Where Am I?

  

 Mark 12: 28b-34

The Greatest Commandment

²⁸ One of the teachers of the law came and heard them debating. Noticing that Jesus had given them a good answer, he asked him, “Of all the commandments, which is the most important?”

²⁹ “The most important one,” answered Jesus, “is this: ‘Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one. ³⁰ Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.’ ³¹ The second is this: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no commandment greater than these.”

³² “Well said, teacher,” the man replied. “You are right in saying that God is one and there is no other but him. ³³ To love him with all your heart, with all your understanding and with all your strength, and to love your neighbor as yourself is more important than all burnt offerings and sacrifices.”

³⁴ When Jesus saw that he had answered wisely, he said to him, “You are not far from the kingdom of God.” And from then on no one dared ask him any more questions.

As we read this passage and put ourselves into the scene, would we have been able to say that yes, love of God and love of neighbor are the greatest commandments...and even be able to take it a step further and say that indeed, these are the ones I practice the best?  We might have to admit that ::"part B" needs a little more work, or more truthfully, a lot more work. To love everyone as myself is no easy task, And truly, is God #1 in my life?  I might give myself a passing grade until I look closely at how I spend my time, and find that God and his commandments have little to do with it. May  we spend some time with this passage today and in the months ahead to see where we are and to do something about it.  It's an on-going process...there's no one quick, "I'm there." answer.

Bro. Rene

 

 

Banish Pride

 Luke 14: 1, 7-11

14 Now it happened, as He went into the house of one of the rulers of the Pharisees to eat bread on the Sabbath, that they watched Him closely. 

Take the Lowly Place

⁷ So He told a parable to those who were invited, when He noted how they chose the best places, saying to them: ⁸ “When you are invited by anyone to a wedding feast, do not sit down in the best place, lest one more honorable than you be invited by him; ⁹ and he who invited you and him come and say to you, ‘Give place to this man,’ and then you begin with shame to take the lowest place. ¹⁰ But when you are invited, go and sit down in the lowest place, so that when he who invited you comes he may say to you, ‘Friend, go up higher.’ Then you will have glory in the presence of those who sit at the table with you. ¹¹ For whoever exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted.”

In subtle ways, how often do we seek "the best places"?  We want to be recognized for our achievements,or lauded for our "fine words", or acclaimed for our wisdom.  Oh yes?  What will that get us?  On the contrary, Jesus advises us to "take the lowest place."  "For whoever exalts himself will be humbled and he who humbles himself will be humbled." (Lk 14: 11).  Pure and simple, but the work of a lifetime. It's time to banish pride.  If we haven't :begun yet, why not start today?

Bro Rene

Practical Good Sense

 

Luke 14: 1-6

Jesus at a Pharisee’s House

14 One Sabbath, when Jesus went to eat in the house of a prominent Pharisee, he was being carefully watched. ² There in front of him was a man suffering from abnormal swelling of his body. ³ Jesus asked the Pharisees and experts in the law, “Is it lawful to heal on the Sabbath or not?” ⁴ But they remained silent. So taking hold of the man, he healed him and sent him on his way.

⁵ Then he asked them, “If one of you has a child or an ox that falls into a well on the Sabbath day, will you not immediately pull it out?” ⁶ And they had nothing to say.

There are times when the Law must bend to accommodate a legitimate need, as Jesus points out to the rigid Pharisees. They could not answer him,, for he made eminent sense. Jesus set the bar for us, to use good common sense, while at the same time, not fall into Lawlessness.  The rule of thumb: the Law of Charity takes precedence over the letter of the Law.

Bro. Rene

Called For A Purpose

 

Luke 6: 12-16

The Twelve Apostles . 

12 One of those days Jesus went out to a mountainside to pray, and spent the night praying to God. 13 When morning came, he called his disciples to him and chose twelve of them, whom he also designated apostles: 14 Simon (whom he named Peter), his brother Andrew, James, John, Philip, Bartholomew, 15 Matthew, Thomas, James son of Alphaeus, Simon who was called the Zealot ..16 And Judas the brother of James, and Judas Iscariot, which also was the traitor.

Nearly 2,000 years after the naming of the Twelve as men with a special mission, Marcellin Champagnat, an uneducated country boy who was called to the priesthood and when confronted with the startling situation of a dying 17 year old boy who knew little or nothing of the Faith, decided  to act on his plan to start a religious  congregation that would  address the need for Christian Education.  Thus the Marist Brothers came into existence, is present in 83 countries and has recently welcomed lay people into the Marist Family. As those first apostles were called to spread the teachings of Jesus, so do the Marists also participate in the mission to make Jesus known and loved.  May God bless all Marists and all who are fortunate to be taught by them or work alongside them.

Bro. Rene

 

Take the Narrow Door

  

Luke 13: 22-30

The Narrow Door

²² Then Jesus went through the towns and villages, teaching as he made his way to Jerusalem. ²³ Someone asked him, “Lord, are only a few people going to be saved?”

He said to them, ²⁴ “Make every effort to enter through the narrow door, because many, I tell you, will try to enter and will not be able to. ²⁵ Once the owner of the house gets up and closes the door, you will stand outside knocking and pleading, ‘Sir, open the door for us.’

“But he will answer, ‘I don’t know you or where you come from.’

²⁶ “Then you will say, ‘We ate and drank with you, and you taught in our streets.’

²⁷ “But he will reply, ‘I don’t know you or where you come from. Away from me, all you evildoers!’

²⁸ “There will be weeping there, and gnashing of teeth, when you see Abraham, Isaac and Jacob and all the prophets in the kingdom of God, but you yourselves thrown out. ²⁹ People will come from east and west and north and south, and will take their places at the feast in the kingdom of God. ³⁰ Indeed there are those who are last who will be first, and first who will be last.”

Evidently, the answer to the question, "Are only a few people going to be saved?" is YES!  The narrow gate of prayerfulness, self-discipline, self-sacrifice,  sharing of time, talent and goods,  elimination of frivolous pleasures, and focusing on the Way outlined by Jesus, is not for everyone. It's so demanding that only a few can accept and live it. Which is worse, to give up a few earthly pleasures, or to be excluded from "the feast of the kingdom of God"? Let us pray that we may be able to enter the narrow door and not be deluded by the values and attractions of this world and bond with others who seek the same goal,

Bro. Rene

Small Beginnings

  

Luke: 13: 18-21

The Mustard Seed and the Leaven

¹⁸ He said therefore, “What is the kingdom of God like? And to what shall I compare it? ¹⁹ It is like a grain of mustard seed that a man took and sowed in his garden, and it grew and became a tree, and the birds of the air made nests in its branches.”

²⁰ And again he said, “To what shall I compare the kingdom of God? ²¹ It is like leaven that a woman took and hid in three measures of flour, until it was all leavened.”

Two small items, a mustard seed, one of the tiniest seeds, and a bit of leaven.  Any gardener or chef (even an amateur who has dabbled with yeast) has met the potential of these tiny items to grow into something much larger, a tall bush, or a loaf of bread.  Always a wonder to remind us that in our spiritual lives, we don't begin at the top, but by slow stages move from the tiny beginning to the larger end. The growth cycle takes time, patience and trust.  With the right ingredients and right temperature, the seed sprouts and the batch of thick dough expands and doubles, if not triples in size.  Punch it down, and it rises again.  How many restarts have we attempted with prayer, or with our attempts to avoid gossip or be charitable in thought and speech?  Each new beginning represents some progress, so let us banish "Demon Discouragement" and realize that we will eventually reach our goal.  "If at first you don't succeed, try, try again" ... an adage we learned in early childhood but still holds true in our adult  lives.

Bro. Rene

 

A Gift

Luke 13: 190-17

Jesus Heals a Crippled Woman on the Sabbath

¹⁰ On a Sabbath Jesus was teaching in one of the synagogues, ¹¹ and a woman was there who had been crippled by a spirit for eighteen years. She was bent over and could not straighten up at all. ¹² When Jesus saw her, he called her forward and said to her, “Woman, you are set free from your infirmity.” ¹³ Then he put his hands on her, and immediately she straightened up and praised God.

¹⁴ Indignant because Jesus had healed on the Sabbath, the synagogue leader said to the people, “There are six days for work. So come and be healed on those days, not on the Sabbath.”

¹⁵ The Lord answered him, “You hypocrites! Doesn’t each of you on the Sabbath untie your ox or donkey from the stall and lead it out to give it water? ¹⁶ Then should not this woman, a daughter of Abraham, whom Satan has kept bound for eighteen long years, be set free on the Sabbath day from what bound her?”

¹⁷ When he said this, all his opponents were humiliated, but the people were delighted with all the wonderful things he was doing.

Sabbath or no Sabbath, Jesus saw a need and took care of it. Can we be so generous and able to move above the Law or convention to relieve the needs of  someone else?   Imitate the generosity of Jesus and never go wrong

Bro. Rene.