Death, Where Is Thy Sting

Sacred Gifts and Holy Gatherings
Four Weddings and a Funeral
The Death of a Friend

1 Corinthians 15:53-58  The Message

^51-57 But let me tell you something wonderful, a mystery I’ll probably never fully understand. We’re not all going to die—but we are all going to be changed. You hear a blast to end all blasts from a trumpet, and in the time that you look up and blink your eyes—it’s over. On signal from that trumpet from heaven, the dead will be up and out of their graves, beyond the reach of death, never to die again. At the same moment and in the same way, we’ll all be changed. In the resurrection scheme of things, this has to happen: everything perishable taken off the shelves and replaced by the imperishable, this mortal replaced by the immortal. Then the saying will come true:

Death swallowed by triumphant Life!
Who got the last word, oh, Death?
Oh, Death, who’s afraid of you now?

It was sin that made death so frightening and law-code guilt that gave sin its leverage, its destructive power. But now in a single victorious stroke of Life, all three—sin, guilt, death—are gone, the gift of our Master, Jesus Christ. Thank God!

⁵⁸ With all this going for us, my dear, dear friends, stand your ground. And don’t hold back. Throw yourselves into the work of the Master, confident that nothing you do for him is a waste of time or effort.

For Reflection 

Is there a fear worse than Death?  Is Death a result of  fear?  What fear holds you dead to righteous living? 

Courage is trust in the Lord to make all things right.

Pray

for the unreasonable trust in God that wipes out fear.

Life without End

Sacred Gifts and Holy Gatherings
Four Weddings and a Funeral
The Death of a Friend

Romans 5:20-21  The Message

^20-21 All that passing laws against sin did was produce more lawbreakers. But sin didn’t, and doesn’t, have a chance in competition with the aggressive forgiveness we call grace. When it’s sin versus grace, grace wins hands down. All sin can do is threaten us with death, and that’s the end of it. Grace, because God is putting everything together again through the Messiah, invites us into life—a life that goes on and on and on, world without end.

For Reflection 

I believe that without law we could not survive.  But is civil law really the deterrent that we expect it to be?  Have our laws ended drug abuse?  Have they put a stop to injustice?  Has zero tolerance done anything but create additional unintended problems?

To what extent does civil law inhibit grace?  Is there another path that would minimize a law for every manifestation and complication of sin?

Pray

for wisdom in designing systems of retributive justice.  Pray for the equal use of Grace as a a healing salve on the wounds which arise from our human condition.

God of the Living

Sacred Gifts and Holy Gatherings
Four Weddings and a Funeral
The Death of a Friend

Luke 20:34-38  The Message

^34-38 Jesus said, “Marriage is a major preoccupation here, but not there. Those who are included in the resurrection of the dead will no longer be concerned with marriage nor, of course, with death. They will have better things to think about, if you can believe it. All ecstasies and intimacies then will be with God. Even Moses exclaimed about resurrection at the burning bush, saying, ‘God: God of Abraham, God of Isaac, God of Jacob!’ God isn’t the God of dead men, but of the living. To him all are alive.”

For Reflection
There is life after death.  It may not be an existence that humans can envision.  It is mysterious.  The lives of us all are entwined in the mysterious life that is God.

Pray

so that you maintain an intimate relationship with God during your life-time.  Pray that you will allow God to direct your living.  Give thanks to the God of eternal life.

Devil Death

Sacred Gifts and Holy Gatherings
Four Weddings and a Funeral
The Death of a Friend

Revelation 2:11  The Message

¹¹ “Are your ears awake? Listen. Listen to the Wind Words, the Spirit blowing through the churches. Christ-conquerors are safe from Devil-death.”

For Reflection 

Death and resurrection is the transformation metaphor.  One must die to one's reliance on commonplace culturally embedded ways of human flesh and abide in the God-centered ways of the Spirit.  

What "wind words" do you hear blowing through our churches.  Which are the words of the Spirit an which are Devilishly clothed in empty robes?

Pray

quietly and listen for the Wind Words. Pray so that you will be able to reject the false promises of salvation in the practices of hate, rationalized injustices, and fear.

Dead is Dead!

Sacred Gifts and Holy Gatherings
Four Weddings and a Funeral
A Wedding in Cana

Matthew 8:22  The Message

²² Jesus refused. “First things first. Your business is life, not death. Follow me. Pursue life.”

For Reflection 

Let's face it.  Our human condition evolves from birth, to life and inevitably, to death.  I know that we don't want to think about it or even, when we come face to face with death, talk frankly about it.  We say, "He or she is in a better place" or "he or she has passed."  Dying at a young age is especially tragic.  So as in all deaths, young and old, we rationalize the mystery of death and dying.  "God wanted him or her in heaven," we say.  We feel pain in the loss of life.  We fail to explain the after-life.

Pray

for the radical trust in God that assures eternal life.  Pray so that you will pursue a life of living the gospel.

The Healing Mission of Jesus

Sacred Gifts and Holy Gatherings
Four Weddings and a Funeral
A Wedding in Cana

Luke 4:16-27  The Message

^16-21 He came to Nazareth where he had been reared. As he always did on the Sabbath, he went to the meeting place. When he stood up to read, he was handed the scroll of the prophet Isaiah. Unrolling the scroll, he found the place where it was written,

God’s Spirit is on me;
    he’s chosen me to preach the Message of good news to the poor,
Sent me to announce pardon to prisoners and
    recovery of sight to the blind,
To set the burdened and battered free,
    to announce, “This is God’s year to act!”

He rolled up the scroll, handed it back to the assistant, and sat down. Every eye in the place was on him, intent. Then he started in, “You’ve just heard Scripture make history. It came true just now in this place.”

²² All who were there, watching and listening, were surprised at how well he spoke. But they also said, “Isn’t this Joseph’s son, the one we’ve known since he was a youngster?”
^23-27 He answered, “I suppose you’re going to quote the proverb, ‘Doctor, go heal yourself. Do here in your hometown what we heard you did in Capernaum.’ Well, let me tell you something: No prophet is ever welcomed in his hometown. Isn’t it a fact that there were many widows in Israel at the time of Elijah during that three and a half years of drought when famine devastated the land, but the only widow to whom Elijah was sent was in Sarepta in Sidon? And there were many lepers in Israel at the time of the prophet Elisha but the only one cleansed was Naaman the Syrian.”

For Reflection 

Jesus was the son of an artisan family.  He may not have been taught to read or write.  Perhaps that is why the religious leaders were so amazed.  The written word became flesh in the oral traditions known to Christ.  Indeed history was made that day!  God continues to do the unexpected.

Pray

so that you embrace the wisdom in the scriptures.  Pray that you will be able to be a messenger of good news.

The Clean Gift

Sacred Gifts and Holy Gatherings
Four Weddings and a Funeral
A Wedding in Cana

Matthew 5:22-26  The Message

Murder

^21-22 “You’re familiar with the command to the ancients, ‘Do not murder.’ I’m telling you that anyone who is so much as angry with a brother or sister is guilty of murder. Carelessly call a brother ‘idiot!’ and you just might find yourself hauled into court. Thoughtlessly yell ‘stupid!’ at a sister and you are on the brink of hellfire. The simple moral fact is that words kill.

^23-24 “This is how I want you to conduct yourself in these matters. If you enter your place of worship and, about to make an offering, you suddenly remember a grudge a friend has against you, abandon your offering, leave immediately, go to this friend and make things right. Then and only then, come back and work things out with God.
^25-26 “Or say you’re out on the street and an old enemy accosts you. Don’t lose a minute. Make the first move; make things right with him. After all, if you leave the first move to him, knowing his track record, you’re likely to end up in court, maybe even jail. If that happens, you won’t get out without a stiff fine.

For Reflection 

Think back on your life. What was said to you that has had a long lasting troubling effect?  God made us creative in God's image. Why, then, do we choose to be destructive?

Pray

prayers to the living God so that you can become more creative, so that you can use your words to build up a person, so that you can find ways to exercise your compassion.

The Gift of Health

Sacred Gifts and Holy Gatherings
Four Weddings and a Funeral
A Wedding in Cana

Matthew 15:29-39  The Message

^29-31 After Jesus returned, he walked along Lake Galilee and then climbed a mountain and took his place, ready to receive visitors. They came, tons of them, bringing along the paraplegic, the blind, the maimed, the mute—all sorts of people in need—and more or less threw them down at Jesus’ feet to see what he would do with them. He healed them. When the people saw the mutes speaking, the maimed healthy, the paraplegics walking around, the blind looking around, they were astonished and let everyone know that God was blazingly alive among them.

³² But Jesus wasn’t finished with them. He called his disciples and said, “I hurt for these people. For three days now they’ve been with me, and now they have nothing to eat. I can’t send them away without a meal—they’d probably collapse on the road.”

³³ His disciples said, “But where in this deserted place are you going to dig up enough food for a meal?”
^34-39 Jesus asked, “How much bread do you have?”
“Seven loaves,” they said, “plus a few fish.” At that, Jesus directed the people to sit down. He took the seven loaves and the fish. After giving thanks, he divided it up and gave it to the people. Everyone ate. They had all they wanted. It took seven large baskets to collect the leftovers. Over four thousand people ate their fill at that meal. After Jesus sent them away, he climbed in the boat and crossed over to the Magadan hills.

For Reflection 

This is such a well known story.  Compassion and justice are its themes.  Unhealthy people were treated unjustly and Christ healed them.  With compassion Jesus fed them.  Salvation is not just about spiritual healing.  It is also physical healing.

Perhaps you cannot turn water into wine, or heal the sick with a touch of your hand, but, you can engage in compassion acts of justice and healing.  Then, through you too, others will see your sign that God is blazingly alive!

Pray

that you will take advantage of the opportunities for service which are placed squarely in you path by the blazingly alive God.

The Gift of Sight

Sacred Gifts and Holy Gatherings
Four Weddings and a Funeral
A Wedding in Cana

John 9:1-11  The Message

True Blindness

9 ^1-2 Walking down the street, Jesus saw a man blind from birth. His disciples asked, “Rabbi, who sinned: this man or his parents, causing him to be born blind?”

^3-5 Jesus said, “You’re asking the wrong question. You’re looking for someone to blame. There is no such cause-effect here. Look instead for what God can do. We need to be energetically at work for the One who sent me here, working while the sun shines. When night falls, the workday is over. For as long as I am in the world, there is plenty of light. I am the world’s Light.”
^6-7 He said this and then spit in the dust, made a clay paste with the saliva, rubbed the paste on the blind man’s eyes, and said, “Go, wash at the Pool of Siloam” (Siloam means “Sent”). The man went and washed—and saw.
⁸ Soon the town was buzzing. His relatives and those who year after year had seen him as a blind man begging were saying, “Why, isn’t this the man we knew, who sat here and begged?”
⁹ Others said, “It’s him all right!”
But others objected, “It’s not the same man at all. It just looks like him.”
He said, “It’s me, the very one.”
¹⁰ They said, “How did your eyes get opened?”
¹¹ “A man named Jesus made a paste and rubbed it on my eyes and told me, ‘Go to Siloam and wash.’ I did what he said. When I washed, I saw.”

 

For Reflection 

God does not inflict birth defects, illnesses, or just plain bad luck.   The way some speak of God, one would think that God is the original born looser.  When things go wrong for many, God is blamed.  When inexplicable events occur we call them acts of God!

We suffer from the human condition.  The mystery can only be accepted, not rationalized or explained.

Very often we neglect to thank God for sending us into comforting arms and opportunities for healing.  Jesus not only healed the blind man's eyes, He healed all of those who suffered from misguided understandings of God relationship to humankind.  Why was an unacceptable blind beggar who was often ignored and shunned, suddenly rendered acceptable?  How did the disciples understanding of their religion cause them and other believers to see and understand?

Pray

for the wisdom found in the parables of Jesus.  Pray so that your eyes will see beyond your religion and into your faith in God.

The Resurrected Messiah

Sacred Gifts and Holy Gatherings
Four Weddings and a Funeral
A Wedding in Cana

Acts 2:22-28  The Message

^22-28 “Fellow Israelites, listen carefully to these words: Jesus the Nazarene, a man thoroughly accredited by God to you—the miracles and wonders and signs that God did through him are common knowledge—this Jesus, following the deliberate and well-thought-out plan of God, was betrayed by men who took the law into their own hands, and was handed over to you. And you pinned him to a cross and killed him. But God untied the death ropes and raised him up. Death was no match for him. David said it all:

I saw God before me for all time.
    Nothing can shake me; he’s right by my side.
I’m glad from the inside out, ecstatic;
    I’ve pitched my tent in the land of hope.
I know you’ll never dump me in Hades;
    I’ll never even smell the stench of death.
You’ve got my feet on the life-path, This proves what you are all bound to believe, that Christ Jesus is the true Messiah and Savior of the world; this he closes his sermon with,
    with your face shining sun-joy all around.

For Reflection 

In a tangle of wars, economic and social upheaval, perversions of the Law, and Roman occupation, tere were many before Christ who were called messiah.  However, condemned by men and approved by God, Jesus is proven to be the true Messiah and Savior of the World.  the Christ event is not only a cause for hope, but also, a cause for deep abiding belief in the promise of God.

Pray

prayers of thanksgiving for the living God, found in Jesus Christ.   Pray so that you remain in an intimate relationship with Christ.

Faithful God

Sacred Gifts and Holy Gatherings
Four Weddings and a Funeral
An Unfaithful Bride

Hosea 2:18-23  The Message

^16-20 “At that time”—this is God’s Message still—
    “you’ll address me, ‘Dear husband!’
Never again will you address me,
    ‘My slave-master!’
I’ll wash your mouth out with soap,
    get rid of all the dirty false-god names,
    not so much as a whisper of those names again.
At the same time I’ll make a peace treaty between you
    and wild animals and birds and reptiles,
And get rid of all weapons of war.
    Think of it! Safe from beasts and bullies!
And then I’ll marry you for good—forever!
    I’ll marry you true and proper, in love and tenderness.
Yes, I’ll marry you and neither leave you nor let you go.
    You’ll know me, God, for who I really am.

^21-23 “On the very same day, I’ll answer”—this is God’s Message—
    “I’ll answer the sky, sky will answer earth,
Earth will answer grain and wine and olive oil,
    and they’ll all answer Jezreel.
I’ll plant her in the good earth.
    I’ll have mercy on No-Mercy.
I’ll say to Nobody, ‘You’re my dear Somebody,’
    and he’ll say ‘You’re my God!’”

For Reflection 

I, for one, am tired of the invocation of dirty false God names.  How about you?

How, in the portion of God's universe that you reside as tenant, do you shepherd God's flock?  How do you contribute to the realization of the Kingdom of God?

Pray

for righteous living.  Pray for the realization of the Kingdom of  God.  Pray that your life will be lived in dedication to the promise of God.

Unfaithful Israel

Sacred Gifts and Holy Gatherings
Four Weddings and a Funeral
An Unfaithful Bride

Hosea 4:1-10  The Message

No One Is Faithful

4 ^1-3 Attention all Israelites! God’s Message!
    God indicts the whole population:
“No one is faithful. No one loves.
    No one knows the first thing about God.
All this cussing and lying and killing, theft and loose sex,
    sheer anarchy, one murder after another!
And because of all this, the very land itself weeps
    and everything in it is grief-stricken—
animals in the fields and birds on the wing,
    even the fish in the sea are listless, lifeless.

^4-10 “But don’t look for someone to blame.
    No finger pointing!
You, priest, are the one in the dock.
    You stumble around in broad daylight,
And then the prophets take over and stumble all night.
    Your mother is as bad as you.
My people are ruined
    because they don’t know what’s right or true.
Because you’ve turned your back on knowledge,
    I’ve turned my back on you priests.
Because you refuse to recognize the revelation of God,
    I’m no longer recognizing your children.
The more priests, the more sin.
    They traded in their glory for shame.
They pig out on my people’s sins.
    They can’t wait for the latest in evil.
The result: You can’t tell the people from the priests,
    the priests from the people.
I’m on my way to make them both pay
    and take the consequences of the bad lives they’ve lived.
They’ll eat and be as hungry as ever,
    have sex and get no satisfaction.
They walked out on me, their God,
    for a life of rutting with whores.

For Reflection 

What a powerful indictment of organized religion!  Doesn't it strike you that even though there seems to be a church on every corner, Godlessness is so pervasive , even among those who claim to be Christian?  

 

What is your test of true Christian Faith?  What cultural embedded religious beliefs and actions seem contrary to the teachings of Jesus?

Pray

for the wisdom to differentiate true Christian beliefs and action from perversions of the gospel.

Faithful to Truth

Sacred Gifts and Holy Gatherings
Four Weddings and a Funeral
An Unfaithful Bride

Psalm 119:25-32  The Message

^25-32 I’m feeling terrible—I couldn’t feel worse!
    Get me on my feet again. You promised, remember?
When I told my story, you responded;
    train me well in your deep wisdom.
Help me understand these things inside and out
    so I can ponder your miracle-wonders.
My sad life’s dilapidated, a falling-down barn;
    build me up again by your Word.
Barricade the road that goes Nowhere;
    grace me with your clear revelation.
I choose the true road to Somewhere,
    I post your road signs at every curve and corner.
I grasp and cling to whatever you tell me;
    God, don’t let me down!
I’ll run the course you lay out for me
    if you’ll just show me how.

For Reflection 

Oh how we yearn for the wisdom of God.  We see evidence of the use of false wisdom daily and know the limitations of human self-determination.  Justice struggles against injustice.  Fear rather thatntrust drives human decision.  Domination smothers compassion.  And the veracity of human wisdom pales in comparison to wisdom derived from the compassion and love of God.

Pray

for the wisdom to do justice, to practice forgiveness, and to act compassionately.

The Faithful God

Sacred Gifts and Holy Gatherings
Four Weddings and a Funeral
An Unfaithful Bride

Psalm 89:24-37 The Message

^19-37 A long time ago you spoke in a vision,
    you spoke to your faithful beloved:
“I’ve crowned a hero,
    I chose the best I could find;
I found David, my servant,
    poured holy oil on his head,
And I’ll keep my hand steadily on him,
    yes, I’ll stick with him through thick and thin.
No enemy will get the best of him,
    no scoundrel will do him in.
I’ll weed out all who oppose him,
    I’ll clean out all who hate him.
I’m with him for good and I’ll love him forever;
    I’ve set him on high—he’s riding high!
I’ve put Ocean in his one hand, River in the other;
    he’ll call out, ‘Oh, my Father—my God, my Rock of Salvation!’
Yes, I’m setting him apart as the First of the royal line,
    High King over all of earth’s kings.
I’ll preserve him eternally in my love,
    I’ll faithfully do all I so solemnly promised.
I’ll guarantee his family tree
    and underwrite his rule.
If his children refuse to do what I tell them,
    if they refuse to walk in the way I show them,
If they spit on the directions I give them
    and tear up the rules I post for them—
I’ll rub their faces in the dirt of their rebellion
    and make them face the music.
But I’ll never throw them out,
    never abandon or disown them.
Do you think I’d withdraw my holy promise?
    or take back words I’d already spoken?
I’ve given my word, my whole and holy word;
    do you think I would lie to David?
His family tree is here for good,
    his sovereignty as sure as the sun,
Dependable as the phases of the moon,
    inescapable as weather.”

For Reflection 

We humans have a history of abandoning God.  However, in contrast, God has a history of abiding with us in spite of our frailties.  We can no more escape the love of God than we can change the phases of the moon.

Pray

prayers of praise and thanksgiving for the living Lord who stands by us no matter what, whose love knows no restrictions, whose desire is the reconciliation of human kind, whose kingdom is growing.

A Clean and Faithful Heart

Sacred Gifts and Holy Gatherings
Four Weddings and a Funeral
An Unfaithful Bride

Psalm 51:6-15  The Message

^4-6 You’re the One I’ve violated, and you’ve seen
    it all, seen the full extent of my evil.
You have all the facts before you;
    whatever you decide about me is fair.
I’ve been out of step with you for a long time,
    in the wrong since before I was born.
What you’re after is truth from the inside out.
    Enter me, then; conceive a new, true life.

^7-15 Soak me in your laundry and I’ll come out clean,
    scrub me and I’ll have a snow-white life.
Tune me in to foot-tapping songs,
    set these once-broken bones to dancing.
Don’t look too close for blemishes,
    give me a clean bill of health.
God, make a fresh start in me,
    shape a Genesis week from the chaos of my life.
Don’t throw me out with the trash,
    or fail to breathe holiness in me.
Bring me back from gray exile,
    put a fresh wind in my sails!
Give me a job teaching rebels your ways
    so the lost can find their way home.
Commute my death sentence, God, my salvation God,
    and I’ll sing anthems to your life-giving ways.
Unbutton my lips, dear God;
    I’ll let loose with your praise.

For Reflection 

What do you do when you are down and almost out, on your last legs, taking your last breath,  hitting rock bottom, dead to hope, flat on the floor and you realize your have nowhere to go nothing to turn to?  

 

Pray for salvation.  Repent, confess your sins to God.  Ask for help as only God can give.  You know what to do.  You just haven't done it.  So, do it!  Give yourself over to God and find your way to redemption.  Trust in the Lord.  Salvation is not just a spiritual concept.

Pray

prayers of confession.  Pray so that you can embrace the Holy Spirit.  Pray for help and you will find resources to help.  Pray for redemption and you will grow into grace.

The Most Perfect Love

Sacred Gifts and Holy Gatherings
Four Weddings and a Funeral

Most Beautiful Bride

Song of Solomon 4  The Message

The Man

4 ^1-5 You’re so beautiful, my darling,
    so beautiful, and your dove eyes are veiled
By your hair as it flows and shimmers,
    like a flock of goats in the distance
    streaming down a hillside in the sunshine.
Your smile is generous and full—
    expressive and strong and clean.
Your lips are jewel red,
    your mouth elegant and inviting,
    your veiled cheeks soft and radiant.
The smooth, lithe lines of your neck
    command notice—all heads turn in awe and admiration!
Your breasts are like fawns,
    twins of a gazelle, grazing among the first spring flowers.

^6-7 The sweet, fragrant curves of your body,
    the soft, spiced contours of your flesh
Invite me, and I come. I stay
    until dawn breathes its light and night slips away.
You’re beautiful from head to toe, my dear love,
    beautiful beyond compare, absolutely flawless.

^8-15 Come with me from Lebanon, my bride.
    Leave Lebanon behind, and come.
Leave your high mountain hideaway.
    Abandon your wilderness seclusion,
Where you keep company with lions
    and panthers guard your safety.
You’ve captured my heart, dear friend.
    You looked at me, and I fell in love.
    One look my way and I was hopelessly in love!
How beautiful your love, dear, dear friend—
    far more pleasing than a fine, rare wine,
    your fragrance more exotic than select spices.
The kisses of your lips are honey, my love,
    every syllable you speak a delicacy to savor.
Your clothes smell like the wild outdoors,
    the ozone scent of high mountains.
Dear lover and friend, you’re a secret garden,
    a private and pure fountain.
Body and soul, you are paradise,
    a whole orchard of succulent fruits—
Ripe apricots and peaches,
    oranges and pears;
Nut trees and cinnamon,
    and all scented woods;
Mint and lavender,
    and all herbs aromatic;
A garden fountain, sparkling and splashing,
    fed by spring waters from the Lebanon mountains.

The Woman

¹⁶ Wake up, North Wind,
    get moving, South Wind!
Breathe on my garden,
    fill the air with spice fragrance.

Oh, let my lover enter his garden!
    Yes, let him eat the fine, ripe fruits.

For Reflection 

Is the Song of Solomon an embarrassment or an honest depiction of one of the most powerful, wonderful and beautiful gifts from God, human sexuality?    In the 1660's Matthew Henry interpreted the passages to mean the love Christ has for his people.  The Pulpit Commentary suggests that this  "...collection of separate songs, strung together by their general erotic character, is what we cannot believe. ... There must be a deep religious meaning in such language."  Gills Exposition of the Entire Bible, suggests that Solomon was God's ghost writer expressing God's love for the church.  Are these passages allegorical as suggested by an A. R. Faussett commentary?

There is no denying these passages contain expressions of human love and sexuality.  Peterson says that the Song makes a connection between conjugal love and sex.  Some, he says, eliminate sex when they speak of love.  Others speak of sex and never think of love.  Peterson writes, "The Song proclaims an integrated wholeness that is the center of Christian teaching on committed wedded love for a world that seems to specialize in loveless sex."

Pray

prayers of thanksgiving for the gift of conjugal love.  Praise God for the joy and poetic acceptance of human sexual experience as an expression of love found in the Song of Songs.

The Eternal Shepherd

Sacred Gifts and Holy Gatherings
Four Weddings and a Funeral

Most Beautiful Bride

John 10:7-18  The Message

^6-10 Jesus told this simple story, but they had no idea what he was talking about. So he tried again. “I’ll be explicit, then. I am the Gate for the sheep. All those others are up to no good—sheep stealers, every one of them. But the sheep didn’t listen to them. I am the Gate. Anyone who goes through me will be cared for—will freely go in and out, and find pasture. A thief is only there to steal and kill and destroy. I came so they can have real and eternal life, more and better life than they ever dreamed of.
^11-13 “I am the Good Shepherd. The Good Shepherd puts the sheep before himself, sacrifices himself if necessary. A hired man is not a real shepherd. The sheep mean nothing to him. He sees a wolf come and runs for it, leaving the sheep to be ravaged and scattered by the wolf. He’s only in it for the money. The sheep don’t matter to him.
^14-18 “I am the Good Shepherd. I know my own sheep and my own sheep know me. In the same way, the Father knows me and I know the Father. I put the sheep before myself, sacrificing myself if necessary. You need to know that I have other sheep in addition to those in this pen. I need to gather and bring them, too. They’ll also recognize my voice. Then it will be one flock, one Shepherd. This is why the Father loves me: because I freely lay down my life. And so I am free to take it up again. No one takes it from me. I lay it down of my own free will. I have the right to lay it down; I also have the right to take it up again. I received this authority personally from my Father.”

 For Reflection 

What does this story tell us about the nature of God?  What is God's relationship to Jesus (not just God's son)?   What is the role of Christ?  What is the meaning of the term "recognize my voice?" 

Pray

that you will hear the Voice of God.  Pray that your voice will become God's voice.  Thank God for the freedom to choose and for what that freedom signifies.  Thank God for the mystery in which our faith is clothed.

The Good Shepherd

Sacred Gifts and Holy Gatherings
Four Weddings and a Funeral

Most Beautiful Bride

John 10:7-18  The Message

^6-10 Jesus told this simple story, but they had no idea what he was talking about. So he tried again. “I’ll be explicit, then. I am the Gate for the sheep. All those others are up to no good—sheep stealers, every one of them. But the sheep didn’t listen to them. I am the Gate. Anyone who goes through me will be cared for—will freely go in and out, and find pasture. A thief is only there to steal and kill and destroy. I came so they can have real and eternal life, more and better life than they ever dreamed of.
^11-13 “I am the Good Shepherd. The Good Shepherd puts the sheep before himself, sacrifices himself if necessary. A hired man is not a real shepherd. The sheep mean nothing to him. He sees a wolf come and runs for it, leaving the sheep to be ravaged and scattered by the wolf. He’s only in it for the money. The sheep don’t matter to him.
^14-18 “I am the Good Shepherd. I know my own sheep and my own sheep know me. In the same way, the Father knows me and I know the Father. I put the sheep before myself, sacrificing myself if necessary. You need to know that I have other sheep in addition to those in this pen. I need to gather and bring them, too. They’ll also recognize my voice. Then it will be one flock, one Shepherd. This is why the Father loves me: because I freely lay down my life. And so I am free to take it up again. No one takes it from me. I lay it down of my own free will. I have the right to lay it down; I also have the right to take it up again. I received this authority personally from my Father.”

For Reflection 

What does this story tell us about the nature of God?  What is God's relationship to Jesus (not just God's son)?   What is the role of Christ?  What is the meaning of the term "recognize my voice?" 

Pray

that you will hear the Voice of God.  Pray that your voice will become God's voice.  Thank God for the freedom to choose and for what that freedom signifies.  Thank God for the mystery in which our faith is clothed.

The Perfect Shepherd

Sacred Gifts and Holy Gatherings
Four Weddings and a Funeral

Most Beautiful Bride

John 10:1-10  The Message

He Calls His Sheep by Name

10 ^1-5 “Let me set this before you as plainly as I can. If a person climbs over or through the fence of a sheep pen instead of going through the gate, you know he’s up to no good—a sheep rustler! The shepherd walks right up to the gate. The gatekeeper opens the gate to him and the sheep recognize his voice. He calls his own sheep by name and leads them out. When he gets them all out, he leads them and they follow because they are familiar with his voice. They won’t follow a stranger’s voice but will scatter because they aren’t used to the sound of it.”

^6-10 Jesus told this simple story, but they had no idea what he was talking about. So he tried again. “I’ll be explicit, then. I am the Gate for the sheep. All those others are up to no good—sheep stealers, every one of them. But the sheep didn’t listen to them. I am the Gate. Anyone who goes through me will be cared for—will freely go in and out, and find pasture. A thief is only there to steal and kill and destroy. I came so they can have real and eternal life, more and better life than they ever dreamed of.

For Reflection 

How well do you know the Shepherd's voice?  How often do you listen for it?  Can you tell the difference between the voice of the Shepherd and those who would mimic Him?  Pray, read and discuss scripture; share wisdom in the fellowship of the faithful and you will begin to recognize the voice of God.

Pray

Pray so that you might hear the voice of God.  Be still so that you can discern the true voice from the cacophony of false voices.

A Perfect Woman

Sacred Gifts and Holy Gatherings
Four Weddings and a Funeral

Most Beautiful Bride

Proverbs 31:10-31  The Message

Hymn to a Good Wife

^10-31 A good woman is hard to find,
    and worth far more than diamonds.
Her husband trusts her without reserve,
    and never has reason to regret it.
Never spiteful, she treats him generously
    all her life long.
She shops around for the best yarns and cottons,
    and enjoys knitting and sewing.
She’s like a trading ship that sails to faraway places
    and brings back exotic surprises.
She’s up before dawn, preparing breakfast
    for her family and organizing her day.
She looks over a field and buys it,
    then, with money she’s put aside, plants a garden.
First thing in the morning, she dresses for work,
    rolls up her sleeves, eager to get started.
She senses the worth of her work,
    is in no hurry to call it quits for the day.
She’s skilled in the crafts of home and hearth,
    diligent in homemaking.
She’s quick to assist anyone in need,
    reaches out to help the poor.
She doesn’t worry about her family when it snows;
    their winter clothes are all mended and ready to wear.
She makes her own clothing,
    and dresses in colorful linens and silks.
Her husband is greatly respected
    when he deliberates with the city fathers.
She designs gowns and sells them,
    brings the sweaters she knits to the dress shops.
Her clothes are well-made and elegant,
    and she always faces tomorrow with a smile.
When she speaks she has something worthwhile to say,
    and she always says it kindly.
She keeps an eye on everyone in her household,
    and keeps them all busy and productive.
Her children respect and bless her;
    her husband joins in with words of praise:
“Many women have done wonderful things,
    but you’ve outclassed them all!”
Charm can mislead and beauty soon fades.
    The woman to be admired and praised
    is the woman who lives in the Fear-of-God.
Give her everything she deserves!
    Festoon her life with praises!

For Reflection 

The Romance of a Good Woman.  Song title?  Book Title?  Poetry?  Flattery? If this were written in praise of men would it be less of an ideal?  Does love color our fantasies?  Super Girl Meets Mom!

Pray

prayers of thanksgiving for the power of our imagination.  Pray prayers of thanksgiving for God's gift of creativity.  Pray for the ability to see beauty in all things.  Praise God for strong women and good men.  Pray to embrace the essence of grace.