The simplest picture I can think of that helps me is when a little child falls down and skins his or her hand, the child will run to and hold the injured limb up to his or her parent and say “Look, Mommy or Daddy, it hurts!”. Often with tears. And the child waits for the response of the parent. We can do that with God and see what He will do with it. In that very act we are entrusting God with our hurtful situation like a little child. We are uniting our sufferings with those of Jesus and God will turn them into something beautiful and to the benefit of others as well, in time.
And actually God does more than that when we entrust Him with our sufferings. He changes us and our hearts instead of becoming hard become soft and pliable in His hands. Our compassion for the sufferings of others increases because we allow ourselves to feel their pain since we acknowledge ours before God.
Wednesday, January 18, 2017
In response to a question about how my view of my baptism has changed as a Catholic.
I was baptized twice. Once as an infant in the United Presbyterian Church and once as an adult in the American Baptist Church because they required me to be re-baptized to become a member. Before I started my journey towards the Catholic Church, as a non-denominational/Baptistic, born-again believer I viewed my adult baptism as the “real” one. But as I became more Catholic in my thinking, I began to view my infant baptism as the “real” one. My Baptist one became just a super wet “sprinkling” with water.
When I became a Catholic, I learned that my infant baptism had accomplished a lot more than incorporating me into the Body of Christ (Presbyterian understanding), like washing my original sin away, giving me the Holy Spirit, placing an indelible mark on my soul and on and on. And I presented the certificate of my infant baptism as evidence of baptism for becoming a Catholic.
Since becoming a Catholic, my infant baptism has taken on added importance in my identification with and incorporation into Jesus as I have prayed the rosary and meditated on the mystery of the Baptism of Jesus in the Jordan where the Spirit descended and remained on Him.
My infant baptism also seems to correspond to the Presentation of Jesus in the Temple because that is what my parents were doing when they presented me in church to be baptized. And that is how my granddaddy, a devout Presbyterian elder, understood it. He presented me with an RSV Bible that day for my parents to keep for me. On the presentation page inside the front cover, he wrote, “To Howard, on the day he was presented to the Lord, from your Granddaddy” and he signed his name.
I pray for all the baptized that God would help them to recall and be faithful to their baptism and the call of God as I pray those mysteries.
When I became a Catholic, I learned that my infant baptism had accomplished a lot more than incorporating me into the Body of Christ (Presbyterian understanding), like washing my original sin away, giving me the Holy Spirit, placing an indelible mark on my soul and on and on. And I presented the certificate of my infant baptism as evidence of baptism for becoming a Catholic.
Since becoming a Catholic, my infant baptism has taken on added importance in my identification with and incorporation into Jesus as I have prayed the rosary and meditated on the mystery of the Baptism of Jesus in the Jordan where the Spirit descended and remained on Him.
My infant baptism also seems to correspond to the Presentation of Jesus in the Temple because that is what my parents were doing when they presented me in church to be baptized. And that is how my granddaddy, a devout Presbyterian elder, understood it. He presented me with an RSV Bible that day for my parents to keep for me. On the presentation page inside the front cover, he wrote, “To Howard, on the day he was presented to the Lord, from your Granddaddy” and he signed his name.
I pray for all the baptized that God would help them to recall and be faithful to their baptism and the call of God as I pray those mysteries.
Second Sunday in Ordinary Time – January 15, 2017
First Reading: Isaiah 49:3, 5-6
Psalm: Psalm 40:2, 4, 7-8, 8-9, 10
Second Reading: 1 Corinthians 1:1-3
Gospel: John 1:29-34
The readings for this second Sunday in Ordinary Time all have to do with our calling and our incorporation into Christ Jesus, our Lord. When I first looked at the passages in preparation for writing the Bible study for this week, I was kind of in the “check” mode. The Reading 1 from Isaiah 49, part of the Servant Song in Isaiah, prophecy about Jesus the Servant, CHECK. The Responsorial Psalm 40, another prophecy about Jesus as the one who has come to do God the Father’s will, gladly, willingly from the heart, CHECK. Reading 2, the introductory paragraph to the Apostle Paul’s first letter to the Corinthians, hmmm, okay, not as meaty as the other passages and I am not sure how it relates but, hey, I’ll figure it out later, I do see we are called to be holy, that has possibilities, CHECK. The Alleluia, “The Word of God became flesh and dwelt among us, to those who accepted him, he gave power to become children of God.” Interesting, CHECK. The Gospel, John the Baptist testifying that Jesus is the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world, the preexistent one upon whom the Spirit descended upon and remained, the one who will baptize with the Holy Spirit. Now this is starting to get exciting. CHECK.
Fast forward to the middle of the week, to the middle of the night, I have kind of been going through a time of mild depression, wondering whether I matter and whether what I do matters. So I am lying awake and I decide to take a look at the readings again, to begin piecing them together into this week’s study. So I grab my smart phone and go to the USCCB website and tap this coming Sunday on their readings calendar. The readings pop up and my eyes alight on the first phrase in the Isaiah passage and I read, “The Lord said to me: You are my servant…”. And I got the distinct impression the Lord was talking to me, applying this passage to me. And I thought I better check this out and see what the Church has to say about this, I don’t want to become heretical or anything but that impression also seems to line up this Sunday’s passages into a unified whole.
And I thought to myself, how am I going to check this out against the teachings of the Church? Do I have to sift through the writings of the early church fathers? I know I’ll use that Barnes & Noble gift card that I got for Christmas to buy the Nook version of the Didache Bible where writers like Peter Kreeft and Scott Hahn cross-referenced the Bible to the Catechism as a commentary.
Wow! I found out my impression was on target because the Catechism and really these passages point to the same thing. Namely, that since we have been incorporated by our faith and baptism into the Church, Christ’s Body, God’s family, our mission is the same as our Head, Jesus. And so the Isaiah passage really applies to us and the Psalm really apply to us as well because we are part of His body.
So here is the Reading 1 and read it applying it to yourself.
“The LORD said to me: You are my servant, Israel, through whom I show my glory. Now the LORD has spoken who formed me as his servant from the womb, that Jacob may be brought back to him and Israel gathered to him; and I am made glorious in the sight of the LORD, and my God is now my strength! It is too little, the LORD says, for you to be my servant, to raise up the tribes of Jacob, and restore the survivors of Israel; I will make you a light to the nations, that my salvation may reach to the ends of the earth.”
Are you skeptical? Does it seem too awesome to be true?
Here are some of the paragraph cross-references to the Catechism in the Didache Bible for this passage.
713 The Messiah’s characteristics are revealed above all in the “Servant songs.” These songs proclaim the meaning of Jesus’ Passion and show how he will pour out the Holy Spirit to give life to the many: not as an outsider, but by embracing our “form as slave.” Taking our death upon himself, he can communicate to us his own Spirit of life.
868 The Church is catholic: she proclaims the fullness of the faith. She bears in herself and administers the totality of the means of salvation. She is sent out to all peoples. She speaks to all men. She encompasses all times. She is “missionary of her very nature” (AG 2).
Now here’s the Psalm.
2824 In Christ, and through his human will, the will of the Father has been perfectly fulfilled once for all. Jesus said on entering into this world: “Lo, I have come to do your will, O God.” Only Jesus can say: “I always do what is pleasing to him.” In the prayer of his agony, he consents totally to this will: “not my will, but yours be done.” For this reason Jesus “gave himself for our sins to deliver us from the present evil age, according to the will of our God and Father.” “And by that will we have been sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all.”
And now the 2nd reading.
Paul, called to be an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God, and Sosthenes our brother, to the church of God that is in Corinth, to you who have been sanctified in Christ Jesus, called to be holy, with all those everywhere who call upon the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, their Lord and ours. Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.
And some of the Catechism references.
823 “The Church . . . is held, as a matter of faith, to be unfailingly holy. This is because Christ, the Son of God, who with the Father and the Spirit is hailed as ‘alone holy,’ loved the Church as his Bride, giving himself up for her so as to sanctify her; he joined her to himself as his body and endowed her with the gift of the Holy Spirit for the glory of God.” The Church, then, is “the holy People of God,” and her members are called “saints.”
867 The Church is holy: the Most Holy God is her author; Christ, her bridegroom, gave himself up to make her holy; the Spirit of holiness gives her life. Since she still includes sinners, she is “the sinless one made up of sinners.” Her holiness shines in the saints; in Mary she is already all-holy.
1695 “Justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and in the Spirit of our God,” “sanctified . . . [and] called to be saints,” Christians have become the temple of the Holy Spirit. This “Spirit of the Son” teaches them to pray to the Father and, having become their life, prompts them to act so as to bear “the fruit of the Spirit” by charity in action. Healing the wounds of sin, the Holy Spirit renews us interiorly through a spiritual transformation. He enlightens and strengthens us to live as “children of light” through “all that is good and right and true.”
And all these passages and reference tie into the Alleluia and the Gospel.
So I guess God really does have a purpose and a mission for me and for you. We are not unimportant. We are His servants, His body, His children and we are called to be holy, to grow into being His children and to be lights to a dark world.
Prayerfully ponder these things
Psalm: Psalm 40:2, 4, 7-8, 8-9, 10
Second Reading: 1 Corinthians 1:1-3
Gospel: John 1:29-34
The readings for this second Sunday in Ordinary Time all have to do with our calling and our incorporation into Christ Jesus, our Lord. When I first looked at the passages in preparation for writing the Bible study for this week, I was kind of in the “check” mode. The Reading 1 from Isaiah 49, part of the Servant Song in Isaiah, prophecy about Jesus the Servant, CHECK. The Responsorial Psalm 40, another prophecy about Jesus as the one who has come to do God the Father’s will, gladly, willingly from the heart, CHECK. Reading 2, the introductory paragraph to the Apostle Paul’s first letter to the Corinthians, hmmm, okay, not as meaty as the other passages and I am not sure how it relates but, hey, I’ll figure it out later, I do see we are called to be holy, that has possibilities, CHECK. The Alleluia, “The Word of God became flesh and dwelt among us, to those who accepted him, he gave power to become children of God.” Interesting, CHECK. The Gospel, John the Baptist testifying that Jesus is the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world, the preexistent one upon whom the Spirit descended upon and remained, the one who will baptize with the Holy Spirit. Now this is starting to get exciting. CHECK.
Fast forward to the middle of the week, to the middle of the night, I have kind of been going through a time of mild depression, wondering whether I matter and whether what I do matters. So I am lying awake and I decide to take a look at the readings again, to begin piecing them together into this week’s study. So I grab my smart phone and go to the USCCB website and tap this coming Sunday on their readings calendar. The readings pop up and my eyes alight on the first phrase in the Isaiah passage and I read, “The Lord said to me: You are my servant…”. And I got the distinct impression the Lord was talking to me, applying this passage to me. And I thought I better check this out and see what the Church has to say about this, I don’t want to become heretical or anything but that impression also seems to line up this Sunday’s passages into a unified whole.
And I thought to myself, how am I going to check this out against the teachings of the Church? Do I have to sift through the writings of the early church fathers? I know I’ll use that Barnes & Noble gift card that I got for Christmas to buy the Nook version of the Didache Bible where writers like Peter Kreeft and Scott Hahn cross-referenced the Bible to the Catechism as a commentary.
Wow! I found out my impression was on target because the Catechism and really these passages point to the same thing. Namely, that since we have been incorporated by our faith and baptism into the Church, Christ’s Body, God’s family, our mission is the same as our Head, Jesus. And so the Isaiah passage really applies to us and the Psalm really apply to us as well because we are part of His body.
So here is the Reading 1 and read it applying it to yourself.
“The LORD said to me: You are my servant, Israel, through whom I show my glory. Now the LORD has spoken who formed me as his servant from the womb, that Jacob may be brought back to him and Israel gathered to him; and I am made glorious in the sight of the LORD, and my God is now my strength! It is too little, the LORD says, for you to be my servant, to raise up the tribes of Jacob, and restore the survivors of Israel; I will make you a light to the nations, that my salvation may reach to the ends of the earth.”
Are you skeptical? Does it seem too awesome to be true?
Here are some of the paragraph cross-references to the Catechism in the Didache Bible for this passage.
713 The Messiah’s characteristics are revealed above all in the “Servant songs.” These songs proclaim the meaning of Jesus’ Passion and show how he will pour out the Holy Spirit to give life to the many: not as an outsider, but by embracing our “form as slave.” Taking our death upon himself, he can communicate to us his own Spirit of life.
868 The Church is catholic: she proclaims the fullness of the faith. She bears in herself and administers the totality of the means of salvation. She is sent out to all peoples. She speaks to all men. She encompasses all times. She is “missionary of her very nature” (AG 2).
Now here’s the Psalm.
- (8a and 9a) Here am I, Lord; I come to do your will. I have waited, waited for the LORD, and he stooped toward me and heard my cry. And he put a new song into my mouth, a hymn to our God. R. Here am I, Lord; I come to do your will. Sacrifice or offering you wished not, but ears open to obedience you gave me. Holocausts or sin-offerings you sought not; then said I, “Behold I come.” R. Here I am, Lord; I come to do your will. “In the written scroll it is prescribed for me, to do your will, O my God, is my delight, and your law is within my heart!” R. Here am I, Lord; I come to do your will. I announced your justice in the vast assembly; I did not restrain my lips, as you, O LORD, know. R. Here am I, Lord; I come to do your will.
2824 In Christ, and through his human will, the will of the Father has been perfectly fulfilled once for all. Jesus said on entering into this world: “Lo, I have come to do your will, O God.” Only Jesus can say: “I always do what is pleasing to him.” In the prayer of his agony, he consents totally to this will: “not my will, but yours be done.” For this reason Jesus “gave himself for our sins to deliver us from the present evil age, according to the will of our God and Father.” “And by that will we have been sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all.”
And now the 2nd reading.
Paul, called to be an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God, and Sosthenes our brother, to the church of God that is in Corinth, to you who have been sanctified in Christ Jesus, called to be holy, with all those everywhere who call upon the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, their Lord and ours. Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.
And some of the Catechism references.
823 “The Church . . . is held, as a matter of faith, to be unfailingly holy. This is because Christ, the Son of God, who with the Father and the Spirit is hailed as ‘alone holy,’ loved the Church as his Bride, giving himself up for her so as to sanctify her; he joined her to himself as his body and endowed her with the gift of the Holy Spirit for the glory of God.” The Church, then, is “the holy People of God,” and her members are called “saints.”
867 The Church is holy: the Most Holy God is her author; Christ, her bridegroom, gave himself up to make her holy; the Spirit of holiness gives her life. Since she still includes sinners, she is “the sinless one made up of sinners.” Her holiness shines in the saints; in Mary she is already all-holy.
1695 “Justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and in the Spirit of our God,” “sanctified . . . [and] called to be saints,” Christians have become the temple of the Holy Spirit. This “Spirit of the Son” teaches them to pray to the Father and, having become their life, prompts them to act so as to bear “the fruit of the Spirit” by charity in action. Healing the wounds of sin, the Holy Spirit renews us interiorly through a spiritual transformation. He enlightens and strengthens us to live as “children of light” through “all that is good and right and true.”
And all these passages and reference tie into the Alleluia and the Gospel.
- Alleluia, alleluia. The Word of God became flesh and dwelt among us. To those who accepted him, he gave power to become children of God. R. Alleluia, alleluia.
So I guess God really does have a purpose and a mission for me and for you. We are not unimportant. We are His servants, His body, His children and we are called to be holy, to grow into being His children and to be lights to a dark world.
Prayerfully ponder these things
Sunday, December 25, 2016
The Nativity of the Lord (Christmas): Day - December 25, 2016
First Reading: Isaiah 52:7-10
Psalm: Psalm 98:1, 2-3, 3-4, 5-6 (3c)
Second Reading: Hebrews 1:1-6
Gospel: John 1:1-18
Christmas Day has finally arrived! Jesus has come! The long period of anticipation, longing and
waiting is over!
There are four sets of readings for Christmas for the Vigil and
the Night Masses on Christmas Eve and for the Dawn and the Day Masses on
Christmas Day. I have been meditating on
the fourth or Day reading.
The first three readings proclaim the greatness, celebration,
praise and joy of second person of the Trinity (the Son) and announce His
arrival as a completed work, past tense, even though at the time the first two
readings (the first reading and the psalm) were penned the future event they
prophesy about had not occurred. Even
the second reading from New Testament looks back (from our human time-based perspective)
to the first person of the Trinity’s (the Father’s) celebration of the
begetting of His Son and His entrance into the world, commanding all of the
angels of God to worship His Son.
Isaiah reveals the coming second person of the Trinity as
none other than our God, our King, our Restorer, our Comforter, our Redeemer,
the bared Holy Arm of God and our Savior.
The Psalmist proclaims Him as God’s victorious Right Hand,
His Holy Arm, His revealed Salvation and Justice.
The author of the Letter to the Hebrews proclaims Him to be God’s
Word, God’s Son, the Heir of all things, God’s creative agent through whom He
created the universe. He is the radiance
(refulgence) of is Glory, the Very Imprint of His Being, the Sustainer of all
things by His mighty word, the Purifier from sins, the Right Hand of the
Majesty on High, far superior to and worthy of the worship of all the angels of
God. Wow!
In these first three readings, all peoples, lands and
nations and angels are expected to and commanded to rejoice, praise, sing and
worship over this coming King who has come and been revealed as one of us human
beings, starting out as a newborn babe lying in a stable manger in Bethlehem of
Judea because there was no room for Him at the inn. His birth is attended by the angels, lowly
shepherds and his earthly parents, Mary and Joseph.
The Apostle John in the Gospel reveals the greatness of God’s
eternal Word made flesh and of the proclamation of His coming by His faithful
herald John the Baptist. But John also
records the condition of the world into which He comes and its reception of
Him. The world is in darkness and does
not know its Creator and His own people, the people of the Promise, largely did
not accept Him.
But to those few who did and who do accept Him He gives
power to become children of God.
His coming has had a great and lasting impact on the world
in the 2,000 years since His first coming.
About a third of the world’s population claims to be Christ followers
but how many of us have really accepted and are accepting Him as our Savior and
our King? How many of us this day are
more consumed with the trappings of Christmas (presents, food, family
traditions, etc) than with our King who this day is supposed to celebrate? Is Jesus an abstraction to us or a real
person who leads us, talks with us, walks with us, rejoices and cries with us, changes
us and saves us as we wander on our journey through this world that is not our
home?
If we let Him in today, we can do today together and He can
guide all of our interactions with the people we come in contact with. He can increase His light and His love in the world
through us. Come, Lord Jesus, make it so!
Merry Christmas to all!
Merry Christmas to all!
Tuesday, November 29, 2016
We are all called to be "mystics"?
We are all called to be "mystics" according to the Catechism of the Catholic Church?
Yes. It says so right in paragraph 2014. Here it is.
2014 Spiritual progress tends toward ever more intimate union with Christ. This union is called "mystical" because it participates in the mystery of Christ through the sacraments - "the holy mysteries" - and, in him, in the mystery of the Holy Trinity. God calls us all to this intimate union with him, even if the special graces or extraordinary signs of this mystical life are granted only to some for the sake of manifesting the gratuitous gift given to all.
Did you notice the phrase I made bold?
Our intimate union with Jesus is really what Christian mysticism is all about and the examples of it from the lives of saints like St. Teresa of Avila, St. John of the Cross, St. Therese of Lisieux, St. Faustina and from the pages of the Bible are invitations meant to draw us into a deeper experience of that union.
As the Apostle John says in 1 John 1,
1. What was from the beginning,
what we have heard,
what we have seen with our eyes,
what we looked upon
and touched with our hands
concerns the Word of life—
2. for the life was made visible;
we have seen it and testify to it
and proclaim to you the eternal life
that was with the Father and was made visible to us—
3. what we have seen and heard
we proclaim now to you,
so that you too may have fellowship with us;
for our fellowship is with the Father
and with his Son, Jesus Christ.
4. We are writing this so that our joy may be complete.
NABRE
Did you know the saints were often ticked off at their spiritual directors and superiors when they insisted that the saints write about their intimate unions with God? Writing is hard work and finding time for it is even harder. So why do it? Well, how else are we going to know what God has in store for us in our intimate union with Himself?
The biblical writers and the saints didn't write to brag about their spiritual experiences so they could elevate themselves as a spiritual elite. They wrote because they are inviting us to join them, to let us know there is "more" to be entered into, to be experienced in intimate union with God.
I will be writing more on this topic because God keeps pestering me. But enough for one insomnia session.
Yes. It says so right in paragraph 2014. Here it is.
2014 Spiritual progress tends toward ever more intimate union with Christ. This union is called "mystical" because it participates in the mystery of Christ through the sacraments - "the holy mysteries" - and, in him, in the mystery of the Holy Trinity. God calls us all to this intimate union with him, even if the special graces or extraordinary signs of this mystical life are granted only to some for the sake of manifesting the gratuitous gift given to all.
Did you notice the phrase I made bold?
Our intimate union with Jesus is really what Christian mysticism is all about and the examples of it from the lives of saints like St. Teresa of Avila, St. John of the Cross, St. Therese of Lisieux, St. Faustina and from the pages of the Bible are invitations meant to draw us into a deeper experience of that union.
As the Apostle John says in 1 John 1,
1. What was from the beginning,
what we have heard,
what we have seen with our eyes,
what we looked upon
and touched with our hands
concerns the Word of life—
2. for the life was made visible;
we have seen it and testify to it
and proclaim to you the eternal life
that was with the Father and was made visible to us—
3. what we have seen and heard
we proclaim now to you,
so that you too may have fellowship with us;
for our fellowship is with the Father
and with his Son, Jesus Christ.
4. We are writing this so that our joy may be complete.
NABRE
Did you know the saints were often ticked off at their spiritual directors and superiors when they insisted that the saints write about their intimate unions with God? Writing is hard work and finding time for it is even harder. So why do it? Well, how else are we going to know what God has in store for us in our intimate union with Himself?
The biblical writers and the saints didn't write to brag about their spiritual experiences so they could elevate themselves as a spiritual elite. They wrote because they are inviting us to join them, to let us know there is "more" to be entered into, to be experienced in intimate union with God.
I will be writing more on this topic because God keeps pestering me. But enough for one insomnia session.
Wednesday, November 25, 2015
A Thanksgiving Meditation
Tomorrow is Thanksgiving and our Colorado children, spouses/boyfriend (we consider them our kids, too) and our grandson will be coming over for dinner which I am looking forward to. I always enjoy our family times and I am thankful to God for them.
This morning at work for the college that it is my privilege to serve, one of our work study students brought me a sheet of colored construction paper and asked me to trace my hand on it and then write what I was thankful for on it and attach it to a construction paper turkey on the marker board in our hallway. Now I have to confess that I wasn't feeling particularly thankful to God at the time so it took me a while of pondering to come up with some ideas. And then I started feeling thankful to God for them as I thought about them. And so I have been mulling over thankfulness today.
Now the original Thanksgiving was declared to offer thanks to God for His provisions for them during some tough times.
But a lot of us have a hard time being naturally thankful to God, including me at times. It seems like lots of times we find it easier to blame Him. The Apostle Paul brings that up in his letter to the Romans chapter one as he is laying out God's list of grievances with mankind. In verse 21, he says "they did not honor him as God or give thanks to Him" NRSVCE. And I think it is this natural ingratitude towards God that is at the root of a lot of today's ills and much of our unhappiness.
But there is help for a naturally ungrateful cuss like me in the Scriptures, the prayers of the Church, the Psalms, the hymns and the spiritual songs (see Ephesians 5:15-20 and Colossians 3:12-17) and the Mass, which is one big prayer of thanksgiving.
I love the Mass. One of my favorite parts is in the Preface Dialogue where the priest says, "Let us give thanks to the Lord our God." And our response is "It is right and just." And then the priest launches into the Preface, "It is truly right and just, our duty and our salvation, always and everywhere to give you thanks, Lord, holy Father, almighty and eternal God, through Christ our Lord." And then the priest goes on to list a bunch of reasons why it is right and just to give God thanks, according to the liturgical season of the year. Notice that his prayer says that not only does God deserve our thanks but in the giving of thanks to Him, we find our salvation.
And I experienced that tonight as I was cleaning up the kitchen and these words from the Mass came back to me and I said them over and over to the Lord, my God. My heart became full of joy and peace and gratitude. I was renewed in heart and mind.
May you all have a blessed Thanksgiving.
This morning at work for the college that it is my privilege to serve, one of our work study students brought me a sheet of colored construction paper and asked me to trace my hand on it and then write what I was thankful for on it and attach it to a construction paper turkey on the marker board in our hallway. Now I have to confess that I wasn't feeling particularly thankful to God at the time so it took me a while of pondering to come up with some ideas. And then I started feeling thankful to God for them as I thought about them. And so I have been mulling over thankfulness today.
Now the original Thanksgiving was declared to offer thanks to God for His provisions for them during some tough times.
But a lot of us have a hard time being naturally thankful to God, including me at times. It seems like lots of times we find it easier to blame Him. The Apostle Paul brings that up in his letter to the Romans chapter one as he is laying out God's list of grievances with mankind. In verse 21, he says "they did not honor him as God or give thanks to Him" NRSVCE. And I think it is this natural ingratitude towards God that is at the root of a lot of today's ills and much of our unhappiness.
But there is help for a naturally ungrateful cuss like me in the Scriptures, the prayers of the Church, the Psalms, the hymns and the spiritual songs (see Ephesians 5:15-20 and Colossians 3:12-17) and the Mass, which is one big prayer of thanksgiving.
I love the Mass. One of my favorite parts is in the Preface Dialogue where the priest says, "Let us give thanks to the Lord our God." And our response is "It is right and just." And then the priest launches into the Preface, "It is truly right and just, our duty and our salvation, always and everywhere to give you thanks, Lord, holy Father, almighty and eternal God, through Christ our Lord." And then the priest goes on to list a bunch of reasons why it is right and just to give God thanks, according to the liturgical season of the year. Notice that his prayer says that not only does God deserve our thanks but in the giving of thanks to Him, we find our salvation.
And I experienced that tonight as I was cleaning up the kitchen and these words from the Mass came back to me and I said them over and over to the Lord, my God. My heart became full of joy and peace and gratitude. I was renewed in heart and mind.
May you all have a blessed Thanksgiving.
Wednesday, November 11, 2015
The Knowledge and Experience of God - Both are needed.
This past Sunday my wife, Joan, and I were standing in Plum Creek Church singing Kristian Stanfill's song, One Thing Remains. It is an awesome song! I especially love the chorus which speaks of God's love for us, "Your love never fails, it never gives up, it never runs out on me...". Tears of joy and thankfulness were running down my face as we sang the song. Now this emotional response was triggered because the song resonated with both my knowledge and experience. Sometimes songs resonate with my longings for God and aspirations to be the man He wants me to be for His glory and for my fellow brothers and sisters who trod this globe with me.
As I was thinking about this song, the passage from John 5:39-40 was brought to mind where Jesus says in answer to His critics among His own people, "You search the scriptures, because you think that in them you have eternal life; and it is they that bear witness to me; yet you refuse to come to me that you may have life." The Scriptures give us the knowledge/witness of Jesus but in order to really have life we need to come to Him. Jesus draws a distinction between the Scriptures and Himself. But it is not an either/or distinction but rather a both/and distinction. In other words, we need both. The knowledge (Scriptures and Creation (see Romans 1)) and experience (shared life together with (see John 17)) of God, the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit.
So how do we get both knowledge and experience of God? That will be the subject of my next post or two.
As I was thinking about this song, the passage from John 5:39-40 was brought to mind where Jesus says in answer to His critics among His own people, "You search the scriptures, because you think that in them you have eternal life; and it is they that bear witness to me; yet you refuse to come to me that you may have life." The Scriptures give us the knowledge/witness of Jesus but in order to really have life we need to come to Him. Jesus draws a distinction between the Scriptures and Himself. But it is not an either/or distinction but rather a both/and distinction. In other words, we need both. The knowledge (Scriptures and Creation (see Romans 1)) and experience (shared life together with (see John 17)) of God, the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit.
So how do we get both knowledge and experience of God? That will be the subject of my next post or two.
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