O THAT TODAY YOU WOULD LISTEN!

PRAYER PAUSE  

Thursday 8 March 2018

O THAT TODAY YOU WOULD LISTEN!

Enter into the stillness of God within.

Reading: “O that today you would listen to my voice!  “Harden not your hearts.” (Psalm 94)

Reflection. They would not listen to Jeremiah. They would not listen to Jesus. And they are not listening today. The “they” is the Jews but we know well we can’t stop there and blame them. This “not listening” is deep withn us.  We know how resistant we are; how we allow all sorts of things to crowd in and push our listening to the margins.  We listen to the news and listen to how peole are not listening. We are blinded by our own agenda.  And so the suffering of so many becomes a blurr; something we just live with, even if they are within reach.  Yet we are given these readings in Lent to help us examine how we listen.  Do we allow the Holy Spirit to come to us and work in us.  Do we create the condition of physical and mental quiet that could open the door the the Spirit?

Prayer. Lord, help us to be quiet and allow the Holy Spirit entrance. Amen   

I HAVE COME TO COMPLETE THEM

PRAYER PAUSE  

Wednesday 7 March 2018

I HAVE COME TO COMPLETE THEM

Enter into the stillness of God within.

Reading: “I have not come to abolish the Law and the Prophets but to complete them.” (Matt 5:17-19)

Reflection. The Law, given to Moses for the people, was an expression of where the Israelites were at that time in their stage of growth. It expressed their desires as they were then in the best way possible for them to undertand. But Jesus says to them, “there is more.” The Law was your guide but now you are ready for a new guide: the Spirit. And the Spirit will not contradict anything that was revealed to you in the desert. On the contrary it will complete it, bring out its full meaning. The Law says this but I say to you something further. The Law regulate issues of property, wealth and inheritanmce. But I say to you”Blessed are the poor in Spirit.” The Law encouraged a violent defence of the covenant but I say “love your enemies.” Our faith is calling us beyond the obvious expecatations of men and women of today to reach out to something beyond.

Prayer. Lord, may your Holy Spirit lead us into the fullest expression of our desires, which are sometimes a bit confusing to us. Amen.

Seventy Seven Times

PRAYER PAUSE  

Tuesday 6 March 2018

  TIMES

Enter into the stillness of God within.

Reading: “How often must I forgive my sister and brother? As often as seven times?” “Not seven,” Jesus replied, “but seventy seven times.” (Matt 18 21-35)

Reflection. There is something basic in the act of forgiveness: it repairs relationsips and build community and peace between nations. Of the 10 commandments, seven are about relationships. In the Our Father, most of the second part is about forgivesness. And yet it is a tough call. As children we fight our corner and defend ourselves. As adults we push our way forward. An offence against us immediately provokes our anger and urge for revenge. Resentments, grugdes poison the atmosphere. Jesus’ opening words in Mark are “Change your way of thinking.” Rise above the bitterness and resentment you feel towards others – somethimes those close to us, people we live with.

Prayer. Lord, help us to change; help us to tolerate, forgive and love. Amen.

A LITTLE GIRL

PRAYER PAUSE  

Monday 5 March 2018

A LITTLE GIRL

Enter into the stillness of God within.

Reading: “Now on one of their raids the Aramaeans had carried off from the land of Israel a little girl …  and she said, ‘If only my master would would approach the prophet’.” (2 Kings 5:1-15)

Reflection. The dramatic story of Naaman, the army commander of the king of Aram, who was cured of his leprosy, hinged on the witness of a little captive girl. The story finds its way into the gospel and is used by Jesus as an example of faith for his contemporaries.  It moves me that this little girl finds her way into the great story of our salvation. She has the courage to speak up when the “normal” thing in her circumstances – and similar ones ever since - would have been to keep quiet. But her courage sparks the beginning of faith in the gentile Naaman who, despite hesitations on the way, perseveres with the unexpected procedures offered him, is completely cured “and his flesh became clean once more like the flesh of a little child.”  He becomes “like” the little girl in her faith. God works through “little” people if we have eyes to see.  

Prayer. Lord, help us to notice how you work through the smallest events of our day. Amen.

THE HEALING OF THE NATIONS

THE HEALING OF THE NATIONS

When Jesus evicted the vendors from the temple I hope they had somewhere else to go. Their livelihood was at stake. The Zambian Government evicted the vendors from central Lusaka recently as part of their response to the cholera outbreak that claimed around 50 lives.  These vendors were directed elsewhere. I hope their customers followed them. Certainly it is a pleasure driving through the city now with the stalls, which used to encroach on the road to say nothing of the sidewalk, removed.

This cleansing of the streets is akin to any form of healing or renewal.  Not long ago I had a cataract operation on my eye. It was amazing to see clearly again after a long while of haziness.  But, of course, the healing is not total – neither for me or for Lusaka. And I suspect it was not long before the vendors crept back into the temple to resume their business.

But Jesus had given a sign. He probably only did his dramatic act in one corner of the vast concourse. But he made a statement: “There is something new here.” That “something new” is what we try to get our mind round in a time like Lent. Jesus wants to cleanse people’s hearts to prepare them for something greater which they cannot even conceive.  And one of the great shadow sides of our bright new “secular” age is that our minds are not attuned to even consider what that might be.

We are like children who have no idea what their adult life will be like.  And like children we can be totally absorbed in my own little world – my ambitions, my group, my country.  A lot of our politics is a struggle between selfishness and conviviality: we are torn between a desire to protect our own interests and another desire to live in harmony and happiness with others. We are caught between competition and cooperation and we do not know which is better.

John puts the cleansing of the temple at the beginning of his gospel where the others put it at the end.  But all four gospel writers see it as a sign; an announcement that the reign of God has come. From now on things are going to change. “The blind see, the lame walk, the lepers are cleansed, the deaf hear and the dead are raised” (Matt. 11:5), “captives are released and the oppressed go free” (Luke 4:18).  These were the other “signs” Jesus did. It is all there on record, all for the “healing of the nations” (Rev 22:2).

March 4, 2018             Lent Sunday 3 B

Exodus 20:1-17                       1 Corinthians 1:22-25              John 2: 13-25     

 

IT WAS ONLY RIGHT

PRAYER PAUSE  

Saturday 3 March 2018

IT WAS ONLY RIGHT

Enter into the stillness of God within.

Reading: “It was only right that we should celebrate and rejoice, because your brother here was dead and has come to life; he was lost and is found.” (Luke 15: 11-32)

Reflection. What is it to “be right”? There is a force for good built into creation and everything tends towards fulfilment, like the water flowing down the mountain overcoming obstacles in its way as it – or most of it – finds its way to the sea. So “it is right” that your brother or sister has come to life. That is what he or she is there for: to achieve life in all its fullness. They may wander and get lost but God is always ready to receive them back into the “right” path, the one built into their nature, the one that resonates with their being.  And so there is rejoicing when the athlete wins a medal, the ball finds the net or the person achieves the purpose of their life. That is the great joy of Jesus; to see his work, started in creation, given it s true identity in Bethlehem and now fulfilled in each and all.  This is his offering to the Father.

Prayer. Lord, may we know the joy of your drawing us to you, through all the gifts you give us which lead us on to the fullness of life in you. Amen.

THE KEYSTONE REJECTED BY THE BUILDERS

PRAYER PAUSE  

Friday 2 March 2018

THE KEYSTONE REJECTED BY THE BUILDERS

Enter into the stillness of God within.

Reading: “It was the stone rejected by the builders that became the keystone.  This was the Lord’s doing and it is wonderful to see.” (Matt hew 21:33-46)

Reflection. There are times when we wonder ‘when will there be a solution to our problems?’  Well, the moment does arrive though often it takes much time and even then the solution is not total.  Recent events in Zimbabwe and South Africa are examples in the great world “out there” but the same is true in our personal lives. God is at work every day and in everything.  This rainy season gives a parable.  The water does do its work; it brings life to people even if it has to travel great distance and take its time to fill up dams. Joseph, in our first reading (Genesis 37) was sold into Egypt. But God worked through the situation and, in time, brought life to his people.  The tenants in the vineyard stole the property but retribution came eventually.  When the medieval mystic said, “All will be well. And all manner of thing will be well,” she knew what she was saying.

Prayer. Lord, give us confidence and happiness to know that you are at work in our lives; little by little, things will work out for the best. Amen.