![JESUS MAFA. The Late-arriving Workers, from Art in the Christian Tradition, a project of the Vanderbilt Divinity Library, Nashville, TN. http://diglib.library.vanderbilt.edu/act-imagelink.pl?RC=48296 [retrieved September 21, 2014].](https://maryannmcsweeny.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/09/mafa027-medium.jpg?w=320&h=212)
JESUS MAFA. The Late-arriving Workers, from Art in the Christian Tradition, a project of the Vanderbilt Divinity Library, Nashville, TN. http://diglib.library.vanderbilt.edu/act-imagelink.pl?RC=48296 [retrieved September 21, 2014].
This is the only expectation that won’t disappoint me:
God will love and welcome me whenever I show up—early or late.
Diego Velázquez, 1599-1660
Cristo crucifado
oil on canvas
El Prado, Madrid
[Jesus answered Nicodemus,] “For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him might not perish but might have eternal life.” John 3:16
There is so much to love in our world. There are so many people to love in our world. Just for today, I will make a commitment to love myself and one other person.
Rembrandt (1606-1669)
Christ and Nicodemus
pen and wash, between 1621 and 1669
via Wikimedia Commons
Owe nothing to anyone, except to love one another;
for the one who loves another has fulfilled the law. Romans 13:8
[Jesus said to his disciples:] “For where two or three are gathered together in my name, there am I in the midst of them.” Matthew 18:20
I owe you nothing except to extend to you the love of Jesus—the compassion, forgiveness, and comfort of God. I owe you nothing except to respect you and treat you the way I would like to be treated. I owe you nothing except to accept you just as you are in this moment and show you kindness and courtesy.
If I bring Jesus with me wherever I go, I am with you in Love and we are in the presence of Love.
Matthew 16:21-27
22nd Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year A
[Jesus] turned and said to Peter, “Get behind me, Satan! You are an obstacle to me. You are thinking not as God does, but as human beings do.” Matthew 16:23
When my thoughts flurry and squall, I hope God thinks calmly, without hurry, in an orderly and harmonious fashion.
When my thoughts descend into despair about the heartaches and violence in our world, I hope God thinks healing into the grief and peace into the unrest.
When my thoughts dwell on what’s wrong with me, I hope God thinks I’m loveable and precious and right where I’m supposed to be.
JESUS MAFA. The good shepherd, from Art in the Christian Tradition, a project of the Vanderbilt Divinity Library, Nashville, TN. http://diglib.library.vanderbilt.edu/act-imagelink.pl?RC=48288 [retrieved August 24, 2014].
My words, attitudes, behaviors, and actions are all that I have to proclaim Jesus as the Christ.
Does my way of being in the world proclaim compassion? forgiveness? nonviolence? humility? healing? community?
To those I know and those I don’t know, am I a loving presence ? respectful? courteous? generous?
Do I speak words that encourage? lift up? give hope? inspire?
How will I proclaim Jesus the Christ today?
Br. Martin Erspamer, OSB
Jesus and the Canaanite Woman
Then Jesus said to her in reply, “O woman, great is your faith! Let it be done for you as you wish.” And the woman’s daughter was healed from that hour. Matthew 15:28
Faith is certainty in the goodness of God, in the truth of God’s vision of love, compassion, and healing, and in our position as beloved, precious children of God.
The persistent, unshakeable faith of the Canaanite woman is unanswerable except by Jesus being God, showing God, acting as God in that moment to heal her beloved, precious daughter in love and compassion.
Waldemar Flaig, 1892-1932
Jesus mit den Jüngern im Sturm
oil, by 1932
via Wikimedia Commons
But when [Peter] saw how strong the wind was he became frightened; and, beginning to sink, he cried out, “Lord, save me!” Immediately Jesus stretched out his hand and caught Peter, and said to him, “O you of little faith, why did you doubt?” Matthew 14:30-31
Faith to walk on water. Faith to face the storm. Faith to battle the wind. Faith to walk toward God.
And when we begin to sink from fear, fatigue, stress, and anxiety, a little faith to cry out to Jesus to save us.
The Miracle of the Loaves and Fishes
Basilica di Sant’ Apollinare Nuovo
Ravenna ITALY
6th century
When it was evening, the disciples approached [Jesus] and said, “This is a deserted place and it is already late; dismiss the crowds so that they can go to the villages and buy food for themselves.” Matthew 14:15
Nothing can separate me from the love of God except my own refusal to love my neighbor as myself. Immigrants, refugees, the homeless, the ill, the elderly, those who don’t look like me or act like me or speak like me—we are all God’s precious children, worthy of love and respect and the best life has to offer.
Dismissing others is not the way of Jesus.
An etching by Jan Luyken illustrating Matthew 13:45-46 in the Bowyer Bible, Bolton, England
By Phillip Medhurst (Photo by Harry Kossuth) [FAL], via Wikimedia Commons
That which we long to find is what prompts us to search: God’s love deep in our hearts, the pearl that has no price because it is beyond our ability to value.
The finding is in the searching and the searching is in the finding. And so we give up selfishness and self-pity, greed and resentment, fear and prejudice—and we find Love.
![Parable of the Mustard Seed An etching by Jan Luyken in the Bowyer Bible, Bolton, England By Phillip Medhurst (Photo by Harry Kossuth) [FAL], via Wikimedia Commons](http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Teachings_of_Jesus_5_of_40._parable_of_the_mustard_seed._Jan_Luyken_etching._Bowyer_Bible.gif)
Parable of the Mustard Seed
An etching by Jan Luyken in the Bowyer Bible, Bolton, England
By Phillip Medhurst (Photo by Harry Kossuth) [FAL], via Wikimedia Commons
We take just a tiny bit of love and mix it with our families, friends, neighbors, strangers, our workplaces, our communities, our homes – and we watch it grow.
That is the kingdom of heaven: our tiny bit of love moving freely to grow encouragement, kindness, respect, courtesy, and compassion in our tiny bit of the world.
