I AM Sent Moses to Lead His people to Freedom; I AM Sends You and Me into our World!

In today's first reading, Exodus 3: 13-20, Moses asks the Lord what he is to tell the Israelites if they ask him what is His name. "I am who am," God tells Moses. God is the I AM!  God amplifies his answer by saying to Moses:  "This is what you shall tell the children of Israel: I AM sent me to you."   God is existence, the existence of who I am, who you are, who all living beings are!  "I AM"  put me, and you, here, in this place, at this time and sustains you and me in existence for His divine purposes!  Our lives are no accident. We are not here by chance! We are one with God in the very essence of our being!

God's being, the I AM, is purity, love, justice, holiness, peace!  In our essence, so are we! When we do not obstruct grace, we radiate these virtues; we radiate God, though we are not God!  As children naturally are created in the image and likeness of their biological parents, so, too, are we reflections of God, created in the image and likeness of God, to do the works of God as God empowers us to do!

WOW!  My Lord and my God!  What an incredible reality concerning who God is and who we are!  How blessed are we and how awesome is our God!

God Delights in Us as a Loving Parent Delights Over a Child

In today's Gospel, John 15: 1-8, Jesus says to us: "I am the true vine, and my Father the vine grower. He takes away every branch in me that does not bear fruit, and everyone that does he prunes so that it bears more fruit.  You are already pruned because of the word that I spoke to you. Remain in me, as I remain in you. Just as branch cannot bear fruit on its own unless it remains on the vine, so neither can you unless you remain in me. I am the vine, you are the branches. Whoever remains in me and I in him [her] will bear much fruit...."

In one sense we are like infants in their mother's womb and later, also, as toddlers and small children are totally dependent upon their parents for sustenance and growth.  Infants and toddlers apart from their parents will perish. So, too, will we apart from God! God guides us and provides for us as any good parents provide for their children. And nothing diminishes parents' love for their children.  No matter what we do, parents continue to love us and eagerly await our return to them when we have gone astray!   So, too, with God!

And like the owner of a vineyard, God does everything possible--pruning,  nurturing, watering, cultivating-- that we, His prized "plant," produce fruit, an abundance of fruit.  And how proud is God as He watches us bear fruit!  His love is ecstatic!

Rooted in God Who Is Love

Today's first reading, 1 John 4: 7-10, presents us with the following invitation and information:  "Beloved, let us love one another, because love is of God; everyone who loves is begotten by God and knows God. Whoever is without love does not know God, for God is love.  In this way the love of God was revealed to us:  God sent his only-begotten Son into the world so that we might have life through him. In this is love: not that we have loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as expiation for our sins" and to show us God's overwhelming love for humankind.

You and I were created by God, who is the source of our very beings. God is love and, therefore, we, too, are love, created by Love and for Love. St. Luke, in Acts 17: 28, reminds us that we live and move and have our being in God. Therefore we live and move and have our being in Love!  When we fail to love, are we not failing both ourselves and our God. When we are unloving, uncaring and rejecting of ourselves and others and thus engaged in sinful behavior,  is it not true that we do not truly know ourselves!  St. Paul says in Rom 7: 25 that "[w]hen I act against my will (my will is to love as God loves], then, it is not my true self doing it (my true self is a loving self), but sin which lives in me."

God lives at the core of my being.  From that core self do I not will to desire what God desires and to  love as God loves?

Recognizing When we Think We Are God

In today's first reading, Ezekiel 28: 1-10, the Lord again has strong words for us through the prophet. The prophet is asked to give the prince of Tyre the following message, a message that I believe is applicable to many today who see themselves as gods and to each of us when we assume the position of a of a god over others:  "Because you are haughty of heart, you say, 'A god am I!...'And yet you are a man, and not a god, however you may think yourself like a god....[Y]ou have heaped up your riches; your heart has grown haughty from your riches--therefore thus says the Lord God: Because you have thought yourself to have the mind of a god, therefore I will bring against you foreigners, the most barbarous of nations....They shall thrust you down to the pit, there to die...Will you then say, 'I am a god!"

Those may sound like very harsh words.  Yet you and I need to pray for the grace of humility. There is no other god but God alone.  We need God's mercy, as does everyone else.  When we become haughty as did the prince of Tyre,  we need to be transformed by grace.  When we assume power that is not ours,  as did princes or rulers of old and, more closely to home,  as did St. Paul on his way to persecute Christians, we need to be knocked off our "horse".  When we assume the attitude of being over others and better than others; when we grow self-sufficient to the point of not realizing our need for a Savior, then we, too, need God's intervention in our lives.

Will we make efforts now to know who we are and who God is, or will we wait until we are dying to realize that we are not a god?

What do I, what do  you, need to do to grow in humility?

Destined to be Loved Forever

In the first reading of today’s liturgy, Ephesians 1: 1-10, St. Paul reminds us that we are blessed-- "blessed in Christ with every spiritual blessings in the heavens, as he chose us in him, before the foundation of the world, to be holy and without blemish before him. In love he destined us for adoption to himself through Jesus Christ, in accord with the favor of his will, for the praise of the glory of his grace that he granted us in the beloved.”

“Every spiritual  blessing!” Do I  realize, I asked myself,  what that truly means? Every blessing, not just some, but all! Every blessing “in the heavens”, not “every blessing in or from the earth,” though, of course, I receive those heavenly blessings here!  Every blessing in the heavens—that means union with the Lord God, God’s love, abundant love; reconciliation with the Lord, the forgiveness of sin.  In Psalm 103, the psalmist proclaims: “….he takes our sins farther away than the east is from the west.”

Paul also reminds us about being adopted by God: “….[God] destined us for adoption to himself through Jesus Christ.”  Jesus is the one who removed the consequences of our disobedience and restored us to right relationship with God the Father as an adopted daughter, an adopted son of God.   

  

How awesome! How deep the love of our God for each one of us “destined…for adoption”!

And there is so much more in this reading. I encourage each of you to open your Bibles to Ephesians 1: 1-10. You will be filled with grace as you ponder this passage and make appropriate applications as given you by the Spirit of God speaking within you.

Living by Faith Working through Love

In the first reading of today's liturgy, Galatians 5: 1-6,  the people are concerned about the circumcised and the uncircumcised.  Those who have put their faith in the act of circumcision, on keeping a man-made law, who become slaves to laws, have no need of Christ, Paul proclaims. Their faith is misplaced.  In Paul's own words:   "...every man who has himself circumcised...is bound to observe the entire law. You," he says to such persons, "are separated from Christ, you who are trying to be justified by law; you have fallen from grace."  I then asked myself whether or not I, too,  do not put forth efforts to justify myself by how well or poorly I have kept a certain law, whatever it may be. According to this Scripture reading, whenever I rely upon myself to keep any law, I am bound to fail, to fall short of the mark I have set for myself apart from faith in Christ Jesus. Yes, I have then "fallen from grace." As I sat in the stillness of prayer, the Lord then reminded through the spirit speaking within me:

"I, Jesus, am always working through the events of your life. Do you believe that, Dorothy Ann? God is love, a love revealed in what is happening in and around those who live by faith in Me. Remember that I hover over the chaos you encounter, or become aware of, as much now as I did at the beginning of creation. I see the void and know what to do. I am God. There is no other.

"Be still, especially in chaos, and know that I am God. Act in faith, in love, in quiet trust of my power to bring life out of death, light into darkness, and to right that which is wrong.  I am God. There is no other.  Live by faith in Me, not faith in your ability to keep a law. I am not a law. I am a person, the second Person of the Godhead, the Trinity, at work in the world, making all things new. Do you believe that, Dorothy Ann? If you do, you will remain calm and discover your strength to cooperate with Me, your God, your All, your salvation.

"Follow Me as I followed the will of My Father in bringing about the salvation of the world by My obedience to His will."

"Keep your focus on Me, not on yourself and your desire to prove your ability to obey a certain rule. With your focus on Me, you will discover My power of love at work in you and around you. Trust me! Yes, be still and know that I am God.The choices you, then, make will flow from my Love." 

God, A Disciplinarian Who Never Abandons His Children

In today’s first reading, Isaiah 10: 5-7, 13b-16, God, like  any good parent who disciplines his/her child when that child acts against the parents’ will, so, too, God disciplines us when we do not obey. He  uses Assyria to discipline the Israelites for their disobedience.   In the words of   Psalm 94 of today’s liturgical celebration, the Chosen people have trampled upon the poor: “[w]idow and stranger they slay, the fatherless they murder. And they say, ‘The Lord sees not; the God of Jacob perceives not.’”   Throughout the Old Testament, whenever the people strayed  from the laws of God, the Lord allowed other nations to overtake them. In today’s reading, Assyria is the instrument used by God to bring His people back to living righteously, honorably and humbly, caring for one another, acting justly and lovingly toward the poor and oppressed of the land.  Assyria boasts, saying “by my own power I have done it (conquered Israel), and by my wisdom, for I am shrewd.  I have moved the boundaries of peoples, their treasures I have pillaged, and, like a giant, I have put down the enthroned.” In other words, Assyria also insults the Lord God and is likewise disciplined by God in His efforts to turn people back to living honorably as instruments in God’s hand.  God alone is the Lord. God is Master of the Universe, Creator, Redeemer and Sanctifier of us all.

As of old, so, too, today. God uses every circumstance of our lives to redeem us, make us holy, righteous, just, caring, loving, and forgiving toward one another, treating all as brothers and sisters in the Lord.  As we stray from the path of goodness, justice, and humility, do we, like our ancestors in the Old Testament say , in the words of the psalmist, “The Lord sees not; the God of Jacob perceive not?”  If so, we, too, need to hear the next few verses of Psalm 94, where God says to us: “Understand, you senseless ones among the people; all, you fools, when will you be wise? Shall he who shaped the ear not hear: or he who formed the eye not see? Shall he who instructs nations not chastise, he who teaches …[humankind] knowledge? For the Lord will not cast off his people, nor abandon his inheritance; but judgment shall again be with justice and all the upright of heart shall follow it” (Ps. 94).

Is it possible that all of the disasters throughout the world are God’s way of disciplining us and bringing us to the point of acknowledging who, really, is God and who is not?  Are we being given wakeup calls and not hearing, not listening?

The Greatness of our God

In today's first reading, Hosea 11: 1-4, 8e-9, the prophet reminds us that God is the one who taught us how to walk on solid ground, planted us in His love, supported us in the very arms of our God, fostering us and holding our cheeks against God's face as a parent holds an  infant next to his/her cheek. God is that tender and loving toward us, His son/daughter from infancy.  Through Hosea, God complains that, though He has stooped to feed us, we do not know that God is our healer.  "...it was I who taught...[you] to walk, who  took...[you] in my arms; I drew ...[you] with human cords, with bands of love; I fostered...[you] like one who raises an infant to his cheeks; yet, though I stooped to feed...[you,] my child, ...[you] did not know that I was...[your] healer.

God looks down from heaven and sees nations fighting against one another, people fighting within their own countries, killing the innocent, causing families to flee for safety, to leave their homes and go into exile in other lands.  God sees children and women and men cowering in closets in fear for their lives and/or throwing their hands up to their faces to protect themselves from repeated blows. God stoops down from heaven and sees women and children being sold into the sex industry, becoming slaves of cheap labor so companies can sell products at low prices and make billions of dollars in profit. God stoops down from heaven and weeps when the unborn are being slaughtered in the womb or killed as they enter this world. God stoops down from heaven weeping when the scales are set against the poor of this world.

And God says, through the prophet Hosea:  "My heart is overwhelmed, my pity is stirred.  I will not give vent to  my blazing anger, I will not destroy Ephraim again [insert the appropriate place]; for I am God and not man, the Holy One present among you; I will not let the flames consume you."

What a gracious God! What a loving God! What a forgiving God! What a caring God, One, without us realizing it, heals our woundedness, transforms our weaknesses, and leads us to forsake our sinful ways and transform the world with love and forgiveness, persons molded by grace to become who we are in Christ Jesus: the adopted son/daughter of God bringing life and wholeness to our neighbors, turning our weapons into plowshares and doing on earth what is willed in heaven.

The House that God Built

In today’s first reading, 2 Sam 7: 1-17, David wants to build the Lord a house of cedar.  Earlier, when David voiced that desire, Nathan encouraged him to go ahead: “The Lord is with you.”      However, that was not God’s will for David. He said to Nathan: “Go, tell my servant David, ‘Thus says the Lord: Should you build me a house to dwell in? I have not dwelt in a house from the day on which I led the children of Israel out of Egypt to the present, but I have been going about in a tent under cloth…[D]id I ever utter a word to any one of the judges whom I charged to tend my people Israel, to ask: Why have you not built me a house of cedar?”  The house that God intended to build was not made of material things. He built and is building the Body of Christ through His Son Jesus.  God has chosen to dwell within each one of us, the Temples of the Holy Spirit and where the Holy Spirit is, so, too, is the Father and the Son, as they are one God but three divine persons.  God’s plan was to rise up a son from David’s line and “make his royal throne firm forever,” a throne in heaven from whence God reigns as King of heaven and earth.  May the Temple that each of us is give glory to God, whose will endures forever!  See you all in heaven, the inheritance God has secured for all those who believe in Jesus Christ, His Son and our brother,  and who repent of their sins and accept God’s gift of salvation!

Faith Alive

In today’s first reading, 2 Kings 19: 9b-11, 14-21, 31-35a, 36, we hear the story of how Hezikiah, King of Jud, handled the news of impending disaster.  Sennacharib, King od Assyria,  was planning to attack Judah, the Southern Kingdom of Israel, to do to them what had been done to the Northern Kingdom: disperse them, exile them from their inherited land and destroy the Temple, their place of worship.  Hezikiah went to the Lord and prayed:

“O Lord, God of Israel, enthroned upon the cherubim! You alone are God over all    

the kingdoms of the earth. You have made the heavens and the earth. Incline your

ear, O Lord, and listen! Open your eyes, O Lord, and see! Hear the words of Sennecherib

 which he sent to taunt the living God. Truly, O Lord, the kings of Assyria have laid

waste the nations and their lands, and cast their gods into the fire; they destroyed

 them because they were not gods, but the work of human hands, wood and stone.

Therefore, O Lord our God, save us from the power of this man, that all the kingdoms

of the earth may know that you alone, O Lord, are God.”

Hezikah’s prayer was answered and 185,000 men of Sennacherib’s army died that night. Sennacherib retreated.

Your response might be: “What magic!” It was not magic. Hezikiah was a God-fearing person, a man who lived by faith.  He expected to see God in the events of his day.  If we live by faith, we will  also see God at work in our lives and in the world of today. If we do not keep our covenant with God, if we do not rely upon God, if we do not look for God, we, obviously will not find Him nor will we see Him at work in our lives. Disaster will be disaster period and not something out of which God brings a good.  Chaos will be chaos and chaos alone, not something out of which order will emerge in God’s time with our cooperation and reliance upon God.