Signs of Change

The texts from the Roman Catholic Lectionary today invite us to be open to the signs of the Presence of God on our journey that indicate our path to full life.

Invitation to Change

The reading from the Book of Exodus describes the Presence in The Cloud and the Glory.

Psalm 84 praises the Joy of Worship in the Temple.

* [Psalm 84] Israelites celebrated three pilgrimage feasts in Jerusalem annually. The Psalm expresses the sentiments of the pilgrims eager to enjoy the divine presence.

* [84:4] The desire of a restless bird for a secure home is an image of the desire of a pilgrim for the secure house of God, cf. Ps 42:2–3, where the image for the desire of the pilgrim is the thirst of the deer for water. (Psalms, PSALM 84, n.d.)

The Gospel of Matthew, presents the final judgement and teaching with treasures New and Old.

* [13:44–50] The first two of the last three parables of the discourse have the same point. The person who finds a buried treasure and the merchant who finds a pearl of great price sell all that they have to acquire these finds; similarly, the one who understands the supreme value of the kingdom gives up whatever he must to obtain it. The joy with which this is done is made explicit in the first parable, but it may be presumed in the second also. The concluding parable of the fishnet resembles the explanation of the parable of the weeds with its stress upon the final exclusion of evil persons from the kingdom.

* [13:44] In the unsettled conditions of Palestine in Jesus’ time, it was not unusual to guard valuables by burying them in the ground.

* [13:51] Matthew typically speaks of the understanding of the disciples.

* [13:52] Since Matthew tends to identify the disciples and the Twelve (see note on Mt 10:1), this saying about the Christian scribe cannot be taken as applicable to all who accept the message of Jesus. While the Twelve are in many ways representative of all who believe in him, they are also distinguished from them in certain respects. The church of Matthew has leaders among whom are a group designated as “scribes” (Mt 23:34). Like the scribes of Israel, they are teachers. It is the Twelve and these their later counterparts to whom this verse applies. The scribe…instructed in the kingdom of heaven knows both the teaching of Jesus (the new) and the law and prophets (the old) and provides in his own teaching both the new and the old as interpreted and fulfilled by the new. On the translation head of a household (for the same Greek word translated householder in Mt 13:27), see note on Mt 24:45–51. (Matthew, CHAPTER 13, n.d.)

Gladyce Janky comments that as the cloud rises from the Dwelling, the children of Israel resume their journey.  The movement of the cloud symbolizes it is time to pack what is necessary and leave behind anything unimportant for what comes next.  There is more life to experience and opportunities to grow closer to God. 

If we are attentive to the present moments of our life, we notice the clues that it is time to proceed.  Perhaps it is the Daily Readings, during a time of prayer, something a person we trust says, or something else.  We might feel that a cloud of doubt or hesitancy has lifted.  Perhaps we feel lighter, or there is greater clarity about what to leave behind and what we need to go forward.  How is God nudging me forward, and what do I need to leave behind? (Janky, 2023)

Don Schwager presents a meditation on “Trained for the Kingdom of Heaven.”He quotes “ A scribe who is trained for the kingdom of heaven,” by Cyril of Alexandria (375-444 AD).

"A scribe is one who, through continual reading of the Old and New Testaments, has laid up for himself a storehouse of knowledge. Thus Christ blesses those who have gathered in themselves the education both of the law and of the gospel, so as to 'bring forth from their treasure things both new and old.' And Christ compares such people with a scribe, just as in another place he says, 'I will send you wise men and scribes' (Matthew 23:34) (excerpt from Fragment 172) (Schwager, n.d.)

The Word Among Us Meditation on Exodus 40:16-21, 34-38 comments that we all experience times when we yearn for explicit, step-by-step direction from the Lord. Yet we can trust that in all the ways he has provided for us, we will be able to discern the answer to all the choices and dilemmas we face.

Are you looking for more concrete direction about a particular issue in your life? Be like the Israelites and keep your eyes fixed on the Lord. Sometimes his answer is as obvious as the cloud covering the meeting tent. Sometimes his answer is not as clear, but that may be because God has confidence in your ability to make a good choice. Whatever the case, know that the Lord is pleased by your willingness to be led by him!

“Father, I want to follow you. Show me the way you want me to go.” (Meditation on Exodus 40:16-21, 34-38, n.d.)

Friar Jude Winkler describes the contents of the Tent of Dwelling and how the Israelites are unable to trust God is not distant or unknowing. Matthew’s Gospel shares the final judgement that will have us judge ourselves in the face of God. Friar Jude reminds us to explore new and old ways of study and worship that will allow us to be open to surprise, awe, and wonder about our relationship with God.

Fr. Richard Rohr, OFM, shares a prayerful meditation with the crucified Jesus as a way of healing our violence. He invites us to receive these words as Jesus’ invitation to us from the cross.

My beloved, I am your self. I am your beauty. I am your goodness, which you are destroying. I am what you do to what you should love. I am what you are afraid of: your deepest and best and most naked self—your soul. Your sin largely consists in what you do to harm goodness—your own and others’. You are afraid of the good; you are afraid of me. You kill what you should love; you hate what could transform you. I am Jesus crucified. I am yourself, and I am all of humanity. (Rohr, 2023)

Our experiences of prayer and worship create a closer relationship with the Divine and open our imagination to new and old connections in piety, study, and action.

References

Janky, G. (2023, August 3). Creighton U. Daily Reflection. Online Ministries. Retrieved August 3, 2023, from https://onlineministries.creighton.edu/CollaborativeMinistry/080323.html 

Matthew, CHAPTER 13. (n.d.). USCCB. Retrieved August 3, 2023, from https://bible.usccb.org/bible/matthew/13? 

Meditation on Exodus 40:16-21, 34-38. (n.d.). The Word Among Us: Homepage. Retrieved August 3, 2023, from https://wau.org/meditations/2023/08/03/748527/ 

Psalms, PSALM 84. (n.d.). USCCB. Retrieved August 3, 2023, from https://bible.usccb.org/bible/psalms/84?3 

Rohr, R. (2023, August 3). Ending the Cycle of Violence — Center for Action and Contemplation. CAC Daily Meditations 2023. Retrieved August 3, 2023, from https://cac.org/daily-meditations/ending-the-cycle-of-violence-2023-08-03/ 

Schwager, D. (n.d.). Daily Scripture net. Daily Scripture Readings and Meditations – Daily Scripture Readings and Meditations. Retrieved August 3, 2023, from https://www.dailyscripture.net/daily-meditation/?ds_year=2023&date=aug3 

Beginnings and endings

The texts from the Roman Catholic Lectionary for the last day of 2018 resonate with our struggle in the temporal world that is connected to experience of eternal grace and truth.

New path

The First Letter of John warns against teaching in the world that is against Christ.

 * [2:18] It is the last hour: literally, “a last hour,” the period between the death and resurrection of Christ and his second coming. The antichrist: opponent or adversary of Christ; the term appears only in 1 John–2 John, but “pseudochrists” (translated “false messiahs”) in Mt 24:24 and Mk 13:22, and Paul’s “lawless one” in 2 Thes 2:3, are similar figures. Many antichrists: Matthew, Mark, and Revelation seem to indicate a collectivity of persons, here related to the false teachers.1

The Gospel from John begins with a poetic proclamation of Logos becoming flesh in Jesus.

 * [1:1] In the beginning: also the first words of the Old Testament (Gn 1:1). Was: this verb is used three times with different meanings in this verse: existence, relationship, and predication. The Word (Greek logos): this term combines God’s dynamic, creative word (Genesis), personified preexistent Wisdom as the instrument of God’s creative activity (Proverbs), and the ultimate intelligibility of reality (Hellenistic philosophy). With God: the Greek preposition here connotes communication with another. Was God: lack of a definite article with “God” in Greek signifies predication rather than identification.2

Cindy Costanzo shares a reminder of God’s unending love and grace for each of us at the end of the year and a beginning of a New Year.

Don Schwager quotes “The first-fruits of the Gospels”, by Origen of Alexandria (185-254 AD).

 "I think that John's Gospel, which you have enjoined us to examine to the best of our ability, is the first-fruits of the Gospels. It speaks of him whose descent is traced and begins from him who is without a genealogy... The greater and more perfect expressions concerning Jesus are reserved for the one who leaned on Jesus' breast. For none of the other Gospels manifested his divinity as fully as John when he presented him saying, 'I am the light of the world' (John 8:42), 'I am the way and the truth and the life' (John 14:6), 'I am the resurrection' (John 11:25), 'I am the door' (John 10:9), 'I am the good shepherd' (John 10:11)... We might dare say then that the Gospels are the first-fruits of all Scripture but that the first-fruits of the Gospels is that according to John whose meaning no one can understand who has not leaned on Jesus' breast or received Mary from Jesus to be his mother also." (excerpt from COMMENTARY ON THE GOSPEL OF JOHN 1.21–23)3

The Word Among Us Meditation on John 1:1-18 comments that today’s Gospel contains many statements about Jesus that can sound abstract and a little mysterious. He is the bearer of “grace and truth” (John 1:14), the light shining “in the darkness” (1:5), and the one through whom we receive life (1:12). But far from being abstract, these words don’t describe something God does in a vacuum. They describe what Jesus wants to do for each of us.

God is not far away! He dwells with you and he wants to reveal himself to you in your everyday circumstances. So as you look toward 2019, spend some time asking him where you most need to see his glory in your life. Surrender those areas to him. Ask him how he wants to show you his grace and his truth in those situations in the coming year.4

Friar Jude Winkler points us to the teachers of “docetism” as specific opponents of Jesus identified in the First Letter of John. Poetically, the Word was “towards” God always separate yet always falling more in Love. Friar Jude speaks about the Word became “sarx” in our created reality and here “pitched His tent among us”. He is full of grace and truth in the Hebrew words associated with Covenant fullness.

André H. Roosma dwells especially on the two character-traits of YaHUaH that we encounter most often in the Bible. That is the combination of the two Hebrew words חסד - chesed and אמת - ’emet; translated as “lovingkindness” and faithfulness or as grace and truth.

 And what is so wonderful about the Bible in its unity, in the New Testament we encounter this couple as well. In the first chapter of his Gospel, Yahu-chanan (John) wrote about Jesus / Yeshu‘ah:
And the Word became flesh, and dwelt among us (and we beheld His glory, glory as of the Only Begotten from the Father), full of grace and truth..Yahu-chanan (John) 1: 14
One of the remarkable character traits of Jesus / Yeshu‘ah was that He was full of grace and truth. By His entire Being and through all of His life and ministry He radiated this.5

Fr. Richard Rohr, OFM, observes that within each of us is a deep desire for union and intimacy with God, with our truest self, and with all of Creation. Because life is hard, and we’re wired for survival, we develop coping mechanisms that separate us from each other and God. Thankfully, God is patient and has many ways to reach us. Jesus is one of the clearest, most visible images of God’s love. His teaching and example model for us what it means to be both human and divine—at the same time. He dismantles our preconceived ideas about who and where God is and is not.

 Late have I loved you, O Beauty ever ancient, ever new, late have I loved you! You were within me, but I was outside, and it was there that I searched for you. In my unloveliness I plunged into the lovely things which you created. You were with me, but I was not with you. Created things kept me from you; yet if they had not been in you they would not have been at all. You called, you shouted, and you broke through my deafness. You flashed, you shone, and you dispelled my blindness. You breathed your fragrance on me; I drew in breath and now I pant for you. I have tasted you, now I hunger and thirst for more. You touched me, and I burned for your peace. —Augustine of Hippo (354-430) [1][1] Augustine of Hippo, Confessions, 10.27. This translation is taken from the Office of Readings on St. Augustine’s feast day (August 28). See http://www.liturgies.net/saints/augustine/readings.htm .6

As a year ends, our contemplation of ancient understanding of God and our contemporary experience of desire for union and intimacy sets the stage for reconciliation of the past and optimism for love in the future.

References

1	(n.d.). 1 John chapter 2 - United States Conference of Catholic Bishops. Retrieved December 31, 2018, from http://www.usccb.org/bible/1john/2
2	(n.d.). John, chapter 1 - United States Conference of Catholic Bishops. Retrieved December 31, 2018, from http://www.usccb.org/bible/john/1
3	(n.d.). Daily Scripture Readings and Meditations. Retrieved December 31, 2018, from https://dailyscripture.servantsoftheword.org/
4	(n.d.). Mass Readings .... Retrieved December 31, 2018, from https://wau.org/meditations/
5	(2015, July 10). Hallelu-YaH - The Character of God: graceful and true. Retrieved December 31, 2018, from http://www.hallelu-yah.nl/graceful-and-true.html
6	(2017, December 30). 2018 Daily Meditations - Center for Action and Contemplation. Retrieved December 31, 2018, from https://cac.org/2018-daily-meditations/