2503AFC011725 – The First of Many  😀 ← PODCAST LINK

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 John 2:5, 11 – ⁵ His mother said to the servants, “Do whatever he tells you.” ¹¹ Jesus did this, the first of his signs, in Cana of Galilee, and revealed his glory; and his disciples believed in him.

Aloha nui loa, ʻŌmea! Today we take a few moments to look at Jesus’ first recorded miracle at the Wedding Feast at Cana in Galilee. It is the conversion of water to wine (↔ Music Link) – and not just a glass or two of wine! John tells us “Now there were six stone water jars there for Jewish ceremonial washings, each holding twenty to thirty gallons.“

The Greek word used here makes this measure quite impressive. The word is μετρητής (metrétés) {met-ray-tace’} – a measure equivalent to about 39.39 liters or 8.75 gallons. The Authorized (King James) Version (AKJV) describes the jars as “containing two or three firkins apiece.” What’s a firkin? A “firkin” in terms of size, is equal to 9 imperial gallons, which is 10.8 US gallons; 2-3 firkins then would be 21.6 to 31.8 gallons and average of 26.7 gallons. SIX of those would come to just over 160 gallons of first-class wine! When Jesus sent the servants to the wine, the headwaiter was amazed at the quality. Not only had Jesus supplied in quantity, but also in quality! That is how he does everything when we do what he tells us. And there’s something else, too. He used just simple things even at a BIG wedding.

 The wedding was nearby Capernaum where Jesus and his family and disciples had moved after he started his ministry. (See Matthew 9:1 and Mark 2:1) His mom had just said, “They are out of wine.” And Jesus said to her, “Woman, how does your concern affect me? My hour has not yet come.” He called her אִשָּׁה (ishshah) {ish-shaw’} – woman, as the first Adam had called Eve. (See Genesis 2:23 – ²³ Then the man said, “This at last is bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh; this one shall be called Woman [אִשָּׁה] for out of Man [אִישׁ] this one was taken.” It was a respectful way to address his Mother. Simple questions are wonderful when followed by simple words and simple actions. “Do whatever he tells you.” The servants did what servants do – they served by obeying. They had simple things around them – stone jars, water nearby, and they fetched it. They topped off the stone jars as told in the simple command, “Fill the jars with water.” They filled them to the brim – they did their part to the best of their ability. Then Jesus did his part to the best of his ability – and the miracle happened. He made 160 gallons of water into 160 gallons of wine. (We don’t know if it was Chablis or Merlot – or even what color or taste it had – because that is unimportant.) Ordinary things done in ordinary ways become extraordinary when we do what he tells us.

Jesus’ first miracle – the first of many, many, many – took place at the uniting of a man and woman in matrimony as God intended, and still intends, from Eden to this very moment. It began with water, the same way that Creation began. Jesus’ Presence changed the water to something new and better. We can experience the change to new and better if we only respond as he did to the words, “Do whatever he tells you.” That brings us to the story of someone else who did whatever God told him – except a couple of times when he did not, and we are still paying for that today. His name was אַבְרָם Avrahm – Abram – and later he became “My Old Friend Abraham.”

We first come across that name in Genesis 11:26 – ²⁶ And Terah lived seventy years, and begat Abram, Nahor, and Haran. Terah was a direct descendant of Shem, one of the sons of Noah. The following verse, verse 28, tells us that Abram’s younger brother, Haran, died early in his birthplace – “Ur of the Chaldees.” Abraham started off as Abram, a princely warrior from “Ur of the Chaldees.” The Bible puts him 12 generations from Adam, and 10 generations from Noah. God told him to get up and move across a vast distance to a land God would show him, and give to his descendants, a land where he would become the father of many nations. He did whatever God told him. In Genesis 17:1, God revealed he was El Shaddai – Almighty God, and told Abram to walk before (as in front of) and to always do what is right. Please read that passage to get the context. (Yep. First occurrence of “Do the right thing.” Check it out!). Soon thereafter, he entered into a covenant with God and throughout his remaining life he did some pretty amazing things. One of the things God called upon him to do was to sacrifice his belovéd son Isaac. Most of us remember the story.

God told Abraham to take Isaac to the top of a distant mountain. Isaac was to carry the wood for the burnt offering. Abraham prepared the altar, bound Isaac, and was prepared to kill him there. His reasoning was that God had promised him he would be the father of many nations; that God could be trusted to keep his promise; that even though it made no worldly sense to kill his son and his progeny, God would provide a way to keep his promise. As Abraham raised the knife to take Isaac’s life, a messenger of God told him to stop. He had proved his faith. Another suitable sacrifice was provided – a ram caught by its horns in a thicket. Isaac was redeemed, God’s promise was kept intact, and Abraham was ready for the next action God would request.

How could Abraham do that?! How did he have so much faith in God? How in the world was he prepared to take his own son’s life? And there we have it, the word that sets Abraham apart from us: Prepared. Abraham was prepared to “Do whatever he tells you.” What is the nature of that preparation? Did you read that passage I just asked you to read? It ends with “walk before me, and be blameless.” Does that sound familiar? Check this out:

• MATTHEW 5:48 – So be perfect, just as your heavenly Father is perfect.
• LXX (English) Leviticus 19:2 Speak to the congregation of the children of Israel, and thou shalt say to them, “Ye shall be holy; for I the Lord your God am holy.”
• Leviticus 20:7 — So set yourselves apart to be holy, for I am the LORD your God.
• AKJV Deuteronomy 18:13 Thou shalt be perfect with the LORD thy God.
• NIV Luke 6:36 – Be merciful, just as your Father is merciful
• NJB 1 Peter 1:16 since scripture says, ‘Be holy, for I am holy.’

Our sinful nature insists that we can do what we want to do, and then looks to our imagination to see what our inclinations might be. As we all well know, that is the wrong reference source. When we look to our own imaginations, we confirm what God first stated when he saw how utterly wrong and confused. We see it in Genesis 6:5 – ⁵ The Lord saw that the wickedness of humankind was great in the earth, and that every inclination of the thoughts of their hearts was only evil continually. How? How can we change that: hark to the Word!

• Ecclesiastes 10:2 – ² The heart of the wise inclines to the right, but the heart of a fool to the left.
• Isaiah 30:21 – ²¹ And when you turn to the right or when you turn to the left, your ears shall hear a word behind you, saying, “This is the way; walk in it.”
• Jeremiah 6:16 – ¹⁶ Thus says the Lord: Stand at the crossroads, and look, and ask for the ancient paths, where the good way lies; and walk in it, and find rest for your souls.
  But they said, “We will not walk in it.”
• Matthew 17:5 – ⁵ While he was still speaking, suddenly a bright cloud overshadowed them, and from the cloud a voice said, “This is my Son, the Beloved; with him I am well pleased; listen to him!”

See that design up by the Key Verse? Each line is made of thousands and thousands of points. Each space has room for thousands of more lines. You may recall that in the New Testament, the Greek word usually translated ”many” (pollōn) (↔ Learning Link) actually means multitudes. If we look at the design, it draws one’s eyes to the center. Think about that being Ur of the Chaldees and the origin of Abram’s journeys, then think about the multitudes and multitudes of souls descended from Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. Abraham’s children were the first of multitudes of offspring; 160 gallons of wine was the first of multitudes of miracles. That Key Verse symbol is emblematic of the many Miracles Jesus performed which all started with 6 ceremonial stone jars brimming with abundant and exceptional blessings from the Lord of the Universe. That’s how God does things – the biggest and the best from the lowliest and least. All of that comes to us in the Life he gives. Our God-given Life is the First of Many Blessings, Healings, Miracles, Answers, Joys, … well, you get the idea. All because we choose to do whatever he says. Amen.

And here’s something the cogitate with: Sum up the Bible and ALL of history in a single word.

That Word is

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

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

2502AFC011025 – “Y” is for YES 😀 ← 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.

 Matthew 3:15 – ¹⁵ But Jesus answered him, “Let it be so now; for it is proper for us in this way*to fulfill all righteousness.” Then he consented.*  οὕτω[ς] (houtō and houtós) {hoo’-to[s]} like this |__| ; in this manner, in this way (fashion), in accordance with this description (i.e. corresponding to what follows); in keeping with; along this line, in the manner spoken; in this way, thus(ly)

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. This coming Sunday, many churches around the world will be celebrating The Baptism of The Lord. Sometimes this event gets confused with other events in Jesus’ life. Some folks think it has something to do with last week’s celebration of the Epiphany. Some think it might be concurrent with the visit to the Temple at the Purification of Mary. A few believe it happened when Jesus was an adult, and they are right. Just for the sake of clarity, let’s look at a timeline based on what we read in the synoptic Gospels. Remember, there are no precise dates given there, so everything happened “around [this year].” Here is a sequence of some of the important events before Jesus started his ministry:

• Birth – At Bethlehem during the lambing season
• Circumcision – eight days later
• Presentation – on the fortieth day after birth – Purification of Mary and Jesus’ presentation at Jerusalem
• Visitation of the Magi – Jesus was not yet two years old
• Massacre of all male infants under age 2 “in and around Bethlehem”
• Flight to Egypt – around age 2
• Herod the Great dies – Jesus is around age 4, and then
  • Herod Archelaus {ar-khel’-ah-os} takes over Judaea, Idumaea, and Samaria
  • Herod Antipas takes over Galilee and Peraea
  • The non-Jewish areas (except Samaria) were assigned to a third son, Philip, to Herod’s sister Salome, or to the province of Syria
• Joseph is counseled by an angel that it is safe to return home
• The Holy Family settles in Nazareth to avoid living in the territory ruled by Archelaus – Jesus is perhaps age 5
• Lost at the Temple – around age 12
• John the Baptist and Jesus begin their ministries around 27-30 AD. No precise date is known
• John BAPTIZES JESUS
• John proclaims Jesus is “the Lamb of God.”
• Jesus retreats to the desert for 40 days of preparation and temptation (See Mark 1:12-13)
• Jesus calls Andrew, Peter, Phillip, and Nathanael as Apostles
• Wedding at Cana and Jesus begins baptizing, preaching, and teaching.

 Now, another thing that brings us to wonder “why did he do that?” is Jesus’ insistence that John baptize him. After all, he is the Messiah- the King of Glory! – at whose name every knee shall bow, (↔ Music Link) and John knows that. He is The Son of God, and both Jesus and John know that, too. So how can a mere man who is unworthy to carry Jesus’ sandals (or tie or untie them), a man sent as a Prophet in the Spirit of Elijah, or a man who is lesser because he is mortal and his cousin is immortal having existed since before creation and who was present at Creation – how can this mortal man we worthy to Baptize the sinless Son of God as a sign of righteousness? Jesus in effect tells him, “This is the way Dad wants it done, so let’s just do it.” The key to understanding that well is in that little phrase in this way

I’ll put that note about our Key Verse here for us to use again: οὕτω[ς] (houtō and houtós) {hoo’-to[s]} like this. . .; in this manner, in this way (fashion), in accordance with this description (i.e. corresponding to what follows); in keeping with; along this line, in the manner spoken; in this way, thus(ly). To what does “thusly” or “in this way” refer? The answer to that question will help us understand why Jesus insisted on John’s cooperation: The importance of a spirit of obedient submission to the will of The Father. “We need to do this together. Both of us need to do what God is expecting of us. It is the proper thing to do to complete every aspect of righteousness. Your responsibility is to baptize. My responsibility is to let you.”

We want to remember that when it comes to salvation, our responsibility is to believe God – not just believe in him – actually believe what he says; he will redeem us. We must let God BE God. This is a hard lesson to learn. The Being who forgot it first was Lucifer. Don’t be like Lucifer. Remember: God is God. We are not. It takes humility to remember that. Humility is another tough lesson (which led to the downfall of that other guy, right?) But, we have an example of humility that is absolutely extraordinary, and that  brings us to the Person of the Week – Our Mother, Mary. (↔ Music Link)

As with Jesus’ timeline, we don’t have any particular dates for Mary’s life. Tradition relates that she was the child of Joachim and Anne. This information is not in the Canon of the Bible, but appears about 150 years after Jesus’ time in the noncanonical Gospel of James. Sacred Tradition discloses that she was an obedient child filled with Love and Reverence for God. We can gain some insight into the life of Mary by looking at her name and the names of her ancestors.

The name ”Mary” is derived from the Hebrew name Miriam. Now, we know that the New Testament is hidden in the Old Testament and the Old Testament is revealed in the New Testament. Who was Miriam in the Old Testament?

• She was the daughter of Jochebed (her name means “Jehovah is glory”) and Amram (his name means “exalted people”)
• She was the eldest of three children born in Egypt to this couple. Her brothers were Moses (his name means “drawn forth”) and Aaron (his name possibly means  “light bringer” or “Mountain of strength,” however, the derivation is uncertain)
• The name Miriam comes from the Hebrew word for bitter – mar (masc.) or marah (fem). (See Exodus 15:20-27) Miriam and Aaron challenged Moses’ authority to prophesy. This act of rebellion caused the Lord to meet directly with the three siblings, to ratify Moses’ authority, and to cause Miriam to receive leprose-looking skin.
  • The name Miriam is translatable as “rebellion,” or “bitterness.” More on this momentarily.

The name “Mary” was a fairly common name in Jesus’ time. There are several women in the Bible with that name:
Mary: (1) mother of Jesus; (2) the younger sister of Martha and Lazarus; (3) Mary Magdalene “The Apostle to the Apostles;” (4) the mother of James and Joseph; (5) the wife of Clzopas (John 19:25); (6) mother of John Mark (Acts 12:12); (7) an otherwise unidentified Christian greeted by The Apostle Paul in Romans 16:6

Now, if we look back at these names and consider others like Abram and Abraham (future features), we see it is true that often a person’s names hinted at their destiny and personality. Yet, this does not seem to be the case with Μαρία or Μαριάμ as is her name in Greek in the New Testament. In fact, she is the precise and literal opposite of rebellion.
Because, why?
Well, I have not seen this in the Apostolic or Nicene Creeds, the Catechism of the Catholic Church, or any other authoritative source. This is just my puny little opinion which helps me gain a deeper appreciation of Mary’s importance as an Exemplar (Paradigm, Archetype, Ideal) in Scripture.

•  Now, if Mary is derived from the name Miriam which means bitterness and/or rebellion (after the rebellion after the place Massah, and Meribah where the people grumbled bitterly about God), how does that name apply in the Annunciation?
• When the Angel Gabriel spoke to Mary, her response was an unconditional YES as she willingly and completely submitted to God’s will without bitterness or rebellion.  Rebellion was overcome by obedience. Disillusionment was overcome by joy. Death was overcome by life. Darkness was overcome by light, and doubt was overcome by faith in a simple “yes.”
• Her reverence for God and her impeccable humility allowed her to completely surrender to great risks – the possibility f divorce, a trial. Possibly even death by stoning! Like our Old Friend Abraham, she reasoned that God could be trusted to do what he said. Abraham believed God could complete his covenant with him even if he sacrificed his son. Mary believed she could bear a child who would be called AND ACTUALLY BE the Only Begotten Son of God.
• Thus, “rebellion” was “overcome” by OBEDIENCE out of Grace-based Love of the Father. Indeed we can and should echo Gabriel’s greeting “Hail full of Grace!” (↔ Music Link)

Mary’s Son, Jesus, the Only Begotten Son of God, also showed us complete and entire surrender through the Grace of Absolute Faith and acceptance of the Will of God. At his Baptism by John the Baptizer, Jesus is seen and heard as the Trinity now present to the Earth. His YES there means a serious interruption to the rule of The Prince of the Air – ha-Satan! At his birth, he shed all Power and Glory of his Eternal Origin and – with his humble and obedient parents – submitted to a life of poverty, loss, and suffering by willingly accepting his destiny as Jesus – the Promised Savior – through death on the Cross. Mary shows us that we can overcome the rebellion that is built into us through Original Sin. She, “The Second Eve,” the “Ark of the New Covenant,” gives us HOPE that we, too, can give our assent to complete surrender. By her YES she knew the Holiness of God surrounding (↔ Music Link) her as the Son of God rested in her womb. The Rebellion at Eden is vanquished in the Sacrifice at Golgotha. Let us prepare our hearts and minds to go there with Jesus, his Mother, and the other Marys who were faithful to him to the end. Surely she who is filled with Grace through the Power of the Holy Spirit was chosen by the Father for the Son from all women to be the Beginning of the End. (↔ Learning Link)

Belovéd! Should not we also surrender everything so that we may receive God’s All?

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.

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

2501AFC010325 – #4358 😀 ← 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.

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Matthew 2:5-6 – ⁵ They said to him, “In Bethlehem of Judea, for thus it has been written through the prophet: ⁶ ‘And you, Bethlehem, land of Judah, are by no means least among the rulers of Judah; since from you shall come a ruler, who is to shepherd my people Israel.’” ¡Que la bendición esté siempre con ustedes y que Dios los bendiga, Amados! (May blessing always be with you and may God bless you, Belovéd!)

Aloha nui loa, ʻŌmea! This week we begin something new – dare we call it a hybrid study? We’re going to look at something from the Scriptures for the Epiphany of the Lord celebrated this coming Sunday, and then we will look at the first of our Persons in the Bible installments. I’ve never done this before so it is something new, and perhaps we can do that together. This is the time of year when many of us resolve to start new things to which we aspire, resume old things we’ve neglected, or eliminate burdensome things we don’t really need any longer. We make those waffle-prone New Year’s Resolutions that often last less than six weeks. I hope this endeavor will be in the first category of useful aspirations.

The Scripture for today’s short (we hope) meditation quotes a passage from Matthew which in turn quotes from Micah 5:2 –
² But you, O Bethlehem of Ephrathah,
    who are one of the little clans of Judah,
from you shall come forth for me
    one who is to rule in Israel,
whose origin is from of old,
    from ancient days.
That last phrase, “whose origin is from of old, from ancient days” connotes the eternal aspect of God – eventually revealed as Trinity – and signifies the fulfillment of the promise to David of a Ruler who would govern Israel forever. John the Baptizer later told us that Jesus was from “forever” when he stated Jesus was grater than he because Jesus preceded him (even though John the Baptizer was conceived before Jesus was).

Here we see that God does not always, – in fact, rarely – chooses the greatest and best to lead his people. He chooses the least likely, the lowest esteemed, the most humble to carry out his will. We have only to look to the last section of Sunday’s Gospel and see that the Magi (plural of Magus Latin for “magician” – Persian Priests of Zoroaster) “on entering the house they saw the child with Mary his mother. They prostrated themselves and did him homage.”

And so we have the Epiphany – the Showing Forth, the First Manifestation of Jesus, the Christ of God conceived and born of human flesh and Divine Nature – and we see that first this little baby whom the Angels call “Christ the Lord” (See Luke 2:11) is visited and seen by shepherds, among the lest respected persons in Israel, and then to men who were Priests and great kings (presumedly) of Pagans from the nations of the Gentiles. This signifies he is to be a King of all kings and Lord of all lords. We see this designation in 1 Timothy 6:13-15 – ¹³ In the presence of God, who gives life to all things, and of Christ Jesus, who in his testimony before Pontius Pilate made the good confession, I charge you ¹⁴ to keep the commandment without spot or blame until the manifestation of our Lord Jesus Christ, ¹⁵ which he will bring about at the right time—he who is the blessed and only Sovereign, the King of kings and Lord of lords. This is also our charge, our duty, our kuleana (Hawaiʻian: responsibility). We are pledged to and serve Jesus who is Emmanual (↔ Music Link)

And we have just encountered the first  of the Persons in the Bible which we will study – Jesus.

We begin with the bold declaration of The Apostle Peter in Acts 4:12 – ¹² There is salvation in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given among mortals by which we must be saved. You may recall that in ancient times a name was a key to a person’s life. It was as much a title as it was a designation for recognition. In ancient Israel – and to this very day – Jews do not pronounce the name the Lord gave to Moses at the Burning Bush. They will refer to him as Adonai (the Lord) or call him by ha-Shem (the Name). When the Name of God is invoked in any form, ALL of God is invoked. The Trinity is called up, and no member of the Trinity acts alone but rather all act in unison. This also means that all the ways – or names – by which we know and call God are also invoked. In these messages we have referred often to El Shaddai-Olam, Almighty, Everliving God, ha-Ruach, ruach ha-kodesh (Holy Spirit), and several other characteristics like his Perfect Integrity, Endless Mercy, Everlasting Love, and Eternal Salvation.

In like manner, ALL of Jesus’ names titles, and characteristics are invoked together in the name Jesus. In the Catechism of the Catholic Church at paragraph 2666 we read:

CCC 2666

But the one name that contains everything is the one that the Son of God received in his incarnation: JESUS. the divine name may not be spoken by human lips, but by assuming our humanity the Word of God hands it over to us and we can invoke it: “Jesus,” “YHWH saves.”
The name “Jesus” contains all: God and man and the whole economy of creation and salvation. To pray “Jesus” is to invoke him and to call him within us. His name is the only one that contains the presence it signifies. Jesus is the Risen One, and whoever invokes the name of Jesus is welcoming the Son of God who loved him and who gave himself up for him. (My emphasis added)

What did the Disciples call him? Probably Yeshua (yeh-SHU-ah) which means “Jehovah is Salvation,” or God saves.” It is similar to – actually synonymous with – Yehoshua, Joshua. Our Lord Jesus the Christ of God is not the only “Jesus” mentioned in our Bible. We also have Jesus Barabbas, Jesus ben Ananias, and Jesus ben Sirach. Our Savior would have been referred to legally as Yeshua ben Yoceph meaning Jesus son of Joseph. Joseph was the name Rachel gave to her son. The name is derived from the Hebrew root יָסַף (yasaph), meaning “to add” or “to increase,” and Rachel’s exclamation at his birth was “May the LORD add to me another son.” (See Genesis 30:24) The Lord God granted that prayer for he and she gave birth to Benjamin. Regrettably she died in childbirth as he was born.

As with his Heavenly Father, Jesus had many titular names. I strongly encourage you to explore and learn to pray The Litany of the Holy Name of Jesus. As you do this, you will find that you, too, know Jesus in many ways, and you might even come up with some titles of you own for how he has influenced your life. Please try that this week.

Next week we will take another briefer look at the Scriptures associated with The Baptism of the Lord (and the Christmas season will be over that following Monday). We will also choose another name from the Bible and get better acquainted with him/her. Please give me some feedback about this first issue of the new format. God bless you always and all ways.

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

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

2452AFC122924 – A Family of Love← 🙂 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.

This is the last post for the year 2024. (Hey! Who said “Hooray!”?) In this post we will give you almost entirely Scripture. The Word speaks for itself. If you will patiently read all of these passages, you may find that a newer or stronger, or clearer feeling about Love and Family is growing in your heart and mind and spirit. As we begin next year we will frequently reference Pope Francis’ designation of 2025 as a Jubilee year. It is important that we learn more about that and why it is important for us to participate more fully in the events that unfold throughout the year.

Shortly after the first of the new Year we will upload the 1,000^th post on this site. I hope you will find that to be OK news and not just evidence of a guy who is blessed with the gift of gab – or blather. Our goal here is to help all of us be more aware of the content and meaning of Scripture (which is why this image is sort of a logo) as well as to understand the importance of our Traditions. One of the most important Traditions are the special Commemorative Feasts. We have one coming up this last Sunday in 2024 – the Feast of the Holy Family of Jesus, Mary and Joseph

God established families, and marriage, and spousal fidelity and respect. As we have come to know over these past 997 posts, “all you need is Love.” Therefore, Belovéd, let us learn about Love, and learn it as family, as we share the Word of God. Next year we will feature Faces From the B.I.B.L.E. so stayed tuned for further information!

Sirach 3:1-4, 9 (GNT) [1]– ¹ Children, listen to me; I am your father. Do what I tell you and you will be safe, ² for the Lord has given fathers authority over their children and given children the obligation to obey their mothers. ³ If you respect your father, you can make up for your sins, ⁴ and if you honor your mother, you are earning great wealth. ⁹ When parents give their blessing, they give strength to their children’s homes, but when they curse their children, they destroy the very foundations.

John 15:9-17 – ⁹ As the Father has loved me, so I have loved you; abide in my love. ¹⁰ If you keep my commandments, you will abide in my love, just as I have kept my Father’s commandments and abide in his love. ¹¹ I have said these things to you so that my joy may be in you, and that your joy may be complete.

¹² “This is my commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you. ¹³ No one has greater love than this, to lay down one’s life for one’s friends. ¹⁴ You are my friends if you do what I command you. ¹⁵ I do not call you servants any longer, because the servantdoes not know what the master is doing; but I have called you friends, because I have made known to you everything that I have heard from my Father. ¹⁶ You did not choose me but I chose you. And I appointed you to go and bear fruit, fruit that will last, so that the Father will give you whatever you ask him in my name. ¹⁷ I am giving you these commands so that you may love one another.

1 John 3:1 _a – ¹ See what love the Father has given us, that we should be called children of God; and that is what we are.

1 John 3: 18-23 – ¹⁸ Little children, let us love, not in word or speech, but in truth and action. ¹⁹ And by this we will know that we are from the truth and will reassure our hearts before him ²⁰ whenever our hearts condemn us; for God is greater than our hearts, and he knows everything. ²¹ Beloved, if our hearts do not condemn us, we have boldness before God; ²² and we receive from him whatever we ask, because we obey his commandments and do what pleases him.
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.

John 1:12-13 – ¹² But to all who received him, who believed in his name, he gave power to become children of God, ¹³ who were born, not of blood or of the will of the flesh or of the will of man, but of God.

John 3:16-19 – ¹⁶ “For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him may not perish but may have eternal life.
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.

Colossians 3:14 – ¹⁴ Above all, clothe yourselves with love, which binds everything together in perfect harmony.

Colossians 3:14-21 – ¹⁴ Above all, clothe yourselves with love, which binds everything together in perfect harmony. ¹⁵ And let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, to which indeed you were called in the one body. And be thankful. ¹⁶ Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly; teach and admonish one another in all wisdom; and with gratitude in your hearts sing psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs to God. ¹⁷ And whatever you do, in word or deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.
¹⁸ Wives, be subject to your husbands, as is fitting in the Lord. ¹⁹ Husbands, love your wives and never treat them harshly.
²⁰ Children, obey your parents in everything, for this is your acceptable duty in the Lord. ²¹ Fathers, do not provoke your children, or they may lose heart.

1 Peter 4:7-11 – ⁷ The end of all things is near, therefore be serious and discipline yourselves for the sake of your prayers. ⁸ Above all, maintain constant love for one another, for love covers a multitude of sins. ⁹ Be hospitable to one another without complaining. ¹⁰ Like good stewards of the manifold grace of God, serve one another with whatever gift each of you has received. ¹¹ Whoever speaks must do so as one speaking the very words of God; whoever serves must do so with the strength that God supplies, so that God may be glorified in all things through Jesus Christ. To him belong the glory and the power forever and ever. Amen.

From The Didache – Διδαχή – διδαχή (say “DID-ah-key) – The teachings of the Apostles Chapter 1, Parts 1-3

1. There are two Ways, one of Life and one of Death, and there is a great difference between the two Ways.

• The way of life is this:” First, you shalt love the God who made thee, secondly, thy neighbor as thyself; and whatsoever thou wouldst not have done to thyself, do not thou to another.”

• Now, the teaching of these words is this: “Bless those that curse you, and pray for your enemies, and fast for those that persecute you. For what credit is it to you if you love those that love you? Do not even the heathen do the same?” But, for your part, “love those that hate you,” and you will have no enemy.

From our family to yours, we pray that Hope, Peace, Joy, and Love will enrich your lives in Christ Jesus always and all ways at all times in all things with ALL His Best Stuff!

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

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) are from the 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.

2449AFC120624 – Advent Series 2 Year C – ← 😊 PODCAST LINK

“We should have been ready!”

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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Philippians 1:9-11 – ⁹ And this is my prayer, that your love may overflow more and more with knowledge and full insight ¹⁰ to help you to determine what is best, so that in the day of Christ you may be pure and blameless, ¹¹ having produced the harvest of righteousness that comes through Jesus Christ for the glory and praise of God.

Luke 3:3-6 – ³ He [John the Baptizer] went into all the region around the Jordan, proclaiming a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins, ⁴ as it is written in the book of the words of the prophet Isaiah,

“The voice of one crying out in the wilderness:
‘Prepare the way of the Lord,
    make his paths straight.
⁵ Every valley shall be filled,
    and every mountain and hill shall be made low,
and the crooked shall be made straight,
    and the rough ways made smooth;
⁶ and all flesh shall see the salvation of God.’”

Aloha nui loa, ʻŌmea! Grace and peace be multiplied to you in the knowledge of God and of Christ Jesus our Lord. “You should’ve thought of that before we left!” We all remember hearing that as we piled into the car – or bus, or train, or tram, or church, or school (you get the picture). There are some things we just have to take care of before we get to the next thing and – more importantly – the main thing. And when the main thing comes, how often do we say, “I should’ve known … – to bring my boots, to go to the loo, to pack a sweater, get my swimsuit, call my Auntie, tell my sweetheart (spouse, children, pet[s] … ) I love them.” We should have known that yesterday, or tomorrow, or even today – for us, for me, for you – judgment will come. “I shoulda woulda coulda” will be of no help at all. Even “I am, I have, I did, I didn’t” will be ineffectual.

“We never heard that before.”
“How the heck did that happen?
“Why weren’t we told?” (↔ Music Link)

“I must’ve missed the memo.”
“The real problem around here is the lack of communication!”

And the Lord might say, “Yes, my children, I agree. Communication is a problem – it’s a two-way process and there’s a lot of static on your end so that you can’t hear me. I’ve been telling you ‘CONSTANT VIGILANCE,’ yet you’re so busy with  your idols that you don’t have time to watch.”

“But I was in church Sunday.”
“I’ve done my Five First Fridays and Seven First Saturdays.”
“You gotta take it easy on me. I’m having a hard time here, and you’re not helping me.”
“I was watching last week when that creepy vagrant came around looking for a hand out. I sure sent them packing! Too lazy to get a job, eh?”
“I think I heard that once in some homily maybe.”
“Ready for what – the signs clearly given in the Book of Revelation have not all been fulfilled, if we really believe all that stuff anyway, so I’ll wait in my own way and see what happens.”

Does this image seem shocking? Why would  I put something so negative here? Here is a phrase from our Key Verse: that your love may overflow more and more with knowledge and full insight to help you to determine what is best, so that in the day of Christ you may be pure and blameless. And there it is, to determine what is best, to know discernment. (↔ Learning Link) “Well, we know we’re not like them. They don’t even know who Jesus is. (↔ Music Link) This image certainly does not look like “The Pearly Gates,” does it. We know that Jesus talked about Hell often – over 150 times in the New Testament – but too many of us say, “Well, Hell isn’t really a thing, you know, because God is so merciful that Hell is empty (← Check it out!), but it most certainly is not. Now, even though The Catholic Church’s current status on the apparitions in Medjugorje is that it recognizes the spiritual value of the devotion, but does not judge the authenticity of the alleged apparitions, one of the dialogues with the children who were the Witnesses was recorded as: Vicka: “We saw many people in hell. Many are there already, and many more will go there when they die…The Blessed Mother says that those people who are in hell are there because they chose to go there. They wanted to go to Hell.” (← Check it out! Seriously, ← Check it out!)

We see that those people who are going to Hell just aren’t paying attention to what should be easily seen and heard: God is in charge, he is on his Throne, and HIS plan for our Eternity is both final and optional. From the days in Eden to the actual moment we are reading these words, we have been given a choice: get onboard or miss the boat. Remember the last time that happened, the one in the B.I.B.L.E. featuring Noah? (And not that ridiculous cinematic version!) We can choose to gain “more and more knowledge and full insight to help us to determine what is best, so that in the day of Christ we may be pure and blameless,” or we can just ignore everything God has given us to know, to love, to obey, and to trust him. Last week we said there are no excuses. I left out this famous passage so I could put it in this post: Matthew 7:21-23 – Concerning Self-Deception – ²¹ “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. ²² On that day many will say to me, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and cast out demons in your name, and do many deeds of power in your name?’ ²³ Then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you; go away from me, you evildoers.’” Note that the heading to that passage is Concerning Self-Deception. The passage is about self-deception, and self-deception is concerning as in disturbing.

There’s another choice, and the key to it is in our Key Verse from Luke: [John the Baptizer] went into all the region around the Jordan, proclaiming a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins. Here it comes again: Repent and believe the Gospel! “I’m already saved! I was Baptized and confirmed, when to Sunday School, I’ve got a Bible (somewhere), and I was Born Again right after my birthday in 1971! I’ve got nothing to worry about. I AM A CHILD OF HIS Grace!” I am glad you are that certain. May it be so for your eternal abode. It still might be well for us, though, to be the one who does the will of my Father in heaven.

How do we know the will of our father in Heaven, unless we know what he wants by knowing what he has said – like in the first post for this Advent – and by getting ready – acknowledging our sins and repenting, confessing our sins and doing penance, avoiding sin and resisting the desire to be tempted, and seeking and accepting God’s pardon and forgiveness? Dearly Belovéd, we most definitely must work on the second half of Jesus’ admonition –Repent and believe the Gospel! Assuming we are sincerely humble and contrite and can sustain an effective repentance (even if we fail 1,000 times a day, we can still repent 1,001 times!), then we must truly believe the Gospel. There is a Hell, plenty of people are going there, and I don’t want you or me to be among them!

We should have known! We should have been ready! Next week we will see why we say, “It’s Gospel, Adelphos!”

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

“We should have known Better.”

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 33:14-16 – ¹⁴ The days are surely coming, says the Lord, when I will fulfill the promise I made to the house of Israel and the house of Judah. ¹⁵ In those days and at that time I will cause a righteous Branch to spring up for David; and he shall execute justice and righteousness in the land. ¹⁶ In those days Judah will be saved and Jerusalem will live in safety. And this is the name by which it will be called: “The Lord is our righteousness.” (= our Justice)

Psalm 85:7 –
⁷ Show us your steadfast love,[1] O Lord,
    and grant us your salvation. 
 
Psalm 25:1 – ¹ To you, O Lord, I lift my soul. (↔ Music Link)

1 Thessalonians 3:12 – ¹² And may the Lord make you increase and abound in love for one another and for all, just as we abound in love for you

Luke 21:25-36 – The Coming of the Son of Man

²⁵ “There will be signs in the sun, the moon, and the stars, and on the earth distress among nations confused by the roaring of the sea and the waves. ²⁶ People will faint from fear and foreboding of what is coming upon the world, for the powers of the heavens will be shaken. ²⁷ Then they will see ‘the Son of Man coming in a cloud’ with power and great glory. ²⁸ Now when these things begin to take place, stand up and raise your heads, because your redemption is drawing near.”

The Lesson of the Fig Tree

²⁹ Then he told them a parable: “Look at the fig tree and all the trees; ³⁰ as soon as they sprout leaves you can see for yourselves and know that summer is already near. ³¹ So also, when you see these things taking place, you know that the kingdom of God is near. ³² Truly I tell you, this generation will not pass away until all things have taken place. ³³ Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will not pass away

Exhortation to Watch

³⁴ “Be on guard so that your hearts are not weighed down with dissipation and drunkenness and the worries of this life, and that day does not catch you unexpectedly, ³⁵ like a trap. For it will come upon all who live on the face of the whole earth. ³⁶ Be alert at all times, praying that you may have the strength to escape all these things that will take place, and to stand before the Son of Man.”

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. Welcome to Year C of the Liturgy of the Word! This is our “New Year’s Day” so to speak – the first Sunday of the liturgical year which is also the first Sunday of Advent. The Key Verse icons will all be in violet or, as some people call it, purple or lavender.  For the time being, we will stick with looking at the Readings for each Sunday. I am still reviewing the idea of introducing Bible Characters and short biographical insights to their place in Scripture. Let me know if you’d be interested in that, or prefer the insights to the readings, or maybe go for both. Send your suggestions to the email address from which you received this message.

I added in a short passage from the Gospel Key Verses. The Lesson of The Fig Tree is not included in this Sunday’s lectionary passage. I included it because I often wonder why there is a big gap in the chosen readings. Maybe it has something to do with the 60-minute rule: “Mass better not last more than 60 minutes or I’m gonna ….” That’s not counting the folks who take off right after communion. We are asked to give at least 0.6%, yup, less than 1% of the 167 hours of Life God gives us every week. That’s nowhere near to being a traditional tithe (10% off the top!). I’ve mentioned Matthew 12:36-37 a couple of times recently. It is a Prophecy of Jesus that tells us even the small stuff will be reviewed when judgement comes for each of us. Jesus also prophesied that God will quickly grant justice to his chosen ones, then he asks, “And yet, when the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on earth?” (See Luke 18:1-8) If any of us are unsure about the content and context of those passages, please take a moment and look at them now. In a moment we’ll cruise over to Revelation 21:27, so take a moment to grab that one, too, please. Thanks. Now, on to the main topic.

Our Key Verses today speak to us of Love and Justice. In the passage from Jeremiah, God imparts additional information about the Just Branch, which we know the be the shoot from the root of Jesse. (See Isaiah 11:1-9) where we see –
¹ A shoot shall come out from the stump of Jesse,
    and a branch shall grow out of his roots.
² The spirit of the Lord shall rest on him,
    the spirit wisdom and understanding,
    the spirit of counsel and might,
    the spirit of knowledge and the fear of the Lord.

This is the King of kings prophesied to be of the lineage of David. The image conveys the connotation of new growth from old roots. It is a powerful image! The suffering in the Sin of the World will be transformed to Righteousness – Tsidqenu from צדק (tsadaq) – to be righteous. Righteousness in God is harmony, rectitude, entirely upright and decent, honest, loyal – in short – Loving. How do we get to that? We’ve covered that in Romans 13:8, and Galatians 5:14 – ¹⁴ For the whole law is summed up in a single commandment, “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” Justice ≡ Righteousness ≡ Love. We’ve discussed that God has revealed himself as Perfect Integrity, Endless Mercy, Everlasting Love, And Eternal Salvation. Righteousness is Justice Tempered with Mercy because Mercy is Steadfast Love.

We might ask, “Why is God saving Judah and Jerusalem? That is the King’s chosen residence, and Peace will reign there through his governance, for the government shall be upon his shoulders (See Isaiah 9:6) and he will be the Prince of Peace. We must also remember that Justice stands in contrast to injustice. Injustice is failing to love God and neighbor, it is the nullification of Christ’s Law of Love. There is no Integrity, Mercy, Love, or even Salvation in that state of being, the life lived through injustices. I hope you can forgive me for hammering on this next one, but – as the expression goes – it hits the nail on the head because it demonstrates the deep reach of Justice and Righteousness. You see, Mercy tempers Justice, and for Mercy to occur, there must be Judgment. Justice served is what we deserve. Mercy is being served what we do not deserve. All of that to introduce – again – this from Matthew 12:36-37 – ³⁶ “I tell you, on the day of judgment you will have to give an account for every careless word you utter; ³⁷ for by your words you will be justified, and by your words you will be condemned.” But, prepared or not, Emmanuel will come! (↔ Music Link)

That is why this Sunday we pray with the Psalmist Show us your steadfast love, ¹ O Lord, and grant us your salvation. God has created us in Love for Love by Love and through Love. The reason for that is simple: God IS Love. (See 1 John 4:7-21, especially verse 16 ^b) It is also why the subtitle today is “We should have known better.” Belovéd, we have the free and total use of the B.I.B.L.E., and in it is everything we need to know to find Mercy at the time of judgment. And lest we think “Oh, I’m not too worried about that, it’s not imminent.” We should know better. In CCC 1021-1022 we have the following:

1021 Death puts an end to human life as the time open to either accepting or rejecting the divine grace manifested in Christ. ⁵⁹² The New Testament speaks of judgment primarily in its aspect of the final encounter with Christ in his second coming, but also repeatedly affirms that each will be rewarded immediately after death in accordance with his works and faith. The parable of the poor man Lazarus and the words of Christ on the cross to the good thief, as well as other New Testament texts speak of a final destiny of the soul–a destiny which can be different for some and for others. ⁵⁹³  (my emphasis added)

1022 Each man receives his eternal retribution in his immortal soul at the very moment of his death, in a particular judgment that refers his life to Christ: either entrance into the blessedness of heaven-through a purification ⁵⁹⁴ or immediately, ⁵⁹⁵ — or immediate and everlasting damnation. ⁵⁹⁶
At the evening of life, we shall be judged on our love. ⁵⁹⁷

And why is that? Let’s find that verse in Revelation 21:27 – (GNT) ^{1 27} But nothing that is impure will enter the city, nor anyone who does shameful things or tells lies. Only those whose names are written in the Lamb’s book of the living will enter the city. The Love of God is Perfect, and we are told to be like him – perfect, wholly holy. If we want God’s Mercy so that we can live with God eternally (rather than “that other guy”), then we need to be on the page of the Book of Life that says “Clean or nearly Clean.” All our sins must be expiated, and all temporal penance for those sins must be completed before we are allowed to cross that threshold into Rejoicing with the Lord. (↔ Music Link)

That’s another reason why we might say. “We should have known better.” All those involuntary prayers that are abuses of the Name of God – “Oh, my God!” and “God *blank* it!” The “little white lies,” the “I was just joking’” insults, the easily-spoken putdowns, “What an idiot!” and the ugliness we dare to share on the forever-alive social media – ALL of those qualify as our L A C K of Love. I invite you to go back and reread 2426AFC062824 – Winning a spot in the Final Four, and look for the phrase “by the heel.” In that post you will find this warning:

“What happens if one’s lifestyle looks more like a death-style? God will always give us what we need, correct? Sometimes, though, he lets us have a taste of what we want – sours the milk so to speak – in the hope that we will repent and go back to him.”

Every single one of us – believers and nonbelievers – are instructed to “Be alert at all times, praying that you may have the strength to escape all these things that will take place, and to stand before the Son of Man.” Where can we gather such strength? What is a source we can use continuously to live in Love and bear in mind our particular YOLO-F? Why, we all know the answer. It’s in Psalm 121:1-2 – (GNT) [1]
¹ I lift up my eyes to the hills—
    from where will my help come?
² My help comes from the Lord,
    who made heaven and earth.

It is not in the hills or the valleys or the seas or the skies that our Help reposes. It is in God and God alone, the One, the Only, the True God who is and was and will always be Perfect Integrity, Endless Mercy, Everlasting Love, And Eternal Salvation.

Will we, can we, mustn’t we “Be on guard so that your hearts are not weighed down with dissipation and drunkenness and the worries of this life, and that day does not catch you unexpectedly, like a trap. For it will come upon all who live on the face of the whole earth.” ʻŌmea! That day could be today! Maybe not for everyone in the whole World, but maybe for someone somewhere in their own World. If that someone is me or you or a friend or a loved one – JUDGMENT IS IMMINENT, NOT “LATER, MAYBE.” We might ask, “why would God make it thus? Here ya go. Another reason “We should have known better.”

Isaiah 45: 21-25 –
²¹ Declare and present your case;
    let them take counsel together!
Who told this long ago?
    Who declared it of old?
Was it not I, the Lord?
    There is no other god besides me,
a righteous God and a Savior;
    there is no one besides me.
²² Turn to me and be saved,
    all the ends of the earth!
    For I am God, and there is no other.
²³ By myself I have sworn,
    from my mouth has gone forth in righteousness
    a word that shall not return:
“To me every knee shall bow,
    every tongue shall swear.”
²⁴ Only in the Lord, it shall be said of me,
    are righteousness and strength;
all who were incensed against him
    shall come to him and be ashamed.
²⁵ In the Lord all the offspring of Israel
    shall triumph and glory.

Belovéd, we really do know there are no acceptable excuses, and no amount of self-justification will make a difference in the outcome. It is our thoughts, words, and deeds that condemn us, and it is God’s judgment in The Law that convicts us as guilty. Only in Christ will we find the Mercy to deliver us from a downward journey at the moment of death.

Next week we will reflect on the Messenger who came to prepare the way of the Lord, and ask if we are prepared to walk in his way.

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

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) are from the 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. n

[1] [steadfast love = Lovingkindness, mercy, God as compassionate and faithful, loyalty, faithfulness, goodness]

2445AFC110824 – Is it enough yet? ← 😊 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.

Mark 12:41-44 – ⁴¹ He sat down opposite the treasury, and watched the crowd putting money into the treasury. Many rich people put in large sums. ⁴² A poor widow came and put in two small copper coins, which are worth a penny. ⁴³ Then he called his disciples and said to them, “Truly I tell you, this poor widow has put in more than all those who are contributing to the treasury. ⁴⁴ For all of them have contributed out of their abundance; but she out of her poverty has put in everything she had, all she had to live on.”

 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. I sincerely hope for the best for all of you who take the time to read this – and that goes for the folks who will not read this – because our prayer for hope is for all of our God’s creation. This past 10 days, many of us have been concentrating on a certain numeric value – 270 – the number of Electoral College votes it takes to secure success for the Office of the POTUS. As it turns out, apparently that number has been reached, and exceeded by, only one of the candidates in our 2024 election. With that in mind, I ask that all of us recall this passage from The Apostle Paul’s letter to the Romans:

Romans 13:1-7 – ¹ Let every person be subject to the governing authorities; for there is no authority except from God, and those authorities that exist have been instituted by God. ² Therefore whoever resists authority resists what God has appointed, and those who resist will incur judgment. ³ For rulers are not a terror to good conduct, but to bad. Do you wish to have no fear of the authority? Then do what is good, and you will receive its approval; ⁴ for it is God’s servant for your good. But if you do what is wrong, you should be afraid, for the authority does not bear the sword in vain! It is the servant of God to execute wrath on the wrongdoer. ⁵ Therefore one must be subject, not only because of wrath but also because of conscience. ⁶ For the same reason you also pay taxes, for the authorities are God’s servants, busy with this very thing. ⁷ Pay to all what is due them—taxes to whom taxes are due, revenue to whom revenue is due, respect to whom respect is due, honor to whom honor is due.

It’s going to be difficult for some of us, impossible for a few more, but it is crucial that none of us take up the stance of defiance and state, “THIS SHALL NOT BE!!” Many surprising things will occur in the next 90 days, and in all of them, whatever may happen, we must carefully reflect on the history we are making and prayerfully seek the Word and Will of God in what we see, hear, and feel. Satan will be working harder than ever to sow division. Remember to believe and to live as “one nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.” Whatever comes of this, I reiterate, America will get what we deserve. That will be enough for us.

In our first Key Verse this morning (there will be more later on), we can envision the Disciples experiencing another of those “OH, WOW!!” moments. Jesus is sitting opposite the place where the people put their gifts for the care and upkeep of the Temple. Several bigwigs come by and make a show of their “deep and great sacrifice” by dropping a load of cash in the box, and then taking a bow for their “obvious generosity.” Then Jesus sees a poor widow and her young son come up the line. We can imagine her destitution and shame as she, a widow, and her son, an orphan, give what she can for the Temple. It is a couple of tiny coins called mites or lepton (plural: lepta) , shown below. The name means “thin.” They were small brass, copper, or bronze coins. We’ve mentioned the denarius (← Check it out!) – the equivalent of a day’s wages – and it would take more than 100 lepta to make one denarius.

The hotshots who were tossing in the big bucks probably considered her offering to be as despicable and lowly as her and her son, persons with little or no rights or standing in society. Yet, Jesus saw her sacrifice as the best, the greatest, the most important of all. She gave everything she had. Stop for a moment and think about Jesus and Joseph. His Mother, Mary, was a widow. To earthly eyes and laws, Jesus was like an orphan – a person who has lost one or both parents due to death, illness, or inability to provide for a child. How his heart must have ached for this poor widow! Recall also his interaction with “the Widow of Nain.” (↔ Click Link) The widow at the treasury box gave a pittance, not enough to feed the two of them for even a single meal, but it was everything to her to give it. Many times on those talent shows on TV, contestants will be asked, “What would it mean to you to win this?” The response is often, “It would mean the world to me!” Even the World would not be enough if given by this impoverished widow and her son!

We have better than, and more than, the World to give. We have lives that are blessed, the love of family and friends, security and comfort in most cases, and we are expected to give what we can for the sake of the Body of Christ, for helping with the Salvation of the World, and for our Peace and assurance of Heaven. How much of that is enough? Lets recall the story we recently reviewed about the rich young man.

In both of these accounts from scripture we see people who are considered to be essentially worthless. First a Widow and a child, neither of whom has any rights or standing in the community. And again, in Mark and Luke, a widow living in extreme poverty and judged by others to be sinful and unworthy. Jesus and Elijah don’t see it that way. They see persons who honor God by giving all that they have and trusting that God will receive it. In the eyes of others around them, the gift is too small. For these wonderful women, the gift is everything they have. It calls to mind the words Jesus spoke to “The Rich Young Ruler:” Go and sell everything you have and give it to the poor. Then come, follow me. Use these links to see that story:

Is that really what we need to do? Do we really need to give everything away? Well, we certainly can work harder at trusting that God will provide all we need as did Abraham, Elijah, David, Jesus, and these two widows. Do you know anyone who faithfully lives by Divine Providence? I do. His name is Brendan Case, and he is a Catholic Lay Missionary. Everything he has – home, family, children, mission, support, ministry – all of it traces directly back to God. His only work is to spread the Good News. With that he supports his family and still gives relentlessly of his considerable spiritual gifts and is also very generous with his temporal gifts – Time, Talent, and Treasure. You might say (as I would), “I can’t live like that.” We’re probably right.

Many times in these essays I’ve written about “My Old Friend Abraham.” Most of us could never do the things Abraham did. Why? Because that is not our gift. Abram was a righteous man to whom God elected to reveal himself as El Shaddai – Almighty God. (See Genesis 17) Abram believed what God told him, and for his faith in God, El Shaddai made him Abraham the Father of Many Nations – and the founder of our faith in God. Abraham was prepared by God to do great things. We are all prepared by God to do some things. When we do part of those “some things” for ourselves, we are not giving all that God has given us. Every good and perfect gift comes from above (See James 1:17), so everything we have that is good comes from God. Everything we have that is not good does not. We should never try to give God the things that did not come from him; however, we can ask him to take them and make them Good. That is what God does. He takes stuff that’s not-so-good and makes it wonderful.

That’s what he did to the widow in Zarephath and her son. He did that for the widow at the Temple Treasury – she will be remembered forever because of her unstinting generosity born of bottomless faith. Yes, El Shaddai, God Almighty, takes stuff and situations that are not-so-good, and from them brings Good into our lives. Through Jesus’ gift of Everlasting Life in him, El Shaddai also takes people who are not-so-good and turns their lives into blessings. That kind of thing is the only kind of thing that deserves the ill-used adjective AWESOME.

God is AWESOME. Skateboards are not. Salvation is AWESOME. Tee-shirts are not. Jesus is AWESOME, but, despite popular opinion, football is not. God is awesome because he gives us everything we need to recognize and enjoy his Awesomeness. What God commands becomes reality for those who serve him – especially when his command comes as the answer to our prayer, like when we take our not-so-good stuff and give it to him so he can make it all better. Even the smallest of your gifts are good gifts if they come from God and you place them at his disposal. And if you can be faithful in returning to him the small or not-so-good stuff, God will see to it that you have plenty of the truly amazing stuff to pass around. After all, he is the Source of everything you have to live on – and for. All that you have ever had or been – now, before, or later – comes from God. It is given to you, not bought by you. Honor the Giver by accepting the Gift and then share it like crazy! That is one of THE best ways to Praise the Lord! (↔ Music Link)

This is how the Psalmist praises the magnanimity of God:

Psalm 146:3-4, 9 –
³ Do not put your trust in princes,
    in mortals, in whom there is no help.
⁴ When their breath departs, they return to the earth;
    on that very day their plans perish.

⁹ The Lord watches over the strangers;
    he upholds the orphan and the widow,
    but the way of the wicked he brings to ruin.

In this passage, the word for “strangers” is the same as for “sojourners,” resident aliens in Israel. In the Laws of Israel, sojourners received certain benefits and rights such as gleanings from fields and vineyards, fair and equal treatment, to be loved as if they were fellow Israelites. they could participate in Israeli politics, sacrifices, and develop proficiency in Hebrew if that was not their native language. They were expected to live in accordance with the laws for unintentional sins. They could become citizens of Israel after three years, but they had to demonstrate their proficiency in Hebrew and renounce their allegiance to their previous nationality. Assimilation and cultural acclimation was a requirement. That was enough then; in our day and age, we question whether these rights and responsibilities are applicable here in America.

Let us also compare the accounts of the rich young man and the orphan, Jesus. The rich young man went away sad “because he had many possessions,” but he could not relinquish those for the possession of The Kingdom of God. His idol – wealth – stood in his way. Jesus had no possessions other than his Divinity and Humanity, yet he resolutely and willingly  walked to his death in Jerusalem to give everything he had to God, his Father, for us. Unlike the young man who turned himself away, Jesus went forward and gave God all he had left in this World: His LIFE. Here we want to look at what we will hear from The Apostle Paul this weekend:

Hebrews 9:27-28 – ²⁷ And just as it is appointed for mortals to die once, and after that the judgment, ²⁸ so Christ, having been offered once to bear the sins of many, will appear a second time, not to deal with sin, but to save those who are eagerly waiting for him. Is that enough yet? It’s time for us to ask ourselves a couple of important questions:

First, what idol(s) have I placed between myself and God that prevent me from fullest communion with and obedience to Our Father in Heaven? Here are a few: Sports. Money. Prestige. Spouses and/or children and/or siblings and/or parents. Politics. Ignorance of Scripture (which is ignorance of God). Hypocrites – why do we so easily allow our prejudice against those whom we perceive to be “less than” us in worship, status, or nature to get between us and God? Ought we not pray for, and assist in, their conversion? Jesus the Christ of God died once for all, so “Many are called, but few are chosen.” (See Matthew 22:14) If we know someone who has not heard the call, or chose to ignore the call, our job as Priest, Prophet, and King is to continue to give our all for the Call. Is it enough yet?

How can, how should, how completely must I give all that I am? 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). Is it enough yet? No, Belovéd, it never will, never can be; thanks be to God, our Jesus supplies whatever is missing to it is lacking, yet enough in God’s eyes. Praise the Lord, my soul! I am and have little! Yet, it is enough!

For additional insights please check – 1546AFC110615 – Given, 2041AFC100920 – The Few and the Many, 2042AFC101620 – Chosen for greatness

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

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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

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