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Posts Tagged ‘Evangelization’

Easter Week 7: God Reigns and Rains Among and Beyond Us

Posted in Ascension, Easter, Reflections from Other Writers and Speakers, Reflections on Scripture, Who Am I in God, Who is God, tagged , , , , , , , , on May 12, 2024| Leave a Comment »

Photo by 𝗔𝗹𝗲𝘅 𝘙𝘢𝘪𝘯𝘦𝘳 on Unsplash

This week’s readings:

  1. Acts 1:1–11
  2. Psalm 47:2–3, 6–7, 8–9
  3. Ephesians 4:1–13
  4. Mark 16:15–20

What this week’s readings say to me:

This week’s readings are the readings that commemorate the Ascension of the Lord. The themes of this week’s passages call to mind themes we’ll revisit near the end of the year, on the last Sunday before Advent, the feast of Christ the King. On this day and on that one, we honor Christ’s kingship.

Today, the first reading gives us a summary of what happened during Christ’s reign on earth. It reflects on the past. In the same passage, the apostles ask the risen Lord what His resurrection means in terms of the prophecies about the Messiah that have been handed down to them. They wonder what the prophecies and the resurrection mean for their futures. He tells them this is no time to sit back and wonder what God is going to do. He tells them instead to focus on what He has asked them to do, which is to do as He has done and to share what He has taught them.

This week’s psalm is one that praises God’s kingship.

In the epistle, the third passage listed above, Paul tells the church in Ephesus how to live as Christ lived and how to teach what He taught. He says the key to communion with others and Christ is practicing “humility and gentleness” so that we might “preserve the unity of the spirit through the bond of peace” (Eph. 4:2-3). Embracing these qualities allows God, who is Love, to reign “over all and through all and in all” (Eph. 4:6).

To me, the passage seems to go on to say that Christ didn’t ascend to reign “over all” without descending into death and into a tomb first so He could loosen the grip of death on creation (Eph. 4:6-10). By ascending He cannot only reign but rain gifts on all of creation. These gifts prepare each of us to grow in union with God, to help others grow in that union and to care for what we have in different ways (Eph. 4:10-12).

The Gospel passage reminds us that if we don’t grow in union with God, we die. Furthermore, if we don’t care for the people and resources we’ve been given, we lose them. We run out of resources. The Gospel passage also reminds us to share what we’ve been given and that the gifts we have possessed great power.

What someone else is sharing about this week’s readings:

This week, Martha Ligas proposes that the natural world can teach us how to live out the mission that Jesus gave the apostles.

Beyond this week’s readings:

These signs will accompany those who believe: in my name they will drive out demons, they will speak new languages. They will pick up serpents with their hands, and if they drink any deadly thing, it will not harm them. They will lay hands on the sick, and they will recover.

(Mark 15:17-18)

The above excerpt reminds me that for we flawed human beings, every gift brings with it temptations. Humans sometimes use this verse and the fact that they can receive, live in, and share God’s spirit as justification to put God to the test. We read that when the spirit drives Jesus into the desert, Satan tempts him to put God to the test by commanding a stone to turn into bread and by throwing Himself off the parapet of the temple and expecting God to rescue Him (Luke 4:3 and 9-11). Jesus responds by telling us and Satan that neither we nor He should put God to the test (Luke 3:12). Possessing God’s spirit doesn’t mean we should act without employing reason and exercising prudence. The rules in place in the natural world are just as much reflections of who God is as are events humans are more inclined to call miracles. Let’s celebrate the beauty of nature and laws of the universe and respect that God works within and beyond these gifts. God’s vision is deeper, wider, and clearer than ours is. To respect and to celebrate this reality is to live with gratitude and humility.

This week’s prayer:

The following prayer has a lot of work to do to come to fruition in me: Lord, may we not invite trouble and danger, fear what trouble may come, or be afraid when You allow difficult times to invite us to turn to you and be transformed into the people we can become in You. Amen.

Work cited (but not linked to)

The New American Bible Revised Edition, Kindle edition, Fairbrother, 2011.

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Timing Makes a Difference in Where We Follow Jesus

Posted in Reflections on Scripture, Social Justice, Who Am I in God, Who is God, tagged , , , , , , , , , on June 18, 2023| Leave a Comment »

Photo by Thomas Bormans on Unsplash

This week’s readings:

  • Exodus 19:2–6a
  • Psalm 100:1–2, 3, 5
  • Romans 5:6–11
  • Mark 1:15

When I read the first reading, the Old Testament reading, I thought, It’s easy to zero in on the last sentence of the passage: “You shall be to me a kingdom of priests, a holy nation (The New American Bible, 2001 Edition, Exod. 19:6). It seems we humans are naturally tempted to put ourselves in God’s “in crowd” and to assume that others who aren’t part of our group are not a part of that “in crowd.”

But Isaiah, sacred scripture to both Christian and Jewish people, says that “The Servant of the Lord” is “a light to the nations,” not to just one group or one nation” (The New American Bible, 2001 Edition, 42:6a). And the second-to-last sentence of this week’s Old Testament reading gives me a different way of thinking about who belongs to God than Exodus 19:6a does. “If you hearken to my voice,” it says, “and keep my covenant, you shall be my possession, dearer to me than all other people, though all the earth is mine (The New American Bible, 2001 Edition, Exod. 19:5). What matters to God is that we “hearken to [the Lord’s] voice,” that we resolve again and again to do what that voice asks of us, to share it, and so offer back to God what God has given to us.

When our response to God falls short of what’s best, God is there to renew the covenant by reminding us of what He has done and inviting us to reenter into the covenant with Him. He has never abandoned it; it is we who have done that, not allowing God to possess us. He doesn’t prevent us from wriggling out of His embrace when we find it uncomfortable, even though “all the earth is [His],” and “[h]is kindness endures forever,/ and his faithfulness to all generations” (The New American Bible, 2001 Edition, Psalm 100:5). God wants everyone to enter the Divine flock, so much so that “Christ, while we were still helpless, yet died at the appointed time for the ungodly” (The New American Bible, 2001 Edition, Romans 5:6).

Considering that He went so far as to die, in the words of Romans “for the ungodly,” His instruction to His disciples “not to go into pagan territory” seems incongruous (Matt.10:5). It seems even more confusing when we recall that Jesus praised that faith of a Roman centurion and “stated that, in heaven, many Gentiles will dine together with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob” (Matt. 8: 10; qtd. in Newman). (Check out the source I just linked to. It gives great background on Jewish-Gentile relations in biblical times and what the New Testament says about Jesus’ perspective on Jewish-Gentile interactions. Furthermore, after the resurrection, a disciple and apostle—Paul—discerned that he was called to do the opposite of Jesus’ instructions in Matthew 10.5. (See Galatians 2:7.)

The contrast between Jesus’ instruction in Matthew 10:5 and the inclusion of Gentiles in His teaching on other occasions, as well as Paul’s ministry to non-Jewish people, reminds me that who, what, when, why, and how are key questions to ask when seeking to do God’s will and to follow in Jesus’ footsteps. The mission of each follower of Christ and each person of goodwill has certain things in common. And yet, each person’s vocation is different in some ways than the calling anyone else receives. In addition, what we shouldn’t do in one moment may be something that we should do at a different time. These lessons bring to mind Ecclesiastes 3:1-8, the verses that, in the King James Version, start with, “to every thing, there is a season . . . “The translation I usually turn to begins these verses with “There is an appointed time for everything (Ecc. 3:1-8, The New American Bible Revised Edition).

So as I conclude my time sitting with this week’s readings for now, I’m reminded that God’s timing isn’t my timing, and my timing may not coincide with God’s.

Lord, help me to get out of my own way. Help me not to get in the way of Your work, the work of giving all of Yourself, the work of true love. Help me to remember that when I don’t get in Your way, when I instead imitate You in word and deed, I’ll be on the path of growth and of helping others grow, as this week’s readings remind me that God wants me to do by allowing Him to guide and to care for me. Amen.

Works cited

The Bible. King James Version, Bible Gateway, n.d. Accessed 13 June 2023, https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Ecclesiastes%203&version=KJV.

The Bible. The New American Bible Revised Edition, Kindle edition, Fairbrother, 2011.

Confraternity of Christian Doctrine, Inc. “Sunday July, 2 2023: Readings at Mass.” The New American Bible, 2001. Universalis for Windows, Version 2.179, Universalis Publishing Ltd., 26 Feb. 2023, https://universalis.com/n-app-windows.htm

Newman, John. “Jesus and the Gentiles.” New Hope Community Development of Acadiana, 21 Sept. 2020, http://newhopelafayette.org/jesusandthegentiles/.

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The Signs and Wonders of Faith, Joy, Gratitude, Sincerity, and Generosity

Posted in Easter, Reflections on Scripture, Social Justice, Uncategorized, tagged , , , , , , on April 15, 2023| Leave a Comment »

Photo by Helena Lopes on Unsplash

This week’s readings:

  • Acts 2:42–47
  • Psalm 118:2–4, 13–15, 22–24
  • 1 Peter 1:3–9
  • John 20:19-31

As I rejoin Jesus’ first followers, they have been praying behind locked doors, huddling in fear. In their time with Jesus, they’ve experienced hope, joy, grief, and fear. These experiences are repeated and shared in Christian life, and indeed, in human life.1 Peter reflects this reality, acknowledging, “now for a little while you may have to suffer through various trials, so that the genuineness of your faith . . . may prove to be for praise, glory, and and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ,” the perfect union with others in Him that is Heaven (1 Peter: 7). This union in its fullness won’t be revealed now, but is “ready to be revealed in [that] final time” (1 Peter: 5).

There are times, even prior to that perfect union, when the pouring out of Divine Love becomes apparent in overtly supernatural ways. One such occasion is when Jesus comes through that locked door into the room where the apostles are praying and breathes the Holy Spirit onto them. (To read a story based on John’s account of when the apostles received the Holy Spirit, follow this link to a post I wrote around this time last year.) Another comes later in the same chapter when Jesus comes again through the locked doors and shows Thomas his wounds (John 20: 26-28).

The other account of the descent of the Holy Spirit is in Acts. In Acts 2:4-11, The Spirit allows the apostles to speak languages they haven’t previously known. In my my imagination, they not only speak these languages but do so enthusiastically, animatedly — to the point where observers think they must be drunk (Acts 2: 13).

But they aren’t. What’s happened is the Holy Spirit has given the disciples what they need to fulfill their calling. They have new skills and greater understanding of what they’ve experienced. The Holy Spirit has replaced their grief and confusion with faith, joy, and generosity. The reading from Acts tells me, “All who believed were together and had all things in common; they would sell their property and positions and divide them among all according to each one’s need” and that “[e]very day they devoted themselves to meeting together in the temple area into breaking bread in their homes” (Acts 2: 44-45). The reading adds, “They ate their meals with exultation and sincerity of heart, praising God and enjoying favor with all the people” (Act 2:46-47). This description doesn’t paint a picture of a reserved or sedately appreciative people. These people are overflowing with qualities that draw others to their community.

I read that “many signs and wonders were done through the apostles,” but it stands out to me that I read this after I read that the first Christians “devoted themselves to the teaching of the apostles . . . to the communal life, to the breaking of the bread and to the prayers” (Act 2:42-43). It’s after I read this summary of what early Christian life was like that I’m told “Awe came upon everyone, and many signs and wonders were done through the apostles” (Acts 2:43) The passage doesn’t focus on these “signs and wonders” (Acts 2:43). Instead, it focuses on the wonders that come forth from the soil, along with the gifts of generosity, sincerity, faith, community, and joy. These qualities are just a few of the facets of God’s mercy. It isn’t made visible only through a single supernatural event. It “endures forever”(Psa. 118:4). It works in acts of sincerity, faith, gratitude, generosity, and joy and has immeasurable power to bring people along on a journey toward God.

Lord, I ask that the gifts of your Holy Spirit shine forth from me and from the communities in which I share so that they may draw everyone to You. Amen.

The Bible. The New American Bible Revised Edition, Kindle edition, Fairbrother, 2011.

Confraternity of Christian Doctrine, Inc. “Sunday July, 2 2023: Readings at Mass.” The New American Bible, 2001. Universalis for Windows, Version 2.179, Universalis Publishing Ltd., 26 Feb. 2023, https://universalis.com/n-app-windows.htm

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