Category Archives: Matthew

Another challenge

James Tissot, La sermon des béatitudes between 1886 and 1894 opaque watercolor over graphite on gray wove paper Brooklyn Museum

James Tissot, La sermon des béatitudes
between 1886 and 1894
opaque watercolor over graphite on gray wove paper
Brooklyn Museum
via Wikimedia Commons

[Jesus said to his disciples:] “You have heard that it was said, You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy. But I say to you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you.” Matthew 5:43-44

Every day Jesus throws out a new challenge. Today my challenge is to love those who have disrespected me, abused me, rejected me, cheated me, used me, manipulated me, been unfaithful to me, hurt me in any way.

My challenge is to love those who irritate me, annoy me, bother me, frighten me. To love those who are different from me, who have different beliefs from mine, who eat different foods, and who practice different rituals.

My challenge is to look for God, look for the good in every human person, and welcome and love—yes, love—all people in the name of Jesus.

Practicing courtesy. Being respectful. Showing an interest. Finding out what we have in common. Being a peacemaker.

The Law of Love

512px-Rembrandt_The_Hundred_Guilder_Print

Christ Preaching (The Hundred Guilder Print)
circa 1646-1650
etching, drypoint and burin on eastern paper
Rembrandt [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons

Jesus said to his disciples: “Do not think that I have come to abolish the law or the prophets. I have come not to abolish but to fulfill.” Matthew 5:17

The law is love.

Love of God.
Love of neighbor.
Love of self.

We are called to partner with Jesus to fulfill the law of love in the world. We are called to give birth to and embody love for all to see, hear, and touch.

Let your light shine

Via_Vitae_de_Joseph_Chaumet_-_Le_Sermon_sur_la_montagne

Via Vitae (« Chemin de Vie »), chef d’œuvre de l’orfèvre et joailler parisien Joseph Chaumet (1852-1928) représentant les principales scènes de la vie de Jésus, musée eucharistique du Hiéron, Paray-le-Monial, Saône-et-Loire, France
Détail : Le Sermon sur la montagne
By Croquant (Own work) [CC-BY-SA-3.0 or GFDL], via Wikimedia Commons

[Jesus said,] “Just so, your light must shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your heavenly Father.” Matthew 5:16

God’s Spirit shines through my brokenness to shed the light of compassion and comfort on others who grieve, who suffer, who feel lonely, lost, under-appreciated, and abandoned.

We are in this life together. May I follow your light to learn kindness, trust, and companionship. May my light show you a pathway of forgiveness, reconciliation, and love.

Answering the call

Matthew4[Jesus] called them, and immediately they left their boat and their father and followed him. Matthew 4:21-22

What will it take for me to leave everything and follow Jesus into a life of nonviolence, love, forgiveness, and healing?

Can I take a step today into an intentional practice of compassion, kindness, encouragement, and awareness of the needs of others?

Down at the Jordan

Adi_Holzer_Werksverzeichnis_849_Die_Taufe

John the Baptist baptizes Jesus.
Handcolored etching The baptism by Adi Holzer 1997 (Work number 849). A part of the Rosentaler Suite from the year 1997.

After Jesus was baptized, he came up from the water and behold, the heavens were opened for him, and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and coming upon him.
Matthew 3:16

With his baptism at the Jordan, Jesus shows us our calling, our blessing, our privilege: rising into the place of Divine Union with God and the Holy Spirit.

Follow the star

Adoration_of_the_Magi_tondo_by_Fra_Angelico_and_Lippi,_detail

Adoration of the Magi (detail)
Fra Angelico and Filippo Lippi, ca.1445

 

 [The magi] were overjoyed at seeing the star, and on entering the house they saw the child with Mary his mother. They prostrated themselves and did him homage.
Matthew 2:10-11

I’d like to follow in the footsteps of the magi, so eager to find the Christ, so overjoyed to find him, so humbled by the experience that they fell to their knees.

We are God’s Holy Family

256px-Rembrandt_Harmensz._van_Rijn_052

The Flight into Egypt
Attributed to Rembrandt, via Wikimedia Commons

Take care of your father when he is old;
grieve him not as long as he lives.
Even if his mind fail, be considerate of him;
revile him not all the days of his life;
kindness to a father will not be forgotten,
firmly planted against the debt of your sins
—a house raised in justice to you. Sirach 3:12-14

He is so fragile, my father, and every day getting physically smaller as his Spirit outgrows his frail body.

He doesn’t know us any more, but his smile is as sweet as ever and lights up his eyes. “I love you,” he says over and over. He hasn’t lost the inner wisdom that still knows how to “put on love, the bond of perfection.”

God is with us

4_candlesAll this took place to fulfill what the Lord had said through the prophet: Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and they shall name him Emmanuel, which means “God is with us.” Matthew 1:22-23

Whether I’m having an easy day or a hard day, God is with me. Whether I’m feeling peaceful or angry, God is with me. Whether I believe or don’t believe, God is with me.

Let go

3_candlesWhen John the Baptist heard in prison of the works of the Christ, he sent his disciples to Jesus with this question, “Are you the one who is to come, or should we look for another?” Matthew 11:2-3

I imagine John the Baptist had some moments of stress in prison, wondering what would happen to the work he’d begun. To know that Jesus was busy healing those who were blind, lame, deaf, lepers, or poor opened his eyes to recognize the Christ, and meant he could let go and surrender everything to Jesus.

My own worries – big and small, world-centered and self-centered – take up a lot of time and energy. Maybe this Advent I will have the courage to surrender everything to Jesus.

 

Finding the way

2_candles

Second Sunday of Advent

It was of [John the Baptist] that the prophet Isaiah had spoken when he said:
A voice of one crying out in the desert,
Prepare the way of the Lord,
make straight his paths. Matthew 3:3

John the Baptist points the way to Jesus, the Compassion of God, the Prince of Peace. How have I pointed the way to compassion and peace today? Will I make the effort to point the way to compassion and peace tomorrow?