Aloha Friday Message – March 29, 2024 – Who has done this?

March 29, 2024

2413AFC032924 – Who has done this? – ← 😊 PODCAST LINK

The Road to Jerusalem Series #7

Read it online here, please. And please – when you visit there – use one of the social media links at the bottom of the page to share this post. Thank you! And remember, we now have a READER VIEW available, so share this link or this email often.
Do you know someone who enjoys Bible study, or who might like to read this? Ask them to email us or to subscribe on our blog-site.

 Today is Good Friday. Today I am thinking about what happened on Good Friday in Jesus’ life. I am thinking about how and why it happened. I am thinking how you, how I, how we might have connections to that moment of Jesus’ crucifixion. It is not a pleasant subject, but it has been laid on my heart since before Lent began to cover this topic, the connection between Love and human depravity.

I have stated previously that Jesus certainly was not the first to be crucified and definitely not the last. There is evidence of crucifixions and other forms of torture going back thousands of years – at least as far back as the sixth century BC – and they continued to be widespread until about the fourth century AD. Crucifixion is execution by torture. (← Check it out!) The process of dying can last for days in some instances. It is a method of execution specifically designed for maximizing pain while dehumanizing the victim. Jesus died in great pain in the dark, in the cold, totally alone, deprived of freedom, dignity, and even – at the end – without even the company of his Father. It is death by blood loss and suffocation so that the life force of both the body and the life force of Spirit are spilled out completely. But, despite all that, he died with Faith, Hope, and Love – even for us (etiam pro nobis). He died for you, for me, for us in F.A.I.T.H., knowing that God would accept his Sacrifice, knowing that his Perfect Sacrifice was the only hope for reconciliation for the entire world, and he held that faith and hope because he gave up everything he was because of Love for God and for us. He stretched out his hands between Heaven and Earth, to embrace a tortuous death, and gave us back our humanity, which is our Oneness with our Creator.

Torture is a gruesome, evil, deliberate act of inflicting pain and suffering for the purpose of coercing, terrorizing, or punishing enemies. Sometimes it is also a form of personal gratification. My personal belief is that the Crucifixion Squads the Romans used were comprised of men – usually a team of four soldiers and one Centurion – who enjoyed their work immensely. Execution by torture is mentioned in many ancient histories of empires and nations including some in the Bible. Crucifixion is one of the cruelest forms of execution. There are others that fall into that category of extreme cruelty, but they are so gruesome I cannot mention them here. There is no civilization, no nation, or no empire that has not employed torture at some time in its history. Does that seem remarkable, or odd, or inaccurate? It is none of those things.

All of us have the capacity for inhumane treatment of others. That is why inhumane acts are so prevalent throughout history, even today in Mass shootings and in suicide by cop. I’m not really a history freak, but I do explore history a lot, and in every history of humankind there are examples of torture. It’s not always horrific like crucifixion, but it is always dehumanizing. That is the ultimate purpose of torture, to dehumanize an enemy whether it is a single person, a class of persons (like slaves or enemy soldiers for example), or an entire nation (like a pogrom – so-called “ethnic cleansing”). Think of it: Uganda, Rwanda, Eastern Europe – Guantanamo, Russia, China, Japan, and the United States (on “foreign” soil). There was horrific torture in all of those places in the 20th century!

“What makes you think that’s part of my make-up?” you ask. Beloved, we are human. We can get angry and strike in anger. We can hold a grudge. (↔ Learning Link) We can think hateful thoughts. We can get carried away with punishment, mistaking it for “correction.” We can be unloving and unforgiving. We can curse a loved one. We can strike out at another for the most foolish reasons. “But that is not as atrocious as torture! It’s just that we are human.” Look at what Jesus said about many other things that are “merely human.”

“You have heard it said that …” In Matthew 5:21-48, Jesus tells us that fulfilling the Law isn’t the answer. Hating your brother is equivalent to murder. Lusting after someone is equivalent to adultery. Lusting after a certain thing is idolatry. Swearing by or about anything is blasphemy which comes from Satan, and is not from God. Only God-given self-control centered in compassionate commitment to morality prevents us from becoming brutal, ghastly, and capable of being inhumane. It is possible, even probable, that most earthlings committed to morality will never, ever do anything as monstrously cruel as torturing another earthling for any reason; but the germ for it is there in our sinfulness, and it is a mark of meekness to recognize it. It is an appalling aspect of human nature. Jesus knew that. He knew what would happen to him. He knowingly, willingly, totally surrendered to ignominious, cruel, tortuous execution on a cross. He did that because of what has been behind every single topic we’ve covered this Lent. He did it for Love.

“Greater love has no man than this, …” Look at John 15:9-17. Click on the link and read the passage. That is what was at the core of every study we have submitted in the Lenten Series. God is Love and that Love is perfected in Jesus’ sacrifice and conveyed to us in his Resurrection through our participation in the Holy Eucharist. It is that Love, and only that Love, which makes being a humane earthling possible. Only because of the Love of God, manifested in Christ Jesus, can we be caring, kind, gentle, meek, humble, compassionate, charitable, benevolent, good, and holy. “There is no other way?” you ask. No, there is no other way. Not so interested in being a Christian because religions bum you out? It doesn’t matter. It is still because of God’s Love and Christ’s death and Resurrection that you and I have the capacity to be all those wonderful, Godly things. “How could there have been good people who were wonderfully humane before Christ, and how can people today be all of those things and more without being Christians?” Because of God’s Covenant of Love which begins and ends in the Eternal Love of God given to us in Jesus by the ministry of the Holy Spirit. It is Love that saves me, saves you, saves us from the evil that has consumed every soul that devised and committed any kind of sin – including torture. Whatever goodness might manifest in others who are not Christians comes from the Manifest Grace of God in Christ Jesus. That is why Christ commands us to Love one another (↔ Music Link). Through The Word, we are present in his sacrifice 24/7/365. (↔ Music Link) Live and Love as He Lives and Loves, and we will know his return.

When you listen to the reading of The Passion, think of Love. It is the Greatest Love Story Ever Told. (↔ Music Link)

Look at him. He did that for us. He did all of that for all of us. He did it because he Loves us so much more than we can possibly comprehend. He can do that because he alone is Love.

“If today you hear is voice,” (↔ Music Link) Jesus is inviting you to share his Joy. If you have not accepted Christ as your personal savior, pray this short prayer from your heart and Jesus will answer it. If you already know the Lord and have found Peace and Joy in his presence, pray this prayer to recommit and reconsecrate your life to him, so that your J.O.Y. may be complete.

Jesus, I realize now that you are God’s Only Begotten Son. I know you chose to die in my place for the forgiveness of my sins. Thank you for loving me so much. I want to love you that much, too, and I claim you as my personal Savior. I give you my heart, my life, my soul, my all. I ask you to be in my life forever. Bless me with your Presence, and send your Holy Spirit to pray with and for me so my faith in you becomes permanent and real. I accept your love, your forgiveness, and your Salvation. AMEN

Remember, saying this prayer or any other prayer will not save us. Only believing in Jesus Christ, His finished work on the Cross is there and real and done for us, and his Resurrection into Glory can save us from the wages of our sins. Who has done this? WE have joined the crowd that cried out crucify him crucify him!, and we do so with every unrepented sin. Amazingly, God even blesses unrepentant sinners – they are not our enemies; ha-Satan and his minions are everyone’s enemies, but on an earthling plane just remember Matthew 5:44-45 – 44 But I say to you, Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, 45 so that you may be children of your Father in heaven; for he makes his sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the righteous and on the unrighteous. If they can see the Jesus in us, it is because we can see Jesus in them. Who has done this? Us. No? Then we must keep trying to let Jesus to do this in us because he did this for us.

Whatever, whenever, wherever, whoever, however,, forever —
at your service, Belovéd!

Please pray with us here at Share-a-Prayer.

We did that. We were there.

Unless otherwise indicated, all scripture passages are from the New Revised Standard Version Catholic Edition (NRSVCE) New Revised Standard Version Bible: Catholic Edition, copyright © 1989, 1993 the Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Biblical languages inserts from Bible Hub (Bible Hub: Search, Read, Study the Bible in Many Languages) Visit at http://biblehub.com

Creative Commons License
Aloha Friday Messages by Charles O. Todd, III is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License

Aloha Friday Message – March 22, 2024 – Who has done this?

March 22, 2024

2412AFC032224 – Who has done this?  ← 😊 PODCAST LINK

The Road to Jerusalem Series #6

Read it online here, please. And please – when you visit there – use one of the social media links at the bottom of the page to share this post. Thank you! And remember, we now have a READER VIEW available, so share this link or this email often.
Do you know someone who enjoys Bible study, or who might like to read this? Ask them to email us or to subscribe on our blog-site.

     Isaiah 50:7 –
7 The Lord God helps me;
therefore I have not been disgraced;
therefore I have set my face like flint,
and I know that I shall not be put to shame;

Psalm 22:21-22 –
21 Save me from the lion’s mouth:
for thou hast heard me from the horns of the unicorns. [or wild oxen]

22 I will declare thy name unto my brethren:
in the midst of the congregation will I praise thee.

Philippians 2:6-9 –
6 who, though he was in the form of God,
did not regard equality with God
as something to be exploited,
7 but emptied * himself,
taking the form of a slave,
being born in human likeness.
And being found in human form,
8     he humbled himself
and became obedient to the point of death —
even death on a cross.

9 Therefore God also highly exalted him
and gave him the name
that is above every name,

* ekenōsen from ken-o’-o – to empty out, render void, seen as without value or recognition.

Mark 14:3 – The Anointing at Bethany
3 While he was at Bethany in the house of Simon the leper†, as he sat at the table, a woman came with an alabaster jar of very costly ointment of nard‡, and she broke open the jar and poured the ointment on his head.
† This could refer to the brother of Mary and Martha of Bethany – Lazarus – and that name means “God has helped.” It might also be that man’s father or brother, or some other close friend of Jesus. The Gospels of Matthew and Mark mention the name Simon, but in the Gospel of John, the name Lazarus is used. There is a stop at Bethany in all four Gospels during the last week of Jesus’ life before the end of his Journey to Jerusalem. See Matthew 26:6-13 and also John 12:1-8.

‡ Nard, also called spikenard, is a very expensive fragrant plant (See photo) originally found in the Himalayas. It is very costly to extract and purify. The fragrance is said to be exquisite, and would not be diluted or overpowered by other fragrances – such as those at a meal. In Song of Songs (also referred to as the Song of Solomon) Chapter 1, Verse 12 it says the King was reclining on his couch at table and the fragrance his lover wore filled the air. The oil clings to skin and hair and last for quite a long time.

Aloha nui loa, ʻŌmea! The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ and the love of God and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with all of you. This weekend we will hear the Passion of Christ as recorded in the Gospel of Mark. The Gospel reading is longer than most, and often it is read by 3 voices and the assembly participates as well. We all know the story, and it is easy at times to get on autopilot and hear the readings as sort of a long b-z-z-z-z-z-z. Today I want to look again as some of the things where we say, “OK, OK, and what’s that? … never mind. Back to the story.” Let’s begin with the Old Testament reading from Isaiah 50. Verses 4-11 are referred to as one of the Songs of the Suffering Servant and those are prophecies of Jesus’ Passion. Here, Isaiah is telling us he has the gifts of a “well-trained tongue.”

This Gift from God is an answer to what Isaiah said in Isaiah 6:5-8. (↔ Click Link) In that passage he bemoaned his unclean lips so an angel took a burning coal in some tongs and cleaned his lips. The Lord God of Hosts – Jehovah Sabaoth (ṣə-ḇā-’ō-wṯ) – proclaims “Whom shall I send, and who will go for us?” Then Isaiah says emphatically “Here am I; send me!” (↔ Music Link) Now, that’s what all of us should say when the opportunity comes up to be of service to someone. Remember, they can see the Jesus in us if we look for the Jesus in them? In our Key Verse, he describes how Jesus was able to leave the Garden of Gethsemane and – with the same steadfast determination we have seen all the way on this Journey to Jerusalem – he moved forward into his Passion. He fixed his whole being – body mind, and Spirit on what must be done … then he did it. We may not feel like we have a well-trained tongue, but we most certainly can make up our own body, mind, and spirit to do what God asks. There’s an APP for that.

Our Key Verse from the Psalms is part of David’s Prophecy of Jesus’ Passion and Crucifixion. I have sometimes wondered if this was one of the songs the Disciples sang at the Last Supper. The first line of it is included in the Seven Last Words of Christ – My God! Why have you abandoned me? (↔ Music Link) There are plenty of beautiful explanations of what that meant to Jesus while he was dying. This old man likes the idea in the tradition that says all Jewish men knew the Psalms by heart and upon hearing the first line, they could recite that Psalm to the end. Here is a version of that ending:
Psalm 22:29-31 [1] (GNT) –
29 All proud people will bow down to him;
all mortals will bow down before him.
30 Future generations will serve him;
they will speak of the Lord to the coming generation.
31 People not yet born will be told:
“The Lord saved his people.”
That is the Victory of the People of God!

For our Key Verse from the Epistles, I’ve given us a note about the word “emptied” because it means more than just what comes to mind when we think of pouring out a vessel. I am always reminded of the Christmas song “Come to My Heart, Lord Jesus.” (↔ Music Link) Jesus gave up being God! to become like us – the creatures HE created – and he allowed us to kill him in the most gruesome way. The passage cited is referred by some as a “Hymn of Kenosis” or kenotic hymn. It reinforces and exemplifies Jesus words in Mark 10:32-45. That passage is the third time that Jesus tells them about his Passion and Resurrection, and tells them “and whoever wishes to be first among you must be slave of all. 45 For the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life a ransom for many.” There we see the true result of Jesus’ kenosis – to empty out, render void, seen as without value or recognition. And yet, Belovéd, he was still God and part of the Holy Trinity throughout all Eternity. AMEN to that! As a human earthling, he did not use his Omnipotence to escape the agony of the Cross. Instead, he knowingly, willingly, humbly, quietly, and completely surrendered to his death, even death on a cross. When we meditate on those last hours, those last words, those last gurgling breaths, we might experience those moments of contemporaneous concomitance (See 1620.5AFC051616 Contemporaneous Concomitance) and stand with the Apostle John and the three Marys while our hearts break to see him suffer so. Selah.

Next we move to the Gospel Key Verses.

This account takes place at the home of Simon the Leper in Bethany. The note provided along with the Key Verses give us most of the information we need so as to come to an understanding that Jesus spent some time with some very dear friends before finishing his Journey to Jerusalem. Jesus was in Bethany, close to Bethphage Βηθφαγή, (Béthphagé) {bayth-fag-ay’} which is from an Aramaic word meaning “Place of new – or unripe – figs” near the base of the Mount of Olives. While reclined at table (chairs were not used as in this image), an unnamed woman anoints him with nard. As the lovely fragrance fills the air, some of the guests complain it is too extravagant. Jesus quiets them with yet another reference to his impending Sacrifice: Mark 14:8-9 – 8 She has done what she could; she has anointed my body beforehand for its burial. 9 Truly I tell you, wherever the good news is proclaimed in the whole world, what she has done will be told in remembrance of her. ʻŌmea, have we done what we could to unite our lives with Jesus’ last hours? The opportunity is always there; bet to act on it before the cock crows thrice in our lives!

Now, we turn to our question of the week, “Who has done this?” Who can unfetter mind, heart, and soul to walk that lonesome Journey to Jerusalem with Jesus? God willing, and with our commitment, we have traveled these first six weeks of Lent together, and we’re going to see the King of the Universe die a shameful death all alone, cold, beaten and battered. Still, he asks his Father’s forgiveness for the ones who have done this to him: us. He asks God to forgive us because we don’t know what we’re doing when we walk away from Our Father into the seemingly warm arms of sin only to find ourselves in freezing fire. Instead we must recall that The Lord God helps me; therefore I have not been disgraced.

Jesus surrendered everything for us. What will we surrender, empty of ourselves, to come to know who we are in Christ? Can I, can you, can we surrender all? (↔ Music Link) We have walked with Jesus as earthlings for many days – for some of us it is our entire life to be on this road with him and with each other. Knowing that the Journey to Jerusalem ends at Calvary is, frankly, a terrifying thought. But we know a Secret that God himself has told us: “Whoever calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.” When you listen to the reading of The Passion, think of Love. It is the greatest Love Story ever told. We will walk with Jesus all the way to Easter next week and ask “When did we know?” Think about that for me, OK? Then next week let’s share what we know about when we knew. You can send your memories to this email address. Aloha nui loa, ʻŌmea!

Whatever, whenever, wherever, whoever, however, if ever, forever —
at your service, Belovéd!

Please pray with us here at Share-a-Prayer.

Unless otherwise indicated, all scripture passages are from the New Revised Standard Version Catholic Edition (NRSVCE) New Revised Standard Version Bible: Catholic Edition, copyright © 1989, 1993 the Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Biblical languages inserts from Bible Hub (Bible Hub: Search, Read, Study the Bible in Many Languages) Visit at http://biblehub.com

Creative Commons License
Aloha Friday Messages by Charles O. Todd, III is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License

 

[1] Passages marked (GNT): Good News Translation (GNT)  Good News Translation® (Today’s English Version, Second Edition)© 1992 American Bible Society. All rights reserved. For more information about GNT, visit www.bibles.com and www.gnt.bible

Aloha Friday Message – March 15, 2024 – Why didn’t we listen?

March 15, 2024

2411AFC031524 – Why didn’t we listen? ← 😊 PODCAST LINK

The Road to Jerusalem Series #5

Read it online here, please. And please – when you visit there – use one of the social media links at the bottom of the page to share this post. Thank you! And remember, we now have a READER VIEW available, so share this link or this email often.
Do you know someone who enjoys Bible study, or who might like to read this? Ask them to email us or to subscribe on our blog-site.

    Jeremiah 31:32-32 – 32 It will not be like the covenant that I made with their ancestors when I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt—a covenant that they broke, though I was their husband, says the Lord.

Psalm 51:12-13 –
12 Restore to me the joy of your salvation,
and sustain in me a willing spirit.
13 Then I will teach transgressors your ways,
and sinners will return to you.

Hebrews 5:8-10 – 8 Although he was a Son, he learned obedience through what he suffered; 9 and having been made perfect, he became the source of eternal salvation for all who obey him, 10 having been designated by God a high priest according to the order of Melchizedek.

John 12:25-28, 31-33 – 25 Those who love their life lose it, and those who hate their life in this world will keep it for eternal life. 26 Whoever serves me must follow me, and where I am, there will my servant be also. Whoever serves me, the Father will honor.

Jesus Speaks about His Death

27 “Now my soul is troubled. And what should I say — ‘Father, save me from this hour’? No, it is for this reason that I have come to this hour. 28 Father, glorify your name.” Then a voice came from heaven, “I have glorified it, and I will glorify it again.”
[Jesus replied …] 31 “Now is the judgment of this world; now the ruler of this world will be driven out. 32 And I, when I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all people to myself.” 33 He said this to indicate the kind of death he was to die.

May the God of endurance and encouragement grant you to live in such harmony with one another, in accord with Christ Jesus, that together you may with one voice glorify the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. Aloha nui loa, ʻŌmea!

Today we will be examining how well we have listened to those who have authority over us. We will look at a very specific question which all of us have heard – perhaps from our parents, or a teacher, or a judge, or anyone who is trying to speak to us. The question is, “Are you even listening to me?!?!” As I sit here staring at my keyboard wondering what I should write next, I am receiving this answer: “Do whatever he tells you.” (↔ Learning Link) Well, Belovéd, what he is telling me is “LET ME DO THE TALKING.” Consequently, most of what will be included here is Scripture – or sometimes a link to Scripture that we should follow, but which is not transcribed to this study. There is a very good reason for this study which was presented by The Apostle Paul in his letter to the Romans when he was teaching that all who call upon the name of the Lord can be heard.

Romans 10:13-17 – 13 For, “Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved.” [See Joel 2:32] 14 But how are they to call on one in whom they have not believed? And how are they to believe in one of whom they have never heard? And how are they to hear without someone to proclaim him? 15 And how are they to proclaim him unless they are sent? As it is written, “How beautiful are the feet of those who bring good news!” 16 But not all have obeyed the good news, for Isaiah says, “Lord, who has believed our message?” [See Isaiah 53:1] 17 So faith comes from what is heard, and what is heard comes through the word of Christ. (My underlining). We see those words, “Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord,” and remember “Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only the one who does the will of my Father in heaven.” (See Matthew 7:21-23) How, then, are we to “do whatever he tells you?” That’s a simple question which deserves a simple answer: Listen. And where is the best place to listen to what the Lord is telling us? For starters, the Bible. Second would be in the words our Pastors direct to us in Church. Third would be a trustworthy source of information based on Scripture, Tradition, and Magisterium – Catholic Answers is one such source, but the best Source is a “full-circle option:” Put your trust in the Holy Spirit to lead you to the appropriate information.

Usually when we are “out of sorts” with the Lord, it is because we have followed in the path of our ancestors and failed to live up to our part in the Covenant Relationships. We must always remember that a covenant is a relationship, and if we fail in any part of the requirements of that relationship, we have done like Israel; they broke the covenant even though God had cared for them as a husband should faithfully care for his wife. The Prophet Jeremiah tells us It will not be like the covenant that I made with their ancestors when I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt. The New Covenant is the Blood of Christ which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins. (See Matthew 26:27-28) We must recall that the Greek word pollōn used for “many” here means multitudinous e.g., high in number; see for example Matthew 4:25 and Mark 5:24. Other terms we might recognize are countless, innumerable, myriad, and immeasurable.

Now, we must look at that information and ask if we believe that Christ shed his blood on the cross for countless myriads and multitudes. Checkmark that! And we remember (↔ Music Link) and believe “as it is written, so let it be done.” That’s how it’s supposed to work, but if we look at the Psalm Key Verse for today, we can see how it sometimes happens with us. We listen to what the Lord requires and we tell him, Yes, Lord, “Restore to me the joy of your salvation.” Then we truncate the message where it says “and sustain in me a willing spirit.” It’s not that we don’t believe God can or will do that; it’s more that we are often not too keen on being willing to be obedient enough to avoid correction. We often confuse correction with punishment. To understand that better, we want to look at what The Apostle Paul has to say about Jesus’ obedience.

Hebrews 5:8-10 – 8 Although he was a Son, he learned obedience through what he suffered; 9 and having been made perfect, he became the source of eternal salvation for all who obey him, 10 having been designated by God a high priest according to the order of Melchizedek.

Given the option, we’d rather not learn obedience through suffering. That is a worthwhile and doable goal, but in order to achieve that goal the primary objective is to do justice, and to love kindness, and to walk humbly with our God. (See Micah 6:8 – again 😊) The principal requirement for that is to know what God wants, and the best way to know what he wants is to listen to what he tells us. It seem to me that statement sounds a bit simplistic. Odds are that if you’re reading this, you know that already. So do I; but sometimes we forget (← Previously mentioned ad. inf.) You may have already heard of a “movement” called Intentional Discipleship. [1]

One of the most important things we can learn there is the importance of our relationship with Jesus and with his adelphos – his sisters and brothers in the Lord. And again, we come back to Jesus’ promise that we will learn what he learned in the manner he learned it – we will learn by suffering because, as our Lord said, Whoever serves me must follow me, and where I am, there will my servant be also. Whoever serves me, the Father will honor.” Last week we answered “Where do we go?” The answer was “Calvary.” Jesus repeatedly told his Disciples he was going to die, how he would die, by whom he would die, for whom he would die, and what would happen after he died. None of them understood it until after his Ascension, and even then “some doubted.” (See Matthew 28:17) They had seen, they had heard, they had experienced and participated in miracles directly, and yet some doubted. Why didn’t they listen? We might also ask, “Why didn’t they believe?” Jesus commands us to listen. It is a challenge to our faith. Read about it here: Matthew 11:15, Mark 7:16, Mark 8:18, Luke 14:35 – each saying “Let anyone with ears to hear listen!” Revelation 2:7, 11, 17, 29, 3:6, 13, 22, 13:9 ← This is a fascinating collection. I encourage you to read the notes in the NABRE which is in the center column. Even in the Old Testament we read that God’s people broke their covenant again and again, yet God still called to them to return. We have an example of their response to his call in Zechariah 7:11 – 11 But they refused to listen, and turned a stubborn shoulder, and stopped their ears in order not to hear.

Many (yep, multitudes) turned away and refused to listen. We have a nice summary of Jesus teaching at the end of Chapter 12 in the Gospel of John:
John 12:44-50 – 44 Then Jesus cried aloud: “Whoever believes in me believes not in me but in him who sent me. 45 And whoever sees me sees him who sent me. 46 I have come as light into the world, so that everyone who believes in me should not remain in the darkness. 47 I do not judge anyone who hears my words and does not keep them, for I came not to judge the world, but to save the world. 48 The one who rejects me and does not receive my word has a judge; on the last day the word that I have spoken will serve as judge, 49 for I have not spoken on my own, but the Father who sent me has himself given me a commandment about what to say and what to speak. 50 And I know that his commandment is eternal life. [YOLO-F] What I speak, therefore, I speak just as the Father has told me.” WE know this, and still, sometimes, we forget to listen. When that Day of Reward comes and on the last day the word that I have spoken will serve as judge, and we will perhaps ask, “Why didn’t we listen?”

Why indeed? Perhaps it would be best if we followed the command of Our Father in Heaven as recorded in Matthew 17:5 – This is my Son, the Beloved; with him I am well pleased; listen to him!” Again we must ask, who would want anything less, and why? We will have some answers to that next week when we ask, “Who has done this?”

Whatever, whenever, wherever, whoever, however, if ever, forever —
at your service, Belovéd!
Please pray with us here at Share-a-Prayer.

Unless otherwise indicated, all scripture passages are from the New Revised Standard Version Catholic Edition (NRSVCE) New Revised Standard Version Bible: Catholic Edition, copyright © 1989, 1993 the Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Biblical languages inserts from Bible Hub (Bible Hub: Search, Read, Study the Bible in Many Languages) Visit at http://biblehub.com

Creative Commons License
Aloha Friday Messages by Charles O. Todd, III is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License

[1] For a guide to forming Intentional Disciples see this article (↔ Click Link) about forming Intentional Disciples. Also, look for information on Sherry A Weddell (Author) – Forming Intentional Disciples: The Path to Knowing and Following Jesus

 

 

 

Aloha Friday Message – March 8, 2024 – Where do we go?

March 8, 2024

2410AFC030824 – Where do we go? ← 😊 PODCAST LINK

The Road to Jerusalem Series #4

Read it online here, please. And please – when you visit there – use one of the social media links at the bottom of the page to share this post. Thank you! And remember, we now have a READER VIEW available, so share this link or this email often.
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    2 Chronicles 36:15-16 – The Fall of Jerusalem
15 The Lord, the God of their ancestors, sent persistently to them by his messengers, because he had compassion on his people and on his dwelling place; 16 but they kept mocking the messengers of God, despising his words, and scoffing at his prophets, until the wrath of the Lord against his people became so great that there was no remedy.

Psalm 137:1-2 – Lament over the Destruction of Jerusalem
1  By the rivers of Babylon – (↔ Music Link)
there we sat down and there we wept
when we remembered Zion.
2 On the willows* there
we hung up our harps.
* Other translations say aspens or poplars. The image is of lush, green trees growing by a beautiful river as seen by captive families displaced from their homeland.

Ephesians 2:8-10 – 8 For by grace you have been saved through faith, and this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God — 9 not the result of works, so that no one may boast. 10 For we are what he has made us, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand to be our way of life. [My emphasis added]

John 3:17-19 – 17 “Indeed, God did not send the Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him. 18 Those who believe in him are not condemned; but those who do not believe are condemned already, because they have not believed in the name of the only Son of God. 19 And this is the judgment, that the light has come into the world, and people loved darkness rather than light because their deeds were evil.”

May the God of endurance and encouragement grant you to live in such harmony with one another, in accord with Christ Jesus, that together you may with one voice glorify the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. Aloha nui loa, ʻŌmea! Today we continue our journey to Jerusalem as we travel with Jesus and his Apostles. For Parishes with members of the Elect who will receive the Sacraments of Initiation, the readings will be as follows for Cycle A – 4th Sunday of Lent:
First Reading – 1 Samuel 16:1b,6-7,10-13a – Samuel is sent to anoint David as king.
Responsorial Psalm – Psalm 23:1-6 – The Lord is our shepherd.
Second Reading – Ephesians 5:8-14 – The Ephesians are told to live as children of light.
Gospel Reading – John 9:1-41 (shorter form: John 9:1,6-9,13-17,34-38) Jesus heals the man born blind and reveals himself to him as the Son of Man. The final revelation and moment of enlightenment comes when the man born blind encounters Jesus again. Having heard the news of his expulsion, Jesus seeks out the man born blind and reveals himself to him as the Son of Man. In this moment, the man born blind shows himself to be a man of faith and worships Jesus.

In this weekend’s readings for Cycle B, we begin with devastation, lamentation, salvation, and condemnation. The kingdom of Israel has been divided since about 900 BC. Assyria has ravaged Israel – the Northern Kingdom of 10 Tribes, and Judah – the two remaining Tribes – beginning an about 720 BC. Babylon later conquered Judah – and the First Temple, the one built by Solomon, was destroyed. There were three deportations of Israelites from their homeland to Babylon in 605, 597, and 587 BC. They were held as captives in Babylon for 70 years – considered to be two generations. This is also the time where the Ark of the Covenant disappears from biblical history. No one knows what happened to it – whether hidden, captured, or destroyed, its presence is still a mystery (not withstanding Indiana Jones). Beginning around 538 BC when the Persian ruler Cyrus (← Back story here) rose to power, there were three returns to Judah and its capital, Jerusalem. It was around this time that the Second Temple was built by Zerubbabel. Zerubbabel was the Governor of Judah after the exile. The second temple was smaller than the one Solomon built, but God ensured that it was more glorious. The histories of our own lives often follows this cycle of devastation, lamentation, salvation, and condemnation. But, ultimately, it ends in YOLO-F.

The devastation we experience most often in our lives is the result of our sins. There is nothing we can to about our state of sinfulness – it is inherent in our nature; however, there is something we can do about our sins. The first thing we can do is to resist sin and the desire to be tempted. In our Act of Contrition (← examples here), we pray, “I firmly resolve with the help of Your grace to sin no more and to avoid the near occasion of sin.” The “near occasion of sin” occurs when we place ourselves in a situation where we can “dip our toes” in a puddle of temptations we know could attract us to sin. The sign posted here to the left is another way of visualizing that. Now, we know our resolve will melt away sometime (many times), nonetheless, we promise ourselves and God that we will try not to lapse into sin. We stay away from minefields if we know what’s good for us, and we certainly must at least try to stay out of trouble. (We are reminded here that the best way to get out of trouble is to stay out of trouble.) This is where both Israel and Judah kept getting into the deep weeds – they simply could not sustain their loyal obedience to God,  and – as we all know – there are consequences for disobedience.

Those consequences of our own actions can range from slightly annoying to greatly impairing. We tell ourselves, “All things in moderation,” but there are some of those things in which even moderation is excessive. A few examples: Anything in the 10 commandments for a starter. Adultery in moderation is just as sinful as “only a little” or “utterly massive” adultery. Same for dishonoring parents, dishonoring neighbors, dishonoring leaders, and worst of all dishonoring God. it is impossible to murder “only in moderation.” It is impossible to murder without consequences under the mantra, “my body, my choice.” Quantity, color (B/W), or quality of sin is irrelevant. Sin is sin, and even if the temporal consequences are minimal, it could turn out that the eternal consequences are humongous. We would not hold a church potluck in a minefield, nor should we deliberately choose to live in ways that endanger our wellbeing or the wellbeing of others. None of us is unaware that we have been frequently warned against doing foolish things because foolish things are wrong things.

When we are wrong and foolish we generally feel sorry for what we have done. We may even feel sorry enough to apologize, to repent, and to make amends. If the sin qualifies as a crime, we can also be punished, and our punishment is designed to help us – perhaps even make us – lament our foolishness. Perhaps the most foolish sin of all is to believe that we cannot be caught out in our sin because no one will find out about it. Perhaps you recall “The fool says in his heart ‘There is no God.’” (See Psalm 14:1) Like the song says, “everybody plays the fool.” We act as if there is no God and realize too late that we are absolutely wrong about that as well. When will we ever learn? (We remember that song, too.) In our lamentations over “the rotten luck that got us caught,” we remember the good old days when we weren’t in such a mess. “If I ever get the chance to do better I will not forget this lesson.” Until it happens again. So, what is the answer to this dilemma of sin? How do we finally make amends for being us?

The Apostle Paul has a delightfully comprehensive answer to this query in Galatians 2:16 b -20 – And we have come to believe in Christ Jesus, so that we might be justified by faith in Christ, and not by doing the works of the law, because no one will be justified by the works of the law. 17 But if, in our effort to be justified in Christ, we ourselves have been found to be sinners, is Christ then a servant of sin? Certainly not! 18 But if I build up again the very things that I once tore down, then I demonstrate that I am a transgressor. 19 For through the law I died to the law, so that I might live to God. I have been crucified with Christ; 20 and it is no longer I who live, but it is Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.

We cannot break the Law of God to keep the laws of humanity, and we cannot rewrite the Law to justify our sins; neither should we remain silent when others do that. Do you know that France recently codified abortion into national law, and that our current POTUS and VP want to do the same HERE? Because of a misinterpretation of our constitution, abortion was considered “legal” based on the Roe v. Wade. Recently that changed in Dobbs v. Jackson. Some of us cheered that decision, others continue to promote, perform, demand, brag about, legislate for, and – as in France – codify. The lives lost belong to God as do the lives that cause those lives to be lost. There are consequences. Everything that is good comes from God and all of it belongs to God.

If everything belongs to God, then it follows that everyone belongs to God. Our life, our love, our worshiping, and honoring of God and neighbor belong to God. If we offer all that we have – body, mind, and spirit – to God and neighbor, what becomes of us and of our gifts? I believe the answer is in John 15:13 – 13 No one has greater love than this, to lay down one’s life for one’s friends. All Good things come from God, so whatever is Good in our lives comes from him, but who can repay him – and how? If we give him All That We Have (↔ Music Link), could it ever be enough? Could we give God and each other All That I am (↔ Music Link), and still come up short? We want to Love God for the Greatness of his Love, but in the Light of his Love ours is Only a Shadow (↔ Music Link). Still, I am certain you have felt moments in your life when you and God are very much in sync and you know firsthand that Great Things Happen (↔ Music Link) when God mixes with us. Salvation is the best of the best things that happen, and that Grace of Salvation – like all Good Gifts – comes from God. And still we rebel, refuse, and, eventually, regret; not altogether unexpected, we might say, considering the corrupt material we’re working with. Consider this:

Matthew 24:10-11 – 10 Then many will fall away, and they will betray one another and hate one another. 11 And many false prophets will arise and lead many astray. We so often seem to end up asking, “Well, just when do I get my bit?” The Apostle Peter handled that one for us: Mark 10:28-30 – 28 Peter began to say to him, “Look, we have left everything and followed you.” 29 Jesus said, “Truly I tell you, there is no one who has left house or brothers or sisters or mother or father or children or fields, for my sake and for the sake of the good news, 30 who will not receive a hundredfold now in this age—houses, brothers and sisters, mothers and children, and fields, with persecutions—and in the age to come eternal life. Later on The Apostle Paul wrote in 2 Timothy 3:10-13 – 10 Now you have observed my teaching, my conduct, my aim in life, my faith, my patience, my love, my steadfastness, 11 my persecutions, and my suffering the things that happened to me in Antioch, Iconium, and Lystra. What persecutions I endured! Yet the Lord rescued me from all of them. 12 Indeed, all who want to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted. 13 But wicked people and impostors will go from bad to worse, deceiving others and being deceived. 14 But as for you, continue in what you have learned and firmly believed, knowing from whom you learned it.

There is more to it than that. There is also this: Matthew 16:24-26 – The Cross and Self-Denial 24 Then Jesus told his disciples, “If any want to become my followers, let them deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me. 25 For those who want to save their life will lose it, and those who lose their life for my sake will find it. 26 For what will it profit them if they gain the whole world but forfeit their life? Or what will they give in return for their life? Jesus knew he was on a one-way trip to Jerusalem. He also knew what was instore for him there as well as what would happen afterwards. You and I are going to Jerusalem now. There is no Easter without Calvary. We can walk this long road Home together, you and I. I’m certainly looking forward to those Golden slippers. That requires avoiding sin and the desire to be tempted. The consequences for choosing (it’s always a choice) not to do that is  summed up in today’s Gospel passage. You know by heart the verse directly up the page from this:

John 3:17-19 – 17 “Indeed, God did not send the Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him. 18 Those who believe in him are not condemned; but those who do not believe are condemned already, because they have not believed in the name of the only Son of God. 19 And this is the judgment, that the light has come into the world, and people loved darkness rather than light because their deeds were evil.” Yes, it’s the same old story of devastation, lamentation, salvation, and condemnation. But there’s the old, old story (↔ Music Link) of Jesus and his Love. That story leads us directly to Jerusalem, the cross, and the grave. What lies beyond that is … for next week. We know that it’s always good in the end, so if it isn’t good yet, it isn’t the end yet! For us, The End will be GLORIOUS. That is, unless – like Israel and Judah – we look back and say, “Why didn’t we listen?”. Were do we go? To Jerusalem and the trek to Golgotha. Be sure to bring your M.A.P. and the APP.

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Whatever, whenever, wherever, whoever, however, if ever, forever —
at your service, Belovéd!
Please pray with us here at Share-a-Prayer.

Unless otherwise indicated, all scripture passages are from the New Revised Standard Version Catholic Edition (NRSVCE) New Revised Standard Version Bible: Catholic Edition, copyright © 1989, 1993 the Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Biblical languages inserts from Bible Hub (Bible Hub: Search, Read, Study the Bible in Many Languages) Visit at http://biblehub.com

Creative Commons License
Aloha Friday Messages by Charles O. Todd, III is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License

Aloha Friday Message – March 1, 2024 – What do we do?

March 1, 2024

2409AFC030124 – What do we do?

The Road to Jerusalem Series #3

Read it online here, please. And please – when you visit there – use one of the social media links at the bottom of the page to share this post. Thank you! And remember, we now have a READER VIEW available, so share this link or this email often.
Do you know someone who enjoys Bible study, or who might like to read this? Ask them to email us or to subscribe on our blog-site.

    Exodus 20:5 b– 6 – I the Lord your God am a jealous God, punishing children for the iniquity of parents, to the third and the fourth generation of those who reject me, 6 but showing steadfast love to the thousandth generation of those who love me and keep my commandments.

Psalm 19:8 – (GNT) [1]
8 The laws of the Lord are right,
and those who obey them are happy.
The commands of the Lord are just
and give understanding to the mind.

1 Corinthians 1:22-23 – (GNT) 22 Jews want miracles for proof, and Greeks look for wisdom. 23 As for us, we proclaim the crucified Christ, a message that is offensive to the Jews and nonsense to the Gentiles

John 2:23-25 – 23 When he was in Jerusalem during the Passover festival, many believed in his name because they saw the signs that he was doing. 24 But Jesus on his part would not entrust himself to them, because he knew all people 25 and needed no one to testify about anyone; for he himself knew what was in everyone.

Aloha nui loa, ʻŌmea! Grace and Peace to each of you from God our Father and our Lord, Jesus the Christ, in the Power of the Holy Spirit. Today we are continuing the Journey to Jerusalem, and in today’s readings for Cycle B, we hear the 10 commandments. The Psalmist chimes in with a song about the laws of the Lord. The Apostle Paul tells us about the core of his testimony – Christ crucified, something which makes the Jews distrustful and the Gentiles baffled. The Gospel finishes up with Jesus driving the moneychangers and vendors out of the Temple Area with a whip made of cords. When confronted with the questions, “Who are you to do something like this?” He gives a mysterious answer: “Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up.” No one but Jesus understood what that meant.

In parishes where there are catechumens elected to receive the Sacraments of Initiation, the readings will be from Year A – God brings water from the rock, The Apostle Paul tells us that For Christ, while we were still helpless, died at the appointed time for the ungodly. The Gospel is from John 4:5-42 – Jesus met the woman at the well in Sychar. In that passage, Jesus reveals himself as the Messiah, and many in that small village near Jacob’s well on a parcel of land Jacob gave to his son Joseph. This is the Sunday of the 1st Scrutiny by which the elect – catechumens who have demonstrated their commitment to continue – begin a three-week examination of their commitment. This self-evaluation is supported by their community as well as the entire Church.  The Scrutinies are rites commemorating repentance and conversion – turning away from whatever might serve as a hindrance to accepting the Love of God – and encouraging them to continue to draw closer to Christ.

We can begin looking at today’s Key Verses with the passage from Exodus. Some folks use  this  verse, and others like it, to say that God is vengeful and flawed because he describes himself as being “jealous.” Further objections are raised about punishing children for the iniquity of parents, to the third and the fourth generation. These objections arise mostly out of “selective hearing” they hear what they want to hear and tune out the rest of what is said. The phrase immediately following this segment is of those who reject me, but showing steadfast love to the thousandth generation of those who love me and keep my commandments. Let’s first deal with jealous.

The important distinction here is that this word connotes zeal, and God’s zeal is for his Chosen Ones. God’s omnibenevolent Love embraces everyone who will – in return – love and obey him. We love and obey, God Loves and protects. It is a jealousy of exclusivity, and the sense of it is “you shall not permit yourself to bow down to any gods other than me.” Does that sound familiar? “I AM the Lord, your God. You shall not have other gods besides me.” One might ask, “Why would God punish the children, grandchildren, and even great-grandchildren for the sins of their ancestors?” The answer is in the dichotomy between God’s illustrations. Correction – chastisement – lasts only a short while, whereas reward lasts until the thousandth generation. The purpose of chastisement is to instill wisdom and repentance. God zealously seeks to draw all men closer. (See John 12:32)

The Key Verse taken from this Sunday’s Psalm reinforces that Truth. The laws of the Lord are right, and those who obey them are happy. God is Perfect Integrity, Endless Mercy, Everlasting Love, And Eternal Salvation. As rational beings we can see that it is irrational to want anything less. That irrationality is the result of our own unwillingness to properly use the faculty of Free Will. This consequence of original sin is reminiscent of Genesis 6:5 [2]– (NLT) The LORD observed the extent of human wickedness on the earth, and he saw that everything they thought or imagined was consistently and totally evil. That was God’s assessment before the Flood and before the giving of The Law, the guidance he gave to his chosen people.

Once God had chosen Israel to be “the Best among the best,” it was his expectation that they would be the exemplars of Love and Obedience so that all other nations would want to know, love, and serve the God of Israel. Moses described it well in Deuteronomy 4:7-8 – 7 For what other great nation has a god so near to it as the Lord our God is whenever we call to him? 8 And what other great nation has statutes and ordinances as just as this entire law that I am setting before you today? Long story short, God says, “I chose you, now, you choose me in return.” If choosing God results in eternal blessedness and if rejecting God results in eternal penalty, I ask again, “Why would anyone want anything less?” Indeed, it’s a formidable mystery how we can be so oblivious to the obvious as seen in 1 John 4:16 – 16 So we have known and believe the love that God has for us.
God is love, and those who abide in love abide in God, and God abides in them.

Regrettably, that is not enough for – I’ll go ahead and say it – most people. Fewer and fewer earthlings are convinced of the reality that God is omnipotent, omniscient, omnipresent, omnibenevolent, and with good reason expects us to know that. I say “with good reason” because we are created in his image and likeness, and therefore his own beloved creatures among all of his Creation. “Creature? How come you call me a creature when I am a child of God?” Go to Chapter 1, verse 12 of John to be assured (↔ Music Link) you are a Child of God only by virtue your Baptism “in the Name of the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit.” When that happens to us, we become Children of the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, and just as Israel was led through the desert by the Spirit of God in a pillar of cloud by day and a pillar of fire by night, we will be led by the Power and the Light of the Holy Spirit. Only in the most general sense are non-Christians “children” of God because he created us in his image and likeness and put into us the breath of his own Life.

Do we really need miracles to convince of that Jesus is the Christ of God? The miracle of our own anointing as Priest, Prophet, and King evokes our family heritage. Do we need further insight into the Nature of God to be able to perceive his role in our salvation through Christ Jesus? Why do we preach “Christ crucified?” It was the death of Christ which accomplished our Salvation. It was the Resurrection of Christ which assured our reunion with God at the Day of Reward. If we choose – again choose – to make sense of that or to see proof of that, then that Old Serpent is having his way with us … again. God does not condemn those who have chosen to trust, Love and Obey him (See John 3:17-19) Why would anyone want anything less except that s/he chooses to reject that Gift?

While Jesus was in Jerusalem for the feast of Passover, “many believed in his name because they saw the signs that he was doing. 24 But Jesus on his part would not entrust himself to them, because he knew all people 25 and needed no one to testify about anyone; for he himself knew what was in everyone. Whether the proof was wisdom or miracles, many in Jerusalem believed in him and his Name. That is what we do, we believe in Jesus and in his name, as in 1 John 3:23 – 23 And this is his commandment, that we should believe in the name of his Son Jesus Christ and love one another, just as he has commanded us.

Belovéd, we have gone from the Ten Commandments to the Command of Jesus – God the Son – and we know that what we must do is in Micah 6: 8 (GNT) – 8 No, the Lord has told us what is good. What he requires of us is this: to do what is just, to show constant love, and to live in humble fellowship with our God. That fits perfectly with Deuteronomy 6:5 – 5 You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your might – as well as John 13:34 – 34 I give you a new commandment, that you love one another. Just as I have loved you, you also should love one another. That is what we must do, because Love does no wrong to a neighbor; therefore, love is the fulfilling of the law. (Romas 13:10) Jesus fulfilled the Law COMPLETELY. If we are doing what Jesus does, we are doing the right thing. (← Check it out!) That beautiful first Ten Commandments was the perfect instruction manual at the beginning of the Beginning of the B.I.B.L.E., God’s Absolutely Perfect Plan, and throughout that resource there is one constant theme: “Repent and Believe the Gospel” which is what we do because he created us to know and accept YOLO-F.

Perhaps we need to DO is decide on whom we should follow (↔ Music Link)

 

Whatever, whenever, wherever, whoever, however, if ever, forever —
at your service, Belovéd!

Please pray with us here at Share-a-Prayer.

 Unless otherwise indicated, all scripture passages are from the New Revised Standard Version Catholic Edition (NRSVCE) New Revised Standard Version Bible: Catholic Edition, copyright © 1989, 1993 the Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Biblical languages inserts from Bible Hub (Bible Hub: Search, Read, Study the Bible in Many Languages) Visit at http://biblehub.com

Creative Commons License
Aloha Friday Messages by Charles O. Todd, III is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License

[1] Passages marked (GNT): Good News Translation (GNT)  Good News Translation® (Today’s English Version, Second Edition)© 1992 American Bible Society. All rights reserved. For more information about GNT, visit www.bibles.com and www.gnt.bible

[2] Passages marked NLT are from the New Living Translation Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved. Used by permission.

 

Aloha Friday Message – February 23, 2024 – What do we see?

February 23, 2024

2408AFC022324 – What do we see? ← 😊 PODCAST LINK

The Road to Jerusalem Series #2

Read it online here, please. And please – when you visit there – use one of the social media links at the bottom of the page to share this post. Thank you! And remember, we now have a READER VIEW available, so share this link or this email often.
Do you know someone who enjoys Bible study, or who might like to read this? Ask them to email us or to subscribe on our blog-site.

    Genesis 22:1 – After these things God tested Abraham. He said to him, “Abraham!” And he said, “Here I am.” (← This is like saying, “Behold! It’s me!” This link will show you a bunch of translations. My favorite – not shown here – is “READY!”

Psalm 116:9 – 9 I walk before the Lord
in the land of the living.

Romans 8:31 b-32 – If God is for us, (↔ Music Link) who is against us? 32 He who did not withhold his own Son, but gave him up for all of us, will he not with him also give us everything else?

Mark 9:9-10 – 9 As they were coming down the mountain, he ordered them to tell no one about what they had seen, until after the Son of Man had risen from the dead. 10 So they kept the matter to themselves, questioning what this rising from the dead could mean.

Aloha nui loa, ʻŌmea! Today we continue our series on The Road to Jerusalem. We will stray a bit from the assigned Sunday readings – especially in the 3rd, 4th, and 5th Sundays of Lent – so that we can draw from other passages in the synoptic Gospels that show different episodes of this salvific journey. We will see, along the way, how Jesus referred to his Passion and death, and no one seemed to catch on that he was talking about something that would completely change the World. Just a short way up the page from our Gospel Key Verse – in V. 2 – we read that Jesus was transfigured before them. This word is μετεμορφώθη (metemorphōthē) and it means to be completely changed in outward appearance whilst still remaining unchanged in identity. This word is related to our English word metamorphosis. If you’ve seen a kernel of corn grow into a tall corn stalk or seen a caterpillar morph into a butterfly, you have witnessed metamorphosis. Transfiguration caries a deeper sense of glorification into a divine form, in this instance perceptible to others.

Jesus, of course, knew what was coming, but I can only imagine how the three Apostles must have reacted. In chapter 8 of the Gospel of Mark, Jesus and the Apostles are near Cæsarea Philippi. A very impressive mountain is nearby, Mount Herman, and is usually designated as the site of the Transfiguration of Christ. At an altitude of 9,230 feet, it is nearly three times higher than any other mountain in the region. Our Scripture says that they “went up a high mountain,” so perhaps not all the way to the top. Nonetheless, you can see that it must have been a long and steep hike! I used to think this took place at night, but it would be all the more difficult then. We can speculate, perhaps, that the Transfiguration and the hike back occurred after dusk, but there’s no way of truly knowing. We do know that it was at or near Cæsarea Philippi that Jesus asked the Apostles, “Who do people say that the Son of Man is?” There follows the astounding profession of faith from The Apostle Peter, “You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God.” We see this in Matthew 16:13-20, and that passage also ends in Jesus telling them not to disclose his identity as the Christ of God just as he had told them not to tell others about his Transfiguration. You can find an interesting comparison of the three Synoptic Gospel account at this location (↔ Click Link)

It is also at this point in the Gospels that Jesus begins to inform the Apostles that “The Son of Man must undergo great suffering, and be rejected by the elders, the chief priests, and the scribes, and be killed, and after three days rise again.” This is stated in Mark 8:31, 9:30-31, and 10:32–34. Please take a moment and read each of these as each is slightly different and more detailed. In Luke 24:5-7 and Matthew 17:22–23 there are additional testaments to Jesus’ awareness of what would happen to him in Jerusalem. Seeing Jesus portrayed as clueless about his Passion, as in “Jesus Christ, Superstar,” is utterly false. At this point in the road to Jerusalem, Jesus leaves the area of Capernaum in Galilee and travels northward with the Apostles to Cæsarea Philippi, a city in part of the region which was predominately Gentile territory. The Gospels do not say exactly why he made this journey but I see two reasons that may have prompted this decision.

First, this was shortly after the death of John the Baptizer. Although they were cousins, it appears they grew up quite separately as each does not know the other. Secondly, that region was less-densely populated, and would foster better opportunities to spend time together with way fewer interruptions. Jesus’ Miracles had generated quite a buzz in the towns of Galilee, and everywhere he went, everyone was looking for him to see what sort of amazing things he would do. They had relocated to Bethsaida right after the murder of John the Baptizer, but huge crowds followed him there so they withdrew to a “quieter” spot and spent some time together. I think of this time with Jesus as precious to him who, knowing what was coming, had this time to bond even closer with those he had sent out (See Matthew 10 and Luke 9).

Reflecting further on the conversation between Jesus and his Apostles there in Cæsarea Philippi, we also recall that Simon’s name שִׁמְעוֹן Shimoun Bar Younah – Simon son of Jonah – was renamed Peter, or Πέτρος, Petros ( made-up masculinized for Petra “Rock” ) in Greek and in Aramaic the name כיפה (pronounced “keifa”) also, of course, means Rock. This is truly the beginning of the Church, for Jesus has just named the head of his Church, when Jesus said, “And I tell you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of Hades will not overcome it.” At this point in the Journey to Jerusalem, Jesus kept building on his instructions to the Apostles. Each day a little more was added, and each addition was – at the time – overwhelming, even confusing. Several times we read that the Apostles did not understand what Jesus meant, for example, “what rising from the dead meant.” When we look at that from our 21st Century lens, we might wonder how they could be so dense; however, remember that everything in Jesus’ ministry was NEW – no one had ever heard or even dared to think of calling God “Father.” No one could understand how a man could be tortured to death and then rise from the dead three days later … no one but Jesus, that is.

We must now return to the title of this segment and ask “What do we see?” We see someone we know and love as Jesus the Christ of God traveling with cherished companions whom he sent out as Apostles (“Apostle” means one sent). We see an astonishing vision of Jesus, Moses, and Elijah discoursing together about Jesus’ “Exodus” – his coming Passion, death, and Resurrection – on a high mountain. We see a cloud overshadowing three Apostles and three Prophets of God, one of whom is God’s Only Begotten Son. We see the Prophets attentively listening and the Apostles fearfully prostrating themselves as this vision comes to a close. And God the Father’s Voice booms out “This is my beloved Son. Listen to him.” Then we see The Apostle Peter, so shook up that he figures Moses and Elijah must be there to celebrate The Feast of Booths (↔ Learning Link) that he blurts out “‘Tis Good, Lord, To Be Here! (↔ Music Link) Let’s build tents for each of you!” Then, in a wink, just the four earthlings are standing on the mountain top. In my mind’s eye, I see Jesus picking his way among the brush and rocks going downhill to the villages below, and the three faithful followers whispering among themselves trying to fathom what had just happened and what Jesus could have possibly meant by telling them , again, that he was going to Jerusalem to die.

Belovéd even after 2000+ years, we still wonder at the Wonder of God’s Only Begotten Son willingly going to his death, a death so horrific that only Jesus could have chosen it. Jesus was and is The Perfect SACRIFICE. (↔ Music Link) We know that Golgotha was followed by Resurrection Day, but Jesus’ contemporaries did not, could not, would not have believed that. Even after they saw him in his Glorified Body they scarcely could take it in. We recall Thomas who said, in essence, “Seeing is believing,” and we see Mary Magdalene running back to the Cenacle with the news, the Good News, “He’s alive! I saw him, ALIVE!” But, ʻŌmea, all of that is farther down the road. We’ll pick up more of this Journey to Jerusalem next time when we ask, “What do we do?” All y’all come back, y’heah?” A hui hou! As we look toward living out these 40 days of lent, let our prayer be Transfigure us O Lord (↔ Music Link) Perhaps Jesus will invite us to stand with him and sing Let the Heaven light shine on me. (↔ Music Link)

Whatever, whenever, wherever, whoever, however, if ever, forever —
at your service, Belovéd!
Please pray with us here at Share-a-Prayer.

Unless otherwise indicated, all scripture passages are from the New Revised Standard Version Catholic Edition (NRSVCE) New Revised Standard Version Bible: Catholic Edition, copyright © 1989, 1993 the Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Biblical languages inserts from Bible Hub (Bible Hub: Search, Read, Study the Bible in Many Languages) Visit at http://biblehub.com

Creative Commons License
Aloha Friday Messages by Charles O. Todd, III is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License

Aloha Friday Message – February 16, 2024 – How do we know?

February 16, 2024

2407AFC021624 – How do we know?

Read it online here, please. And please – when you visit there – use one of the social media links at the bottom of the page to share this post. Thank you! And remember, we now have a READER VIEW available, so share this link or this email often.
Do you know someone who enjoys Bible study, or who might like to read this? Ask them to email us or to subscribe on our blog-site.

   Genesis 9:11, 15 – 11 I establish my covenant with you, that never again shall all flesh be cut off by the waters of a flood, and never again shall there be a flood to destroy the earth.” 15 “I will remember my covenant that is between me and you and every living creature of all flesh; and the waters shall never again become a flood to destroy all flesh.”

Psalm 25:4-5 (GNT) [1] –
4 Teach me your ways, O Lord;
make them known to me.
5 Teach me to live according to your truth,
for you are my God, who saves me.
I always trust in you.

1 Peter 3:18-19 – 18 For Christ also suffered for sins once for all, the righteous for the unrighteous, in order to bring you to God. He was put to death in the flesh, but made alive in the spirit, 19 in which also he went and made a proclamation to the spirits in prison [2]

Mark 1:12-15 – The Temptation of Jesus 12 And the Spirit immediately drove him out into the wilderness. 13 He was in the wilderness forty days, tempted by Satan; and he was with the wild beasts; and the angels waited on him.

The Beginning of the Galilean Ministry 14 Now after John was arrested, Jesus came to Galilee, proclaiming the good news  of God, 15 and saying, “The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God has come near; repent, and believe in the good news.

May the God of endurance and encouragement grant you to live in such harmony with one another, in accord with Christ Jesus, that together you may with one voice glorify the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. Well, Belovéd, the Time has finally come. The season of Lent is upon us! In Cycle B, the Gospel readings are – for the most part – from the Gospel of Mark. You may recall that this Gospel is the  oldest, and the one from which the Apostle Matthew and his followers borrowed, but then expanded upon, a good deal of material (without plagiarism). I really hope you read the above Scripture passages attentively because today we are going to hear several familiar themes, and probably a few definitions, too. Let’s begin with the word Covenant.

Last week we said:

God gave us himself In The Beginning – “I will be your God and you will be my people.” God gave us a Covenant – and exchange between persons – before he gave us Commandments. God formed and hallowed a Relationship before he gave us any rules about living that Relationship. God made us to be Eternal Beings like him (Yup. YOLO-F) and God made us to be wholly Holy like him as in Leviticus 19:2 – 2 Speak to all the congregation of the people of Israel and say to them: You shall be holy, for I the Lord your God am holy. Why would he do that to us? Why would he expect us to be Holy when it is clear we are sinners? So, Belovéd, how does a covenant work?

A covenant is an agreement between two (or more) persons. It is not a contract because in a contract, the establishment sets the requirements and rules and measures the workers’ compliance. The workers agree to adhere to the stipulations of the contract. In biblical terms, a covenant is a shared agreement between God and his chosen creations, namely, those who solemnly promise through their sworn oath to live according to the qualifications set by God. God sets forth promises regarding his future actions. He spells out the terms of those promises and the rewards (whether positive or negative) for compliance. The terms of a covenant between God and his chosen ones require a commitment of one’s life to the Covenant Maker. The Covenant Maker gives a Symbolon, an equal and equitable sharing in the benefits of the Covenant. The Symbolon was originally a physical object like a coin, a parchment or a token which was split in half and carried by each member of an agreement as a form of identification. Both participants agree to keep their part of the covenant, and can confirm their right using the Symbolon. Our Creed is the Symbolon for Christians.

The sacrifice is sealed in blood as part of the covenant holder’s redemption in faith – a full acceptance of the covenant. I’ll take a quote from Fr. Mike Schmitz here: “At the heart of religion is worship, and the heart of worship is sacrifice.” God promises to give us his Life in exchange for our lives. In the covenant set with Noah, God promised the waters shall never again become a flood to destroy all flesh. Once was enough because enough was completely effective! On Noah’s part, the Symbolon of the covenant was the sacred sacrifice of the conserved animals. On God’s part, it was the rainbow. (Incidentally, folks, God wants his rainbow back and used for what he intended it!) what we really need is a source of learning about this covenant. That’s why we turn to the B.I.B.L.E., the teaching of God in his Church, and the traditions handed down to us by the Apostles.

God’s steadfast love (that means Mercy) is always available. (Remember Perfect Integrity, Endless Mercy, Everlasting Love, And Eternal Salvation?) Because that is true, the Psalmist’s words are also true: Teach me your ways, (↔ Music Link) Lord; make them known to me. Teach me to live according to your truth, for you are my God, who saves me. I always trust in you. That is F.A.I.T.H. in action! I remember the first time I actually listened to that passage. I was trying to figure out how to answer that perennial question, “What does God want?” Well, surprisingly he wants us; even as messed up and broken as we are, he wants us, and he wants to repair the damage we’ve done to ourselves so we can be more like him. Like the guy said, “Go figure.” That also applies to Noah and the Ark. How long did it take to build that thing anyway?

We know for one thing that it was a big enough project that it had to wait until Noah’s three sons (Shem, Japheth, and Ham) were old enough to marry. Shem was born when Noah was 500 years old (really!) In all the reading I could dig up, the best estimate is around 75 years to build that, get the animals and food on board, and gather together Noah, his wife, their three sons and their wives. There is no mention of Noah having daughters, and I have no idea how a five-hundred-year-old man could generate progeny. Those folks back in the book of Genesis had some amazing genes! Still, if it took 75 years ± a few, you’d think other people would notice. Apparently, everyone was just ignoring “that crazy old man and his whole tribe of loonies.” The whole story is available in Genesis 5-11. When I reflect on that long span of information there are a few things that stick with me every time:

First: it was a long time coming. In Genesis 5, we have a list of 10 generations between Adam and Noah. Second: there was plenty of warning before the beginning of the deluge, and only 8 people acted on those warnings. Third, it did not just “rain cats and dogs” (they were in the Ark 😉). You know the story – it rained HARD for 40 days and nights, and “all the fountains of the great deep burst forth, and the windows of the heavens were opened” so that the Earth was covered in water. Check out Genesis 7:11–24 – especially verse 16 – for a description of this. This was really – and literally – over the top. Every tall mountain was covered to a depth of 15 cubits (close to 23 ft or 7 m). It rained so hard that it took 110 days for it to run off and expose land. Fourth, after the total of 150 days, the covenant was fulfilled and remains in place to this very day. We know this because in many areas of the Earth, there are geologic layers that separate pre- and post-flood life. (See this link for an interesting look into this idea.) Fifth, and most surprising, God shut the door to the Ark after all he commanded to be preserved was onboard. Then everything that had breath in its nostrils outside the Ark died. That was God’s Absolutely Perfect Plan. There’s more!

The evil earthlings of the prior Earth were all dead, and some among them, we can suppose, might have not been entirely evil, and perhaps were only slightly less righteous than Noah. Then – after many more generations and a few other covenants – there finally came the Perfect Covenant, Jesus. You probably can recount many episodes of his life, his ministry, and his Passion. But after the Passion, what came to be?

Jesus joined the dead. He went to Sheol – Hell, Hades, the Abode of the Dead. How do we know? John 5:25-29 – 25 “Very truly, I tell you, the hour is coming, and is now here, when the dead will hear the voice of the Son of God, and those who hear will live. 26 For just as the Father has life in himself, so he has granted the Son also to have life in himself; 27 and he has given him authority to execute judgment, because he is the Son of Man. 28 Do not be astonished at this; for the hour is coming when all who are in their graves will hear his voice 29 and will come out—those who have done good, to the resurrection of life, and those who have done evil, to the resurrection of condemnation. 1 Peter 3:18-19 – 18 For Christ also suffered for sins once for all, the righteous for the unrighteous, in order to bring you to God. He was put to death in the flesh, but made alive in the spirit, 19 in which also he went and made a proclamation to the spirits in prison. 1 Peter 4:6 – 6 For this is the reason the gospel was proclaimed even to the dead, so that, though they had been judged in the flesh as everyone is judged, they might live in the spirit as God does.

How do we know? The B.I.B.L.E. tells us so! (↔ Music Link) As we go through this Lenten Season, we will travel with the Lord on his way to Jerusalem. There’s a link at the top of this post that tells you the route we will take. All along the way we will be encouraged to use the M.A.P. (Follow this link) – your Measure of Actual Progress. We will think about the Three Pillars of Lent – prayer, fasting, and almsgiving; maybe not in that order and possibly more than once depending on what the Holy Spirit says about Living Lent. (←This is a really cool link!)

So, that’s how we know – Scripture, Sacred Tradition, and around 2000 years of the Teaching in both of those. We need all three in order to arrive at a stable and balanced knowledge and understanding of how God’s Absolutely Perfect Plan includes and affects – perhaps effects as well – every living soul with his breath in their nostrils. Next time, though, it will not be water but fire that cleans up our mess. Get ready for that! It might be closer than you think. YOLO-F!

Whatever, whenever, wherever, whoever, however, if ever, forever —
at your service, Belovéd!
Please pray with us here at Share-a-Prayer.

Unless otherwise indicated, all scripture passages are from the New Revised Standard Version Catholic Edition (NRSVCE) New Revised Standard Version Bible: Catholic Edition, copyright © 1989, 1993 the Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Biblical languages inserts from Bible Hub (Bible Hub: Search, Read, Study the Bible in Many Languages) Visit at http://biblehub.com

Creative Commons License
Aloha Friday Messages by Charles O. Todd, III is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License

[1] Passages marked (GNT): Good News Translation (GNT)  Good News Translation® (Today’s English Version, Second Edition)© 1992 American Bible Society. All rights reserved. For more information about GNT, visit www.bibles.com and www.gnt.bible

[2] This short online article (↔ Click Link) at the Catholic Answers website give some additional information on the phrase in the Apostles Creed, “He descended into Hell.” See also CCC §631-637 (Follow this link)

The Road to Jerusalem Series

February 14, 2024

2024 Lent Schedule
TABLE:

The Road to Jerusalem Series
Week Date Gospel Title Number
1 2/16/24 Mark 1:12-15 Temptation How do we know? 2407AFC021624
2 2/23/24 Mark 9:2-10 Transfiguration What do we see? 2408AFC022324
3 3/1/24 John 2:13-15 Money Changers What do we do? 2409AFC030124
4 3/8/24 John 3:14-21 Nicodemus Where do we go? 2410AFC030824
5 3/15/24 John 12:20-33 Passion Prediction Why didn’t we listen? 2411AFC031524
6 3/22/24 Mark 14:1-15:47 THE PASSION Who has done this? 2412AFC032224
7 3/29/24 Easter Sunday When did we know? 2413AFC033124

 

Aloha Friday Message – February 9, 2024 – The Sole Soul Cleaner

February 9, 2024

2406AFC020924 – The Sole Soul Cleaner ← 😊 PODCAST LINK

Read it online here, please. And please – when you visit there – use one of the social media links at the bottom of the page to share this post. Thank you! And remember, we now have a READER VIEW available, so share this link or this email often.
Do you know someone who enjoys Bible study, or who might like to read this? Ask them to email us or to subscribe on our blog-site.

    Leviticus 13:46 – 46 He shall remain unclean as long as he has the disease; he is unclean. He shall live alone; his dwelling shall be outside the camp.

Psalm 32:5 –
5 Then I acknowledged my sin to you,
and I did not hide my iniquity;
I said, “I will confess my transgressions to the Lord,”
and you forgave the guilt of my sin. Selah

1 Corinthians 10:31 – 31 So, whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do everything for the glory of God.

Mark 1:40-41 – 40 A leper came to him begging him, and kneeling he said to him, “If you choose, you can make me clean.” 41 Moved with pity, Jesus stretched out his hand and touched him, and said to him, “I do choose. Be made clean!”

Aloha nui loa, ʻŌmea! Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ, who gave himself for our sins to set us free from the present evil age, according to the will of our God and Father, to whom be the glory forever and ever. Amen. Before I go another line I have to insert here something that has been tingling in my heart for the past several days. It is a don – one I learned as a  kid – and it says a great deal about “Full- service.” (Please take a look here (↔ Click Link) to see what that means to me.) Parts of this song started tapping on the windowsill of my mind last Friday morning while I was thinking about what to do with this post. Enough jabber-jabber. Here is the song and its lyric.

Take My Life and Let It Be
Consecrated unto Thee (↔ Music Link)

1 Take my life, and let it be
Consecrated, Lord, to Thee;
Take my moments and my days,
Let them flow in ceaseless praise,
Let them flow in ceaseless praise.		 2 Take my hands, and let them move
At the impulse of Thy love;
Take my feet and let them be
Swift and beautiful for Thee,
Swift and beautiful for Thee.
3 Take my voice, and let me sing
Always, only, for my King;
Take my lips, and let them be
Filled with messages from Thee,
Filled with messages from Thee.		 4 Take my silver and my gold;
Not a mite would I withhold;
Take my intellect, and use
Every power as Thou shalt choose,
Every power as Thou shalt choose.
5 Take my will, and make it Thine;
It shall be no longer mine.
Take my heart; it is Thine own;
It shall be Thy royal throne,
It shall be Thy royal throne.		 6 Take my love; my Lord, I pour
At Thy feet its treasure-store.
Take myself, and I will be
Ever, only, all for Thee,
Ever, only, all for Thee.
7 Take my will and my desire,
Purge them in Thy Holy Fire.
Take my spirit unto Thee
There to dwell eternally,
There to dwell eternally.
Lyrics 1-6 Frances Ridley Havergal, 7: Me.
Melody Henri Abraham Cesar Malan

Our Old Testament reading for this week’s Liturgy is from the book of Leviticus. This is a book of the Bible that many people never read, and those who do mostly skip through it. It’s full of rules, precepts, and laws about Ritual Sacrifices. It is the middle book of the Pentateuch, the first 5 books of the Torah and also of our Bible. It is called Leviticus because most of it deals with the tribe of the Levites who have the responsibility for the Priestly service for the Israelites. Honestly, the text really turns some people off. There’s a lot of blood, a lot of sacrificial slaughter, a lot more blood, and endless fire and smoke from the Altar. In addition, there are lots of “guidelines” (significant rules we would today call MYOB-rules) that are designed to guide a thoroughly idol-oriented, pantheistic aggregation of people who have been enslaved for 10 generations into a strong, monotheistic, and cohesive society that can stand on its own as a nation in the midst of really dreadful nations like the Assyrians, Philistines, and the Amalekites. On 21st century maps Assyria would be the region of northern Iraq, northwestern Iran, southeastern Turkey, and eastern Syria. Some people consider the descendants of the Amalekites and Philistines to be Palestinians because in the Bible, those nations vigorously opposed the seizure of Canaan as the Promised Land of the Hebrews. As we well know, that conflict is still raging after 3,300 years, and there’s only one end in sight: The Return of Christ at the End of the Age of the Church. I agree with The Apostle Paul who agreed with Jesus that the End of the Age could be any day now. I think it’s safe to state that that process will be pretty messy for anyone who is unprepared; but, prepared for what, and how?

The “what” is easy: Judgment on the Day of Reward when we collect the wages of the life each of us has led. The how is the thread that runs through our Key Verses: “Be made clean!” In that passage in the Gospel of Mark, Jesus is described as being “moved with compassion.” The Greek word used there is akin to what we would call a gut-level emotional response. The same response appears several times in the Gospels, and Jesus’ response to the Widow in Nain whose son was being carried to his grave is a prime example. (See Luke 7:11-16) Jesus was always moved with compassion when he saw how deep and great was the need for people to be healed, and his administration of healing was not limited to bodily healing, but also included healing of the soul. Acknowledgement of sin and the accompanying repentance are presented several times. We often see that touch is involved in those healings. People would even touch the tzitzits (← Check it out!) of his tallit. In this case, he reached out and touched the leper.

THAT was a big NO-NO! It was forbidden to touch a leper. As you can see from the passage in Leviticus, they were outcasts – literally not allowed to be around other people who were “clean” of the disease. They were excluded from worship because they could not enter the camp (later the city) much less the Tent of Meeting (later the Temple). Again we see that Jesus is doing something intentionally radical: He is going above and beyond the Law to usher in Mercy. That’s a very Godly thing to do, isn’t it, to be Merciful beyond what is required and then all the more beyond what could be expected? That leper, I envision him as a young man in his early 30’s, knew the law, knew what he was supposed to do, BUT he also knew what Jesus could do when confronted with F.A.I.T.H. He admitted his condition – unclean – and asked to have it changed knowing that Jesus would do so if it was God’s Will. It worked. “Immediately the leprosy left him.” Now, look at what we see in the Psalm:

    I said, “I will confess my transgressions to the Lord,” and you forgave the guilt of my sin. Selah When I hear that passage I think of the Pharisee and the Publican (See Luke 18:9–14). There was the self-righteous Pharisee telling God what a good boy he was, and back in the corner stood the Tax Collector – a hated collaborator with Rome. We sometimes see ourselves as “God’s Good Little Child,” and behave as if we have no reason to impute guilt in us. Silly rabbit! What can we hide from God and where would we hide it?!? Let’s face it. We have all tried that, and it never worked. We can tell it never worked because after trying that, we do not feel cleansed of guilt – we feel guiltier for lying! Like the old folk song says, “When Will They Ever Learn?” How has clinging tightly to our sin ever made our lives better? It’s not too hard to understand.  IT’s not something to far away that we can never reach it. It’s not so high above us that we have to send someone to bring it down to us. God himself gives the lesson, the exam at the end of the lesson, and the means to pass the exam They’re all open Book! (Please follow this link and look for the green text.) The preparation is so easy: whatever you do, do everything for the glory of God. now, all we have to do is figure out what gives Glory to God. Hmmm. How about Whatsoever you do? (↔ Music Link) How about Love God and Neighbor (↔ Music Link) with all my heart? In our annual Dedication Mass for our Son Timothy, his part was the last stanza from Christina Rosetti’s Poem A Christmas Carol.

What can I give Him,
Poor as I am?
If I were a shepherd
I would bring a lamb,
If I were a Wise Man
I would do my part, —
Yet what can I give Him,
I’ll give my heart.

What does the Lord God want? Only us. Isn’t that simple? We already have everything he wants – us – and all of that “us” is what he gave us to become us. And therein lies the mystery and the key to unlock it. We are his because he made us his by making us like himself. We are not gods, but we are God’s. Let us take up our cross and follow him (↔ Music Link) as ones who are consecrated unto him. You guessed it, Belovéd; it’s the APP.

God gave us himself In The Beginning – “I will be your God and you will be my people.” God gave us a Covenant – and exchange between persons – before he gave us Commandments. God formed and hallowed a Relationship before he gave us any rules about living that Relationship. God made us to be Eternal Beings like him (Yup. YOLO-F) and God made us to be wholly Holy like him as in Leviticus 19:2 – 2 Speak to all the congregation of the people of Israel and say to them: You shall be holy, for I the Lord your God am holy. Why would he do that to us? Why would he expect us to be Holy when it is clear we are sinners? One more Psalm and one more song:

Psalm 41:4 –
4 I said, Lord, be merciful unto me:
heal my soul; for I have sinned against thee. (AKJV) [1]

Indeed, the Lord our God is the Healer of my soul. (↔ Music Link)

In Preface III for Sundays in Ordinary Time we will hear:

“For we know it belongs to your boundless glory, that you came to the aid of mortal beings with your divinity and even fashioned for us a remedy out of mortality itself, that the cause of our downfall might become the means of our salvation, through Christ our Lord.” He, our Lord, the Christ of God – Jesus – is the sole soul cleaner, and is eternally available to each and all of us Every Moment Of Every Day (↔ Music Link). He is standing before us, and so we can say, “Jesus, if you choose, you can make me clean.” You and i know in our hearts, in our minds, and in our very souls what he will say next.

“I do choose. Be made clean!”

Whatever, whenever, wherever, whoever, however, if ever, forever —
at your service, Belovéd!
Please pray with us here at Share-a-Prayer.

Unless otherwise indicated, all scripture passages are from the New Revised Standard Version Catholic Edition (NRSVCE) New Revised Standard Version Bible: Catholic Edition, copyright © 1989, 1993 the Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Biblical languages inserts from Bible Hub (Bible Hub: Search, Read, Study the Bible in Many Languages) Visit at http://biblehub.com

Creative Commons License
Aloha Friday Messages by Charles O. Todd, III is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License

[1] Authorized (King James) Version (AKJV) KJV reproduced by permission of Cambridge University Press, the Crown’s patentee in the UK.

 

Aloha Friday Message – February 2, 2024 – Good hopes for Better

February 2, 2024

2405AFC020224 – Good hopes for Better ← 😊 PODCAST LINK

Read it online here, please. And please – when you visit there – use one of the social media links at the bottom of the page to share this post. Thank you! And remember, we now have a READER VIEW available, so share this link or this email often. Do you know someone who enjoys Bible study, or who might like to read this? Ask them to email us or to subscribe on our blog-site.

    Job 7:6-7, 16-19 –
6 My days are swifter than a weaver’s shuttle,
and come to their end without hope.
7 “Remember that my life is a breath;
my eye will never again see good.
16 I loathe my life; I would not live forever.
Let me alone, for my days are a breath.
17 What are human beings, that you make so much of them,
that you set your mind on them,
18 visit them every morning,
test them every moment?
19 Will you not look away from me for a while,
let me alone until I swallow my spittle?

E pili mau na pomaika‘i ia ‘oe a me ke akua ho’omaika’i ‘oe, ʻōmea! (May blessing always be with you and may God bless you, Beloved!) This weekend we will be hearing a passage from the Book of Job. This is a very ancient piece of literature, probably composed around 2500 B.C. – and many believe it came into being even earlier than that in the 7th, 6th, or 4th centuries B.C. The passage above is from the Judeo-Christian Tradition, but there is also a so-called “Babylonian Job” called The Ludlul-Bel-Nimeqi. There are a few similarities, but generally the two are quite different. The one thing they both have in common is the apparently unjust and horrific suffering of a genuinely righteous person. Both stories take up an old, old question: “Why must there be suffering?” Rabbi Harold Kushner took up the question again in 1978 with his book When Bad Things Happen to Good People. He concluded that basically God was not powerful enough to eliminate evil. We saw some time ago in Isaiah 59:1 See, the Lord’s hand is not too short to save, or his ear too dull to hear. He does have the power, and chooses not to use it. Still, suffering and evil are mysteries we deal with in our daily lives – daily lives. We can’t help but ask, “WHY?” This is an especially important question if the one suffering is us. At the outset we need to recognize that some suffering is a mystery meant to be offered lovingly to our Abba on behalf of others. The Apostle Paul had this to say: Colossians 1:24 – 24 I am now rejoicing in my sufferings for your sake, and in my flesh I am completing what is lacking in Christ’s afflictions for the sake of his body, that is, the church. This redemptive suffering is our participation in the sufferings of Christ, and can always be offered in the hope of better for all.

Many times this question takes the form of “Why is God doing this to me?” Another form is “How can a supposedly loving God allow this to happen?” I want to focus on those two questions first. “Why me” is rooted in the idea that God uses suffering as a punishment for evil. The Old Testament is often cited as a proof for this supposition, and superficial reading makes it appear God is old and vengeful. Perhaps the most elaborate construct of this idea is the conquering of Canaan by the Israelites. Think back to our lesson on Jonah (↔ Click Link). The Ninevites were a thoroughly evil people. God had it in mind to destroy them. Nonetheless he sent Jonah to warn them. The Ninevites repented and were spared – for a while. When they reverted to their evil ways, they were destroyed (click here for an insightful look into Nahum 3). Yet it took centuries of opportunities to change before their demise was accomplished.

The same was true for the inhabitants of Canaan. They too were thoroughly evil and had many opportunities to change. They did not. In fact, in the case of the Amorites God gave them roughly 450 years to get it together. My point is that we are not being punished. God is getting our attention by correcting us, by showing us the consequences of our choices to be stubborn and selfish. In the book of Proverbs we read at Proverbs 3:12 – For the LORD corrects those he loves, just as a father corrects a child in whom he delights. (New Living Translation). Paul cites this passage in Hebrews 12:6-7 – “… for the Lord disciplines those whom he loves, and chastises every child whom he accepts. Endure trials for the sake of discipline. God is treating you as children; for what child is there whom a parent does not discipline?” We are given an opportunity to change. We can choose to do so because we have free will.

Sometimes, though, it is true that the things that happen to us are not our fault. They are not God’s fault either. Sometimes something painful happens so that something better replaces it. In his book, A Grief Observed, C. S. Lewis wrote, “What do people mean when they say, ‘I am not afraid of God because I know He is good’? Have they never even been to a dentist?”  He continues with more examples: Have you ever had a broken bone that had to be  reset by a doctor?  Have you ever seen a marble sculpture? Sometimes painful things result in better things. Sometimes the things that hurt make us better in the long run. We have to look beyond the hurt and accept that good comes from it. Here are some additional insights from The Apostle Paul:

Romans 8:18 – I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory about to be revealed to us.

2 Corinthians 4:16-18 – So we do not lose heart. Even though our outer nature is wasting away, our inner nature is being renewed day by day. For this slight momentary affliction is preparing us for an eternal weight of glory beyond all measure, because we look not at what can be seen but at what cannot be seen; for what can be seen is temporary, but what cannot be seen is eternal.

Romans 8:28 – We know that all things work together for good (↔ Music Link) for those who love God, who are called according to his purpose. Another way to say that is in all things God works for Good. “Eat your spinach. It’s good for you!” may seem like suffering at the time, but it’s nothing compared to having a healthy body which comes from healthy eating.

Sometimes the suffering we have to endure comes from the way others have treated us. There’s no denying that there have been gaggles of parents who abused their children but claimed “it was only discipline.” The same goes for other interpersonal relationships – siblings, spouses, children, other relatives, elders, coworkers, supervisors, authority figures, or neighbors. We would be disingenuous to say that such abuse does not exist and does not seriously impact many lives. This reality is often the root of that second question, “How can a supposedly loving God allow this to happen?” That question is especially relevant when innocents suffer at the hands of great evil as when parents murder their own children (especially when they are unborn children), or when sociopathic killers torture and murder people. One I see quite often these days relates to ISIS and Hamas and the horrific and egregious acts of terror they commit. How can people, in the name of a god (whom they call Allah), do those things? As I have said here before, these acts are committed by heretics, and Allah is not Jehovah. At some points in history just about every major religious – and even antireligious – group has committed atrocities. Whoever the perpetrators are, it is still atrocious, still evil, and still a choice. We are not commanded to annihilate the earthlings that are different from us. We are commanded to love and forgive them.

Hebrews 12:15 – See to it that no one fails to obtain the grace of God; that no root of bitterness springs up and causes trouble, and through it many become defiled.

Ephesians 4:32 – and be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, as God in Christ has forgiven you.

1 John 1:8-10 says, 8 If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. 9 If we confess our sins, he who is faithful and just will forgive us our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness. 10 If we say that we have not sinned, we make him a liar, and his word is not in us.

Matthew 6:14-15 – For if you forgive others their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you; but if you do not forgive others, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses.

Matthew 22:37-40 – He said to him, “‘You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind.’ This is the greatest and first commandment.  And a second is like it: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets.”

In 1 Thessalonians 5:12-22, Paul tells us to be at peace with all men, return good for evil (not evil for evil), to take care of the weak and be patient with everyone (not only others, but ourselves as well), to pray without ceasing and “in everything give thanks,” so as not to quench the Spirit, and to abstain from all appearance (and practice) of evil. That’s a pretty tall order! Yet throughout the entirety of our Bible, God tells us to love him and each other.

So, does “love your neighbor” mean we complacently allow these evil persons to perpetrate crimes against us? Of course not! We have a moral responsibility to combat evil. The Two Greatest Laws do not say “Do No Harm.” God’s Law says to put God and neighbor first and we are to follow the whole Law. One commandment (5th or 6th depending on how you number them) forbids intentionally destroying human life. Some argue that this forbids war. Yet there are times when the so-called “just-war doctrine” compels us to take a stand. In this question, too, the key consideration is that we have a choice, and our choice should be guided by Christ’s Law of Love. Still, enduring evil and suffering – even if we do so within the guidelines of Scripture – is not easy, and we nevertheless want answers. Let’s return to Job and see how he was answered.

In the book of Job, God never tells Job why he was suffering. When we read the first part of the story of Job – Job 1:6-12 (← Read this) – we see that Satan – the Accuser הַשָּׂטָ֖ן ha-Satan {häś·śä·ṭän} – obtains permission to demonstrate his belief that Job is a good and upright man only because God has surrounded Job with divine protection. Equally important in the story, Job consistently denies that the reason for his suffering is his sin. In answer, God comes down in a whirlwind and asks Job dozens of questions, and all of them are unanswerable! See Job 38:1 – 42:6 (←FASCINATING READING!). God never tells Job to stop complaining, either; even though the suffering we looked at in the beginning of this essay is pretty harsh, God never said Job should stop. Job listens in silence and his response is also silence. He is humbled before God, and that is the posture we need to take when our lives seem to be only suffering, evil, and pain. We always have that choice to defer to him, to reverence him, to kneel in awe before him, and to surrender everything to him. What do I mean by everything?

By “everything” I mean whatever we have in our lives that is contrary to the Life God created in us. Can we and do we say “I hate!”? Then we have not surrendered that act of unlove to God. Do we and can we claim that God has given us more than our share of suffering and that none of it is the consequence of our own choices? God does not give us suffering. God does permit us to feel the consequences of separating ourselves from him in the hope that we will choose not to make that separation the choice we select for eternity after our resurrection. “Why is God doing this to me?” “How can a supposedly loving God allow this to happen?” “Why doesn’t God fix this/me/them?” We have seen that some of the heinous evil that brings great suffering is the consequence of the same free will which makes Love possible. We know that the end of our life on this Earth is not the end of everything, because we are created in the image of God and are therefore eternal beings. We know that God can (and will always) bring great good out of great evil – think of the stories of Joseph in the Old Testament and Jesus in the New Testament. God does not cause evil, he redeems evil. The bottom line is that suffering and evil – like salvation, creation, the trinity, and other Divine Mysteries – are things we just cannot understand. Whatever our appeal to God’s Mercy is, this one thing is clear about evil and suffering: It does not come from God. It comes from our fallen nature and is part of our journey back to the life God intends for us – eternal, sinless, and glorious just like him. We know this because we know God truly does understand our suffering. Look to the life, passion, death, and resurrection of his Only Begotten Son. There is Hope for our reunion! (↔ Music Link) Check out Sirach 40:26 (← Try it! You’ll like it!)

Belovéd, the suffering we are enduring now in Ukraine, Gaza, Nigeria, Darfur Province, and tens-of-thousands (← IMPORTANT learning link!) of other locations look like a game of “Farmer In The Dell” compared to what the Assyrians in Nineveh did. Jonah had right reasons to fear them; nonetheless he accomplished God’s goal – albeit with much reluctance and pouting – and from that, not only was Nineveh so thoroughly destroyed so that even today we’re not sure where it was, but also God brought better things from the good he created by removing that evil. Today, there is yet another evil which flourishes in that area which is near and in the city of Mosul. That is near where ISIS made its last stand in 2022 before moving to Nigeria and Northern Mozambique. That may not seem good, but it IS better. Our work is not yet done. We must confront and destroy evil wherever we find it, even if it means a Just War. One other consideration previously reported here:

  • The World population is around 1 BILLION (↔ Click Link)
  • The number of persons who claim to be Muslim is around 2.1 BILLION, about 26% of the World’s population
  • The estimated percentage of terroristically militant members is around 2% which comes to about 40,000,000 (FORTY-MILLION) willing to kill, maim, and torture non-Islamic entities. The 9/11 attacks were committed by 19 al-Qaeda terrorists.

Be humble before God. Seek justice, mercy, and obedience (↔ Music Link) instead of prejudice, persecution, and rebellion. For each of us, our perception of what is evil can be countered by our reception of all that is Good. Everything that is Good is of God, and God is always better than good. Therefore we must See to it that no one fails to obtain the grace of God; that no root of bitterness springs up and causes trouble, and through it many become defiled. Furthermore, and be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, as God in Christ has forgiven you. If all the available choices are evil, be the Good that changes that. Choose the Hope of Peace. (↔ Music Link)

Oh! And don’t forget to read Nahum 3 !! Whatever is Good (or even Best) can still be made Better through HOPE! It’s in the Absolutely Perfect Plan.

Whatever, whenever, wherever, whoever, however, if ever, forever —
at your service, Belovéd!
Please pray with us here at Share-a-Prayer.

 

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Aloha Friday Messages by Charles O. Todd, III is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License

Biblical languages inserts from Bible Hub (Bible Hub: Search, Read, Study the Bible in Many Languages) Visit at http://biblehub.com

Unless otherwise indicated, all scripture passages are from the New Revised Standard Version Catholic Edition (NRSVCE) New Revised Standard Version Bible: Catholic Edition, copyright © 1989, 1993 the Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

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