JESUS MAFA. The poor invited to the feast,
from Art in the Christian Tradition,
a project of the Vanderbilt Divinity Library,
Nashville, TN.
[retrieved October 12, 2014].
Each day God invites me to the marriage of
peace and nonviolence
acceptance and nonjudgment
mercy and forgiveness
love and compassion
joy and gratitude.
Sometimes I think I am too busy to attend. Just for today, however, I will accept God’s invitation with a thankful heart.
Speculum Humanae Salvationis, Westfalen oder Köln, um 1360 Courtesy Wikimedia Commons
Jesus said to the chief priests and the elders of the people: “Hear another parable…
Finally, [the landowner] sent his son to them, thinking, ‘They will respect my son.'” Matthew 21:37
What kind of God keeps on sending gifts into our lives?
A God who expects us to accept the gift of love and love others. A God who expects us to accept the gift of forgiveness and forgive others. A God who expects us to accept the gift of compassion and give comfort to those who are suffering. A God who expects us to accept the gift of nonviolence and find peaceful solutions to conflict.
A God who trusts us.
Rembrandt (1606-1669)
Le lavement des pieds, between 1640 and 1649
Rijksmuseum Amsterdam
Have in you the same attitude that is also in
Christ Jesus, Who, though he was in the form of God, did not regard equality with God something to be grasped. Philippians 2:5-6
I am made in the image and likeness of God. Today I will choose the God-like attitude of love, forgiveness, and compassion in my relationship with myself and others, and I will seek a way to be of service to someone in need.
![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.
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.
Mary Ann McSweeny 