Sections The Daily B.R.E.A.D. Mar 23, 2010 - Tuesday Meditation (Sow A Seed in Someone's Life)
| Mar 23, 2010 - Tuesday Meditation (Sow A Seed in Someone's Life) |
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| Sections - The Daily B.R.E.A.D. | |||
| Written by Bobot Apit | |||
| Monday, 22 March 2010 03:52 | |||
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R emember, as a believer, you are the hands and feet of Jesus in this earth. Look for ways to serve one another. Sow a seed and watch the harvest of blessing in your own life in return!
Tuesday in the Fifth Week of Lent Numbers 21:4-9 Psalm 102:2-3, 16-18, 19-21
J ohn 8:21-30 Again he said to them, "I go away, and you will seek me and die in your sin; where I am going, you cannot come." (22) Then said the Jews, "Will he kill himself, since he says, `Where I am going, you cannot come'?" (23) He said to them, "You are from below, I am from above; you are of this world, I am not of this world. (24) I told you that you would die in your sins, for you will die in your sins unless you believe that I am he." (25) They said to him, "Who are you?" Jesus said to them, "Even what I have told you from the beginning. (26) I have much to say about you and much to judge; but he who sent me is true, and I declare to the world what I have heard from him." (27) They did not understand that he spoke to them of the Father. (28) So Jesus said, "When you have lifted up the Son of man, then you will know that I am he, and that I do nothing on my own authority but speak thus as the Father taught me. (29) And he who sent me is with me; he has not left me alone, for I always do what is pleasing to him." (30) As he spoke thus, many believed in him.
Meditation by Cathy Weiss Pedersen
O ur long hard winter in the Midwest has been interminable with the extreme cold and seemingly unending snow and grey days. However, in the face of the suffering of the people in Haiti , our woes are minor. Yet, it was very easy to become depressed and feel as if this winter would never end. And so, it is no problem relating to the the cry of the Israelites in today’s readings. The Israelites are tired, hungry, thirsty and giving up hope as they continue in their journey from Egypt. They were fed up with their situation and complained against Moses and God. And things only got worse! Yet, God WAS there, in their midst, but it was only when the Israelites turned back to God that they could know God’s presence.
How often, it is so easy to lapse into hopelessness in difficult situations, and look for someone or something to blame for our misery. Why does someone dear to us have to suffer from ongoing illness? How can one make a living in such a struggling economy? When will there be signs of hope in our lives?
In the book, The Shack by William Young, the main character, Mack, is in despair over a family tragedy. In the story, Mack, reluctantly returns to the scene of the death. It is there that he meets God.
Where do we/I meet God? Is it in the wonderful warmth of the sunlight that promises Spring? Or in the lifting of the cloud of illness? Or in the good fortune of a job offer?
Or in the comfort of friends and family? What about in our desolate days of struggle and hardship? Is it possible that God is also with us when life isn’t going ‘our way’?
Today’s psalmist cries out, “ ...let my cry of help come to you; ...when I call, be quick to answer me!” Often, it is in our misery that we DO seek God, but perhaps more to answer our pleas in OUR way. Perhaps, Mack’s encounter with God teaches us something...that God is already here, in our midst! It is we who need to ‘turn to God’ in the moment, to know that we are loved in the NOW, in and through whatever life offers to us. And it is God who will show us the way to make it through our difficulties, even if we are unable to overcome such difficulties.
Jesus struggles with the people of his time in today’s Gospel...telling them that where he goes, they can not follow unless they believe that Jesus is ‘I Am’ . . .
Many are confused by his statements, yet others ‘get it’. They get a glimpse of what the real message is.... Jesus’ life was to help us know that WE are loved and that God IS with us, regardless of what we are experiencing in the NOW.
How simple, yet how difficult to grasp such a direct invitation to open ourselves to the GOD within and around us!
It is really about opening to the sacrament of the moment...to ‘make holy’ in the NOW. Just as Moses and Jesus were able to be/live God’s presence to and with the people of their day, we are each called to BE God’s presence in the lives of those we encounter in our lives, as well as to allow others to BE God’s presence to us in our NOW.
As these weeks of Lent continue, my prayer is that I/we find the moments/spaces to turn to the GOD who loves us, opening to the life and love that is ours, if only we are willing to ‘tune in’ and allow God’s love to be with us regardless of what happens.
Supplementary Reading One Another
Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ God forgave you ---Ephesians 4:32
In this day and age, it's easy to become distracted, almost consumed with all the obligations we have on a daily basis. Cell phones, computers, the internet have all made it so much easier to pack more into our days. And while technology is a great blessing to us, we have to remember that how much we get done isn't as important as how we treat others. We should never be so focused on plowing through our "to do" list that we mistakenly plow past the people in our lives.
I love this verse in Ephesians that simply reminds us to be kind, to be compassionate, to be forgiving. If people had to be reminded back in those times, how much more do we need to be reminded today! We should always be on the lookout for ways we can be kind to one another. Can you share a smile with someone or an encouraging word? Can you help meet a need?
Remember, as a believer, you are the hands and feet of Jesus in this earth. Look for ways to serve one another. Sow a seed and watch the harvest of blessing in your own life in return!
Father God, thank You for another day to live for You. Help me find creative ways to show kindness to the people you've put in my life. Show me ways I can sow seed and be a blessing to others. Thank You for equipping me to be Your representative and live in victory in every area of my life. In Jesus' Name. Amen. ---Joel Osteen
For meditation of the previous days/months , please click any of the following links:
http://his-ways-better-than-our-ways.blogspot.com/ http://www.mabuhayradio.com/sections/the-daily-bread.html http://butuanglobalforum.org/cgi-bin/dboard/YaBB.pl?num=1229339492/220 EL SHADDAI Radio Program : http://www.eradioportal.com/index.php?p=2&aid=1&sid=50&tid=1
GOD BLESS US ALL!
O Theos Na Mas Evlogisi! PRAY as if everything depended on HIM. ACT as if everything depended on YOU.
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Quote of the Day
"Ever wonder if illiterate people get the full effect of alphabet soup?"--John Mendoza
The enemies of grace. The remedy: to contemplate Christ.
I, when I am lifted up from the earth will draw all men to myself Our Lord says (Communion Antiphon, John 12:32).
The first Reading of to-day’s Mass brings us a passage from the Book of Numbers (First Reading, Num 21:4-9) which narrates how the people of Israel began to murmur against God and against Moses, because although they had been set free and brought out of Egypt, they were tired of travelling towards the Promised Land. As a punishment, the Lord sent fiery serpents among the people, and they bit the people, so that many people of Israel died. Then the people turned to Moses, acknowledging their sin, and Moses interceded with God that He might free them from the serpents. The Lord said to him, Make a fiery serpent and set it on a pole; and every one who is bitten, when he sees it, shall live. So Moses made a bronze serpent, and set it on a pole; and if a serpent bit any man, he would look at the bronze serpent and live.
This passage from the Old Testament, as well as being an historical narrative, is the type and image of what was to take place later with the coming of the Son of God. In his intimate conversation with Nicodemus Our Lord makes a direct reference to this narrative: And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so must the Son of man be lifted up, that whosoever believes in him may have eternal life (John 3:14-15). Christ on the Cross is the salvation of the human race, the remedy for all our ills. He went voluntarily to Calvary, so that whosoever believes may have eternal life, so that he might draw all men to himself.
In no matter what age they attack God’s people as they travel towards the promised land of Heaven, the serpents and the poison are much the same: selfishness, sensuality, doctrinal errors and confusion, laziness, envy, slander, calumny ... The grace we receive in Baptism, which is intended to reach its full development, is threatened by the same enemies as they always have been. In all ages we can perceive the wounds of original sin and of personal sins.
We Christians must seek the remedy and the antidote — just as the Israelites bitten by the serpents in the wilder ness did — in the only place that it is to be found: in Jesus Christ and in his saving doctrine. We must not cease from contemplating him raised above the earth on the Cross, if we truly want to reach the Promised Land that comes at the end of this short journey. That is all this life really is. And as we do not want to reach our destination alone, we will strive to get many others to look at Jesus, in whom is salvation. Look at Jesus. Place before your eyes his most Holy Humanity, contemplate him in the Mysteries of the Holy Rosary, in the Way of the Cross, in the scenes that the Gospels narrate for us, or in the Tabernacle. Only if we have great piety will we be strong against the harassment of a world which seems to want to separate itself more and more from God, dragging with it anyone who is not on firm and sure ground.
We cannot turn our gaze away from God, because we see the havoc that the enemy wreaks around us every day. By himself, nobody is immune. ‘Vultum tuum, Domine, requiram’: Thy face, Lord, do I seek; hide not thy face from me (Ps 26). We must grow in fortitude through our loving and constant conversation with Jesus, through prayer, through keeping presence of God throughout the day, and through our visits to the Blessed Sacrament. We must remember, too that Our Lord, Jesus, is not only the remedy for our weakness; He is also our Love.
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