Holy, Holy, Holy is the Lord, our God

Today’s first reading,  Revelation 4: 1-11, concludes with the following proclamation: “Worthy are you, Lord our God, to receive glory and honor and power, for you created all things; because of your will they came to be and were created.”

Every one—each of our family members and all of our relatives, every citizen of our country and all countries throughout the world, our president elect and his family members, each of the persons he is choosing for his cabinet, every member of the Senate and the House of Representatives, everyone in public service, all of our clergy from the Pope down to our parish priests and ministers in any religion, persons  we like and those we dislike—has come into being because of God’s will.  Each of us is here to carry out a special mission given to us by our Creator God. Will we carry out God’s purpose for us today or decide to carry our own will apart from God?

In heaven, day and night, God is proclaimed holy:  “Holy, holy, holy is the Lord God almighty, who was, and who is and who is to come” (Revelation 4: 8).    May  we, day and night, in good times and bad times, in each season of our lives here on earth—spring, summer, fall and winter-- worship God, praise God and give God thanks for our existence and that of all of creation. And  may all that we do and say give glory to our God and carry out the purpose for which God brought us into being!

God's Expectations

In today’s first reading, Jeremiah 7: 1-11, we are asked to not put our “trust in…deceitful words: This is the temple of the Lord! The temple of the Lord! The temple of the Lord!’ Only if you thoroughly reform your ways and your deeds; if each of you deals justly with his/[her] neighbor;  if you no longer  oppress the resident alien, the orphan, and the widow; if you no longer shed innocent blood…, or follow strange gods to your own harm, will I remain with you in this place, in the land I gave our fathers/[mothers] long ago and forever.”

That I raise a bible in the air repeatedly and am able to quote myriad of or write eloquently about Scripture passages does not mean necessarily  that I have reformed my ways or my deeds, that I am dealing justly with my neighbor and no longer oppressing the resident alien, the orphan, and the widow.  Nor does it mean that I am not following strange gods to my own harm and the harm of others!

Honestly, how have I reformed my sinful, selfish, arrogant, pride-filled, deceitful attitudes and behaviors this past week? How have I reached out to my neighbor, to the person I do not like, to whom I do not want to listen, to the person who thinks and believes differently than I do, who does not share my enthusiasm about a significant person in my world or a recent book I read and enjoyed? What am I doing to lessen the oppression of the resident alien, the orphan, the widow?  What strange gods am I worshiping. How surprised I was this past week to discover that I was seeking to be honored, glorified, appreciated—yes, to be the center of other people’s lives? Is that not what is due to our God?