Category Archives: Gospel

Made clean

James Tissot (1836-1902) Guérison des lépreux à Capernaum, between 1886 and 1894 Brooklyn Museum

James Tissot (1836-1902)
Guérison des lépreux à Capernaum, between 1886 and 1894
Brooklyn Museum

When I feel out of step with the ways of the world, when I feel like an outsider or an interloper or just a plain oddball, I can re-root myself in the presence of Jesus and be made clean.

Clean of arrogance. Clean of isolation. Clean of comparisons. Clean of judgment. Clean of the need to conform. Clean of the fear of speaking my truth.

Being made clean by the Lord gives me the right to take my place—just as I am—in any company, any society, any situation.

A leper came to Jesus and kneeling down begged him and said,
“If you wish, you can make me clean.” Mark 1:40

Sense out of nonsense

Sunset at Capernaum By Abraham (Own work) [<a href="http://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/deed.e

Sunset at Capernaum
By Abraham (Own work) [CC0], via Wikimedia Commons

The human condition means that some of us  spend our life struggling with physical, mental, or emotional illness. Illness is not our fault; it’s not God punishing us or expecting us to make reparation for transgressions. It’s our DNA.

Jesus, the Compassion of God, understands our human suffering. Let go of the struggle; bring the illness, the exhaustion, the depletion to him. He is the one who makes sense out of nonsense.

When it was evening, after sunset, they brought to [Jesus] all who were ill or possessed by demons. Mark 1:32

Say no to demons

Jesus heals the possessed

Christ heals the possessed. Jan Luyken. In the Bowyer Bible in Bolton Museum, England. Print 4234. From “An Illustrated Commentary on the Gospel of Mark” by Phillip Medhurst. Section D. Jesus confronts uncleanness. By Phillip Vere [FAL], via Wikimedia Commons

They’re always attacking, subtle or not.

Demons of pain, fatigue, and self-doubt. Demons of resentment, disdain, and indifference. Demons of envy, dissatisfaction, and hopelessness.

Say no, in the name of Jesus. Demons have no power in the light and presence of the Compassion of God.

Jesus rebuked [the unclean spirit] and said,
“Quiet! Come out of him!” Mark 1:25

God’s beloved

Jacob de Wit (1695-1754) Baptism of Christ in the Jordan chalk and pen, ca.1716 Amsterdam, Amstelkring Museum via Wikimedia Commons

Jacob de Wit (1695-1754)
Baptism of Christ in the Jordan
chalk and pen, ca.1716
Amsterdam, Amstelkring Museum
via Wikimedia Commons

We are God’s beloved and God is well pleased with us. The whole human family. All of us. In spite of, perhaps because of our human frailty, failures, and weaknesses. God made us human. We are God’s. We are God’s creation, beloved and pleasing to God.

Lord, teach me to see myself and the all of the human family  with your eyes and heart.

And a voice came from the heavens, “You are my beloved Son; with you I am well pleased.” Mark 1:11

Pushed by the Light

512px-Magi_(1)

Basilica of Sant’Apollinare Nuovo in Ravenna, Italy: The Three Wise Men (named Balthasar, Melchior, and Gaspar). Detail from: “Mary and Child, surrounded by angels”, mosaic of a Ravennate italian-byzantine workshop, completed within 526 AD by the so-called Master of Sant’Apollinare
By Nina-no (Own work) [CC BY-SA 2.5], via Wikimedia Commons

God within me urges me on and on to find God, to encounter God, to know God. I am pushed by the light within to find the light in all creation, especially in you. In the moment of recognition, the light in me does homage to the light in you, the Light of God, the Love of God.

[The magi] saw the child with Mary his mother.
They prostrated themselves and did him homage. Matthew 2:11

One Holy Family

Rembrandt (1606-1669) Simeon in the Temple oil on panel, 1627-1628 Hamburg, Hamburger Kunsthalle

Rembrandt (1606-1669)
Simeon in the Temple
oil on panel, 1627-1628
Hamburg, Hamburger Kunsthalle

There was also a prophetess, Anna, the daughter of Phanuel, of the tribe of Asher. She was advanced in years, having lived seven years with her husband after her marriage, and then as a widow until she was eighty-four. She never left the temple, but worshiped night and day with fasting and prayer. And coming forward at that very time, she gave thanks to God and spoke about the child to all who were awaiting the redemption of Jerusalem. Luke 2:36-38

God’s Holy Family encompasses every human person—from infants to the elderly. We are all equally important in the eyes and heart of God. We all have something to offer to others. No matter what our age, we are all called to open our minds, eyes, and hearts to encounter the Lord every day.

 

Respond to the voices

A voice cries out in the wilderness

“A voice cries out in the wilderness”
Israeli wall around the West Bank

[John] said: “I am the voice of one crying out in the desert, ‘make straight the way of the Lord,'” as Isaiah the prophet said.” John 1:23

Jesus does not exist apart from human struggles, human injustice, human atrocities. The voices I hear calling from war-torn countries show me where to find Jesus: right in the middle of it all.

How will I respond to the voices calling to me today? How will I make straight the way of the Lord in the midst of human suffering?

 

 

Wake up call

2_candlesJohn the Baptist appeared in the desert proclaiming a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins. Mark 1:4

The gospel is our every day wake up call: a call to love, to help the poor, to show compassion to all people.

It’s a call to spend time in quiet prayer and meditation, to read holy scripture, to deepen our relationship with Jesus.

The gospel wakes us up to the reality of God’s presence in our world, in our lives, in our being.

Today I will trust the wake up call of the gospel and ask the Lord to bless me with knowledge of his will for me and the power to carry it out.

 

Love or convenience?

Jan Luyken (1649-1712) Bowyer Bible, Bolton, England By Phillip Mehurst (Photo by Harry Kossuth) [FAL], via Wikimedia Commons

Jan Luyken (1649-1712)
Welcome the Stranger
Bowyer Bible, Bolton, England
By Phillip Mehurst (Photo by Harry Kossuth) [FAL], via Wikimedia Commons

[Jesus said,] “‘For I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me drink, a stranger and you welcomed me, naked and you clothed me, ill and you cared for me, in prison and you visited me.'”

It’s not always convenient to be mindful of others, especially those who need my attention, help, energy, money, talents.

Convenience is not the calling of a follower of Jesus. Love is.

 

Growing rich

JESUS MAFA. Parable of the Three Servants, from Art in the Christian Tradition, a project of the Vanderbilt Divinity Library, Nashville, TN. http://diglib.library.vanderbilt.edu/act-imagelink.pl?RC=48297 [retrieved November 16, 2014].

JESUS MAFA. Parable of the Three Servants, from Art in the Christian Tradition, a project of the Vanderbilt Divinity Library, Nashville, TN. http://diglib.library.vanderbilt.edu/act-imagelink.pl?RC=48297 [retrieved November 16, 2014].

“…out of fear I went off and buried your talent in the ground.” Matthew 25:25

Today I will not bury myself in busy-ness out of fear of loneliness.

I will not surround myself with the noise of the world out of fear of the silence of God.

I will not let fear, indifference, or fatigue prevent me from growing rich in kindness, compassion, and encouragement, peace, and love.