February 28, 2020 Second Sunday in Lent

Mark 8:34- 35

³⁴ Then he called the crowd to him along with his disciples and said: “Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me. ³⁵ For whoever wants to save their life will lose it, but whoever loses their life for me and for the gospel will save it.

When I try to find life I end up loosing it.  When I give up trying to find it or save it and simply lose myself in it, I find it.

This is also true of faith .

It is not the purpose of faith to take all the uncertainty out of life.  To have all the answers; to save life from its human experience of surprise, shock, disillusionment, fear, doubt, perplexity, confusion and all the rest of the uncertainties which come our way.  To do so would be to destroy the human experience of life.

For it is in the face of the uncertainties of life that we discover the truth that life is to be found by getting lost - lost in something bigger than ourselves.  Lost in living as one who is following Jesus. 

“He/she who would take all the      

uncertainty out of life, will lose it.  

He/she who would live with 

uncertainty, in faith, will find it.”

Prayer thought for the week: “Lord, help me to get lost in something bigger

than my self, so I can find life and live it.  Help me get lost in being a servant of love, following Jesus.”

Feb. 21. 2021 First Sunday in Lent

Mark 1:12-15  (The Message)

12 At once, this same Spirit pushed Jesus out into the wild. 13 For forty wilderness days and nights he was tested by Satan. Wild animals were his companions, and angels took care of him. 14 After John was arrested, Jesus went to Galilee preaching the Message of God: 15 "Time's up! God's kingdom is here. Change your life (REPENT) and believe the Message.”

The word repent is a pivotal word between us and the Kingdom of God.  It means to turn around; to change one’s mind, to let go of something so something better can come.  It may be stimulated by something negative or positive, yet it is the first positive step towards the Kingdom of God.

What we believe is in need of repentance as much as what we don’t believe.  For our beliefs can keep us from seeing the Kingdom of God in our midst as much as our disbelief.  Jesus had more difficulty with the religious than with any other group.  What they believed kept them from seeing what he called them to believe. 

To repent and believe the good news is to let go of what ever it is that keeps us from living in the Kingdom now.   Not just with our heads, but more deeply with our hearts.  For true repentance leads to “understanding hearts”, which opens us to walking in love and making the changes needed “in our hearts” so something of God’s kingdom can happen here and now. 

“Every change of mind is first 

of all a change of heart, and 

if the heart does not change, 

new ideas do not last long.”  

Richard Roar

Prayer thought for the week: “Lord, help me to repent of that which keeps me from seeing and believing with all my heart that your Kingdom can come on earth even through me.  We can have peace and unity!”

Feb. 14. 2021 The Transfiguration of Our Lord

 

Mark 9:2-9  (The Message)

2 Six days later, three of them did see it. Jesus took Peter, James, and John and led them up a high mountain. His appearance changed from the inside out, right before their eyes. 3 His clothes shimmered, glistening white, whiter than any bleach could make them. 4 Elijah, along with Moses, came into view, in deep conversation with Jesus. 5 Peter interrupted, "Rabbi, this is a great moment! Let's build three memorials - one for you, one for Moses, one for Elijah." 6 He blurted this out without thinking, stunned as they all were by what they were seeing. 7 Just then a light-radiant cloud enveloped them, and from deep in the cloud, a voice: "This is my Son, marked by my love. Listen to him." 8 The next minute the disciples were looking around, rubbing their eyes, seeing nothing but Jesus, only Jesus. 9 Coming down the mountain, Jesus swore them to secrecy. "Don't tell a soul what you saw. After the Son of Man rises from the dead, you're free to talk.”

There are some things too precious and holy to shout from the mountain tops.   First there has to be a relationship and an experience through which this special moment can be understood.  For Peter, James and John, that relationship was with Jesus and the experience which would make sense of the mystical experience of the transfiguration was the resurrection.

They are to tell no one, just stay with Jesus and listen to Him.  Later they can tell the whole story, in word and deeds.

We are called to be bold in our witness to the transforming power of God in Jesus Christ.

We cannot always shout it out, but we can and are empowered by that which we cannot tell to do that which is very telling -  which causes people to recognize that we have been with Jesus.

To have had a transforming experience, is to have a spirit within which empowers us to live as those who know we are loved by God.  And that means someone else is going to be better off!

 

"It is no use walking anywhere to preach unless our walking is our preaching."        

St.  Francis of Assisi

Prayer thought for the week:  “Lord help me to live so that my living is the telling of your love and grace.”

Feb. 7, 2021 Fifth Sunday after Epiphany

 Mark 1:29-35  (The Message)

29 Directly on leaving the meeting place, they came to Simon and Andrew's house, accompanied by James and John. 30 Simon's mother-in-law was sick in bed, burning up with fever. They told Jesus. 31 He went to her, took her hand, and raised her up. No sooner had the fever left than she was up fixing dinner for them. 32 That evening, after the sun was down, they brought sick and evil-afflicted people to him, 33 the whole city lined up at his door! 34 He cured their sick bodies and tormented spirits. Because the demons knew his true identity, he didn't let them say a word. 35 While it was still night, way before dawn, he got up and went out to a secluded spot and prayed.

Jesus needed to get away from it all. To be alone. To pray.  To keep in touch with himself, his purpose, and his Father who sent him.  This was no game he was playing.  He needed this to stay on target!

This is what prayer is, at its deepest level.  It is being with God, and letting the energy which pours forth from God renew us, as pure love can. 

Silence and solitude are lost arts in our noisy, crowded lives.  We don’t make much room for quiet and time alone.  There is so much to do and so far to go.  We want action not peace and quiet.

Henri Nouwen, a Catholic theologian of renown,  suggests that solitude - time alone with God - helps us get in touch with a oneness with all people, which leads to less judgment and more compassion on our part.

“In solitude we realize that nothing human is alien to us, that the roots of all conflict, war, injustice, cruelty, hatred, jealousy, and envy are deeply anchored in our own heart!  In solitude our heart of stone can be turned into a heart of flesh, a rebellious heart into a contrite heart, and a closed heart into a heart that can open itself to all suffering people in a gesture of solidarity.”   The Way Of The Heart, p. 20 

“In solitude our heart of stone can 

be turned into a heart of flesh, 

a rebellious heart into a contrite heart, 

and a closed heart into a heart 

that can open itself to all suffering 

people in a gesture of solidarity.”  

 

         Henri Nouwen 

Prayer thoughts:  “Lord, help me find a quiet spot…place…moment in my busy day when I can be alone with you. Where I can hear your “still, small voice” above the noise of my day.”