The Word of God

Daily Reflections

• Reflection – Lectionary: 417

  ” I swore an oath to you and entered into a covenant with you; you became mine, says the Lord GOD. Then I bathed you with water, washed away your blood, and anointed you with oil.”  This passage from the Book of the Prophet Ezekiel clearly reveals the truth that humanity is lost without the covenant that was extended to us and ratified in the Gospel. And yet, Christians cannot hide behind precepts and regulations and mount some kind of superior plane or landing from which to judge people and forget that we, that is, all of humanity, are in the same boat. I heard someone say quite directly to another: “Don’t judge other people just because they don’t sin like you do.” The Scriptures explain that the final judgment will be a review of performance, not of privilege. From this perspective, all the promises that we make in this life must be honored, and none more profound than the commitment of love and life that marriage so eloquently capsulizes and expresses.  God does not go back on His promises and neither are we to doubt the beauty of promise and commitment. 

  “Some Pharisees approached Jesus and tested him, saying, ‘Is it lawful for a man to divorce his wife for any cause whatever?'” St. Matthew continues and completes this thought for us by making sure that the Pharisees know that mere possession of laws is no evidence of virtue. Mark Twain once responded to a man who was going to the Holy Land to see where the Ten Commandments were given with, “Why don’t you just stay home and live them? ” Good point, Mr. Clemens. “The worst prison,” St. John Paul wrote, “would be a closed heart,” and this is precisely why you must know that the Word of God has everything to do with keeping promises and the commitments of love: “Receive the word of God, not as the word of men, but, as it truly is, the word of God.”

  “Never close your lips to those with whom you have already opened your heart.”  Charles Dickens

• Reflection – Lectionary: 416

  “While all Israel crossed over on dry ground, the priests carrying the ark of the covenant of the LORD remained motionless on dry ground in the bed of the Jordan until the whole nation had completed the passage.” The experience of the Israelites in the desert for that generation of time, forty years, has created a backdrop and clear lens to describe what God has chosen to do with each and every one of us. When faced with seemingly insurmountable and overwhelming problems and worries, God is always there, one way or another, to guide us right through. Passing through the Red Sea, the Jordan River, horrible enemies wanting only blood, and even bickering, complaining people who should know better, are all part of His plan. They still are. 

  “So will my heavenly Father do to you, unless each of you forgives his brother from his heart.” Perhaps the most difficult of all the desires of the heart of Jesus, at least for some, is to forgive the people who have hurt us. When we remember what the Lord did for the Chosen People with horrible odds stacked against them, the call to forgive, let go, move forward, and accept the will of God totally in their lives, is definitely going to need us to desire and thirst for Heaven with every ounce of strength we can muster. Let’s begin today.  

  “The passage toward Heaven always involves the experience of forgiveness.” Caro Vanni

• Reflection – Lectionary: 414

  “Be brave and steadfast, for you must bring this people into the land which the LORD swore to their fathers he would give them; you must put them in possession of their heritage. It is the LORD who marches before you; he will be with you and will never fail you or forsake you. So do not fear or be dismayed.” What does it really mean when one person says to another, “I give my heart to you”? For some, it means that you are ready and truly able to trust another with your feelings, your thoughts, and even your future. That person must also clearly demonstrate the following:

  1. They take time out for you
  2. They are honest about themselves and you
  3. They share intimate details about themselves
  4. They readily show various personal aspects of their own life
  5. They are consistently there for you and talk and listen about anything

  Thus, what do you think it means that Jesus gives Himself totally for us to consume and opens the way for a mutual relationship that is forever with Him? Let’s take another look at the list we prepared before:

  1. Jesus always takes time for us.
  2. Jesus is Truth
  3. Jesus has shared His very life by dying on the Cross
  4. Jesus invites us to discover who He is in our day-to-day life
  5. Jesus never leaves

  “I tell you, in just the same way, there will be more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous people who have no need of repentance.”  Jesus calls each and every one of us to love. First, to love God above all things, second, our neighbor as ourselves, and lastly, ourselves. Altogether and all at once.  Throughout our short lives here on earth, it may take a little more effort and time with one or two of these charges, but this is what we call faith in action! People who obey this command change their spiritual lives forever! If we are believers in Jesus Christ, we must ask where He calls us to go. Who has God put on your heart to love and share the gift of salvation? 

  “Immature love says, ‘I love you because I need you.’ Mature love says, ‘I need you because I love you.” Erich Fromm 

• Reflection – Lectionary: 618

  “Each must do as already determined, without sadness or compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver.” People who act solely out of self-interest are less happy. “Whoever sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and whoever sows bountifully will also reap bountifully.” Generous people are happy, more relaxed, willing to work hard, kind, free, have better quality relationships, and exude confidence: “The one who supplies seed to the sower and bread for food will supply and multiply your seed and increase the harvest of your righteousness.”

  “Whoever loves his life loses it, and whoever hates his life in this world will preserve it for eternal life.” Here is the wonderful irony. The more you give, the more you have. Dying to selfishness brings forth an immense flow of love and real life that knows no rival. All this is because of Jesus. He died to set us free and give us true freedom, which is beyond measure or value, especially in a very selfish world. 

  What do we receive in this life in exchange for generosity? We witness happiness, reach a deeper understanding of life, feel the love of Jesus, and receive what money could never buy, a world made more beautiful. Isn’t that the point of living here? 

• Reflection – Lectionary: 115

  “Then the LORD said to him, ‘Go outside and stand on the mountain before the LORD; the LORD will be passing by.'” It can be easily argued that today’s Scripture readings are not about natural disasters, but they are, in fact, about the other kinds: personal, spiritual, and emotional. At one point or another in most peoples’ lives, there are crises and problems that be compared to the kinds of disasters on the planet. Our world is shaken to its core, unexpected problems beseech us, and all that we dreamed and hoped goes up in smoke. These are bound to happen, and because of that fact, they should be expected. What is not naturally anticipated is to blame God, tell people that you “have a problem with the Almighty,” or because things evolve according to your own personal playbook, that God must be mean, distant, or even worse, does not exist at all. The Disciples in the Gospel had a certain experience with this and an understandable erection which becomes a teachable moment for all of this today: “When the disciples saw him walking on the sea they were terrified.”

  “O you of little faith, why did you doubt?” It never fails to amaze how often a struggling individual will try to understand the mystery of evil while rejecting the Ultimate Good. Quite put, you cannot understand darkness without light, cold without heat, and, especially for our spiritual purposes here, goodness without evil or, personally, disasters. The groundwork of our lives must be set early or at least properly. We must have faith. Faith in the person of Jesus determines everything; thus, the lack or weakness spells a disaster that no one should ever want to face — alone. Pray today that God will increase your faith even as the storms, earthquakes, and fires rage on. It is the only way.

  “He who has faith has… an inward reservoir of courage, hope, confidence, calmness, and assuring trust that all will come out well – even though to the world it may appear to come out most badly.” B. C. Forbes

• Reflection – Lectionary: 412

  “Hear, O Israel! The LORD is our God, the LORD alone! Therefore, you shall love the LORD, your God, with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your strength.” In 1811, a wonderful hymn was written entitled a question that we could address to ourselves today: “What Wondrous Love is This?” When you think about it, it truly is an amazing question to ask today and, in fact, every day we have life. What kind of magnificent love inspired and propelled God to send His Son Jesus Christ to be born in a filthy manger, live a poor life, then be crucified for our sins to win and secure a place in Heaven for us? The third verse of the hymn then explodes with the enthusiastic joy of the awareness that is brought to the one who understands this gift and cannot help but be changed forever: “To God and to the Lamb, who is the great I AM, while millions join the theme, I will sing, I will sing, while millions join the theme, I will sing!”  We can only imagine the scene in Heaven with these beautiful lyrics as background music. 

  This wondrous, incredible love that rains down from Heaven itself reveals the height and depth of such a love that carries us beyond our life here on earth to an eternal reward and life in Heaven. In the Gospel, a desperate man brought his son for a miracle, and he was not disappointed: “Lord, have pity on my son, who is a lunatic and suffers severely.”  If and when our response to His wondrous love is returned with even the simplest of faith, miracles abound. Let us move forward in this life with new resolve and new hope. Darkness cannot and will not extinguish what we have been given. We will sing: “And when from death I’m free, I’ll sing and joyful be, And through eternity I’ll sing on, I’ll sing on, and through eternity I’ll sing on!” This is because nothing is impossible for God. “Amen, I say to you, if you have faith the size of a mustard seed…nothing will be impossible for you.” 

  “What [others] most need is to see in you a reflection of what God is like and of the transforming power of the Gospel. Your life can create hunger and thirst for God in others’ lives and can be a powerful instrument in the hand of the Holy Spirit to draw their hearts to Christ.” Nancy Leigh DeMoss 

• Reflection – Lectionary: 411

  “You must keep his statutes and commandments which 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.”  If you think about it long enough, you will come to realize that the world is full of patterns. This, of course, includes each one of our own personal lives. If we review just the last ten years of our lives, we will see that gratitude attracts miracles and selfish and egotistical living brings hardship, which may not happen right away, but certainly sooner or later. The words of the First Reading make it very clear to us that God will have the first and last word. “I remember the deeds of the LORD; yes, I remember your wonders of old.”

  “Whoever wishes to come after me must deny himself, take up his cross, and follow me. For whoever wishes to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will find it.” Very few people speak about spiritual laziness, but without a doubt, that always precedes sloth and greed which make us servants of things and not of God.  This happens all around us precisely because people have already decided which God they will serve. What is clear to some only late in their lives, is that everyone suffers. You cannot avoid it. The issue is how we will suffer and with whom. The Chosen People seem to have written the official handbook on complaining and whining and many around us, even in this present day, follow it like a training manual. We must follow Jesus and take up His cross daily. Then and only then will our hearts and minds be strong to face anything. He promised that. 

  “Tell your heart that the fear of suffering is worse than the suffering itself. And that no heart has ever suffered when it goes in search of its dreams, because every second of the search is a second’s encounter with God and with eternity.”  Paulo Coelho

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