Believe and Do

 

 

The Parable of the Two Sons

²⁸ “What do you think? There was a man who had two sons. He went to the first and said, ‘Son, go and work today in the vineyard.’

²⁹ “‘I will not,’ he answered, but later he changed his mind and went.

³⁰ “Then the father went to the other son and said the same thing. He answered, ‘I will, sir,’ but he did not go.

³¹ “Which of the two did what his father wanted?”

“The first,” they answered.

Jesus said to them, “Truly I tell you, the tax collectors and the prostitutes are entering the kingdom of God ahead of you. ³² For John came to you to show you the way of righteousness, and you did not believe him, but the tax collectors and the prostitutes did. And even after you saw this, you did not repent and believe him.

Where do I stand?  Am I a "talker" or a "doer"?  Do I believe and do? or just talk?  Talk is easy, but doing requires "guts".  If I find myself full of words and snort on action, Jesus is talking to me.

Bro. Rene

Let There Be Light

 

Matthew 21: 23-27

The Authority of Jesus Challenged

²³ And when he entered the temple, the chief priests and the elders of the people came up to him as he was teaching, and said, “By what authority are you doing these things, and who gave you this authority?” ²⁴ Jesus answered them, “I also will ask you one question, and if you tell me the answer, then I also will tell you by what authority I do these things. ²⁵ The baptism of John, from where did it come? From heaven or from man?” And they discussed it among themselves, saying, “If we say, ‘From heaven,’ he will say to us, ‘Why then did you not believe him?’ ²⁶ But if we say, ‘From man,’ we are afraid of the crowd, for they all hold that John was a prophet.” ²⁷ So they answered Jesus, “We do not know.” And he said to them, “Neither will I tell you by what authority I do these things.

We celebrate the Memorial of St. Lucy, a huge day of joy in Sweden, their darkest, shortest day, which causes them to show their longing for light with elaborate, special foods, and the honoring of St. Lucy (Lux, light in Latin...Lucia, Lucy) and the "presence" of St. Lucy with a crown of burning candles.This Gospel passage really is separate from the festivities but reminds us that if we do not acknowledge and accept Jesus, but remain apart from him, we will always live in darkness. As with the chief priests and elders we have a choice. Let's make the right one.

Bro. Rene 

 

Gaudete (Rejoice) Sunday

 

Note:  technical difficulties prevented the posting of Sunday's and Monday's slices of "Daily Bread".   Here are some crumbs.   

⁴ Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, rejoice. ⁵ Let your reasonableness be known to everyone. The Lord is at hand; ⁶ do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. ⁷ And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.

At the halfway point in Advent, the anticipation of Christmas joys, as in an"I can hardly wait" mode, is expressed in the purple vestments shifting to a bright rose...halfway between purple and white, making us feel the excitement.   St. Paul reminds us of the Lord's closeness and calls us to prayer and thanksgiving as the gateway to peace. With a quick look at the news:  tornadoes shootings, and tension over Ukraine, we need to be reminded that the Prince of Peace came as one of us to show us the way to peace.  It is WE who fail to find it because we do not live according to his teachings.  With two weeks left in Advent, let's renew our efforts to quiet down, pray and reflect over Gods' great love for us in sending Jesus, his Son  to be one of us. If God so loves us, can't we make some serious effort to give him his due, to listen to him and serve him by serving one another"?

Bro. Rene

 

John the Baptist, the new Elijah

(Note: my mouse is not working and I can't scroll down the selection from Matthew. Bear with just the commentary) 

 Matthew 17: 9a, 10-13

Coming down the Mount of the Transfiguration, the disciples asked Jesus if Elijah were coming back, and Jesus replied that he already had, meaning in John the Baptist.  What an introduction to this man, of whom we'll be hearing more in the two remaining weeks of Advent.  He came to prepare the way, as we are trying to do in our own lives during Advent. May God bless us with even just 15 minutes to reflect on what we have been able to do (most likely, NOT DO) during these first two weeks, and make a definite and solid pledge to use the remaining weeks to prepare our hearts as well as we are preparing our homes and tables for Christmas.

Bro. Rene

What Is Best For Us

Isaiah 48:17-19 

Pay Attention

This is what the LORD says— your Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel: “I am the LORD your God, who teaches you what is best for you, who directs you in the way you should go. If only you had paid attention to my commands, your peace would have been like a river, your well-being like the waves of the sea. Your descendants would have been like the sand, your children like its numberless grains; their name would never be blotted out nor destroyed from before me.”

 

How  Wisdom Is Proved Right

¹⁶ “To what can I compare this generation? They are like children sitting in the marketplaces and calling out to others:

¹⁷ “‘We played the pipe for you,
    and you did not dance;
we sang a dirge,
    and you did not mourn.’

¹⁸ For John came neither eating nor drinking, and they say, ‘He has a demon.’ ¹⁹ The Son of Man came eating and drinking, and they say, ‘Here is a glutton and a drunkard, a friend of tax collectors and sinners.’ But wisdom is proved right by her deeds.”

"God's ways are not our ways, and in the long run are what is best for us, although in the "short run", we don't see it as such.  We are so often like those children playing in the market place, satisfied with neither this or that. We are contestants is a "no win" game, it often seems, but the blame is ours, although we are blind to it. Isaiah reproaches us< "If only we had paid attention!"  Well, that's what Advent is for: to set aside time to see not only God's plan for the world unfolding, but also seeing God's plan for ME unfolding.  Let us renew our trust that what God wants for us IS the BEST for us.

Bro. Rene

 

 

Estabishing The Kingdom

^{Note:  Usually if I post a slice before 9:45 a. m., it appears at 9:47 a.m., but evidently this is not the case all the time.  Yesterday, for example, the posting appeared in the middle of the night...Let's see what happens today!}

^{Matthew 11: 11-15} 

^{The Violent Bear It Away}

¹¹ Truly I tell you, among those born of women there has not risen anyone greater than John the Baptist; yet whoever is least in the kingdom of heaven is greater than he. ¹² From the days of John the Baptist until now, the kingdom of heaven has been subjected to violence, and violent people have been raiding it. ¹³ For all the Prophets and the Law prophesied until John. ¹⁴ And if you are willing to accept it, he is the Elijah who was to come. ¹⁵ Whoever has ears, let them hear.

For one who hears and responds to the Word of God, he or she is challenged to put it into practice, even to take "violent" (stern, direct, fearless) efforts to do so.  It as the aggressive rather than the passive approach that does justice to the message of salvation.  Jesus is not advocating conversion by the sword, but a brave, courageous, unhesitating or uncompromising approach  The enemies of the Word have often use violence to destroy it; believers can and must counteract this aggression with an aggressive living out and spreading of the Gospel by word and deed. If I open my ears and heart to the message, I will seek and find the will and strength to pass it on to others.

Bro. Rene

 

Nothing Shall Be Impossiblre with God

Note: I am eating these words as I try  in vain to scroll down on the Gospel Passage for today, Luke 1: 26-38 and fail time after time as the clock runs out.   Two batteries in my "mouse" would solve the problem but batteries I have not.  Let us profit from this turn of "fate" to the impossible invitation to Mary to become the Mother of
God.  How did she feel? What faith and trust were require of her?   

Today we celebrate her Immaculate Conception, which freed her from all sin and enabled her to give herself totally to God's plan.  May she help us do the same as much as our sinful nature will allow.

Bro. Rene