Sunday Gospel Reflection, December 12, 2021: The Lord is near...

The Lord is near…

You have access to God – what else do you need?

    Like many prophets before him, Zephaniah is charged by God to call out the people of Israel for having denied their own beliefs and taken on the faith practices of the communities among whom they have been exiled. Having failed to be true to covenant, they feel a penalty has been imposed on them by God. But Zephaniah also offers hope for the future: The Lord has removed the judgment against you, he tells the remnant of Israel. Zephaniah wants to bring the people back to proper worship of the Lord. The Lord, your God, is in your midst, Zephaniah says, a mighty savior – you just weren’t paying attention. But God will rejoice over you with gladness and renew you in his love, singing joyfully because of you! The prophet Isaiah builds on this statement by inciting the people to joyful song: Cry out with joy and gladness: for among you is the great and Holy One of Israel! God’s great works are to be proclaimed to all the nations, and most significant among those works is God’s very presence among them, the fountain of their salvation. All have access to God – what more do they need to be joyful?

   In Luke’s Gospel, John the Baptist will underscore the need for the people to open themselves to the God who will soon be revealed to them: one mightier than I is coming who will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire, John tells the crowds. To do so, they must not only repent, but also do justice by one another, eschewing extortion from the poor, for example, and every false accusation, and instead sharing their cloaks with the person who has none. They are to act upon the love of God that will be revealed among them, and open themselves to the radical transformation Jesus calls them to. If their kindness is known to all, Paul instructs the Philippians, then they can rejoice in the Lord always. For the Lord is near whenever we serve others with justice rather than dwelling upon any cause for anxiety. Thanks to the death and rising of Jesus Christ, we all have access to God – what more do we need to be joyful?

This post is based on Fr. Pat’s Scripture class.
Image source: www.wordclouds.com

Sunday Gospel Reflection, July 11, 2021: In him we were also chosen, destined....

In him we were also chosen, destined…

What is God calling you to? 

    When challenged by Amaziah, priest of Bethel, the prophet Amos insists that he is a humble man, not highly educated, yet called by God to deliver God’s message to the God’s people: I was no prophet, Amos tells Amaziah, I was a shepherd and a dresser of sycamores. The Lord took me from following the flock, and said to me, Go, prophesy to my people Israel. Amos is an ordinary man called to do the extraordinary, which he does in spite of opposition and myriad difficulties. The people of Israel do not want to hear his accusations that they have been inattentive to their relationship with the Lord, and have therefore failed to live justly; Amos is sent to put the people back on the right track, to signal that they’ve lost their way, to call them to conversion. Their obstinacy is set in stark contrast to the psalmist in Psalm 85, who states clearly, I will hear what God proclaims, and embraces God’s kindness, justice, and peace, trusting with confidence in a God who desires relationship, calling us to conversion and a belief in the prophetic promise of salvation.

    In Mark’s Gospel, the apostles are also humble men, yet they are called by Jesus to proclaim the good news: Jesus summoned the Twelve and began to send them out two by two. They are to preach repentance, revealing God’s promise of salvation not only in words but in action, driving out demons and curing the sick. The apostles will fulfill their commission to the praise of God’s glory, taking with them only the authority granted to them by Jesus. The Ephesians are one of the communities that have experienced conversion with the help of the apostles; they believe in the power of Christ’s death and rising – redemption by his blood – and recognize that they were also chosen, that they too might exist for the praise of his glory. They find unity in Christ, sharing together in his life as one church destined for adoption, called through baptism, holy and without blemish, to love one another. Like them, we are called through baptism to reveal God’s love, proclaiming God at work in our lives and, in the process, chosen to ensure that justice might be had by all.

This post is based on OLMC’s Scripture class.
Image source: www.wordclouds.com