January 21, 2011

In Psalm 85 we read:

Kindness and truth shall meet;

   justice and peace shall kiss.

Truth shall spring out of the earth,

   and justice shall look down from heaven.

David Richo, in his book, When the Past Is Present, talks about transference as an “attempt to complete with new people what is still incomplete with the original people…. By transference we open the healthy possibility of self-completion. By keeping it unconscious we curtail its benefits; by making it conscious we capitalize on them.” It’s when the ugly truth meets kindness and compassion. It’s when we embrace our complete selves, our complete existence, and declare, “It is good!”

May it be so.

Namaste! Amen!

The Readings

Hebrews 8:6-13

Psalm 85

Mark 3:13-19

January 21, 2011

Take a look at a beautiful image of Psalm 85 on John August Swanson’s website. http://www.johnaugustswanson.com/ImagesUpload/Ps85-700.jpg

Kindness and truth shall meet;

   justice and peace shall kiss.

Truth shall spring out of the earth,

   and justice shall look down from heaven.

May it be so.

Namaste! Amen!

On January 21, 1977, President Jimmy Carter pardons nearly all American Vietnam War draft evaders, some of whom had emigrated to Canada.

The Readings

Hebrews 8:6-13

Psalm 85

Mark 3:13-19

January 20, 2011

Today’s psalm tells us that God does not want nor expect sacrifice from us and that our deepest desire and truest selves rests in goodness and justice. We need not torment ourselves with useless penance but only follow our bliss. What wondrous love is this oh my soul, oh my soul.

Namaste! Amen!

The Readings

Hebrews 7:25-8:6

Psalm 40:7-10,17

Mark 3:7-12

January 6, 2011, Epiphany

Reflection (The readings are below, for your reference)

We are now forty days into the liturgical year and for seven of those days subsets of Psalm 72 have been appointed, including today. The entire psalm appears below and I am moved by several things in it. A world where true leaders are recognized as those who are just and charitable is rewarded by nature herself. Might is not rewarded, charitable love is. The psalmist envisions a paradise where the most vulnerable are seen (that’s the first big step … to be seen) and then defended, honored and saved. The rewards are great in this paradise: peace reigns, nature smiles, refreshing rains fall softly, the fields are fertile, and strangers from far off lands pay tribute. In response to such wonder, I feel called to look around me in the nooks and crannies where I am something of a leader. Where can I find excuses to be just and charitable? Come Holy Spirit and open my eyes!

Namaste. Amen.

What are your thoughts? Please add your comments.

Psalm 72

O God, with your judgment and with your justice,
   endow the leaders.

They shall govern your people with justice
   and your afflicted ones with righteousness.

The mountains will bring peace for the people,
   and the hills justice.

They shall defend the afflicted among the people,
   save the children of the poor,
   and crush the oppressor.

May they endure as long as the sun
   and like the moon through all generations.

They shall be like rain coming down on the field,
   like showers watering the earth.

Virtue shall flower in their days,
   and world peace till the moon is no more.

May they rule from sea to sea,
   and from the river to the ends of the earth.

Their foes shall bow before them,
   and their enemies will lick the dust.

Tarshish and the Isles shall offer gifts;
   Arabia and Seba shall bring tribute.

All other rulers shall pay homage to them;
   all nations shall serve them.

For they shall rescue the poor when they cry out
   and the afflicted when they have no one to help them.

They shall have compassion for the needy and the poor;
   they shall save the lives of the poor.

From oppression and violence they shall redeem them,
   and precious shall their blood be.

To them, long life and continuous prayers;
   day by day shall they be blessed.

May grain be in abundance on the earth,
   and on the tops of the mountains
   the crops shall rustle like Lebanon.
   The city dwellers shall flourish
   like the grass of the fields.

Blessed be their name forever;
   their name shall remain as long as the sun.
In them shall all the nations of the earth be blessed;
   all the nations shall proclaim their happiness.

This translation of Psalm 72 is from Psalms Anew, St. Mary’s Press, 1986.

The Readings

1 John 4:19-5:4

Psalm 721-2,14,15bc,17

Luke 4:14-22

January 5, 2011, John Neumann

Reflection (The readings are below, for your reference)

“If we love one another, God lives in us, and God’s love is perfected in us.”

Sri Nisargadatta said, “When the mind is momentarily free from its own pre-occupations it becomes quiet. If you do not disturb this quiet and stay in it you find that it is permeated with a light and love you’ve never known and yet you recognize it at once as your own true nature.”

John’s epistle and Sri Nisargadatta’s words seem connected in my mind in that if we pare down all the pre-occupations, what’s left is love. Love for self and love for others … perfect love. Is that our own true nature? I think so.

What do you think?

Namaste. Amen.

The Readings

1 John 4:11-18

Beloved, since God loved us so much, we also ought to love one another. No one has ever seen God; if we love one another, God lives in us, and God’s love is perfected in us.

By this we know that we abide in God and God in us, because he has given us of his Spirit. And we have seen and do testify that the Father has sent his Son as the Saviour of the world. God abides in those who confess that Jesus is the Son of God, and they abide in God. So we have known and believe the love that God has for us.

God is love, and those who abide in love abide in God, and God abides in them. Love has been perfected among us in this: that we may have boldness on the day of judgment, because as he is, so are we in this world. There is no fear in love, but perfect love casts out fear; for fear has to do with punishment, and whoever fears has not reached perfection in love.

Psalm 72:1-2,10,12-13

O God, with your judgment and with your justice,
   endow the leaders.

They shall govern your people with justice
   and your afflicted ones with righteousness.

Tarshish and the Isles shall offer gifts;
   Arabia and Seba shall bring tribute.

For they shall rescue the poor when they cry out
   and the afflicted when they have no one to help them.

They shall have compassion for the needy and the poor;
   they shall save the lives of the poor.

Mark 6:45-52

Immediately he made his disciples get into the boat and go on ahead to the other side, to Bethsaida, while he dismissed the crowd. After saying farewell to them, he went up on the mountain to pray.

When evening came, the boat was out on the lake, and he was alone on the land. When he saw that they were straining at the oars against an adverse wind, he came towards them early in the morning, walking on the lake. He intended to pass them by. But when they saw him walking on the lake, they thought it was a ghost and cried out; for they all saw him and were terrified. But immediately he spoke to them and said, ‘Take heart, it is I; do not be afraid.’ Then he got into the boat with them and the wind ceased. And they were utterly astounded, for they did not understand about the loaves, but their hearts were hardened.

With one exception, the readings are from the website below, with adjustments to make the text more inclusive. The Psalm is from Psalms Anew, St. Mary’s Press, 1986.

http://bible.oremus.org/

January 4, 2011, Elizabeth Ann Seton

Reflection (The readings are below, for your reference)

Christina Rossetti wrote a beautiful poem that was matched with an Irish melody and recorded by Jars of Clay. The poem is here below. I thought of it when I read today’s scriptures. Love surely came down at Christmas … AGAIN! And it comes again today, and tomorrow and the next day after that. One of the (many) images of God that comes to mind is that of a parent who observes the kids once again misbehaving and says, “Do I have to come over there?” Because that’s exactly what God did … and does! God, who is love, came over here to show us a lesson! So every time I witness an example of God’s love in the actions or words of another person, whether it’s Mother Theresa, or Bono, or my neighbor across the street; every time I catch myself before I say the hurtful word; every time someone forgives me; every time anyone defends the afflicted, or saves the children of the poor, or reaches out to an enemy in a gesture of peace; each time one of these things (and a thousand others) happens, I know that love surely did come down at Christmas and we are learning the lesson!

What do you see in today’s readings?

Love came down at Christmas,

Love all lovely, Love Divine;

Love was born at Christmas,

Star and Angels gave the sign.

Worship we the Godhead,

Love Incarnate, Love Divine;

Worship we our Jesus:

But wherewith for sacred sign?

Love shall be our token,

Love shall be yours and love be mine,

Love to God and all men,

Love for plea and gift and sign.

The Readings

1 John 4:7-10

Beloved, let us love one another, because love is from God; everyone who loves is born of God and knows God. Whoever does not love does not know God, for God is love. God’s love was revealed among us in this way: God became human into the world so that we might live through God. In this is love, not that we loved God but that God loved us and became human to be the atoning sacrifice for our sins.

Psalm 72:1-4,7-8

O God, with your judgment and with your justice, endow the leaders.

They shall govern your people with justice
   and your afflicted ones with righteousness.

The mountains will bring peace for the people,
   and the hills justice.

They shall defend the afflicted among the people,
   save the children of the poor,
   and crush the oppressor.

Virtue shall flower in their days,
   and world peace till the moon is no more.

May they rule from sea to sea,
   and from the river to the ends of the earth.

Their foes shall bow before them,
   and their enemies will lick the dust.

Tarshish and the Isles shall offer gifts;
   Arabia and Seba shall bring tribute.

Mark 6:34-44

As he went ashore, he saw a great crowd; and he had compassion for them, because they were like sheep without a shepherd; and he began to teach them many things. When it grew late, his disciples came to him and said, ‘This is a deserted place, and the hour is now very late; send them away so that they may go into the surrounding country and villages and buy something for themselves to eat.’ But he answered them, ‘You give them something to eat.’ They said to him, ‘Are we to go and buy two hundred denarii worth of bread, and give it to them to eat?’ And he said to them, ‘How many loaves have you? Go and see.’ When they had found out, they said, ‘Five, and two fish.’ Then he ordered them to get all the people to sit down in groups on the green grass. So they sat down in groups of hundreds and of fifties. Taking the five loaves and the two fish, he looked up to heaven, and blessed and broke the loaves, and gave them to his disciples to set before the people; and he divided the two fish among them all. And all ate and were filled; and they took up twelve baskets full of broken pieces and of the fish. Those who had eaten the loaves numbered five thousand households.

With one exception, the readings are from the website below, with adjustments to make the text more inclusive. The Psalm is from Psalms Anew, St. Mary’s Press, 1986.

http://bible.oremus.org/

January 3, 2011, The Most Holy Name of Jesus

Reflection (The readings are below, for your reference)

I recently received a card from a friend. The front cover showed a cat looking out the window proclaiming, “Today is the first day of the rest of your life!” and the inside of the card said “But don’t sweat it, tomorrow is too.” That card came to mind as I read Psalm 2: “God said to me, ‘You are mine. It is I who have begotten you this day.'” Indeed, everyday God declares a fresh start. If yesterday you forgot, well then you are begotten yet again today. Start fresh, start right where you are. That’s what I hear the Spirit saying to me today. How about you?

The Readings

1 John 3:22-4:6

We receive from God whatever we ask, because we obey God’s commandments and do what pleases God.

And this is God’s commandment: that we should believe in the name of God’s Son Jesus Christ and love one another, just as he has commanded us. All who obey these commandments abide in God, and God abides in them. And by this we know that God abides in us, by the Spirit that God has given us.

Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God; for many false prophets have gone out into the world. By this you know the Spirit of God: every spirit that confesses that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is from God, and every spirit that does not confess Jesus is not from God. And this is the spirit of the antichrist, of which you have heard that it is coming; and now it is already in the world. Little children, you are from God, and have conquered them; for the one who is in you is greater than the one who is in the world. They are from the world; therefore what they say is from the world, and the world listens to them. We are from God. Whoever knows God listens to us, and whoever is not from God does not listen to us. From this we know the spirit of truth and the spirit of error.

Psalm 2:7-8,10-12

I will proclaim the decree of God.

God said to me, ‘You are mine.

   It is I who have begotten you this day.

Ask and I shall bequeath you the nations,

   make the ends of the earth in your possession.

Now, O leaders, understand;

   take warning, rulers of the earth.

Serve God with awe and trembling,

   paying homage,

lest God be angry and you perish;

   for God’s anger will suddenly blaze.

Blessed are they who put their trust in God.

Matthew 4:12-17,23-25

Now when Jesus heard that John had been arrested, he withdrew to Galilee. He left Nazareth and made his home in Capernaum by the lake, in the territory of Zebulun and Naphtali, so that what had been spoken through the prophet Isaiah might be fulfilled:

‘Land of Zebulun, land of Naphtali,

   on the road by the sea, across the Jordan, Galilee of the Gentiles—

the people who sat in darkness

   have seen a great light,

and for those who sat in the region and shadow of death

   light has dawned.’

From that time Jesus began to proclaim, ‘Repent, for the kingdom of heaven has come near.’

Jesus went throughout Galilee, teaching in their synagogues and proclaiming the good news of the kingdom and curing every disease and every sickness among the people. So his fame spread throughout all Syria, and they brought to him all the sick, those who were afflicted with various diseases and pains, demoniacs, epileptics, and paralytics, and he cured them. And great crowds followed him from Galilee, the Decapolis, Jerusalem, Judea, and from beyond the Jordan.

With one exception, the readings are from the website below, with adjustments to make the text more inclusive. The Psalm is from Psalms Anew, St. Mary’s Press, 1986.

http://bible.oremus.org/