The Finer Things

~~~ Memorial of Saint Francis of Assisi ~~~

~~~ Job 42:1-3, 5-6, 12-17 ~~~ Psalm 119 ~~~ Luke 10:17-24 ~~~

...do not rejoice because the spirits are subject to you,
but rejoice because your names are written in heaven.

Wow! Rejoice because your name is written in heaven.
Have you ever really let those words mean something to you?
Do you believe your name is written somewhere in heaven?
How does one rejoice with such knowledge?

Perhaps all we need do is follow the example of Job.
I know that you can do all things,
and that no purpose of yours can be hindered.

Saint Francis came to this same realization in his own life.
God was patient because at first Francis did not clearly
 understand the true meaning of his words.
Eventually Francis came to see God wanted him
 to rebuild his church from the inside out...with the people...God's people.
Francis grew up in a very wealthy family.
His life was filled with the finer things life had to offer,
but God had his own plans for Francis...
plans to use him for the good and holiness of his church.

Lord, let your face shine on me.

Francis was a very likable person and a natural born leader.
In his youth Francis lived his life like many of our celebrities do today.
Maybe you could say Francis was spoiled.
Francis had aspirations of becoming a noble, but never of being holy.
God used his natural good qualities directing them in another direction.

God works with you and me in the same manner.
He looks at us and lovingly puts our
good qualities to work building his kingdom.

For Francis it was the face of a leper
 that finalized his conversion of heart.
God chose to use the face of a deformed diseased man
 to shine into the heart of Francis.

Lord, let your face shine on me.

Who's face will God use to shine on you today?
Keep alert. You may only get one chance to see the shine.
~~~Peace~~~

False Prophets Still Exist

~~~ 2 Kings 22: 8-13, 23: 1-3 ~~~ Psalm 119 ~~~ Matthew 7: 15-20 ~~~

The response for the psalm today acknowledges that Jesus is the master teacher.

"Teach me the way of your decrees, O Lord."

The psalm continues with petitions for instruction by the Lord.

'Give me discernment...Lead me in the path...Incline my heart...

Turn away my eyes...Give me life...'

"Teach me the way of your decrees, O Lord."

The gospel is alerting us to some things we should be aware of as we are searching for the Lord's true decrees.

In today's religious climate people are appointing themselves as the ones who can interpret the decrees of the Lord for others.

We can look sround and see evidence of this by the numerous independent churches cropping up each year.

We have only one great teacher who knows fully well the decrees of the Lord.

That of course would be Jesus. If God really thought we could do a good job of teaching the decrees of Christianity he could have kept sending his prophets

and continued to speak to us in our dreams.

But God knew that without sending his Son to become our earthly teacher we would have gotten it all confused. And so here we are today still trying to discern what is really coming from God and what is coming from our own human fraility.

The picture give to us of false prophets as ravenous wolves is rather disturbing.

We have no real gaurantee other than their fruits. But even then I have seen some not so nice people produce good results.

Jesus said to his disciples:
"Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep's clothing,
but underneath are ravenous wolves.
By their fruits you will know them.
Do people pick grapes from thornbushes, or figs from thistles?
Just so, every good tree bears good fruit,
and a rotten tree bears bad fruit.
A good tree cannot bear bad fruit,
nor can a rotten tree bear good fruit.
Every tree that does not bear good fruit will be cut down
and thrown into the fire.
So by their fruits you will know them."

These words just cannot be taken literally for I have seen a good tree produce bad fruit.

Sometimes bad things happen to good trees which result in them bearing 'bad' fruit.

Life is not so simple that we can just throw a things away in the fire.

No, often we reach out and help revive the unfortunate tree...we water...

we fertilize...we care for the tree.

So that some day they too can be known by their fruits.

Fruits that have been made possible because someone cared

enough to make a difference.

Original photo: three dead trees captured on a sunny, blue sky day.

  

So by 'your' fruits you will be known.

Are you okay with that decree from today's Gospel?

Peace, my friends. The false prophets are not extinct.

We still need to be praying Psalm 119...asking for guidance and discernment

in the spirit for the true path to Life.