MEDITATIONS
Posted by Batas Internet Media on Friday, October 22, 2010
Under: MEDITATIONS
MEDITATIONS
By: Bobot Apit
Oct 22, 2010 - Friday Meditation (Give! Give! Give Yourself!)
Humility doesn’t mean putting yourself last. It means not putting yourself at all. It doesn’t mean abandoning your principles or pretending they’re not important or right. It means putting all your effort not in defending principles or self-promotion, but in self-giving.
Friday of the 29th Week in Ordinary Time
Ephesians 4:1-6
Psalm 24:1-2, 3-4ab, 5-6
Luke 12:54-59 He also said to the multitudes, "When you see a cloud rising in the west, you say at once, `A shower is coming'; and so it happens. 55 And when you see the south wind blowing, you say, `There will be scorching heat'; and it happens. 56 You hypocrites! You know how to interpret the appearance of earth and sky; but why do you not know how to interpret the present time? 57 "And why do you not judge for yourselves what is right?58 As you go with your accuser before the magistrate, make an effort to settle with him on the way, lest he drag you to the judge, and the judge hand you over to the officer, and the officer put you in prison. 59 I tell you, you will never get out till you have paid the very last copper."
Meditation by Robert P. Heaney
In real estate – so it is said – what matters is “location, location, location . . .” The same is true, in a sense, when it comes to understanding the daily readings given us in the lectionary. If we don’t know the scriptural neighborhood, we can miss the real message of the passage. Today’s reading from Ephesians, for example, seems to urge upon us what might seem a pretty ordinary list of virtues – humility, gentleness, patience . . . standard preacher stuff. About what we’d expect. But knowing the neighborhood changes all that.
The Pauline author has just finished three chapters (which we’ve been reading the last few days), that celebrate the unification of Jew and Gentile in a single organism – the body of Christ, or what we call “the Church”. This is not just an interesting historical event, like the Apollo moon landing or the Battle of Hastings – however important they may have been. It’s not even a past event. It is an ongoing, present reality. It is both a gift and a challenge.
It is a gift because, in the death and resurrection of Jesus, God has inaugurated a new creation – a new heaven and earth. “Behold, I make all things new!” This is happening here, in our world; now, in our time. Re-creating our world is our mission as Church.** I fear we don’t take it seriously – that is literally. Therein lies the challenge.
A central feature of that new creation is unity – breaking down barriers. Not just between Jew and Gentile, but all barriers – Protestant/Catholic, liberal/conservative, pro-abortion/pro-life. On and on . . . As today’s first reading concludes, there is only “. . . one hope . . . one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all . . .” Remember Jesus’ prayer to His Father at the Last Supper: “. . . that they all may be one, as you, Father, in me, and I in you, that they may be one in us so that the world may believe . . .” Unity doesn’t mean that we will come together at some far future date when, at last, everybody agrees with us. We’re called to be one now. It’s not up to everybody else; it’s up to me, to us as Church.
This, then, is the background leading up to the Apostle’s setting forth his list of virtues – behaviors that both promote and manifest the unity of God’s new creation – behaviors such as humility and gentleness. Humility doesn’t mean putting yourself last. It means not putting yourself at all. It doesn’t mean abandoning your principles or pretending they’re not important or right. It means putting all your effort not in defending principles or self-promotion, but in self-giving.
Too often we approach virtue in terms of my piety, my spiritual growth. But the virtues the Apostle writes about here are not about my perfection. They’re directed toward building up a unified people. Of course we will still have differences. They’re healthy. As has been said so many times before, what we need is unity, not uniformity. We’ve been given that unity; it’s up to us to act it – to be what we are. The list of virtues in today’s first reading is the blueprint, the plan. There’s no other way.
**See Bishop N.T. Wright’s recent book, “Surprised by Hope”.
Supplementary Reading
GLORY TO GOD IN THE street
I charge you in the presence of God and of Christ Jesus... proclaim the word; be persistent whether it is convenient or inconvenient. – 2 Timothy 4:1-2
In a church, there was a majestic stained glass depicting the Ascension of Jesus with the words, “Glory to God in the highest.”
One day, some boys were playing with a ball. One of them threw it and wham! It hit the stained glass. A priest saw what happened and scolded the boys. When he checked the damage, the letters “highe” was replaced by a hole. What remained was “st.” — the abbreviation of the word street.
The priest clasped his hands and prayed, “Thank God for Your wonderful message: ‘Glory to God in the _____st. (street).’” Hearing this in a homily pinched my heart. Yes, God deserves to be glorified in heaven but He wants to be glorified more in the streets. He so wants people to know Him and His unconditional love for them, and I can allow Him to use me to do it.
I can preach His message of love in simple ways. I can proclaim it with my simple “Hello” and “How are you?” or with acts of charity and warm friendliness… in the streets, where ordinary people walk, where God’s message of love is needed. - Ma. Luisa dela Cruz (Kerygma)
By: Bobot Apit
Oct 22, 2010 - Friday Meditation (Give! Give! Give Yourself!)
Humility doesn’t mean putting yourself last. It means not putting yourself at all. It doesn’t mean abandoning your principles or pretending they’re not important or right. It means putting all your effort not in defending principles or self-promotion, but in self-giving.
Friday of the 29th Week in Ordinary Time
Ephesians 4:1-6
Psalm 24:1-2, 3-4ab, 5-6
Luke 12:54-59 He also said to the multitudes, "When you see a cloud rising in the west, you say at once, `A shower is coming'; and so it happens. 55 And when you see the south wind blowing, you say, `There will be scorching heat'; and it happens. 56 You hypocrites! You know how to interpret the appearance of earth and sky; but why do you not know how to interpret the present time? 57 "And why do you not judge for yourselves what is right?58 As you go with your accuser before the magistrate, make an effort to settle with him on the way, lest he drag you to the judge, and the judge hand you over to the officer, and the officer put you in prison. 59 I tell you, you will never get out till you have paid the very last copper."
Meditation by Robert P. Heaney
In real estate – so it is said – what matters is “location, location, location . . .” The same is true, in a sense, when it comes to understanding the daily readings given us in the lectionary. If we don’t know the scriptural neighborhood, we can miss the real message of the passage. Today’s reading from Ephesians, for example, seems to urge upon us what might seem a pretty ordinary list of virtues – humility, gentleness, patience . . . standard preacher stuff. About what we’d expect. But knowing the neighborhood changes all that.
The Pauline author has just finished three chapters (which we’ve been reading the last few days), that celebrate the unification of Jew and Gentile in a single organism – the body of Christ, or what we call “the Church”. This is not just an interesting historical event, like the Apollo moon landing or the Battle of Hastings – however important they may have been. It’s not even a past event. It is an ongoing, present reality. It is both a gift and a challenge.
It is a gift because, in the death and resurrection of Jesus, God has inaugurated a new creation – a new heaven and earth. “Behold, I make all things new!” This is happening here, in our world; now, in our time. Re-creating our world is our mission as Church.** I fear we don’t take it seriously – that is literally. Therein lies the challenge.
A central feature of that new creation is unity – breaking down barriers. Not just between Jew and Gentile, but all barriers – Protestant/Catholic, liberal/conservative, pro-abortion/pro-life. On and on . . . As today’s first reading concludes, there is only “. . . one hope . . . one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all . . .” Remember Jesus’ prayer to His Father at the Last Supper: “. . . that they all may be one, as you, Father, in me, and I in you, that they may be one in us so that the world may believe . . .” Unity doesn’t mean that we will come together at some far future date when, at last, everybody agrees with us. We’re called to be one now. It’s not up to everybody else; it’s up to me, to us as Church.
This, then, is the background leading up to the Apostle’s setting forth his list of virtues – behaviors that both promote and manifest the unity of God’s new creation – behaviors such as humility and gentleness. Humility doesn’t mean putting yourself last. It means not putting yourself at all. It doesn’t mean abandoning your principles or pretending they’re not important or right. It means putting all your effort not in defending principles or self-promotion, but in self-giving.
Too often we approach virtue in terms of my piety, my spiritual growth. But the virtues the Apostle writes about here are not about my perfection. They’re directed toward building up a unified people. Of course we will still have differences. They’re healthy. As has been said so many times before, what we need is unity, not uniformity. We’ve been given that unity; it’s up to us to act it – to be what we are. The list of virtues in today’s first reading is the blueprint, the plan. There’s no other way.
**See Bishop N.T. Wright’s recent book, “Surprised by Hope”.
Supplementary Reading
GLORY TO GOD IN THE street
I charge you in the presence of God and of Christ Jesus... proclaim the word; be persistent whether it is convenient or inconvenient. – 2 Timothy 4:1-2
In a church, there was a majestic stained glass depicting the Ascension of Jesus with the words, “Glory to God in the highest.”
One day, some boys were playing with a ball. One of them threw it and wham! It hit the stained glass. A priest saw what happened and scolded the boys. When he checked the damage, the letters “highe” was replaced by a hole. What remained was “st.” — the abbreviation of the word street.
The priest clasped his hands and prayed, “Thank God for Your wonderful message: ‘Glory to God in the _____st. (street).’” Hearing this in a homily pinched my heart. Yes, God deserves to be glorified in heaven but He wants to be glorified more in the streets. He so wants people to know Him and His unconditional love for them, and I can allow Him to use me to do it.
I can preach His message of love in simple ways. I can proclaim it with my simple “Hello” and “How are you?” or with acts of charity and warm friendliness… in the streets, where ordinary people walk, where God’s message of love is needed. - Ma. Luisa dela Cruz (Kerygma)
In : MEDITATIONS