Truth or Silence

~~~ Deuteronomy 13:41C-62~~~ Psalm 23 ~~~

~~~ John 8:12-20 ~~~

“I am the light of the world.

Whoever follows me will not walk in darkness,

but will have the light of life.” 

God sheds light where darkness prevails...
Susanna was sentenced to death
after two men lied about the facts.

Daniel, inspired by God,
had the men questioned separately.
He suspected that their individual stories would be different.
Both men had stories that contradicted each other.

Daniel shows how the light of the truth
saves those who hope in the Lord.

The two who lied about Susanna were they
themselves sentenced to death.

The light of life over shadows the darkness of lies.
Lies do not support life, it is in truth that life survives.

...even if I should judge, my judgment is valid,
because I am not alone,
but it is I and the Father who sent me.

In our court rooms today we have testimonies
 from witness stories that often do not match.

It is the duty of the jury to make a decision
based on the testimonies heard.

Jesus does not struggle with who is telling the truth
because his insight is validated by God the Father.

The Light sees through lies...
The Light invites us out of the darkness.

No one can testify on behalf of Jesus
except the Father.
The elders were bothered because
 they could not verify the testimony of Jesus

Blessed always in the truth.

Choose to speak words of truth
or opt for silence.

~~~Peace~~~

Let Go...Move Forward

~~~ Fifth Sunday of Lent ~~~

~~~ Isaiah 43:16-21 ~~~ Psalm 126 ~~~ 

~~~ Philippians 3:8-14 ~~~ John 8:1-11 ~~~

Remember not the events of the past,

the things of long ago consider not;

see, I am doing something new!

God is all about creating something from nothing.

He can look beyond events from our past 

because he wants us to consider the newness he offers.

He makes all things good.

He does not want us to live in the past.

He wants us to live with hope in our hearts.

If we are chained to the past

 we are in effect giving up on 

having a better future.

...forgetting what lies behind 

but straining forward to what lies ahead...

Paul says...okay so you have not been 

the best person all of the time.

But now it is time to let go and move forward.

We must keep our eye on the goal which lies ahead.

We do not find Jesus by going backwards

 into the darkness of our sins.

We find Jesus by looking forward 

toward the light of new dawn.

“Let the one among you who is without sin 

be the first to throw a stone at her.”

When the woman caught in adultery 

was thrown at the feet of Jesus, 

humiliated before the crowd,

he already knew the sins of the accusers.

We do not know what he writes in the sand, 

but it was enough to turn away the crowd beginning 

with the elders, the accusers.

God knows the real you within; 

the one behind the face you present to others.

Jesus never denies that this woman was a sinner, 

he just quietly revealed that she was not

 the only sinner present.

The accusers wanted to keep this woman

 in her past sinfulness.

Jesus invited this woman to move forward 

closer to her own salvation.

Where do you want to be...stuck in the past...

or straining with Paul for what lies ahead?

Let's move forward together.

He will give us the grace.

He will bless us with each step closer.

~~~Peace~~~

Guard the Roots

~~~ Jeremiah 11:18-20 ~~~ Psalm 7 ~~~ John 7:40-53 ~~~ 

“Let us destroy the tree in its vigor;
let us cut him off from the land of the living,
so that his name will be spoken no more.”

Unfortunately plots to kill those who
believe in God are still taking place.

It is often in the news.
Not just members of religious orders,
but also lay people.

Those who plotted to kill Jesus are no
 different than those who plot evil today.

Killing those who hold the message of Jesus
does not stop the message.

Destroying the 'tree', Jesus,
did not stop the message of salvation.
Jesus acted on behalf of the Father
 and no earthly force would squelch the good news.

Those who plot evil do not understand where
the roots of the 'tree' are actually growing.

Our tree of faith must be safely
 and securely rooted in our soul.
The name of Jesus must ever be on our lips.
The Jesus Prayer is one way to make sure
we are among those who proclaim his name.

The guards answered,
 “Never before has anyone spoken like this man.”

The guards were caught up in the controversy over what
 they were being told and what they heard
from the mouth of Jesus themselves.

Nicodemus took a risk speaking out in defense of Jesus.
He too admitted that Jesus was not your ordinary
run of the mill preacher.

Jesus had a message of hope, love,
forgiveness, mercy, and compassion.

Jesus came to ignite a burning desire
within the hearts of all to strive toward a higher calling.

Nicodemus and the guard saw the face of truth
in Jesus. A person of great integrity not blindly
controlled by the letter of the laws.

Woe to those who call evil good and good evil, 
who put darkness for light and light for darkness’ (Is 5:20). 

When our conscience is formed in truth
we will be uncomfortable when
it is violated in any manner.

This struggle today is just as real
as in the times of Jesus.

Blessed to be part of the living tree of God.
We can be a vital part of the harvest.

~~~Peace~~~

Temporary Travelers

~~~ Wisdom 2:1A, 12-22 ~~~ Psalm 34 ~~~ John 7:1-2, 10, 25-30 ~~~

Even though the officials were trying to kill Jesus

he kept his Jewish feast of Tabernacles...

also known as the Feast of Booths.

...(Jesus) himself also went up, not openly 

but as it were in secret.

During this time the Jews remembered 

all of the ways God had provided for them in the desert.

It was a time to look forward to the coming of the Messiah.

This time is unique in that all were invited 

to the celebration even the Gentiles.

Traditionally the Jewish people came to Jerusalem.

 They built small temporary shelters

as a reminder of their time in the wilderness.

Jesus came in secret so as not to disrupt 

the spirit of the eight day feast.

The authorities did not apprehend him;

his time had not yet come.

The whispers of the presence of Jesus spread quickly

among those gathered together.

Just the other day I saw someone across

 the parking lot that I used to work with,

but I was not sure it was her.

I called out her name to which she responded.

This could have happened to Jesus

 during his time at the celebration.

Jesus does not try to hide who he is or where he came from.

The people believed that when the Christ 

came no one would know him.

But we hear in the book of Wisdom today 

that God's ways are not like ours.

...his life is not like that of others,

and different are his ways.

The Feast of Tabernacles

represents our passing world

as we wait for the return of the Lord...

His Resurrection from the dead.

Jesus did not come to abolish the law.

Jesus came to fulfill the law.

Jesus came...he is the Messiah...

he restored our relationship with God.

He came to rescue us from the depths of condemnation.

We must seek first the Kingdom of God

all else will fall into its proper place in our lives.

Blessed by a God who rescues us

every time we are near danger...

more times than we could imagine.

Jesus is there in the 'near misses'

the ones we see and those we never see.

~~~Peace~~~

Endorsed By The Father

~~~ Exodus 32:7-14 ~~~ Psalm 106 ~~~ John 5:31-47 ~~~

Jesus said to the Jews: 
“If I testify on my own behalf, my testimony is not true.
But there is another who testifies on my behalf,
and I know that the testimony he gives on my behalf is true.

Jesus did not come to toot his own horn.
Jesus did not have a teleprompter
 to coach him in his preaching.
Jesus did not have social media
to keep up with his popularity.

 Jesus had the testimony of God the Father.
Remember the Baptism of Jesus
and the Transfiguration events?
God spoke from the cloud of Jesus being his beloved Son.
God tells us to listen to the words of Jesus.

Jesus did not speak on his own;
he came to do the will of the Father.

The works that the Father gave me to accomplish,
these works that I perform testify on my behalf
that the Father has sent me.

Everything Jesus does comes through the Father.
They are united. They are one.

You search the Scriptures,
because you think you have eternal life through them;
even they testify on my behalf.
But you do not want to come to me to have life.

God sent Jesus to reconcile us to himself.
Jesus came for us so that we might believe that God
wants us to have life eternal.

Those who survive on the Scriptures but
continue to turn away from the person of Jesus
are surely to be disappointed.

The Old Testament contains
 inspired texts from the prophets
foreshadowing the coming of Jesus
yet many did not believe.

Jesus says if you did not believe
Moses and the prophets
then why would you now believe me?

God himself endorsed Jesus
as the one to whom we must listen.

If you listen to the teachings of Jesus
you will be Blessed to humbly follow him.

God sent Jesus to us...for us.
~~~Peace~~~

God: Father-Mother

~~~ Isaiah 49:8-15~~~ Psalm 145 ~~~ John 5:17-30 ~~~

Can a mother forget her infant,

be without tenderness for the child of her womb?

Even should she forget,

I will never forget you.

God does not need proof of loyalty
 to his teachings through fighting battles.
God looks for the degree to which we have love,
tenderness, compassion in our heart.

God is our Father and God is our Mother too.
Saints and Popes have testified God as both Father and Mother.

A mother can give her child milk to suck, but our precious mother, 
Jesus, can feed us with himself. He does so most courteously 
and most tenderly, with the Blessed Sacrament, which is the precious 
food of true life. With all the sweet sacraments he sustains us 
most mercifully and graciously. Julian of Norwich

God watches over us, care for us, nourishes us
as a mother watches, cares and nourishes us in the physical life.

Julian tells us she,
...saw with complete certainty that God, before creating us, 
loved us, and His love never lessened and never will. 
In this love he accomplished all his works, and in this love he oriented 
all things to our good and in this love our life is eternal.

A mother begins loving the child she will have from
the beginning of her maternity.

Even when a couple adopts they begin loving the child
who will come to them as soon as they get confirmation
of being chosen by the birth mother.

Between God and the soul there is no between.

A mother's love for her child is much the same...
there is no between.
The child is within the womb of the mother,
being nurtured and protected at all times for nine months.

God as our mother allows us to be constantly be reborn
through the Sacraments he gave us through his Son, Jesus.

Lent is a time for us to recall the various ways
God is both our Father and our Mother.
We are in God and God is in us.
We were created in the image and likeness of God;
just as a child favors the image and likeness to their birth parents.

For just as the Father raises the dead and gives life,
so also does the Son give life to whomever he wishes.

Julian tells us to believe that
'all will be well'
This is exactly what we hear in the readings today.

The hour is coming when the tombs will open
 and all who hear his voice will come out.

Those who do good deeds will be resurrected
into the life of Jesus.

Blessings
from our Mother...God.
~~~Peace~~~

Along the Bank of the River

~~~ Ezekiel 47:1-9, 12 ~~~ Psalm 46 ~~~ John 5:1-16 ~~~

Water seems to be the focus for both readings today.

The prophet Ezekiel tells of being led deeper 

and deeper into the water.

The angel coaxes him to keep walking into the water 

with each step it rises around him...

first ankle deep, then knee deep, waist deep

until it is too deep to keep walking.

 ...the water had risen so high it had become a river

that could not be crossed except by swimming.

There is no nearby bridge to cross this river.

The angel guides him to sit on the river bank 

where the richness and abundance of God is revealed.

Everywhere this water flows beauty and life flourish.

It is a perfect picture of God's goodness.

Stopping to sit alongside the river gives the angel 

a chance to spotlight all that is good because 

of the flowing water...the rising waters.

It would be good for us to also stop and rest 

awhile in the goodness of God.

When the waters of life are rising all around us...

When we want to escape...

When we fear death by drowning is eminent...

pause for a moment, let the serenity of God calm your soul. 

God is in its midst; it shall not be disturbed...

Jesus passes by the crippled man sitting near the pool of healing water.

Jesus has noticed him on previous occasions, but

today Jesus initiates conversation with this man.

“Do you want to be well?”

The answer might seem obvious to us but does this man

truly want to be healed or is he resigned

to remain a victim of his illness.

Jesus' question invites this man to claim his healing.

The moment he decides to claim his healing 

he is able to pick up his mat and walk away.

At first the man thought to be healed 

he had to first get into the pool of water.

Then he brought me to the bank of the river, 

where he had me sit.

Along the bank of the river

 I saw very many trees on both sides.

What this man realized was that his desire 

needed to be aligned with the desire 

Jesus had for him to be healed.

Jesus healed this man on the Sabbath which 

was technically forbidden.

According to Jewish law

 one is not allowed to 'work' on that day.

Healing and carrying a mat were in effect breaking the law.

When are you most likely to extend joy to another?

Why would something so important as healing 

a person not be allowed?

This man no longer needed to remain near the pool.

Now he could take his only belonging, his mat,

and go back to his home.

Jesus is near to all those who are in need of his healing.

Jesus is here for you in your time of distress.

He blesses us every day.

~~~Peace~~~