Answered Prayers

~~1 Samuel 1:9-20~~(Psalm) 1 Samuel 2:1, 4-5, 6-7, 8abcd ~~Mark 1:21-28~~

 Hannah was praying silently;
though her lips were moving, her voice could not be heard.

Fervently Hannah prayed for a child, not just any child but a son.

She spoke the words from her heart.

Her voice was silent, but her lips were carefully 

forming each word.

God listens and God answers even when we 

cannot hear our own voice.

God does not need to hear our spoken words in order 

to hear our prayer requests.

Eli said, “Go in peace,
and may the God of Israel grant you what you have asked of him.”

Eli loved Hannah even though she had been barren for years.

He respected and honored her longing to bear him a child.

He blessed her prayers. He joined with her desire

 that God would hear her prayer.

He wanted her to be at peace with her prayer.

He wanted her to believe that God was indeed listening to her heart.

Sometimes what we long for within our soul

 is more powerful than any prayerful words could ever be.

How has God answered your prayers?

...for he taught them as one having authority and not as the scribes.

A new teaching with authority.

Jesus taught in the Temple with the authority 

bestowed on him by the Father and the power of the Spirit.

He taught from the source. A 'new teaching' indeed.

He spoke with pure goodness, holiness.

He spoke from the heart from his core.

The evil spirits could not ignore his searing words,

even though he was not speaking directly to them.

They felt compelled to exit their host, whom they had been

 tormenting for some time.

His words literally put the fear of God in them.

They wanted to escape...to run and hide.

The unclean spirits could not get out 

of their host being soon enough.

Prayers were answered for a man who came to listen

 to the teaching of Jesus.

The man himself made no request to be freed

 from the unclean spirits.

Jesus heard his prayer of silent desire.

It is not always necessary to use words when we pray.

May God answer those prayers in the silence of your heart...

those unspoken prayers...those prayers which have no adequate words.

God Blesses us with answers to prayers

 we have yet to pray.

He answers with what he knows is best for us.

Hannah received her son, Samuel.

God heard her solemn prayer.

The man was cleansed of the unclean spirit.

God heard the prayer he had not yet spoken.

Making a Return

~~~ 1 Samuel 1:1-8 ~~~ Psalm 116 ~~~ Mark 1:14-20 ~~~

How shall I make a return to the LORD
for all the good he has done for me?

To me psalm 116 holds some of the most beautiful 

verses in the book psalms.

It seems fitting that today as we begin ordinary time we find 

Jesus choosing his first disciples...ordinary men.

God sees potential in the common man.

God sees potential in each of us as well...

God can form us into someone special for his kingdom.

When Jesus was ready to spread the good news he needed men to help him.

Notice that he did not go home and choose his childhood buddies.

He did not pick people who already knew who he was.

He did not pick well educated men.

He did not pick men who were eloquent speakers.

Jesus chose these men because of who they were not, 

not because of who they were.

“Come after me, and I will make you fishers of men.”

We are barely two weeks into the new year 

and God is reminding us that we too are being called.

We are being called to give a living testimony

 through our daily life for the gospel 

message of love and salvation.

We cannot be satisfied with just having

 the gospel message for ourselves.

We have been given our gift of faith so that

 we may lead others to Jesus.

God loved us first so that we may go out to love 

others in the same way.

It is through the sharing of his love 

that we become true disciples in today's world.

There is no need to coerce our neighbor into coming to God;

we but need to show them by how we live 

our life and how we treat others.

 Actions will always speak louder than words.

Jesus spoke with his actions on many occasions in scripture.

Sometimes the less sophisticated a person is the better 

they are at spreading the good news. 

Jesus does not ask us to analyze the message;

he simply asks us to believe and share.

You have no excuses not to respond.

Blessings come in knowing that God chooses you 

to be his disciple of love.

You are to cast his net of love out into the world.

This is how we make a return to God

 for all that he has done for us...

we agree to lead others to him.

You are Also 'Beloved"

Feast of the Baptism of the Lord

~~Isaiah 42:1-4, 6-7~~Psalm 29 ~~Acts of the Apostles 10:34-38~~Matthew 3:13-17~~

John reluctantly allows Jesus to be baptized by him
 in the penitential waters of the Jordan River.
Jesus, though sinless, enters into our sinfulness and submits
himself to the ritual cleansing.
He willfully enters with us into our darkness.
He humbles himself so that we may be
brought to his life giving waters of salvation.

Here is my servant whom I uphold,
my chosen one with whom I am pleased,
upon whom I have put my spirit;

As Jesus approaches the banks of the river he experiences
 the smells of the area.
He feels the coolness and wetness of the water.
He hears the voice of the Father...

The voice of the LORD is over the waters,
the LORD, over vast waters.
The voice of the LORD is mighty;
the voice of the LORD is majestic. 

He sees the Holy Spirit appear above his head as the dove.
He is the beloved Son, who is with us.

God anointed Jesus of Nazareth
with the Holy Spirit and power.

The Trinity comes together over these cleansing waters,
these baptismal waters...
these waters that remove sin and cleanse the soul.

And a voice came from the heavens, saying,
“This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased.”

Jesus became like us in all things except sin
so that we could become children of the light.

The Trinity comes together at the baptism of the Lord.

Father, Son, and Holy Spirit converge together to validate
and confirm the salvation for all of us.

At our baptism we are also called 'beloved' by God the Father.
We are saved by the Son through our baptism.
We are strengthened through the Holy Spirit at our baptism.

We are surrounded by blessings through our Baptism.
Peace.

Center Stage

~~~ 1 John 5:14-21 ~~~ Psalm 149 ~~~ John 3:22-30 ~~~

...Abundance...

He must increase; I must decrease.

...we know that what we have asked him for is ours. 

John was baptizing in the waters when nearby

 Jesus also began to baptize.

John did not see this as a problem.

He did not feel Jesus was trying to compete with him.

John did not object to people going to his cousin to be baptized.

John knew from the beginning that he was
 the 'opening act'

not the main attraction.

So it happened that a heated discussion erupted 

concerning the fact that Jesus was also in the waters.

The Jewish people had strict rituals surrounding water.
There was abundant water in this region.

They had water rituals for consecration, cleansing, 

bathing, and purification.

There were specific instructions just for
hand and feet washing.

Baptism is closely connected with the water ritual of cleansing.

A person being consecrated or purified 

was to have their entire body washed and even their clothes.

Jesus observed the washing, cleansing, and purification rituals,

but he shifted the emphasis from the outward or external

to the inside or the internal...

ultimately to the core of the person; their heart.

The closer you get to something the larger it gets.

As Jesus gets closer to John, John steps aside 

and Jesus becomes the focal point.
Jesus was more concerned about the cleansing of the heart.
He would even be ridiculed later for not following
the strict washing rituals before eating.

Today we believe that hand washing
is the primary way to avoid spreading germs
 from one person to another.

John knew that allowing Jesus to take center stage
 in no way diminished the role he was sent to fulfill.

Blessed are those who allow Jesus to increase 

as they willingly decrease.

Peace.

The Crib was Still Warm

~~~ 1 John 5:5-13 ~~~ Psalm 147 ~~~ Luke 5:12-16 ~~~

God gave us eternal life, and this life is in his Son. 

The gift of the Son, Jesus, gives us our life.
Not just our physical life but our eternal life with him in heaven.
Jesus is our life force.
We get our life energy from the Son, Jesus.
If God had not sent Jesus, the Son,
we do not know what our salvation would look like.
John writes to us about our eternal life today.
While we are still in the season of the joy of Christmas
we are being faced with our death.
The only way to appreciate what has been given
you must be made aware of the gift.
We have to understand now
while the crib is still warm what we have been given.

I write these things to you so that you may know
that you have eternal life,
you who believe in the name of the Son of God.

We don't just have a sweet touching story here.
The animals did not gather around the manger to keep the baby warm.
The wise men did not come just to see the new baby king.
Joseph didn't have ordinary dreams.

Every last detail was part of God's plan to save us.
He wanted to save you before you were ever born.

We do not have eternal life like the movie vampire creatures.
We have eternal life because it has been given to us...
it is God's gift to us.
Everything in the universe seems to be very organized
so it is not surprising to me that our salvation
would have also been highly organized. 

God sent his Son to begin our saving process,
leaving much of the final parts to be done by us.
Individually we have to complete in our own hearts
what God began when his only begotten Son became man.

As always, we have a choice....
We can either cherish and nourish the gift or
let it wither and fall away.

Jesus saved us from the warmth of the crib.
That was the beginning of his salvation gift.
We have received; now we must put it to good use.

...he would withdraw to deserted places to pray.
Jesus withdrew to pray.
He prayed for us, that we would all
see his gift and appreciate it.

Blessings in appreciating the great gift of salvation.
The birth of Our Lord is the beginning of our salvation.
The Father eagerly waits our arrival into his eternal kingdom...
heaven.

Homecoming in the Temple

~~~ John 4: 19-5:4 ~~~ Psalm 72 ~~~ Luke 4:14 ~~~

Lord, every nation on earth will adore you.

This is the fourth day including last Sunday, the Epiphany,
that we are given psalm 72
bridging the readings together.
The Kings came bearing gifts from afar,
prostrated themselves and adored the child Jesus.

Luke has Jesus returning to Galilee at the beginning of his ministry.
Mark, however has this reading in the temple closer to the end of his ministry.
Whenever it occurred, Jesus did go to temple.

He came to Nazareth, where he had grown up,
and went according to his custom
into the synagogue on the sabbath day. 

He was a devout Jew, even though he came to bring about change.
Jesus is home perhaps he had come home to be with his family.
There is a certain comfort about coming home...
the unconditional love of family...
the familiarity of the home...
favorite meals...
sleeping in your own bed...
sharing stories...catching up on what has happened.

Jesus could not call home
or check in on social media with his loved ones.
It would have been normal for him to participate in temple service.
The elders welcomed him in the temple.
He was close to being an elder himself by now.

They handed him the scroll to read from in their presence.
However, they may not have been expecting to hear
 the passage he spoke aloud to them.

The Spirit of the Lord is upon me,
because he has anointed me...

But even more shocking was what he said to them afterward...

He was the kid down the street.
They had watched him grow up.
They had seen him laughing and helping Joseph
in his workshop.
Jesus was a local boy
who had been away and was now back home.

They must have been secretly irate when...
He said to them,
“Today this Scripture passage is fulfilled in your hearing.” 

At first it took them by such surprise they were mesmerized by his eloquence.
They were impressed by how well he read from the scroll.
This first impressing will soon be replaced.
They begin to grumble quietly to themselves,
but soon their personal outrage spreads to others.

Just who does he think he is?

Jesus openly laid claim before the elders of Nazareth.
He proclaimed himself to be the subject of the prophecy of Isaiah.
What other surprises does he have for them?

Jesus blesses us where he needs for us to grow.
It may be in our home town, but it could
be while away in distant lands.
It may be among family members or it could be
amidst complete strangers.

He wants to bless you where you are today.
Peace.

Your Undivided Attention

~~~ John 4:11-18 ~~~ Psalm 72 ~~~ Mark 6: 45-52 ~~~

We have come to know and to believe in the love God has for us.

Jesus sends the disciples ahead of him
 while he stays behind to dismiss the crowd he has just fed.

Earlier the disciples had urged him to leave.
He would not be swayed by their arguments
of not having enough food for the crowd.

Maybe Jesus just needed some alone time...
time to communicate with his Father in private.

Perhaps he himself was surprised that his blessing alone
 kept the baskets flowing with bread and fish.
Mark makes no mention of the disciples
being amazed by the continuous supply of bread and fish.

The disciples do as Jesus asks and leave by boat
 for the other side of the sea.
The seas become turbulent, the winds are growing stronger.

The waves are tossing the disciples' boat up and down.
They are struggling just to keep rowing to make it to the far side.
They are tired and weary. It has been a long day.
Where is Jesus when they need him most?
I think we can all say we have been
in that very place in our life.

Suddenly Jesus is casually walking on the water
 toward them and Mark adds,
He meant to pass by them. 
Why would he want to pass them by?
Perhaps his walking on the water was some indication of his divinity.
But why would he just pass by them in their time of distress?
Maybe he thought they were too occupied
with their own struggle
to even notice he was near them.

Maybe some of us can honestly admit we have been
 in that place as well.

But when they saw him walking on the sea,
they thought it was a ghost and cried out.
They had all seen him and were terrified.
But at once he spoke with them,
“Take courage, it is I, do not be afraid!” 

Now Jesus had their undivided attention.
'It's me, Jesus, calm down, take a deep breath.
He tells them not to be afraid and gets into the boat with them.
And, yes, as soon as he got into the boat
the seas calmed down.

If the disciples were not impressed
 by the miracle of the loaves and fishes;
they were impressed now.
From then on they would take Jesus more seriously.

I know it may sound corny, but you've
 just gotta have Jesus in the boat with you.

That is the only way to weather the storms of life.
Even if you feel God intends to pass you by
in reality it is never the case.

Blessings of courage;
believe Jesus will never pass you by.