On being reminded of the gift of faith

As we each go through life, most of us will experience the sadness and discouragement, the sense of failure or unworthiness that comes from "not being chosen." The school yard is a wonderful place for learning that no one is good at everything and "you" are not as "good" as everyone else at something. Sometimes you will be too fat, too tall, too skinny, too slow, too smart, too female, too short, too Catholic... Being the last to be called by the team captain, and then only by default, is never a nice feeling.

Today I am reminded of the unique, precious and incomparable gift of God's calling to each of His children. No two will be called in the same way, or have the same journey. The light of faith is an amazing grace bestowed upon His chosen. A gift so beautiful. A gift so rare, that for some, it will shine from their whole person as it fills their soul so entirely that it cannot contain the light. And yet, a gift so abundant that many will not even stop to unwrap it. Perhaps they are so busy being "chosen" for lesser things; lesser gods... that they fail to hear the calling of their name by the Captain of Faith, Hope and Love, Jesus Christ himself.

This is the one faith of God's chosen people. We, who through Christian baptism and thereby, unbroken lineage to Jesus' Apostles and beyond, participate in Abraham's progeny. Together with the Israelites, we have heard the Word of God from fire; seen the Living God and we have lived. We are members of that great nation God has chosen for Himself out of all the nations of the earth. He has revealed Himself to us "by trials, by signs and wonders, by war, by a mighty hand and an outstretched arm, and by terrifying displays of power." (Dt 4:34)

This faith in God; in Jesus Christ, the Light of the World. The living Word of the Living God is the most powerful gift. Let it shine forth for all nations to see. If you hide it. If you cover the light and fall into darkness, you may lose your way and stumble. Beware those who find you in darkness. Many sheep are actually wolves in disguise. Remain in the light. Keep your faith alive "so that you may long remain in the land that the LORD your God is giving you for all time." (Dt 4:39–40)

Lord Jesus, thank you for giving me this superabundant light of faith. May I nurture it and share it wisely and freely.

I pray today that all your brothers and sisters; the Father's children through your Cross and Resurrection, who have accepted the gift of faith, may remain in you and share that same faith with the world. May we be a lamp, which is you o Lord, unto the footsteps of our fellows.

I also pray that you will continue to strengthen and guide Father Hyacinth on this day especially; the 5th anniversary of his Holy Priesthood. But for his most precious gift, I might never have had the courage to again write here for your glory.

Thank you for this day and all you have given your friends.

AMEN  

 

July 29- Feast of Saint Martha

and many of the Jews had come to Martha and Mary to console them about their brother. 20 When Martha heard that Jesus was coming, she went and met him, while Mary stayed at home. 21 Martha said to Jesus, “Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died. 22 But even now I know that God will give you whatever you ask of him.” 23 Jesus said to her, “Your brother will rise again.” 24 Martha said to him, “I know that he will rise again in the resurrection on the last day.” 25 Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life. Those who believe in me, even though they die, will live, 26 and everyone who lives and believes in me will never die. Do you believe this?” 27 She said to him, “Yes, Lord, I believe that you are the Messiah, the Son of God, the one coming into the world.” 

The Holy Bible: New Revised Standard Version. (1989). (Jn 11:19–27). Nashville: Thomas Nelson Publishers.

In this short Gospel from today's feast for Saint Martha, verse 21-22 strike a chord for me. Here we hear Martha being quite strong and almost rebuking Jesus for not being present earlier in order to prevent her brother's death. The manner highlights for me the bond or trust, friendship and love that exists between the two. Is our friendship with Jesus on the level that we can be utterly open and emotional? Like you would be with your "best friend forever." This is immediately followed by a profound and unshakable statement of faith in Jesus and His communion with the Father. Martha has not one iota of doubt in both the resurrection of the body at the end of time and Jesus ability to return Lazarus to his earthly life. He has but to ask the Father and it will be done.

It is important and interesting to note, later in the chapter and throughout the Gospels, Jesus gives thanks to Our Father in heaven before making petitions. How often do we find ourselves in need of God's help and remember to ask it? How does this compare with our offering of thanks when we are in need of nothing because God has already preempted and provided for us.

Lord Jesus, thank you for allowing Saint Martha to show us it is both possible and necessary for us to allow you to be our "best friend forever". In Saint Martha's faith and friendship we find hope and love abounding. Grace us with the Holy Spirit in this life that we may know you as friend and brother. Bring us to everlasting life with you and Our Father in heaven. Amen

July 26 Feast of Sts Anne and Joachim

Today... a profound reminder that God's plans are both genius beyond our comprehension and so slow in playing out that we often do not even detect their presence.
How easy it is to over look the obvious... the mother of our Lord was a child herself. Formed by God with the loving help of her parents Anne and Joachim, Mary grew in the love of the Lord. From the time of the fall, He planned for her birth and the day she would say "yes" to cooperating in the redemption of mankind.

Dear Saint Anne and Saint Joachim, thank you for being perfect parents to our perfect mother. Your loving guidance and formation of your blessed daughter changed the world and the hope for all mankind.
Pray for us in these troubled times. May we remain steadfast in our faith and love for your grandson our Lord and saviour Jesus Christ.
Amen.

July 25 Feast of the Apostle James

I have begun training for the Camino de Santiago... I am walking to the kitchen.
In the mean time... I shall enjoy vicariously through a viewing of 'The Way".
Happy feast day to James' everywhere.

PM Kevin Rudd. Hypocrite and schismatic.... clearly still needs our prayers.

The current Prime Minister of Aust... sorry hang on, let me check... no, no change today... The current Prime Minister of Australia, Kevin Rudd was not making an apologies for being a "Christian" back in 2003...

"I make no apology for the fact that I am a Christian. I came to faith 25 years ago and it was a mature, considered, adult decision,"

Mr Rudd, who is an Anglican, said that Jesus didn't separate private religion and public action. "He told us to feed the hungry, give shelter to the homeless and so on. He put no division between the spiritual and the professional. All Christians have a common concern for the poor and for injustice wherever it is found but only a government is powerful enough to deal with large-scale issues such as slavery, child labour, providing universal education and public hospitals."


The longer I am in Canberra the more I am persuaded that we need your prayers for wisdom - a wisdom far beyond our own. We need your prayers for vision for without a vision the people perish. And we need your prayers for courage.

"But Jesus was not about spin. He was about truth however discomforting it may be politically. Pray that we might be the way, the truth and the life in the national political life of Australia,"




Let's look at some of the facts surrounding this two timing two timer who claims to be a Christian.

One: Mister Rudd is a schismatic who left Holy Roman Catholic Church for the Anglican Episcopate... for matters, I strongly suspect, of convenience rather than faith. (His wife is Anglican, and wears the trousers.)

Two: Mister Rudd is an opportunist. The depth to which he will sink include photographic opportunities with the Pope and using the (then) pending canonisation of Saint Mary MacKillop of the Cross for political gain.This included the deliberate sacrilege of consuming the Eucharistic Host at Roman Catholic Mass despite clear advice from his own church that 
it would be inappropriate to do so.


Three: The same Kevin Rudd... "regular church goer" (well, whenever a camera is around at least)... who said, "Jesus was not about spin. He was about truth however discomforting it may be politically." Has declared his belief that  "secular Australian state should be able to recognise same sex marriage." Apparently that great theologian, his daughter(!!) convinced him of this change in stance from his previously stated position. 

Four:     Mister Rudd is seeking to further extend Australia's already appalling maltreatment of refugees and other seekers of asylum by sending all boat arrivals to another country. A far cry from "Jesus didn't separate private religion and public action. He told us to feed the hungry, give shelter to the homeless and so on. He put no division between the spiritual and the professional. All Christians have a common concern for the poor and for injustice wherever it is found but only a government is powerful enough to deal with large-scale issues such as slavery, child labour..."

   

What Mister Rudd really like to do with refugees and asylum seekers.

What's more... Mister Rudd's ancestors arrived in Australia on a boat as convicts!

Thomas Rudd, his paternal 4th great-grandfather, was transported to Australia in 1881 to serve a seven-year sentence for stealing a bag of sugar. He married fellow convict Mary Cable, who had stolen a bolt of cloth, before his sentence was complete. Another ancestor stole 200 pounds of glue and a great-grandmother was convicted in 1798 of forging coins. Another ancestor, Mary Wade, was a grand Australian matriarch who began life begging for food as an urchin on the streets of London.

Gee... thieving and forging? A chip off the old block is our Kevin.

He sure does like to have his cake and eat it too.

Does the man have any integrity?

A little bit? 

Even a teeny weeny bit?

Hmm... apparently not.

Indeed, for any orthodox Christian, Jew or Muslim, it is difficult to find anything to like, admire or vote for with Mister Rudd. Ironic really. The longer Mister Rudd is in Canberra, the more I am persuaded that the country does not have a prayer.

Mister Rudd... I do believe your time is up.

Same to you sir.

July 22 Memorial for St Mary Magdalene

From a homily on the Gospels by Gregory the Great, pope
She longed for Christ, though she thought he had been taken away

When Mary Magdalene came to the tomb and did not find the Lord’s body, she thought it had been taken away and so informed the disciples. After they came and saw the tomb, they too believed what Mary had told them. The text then says: The disciples went back home, and it adds: but Mary wept and remained standing outside the tomb.

We should reflect on Mary’s attitude and the great love she felt for Christ; for though the disciples had left the tomb, she remained. She was still seeking the one she had not found, and while she sought she wept; burning with the fire of love, she longed for him who she thought had been taken away. And so it happened that the woman who stayed behind to seek Christ was the only one to see him. For perseverance is essential to any good deed, as the voice of truth tells us: Whoever perseveres to the end will be saved.

At first she sought but did not find, but when she persevered it happened that she found what she was looking for. When our desires are not satisfied, they grow stronger, and becoming stronger they take hold of their object. Holy desires likewise grow with anticipation, and if they do not grow they are not really desires. Anyone who succeeds in attaining the truth has burned with such a great love. As David says: My soul has thirsted for the living God; when shall I come and appear before the face of God? And so also in the Song of Songs the Church says: I was wounded by love; and again: My soul is melted with love.

Woman, why are you weeping? Whom do you seek? She is asked why she is sorrowing so that her desire might be strengthened; for when she mentions whom she is seeking, her love is kindled all the more ardently.

Jesus says to her: Mary. Jesus is not recognized when he calls her “woman”; so he calls her by name, as though he were saying: Recognize me as I recognize you; for I do not know you as I know others; I know you as yourself. And so Mary, once addressed by name, recognizes who is speaking. She immediately calls him rabboni, that is to say, teacher, because the one whom she sought outwardly was the one who inwardly taught her to keep on searching.

Week 15- Jesus Thanks His Father, declares Himself Lord of the Sabbath and fulfills the prophesy: In His name the Gentiles will hope.

Jesus Thanks His Father

At that time Jesus said, “I thank you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because you have hidden these things from the wise and the intelligent and have revealed them to infants; yes, Father, for such was your gracious will. All things have been handed over to me by my Father; and no one knows the Son except the Father, and no one knows the Father except the Son and anyone to whom the Son chooses to reveal him. 

“Come to me, all you that are weary and are carrying heavy burdens, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me; for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.” 

Here we see the importance of repentance and active faith beyond simple knowledge of the law. The Pharisees and scribes knew the law so well they could bend it, twist it to meet their selfish purposes to the point of complete disregard for God's intent.  The Father sent the Son to bring the Good News of the redemption of mankind to the poor, the weak, the enslaved, the downtrodden. We are called to cast aside our burdens and take up the yoke of service and holiness. 

Plucking Grain on the Sabbath

At that time Jesus went through the grainfields on the sabbath; his disciples were hungry, and they began to pluck heads of grain and to eat. When the Pharisees saw it, they said to him, “Look, your disciples are doing what is not lawful to do on the sabbath.” He said to them, “Have you not read what David did when he and his companions were hungry? He entered the house of God and ate the bread of the Presence, which it was not lawful for him or his companions to eat, but only for the priests. Or have you not read in the law that on the sabbath the priests in the temple break the sabbath and yet are guiltless? I tell you, something greater than the temple is here. But if you had known what this means, ‘I desire mercy and not sacrifice,’ you would not have condemned the guiltless. For the Son of Man is lord of the sabbath.” 

This text can be related back to Exodus 31:

The Sabbath Law

The LORD said to Moses: You yourself are to speak to the Israelites: “You shall keep my sabbaths, for this is a sign between me and you throughout your generations, given in order that you may know that I, the LORD, sanctify you. You shall keep the sabbath, because it is holy for you; everyone who profanes it shall be put to death; whoever does any work on it shall be cut off from among the people. Six days shall work be done, but the seventh day is a sabbath of solemn rest, holy to the LORD; whoever does any work on the sabbath day shall be put to death. Therefore the Israelites shall keep the sabbath, observing the sabbath throughout their generations, as a perpetual covenant. It is a sign forever between me and the people of Israel that in six days the LORD made heaven and earth, and on the seventh day he rested, and was refreshed.” 

The Holy Bible: New Revised Standard Version. (1989). (Ex 31:12–17). Nashville: Thomas Nelson Publishers.

From these two texts now, we can pose and answer some questions with interesting answers pointing to the eternal and full deity of Jesus Christ.

Who is the Son of Man? (Jesus Christ is the Son of Man cf Mt 16:13-19)
Who is the Lord of the Sabbath? The Son of Man is the Lord of the Sabbath (Jesus Christ)
Who is the Lord of the Sabbath? Yahweh is the Lord of the Sabbath (Yahweh "You shall keep my sabbaths in order that you may know that I, Yahweh sanctify you." Ex 31:12)
What is the Sabbath? (Yahweh "It is a sign forever between me and the people of Israel that in six days the LORD made heaven and earth, and on the seventh day he rested, and was refreshed.")
Who made heaven and earth? (Yahweh)

The Sabbath day is held in honor of the Lord of the Sabbath as a perpetual covenant and a sign forever of the six days of creation and the day of rest on the seventh. The position/title of Lord of the Sabbath can obviously only apply to GOD, the creator of heaven and earth; a title he lays claim to in Exodus 31. Therefore, Jesus Christ, who also establishes that He is the Lord of the Sabbath must be as one with GOD.  

God’s Chosen Servant

But the Pharisees went out and conspired against him, how to destroy him.

When Jesus became aware of this, he departed. Many crowds followed him, and he cured all of them, and he ordered them not to make him known. This was to fulfill what had been spoken through the prophet Isaiah: 

    “Here is my servant, whom I have chosen, 

    my beloved, with whom my soul is well pleased. 

    I will put my Spirit upon him, 

    and he will proclaim justice to the Gentiles. 

    He will not wrangle or cry aloud, 

    nor will anyone hear his voice in the streets. 

    He will not break a bruised reed 

    or quench a smoldering wick 

    until he brings justice to victory. 

    And in his name the Gentiles will hope.” 

The Holy Bible: New Revised Standard Version. (1989). (Mt 11:25–12:21). Nashville: Thomas Nelson Publishers.

For our JW friends and others... Isaiah invariably and emphatically prophesies the deity of Jesus Christ and... note here... it is the servant's name through which the gentiles will receive their hope of salvation. Ummm... that would be Jesus by the way.