Matthew
14:25-33 � Walking on water 20
Scripture
Truly,
truly, I say to you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it
remains alone; but if it dies, it bears much fruit. He who loves his life loses
it, and he who hates his life in this world will keep it for eternal life.
Comment - Jesus Came
to Teach Us to Die
The real trick in
knowing how to live is knowing how to die. I feel that
the lesson Jesus taught us and made possible for us was how to die in the right
way in order that we might truly live. The living part is easy if we know how to
die.
To me, dying means to
die to destructive self-centeredness. It means to let go of the things I hold on
to so tightly: my own way, my own reputation, the respect of others, resentments
that eat away like cancer. To die means to let go of what hinders us in order to
be free to follow Jesus. �Whoever would save his life will lose it, and whoever
loses his life for my sake will save it� (Luke
In practice, this kind
of dying to self and turning to the Lord is often like turning on a light
switch. When the switch is flicked on, the darkness is dispelled. The gesture of
flicking the switch is a simple one. And Son so it is often that the turning to
the Lord is such a simple gesture: calling his name, being aware of his
presence, seeking him. The actual turning to the Lord is what is asked of us; it
is a sign of our faith in him and desire to seek his will.
Source: excerpt from
THE KEY TO EVANGELIZATION - George W. Kosicki
Scripture
His mother
said to the servants, "Do whatever he tells you."
Now six
stone jars were standing there, for the Jewish rites of purification, each
holding twenty or thirty gallons.
Jesus said
to them, "Fill the jars with water." And they filled them up to the brim.
Comment
I have
come across a few Bible studies where they have said the small details are
important.
One sermon
I heard from Fr John Corapi was in regard to the above
verses.
The point
made here was the servants carried out Jesus wishes perfectly � they were asked
to fill the jars with water and they filled them up to the brim.
Scripture �
The next day, when
John caught sight of Jesus coming toward him, he exclaimed: �Look! There is the
Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world!�
Comment
In February of 1971,
at a prayer meeting in
She said simply, �The
church is John the Baptist,� and sat down.
This word stayed in my
mind, without understanding, until September of that year when I attended a
week�s symposium on the nature and mission of the church. During the week the
speakers kept focusing on the foundation of the gospel: Jesus is Lord. On
the morning of the closing day, the speaker became eloquent and said by way of
summarizing his presentation: �The church is like John the Baptist; it must
point to Jesus.�
Lamb of God
John points to Jesus
as the sacrificial lamb who takes away our sin. Jesus is the suffering servant
led like a lamb to the slaughter as an offering for our sin (Isaiah 53:7). John
points to Jesus as our savior. And so we, the church,
are to point to Jesus as the savior. Like John, we
must continually point out to the world that only Jesus can take away our sins.
This is the fundamental task of the church � to bring people to Jesus for
healing, forgiveness and salvation. The church must be constant in its witness
to Jesus as the savior and expose the folly of turning
to other �saviors� that cannot bring salvation.
He alone
gives the power that transforms us and will transform the world. No earthly
power will bring about resurrection, but only the power at work in us that
raised Jesus from the dead. Only by this power can we be witnesses to the risen
Lord. The church must be a constant witness to the risen Lord if men are to be
transformed. This witness means that each individual, myself included, must be experiencing this resurrection at
work in him.
Now I have seen for myself and have
testified: �This is God�s chosen One.� (John 1:34)
The task of
the church is to build its foundations on the Lordship of Jesus Christ. He alone
is Lord and our one foundation. The Church is to point out to the world that the
Father wants Jesus as Lord of our hearts and of the world � and there are to be
no other �lords� in our lives.
John Came as Witness
There was a man named
John sent by God, who came as a witness to testify to the light. (John 1:6)
John came as a
witness, as one who saw, knew, and spoke out in prophecy. Part of the prophecy
was positive and part of it negative. In positive prophecy he pointed to Jesus
as the Savior, the Christ, and the Lord. In negative
prophecy he pointed out what was not of God � to the Pharisees and to Herod. It
cost him his head.
The church, too, is to
be a witness to the risen Lord and point to Jesus � in both positive and
negative prophecy. We are to point out to the world what is of Jesus and also
point out what is not of Jesus. It may well cost us our heads. For this reason
witnesses are called �martyrs� in Greek.
The church must be
like John the Baptist and point to Jesus. And its greatest prophetic statement
for my spiritual growth is: �He must increase, while I must decrease.�
Source:
excerpt from THE KEY TO EVANGELIZATION - George W. Kosicki
Scripture
[9]
And David was afraid of the LORD that day; and he said, "How can the ark of the
LORD come to me?"
[10] So David was not willing to take the ark of
the LORD into the city of
[11] And the ark of the LORD
remained in the house of O'bed-e'dom the Gittite three months; and the LORD blessed O'bed-e'dom and all his household.
[12] And it was told King David, "The LORD has blessed the household
of O'bed-e'dom and all that belongs to him, because of
the ark of God." So David went and brought up the ark of God from the house of
O'bed-e'dom to the city of
[13]
and when those who bore the ark of the LORD had gone
six paces, he sacrificed an ox and a fatling.
[14] And David danced
before the LORD with all his might; and David was girded with a linen ephod.
[39]
In those days Mary arose and went with haste into the hill country, to a city of
[40]
and she entered the house of Zechari'ah and greeted
[41] And when
[42] and she exclaimed with a loud cry,
"Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb!
[43] And why is this granted me, that the mother of my Lord should
come to me?
[44] For behold, when the voice of your greeting came to
my ears, the babe in my womb leaped for joy.
[56] And Mary remained
with her about three months, and returned to her home.
Comment
Soon it will be the
season of Advent where many will focus on the scripture leading up to and
including the Birth of Jesus, our Saviour.
Some of this weeks
scripture touches on Advent but also follows the theme that Ben introduced two
weeks ago on the �Ark of the Covenant�
Ben and now me hope to
present some verses from the New Testament which (we suggest )
relate to the Ark of the Covenant but in a �new� way.
There are an incredible
number of similarities found in the Old and New Testaments � the Ark of the
Covenant is but one topic of many.
Christians for the last
2000 years have seen these similarities and probably the best quote to reflect
this understanding is from
The Old Testament is
revealed in the New and the New is concealed in the Old.
Some
parallels seen in the above two passages - taken from Steve Ray�s article about
the Ark of the Covenant.
When David
approached the
The Ark of
the Old Covenant remained in the house of Obed-edom
for three months and we are told that Mary remained in the house of
Scripture
The same
document also tells how the prophet, following a divine revelation, ordered that
the tent and the ark should accompany him and how he went off to the mountain
which Moses climbed to see God's inheritance. When Jeremiah arrived there, he
found a room in a cave in which he put the tent, the ark, and the altar of
incense; then he blocked up the entrance. Some of those who followed him came up
intending to mark the path, but they could not find it. When Jeremiah heard of
this, he reproved them:
"The place
is to remain unknown until God gathers his people together again and shows them
mercy.
Then the
Lord will disclose these things, and the glory of the Lord will be seen in the
cloud, just as it appeared in the time of Moses and when Solomon prayed that the
Place might be gloriously sanctified."
Then God's
temple in heaven was opened, and the ark of his covenant was seen within his
temple; and there were flashes of lightning, voices, peals of thunder, an
earthquake, and heavy hail. And a great portent appeared in heaven, a woman
clothed with the sun, with the moon under her feet, and on her head a crown of
twelve stars; she was with child and she cried out in her pangs of birth, in
anguish for delivery.
Comment
The small empire built
up by David and expanded by his son Solomon broke up after Solomon died (see 1
Kings 12). The two small kingdoms of
The prophet Jeremiah
had warned the people of
A story in 2 Maccabees
2:4-8 tells us that Jeremiah prepared for that time by hiding the Ark of the
Covenant on
Since that time, the
The
Luke uses parallel
language and images to make his point about the Ark of the Covenant. But John,
the author of Revelation, tells us directly that he saw the Ark of the Covenant
- the holy object that had been lost since Jeremiah's time - in a vision. This
is a strange string of images, almost overwhelming - like much of the book of
Revelation. But certainly the statement that the Ark of the Covenant was visible
must have caught the attention of the first people who heard the vision.
If the
And indeed the sights
and sounds are the same as in the time of Moses - storm and
earthquake:
"There were flashes of
lightning, rumblings, and peals of thunder, an earthquake, and a violent
hailstorm" (see Revelation
"On the morning of the
third day there were peals of thunder and lightning, and a heavy cloud over the
mountain, and a very loud trumpet blast, so that all the people in the camp
trembled . . . Mount Sinai was all wrapped in smoke, for the LORD came down upon
it in fire. The smoke rose from it as though from a furnace, and the whole
mountain trembled violently" (see Exodus
Naturally, we want to
hear more about the rediscovered Ark of the Covenant.
And John goes on to
describe what he sees: "a woman clothed with the sun" (see Revelation
12:1).
In our modern Bibles,
there is a chapter division between the appearance of the Ark of the Covenant
and the description of the "woman clothed with the sun."
But chapter divisions
were added in the Middle Ages (in the twelfth century) to make the books of the
Bible easier to refer to.
John did not make any
divisions: he wrote straight through from Revelation 11:19 to Revelation 12:1
without a break.
In the dream-like but
deeply significant logic of John's vision, the Ark of the Covenant is "a woman
clothed with the sun."
But does
this passage in Revelation really refer to Mary? Some say the woman represents
The Bible
begins with Genesis with a real man (Adam), a real woman (Eve) and a real
serpent (the devil) � and it also ends with Revelation with a real man (Jesus,
the Last Adam, 1 Cor
Source:
a
Bible Study from SalvationHistory.com (that is why you see all of the scripture
references in brackets)
Plus the inserted text
at the end is from
Steve
Ray�s article about the
Ps: there
are some other observations about the Ark of the Covenant in the Old and New
Testaments but I will finish the Ark of the Covenant themed reflections with
this email.
Scripture
[3] Behind
the second veil was the tabernacle called the Holy of Holies,
[4] in which were the gold altar of incense 4 and the
ark of the covenant entirely covered with gold. In it were the
gold jar containing the manna, the staff of Aaron that had sprouted, and
the tablets of the covenant.
[30]
And the angel said to her, "Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor
with God.
[31] And behold, you will conceive in your womb and bear a
son, and you shall call his name Jesus.
[32] He will be great, and
will be called the Son of the Most High; and the Lord God will give to him the
throne of his father David,
[33] and he will
reign over the house of Jacob for ever; and of his kingdom there will be no
end."
Comment
Some
parallels seen in the above two passages - taken from Steve Ray�s article about
the Ark of the Covenant.
�Here we have the law of God inscribed on stone, but in the womb of Mary we have
the word of God in flesh, a person.
�Here we have the urn of manna, which was the manna come down from heaven that
if we ate of it we would still die, but in Mary�s womb is the Bread of Life come
down from heaven, that if we eat of it we will never die.
�And here we have the rod of Aaron, which budded to prove the true priesthood,
but in Mary�s womb, is the true priest.
Scripture
"Judge
not, and you will not be judged; condemn not, and you will not be condemned;
forgive, and you will be forgiven;
Comment
One the
path going towards the Lourdes Grotto, Martin moved like a sleep walker,
brooding on his destroyed life but became suddenly aware that a young woman was
speaking to him: �Monsieur, it�s a hot day. May I offer you a glass of cool
water?� Startled out of his preoccupation, he mumbled something, took the
proffered glass and drank. Embarrassed, he quickly handed back the glass mumbled
a thanks and moved away from her.
As he
neared the Grotto he heard a French priest preaching at the Grotto �Father,
forgive us as we forgive others� and it made Martin�s anger flare up. Spinning
around as if stung by a wasp, he headed back toward the train station, galled
that anyone should tell him to forgive!
It was
years since he had acknowledged a priest. He now despised them, and had always
ignored any greetings from the jail chaplain. But he responded to a priests invitation this time by pouring his bitterness all
over him. �I thought he was my friend at school. The bastard�s lying accusations
put me in a stinking jail, put me there for 12 hopeless
years living with scum. �
He
concluded with unveiled animosity: �And don�t you start thinking I have come
here to
The priest
did not answer for some time. Then he said: �I can see you really loved your
wife. Why don�t you just do what she asked, which is to go down and stand at the
Grotto. You will always feel bad about it, if you have only half done what she
asked with her dying breath��
Who should
he meet as he neared the Grotto but the young woman who had handed him the glass
of water.
He asked
her: �What brought you here?�
Her face
clouded over. �My father is dying. The doctor said his heart can�t last longer
and I�m not praying for his cure. But he is dying with terrible guilt. After the
war he betrayed a boyhood friend to one of those tribunals and the man was given
a 20 year jail sentence. My father is convinced God will never forgive him
because he can never undo the evil he did.�
Martin
could hardly believe his ears. He looked at her face and gasped, �You�re
Marguerite!�
�How do you
know me?� she shot back.
�Because I now remember you when you
were little. I
am the man your father betrayed!�
She went
white and turned to run. He grabbed her wrist �Marguerite, stop! You were kind
to me this morning. Now do me one more favour. I can�t recite the last part of
the Our Father. I think you know the part I mean. Please!�
They
stumbled through the prayer.
He sighed
as if a boulder had been lifted off his chest.
�Thank you,
Marguerite. Now let us go together to see if we can�t help your
father.�
Source: The Wayside
Stream � Reconciliation � by
Scripture
Watch and
pray that you may not enter into temptation; the spirit indeed is willing, but
the flesh is weak."
Comment
If a man
knows the art of swimming, he ducks under a great wave until it goes past and
then goes on swimming unharmed.
Our monk
from the
He draws
the conclusion about temptations: if you are experiencing a temptation about
chastity, don�t argue with it, don�t carry on a discussion with it or let your
imagination dialogue with it. Just �dive under it� by
turning your thoughts to another subject, or short circuiting the bad desire by
a prayer of the heart.
Dorotheos loved those words of Jesus in
Matthew 11:29.
�Shoulder
my yoke and learn from me� and you will find rest for your
spirit�
Temptations
are a yoke, but if we accept Jesus� invitation, He will put his neck and
shoulders under the wooden yoke and pull with us. Then the yoke of temptation
becomes the source of new blessings, of deeper familiarity with the
Lord.
Many a
person has fallen into serious sin by vainly believing oneself advanced enough
in wisdom and strength to be able to handle temptations quite �reasonably�,
allowing them to come into the imagination and get a hearing.
Don�t let a
wave knock you flat, says Dorotheos. It�s more
powerful than you, so use your common sense and dive under it before it engulfs
you.
Source: The Wayside
Stream � Reconcilliation � by
Scripture
�
And the
great dragon was thrown down, that ancient serpent, who
is called the Devil and Satan, the deceiver of the whole world -- he was thrown
down to the earth, and his angels were thrown down with him. And I heard a loud
voice in heaven, saying, "Now the salvation and the power and the kingdom of our
God and the authority of his Christ have come, for the accuser of our brethren
has been thrown down, who accuses them day and night before our God. And they
have conquered him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony,
for they loved not their lives even unto death.
Comment
"Take Heart, It Is
Love That Wins in the End!"
Dear Brothers and Sisters,
At the time when
Who could stand up to this omnipresent
force that seemed capable of achieving everything? Yet, we know that in the end
it was the defenceless woman who won and not egoism or hatred; the love of God
triumphed and the
The words of Sacred Scripture always transcend the period in
history. Thus, not only does this dragon suggest the anti-Christian power of the
persecutors of the Church of that time, but also anti-Christian dictatorships of
all periods.
We see this power, the force of the red dragon, brought into
existence once again in the great dictatorships of the last century: the Nazi
dictatorship and the dictatorship of Stalin monopolized all the power,
penetrated every corner, the very last corner. It seemed impossible in the long
term that faith could survive in the face of this dragon that was so powerful,
that could not wait to devour God become a Child, as well as the woman, the
Church. But also in this case, in the end love was stronger than
hate.
Today too, the dragon exists in new and different ways. It exists
in the form of materialistic ideologies that tell us it is absurd to think of
God; it is absurd to observe God's commandments: they are a leftover from a time
past. Life is only worth living for its own sake. Take everything we can get in
this brief moment of life. Consumerism, selfishness and entertainment alone are
worthwhile. This is life. This is how we must live. And once again, it seems
absurd, impossible, to oppose this dominant mindset with all its media and
propagandist power. Today too, it seems impossible to imagine a God who created
man and made himself a Child and who was to be the true ruler of the
world.
Even now, this dragon appears invincible, but it is still true
today that God is stronger than the dragon, that it is love which conquers
rather than selfishness.
Source: extract from Pope Benedict XVI's
Homily
Scripture
Now great
multitudes accompanied him; and he turned and said to them, "If any one comes to
me and does not hate his own father and mother and wife and children and
brothers and sisters, yes, and even his own life, he cannot be my disciple.
Whoever does not bear his own cross and come after me, cannot be my disciple.
For which of you, desiring to build a tower, does not first sit down and count
the cost, whether he has enough to complete it? Otherwise, when he has laid a
foundation, and is not able to finish, all who see it begin to mock him, saying,
`This man began to build, and was not able to finish.'
Or what king, going to encounter another king in war, will not sit down first
and take counsel whether he is able with ten thousand to meet him who comes
against him with twenty thousand? And if not, while the other is yet a great way
off, he sends an embassy and asks terms of peace. So therefore, whoever of you
does not renounce all that he has cannot be my disciple.
Comment
Luke has
Jesus giving this teaching to 'great crowds'; it is not teaching for an elite
group, but teaching that all those who call themselves his followers should take
to heart.
We must not
be misled, of course, by the stark Semitic turn of phrase he uses.
He does not
tell us that we should have no love for the things most precious in our lives,
our many bonds of kinship, even our own life itself.
He is
telling us that even these things must not be given a preference in our
decisions that would amount to a renunciation of Christ and what he stands
for.
This does not mean abandoning or
ignoring them, but loving them less than they love God.
He is
showing us the seriousness of the mysterious mission he has received from his
Father, as he makes for the
If we are
to be his true followers, we must 'carry his cross and come after
him'.
Our
following must not be half-hearted, his two parables tell
us.
We must
weigh up fully the implications of our decision not to allow any consideration
to destroy our commitment to him; we must be ready to carry it through to the
end.
Otherwise
our situation will be like that of the man whose half-completed building is a
monument to his foolishness; or worse, like that of the king whose lack of
foresight leads him to defeat and death.
There is a cost to being a disciple
of Jesus � you can not act on impulse, but only on a carefully considered
program of involvement
The final
words of the gospel are the most challenging of all: 'none of you can be my
disciples unless he gives up all his possessions'.
But these
very words help us to understand that Luke is not holding up to us an impossible
ideal.
Luke
stresses the place of poverty in the Christian life; the wording of his first
beatitude is blunt: 'Happy are you who are poor' (Lk 6:20); but what follows
makes it clear that he does not expect all followers of Jesus to give up all
their possessions � they are urged to 'lend, without hope of return' and to
'give' generously.
What the
Lord asks for is that, in our life commitments, we place all that is most dear
to us in his hands, ready to accept whatever he asks of us. Some
Christians, of course, receive a personal call to immediate renunciation � a
reminder to us all of the seriousness of our following of
Christ.
Source: The Emmaus Series - John Thornhill SM
And
Source:
St Charles Borromeo reflections (italics)
Scripture
The
scribes and the Pharisees brought a woman who had been caught in adultery, and
placing her in the midst they said to him, "Teacher, this woman has been caught
in the act of adultery. Now in the law Moses commanded us to stone such. What do
you say about her?" This they said to test him, that
they might have some charge to bring against him. Jesus bent down and wrote with
his finger on the ground. And as they continued to ask him, he stood up and said
to them, "Let him who is without sin among you be the first to throw a stone at
her." And once more he bent down and wrote with his finger on the ground. But
when they heard it, they went away, one by one, beginning with the eldest, and
Jesus was left alone with the woman standing before him. Jesus looked up and
said to her, "Woman, where are they? Has no one condemned you?" She said, "No
one, Lord." And Jesus said, "Neither do I condemn you; go, and do not sin
again."
Comment
To See
As Jesus Sees
How we see
is critical. In a way it also determines what we see.
For
somebody who is trying to be a Christian the endeavour is to see the world as
Jesus did.
Seeing
people and situations in his light will determine how we respond in the ordinary
acts of our lives.
This is not
to suggest that the Christian sees another world or shuts out reality.
There are
different ways of viewing reality and the deepest truth about life is seen
through the eyes of Jesus, the God of �love.�
An incident
in the New Testament illustrates how Jesus sees people in a deeper and different
way.
The scribes
and Pharisees bring a woman, caught in the act of adultery, before Jesus and ask
him to comment.
They are
not interested in the woman herself � they are treating her as a pawn for their
own purposes.
Nor are
they really interested in learning from Jesus what he might have to
say.
Jesus� attitude is not one of indignation at the woman nor anger at the crowd � he simply asks who amongst us are so
perfect that they can stand in judgement on others.
When the
crowd has retreated in shame he turns to the woman. He quietly asks her not to
sin again and then gently sends the woman on her way.
He Sees What Can
Be
How does
Christ see the incident? He sees a crowd who are misguided by a religion that
has lost its heart and a woman who is terrified and desperate.
In both he
sees possibility; by treating the mob and the woman with dignity he allows them
to realize for themselves what is right.
I imagine
that if we were to behold Christ we would be held in the gaze of one who
encourages us to be the best we can, one who believes in us and is on our
side.
Seeing With The Heart
The look of
Christ would be that of a parent who, despite personal hurt and disappointment,
looks at her child with faith, hope and love.
This look
is not blind to our faults or shortcomings.
It seems
beyond them to what we can be.
The look
says that, despite all, you and the world around you are good.
Put another
way, the loving heart becomes the organ of vision and truth.
As the fox confides in the story of the Little Prince: �It is only
with the heart that one can see rightly; what is essential is invisible to the
eye.�
Source: Don Bosco�s Madonna magazine
Scripture
But he
(Elijah) himself went a day's journey into the wilderness, and came and sat down
under a broom tree; and he asked that he might die, saying, "It is enough; now,
O LORD, take away my life; for I am no better than my fathers." And he lay down
and slept under a broom tree; and behold, an angel touched him, and said to him,
"Arise and eat."
Comment - 'Where is
God? - Seeing God
God speaks even when
he doesn't say anything, Benedict XVI told 500,000 young people in reference to
the "dark night" of Blessed Teresa of Calcutta.
Mother Teresa's spiritual
suffering was one of the topics covered by the Pope on Saturday night, during
his question-and-answer session with 500,000 youth in
The session, held
in the esplanade of Montorso, was part of a two-day
encounter of Italian youth with the Holy Father.
A young Italian woman, Sara
Simonetta, explained to the Pontiff that she believed
"in the God that had touched my heart, but I feel a lot of insecurity,
questions, fear."
"I feel human solitude, and I would like to feel God
close. Holiness, in this silence, 'Where is God?'" she
asked.
Benedict XVI responded that "we all, even though we
believe, experience this silence of God."
"A book was just published on
the spiritual experiences of Mother Teresa, and what we have known is now more
openly presented: With all her charity, her strength of faith, Mother Teresa
suffered the silence of God," he said.
The Pope was referring to the book
"Mother Teresa: Come Be My Light," written by Father Brian Kolodiejchuk, postulator for the cause of canonization of
the founder of the Missionaries of Charity. The book, published 10 years after
the nun's death, is a compilation of her letters and writings.
Benedict
XVI continued: "On one hand, we have to endure this silence of God, partly in
order to understand our brethren who don't know God."
On the other,
he said, "we can always yell out again to God: 'Talk, show yourself!' And
without a doubt, if the heart is open, we can discover the great moments of our
life in which the presence of God is truly perceptible, even to
us."
Seeing
God
The Pope
explained how it is possible to see God.
Before all, the Pontiff said,
"the beauty of creation is one of the sources in which we can touch the beauty
of God, we can see that the Creator exists and is good, that it is true what
sacred Scripture says in the creation account."
Second, he explained, it
is possible to perceive the divine presence "listening to the word of God in the
great liturgical celebrations, in the great music of faith."
Benedict XVI
then told the story of a woman who converted to Christianity after having
listened to the music of Bach, Handel and Mozart.
Third, the Pope told
the assembly of youth, one can discover God through "personal dialogue with
Christ."
"He doesn't always respond, but there are moments in which he
really responds," the Pontiff said.
A last way of discovering God,
according to the Holy Father, is "friendship, companionship in the
faith."
Benedict XVI continued: "Now, here, gathered in Loreto, we see
how faith unites, how friendship creates a companionship of journeying
persons.
"And we experience that all of this
does not come from nothing, but has a source, that the silent God is also a God
who speaks, who reveals himself, and above all, that we can be witnesses of his
presence, that our faith truly brings about light, even for others."
The
Pope added: "On one hand, we have to accept that in this world, God is silent,
but we shouldn't make ourselves deaf when he speaks, when he manifests his
presence on so many occasions, above all in Creation, in the liturgy, in
friendship within the Church. And, full of his presence, we can also give light
to others."
Source:
Scripture
Peace I
leave with you; my peace I give to you; not as the world gives do I give to you.
Let not your hearts be troubled, neither let them be afraid.
Comment
A monk was
quietly reading alone at peace with the world and himself, disturbing no one.
Then
another monk comes along and speaks roughly or says something that the first
monk takes as a put down, and responds with angry words.
Later he
tells Abbot Dorotheos �That monk made me
angry!�
�You are
wrong�, responds Dorotheos.
�He simply
exposed the hidden anger you have within you.
If you look
at the matter sensibly, you should be grateful because he did you a service.
He showed
you that you have a problem hidden within you,
a part of you where you do not
possess the freedom and peace that Jesus has come to
give.�
Dorotheos is Greek for the gift (Doron) of God (Theos), from which
comes the beautiful English name Dorothy.
Dorotheos of Gaza is one of the early Greek
speaking �Fathers� and was born about the year 506 in the city of
The man who
was to become a noted spiritual guide and eventually Abbot at
Source:
Reconciliation by
Scripture
He said to
them, "Because of your little faith. For truly, I say to you, if you have faith
as a grain of mustard seed, you will say to this mountain, `Move from here to
there,' and it will move; and nothing will be impossible to you."
Comment:
Unless
you are willing to do the ridiculous, God will not do the
miraculous.
Mother
Angelica
Mother
Angelica said in 1978 after removing her show from a major (one of very few) TV
station in the city when they refused to stop broadcasting a blasphemous tv show.
The vice
president of the TV station Hugh Smith said �You leave here, and you�re off
television. You need us.�
�No, I
don�t. I only need God!� Mother Angelica responded.
�I�ll buy
my own cameras and build my own studio�.
�You can�t
do that!� said Hugh
�You just
watch me!� responded Mother Angelica
After that
conversation, Mother Angelica wondered how 12 Nuns with no funds or business
plan were going to start an independent television
network.
Defying
reason (for example the rising debt in 1980 was over $1Million), Mother
Angelica clung to her inspiration and to her God.
�He
expects me to operate on a faith level, not a knowledge level,� Mother
said. �He expects me to operate � if I don�t have the money, if I don�t have
the brains, if I don�t have the talent � in faith. You know what faith is? Faith
is one foot on the ground, one foot in the air, and a queasy feeling in the
stomach.�
This was to
become the worlds largest religious media empire http://www.ewtn.com/, which started in the
garage of a
Source: Mother Angelica � The Remarkable
Story of a Nun, Her Nerve, and a Network of Miracles
By Raymond Arroyo
I am half
way through and it is a fascinating read to see how God inspires the faithful to
win people for Christ.
The 24 hour
free to air programs from EWTN are available in
There are a
number of other Christian channels available too.
If you can
afford the one off cost of a small satellite dish then you will have Gods word
beamed into your house 24 hours a day if you wish. I can let you know of the
person who installed our dish if you are interested.
Just the
other day on one show (that I recorded) they discussed the Bodmer papyrus. The Gospels equivalent of
the Dead Sea Scrolls.
Fascinating
stuff.
Early
Christianity you can touch. It�s our heritage.
Scripture
And when
he came to the place he said to them, "Pray that you may not enter into
temptation." And he withdrew from them about a stone's throw, and knelt down and
prayed, "Father, if thou art willing, remove this cup
from me; nevertheless not my will, but thine, be
done."
Reflection
Obedience
will never cost anyone as much as it cost Jesus Christ.
Source:
Reflections
of St Vincent Pallotti
Scripture
Peace I
leave with you; my peace I give to you; not as the world gives do I give to you.
Let not
your hearts be troubled, neither let them be afraid.
Reflection
Peace is a
sign of being truly a son and daughter of God.
Source:
Reflections
of St Vincent Pallotti
Scripture
Then Jesus
told his disciples, "If any man would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me.
Reflection
Consider
this thought:
God sends
us all hardships out of infinite love.
Source:
Reflections
of St Vincent Pallotti
Scripture
Not every
one who says to me, `Lord, Lord,' shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who
does the will of my Father who is in heaven
Reflection
Lord, may
it not just be lip service what I say about you.
But that I
truly believe it and that I am deeply convinced in my
heart
Source:
Reflections
of St Vincent Pallotti
Scripture
Therefore I
tell you, do not be anxious about your life, what you shall eat or what you
shall drink, nor about your body, what you shall put on. Is not life more than
food, and the body more than clothing?
Reflection
Let not the
needs of your life and those of others ever remove you from the union with
God
Source:
Reflections
of St Vincent Pallotti
Scripture:
I speak of
what I have seen with my Father, and you do what you have heard from your
father." They answered him, "Abraham is our father." Jesus said to them, "If you
were Abraham's children, you would do what Abraham did, but now you seek to kill
me, a man who has told you the truth which I heard from God; this is not what
Abraham did. You do what your father did." They said to him, "We were not born
of fornication; we have one Father, even God." Jesus said to them, "If God were
your Father, you would love me, for I proceeded and came forth from God; I came
not of my own accord, but he sent me. Why do you not understand what I say? It
is because you cannot bear to hear my word.
Comment
Why
emphasise Fatherhood?
What about
motherhood, brotherhood or sonship?
Make them
more foundational!
Fatherhood
is not appreciated these days.
Without
fatherhood, you can�t have motherhood, brotherhood or
sonship.
Fatherhood
is the basis for life.
It is the
source of love and the origin of authority.
Source: Scott Hahn
SCRIPTURE
and you will
be hated by all for my name's sake. But he who endures to the end will be saved.
COMMENT
Today�s words from Matthew tell us
that the mission we are called to, as followers of Jesus, will bring
suffering.
As followers of Jesus, the apostles were to go forth
proclaiming that the kingdom of heaven was near. As part of this proclaiming
they were, like him, to cure the sick, cleanse the lepers and cast out
devils.
Matthew tells us how Jesus warned them that they would not do
these things, as his followers, without paying the price themselves. They, like
him, would suffer in his cause.
Lord Jesus, I know that as someone
striving to follow you I, like the apostles, am called to mission and to suffer
as I serve.
I pray for the grace to respond to
your call to mission and for the grace to persevere with
it.
SOURCE:
Daily Prayer Online
SCRIPTURE
Behold, I
stand at the door and knock; if any one hears my voice and opens the door, I
will come in to him and eat with him, and he with me.
COMMENT
A popular
picture in many Christian homes is the one of Jesus knocking at the door.
It
eloquently describes the words of
Looking at
it in my early days, someone drew my attention to the fact that there was no
handle on the door! Now, isn�t that strange?
Most doors
I know have either handles or latches on the outside
too.
You must
really feel left out when you find yourself on the �outside� of a door that
seems so impregnable�and you�re at the mercy of the one inside�You get one of
two messages: either you will be let in or you won't be
'welcome.'
The door in
the picture resembles the entrance to the human heart �or at least I think
that�s what the artist had in mind. Now, how often is the door of your heart
open to the Lord? It�s strange how often or how seldom you open your heart to
people, sentiments, impressions... or even to the Lord. With so much going on in
your life you have very little time to scan who enters and who leaves your
�secret precincts�� It�s a very private place and besides not letting anyone in,
you are very guarded about how much of its contents you reveal to those who even
peep in through its windows.
During this
holiday season (or at any other time) your heart could be deprived of the
presence of this Wonderful Companion�and you have to admit that empty
feeling�It�s then that you realize that the Lord was lingering around the door
humbly and patiently�even helplessly waiting like a beggar content to remain
outside until you think of opening to him. You are so caught up in your own
schemes and anxieties, your aspirations and frustrations that you are nervous
about letting anyone into your heart�most of all, the Lord. Would you risk him
upsetting your status quo?
Yet he does
not threaten�and he is never harsh�as some of our friends might be�they want to
be �brutally frank� with us because they say �they care.� The Lord is not like
that; his knock is light, his voice is gentle and his presence is always
friendly.
He wants to
be there for you �to bring peace back to your life�to soothe your anxieties and
your stresses�and even to share your fun... Then, when you're full of him and
you gradually become comfortable in his presence, you can go to some other door
and knock�and be as gentle and kind as the Lord has been with you. It�s a
double-sided blessing.
If you�re
having fun with family and friends, will you give a thought to someone who might
not be able to go out or who is �shut in� with no one to take them out? Would
you �stand at their door and knock�? The verses in Scripture need not only
describe the good Lord's action...it could describe yours
too.
Someone is
yearning to open the door to you if you only knock� then you could simply walk
in and say: Hello
SOURCE: Don
Bosco�s Madonna Magazine -
Mumbai
SCRIPTURE
Now as
they went on their way, he entered a village; and a woman named Martha received
him into her house. And she had a sister called Mary, who sat at the Lord's feet
and listened to his teaching. But Martha was distracted with much serving; and
she went to him and said, "Lord, do you not care that my sister has left me to
serve alone? Tell her then to help me." But the Lord answered her,
"Martha, Martha, you are anxious and troubled about many things; one thing is
needful. Mary has chosen the good portion, which shall not be taken away from
her."
COMMENT
What is
hospitality about?
Jesus goes
to the house of his friends Mary and Martha, and they seem to give welcome. Mary
arranges herself at Jesus� feet and focuses clear wide eyes upon him while
Martha bustles about getting dinner ready.
But in response to Martha�s
request (exasperated) that Mary help out a little, Jesus remarks that, no, Mary
has chosen the better part.
How fair is Jesus� judgment? Someone has to
do the chores of making the meal. Or should a host just say, �Welcome to dinner,
but we are not having any food, we are just going to sit and look at
you.�
Is Mary the winner, therefore, and Martha the loser, the one stuck
with the drudgery?
No.
Martha�s only mistake was not that she tended to the food, but that she forgot
about Jesus, the guest.
She was
anxious and worried about many things, Jesus says.
The moral of the story
actually is this: real hospitality means a two-way relationship. Host and guest
open to each other and become present to each other in various ways. Yes, hosts
do work on the details, and work hard. But they always remember the visitor
during the preparations. They do not become distracted from the relationship.
Excellent hosts manage somehow to get everything ready but then to truly listen
to the one who has come.
Martha was apparently in danger of forgetting.
So are you and I.
We busy
ourselves about many things and sometimes do not even listen to what the other
person says. �But there is need of only one thing,� Jesus says.
Keep your
eyes on God and God�s children, even as you bustle about.
SOURCE:
Fr. John
Foley, S. J. of the Center for Liturgy
Scripture:
By this
all men will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one
another."
Comment
I once
asked Mother Teresa how she converted 15,000 men out of the gutters of
�Well,� She said, �I didn�t. When I took care of them and showed
them love, I would say to them, �Would you like to hear about Christ?�
And they
would say, �Is Christ like you? Is Christ like you?�
�No,� I
would say, �but I try to be like Him.�
Then I want
to be a Christian.� �
It was that
simple.
That is the
way we should act. So that the world will, without ever hearing a word from us,
know about us and what we stand for.
Source:
Scripture
�
So the
chief priests and the Pharisees gathered the council, and said, "What are we to
do? For this man performs many signs. If we let him go on thus, every one will
believe in him, and the Romans will come and destroy both our holy place and our
nation." But one of them, Ca'iaphas, who was high
priest that year, said to them, "You know nothing at all; you do not understand
that it is expedient for you that one man should die for the people, and that
the whole nation should not perish." He did not say this of his own accord, but
being high priest that year he prophesied that Jesus should die for the nation,
and not for the nation only, but to gather into one the children of God who are
scattered abroad. So from that day on they took counsel how to put him to death.
Comment
The advent
of Jesus Christ, the Son of God, changed human history; it inevitably changed
Jewish identity.
The passage
from Judaism to Christianity rouses the passions of Jew and Gentile alike. The
Jew accuses the Christian missionary of attempting to destroy the physical
integrity of the people, though not, of course, by physical means. Father Hruby seems to accept the assessment for he says: �If
Christians
are surprised to learn that belief in a Jewish Messiah should appear to imperil
the existence of the Jewish people. They are bewildered and hurt at the
resentment their well-intentioned missionary overtures encounter among Jews.
When the so-called �Anti-Mission Law� was passed in the Knesset, the parliament
of
Is it to be
wondered at that religious and secularist Jews combine forces to resist the
Christian missionary, who proclaims salvation for the individual and prepares
the earthly extermination of the people? Jesus of Nazareth had no such
intention. Had he not come to save the Jews? (cf. Mt. 1:21) He himself was a
Jew, born in
When the
Samaritan woman rounded on him pertly, saying: �You are a Jew. How can you ask
me, a Samaritan and a woman, for a drink?� Jn. 4:9), he does not reject the
attribution. By announcing to the confused woman that �salvation comes from the
Jews� (cf. Jn.
Source:
JESUS
AND JEWISH IDENTITY:
FROM MOSAIC
JUDAISM TO THE CHURCH
JEWISH
IDENTITY by Elias Friedman, O.C.D
Scripture:
While they
were talking and discussing together, Jesus himself drew near and went with
them. But their eyes were kept from recognizing him. And he said to them, "What
is this conversation which you are holding with each other as you walk?" And
they stood still, looking sad.
And he
said to them, "O foolish men, and slow of heart to believe all that the prophets
have spoken! Was it not necessary that the Christ should suffer these things and
enter into his glory?" And beginning with Moses and all the prophets, he
interpreted to them in all the scriptures the things concerning himself. So they drew near to the village to which they were
going. He appeared to be going further, but they constrained him, saying, "Stay with us, for it is toward evening and the day is now
far spent." So he went in to stay with them. When he was at table with them, he
took the bread and blessed, and broke it, and gave it to them. And their eyes
were opened and they recognized him; and he vanished out of their sight. They
said to each other, "Did not our hearts burn within us while he talked to us on
the road, while he opened to us the scriptures?"
Comment: Didn't our
hearts burn within us as he talked to us on the road and explained the
scriptures to us
It could be said that our Christian
faith begins with the Resurrection. Before this, Christ's teachings regarding
the kingdom were ill-understood by the disciples.
They hoped for a temporal kingdom
free from Roman oppression.
After the Resurrection, and
particularly Pentecost, they believed Jesus' kingdom was not of this world, but
a kingdom of love, joy, peace, truth and service.
Today's gospel suggests a return to
the scriptures and to prayerful meditation on them.
We will then come to know Jesus
better as our Saviour, brother, companion and friend who will never abandon
us.
Source: Daily Prayer
Online
And in the
fourth watch of the night he came to them, walking on the sea.
But when the
disciples saw him walking on the sea, they were terrified, saying, "It is a
ghost!" And they cried out for fear.
But immediately he spoke to them,
saying, "Take heart, it is I; have no fear."
And Peter answered him, "Lord,
if it is you, bid me come to you on the water."
He said,
"Come." So Peter got out of the boat and walked on the water and came to Jesus;
but when he saw the wind, he was afraid, and beginning to sink he cried out,
"Lord, save me."
Jesus immediately reached out his hand and caught him,
saying to him, "O man of little faith, why did you doubt?"
And when they got
into the boat, the wind ceased.
And those in the boat worshiped him, saying,
"Truly you are the Son of God."
Comment
One of the
reasons why all of us in the Church are growing cold in faith is because we are
doing what Peter did. When Our Lord came to His struggling apostles in the boat,
who had been rowing against the storm, Peter said to Him: �Lord, bid me to come
to You on the water.� And Peter began to walk on the
water. Then he sank! And this is strange: he sank! Now Peter was a swimmer, and
if you read the Gospel closely, you will discover the reason why he sank. Why?
Like Peter we have taken our eyes off Christ.
Source:
Watch One Hour With Christ - Archbishop Fulton J
Sheen
SCRIPTURE:
And Jesus
entered the
COMMENT
-The Money Changers
The reason
why they would have money changers in the
You
couldn�t have that coin in the
So when
you dedicate money or buy sacrificial animals you couldn�t use Roman coinage.
You would have to use Tyrian coinage so the money
changers were necessary.
Jesus goes
over to the table and flips it over. Why does He do it?
Doesn�t it
seem like Jesus is losing his temper?
Jesus was
a prophet. He was more than a prophet. Prophets spoke a message but they also
embodied that message in their life, in their action.
For
example, Isaiah said �This city will be stripped of all its possessions� A
message saying the city you will be despoiled and conquered. So God said speak
that message but while you speak that message I want you to run around naked for
three years. Hosea said to
Jesus
overturns the table to signify the
Source: The
Gospel of Saint Matthew Bible Study
Dr Tim
Gray - Professor of Scripture - St Augustine Institute
Scripture
"Strive to enter by the narrow door;
for many, I tell you, will seek to enter and will not be able."
Comment
The question about the number of
those who are saved teases our minds even today.
According to Jewish thought in the
time of Jesus, the chosen people, as a body, would be saved.
Jesus re-minds them, and us, that
mere �membership of the club� is no guarantee of salvation.
Personal effort is required.
Luke uses a term (strive)
from sporting contests, meaning something like to �go flat out�.
It is
possible to postpone effort till it is too late, till the race is over and the
door is shut.
In verse 30 there is a reversal of
expectations.
Many of the last (the Gentiles) will
be first and the first (the Jewish people) will be last: yet it is implied that
they will be saved.
Father, give me the grace to
understand your message and the strength to act on it
Source: Daily Prayer
Online
Scripture
Then the
LORD God formed man of dust from the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the
breath of life; and man became a living being.
Comment - The birth
of the Church
The birth
of the Church, accomplished in the mystery of Christ�s Passover, is concretely
manifested in important gestures and in words: �The
evening of the same day, the first day of the week...Jesus came...and said to
them: �Peace be with you. As the Father sent me, so am I sending you�.
After
saying this he breathed on them and said: �Receive the Holy Spirit. For those
whose sins you forgive, they are forgiven�� (Jn
Very
sensitive to biblical symbolism, John notes that the event dates from the first
day of the week. According to the biblical account, creation began at the
beginning of a week. The Breath of God hovered over the water; through the
action of the Breath, Adam awakened to life. On this other first day of the
week, Jesus breathes on the disciples. The gesture is creative, the Church is created in the Spirit of the risen
Jesus.
Source: Holy Spirit of
God
Scott Hahn
Scripture �
It was the
feast of the Dedication at
Jesus
answered them, "I told you, and you do not believe. The works that I do in my
Father's name, they bear witness to me; but you do not believe, because you do
not belong to my sheep. My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow
me; and I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish, and no one shall
snatch them out of my hand. My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than
all, and no one is able to snatch them out of the Father's hand. I and the
Father are one."
Comment: My sheep
hear my voice; I know them, and they follow me.
The images of shepherd and sheep can
be tough for modern Christians to grasp.
Most Australians are either too
far away from the practices of sheep herding or, if they do know a bit about
them, have a negative image of sheep as unthinking herd animals.
Is this
passage teaching us to follow the crowd without question or to have no mind of
our own?
Or is it telling us to expect
someone else to take care of us?
But the sheep in this passage are
complicated creatures. They believe in the shepherd's providence, but that
belief does not blind them to the terrors that await them along the way. They
seem to possess a radical trust rather than blind obedience.
Those who
follow Jesus and believe him�his sheep�know that the work Jesus is doing comes
from identification with the Father. It is being one with the Father, rather
than following blindly as in the image we often have of
sheep.
Source: Daily Prayer
Online
Scripture
�
So the
chief priests and the Pharisees gathered the council, and said, "What are we to
do? For this man performs many signs. If we let him go on thus, every one will
believe in him, and the Romans will come and destroy both our holy place and our
nation." But one of them, Ca'iaphas, who was high
priest that year, said to them, "You know nothing at all; you do not understand
that it is expedient for you that one man should die for the people, and that
the whole nation should not perish." He did not say this of his own accord, but
being high priest that year he prophesied that Jesus should die for the nation,
and not for the nation only, but to gather into one the children of God who are
scattered abroad. So from that day on they took counsel how to put him to death.
Comment
The advent
of Jesus Christ, the Son of God, changed human history; it inevitably changed
Jewish identity.
The passage
from Judaism to Christianity rouses the passions of Jew and Gentile alike. The
Jew accuses the Christian missionary of attempting to destroy the physical
integrity of the people, though not, of course, by physical means. Father Hruby seems to accept the assessment for he says: �If
Christians
are surprised to learn that belief in a Jewish Messiah should appear to imperil
the existence of the Jewish people. They are bewildered and hurt at the
resentment their well-intentioned missionary overtures encounter among Jews.
When the so-called �Anti-Mission Law� was passed in the Knesset, the parliament
of
Is it to be
wondered at that religious and secularist Jews combine forces to resist the
Christian missionary, who proclaims salvation for the individual and prepares
the earthly extermination of the people? Jesus of Nazareth had no such
intention. Had he not come to save the Jews? (cf. Mt. 1:21) He himself was a
Jew, born in
When the
Samaritan woman rounded on him pertly, saying: �You are a Jew. How can you ask
me, a Samaritan and a woman, for a drink?� Jn. 4:9), he does not reject the
attribution. By announcing to the confused woman that �salvation comes from the
Jews� (cf. Jn.
Source:
JESUS
AND JEWISH IDENTITY:
FROM MOSAIC
JUDAISM TO THE CHURCH
JEWISH
IDENTITY by Elias Friedman, O.C.D
Scripture:
While they
were talking and discussing together, Jesus himself drew near and went with
them. But their eyes were kept from recognizing him. And he said to them, "What
is this conversation which you are holding with each other as you walk?" And
they stood still, looking sad.
And he
said to them, "O foolish men, and slow of heart to believe all that the prophets
have spoken! Was it not necessary that the Christ should suffer these things and
enter into his glory?" And beginning with Moses and all the prophets, he
interpreted to them in all the scriptures the things concerning himself. So they drew near to the village to which they were
going. He appeared to be going further, but they constrained him, saying, "Stay with us, for it is toward evening and the day is now
far spent." So he went in to stay with them. When he was at table with them, he
took the bread and blessed, and broke it, and gave it to them. And their eyes
were opened and they recognized him; and he vanished out of their sight. They
said to each other, "Did not our hearts burn within us while he talked to us on
the road, while he opened to us the scriptures?"
Comment: Didn't our
hearts burn within us as he talked to us on the road and explained the
scriptures to us
It could be said that our Christian
faith begins with the Resurrection. Before this, Christ's teachings regarding
the kingdom were ill-understood by the disciples.
They hoped for a temporal kingdom
free from Roman oppression.
After the Resurrection, and
particularly Pentecost, they believed Jesus' kingdom was not of this world, but
a kingdom of love, joy, peace, truth and service.
Today's gospel suggests a return to
the scriptures and to prayerful meditation on them.
We will then come to know Jesus
better as our Saviour, brother, companion and friend who will never abandon
us.
Source: Daily Prayer
Online
Scripture
And Jesus
answered them, "Have faith in God. Truly, I say to you, whoever says to this
mountain, `Be taken up and cast into the sea,' and does not doubt in his heart,
but believes that what he says will come to pass, it will be done for him.
Therefore I tell you, whatever you ask in prayer, believe that you have received
it, and it will be yours.
Comment
Christ
demands a faith that will move mountains.
And since
He never demands the impossible we can, in the strength of our faith, move aside
mountains of misery and ignorance, of
misunderstanding, hatred and loneliness.
Usually
this implies a task of reconciliation that can be achieved only through prayer,
humility and selfless love.
Source:
Father Werenfried (1913-2003)
founder of Aid to the Church in Need.
Scripture:
But Saul,
still breathing threats and murder against the disciples of the Lord, went to
the high priest and asked him for letters to the synagogues at
But Anani'as answered, "Lord, I have heard from many about this
man, how much evil he has done to thy saints at
Comment: He chooses us. We are
called to serve and live our faith.
Who would have thought that he would
become the great
What would have gone through his mind, I wonder, as he lived in
total darkness for three days? All he could do was pray until you restored his
vision at Ananias' touch and filled him with your Holy
Spirit. From violent persecutor to bold disciple--who would have thought that he
would become the great
His conversion must give
even the most hardened sinner hope for transformation--absolutely no one is
beyond repair--but we must be serious about rejecting sin, proceeding in love,
and leaving all to God's grace. We cannot do this alone and must accept the
fellowship and guidance of other good and trustworthy believers.
We may
never experience such dramatic divine intervention. But whether he instantly
seizes us, or gently beckons, our life journey will always be empty if we do not
say yes to Jesus.
Source: Daily Prayer
Online
Scripture
And when
he returned to Caper'na-um after some days, it was
reported that he was at home. And many were gathered together, so that there was
no longer room for them, not even about the door; and he was preaching the word
to them. And they came, bringing to him a paralytic carried by four men. And
when they could not get near him because of the crowd, they removed the roof
above him; and when they had made an opening, they let down the pallet on which
the paralytic lay.
And when
Jesus saw their faith, he said to the paralytic, "My son, your sins are
forgiven." Now some of the scribes were sitting there, questioning in their
hearts, "Why does this man speak thus? It is blasphemy! Who can forgive sins but
God alone?" And immediately Jesus, perceiving in his spirit that they thus
questioned within themselves, said to them, "Why do you question thus in your
hearts? Which is easier, to say to the paralytic, `Your sins are forgiven,' or
to say, `Rise, take up your pallet and walk'? But that you may know that the Son
of man has authority on earth to forgive sins" -- he said to the paralytic -- "I
say to you, rise, take up your pallet and go home."
And he
rose, and immediately took up the pallet and went out before them all; so that
they were all amazed and glorified God, saying, "We never saw anything like
this!"
Comment - Who would I ask to carry me to Jesus?
If I were in the situation of the
paralytic, would I ask family members or friends? Which four people would I
choose, and why? Who could I trust so totally that I could lie peacefully on a stretcher, letting them work out how to
overcome the obstacles to reaching Jesus through the crowd. Could I relax as I
watched them remove roof tiles and prepare to lower me down? How tense would I
be as I hung in mid-air, dependent on their care and skill to hold the stretcher
level?
Have I ever told these and other special people, how much I value,
trust and enjoy them? Would they and others allow me, in turn, to help
them?
Jesus, let me be someone who helps people find their way to
you.
Source: Daily Prayer Online