Jesus comes asking us to follow (Lee Camp)

   Jesus of Nazareth always comes asking disciples to follow him--not merely accept him, not merely believe in him, not merely worship him, but to follow him: one either follows Christ, or one does not. There is no compartmentalization of the faith, no realm, no sphere, no business, no politic in which the lordship of Christ will be excluded. We either make him Lord of all lords, or we deny him as Lord of any. 

―Lee Camp, Mere Discipleship: 

Radical Christianity in a Rebellious World 

Image source: https://rchristianbohlen.com/surrender/

New eyes for seeing (Krista Tippett)

   Taking in the good, whenever and wherever we find it, gives us new eyes for seeing and living.
 

--Krista Tippett, Becoming Wise: 

An Inquiry into the Mystery and Art of Living 

Image source 1: Olympic runner Abbey D'Agostino helps up competitor Nikki Hamlin at the 2016 Rio games.  https://worldathletics.org/news/news/ioc-fair-play-hamblin-dagostino 

Image source 2: https://www.naturespath.com/en-ca/blog/5-ways-teach-kids-compassion-towards-animals/

Restoring to work its dignity (Walter Ciszek)

    There is a tremendous truth contained in the realization that when God became man, he became a working man. Yet he did not think it demeaning, beneath his dignity, dehumanizing. If anything, he restored to man’s work its original dignity, its essential function as a share in God’s creative act. He did it to make it plain that the plainest and dullest of jobs is—or at any rate can be, if viewed properly in respect to God and to eternity—a sharing in the divine work of creation and redemption, a daily opportunity to cooperate with God in the central acts of his covenant of salvation. 

--Walter Ciszek          

Image source: Ade Bethune, Jesus the Carpenter, published in The Catholic Worker, https://portsmouthabbeymonastery.org/2019-archives  

Quotation source

Yes, we have met Wisdom (Sr. Patricia Bruno)

   Wisdom is the breath of the power of God. A breath that rejoices with the Divine and in the dance of love together give life to the Incarnate Word – the Child of Wisdom – the Word who pitched a tent among us as the fourth gospel reminds us. 

   The Word, who like Wisdom is not aloof. The Word, who like Wisdom revealed God’s abundance: full crops in untended fields, pearls buried in vacant lots, wild bushes housing and protecting new born birds of the air. 

   Nothing or no one is insignificant – not a coin or a disheartened and despairing disciple. Nothing, no one – lost. 

   We know what Wisdom looks like in human form. We have met Jesus in prayer and scripture. And because of that, we can recognize Wisdom’s presence in our own life. For in each generation she passes into holy souls and makes them (us) friends of God and prophets. Yes, we have met Wisdom. 

--Sr. Patricia Bruno, OP 

Image source: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GvOpb1sxx8Q 

Quotation source

Wisdom (St. Gregory the Great)

 

We make idols of our concepts, 
but Wisdom is born of wonder. 

--St. Gregory the Great  

Image source:  The Northern Lights, http://www.unmuseum.org/7wonders/northernlights.htm
Quotation source

Lord, let me see and hear (Henri Nouwen)

Dear Lord, 

Give me eyes to see and ears to hear. I know there is light in the darkness that makes everything new. I know there is new life in suffering that opens a new earth for me. I know there is a joy beyond sorrow that rejuvenates my heart. Yes, Lord, I know that you are, that you act, that you love, that you indeed are Light, Life, and Truth. People, work, plans, projects, ideas, meetings, buildings, paintings, music, and literature all can only give me real joy and peace when I can see and hear them as reflections of your presence, your glory, your kingdom. Let me then see and hear. 

Let me be so taken by what you show me and by what you say to me that your vision and hearing become my guide in life and impart meaning to all my concerns. 

Let me see and hear what is really real, and let me have the courage to keep unmasking the endless unrealities, which disturb my life every day. Now I see only in a mirror, but one day, O Lord, I hope to see you face to face. 

Amen. 

--Henri Nouwen 

Image source: A waterfall that is not a waterfall, Mascarene Plateau, Mauritius, https://www.insider.com/optical-illusions-nature-photos-t2018-5 

Quotation source

Sunday Gospel Reflection, September 4, 2022: That we may gain wisdom of heart...

That we may gain wisdom of heart…

How can we ever hope to see as God sees?

    It should be no surprise to anyone that God’s way of thinking about things is vastly different from humankind’s way of thinking about things. The Book of Wisdom reminds us of this vast difference: Who can conceive what the Lord intends? For the deliberations of mortals are timid, and unsure are our plans. God’s wisdom is not our wisdom, but the author of the Book of Wisdom knew that God does at times give wisdom and send his holy spirit from on high. The wise person, therefore, remains open to God’s guidance and will, attentive to God’s revelation; he moves through life accompanied by God so that he might participate in the ongoing miracle that is life in God. His path is straight because God walks with him and he walks with God. The author of Psalm 90 knows this: In every age, O Lord, you have been our refuge. The psalmist asks the Lord to teach us to number our days aright, that we may gain wisdom of heart; with such wisdom, the psalmist hopes to see as God sees, with a changed vision, a changed perspective. 

    Jesus’ wisdom is no less challenging, both to his disciples and to us. It’s hard for just about anyone to get his head around Jesus’ statement in Luke’s Gospel that If anyone comes to me without hating his father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters, and even his own life, he cannot be my disciple. But his is a radical call to discipleship; we are called to surrender all in order to follow. If we do so, if we choose Christ first, then everything important will come, including solid relationships with family members, because our connections will be in Christ. Like the king marching into battle, we must know what tactics are necessary for success in advance, and in the case of Jesus, that success comes through the cross, through sacrifice and renunciation. We can only understand such a request if we have wisdom of heart, if we seek to see with God’s vision rather than our own. Likewise, Paul urges Philemon, his beloved co-worker in Christ, to see the slave Onesimus with new eyes, to see him no longer as a slave but more than a slave, a brother. Philemon would have to sacrifice some aspects of his relationship with Onesimus, but he would choose to do so for his friend Paul, and also for Christ. 

    We sometimes lose sight of all that Christ calls us to. But if we strive to see as the Lord sees, if we open to God’s wisdom and allow him to fill us with his kindness, we will be laying a firm foundation of faith, our eye ever on the prize that is eternal life. 

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