Standing at the Door

~~~ Galatians 3:1-5 ~~~ Psalm 69 ~~~  Luke 11:5-13

And I tell you, ask and you will receive;
seek and you will find;
knock and the door will be opened to you.
For everyone who asks, receives;
and the one who seeks, finds;
and to the one who knocks, the door will be opened.

We are all familiar with these words from the Gospel.
Yesterday we had the words of the Lord's Prayer and now we hear
more direct words concerning our the health of our soul.
Jesus tells us we must talk to him...
we must ask for what we need and want.
There is something to be said about
speaking up for what you need.
If you can ask for what you want that means you have
 given some thought to your desires.

If you do not know what you want then you cannot ask for it.
You will receive, but it is best to be open as to how God will answer.

Seeking God is something that our inner most being
long for before we realize it is happening.

...seek and you will find...

How many times do we seek without knowing
what it is we are looking for?

I have most of the I Spy children's books. On every page of these
books you are searching for various different objects.

Even though they are very visible they are difficult to locate.
How many times do I just look right past what
I am actually looking for?

It is so easy to overlook what is right before our eyes.
How many times do we find something we were not looking for?
How many times do we find something only later
 to realize it was what we should have been looking for initially?

Whenever you seek you will find something.

...knock and the door will be opened to you...

If you stand before without knocking who will come?
Knocking alerts those inside to your presence.
Standing at the door without knocking serves no purpose.
If you knock on the door you have some
expectations about it being opened.

It takes a certain amount of courage to knock on the door.
It takes courage because you risk being turned away...rejected.
But when you knock, the door could be opened with
the invitation extended for you to come inside.

Will you actually cross over the threshold?
Are you prepared for what you
will find on the other side of the door? 

Are you willing to ask, seek, and knock?
Each requires you to make the first move.
You must do the asking...you must do the seeking,
and you must go to the door and knock.

What you ask may lead to the desire to seek
 which may direct you to the right door, then you can knock.

All can be blessed with God's grace.
His grace guides us to the right door; for knocking on the
 wrong door would be counter productive.

Where are you on this continuum?
Are you making requests today?  Are you seeking for something?
Or are you finally standing at the door?
Are you ready to raise your fist to knock on the door?

You must take action.
Blessed with the invitation and the courage to respond.
~~~Peace~~~

Given Back to God

Memorial of the Presentation of the Blessed Virgin Mary

~~~ 1 Maccabees 2:15-29 ~~~ Psalm 50 ~~~ Luke 19:41-44 ~~~

 

The parents of Mary, the mother of Jesus, took her to the temple
when she was just a young child.
They presented her to God dedicating her into the care of the Lord.
This was their way of giving thanks for being given the gift of a child.
When Mary was conceived they were advanced in age.
It is right and just that we should give thanks
 to God for all that he has given to us.

Mary grew up in an environment that surrounded her in prayers and scriptures.
She became at home with the word of God.
It must have been much like learning a foreign language,
 as you are immersed in it.
Mary would become the living example for us
of the living presence of God's word.
For Mary to become the mother of Jesus all of the parts
 were carefully put together.
She was born to parents who were willing and open
 to cooperating with the will of the Father.

Now the readings of today paint quite a different picture.
Corruption not dedication seems to be generally accepted.
Someone had to resist the growing tendency to loose focus on the truth.

Mattathias and his family did just that; they resisted,
they left and fled to the desert instead.

More lies of tempting riches and winning the good favor of the king...

promises of wealth gold and silver...

Follow the crowd, join the others,

 abandon the religion of your ancestors and be happy.

They were tempted and haunted with the 'better' life
in exchange for walking away from the way of their fathers.

 

God forbid that we should forsake the law and the commandments.
We will not obey the words of the king
nor depart from our religion in the slightest degree.

 

 

 This day in the temple was not a day of joy and peace;
it was instead a day of death, corruption, and violence.

 

 This father and his family left all of their possessions behind;
they fled from the city into the desert to hide.

Sometimes in our life we too can be faced with situations
that we have no power to change...
situations where confrontation is ineffective.
The only alternative may be to remove yourself from the situation.
The serenity prayer acknowledges there are times in life that we cannot change.
Our prayer is for us to receive sufficient grace and blessing
 to know the right action necessary to take...
join in...stand against...or entirely disconnect from the situation.

 

Mary has given us examples of what it means to live a life dedicated to God.
Joachim and Anne gave their daughter back to God.
Mary was presented in thanksgiving.
 

God shines forth...he gathers the faithful ones to himself...
here we will see his mother too is with him.