This week, the daily readings are taking us on a quick tour of the book of Job. It is a nice opportunity to reflect on how easy we have it as Americans in a way. Job always stayed loyal to God in his trials, but God still needed to break down his pride. Job wanted his friends to have some pity on him because he was not the cause of his own suffering. They were not buying his pity party, but God was using them to expose some character flaws in Job. Job knew God was the source of his blessings, but he wanted his friends to acknowledge that he was special also. Pride is a hard thing to give up, especially in this world. We want the praise and thanks of the world when we should only be caring about three persons opinions...that of the three persons of the Trinity.
It is so easy to feel sorry for ourselves at times. Last week at the parish was as busy a week for me since I have been here, and it was laced with some illness and aches. The temptation is to go "woes me" to everyone who asks. I did succumb to that temptation a few times, but I also took delight in leaning on God to keep me focused and give me the strength to continue. To give me the words that I needed to be of help to others. It was one of the more prayerful weeks and peace filled weeks I've had in a great while.
The Job moments in our lives help us to recapture that feeling of who my strength is and who it is that will deliver me from my anxious moments successfully. Is it God or will it be myself? To wake up tired, sick, and hurting with a confident prayer to God and knowing everything will turn out ok becasue God "has our backs" is a great way to go through life. Find that rest in God in the Job moments of your life. It is what faith is all about.
Thursday, September 30, 2010
Thursday, September 16, 2010
What is the Good News??
The daily mass readings are taking us through the Apostle Paul's first letter to the Corinthians for the past few weeks. In today's (Thurs, 9/16) reading from the 15th chapter, Paul defines what the good news of the gospel is. We hear the term good news all the time but have we ever stopped to think what it means. The good news of the gospel is not everything contained in Mark, Matthew, Luke, and John. Paul is very specific about what the good news is. He calls it the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus. The four gospels contain the life and teaching of Jesus by four different witnesses. John does not contain the Eucharist and while distinct, all four highlight a different aspect of Jesus. What all four gospel's do contain are the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus...the good news. The good news is about what Jesus has done for us...not His teaching. The good news is about Jesus' saving act.
Paul focuses on the resurrection as that is the highlight of the good news. That first Good Friday and Holy Saturday left all the disciples of Christ dejected. It was not until the good news of the resurrection surfaced however, that the Church would take form. All the teachings of Jesus would have been for nought without the resurrection. Would anyone have cared about Jesus and His message had he not been raised from the dead? Perhaps the most zealous, but the disciple's would have returned fishing. The resurrection inspired and transformed the disciple's into the incredible professes of the life of Jesus because the hope of something better came when Jesus overcame the grave.
We the Church find our hope in the resurrection. It inspires us to become followers of Jesus and livers of His message and everything He stood for. When Jesus conquered death however, it gave the Apostle's and all of us a reason to profess the message contained in the whole of the Bible. With joy, we share the news that as humans, we do not have to live for the moment only, but for something better than what we experience on earth. The resurrection tells us we do not have to live in despair at the death of our most cherished relationships. That is the good news. Jesus Himself is the good news and that he died for us, was buried, and rose from the dead.
Paul focuses on the resurrection as that is the highlight of the good news. That first Good Friday and Holy Saturday left all the disciples of Christ dejected. It was not until the good news of the resurrection surfaced however, that the Church would take form. All the teachings of Jesus would have been for nought without the resurrection. Would anyone have cared about Jesus and His message had he not been raised from the dead? Perhaps the most zealous, but the disciple's would have returned fishing. The resurrection inspired and transformed the disciple's into the incredible professes of the life of Jesus because the hope of something better came when Jesus overcame the grave.
We the Church find our hope in the resurrection. It inspires us to become followers of Jesus and livers of His message and everything He stood for. When Jesus conquered death however, it gave the Apostle's and all of us a reason to profess the message contained in the whole of the Bible. With joy, we share the news that as humans, we do not have to live for the moment only, but for something better than what we experience on earth. The resurrection tells us we do not have to live in despair at the death of our most cherished relationships. That is the good news. Jesus Himself is the good news and that he died for us, was buried, and rose from the dead.
Thursday, September 9, 2010
New martyrs??
Pastor Terry Jones and his Church have decided it to be a worthy stand for God by burning copies of the Koran on Saturday in Florida. Political, military, and religious leaders around the country have denounced this plan as one that will bring possible retaliation against our military and possibly citizens, along with the fact that Islamic extremists will use this as a recruiting tool to foster more violence. Jones states that we have to take a stand. Who knows what he means by this, but it looks like he is willing to make some martyrs.
I guess it is much easier to make a stand in the confines of your own community as long as trouble stays on either side of the ocean. Other innocents will be put in harms way for this stance. Terrorism is not going away anytime soon, but do we need to pour gas on the fire. It is easy to become a martyr with Christian extremism. Go to an Islamic country and burn a Koran...you can probably be martyred quickly. If we look at the history of martyrs, they were all standing up for Christ and Christ's ways in hostile or unknown territory promoting the Gospel. I cannot think of any martyrs who stayed home and denounced another religions beliefs with a challenge and stated they were in danger also and could possibly be harmed. They were in harms way seeking to spread the name of Jesus only.
A martyr stands for Christ and does not seek martyrdom. It is a gift from God to be chosen for that honor. We don't seek martyrdom and we do not offer other people for the task. Christianity does not need to pick fights...Jesus states to turn the other cheek. This pastor has hundreds of Scriptural references to back down gracefully on his position and hopefully, he finds the wisdom to do that.
I guess it is much easier to make a stand in the confines of your own community as long as trouble stays on either side of the ocean. Other innocents will be put in harms way for this stance. Terrorism is not going away anytime soon, but do we need to pour gas on the fire. It is easy to become a martyr with Christian extremism. Go to an Islamic country and burn a Koran...you can probably be martyred quickly. If we look at the history of martyrs, they were all standing up for Christ and Christ's ways in hostile or unknown territory promoting the Gospel. I cannot think of any martyrs who stayed home and denounced another religions beliefs with a challenge and stated they were in danger also and could possibly be harmed. They were in harms way seeking to spread the name of Jesus only.
A martyr stands for Christ and does not seek martyrdom. It is a gift from God to be chosen for that honor. We don't seek martyrdom and we do not offer other people for the task. Christianity does not need to pick fights...Jesus states to turn the other cheek. This pastor has hundreds of Scriptural references to back down gracefully on his position and hopefully, he finds the wisdom to do that.
Thursday, September 2, 2010
Are you smarter than a ??
The daily Mass readings will be taking us through Paul's 1st letter to the Corinthians for the next few weeks. Aside from Paul's letter to the Roman's, there is probably no better teaching of theology in Scripture. It is Thursday Sept 2nd and we are in the third chapter where Paul is teaching about the wisdom of God and the wisdom of humanity. Paul does not have a high opinion of human wisdom. In fact, He states that the wisdom of the world is foolishness to God. He is not the only one to say such things. Isaiah and the Psalmist's are but a few that come to mind stating the foolishness of human wisdom.
There is no doubt that the human mind is capable of great thought and incredible inventions. Where science is taking computer capabilities is astounding. That does not mean that it is the right thing to do or the smart thing to do. Paul states in Verse 18 that we should become fools. In a real way, we are God's fools, but it is better than being the world's fool or even worse, a fool for the devil. God invites us to reconsider our own counsel and wisdom. We may be smart, eloquent, a great debater, have many degree's. To be the most eloquent does not mean that one is right. "Book smarts" does not mean wisdom and it does not guarantee a good decision making process. I would state that most priests are pretty "book smart," but one of the jokes we constantly heard at Seminary as we prepared events that had many priest participants, was that it was easier to "herd cats together" than to get priests to their places and do the same thing even liturgically. Many people can do the hard things in life, but struggle with what others would call easy.
Look at the revelation of God's wisdom to us and contrast that to what we see as human wisdom. God's wisdom sent His Son to die at the hands of the very people He was trying to save. God's wisdom allowed so many of His followers be martyred. God's wisdom allows us to suffer as innocents. God's wisdom allowed Saints to lead lives of deprivation and suffering to inspire us. God's wisdom chose sinners as His best friends and disciples. It was God's wisdom who chose the weak to show His power. It is God's wisdom to humble us so that we rely on a power greater than ourselves. Human wisdom relies on its own power and there is the folly of what Paul is getting at. It is not bad to have wisdom, as long as it humbles itself before perfect wisdom.
There is no doubt that the human mind is capable of great thought and incredible inventions. Where science is taking computer capabilities is astounding. That does not mean that it is the right thing to do or the smart thing to do. Paul states in Verse 18 that we should become fools. In a real way, we are God's fools, but it is better than being the world's fool or even worse, a fool for the devil. God invites us to reconsider our own counsel and wisdom. We may be smart, eloquent, a great debater, have many degree's. To be the most eloquent does not mean that one is right. "Book smarts" does not mean wisdom and it does not guarantee a good decision making process. I would state that most priests are pretty "book smart," but one of the jokes we constantly heard at Seminary as we prepared events that had many priest participants, was that it was easier to "herd cats together" than to get priests to their places and do the same thing even liturgically. Many people can do the hard things in life, but struggle with what others would call easy.
Look at the revelation of God's wisdom to us and contrast that to what we see as human wisdom. God's wisdom sent His Son to die at the hands of the very people He was trying to save. God's wisdom allowed so many of His followers be martyred. God's wisdom allows us to suffer as innocents. God's wisdom allowed Saints to lead lives of deprivation and suffering to inspire us. God's wisdom chose sinners as His best friends and disciples. It was God's wisdom who chose the weak to show His power. It is God's wisdom to humble us so that we rely on a power greater than ourselves. Human wisdom relies on its own power and there is the folly of what Paul is getting at. It is not bad to have wisdom, as long as it humbles itself before perfect wisdom.
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