – Corruption

Tuesday, January 18, 2022

Joy and Malachi

Corruption

The prophets warn, threaten, exhort, and promise us that God is always present, even though we may not recognize this presence. The Old Testament prophecies foreshadow the good news of the New Testament, and they remind us that no matter our circumstance God’s joy rescues us from sure destruction, Christ’s joy redeems us from our recklessness, and the Spirit’s joy heals us despite the gravity of our wounds. Today Malachi uses the imagery of the smith who patiently and slowly smelts ore to let the dross run off. In this way we encounter joy even in the midst of deep and intense corruption.

“This work was composed by an anonymous writer shortly before Nehemiah’s arrival in Jerusalem (455 B.C.). Because of the sharp reproaches he was leveling at the priests and rulers of the people, the author probably wished to conceal his identity . . . It is likely that the author’s trenchant criticism of abuses and religious indifference in the community prepared the way for those necessary reforms”. (Senior 1170)

Malachi 3:1: “Listen: I will send my messenger before me to prepare the way. And then the One you are looking for will come suddenly to his Temple—the Messenger of God’s promises, to bring you great joy. Yes, he is surely coming,” says the Lord Almighty.

We have just closed Christmastide when we have welcomed Emmanuel, The Lord among us. In the midst of poor leadership and corruption, and despite our own indifference, God still loves and rescues us.

Malachi 3:7: Return to me and I will return to you, says the Lord of hosts.

We enter Ordinary Time and wait for the Easter promise to spring upon us once more. In the midst of reproaches and despite our vanity, God still heals and transforms us.

Malachi 4:1: For lo, the day is coming, blazing like an oven, when all the proud and all evildoers will be stubble, and the day that is coming will set them afire, leaving them neither root or branch, says the Lord of hosts. But for you who love my name, there will arise the sun of justice with its healing rays.

The choice lies before us: To burn with fire in our passion for The Word . . . or to dissolve into ash in the fire of our own self-importance. God is the patient silversmith who devotedly sits at the furnace smelting the ore of our life’s offerings. God keeps a watchful eye on the fire of love that refines our work, assuring run off of dross and the pureness of the ore. And it is through this fire of God’s love that we are either consumed or brought to new life. It is from the pungent ash of our past corruption that God’s joy springs forth to surprise us again.

Senior, Donald, ed. THE CATHOLIC STUDY BIBLE. New York, Oxford University Press, 1990. 1170. Print.

If this week’s Noontimes call you to search for more ways to encounter Joy or urges you to investigate the New Testament, click on the word Joy in the categories cloud in the blog’s right hand sidebar and choose a reflection, or enter those words in the blog search bar.

Image from: http://honibun.blogspot.com/2012_03_01_archive.html

January 18, 2022

God’s joy, God’s love, healing, joy, rescue, silversmith, transformation

Tag: silversmith

Sirach 33:16-19: Gleaning

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Psalm 12: Plea for Help in Evil Times

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Malachi 2: The Law of Being

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Malachi 1:God’s Messengers

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Joy and Malachi – Corruption

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