Listening to the Prophets

ORDINARY TIME

Gospel Mt 4:12-17

When Jesus heard that John had been arrested,
he withdrew to Galilee.
He left Nazareth and went to live in Capernaum by the sea,
in the region of Zebulun and Naphtali,
that what had been said through Isaiah the prophet
might be fulfilled:

Land of Zebulun and land of Naphtali,
the way to the sea, beyond the Jordan,
Galilee of the Gentiles,
the people who sit in darkness have seen a great light,
on those dwelling in a land overshadowed by death
light has arisen.
From that time on, Jesus began to preach and say,
“Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.”

The Prophet Isaiah

Throughout the Gospels and New Testament, they are constantly referring to passages from the Old Testament: words of the prophets.  They point out that Jesus is fulfilling the prophecies, the prophecies that the Jewish people had been told for hundreds of years.

I never really got that until today.

I would hear them say it and quote some ancient scripture, but I never really understood.

The Prophet Amos

But now it occurs to me - they new these words.  They had them memorized.  Most Israelites couldn't read, didn't have reading material even if they could.  They would gather each Sabbath and a priest would read the stories of their ancestors and the words of the prophets.  They would savor the stories, repeat them to their children, discuss them and dream on them and pass them on and on.  They discussed the scriptures as they worked and as they rested.  They were not distracted by tv, video games, cell phone, radios, internet, computers or even books and magazines.  There minds were not occupied and distracted like ours are today.

Today, there isn't a person I know of almost any age from my 21-month-old granddaughter to my 80 year old mother who could not join in and sing Twinkle Twinkle Little Star with me.  Almost anyone can recite nursery rhymes like Humpty Dumpty or Mary Had a Little Lamb, or tell the story of the Three Little Pigs. 

So if all of a sudden you heard of a wolf in another town who was blowing houses down...would ping on your memories?  Wouldn't you think "hey, this sounds familiar" or  "hmmmmmm.  I remember something about this"  or  "could this be the wolf from the stories?"

Now, what if all my life I had heard the stories from my parents and elders, talked about them with my friends and family, dreamed about a Deliverer with every horror that the Romans subjected me to, told my children to keep the hope and faith and remember what the prophets foretold.....would I recognize my Lord when he came?

Prophet Malachi                                           Prophet Habakkuk

Would I have the ears to hear and the eyes to see?

I can understand them talking themselves out of it (curse that Satan at work!), "who is this Jesus?"   "Is he the One?"   After hundreds of years, really?  Is this Him?

I can imagine a people being so patient and loyal for so long that they are unable to accept that it has happened!  They just can't wrap their brains around the idea that God has answered their prayers!

    Prophet Obadiah                                            Prophet Micah        

God gave words to the Prophets, he allowed them to tell us the signs and conditions to recognize the Messiah by.  We were told what to watch for so we'd know Him.  Jesus fulfilled over 300 prophecies of the Old Testament - how could they not see who he was?

Prophet Hosea                                         Prophet Ezekiel   

Lord, please open my eyes and my ears to you.  Help me to see you everyday, to know you and your will for me.  Give me grace to understand and live for you each and every day!  Amen!

Prophet Elijah

o

Between the Altar and the Door

I heard a sentence in a song on the radio this morning and it really stuck with me, causing me to think back on it multiple times throughout the day.  I usually attribute that to an urging by the Holy Spirit to dwell on a subject...

“…between the Altar and the Door…”

It was just part of a lyric actually and I didn’t catch what was before or after, but just that one partial phrase,

“…between the Altar and the Door…”

And what is between the Altar and the Door?  The Middle.  The Church.  The People.  The World. 

So where am I?  (Metaphorically speaking).  Am I closer to the Altar or am I closer to the Door?

“…between the Altar and the Door…”

The World has a lot to offer, a lot of pleasures, a lot of sorrow, a lot of excitement, a lot of boredom, a lot of fun, a lot of work. We are all in the World, we are all milling about, ever- moving, ever-changing places.

The World has a lot to say about what we should be doing or feeling, how we should act.  It filters in from the Door and the Altar.  The World takes what it hears and sees and feels and passes it around to each other.

By the Door, the World is told that individuals are most important.  Feeling good and being happy are to be coveted.  It says “you need success, money, power and material goods” and it tells us without these things we can’t be happy.  Try to achieve these things with as little work as possible, even at the expense of others, and you will be even happier!  Anyone who attains these things is looked upon favorably in the World. 

The Door doesn't want you to see what is beyond it.

“…between the Altar and the Door…”

By the Altar, we hear a different message.  Relationships are most important, first to God, then to Family, then to the others in the World.  Humility, sacrifice, honor, and humbleness, integrity and morality – these are the qualities that the Altar speaks highly of.  The message from the Altar is that attaining earthly wealth and power and influence and materials may not lead to happiness in the World.  But remaining true to the message of the Altar will allow you to cross-over into perfect happiness beyond the Altar.

“…between the Altar and the Door…”

Beyond the Altar is Heaven. 

Beyond the Door is Hell.

“…between the Altar and the Door…”

As I mill about, moving with the ebb and flow of the World, I feel the pull of the Door, I feel the pull of the Altar. 

“…between the Altar and the Door…”

The Door has a wide, easy path to it.  I ease down there to take a look, I am intrigued by the noises and bright lights I can see coming from there.  The World looks like they are having a good time near the Door.

I venture down the spacious route towards the Door.  It is dazzling  and murky there at the same time.  It is confusing – but yet I continue to be drawn there. It seems so thrilling and pleasurable.  Now I notice there are deep shadows on the peripheral of the World near the Door, it is not pretty around the edges – but I don’t dwell on it because there are so many shiny things to look at.  Through the Door comes the sounds of rude laughter and unidentifiable noises.   It is loud and rowdy.  The Path gets shabbier and shabbier along the edges, I can’t really identify what it is as my senses keep being pulled away from the fringes  towards the middle of the Door where it is full of stimulating lights and intense  noise.   It is tantalizing and enticing. 

I don’t quite feel right, it is dizzying here to me.

I turn to go the other direction.  The World calls to me, tells me I’m confused and to turn back around.  It tells me I’m missing all the fun, I’m old fashioned, I’m a stick-in-the-mud.  The World laughs at me they continue towards the noise near the Door.

Walking towards the Altar, the Path begins to get narrower.  Sometimes it is hard to travel.  It has mountains to climb and deserts to traverse.  Worst of all, the Path has many shiny Stumbling Blocks along  the way.  The Stumbling Blocks are like mirrors, they reflect the spectacle near the Door.   They are a constant reminder of the ease of the Path behind me.  They allow the sights and sounds to rebound down the Path towards the World that is traveling towards the Altar.

The Mountains are high and numerous (but the view from them is lovely), the deserts are wide and lonely (but there are restful oasis on the other side).  Others on  the Path reach out to me sometimes, hold my hand, share their water, lift me up.  I assist others too, and receive  peace and contentment in doing so. 

The Altar ahead looks so peaceful.  I hear laughter, but it’s more gentle.  There is lovely music and the murmuring of voices, pleasant and soft  I am sensing extraordinary smells and colors and lights and sounds, all unidentifiable and just beyond the Altar.

There are lovely curtains around the Altar, they are iridescent and  shimmering.  They have the quality of smoke or a butterflies wing.  They wave in a gentle breeze which carries the aroma of an unknown fragrance and gives fleeting glimpses of what is behind the Altar.

Just as I trip over a particularly sharp Stumbling Block glinting ominously on the Path, I feel a sweet breath of air on my face.  I look up to the Altar just as the curtain reveals a momentary glance at what is behind it:  Pure Love!

 It is exquisite and magnificent!

I can feel the blissful happiness resonating from the World around the Altar, I am pulled towards it.  There is Hope here!  I can feel the beautiful-ness of the World around me when I am near the Altar. 

If the Altar is so nice and the Door is so unpleasant, why are more people standing in the back near the Exit?  Why do they strain to see over the crowd at the Door, what is the call to that place?

Are you Godly or Worldly?

They Were Astounded

ORDINARY TIME

Mark 6: 45-51

"Then he made his disciples get into the boat and precede him to the other side toward Bethsaida, while he dismissed the crowd.  And when he had taken leave of them, he went off to the mountain to pray.  When it was evening, the boat was far out on the sea and he was alone on shore.  Then he saw that they were tossed about while rowing, for the wind was against them. About the fourth watch of the night, he came toward them walking on the sea.  He meant to pass by them.  But when they saw him walking on the sea, they thought it was a ghost and cried out.   They had all seen him and were terrified. But at once he spoke with them, “Take courage, it is I, do not be afraid!” He got into the boat with them and the wind died down. They were [completely] astounded."

 "They were completely astounded"

I understand.  Sometimes, even though you are looking directly at something, your mind is so surprised that you just can't make sense of it all.  You really can't "wrap your brain around it". 

One time my son was stationed in Sudan, Africa for a year.  His wife and baby were staying with my family until his return in July.   One evening in March I was standing at the kitchen sink with my daughter-in-law when I saw the UPS man enter my garage through the window.  I was surprised when he continued right into my kitchen, grabbed my daughter-in-law in a huge hug and said "Hi Mom!".  I was completely astounded!  It was my son, Mitch!

But my brain couldn't make sense of Mitch being in my garage (since he was suppose to be thousands and thousands of miles away) so my mind told me is was the UPS man, who resembled my son.  I even had a lightening-quick thought that the UPS man sure was tall like Mitch as he was coming through the garage.  My brain was having a hard time grasping what it was actually seeing!

How surprised must the Apostles have been when Jesus walked up to them - across the water!  And not only that, through the rough waters of a storm.

After the initial shock of seeing Mitch wore off (which took a minute let me tell you!), I couldn't wipe the sappy smile from my face!  My heart was bursting with happiness and bubbling over with joy!

Surely Peter reacted the same way!  And in the excitement of the moment and while his mind was dealing with the intense confusion of what he was witnessing, he leaped joyfully from the boat and strode out to meet Jesus!

Yet as he stepped further away from the comfort, safety - normalcy - of the boat, he began to falter.  His mind told him this couldn't be possible.  Satan cast doubt into his mind and Peter began to sink.

Sometimes we believe without seeing and sometimes we can't believe even when we are actually seeing.

But with a wonderful God like we have, we should always be willing to accept miracles!!!

My Favorite Prayer

OCTAVE OF CHRISTMAS


As everyone is celebrating the incoming of the New Year, I find I am thoughtful.

I want to be a better person this year.  I want to work harder to discern God's Will and His Path for me.  I want to follow that Path....if I can figure out what it is.....

My Lord God.

I have no idea where I am going.

 

I do not see the road ahead of me.

I cannot know for certain where it will end.

Nor do I really know myself, and the fact that I think I am following your will does not mean that I am actually doing so.

But I believe that the desire to please you does in fact please you.

And I hope I have that desire in all that I am doing.  

I hope that I will never do anything apart from that desire.

And I know that if I do this you will lead me by the right road,

 though I may know nothing about it.

 

Therefore, I will trust you always though I may seem to be lost and in the shadow of death. 

I will not fear, for you are ever with me,

and you will never leave me to face my perils alone.

 my most favorite prayer, written by Thomas Merton