A Sinner Prays

~~~ Hosea 6:1-6 ~~~ Psalm 51 ~~~ Luke 18:9-14 ~~~

It is mercy I desire, and not sacrifice.

What is worse/better, to recognize that you are a sinner

or to admit it before God?

The Pharisee and the tax collector enter the temple together.

Their internal dialogue paint very different pictures

of who they are within their soul.

The Pharisee's prayer is to compare 

himself to the tax collector.

How is this effective prayer? Should our prayer

 be focused on building up our own ego?

The tax collector's prayer comes 

from the realization that he has sinned against the Lord.

Let us know, let us strive to know the LORD;

as certain as the dawn is his coming,

and his judgment shines forth like the light of day!

He will come to us like the rain,

like spring rain that waters the earth.

For it is love that I desire, not sacrifice,

and knowledge of God rather than burnt offerings.

When we come to prayer 

it must be with love and humility

not prideful thoughts of comparison.

How can we gain knowledge of God if our prayer

 is solely focused on our own degree of holiness?

The most saintly people who ever lived

did not boast about their own level of holiness;

in fact quite the opposite is the case.

The saints always desired to grow

 in love and knowledge of God.

They never assumed that they had complete 

understanding of God

Let your prayers lift up your heart

trusting that God is worthy of your trust.

Pray with the knowledge that God

 is not comparing you to the person kneeling beside you.

The Pharisee and the tax collector

knelt together in the same worship space.

Jesus presented them as equals in their prayer life

 by all outward signs.

Jesus uses their silent prayers

 to differentiate them from each other.

...it is love that I desire...

Love does not compare one to another.

Come to God in prayer just as you are...

strip yourself of trying to be better than the person next to you.

You will not find mercy looking down.

You will find mercy looking up into the face of the Lord.

Blessings in sincere times of personal prayer.

God loves you as you are...You are His.

~~~Peace~~~

Ego Trap

~~~ Twenty-ninth Sunday in Ordinary Time ~~~

~~~ Isaiah 53:10-11 ~~~ Psalm 33 ~~~ 

~~~ Hebrews 4:14-16 ~~~ Mark 10:35-45 ~~~

...the Son of Man did not come to be served
but to serve and to give his life as a ransom for many.

Some of the apostles got a little carried away
with themselves when it came to Jesus and service.
James and John went too far with this request...

Teacher, we want you to do for us 
whatever we ask of you.

A servant may be at the beck and call of his master,
Jesus was taking the servant concept
much further.

There are not many servants who would be willing
 to give up their lives for their master.
That is exactly the kind of servant Jesus came to embrace.
Jesus was both servant and master...teacher.
Jesus came with wisdom and understanding far
beyond what the apostles could imagine.

James and John were confused.
Did they secretly want to be equal to Jesus?
Did they want to be a 'master'?
What kind of servant did they see in Jesus?

We can ask ourselves similar questions.
Sometimes our actions indicate that we
want to be equal with Jesus.

Perhaps we too have the desire to be seated on his side.
Perhaps we would like to have the recognition.

Jesus was both master and servant,
but he was dedicated to serving others.
His mission was to serve even unto his death on the cross.

I have only met a handful of people in my life
who truly have a servant heart and attitude.

We struggle with getting our egos out of the way.

Jame and John fell head first into the ego trap.
But they pretended to be disguised as servants of Jesus.

It is mostly our own egos that get us into trouble.
It is our ego that convinces us to things
 and say things before we think.

James and John were full of themselves.
They put a great value on the fact that they were with Jesus.
Their self confidence fueled by their ego  prevented
them from seeing Jesus as the servant and master.

Their egos caused problems among the other apostles.
Their egos caused the others to quarrel among themselves.
Who did James and John think they were
making such a request of Jesus.

Did they not all want to sit as his right and his left?

...through his suffering, my servant shall justify many...

James and John could not grasp the full understanding
 of the suffering Jesus was going to endure.

No mere human being could have endured
the suffering Jesus endured.

While he was fully human;
his heavenly father made it possible
through their intimate relationship
for Jesus to conquer death itself.

There was no other human who could have
accomplished such a mission.

Blessed to among the servants of the Lord.
May you too serve rather than be served...
this is the way of the Lord.

~~~Peace~~~

Hiding in the Darkness

~~~ Isaiah 58: 9b-14 ~~~ Psalm 86 ~~~ Luke 5:27-32 ~~~

If you give up everything that feeds the ego the Lord will be with you.

Then light shall rise for you in the darkness,
and the gloom shall become for you like midday;
Then the LORD will guide you always...

It seems to be our narrow thoughts of self keep that us

 at a distance from the Lord.

We get so preoccupied with our personal wants and needs.

The more we turn inward the less we are able to follow Jesus.

The tax collector left everything behind, answering 

the invitation to follow Jesus.

What would you be willing to give up?

The sinful trap we fall into is hiding in the darkness,

ready to ambush us when we least expect.

Even when we are praying the darkness of sin can attack us.

We can even be in the darkness of sin while we proclaim a fast for the Lord.

We can fool ourselves into thinking that fasting is 

what we must do to please God.

But he says fasting alone will not bring you out of the darkness of sin.

You must reach out to those less fortunate and help them.

The Lord promises to guide us, to quench our thirst,

 to strengthen our bones..

We will be blessed to be known as having 

a sincere social morality.

The teachings of Jesus are meant to be put 

into action, not just to be meditated upon or read about.

Fasting is not the answer without inner change for the better.

A greater compassion for others must accompany our practice of fasting.

Fasting is not fasting for the sake of depriving ourselves;

there must be a greater resulting change.

Bless us Lord to become more devoted to your ways.

Gladden the soul of your servant, for to you, 

O Lord, I lift up my soul.

Peace during this time of Lent.

His Words Make You Worthy

1 Cor 11: 17-26, 33 ~~~ Psalm 40 ~~~ Luke 7: 1-10 ~~~

 

So often we feel as if we must have the answers.

We were educated in a school system where the single right answer

was valued and rewarded.

If we did not know the right answer we were often

made to feel ashamed.

We blamed ourselves for our lack of knowledge.

 

Perhaps in school you did have some reason to be ashamed

for not spending adequate time on your class work,

but here Paul is writing about something very different.

 

I must keep myself in check to avoid passing judgement on those less fortunate.

 I have no right to make them feel ashamed or less worthy.

Paul is pointing out to the people of Corinth the effect

of their practice of exclusion.



"...Or do you show contempt for the Church of God
and make those who have nothing feel ashamed?"

 

In defense of the people of Corinth;

were they aware of how their actions were having

a negative impact on others?

Paul was drawing their attention to the fact that the church was for everyone.

All are welcome regardless of their standing in the community...

regardless of their invisible rank.

 

The church is open to each person whether or not

they have abundance in other are

as of their life.

Believing does not automatically make you better than the person next to you.

 

Faith is a gift.

It is possible to be given a gift even if you do deserve it.

This happens in families each year.

 

God does not say you are worthy to receive my gift of faith.

Likewise, God does not say you are not worthy to receive my gift of faith.

God gives freely; he is the giver of all.

 

Whether or not you are worthy

God gives and your responsibility is to humbly accept.

 

The centurion was making a request on the behalf of his slave;

someone most would have considered 'not worthy'.

The centurion did not feel Jesus should make the effort to physically

come to the bedside of his slave.

 

"Lord, do not trouble yourself,
for I am not worthy to have you enter under my roof."

 

The centurion was placing himself in the same position as his own slave.

Before God he was not worthy to make a request for Jesus

to change his itinerary.

 

 

When it comes to our worthiness before God it was,

is, and always will be his call.

 

Our worthiness is rooted in our willingness to humbly allow God to chose us...

to allow God to use us for his purposes.

It requires great humility to let God work in your life.

It is egotistical to argue with God on the grounds of not being worthy.

Our worthiness is not the main idea here.

When we tell God we are not worthy, abruptly ending the conversation there

we are telling God he is wrong.

 

Imagine telling God he is wrong.

It only takes his words.

His words alone create our worthiness.

We are worthy to work for the Lord because he makes it so.

 

The next time you say this verse before receiving Eucharist;

 

"...Lord, I am not worthy that you should enter under my roof.

BUT only say the word and my soul will be healed."

 

God can manifest healings on many levels with his words alone.

If you are called to do his work,

do not get caught up in the 'worthiness' debate.

Can you outwit God?

It is not likely!

God's Glory...Beyond Brilliance

~~~ Ez 43: 1-7ab ~~~ Psalm 85 ~~~ Matthew 23: 1-12 ~~~

 

The glory of the Lord shines brighter than we can comprehend.

The glory of the Lord encompasses with a vastness we have never seen.

"...the earth shone with his glory..."

 

The glory of the Lord flows freely across the land.

The glory of the Lord travels encountering no obstacles.

 

The glory of the Lord will dwell in our land.

 

There is only one Lord who can radiate such glory.

There is only one Father...

There is only one Rabbi...

There is only one Teacher...

There is only one Master...

 

We may be impressed by what we hear from those would be teachers.

We may be fooled by their majestic garments, and pompous demeanors,

but there is only One who's presence is seen as visible light.

A light so bright that we must have a unique word

just to describe its brilliance...

GLORY

 

The impostors among us love places of honor at banquets

"All their works are performed to be seen."

 

Even in their synagogues they relish at being seated in places of honor

where all present see that they are important and influential.

As we have come to understand Jesus

turns everything upside down

with his lessons.

They are foreign to what has been the norm before his coming.

Jesus claims that those who are truly great will be dressed to impress others.

Jesus instead says to be truly great you must be a servant to others.

 

"...The greatest among you must be your servant.
Whoever exalts himself will be humbled;
but whoever humbles himself will be exalted."

 

I can just imagine how offended and resentful the

'masters'...'rabbis'...and 'teachers' must have been

when presented with this concept.

Jesus cautions his followers to not imitate the actions of these

mislead leaders.

They are filled with their own ego.

When your ego supercedes everything else you cannot

be about the work of the Lord.

 

We must all be humbled before the glory of the Lord.

To witness the glory of the Lord will truly cause us to be struck with

such wonder and awe that we

will collapse to the ground in its presence.

 

We will know without a doubt that this glory is coming from the Lord.

For not even the light from the sun will compare to this

divine glory.

The glory from the Lord will not be a hot fiery glory.

The glory of the Lord will be one of powerful overwhelming Love.

There will be no question that it is coming not only from the Lord,

but with the his presence.

 

 

When the glory of the Lord is revealed

it will be capable of scooping us up to become one with it.

Of course this is pure speculation on my part so you may have

a different point of view, which is fine as well.

 

Help me, Lord, to be ready to receive your glory

when it is revealed to me.

Perhaps at the hour of our death the light so many people

claim to see is only a tiny speck of the full spectrum of God's glory.