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Daily Scripture

+ 7th Week of Easter

We are to be consecrated in truth.

Readings: Acts 20:28-38 Psalm 88:29-30, 33-36 John 17:11b-19

Consecrate them in the truth. Your word is truth. As you sent me into the world, so I sent them into the world. And I consecrate myself for them, so that they may also be consecrated in truth. [John 17:18-19]

Read the Gospel very slowly and if possible, out loud and if necessary, three times! Although John’s literary style is quite complex, the farewell prayer of Jesus is as powerful as is Paul’s farewell message in Acts.

It is not likely that these passages are the actual words of Paul and Jesus. They are compositions that Luke and John or whoever wrote in their name and are based on the oral tradition of the sayings of Jesus and the preaching of Paul. They were written in the style of farewell addresses of prominent leaders of their times in order to win the attention of early believers to whom the message of truth was entrusted.

The ‘truth’ that is being proclaimed is not from a catechism nor is it a defined doctrine or dogma. It is the core truth about the God who spoke through the prophets and then through Jesus about the universality of God’s love.

During this time of immediate preparation for Pentecost, we are invited to think about our own responsibility to pass on the ‘truth’ of God’s goodness entrusted to us in Christ and how we are to live that truth in our daily lives, each in our own unique way. No one of us can do this alone and so we much join hands literally and figuratively within the community of believers everywhere.

To live the ‘truth’ is to live in the Spirit of Jesus Christ the fruits of which are charity, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, generosity, gentleness, moderation, self-control, reverence, etc. I’m sure you memorized these ‘fruits of the Holy Spirit.’

These are the true ‘marks’ of our authenticity as believers.

First Sunday of Advent 'B'

Saturday November 26, 2005

Ready or Not, Here I Am!

The Cherokee Indians have a short creation story that captures the message of this season.

When the plants and trees were first made, the Great Mystery gave a gift to each of the species. But first he set up a contest to determine which gift would be most useful to whom.

“I want you to stay awake and keep watch over the earth for seven nights,” he told them. The young trees and plants were so excited to be entrusted with such an important task that the first night they did not find it difficult to stay awake. However, the second night was not so easy, and just before dawn a few fell asleep. On the third night the trees and plants whispered among themselves in the wind, trying to keep from dropping off, but it was too much work for some of them. Even more fell asleep on the fourth night.

By the time the seventh night came, the only trees and plants still awake were the cedar, the pine, the spruce, the fir, the holly, and the laurel. “What wonderful endurance you have,” exclaimed the Great Mystery. “You shall be given the gift of remaining green forever. You will be the guardians of the forest. Even in the seeming dead of winter, your brother and sister creatures will find life protected in your branches.” Ever since then all the other trees and plants lose their leaves and sleep all winter while the evergreens stay awake.

This story is not typical of the secular or even the religious pre-Christmas stories we will hear and tell in the coming weeks. There is no reference to light or darkness—no reference to the Christ child or even to Santa Claus. But it speaks of the enduring and vibrant presence of the “Great Mystery” whom we call God. It tells of a God who is always present to the universe and to us as the undying source of life and energy.

The prophet, Isaiah, offers an image of God as the source and center of life for the Israelites during one of the most desperate periods of their long, often barren, history. The prophet depicts God as a potter who has patiently molded the people of Israel and despite their vulnerability and brokenness, he does not dispose of the pottery but picks up the pieces and places them back in the center of the potters wheel so that he can reshape them again in his image. To be clay is to be a work in progress. God never sleeps but is always alert to our frailty and ever ready to heal our brokenness. We are indeed, a work in progress.

Mark calls us to be alert in mind and heart so that we may recognize the day of God’s visitation not out of fear but out of a deep desire to be happy and fulfilled. Reminiscent of the words of the psalmist, “Be still, and know that I am God;” I am already in your heart, Mark’s message is not intended to occasion fear but to engender excitement. Our readiness demands that we first surrender to silence and so come to the knowledge that there is goodness within us to be unleashed. Jesus said, “The kingdom of God is within you.”

Paul confirms the message of Mark and says to the Corinthians and to us that we have already been enriched by the gift of grace. Those who live the rhythm of God, swim in the see of God’s grace.

Do you have a ‘prayer chair’ in your home? If not, please purchase one during Advent or perhaps your spouse or another loved one will make give you one for Christmas or better, just designate a special chair already in your home as your prayer chair. No home should be without one and no day should begin without at least five minutes of quiet time, focus time with “the Great Mystery” – the God of the heavens and the earth. No agenda, no petitions, no bargaining, no deals; just listen in silence. A word or a phrase from a psalm may help to enter God’s space, sacred space that will make your space sacred too but not only your space but also your day. Guaranteed, the day will go better and the Advent Scriptures will make more sense, the Eucharist will have greater meaning, you will find God where you least expect to find God and you will recognize the face of Jesus in strangers.

Don’t do it to get something out of it. Do it to give something – to give God your very self in praise and gratitude. Five minutes is only the first installment. If you are faithful to the practice, five minutes will become twenty and perhaps thirty minutes!

Hisidic Jews have their ‘prayer huts’ and the Indians have their sweat tents. As Christians, we are a incarnational people, close to the earth and to all of creation. Our time with the ‘Great Mystery’ is never wasted time. In fact it is a must for the sake of humanity.

God dwells in the depth of your being, in your soul. Jesus was in touch with this reality and so are the evergreen trees.

We are called to be evergreen trees in the midst of barrenness in the seeming dead of winter so that others may be protected in our branches.

Advent is a time to be alert and aware of our life-giving connection to the living God as Jesus was in his time, even when inner and outer forces militate against it. Just as the light in the darkness reminds us of this truth, so does the green-leafed tree in the leafless forest.

So, go often to your prayer chair and then lift up your branches to the sky and allow the star at the top to shine before all people. Amen.