Acts of the Apostles for 3rd Sunday of Easter, 5 May 2019

Acts 9:1-20        Saul,  still breathing threats and murder against the disciples of the  Lord, went to the high priest and asked him for letters to the synagogues at Damascus, so that if he found any who belonged to the Way, men or women, he might bring them bound to Jerusalem. Now as he was going along and approaching Damascus, suddenly a light from heaven flashed around him. He fell to the ground and heard a voice saying to him, "Saul, Saul, why do you persecute me?" He asked, "Who are you, Lord?" The reply came, "I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting. But get up and enter the city, and you will be told what you are to do.”

The men who were traveling with him stood speechless because they heard the voice but saw no one. Saul got up from the ground, and though his eyes were open, he could see nothing; so they led him by the hand and brought him into Damascus. For three days he was without sight, and neither ate nor drank.

Now there was a disciple in Damascus named Ananias. The Lord said to him in a vision, "Ananias." He answered, "Here I am, Lord." The Lord said to him, "Get up and go to the street called Straight, and at the house of Judas look for a man of Tarsus named Saul. At this moment he is praying, and he has seen in a vision a man named Ananias come in and lay his hands on him so that he might regain his sight." But Ananias answered, "Lord, I have heard from many about this man, how much evil he has done to your saints in Jerusalem; and here he has authority from the chief priests to bind all who invoke your name." But the Lord said to him, "Go, for he is an instrument whom I have chosen to bring my name before Gentiles and kings and before the people of Israel; I myself will show him how much he must suffer for the sake of my name." So Ananias went and entered the house. He laid his hands on Saul and said, "Brother Saul, the Lord Jesus, who appeared to you on your way here, has sent me so that you may regain your sight and be filled with the Holy Spirit." And immediately something like scales fell from his eyes, and his sight was restored. Then he got up and was baptized, and after taking some food, he regained his strength.

For several days he was with the disciples in Damascus, and immediately he began to proclaim Jesus in the synagogues, saying, "He is the Son of God.”

Reflection       Several “I found God… or God found me” cards could be written from this scripture in the Acts of the Apostles.  Saul might write, “I was going about state business, on my way to Damascus to round up annoying subversives who are following the Way of that agitator Jesus when out of nowhere the most bizarre thing happened. It was like a flash of light, it blinded me. I fell to the ground and heard a voice, "Saul, Saul, why do you persecute me?" When I asked, "Who are you, Lord?”I heard, ”I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting. But get up and enter the city, and you will be told what you are to do.” My life has never been the same.” 

Then we turn over Ananais’ God card and read, “God called to me in a vision and I answered, “Here I am,” then God instructed me to go to that evil-doer Saul of Tarsus who has been beating and binding, even killing good people who follow The Way of Jesus. It was really hard for me to go. I was afraid and did not want to have anything to do with that tyrant, but, I decided to put my faith in God and felt surprisingly strengthened and encouraged, so I went, laid my hands on Saul, who had been struck blind. His sight was restored and he was filled with the Holy Spirit. Amazing. I never would have imagined that evil Saul would turn away from murdering our people and receive baptism into the family of God.” 

Saul starts out as a faithless man whose actions are taking him further and further away from God, ”breathing threats and murder against the followers of The Way.”  And so God dramatically breaks into Saul’s rabid consciousness by striking him down, overwhelming him and rendering him helpless, like lightening striking a tall pine tree.

By contrast, Ananais, a disciple of Jesus whose actions draw him ever closer to God,  has a vision, a quiet, interior experience in which he is called by God. Ananias hears his name and responds, “Here I am Lord” and proceeds, not without trepidation, to act in accord with God’s instruction. With Ananias the Spirit of God enters his consciousness gently, like a droplet of water dropped falling onto a sponge.

St. Ignatius of Loyola, founder of the Society of Jesus whose Spiritual Exercises are the heart of Jesuit spirituality, encourages us to find God in all things and  teaches the discernment of spirits to help us understand the way the Spirit of God moves within us. For a person who is moving further and further away from God, the  Good Spirt of God breaks in either by stingng our conscience with pangs of guilt and waves of anxiety or dramatically upsetting our consciousness. The latter is what happens with Saul who has been going from bad to worse, persecuting God and followers of God. 

For people like Ananias who earnestly seek to be in right relationship with God and other people, the Spirit of God operates in the opposite fashion; by subtly giving insight, courage, strength to act on behalf of God for the good of others.  

Back to our story. As soon as Saul stops “breathing threats and murder” against God, the Spirit of God proceeds more gently through Ananais’ healing touch, restoring Saul’s sight and then baptizing him. Saul  is filled with the Holy Spirit. Once Saul turns toward God, he experiences God’s presence more like water dropped onto a sponge than lightening striking a tree.  

Most of us, most of the time, are oriented toward God, which means, the Spirit of God will arise in our consciousness in subtle, nuanced ways. Only rarely do we experience lightening bolts, unless of course, we are not paying attention or we are wandering away from God. 

How have you experienced the Spirit of God moving in your life? Gently? Overwhelmingly? 

If you found this post to be meaningful, please share by clicking on icons below. Thank you. 

Gospel text for Sunday 10 December 2017

Mark 1:1-8        The beginning of the  good news of Jesus the Christ, the Son of God.

As it is written in the prophet Isaiah,

“See, I am sending my messenger ahead of you,

who will prepare your way;

the voice of one crying out in the wilderness:

‘Prepare the way of the Lord,

make his paths straight,’”

John the baptizer appeared in the wilderness, proclaiming a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins. And people from the whole Judean countryside and all the people of Jerusalem were going out to him, and were baptized by him in the river Jordan, confessing their sins. Now John was clothed with camel’s hair, with a leather belt around his waist, and he ate locusts and wild honey. He proclaimed, “The one who is more powerful than I is coming after me; I am not worthy to stoop down and untie the thong of his sandals. I have baptized you with water; but he will baptize you with the Holy Spirit.”

Reflection        Isaiah is not sending us out with axes and saws, root loopers and clippers, hazel hoes and rock bars to blaze a trail through the wilderness, to “Prepare the way of the Lord.” Isaiah is inviting us to see and be a new way in the wilderness. For the most part our human way, our path through the wilderness of life, is fraught with obstacles. Whether they are fallen timber or emotional memories, mountains or inherited facts of our mental, physical or emotional condition, at every turn and junction we have a choice. Are we going to direct our time and attention to our struggle with the obstacle and consequently get lost in a sea of distractions?  or, are we going to turn ourselves around and pay attention to life as it envelops us, smell the roses even when faced with seemingly insurmountable obstacles? 

What if instead of seeing fallen trees or sordid family history or a series of bad breaks as getting in our way or keeping us from arriving at our joy, what if we saw our obstacles as that which prevents us from welcoming the Spirit of God that is already with us? When we return our attention to God, which is what John the Baptizer means when he “proclaims a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sin,” we are essentially making straight the path or the way between us and God. 

When John the Baptizer says, “Repent,” he is not saying beat yourself up for your shameful deeds. John calls for a change of mind… “the change of mind of those who have begun to abhor their errors and misdeeds, and have determined to enter upon a better course of life, so that it embraces… a recognition of sin, sorrow for it and hearty amendment…” (Strong’s G3341) When we repent we admit we are focused on or entrapped by our obstacles and then choose to turn instead toward God, not only by changing our mind but also by changing our behavior. 

And when John speaks of sin he is talking about the ways we allow ourselves to live without a share in God, missing the mark, being mistaken. (Strong’s G266) This is cheating ourselves out of the experience of God with us. The remedy for sin is not shame or self loathing. It is changing our minds and deciding to live with our share of God. This is the good news that we hear when Second Isaiah speaks on behalf of God to our Israelite ancestors who have been suffering in the wilderness and believe God has abandoned them. “Comfort, O comfort my people.” Our comfort comes when we change our minds, when we lean against our obstacles and decide that life is better when we pay attention to what is good and true and always with us. Life is better when we turn toward God. 

If you found this post to be meaningful please share by clicking on the icons below. Thank you. 

Gospel text for Sunday 4 May 2014

Luke 24:13-35        On the first day of the week, two of Jesus' followers were going to a village called Emmaus, about seven miles from Jerusalem, and talking with each other about all these things that had happened. While they were talking and discussing, Jesus himself came near and went with them, but their eyes were kept from recognizing him. And he said to them, "What are you discussing with each other while you walk along?" They stood still, looking sad. Then one of them, whose name was Cleopas, answered him, "Are you the only stranger in Jerusalem who does not know the things that have taken place there in these days?" He asked them, "What things?" They replied, "The things about Jesus of Nazareth, who was a prophet mighty in deed and word before God and all the people, and how our chief priests and leaders handed him over to be condemned to death and crucified him. But we had hoped that he was the one to redeem Israel. Yes, and besides all this, it is now the third day since these things took place. Moreover, some women of our group astounded us. They were at the tomb early this morning, and when they did not find his body there, they came back and told us that they had indeed seen a vision of angels who said that he was alive. Some of those who were with us went to the tomb and found it just as the women had said; but they did not see him." Then he said to them, "Oh, how foolish you are, and how slow of heart to believe all that the prophets have declared! Was it not necessary that the Messiah should suffer these things and then enter into his glory?" Then beginning with Moses and all the prophets, he interpreted to them the things about himself in all the scriptures. As they came near the village to which they were going, he walked ahead as if he were going on. But they urged him strongly, saying, "Stay with us, because it is almost evening and the day is now nearly over." So he went in to stay with them. When he was at the table with them, he took bread, blessed and broke it, and gave it to them. Then their eyes were opened, and they recognized him; and he vanished from their sight. They said to each other, "Were not our hearts burning within us while he was talking to us on the road, while he was opening the scriptures to us?" That same hour they got up and returned to Jerusalem; and they found the eleven and their companions gathered together. They were saying, "The Lord has risen indeed, and he has appeared to Simon!" Then they told what had happened on the road, and how he had been made known to them in the breaking of the bread.  m

Reflection         Have you ever been so distressed, disturbed or dismayed that you could not stop the tape from playing over and over and over in your mind? Have you ever heard yourself telling your story over and over again and leaving no room for anything new?   I certainly have. Surely this must have been Cleopas and the other disciple’s experience. Their minds must have been so filled with flashbacks and their emotions so stunned with the sights and sounds and smells of the past three days that there was no room for Jesus to arise in their consciousness. 

Indeed, all the words in the world, even ‘the stranger’s” full account of God’s story, “beginning with Moses and all the prophets…” and interpreting for the disciples, “the things about himself in all the scriptures,” all the words were not sufficient to break into Cleopas and the other disciples’ bristling state of consciousness. 

However, “When the stranger was at the table with them, he took bread, blessed and broke it, and gave it to them. Then their eyes were opened, and they recognized him (Jesus); and he vanished from their sight.” The veil between ordinary and an altered state of extraordinary consciousness was torn. The two disciples experienced a dimension of reality in which Jesus was present in spirit. That experience opened their hearts and their minds. They remembered, "Were not our hearts burning within us while he was talking to us on the road, while he was opening the scriptures to us?" And their lives were forever changed.

Cleopas and the other disciple turned in their tracks. They returned to Jerusalem, found their friends and they told them, “what had happened on the road, and how (Jesus) had been made known to them in the breaking of the bread.” Ordinary bread; taken, blessed, broken and given away, a sacred symbol pointing beyond itself to an “inward and spiritual” dimension of reality. An ordinary loaf of bread given to gladden the disciples’ hunger for divine relationship.

We do this on the first day of every week; come together with our friends, listen to the words of Holy Scripture interpreted and then share an ordinary meal of bread and wine. This ordinary meal opens the eyes of our hearts and unclogs the furrows of our minds to experience the extraordinary presence of the One who instructs us to remember, “This is my body, given for you. Do this in remembrance of me.”   Amen

If you found this post to be meaningful, please share it with your friends by clicking on the icons below. Thank you.