The texts from the Roman Catholic Lectionary today invite meditation on the challenges in life to remain faithful to the truth revealed in our relationship with God.
The Path has difficulties
The reading from the Book of Daniel tells of the support of God for the faithful men in the fiery furnace.
* [3:24–90] These verses are additions to the Aramaic text of Daniel, translated from the Greek form of the book. They were probably first composed in Hebrew or Aramaic, but are no longer extant in the original language. The Roman Catholic Church has always regarded them as part of the canonical Scriptures.1
The Prayer of Azariah, in Daniel 3, declares God as praiseworthy and exalted above all forever.
praiseworthy and exalted above all forever1.
In the Gospel of John, faith connects Jesus and Abraham.
* [8:31–59] Jesus’ origin (“before Abraham”) and destiny are developed; the truth will free them from sin (Jn 8:34) and death (Jn 8:51).2
Edward Morse comments that dissonance between the truth and our willingness to live by it eventually gets sorted out.
But Jesus did not mince words about the dissonance between how they thought of themselves and the reality of their condition. I sometimes hear people say, “I’d like to think that….” Of course, we would like to think many things, but that does not make them so! I am also one of those people. It is hard to see ourselves as we are, particularly when we need mercy and forgiveness for our faults and flaws. Lord, help us see ourselves as we are, but also to see your offer of mercy just as clearly. Help us to run toward you while we have the ability to do so. Give us courage to live truly and not by lies, knowing that you are near us, even in the fire. Deliver us especially from droopy hands and double paths, which lead us away from the good we desire and so desperately need. Thanks be to God.3
Don Schwager quotes “The upright of heart,” by Augustine of Hippo, 354-430 A.D.
"Do you know who the upright of heart are? They are those who wish what God wishes. Therefore, do not try to twist God's will to your own, but correct your will to that of God. The will of God is a rule of conduct. By it you have the means of being converted and of correcting your evil ways." (excerpt from Commentary on Psalm 93,18)4
The Word Among Us Meditation on Daniel 3:14-20, 91-92, 95 comments that the “furnaces” could be tragedies, trials, or challenges in our life—anything that requires an extraordinary amount of strength to overcome or endure. Today’s first reading assures us that no matter how hard the task before us may be, God will be with us. He can give us the strength and courage to face those flames and to come out even stronger than before.
For others of us, a wounded relationship can feel like a furnace that burns away the peace and security we once found in that other person’s friendship. But God is in the midst of those flames as well, offering us his healing love and helping us decide when and how to seek reconciliation. Identifying and stopping sinful patterns of behavior can also be hard as the flames of temptation draw closer and closer. But God is even there, standing right beside us as those foul thoughts and desires flare up. They can’t chase him away; he is always ready to give us his strength and determination to keep fighting.5
Friar Jude Winkler connects the angel in the fiery furnace to the Son of God cited in Revelation. Descendents of Abraham are heir to a strong faith that believes in the Promise of God.
Fr. Richard Rohr, OFM, notes that one of the great scholars of the Jewish scriptures was Rabbi Abraham Joshua Heschel (1907–1972). In his in-depth study of the Hebrew prophets, he included this description of the prophets which is really rather surprising. We often think of prophets as scolds, rather judgmental and cranky, but Heschel reminds us of their essential gifts of creativity and imagination. In Amanda Gorman’s poem “The Hill We Climb: An Inaugural Poem for the Country” many of her words connect deeply with words from the Hebrew prophets.
The prophet is a poet. His experience is one known to the poets. What the poets know as poetic inspiration, the prophets call divine revelation. . . . The inspiration of the artist is what is meant by “the hand of the Lord which rests upon the prophet.” What makes the difference between the prophet and the ordinary person is the possession of a heightened and unified awareness of certain aspects of life. Like a poet, he is endowed with sensibility, enthusiasm, and tenderness, and above all, with a way of thinking imaginatively. Prophecy is the product of poetic imagination. Prophecy is poetry, and in poetry everything is possible, [such as] for the trees to celebrate a birthday, and for God to speak to [humans]. The statement “God’s word came to me” was employed by the prophet as a figure of speech, as a poetic image. [1]6
We ponder the words of the prophets and seek the wisdom of God for enduring the fires in life.
References
No comments:
Post a Comment