Increase MY Faith

October 2, 2022 - 24^th  Sunday in Ordinary Time

Luke 17: 5-10

 

O’ Lord, never shall I forget the day of my rebirth, when I was reeled back into Your embrace. 

It came to me like a bolt of lightning, shattering the silence and in midst of a raging storm.

 

Lord, You remember that moment and that righteous vessel You used to soften my cold heart?

A heart that abandoned You and that was wandering aimlessly in the empty wilderness.

Praise to the Light of Salvation!

 

O’ Lord, You knew perfectly when to topple that bulwark of pride I had built and hid behind.

Lord, You are the epitome of perfect love and patience, watching and waiting to advance.

 

In Your wisdom, You allowed me to roam and drift like the wreckage of a broken ship.

Unaware of my destination and the magnificent beach I would soon wash up on.

Glory to the Captain of my soul!

 

Before this Lord, I did not need You and foolishly placed my trust in only mankind.

I was the captain of my ship and had forgotten You, my destiny was apart from You.

 

Lord, Do you remember when I wore my arrogance like a badge of courage?  

And behind the mask, I could still hear You whispering to me to return and believe.

Blessed be JHVH!

 

O’ Lord, how well You remember when those walls of self-righteousness tumbled down.

In that moment and as I lay exhausted beneath the rubble, You took it all from me.

 

How I clearly recall being cleansed of the entitlement and false pride I had amassed.

The mask had been torn from my face and I saw with new eyes and a new faith.

All honor the Lord of Creation!

 

Today, Adonai my prayer continues from the day of my rebirth, “Increase my faith, Lord.”

And Lord, “Do with me now and You wish and as You desire only!”

           

The Pilgrim.

 

 

 

 

The completeness of the Old and New Testaments

Many times, while reading Scriptures, a line or a phrase seems to stand out from everything else. I see this as a call to contemplate Scripture more deeply. This is not my own invention, it is closely related to the practice of Lectio Divina. While reading this Sunday's Gospel, I find myself dwelling on Abraham's response to the rich man's request to send Lazarus to his brothers in order to warn them.

'If they will not listen to Moses and the prophets, neither will they be persuaded if someone should rise from the dead.'

Jesus was addressing this parable to the pharisees, but clearly He was talking about His own resurrection, and perhaps warning them about their response to it. I believe, however that there is a deeper message in this for us today; that is about the profound relationship between the Old Testament and Christ's mission as revealed in the New Testament. Too often we seem discount the Old Testament as having been "replaced" by the New. Or perhaps the Old Testament is regarded as irrelevant because of the New Testament. Jesus tells us clearly that he did not come to abolish but to fulfill.

Perhaps, if we desire to more fully understand Jesus and His gift of Salvation for us, it would be a beneficial exercise to examine that which He is fulfilling more closely.

+ Theophilus

 

LIVING IN MUTUAL SUSPICION

One of the temptations I often fall into that sometimes makes me wind up feeling like I fell into a trap is giving someone the benefit of the doubt.  I like to take the position that people are always telling me the truth.  That often works out just fine.  I still hold to the truth that every person is made in the image and likeness of God, and so there is goodness in every person.  Once in a while, this position comes back to bite me.  The person or person whom I thought were genuine turned out to have an ulterior motive and weren’t being honest with me.  When that happens, I am left feeling like a doormat. And perhaps that’s why so many of us take the position of not giving others the benefit of the doubt, but rather living in mutual suspicion of one another.  We want to avoid the situation of feeling walked all over.  We would rather not risk being taken for, and so we decide to not see the goodness in others.  We choose to not see others made in the image and likeness of God.  We choose to see others are persons ready to take advantage of us.

Recently my wife has been applying for jobs as she searches for new employment.  She shared with me that often the applications are accompanied with a self-assessment that asks questions about work ethic.  The questions seem to assume that the applicant is dishonest, at least to some degree.  An example of a question would be something like this, ‘Which of the following statements do you at least somewhat agree with?  It is okay to use my employers supplies for personal use.  It is okay to use sick time to take a day at the beach.’  This line of questioning is assuming that the prospective employee is at least dishonest in some way.  And there is that mutual suspicion of one another.

Jesus is not naïve.  He recognizes the faults we have.  He talks this Sunday about those who are dishonest even in the small things, “The person who is trustworthy in very small matters
is also trustworthy in great ones; and the person who is dishonest in very small matters
is also dishonest in great ones.’  However, he saw each person as having potential for great goodness.  He believed this so much that he didn’t condemn us for our sins, but with great mercy, took on our sins.

And so, where does this leave us?  We can play it safe and live in that mutual suspicion of one another, or we can live in mutual respect of one another.  In order to do that, we would probably have to look at our own lives first.  Am I honest in all things?  In those moments when I slip into my own egoism, do I look to change myself or do I simply want to blame others?  Do I sometimes or too often see others as a doormat to getting to where I want to go?

The ultimate choice with dealing with my brothers and sisters is do I deal with them with mutual suspicion or do I deal with them with mutual respect.  The choice is ours.  This choice can change the world.

The Servant

 

Renewed and Celebrated.

     In this weeks Gospel  Luke Jesus is sitting with sinners and  tax collectors while the Pharisees and scribes  look and say “This man receives sinners and eats with them. While sitting there,  Jesus tells 3 parables.  Parables that you may have heard already.  The first one was the parable of the lost sheep.  In this parable a man with one hundred sheep loses one. Instead of focusing on the 99 sheep that he still has, he focused on finding  the lost one. Who would do any different?  When you found your sheep would you celebrate? Jesus says there will be more  joy in heaven for a sinner that repents  then for a righteous person with no need to repent.  Then he goes on to tell another parable. This one  is about a woman that loses a coin.  She searches until she finds it.  When she finds it she also rejoices and tells her neighbors that she has found the coin that was once lost. In the last a parable Jesus talks about father and his 2 sons.  The younger of the two  sons requests that he get his inheritance early. His Father listens and does give him his inheritance. Ultimately, the son squanders  all of the money and has to return home. He returns home  defeated  by life and his reckless living. He tells his father  what he has done and instead of being disappointed the father celebrates the return of his son.  He celebrates that his son was lost  but now he was found. 

    Each one  of these parables deals with the  loss of something which in the end is found.   I’m not sure if you have ever  had the experience of losing something valuable and finding it again. It’s almost as if you were given a new gift.   Many years ago my mother gifted gold necklaces to each of her sons.  We wore them proudly because she had given them to us as a way for us to always keep her close.  It was something special that my  2 brothers and I shared. 

    Occasionally, I run 5k’s or half marathons  as way to stay in shape. One  cold winter morning just before a 5k  in Washington Heights,  I realized that I was wearing my necklace, and decided that I didn’t want to run with it.  At the end of the race I rushed back to my car and sped home to shower , change my clothes and get warm again.  After my shower  I realized that I wasn’t wearing  my  necklace and had forgotten what I had done with it.  Maybe it was the pre race jitters but I sort of misplaced it. Not sure  why, but I assumed I’d find it in a day or two and let it go.  As the days went by without my necklace I began to  slowly lose hope.  “My necklace was gone forever” I began to think.  Maybe I dropped it during the run. Maybe it fell  in  Washington Heights and it was just gone. What’s was I gonna tell my mother!?  How could I have been so careless?  Well, months passed before I found my necklace in the placed behind the passenger seat of my car. When I found it...it felt like a  brand new  necklace.   It was like I never lost it. It was with me again. 

    When Jesus told  the parables of the prodigal son, lost coin and the lost sheep he demonstrated that finding  something that was once lost is like being given  a new gift.  It’s almost better than what you had before.  It’s almost as if value increases when it what was lost  is recovered.  Being lost  and then found has a value.  That’s what God does. He can  add value where you see a loss.   In life, you will suffer and you will faces losses.  I have grown to understand that suffering is very much a part of being alive. Today I ask you, have you ever felt lost?   Have you ever felt misplaced, or out of place? Have you ever felt as if you are out of step with life ?  I’d like to say most of us  can relate to that feeling.  What’s important though is realizing that we will all have those moments and all we need to do is recognize that God is on our side guiding us. Guiding us back to his love.   We can be renewed in that exact moment we realize  that the lord is always with us. We can become brand new in his eyes and ours.  It doesn’t matter how  many times you have stumbled. The lord is will always be there to pick you up and dust you off.    Renewed and celebrated each and every time.  Renewed in the eyes of the lord.  So many of us think that we “fail” when we don’t live up to the standards that we hold ourselves to. Just like the prodigal son who returns we are ashamed. We are disappointed in ourselves , but  the lord has open arms and welcomes us back.  The value we place on ourselves has nothing to do with the value that the lord places on us. Remember that you are no different then a lost coin, sheep or gold necklace. When you return to the lord you are brand new. You  are actually better now that you have been found.