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A God who comes through for us – Wednesday, 5th week of Lent – Daniel 3:14-20, 91-92, 95/ John 8:31-42

Read also https://www.pottypadre.com/catching-the-bull-by-its-tail-2/ based on the Gospel of today.

The text of today tells us that the Babylonian king, Nebuchadnezzar, erected a massive golden statue and commanded that all must bow before it. Why Nebuchadnezzar set up the golden images is not explicitly stated but by doing this has places himself beyond God. This directly challenges the faithfulness of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, the exiles who are now governors in this Chaldean land and because of the King’s decree to worship the statue, are threatened with death.

At the end the previous chapter, Nebuchadnezzar had announced that true knowledge and true power comes from Daniel’s God. But at the beginning of Daniel 3, the king seems to have forgotten his earlier confession, and, at the prodding of some Babylonian sages (the Chaldeans), he entraps the Jewish friends and arrogantly dismisses their God. Some scholars argue that the time lapse between chapters two and three could have been several years but whatever be the case, the reality of human arrogance stands.

Many who read Daniel chapter three think that initially the central conflict of the story involves idolatry. However, as the story progresses, a different conflict emerges; between the kingship of Nebuchadnezzar and the power of God. This is seen at the conclusion of this narrative; we see how Nebuchadnezzar is amazed by God, not merely by the faith of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego.

Our faith in God and our worship of him must not draw the attention of people to ourselves. Each time Jesus worked a mighty miracle it was not to draw attention to himself but “that God may be glorified.” When mighty deeds are wrought in our life we should not and cannot be the centre of glory even if we are truly holy in God’s eyes. People must be amazed by God as Nebuchadnezzar was, not by our actions, no matter how holy or pious they are.

Faith healers and preachers who have been given such gifts from the Holy Spirit must remember this fundamental guiding principle as should every one of us who serves the Church in any capacity.

Finally, I would like to leave you with some more take aways from the text

1. Remember to be true to God. Just as Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego made the right choice and stuck with it despite the rage of many and the threat to their lives, so we need to make right choices. We can’t let difficult circumstances lead us to be unfaithful to God.
2. Remember to entrust yourself into God’s hands. Just as Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego, in full faith, gave their lives into God’s hands in their trial, so should we because God is more than able to take care of us too.
3. Remember God will be with you. Just as he was with Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego in the fiery furnace, so he will walk with you through your fiery trials.
4. Finally, remember that God will come through for you. Just as he came through for Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego, so he will come through for you. Like them, we don’t know how he will do this, through a miracle or strengthening us to endure and overcome in the midst, or in the world to come. But God is faithful and he will come through.

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From death to life – Tuesday, 5th Week of Lent – Numbers 21:4-9/ John 8:21-30

Read also https://www.pottypadre.com/listening-hearing/ based on the Gospel of today. Please click this link.

In order to understand the immediate text of today’s text, we need to place it in its historical background. The Israelites are near the Promised Land, approaching it from the south. Edom has denied Israel the right of passage (20:14-21). The Israelites came to Mount Hor where Aaron died (20:22-29). Aaron was Moses’ brother and Israel’s first high priest. The king of Ar’ad, a Canaanite who lived in the Negeb (southern portion of the Promised Land) fought against Israel, but Israel prevailed (21:1-3).

Scripture tells us that the people of Israel become ‘impatient’ because of the long land route around Edom to the promised land and began to speak against God and Moses while addressing their angst to Moses specifically. ‘Why have you brought us up out of Egypt to die in the wilderness? For there is no food, and water; and we detest this miserable food.’ This isn’t the first complaint of this nature that the Israelites have made. Eight times prior to this they have complained against God.

Their complaints about the tastelessness of the food represents a kind of tastelessness of their own, their ingratitude to God who fed them in the desert and prevented them from dying of hunger. Thanksgiving to God for his blessings to us is often one of the prayers we make least often. This could be the first of our reflections from this text; do I have an attitude of gratitude?

In the text of Numbers 21, the utterance of the complaint is immediately followed by the statement, “Then the LORD sent poisonous serpents among the people, and they bit the people, so that many Israelites died” (v. 6). The Israelites are stunned by the presence of these deadly serpents. Neither the narrator nor God ever explicitly says that God sent the snakes because the people complained. Yet the people recognized that what is happening is a punishment for their complaints. The people name their sin and quickly repent, asking Moses to intercede with Yahweh to save them. We too know our sin and ought to name it. Naming our sin is an acknowledgment of our wrong doing rather than finding a reason to shift the blame. But then we need to also go one step ahead and repent!

On reading this text, one might be drawn to asking, ‘what kind of God is this who inflicts death on people for their lack of trust’? Yet while it is easy to question the wrath of God one easily forgets that it is the same people who received the law and were bound in covenant with God. A covenant that made them his people under his protection.

Yet God is merciful even to an ungrateful people; but this time with a twist. God does not give the people what they ask for. They want Moses to get God to ‘take away the serpents from them’ (Numbers 21:7). But the serpents do not go away, nor do they stop biting. Instead, God instructs Moses on how to heal the people who are bitten; they are still bitten, but they live.

It would be fairly easy to gloss over the aspects of this passage that we find troubling and focus on God who sends healing right where we need it. So, here is a lesson for us to reflect upon. Deliverance does not come in the way that we expect. Rather than removing the snakes, God sent a cure for snakebite. They’ll still get bitten; that danger doesn’t go away, but God does offer healing if they look in the right direction.

The same can be said of us. God does not always answer us the way we want and take away that which bothers us. The ‘snakes’ in our life, poisonous as they may be do not disappear, rather we get to gaze at Christ on the cross who brings healing to our lives and teaches us to live with the reality of pain and suffering in our midst but now with his saving grace.

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Dealing with Lust – Monday, 5th Week of Lent – Daniel 13:1-9, 15, 17-30, 33- 62/ John 8:1-11

Read also https://www.pottypadre.com/the-overt-and-covert-sinners-john-81-11-fifth-sunday-in-lent/ which is a reflection on the Gospel of today.

The last two chapters of the Book of Daniel are not part of the Jewish canon of Scripture. The short stories in these two chapters may have originally been about some other Daniel or Daniels, different from the hero of the main part of the book. The texts exist now only in Greek, but probably were first composed in Hebrew or Aramaic. They do not appear in non-Catholic bibles, but the Catholic Church has always included them among the inspired writings.

They contain two famous stories, one of Susanna, who was falsely accused of adultery, and the other of the events which led to Daniel being thrown into the lions’ den.

Susanna’s situation needs a little explanation. It is about two lecherous men and an innocent married woman (Susanna) who is led into a clever trap from which there seems no escape. However, the woman defends her integrity at the risk of being falsely accused of being unfaithful to her husband, and in a society that was even less forgiving in these matters than our own. In fact, the whole community, after hearing the evidence from the two men, was ready to stone her for her adultery and indicated this by laying their hands on the woman’s head.

She would certainly have been executed by stoning if the “young boy Daniel” had not come on the scene. The rest of the story is a description of his integrity, his sense of justice and insight. Through his clever and separate examination of the woman’s accusers, he proves them liars and the sharp contrast between the two trees mentioned; one being quite small and the other very tall and majestic, only made clearer the inconsistency of the two men’s evidence. According to the law, they end up receiving the punishment originally intended for the woman.

The focus of this long and dramatic story is really on Daniel, on his perception and wisdom, and on him as a champion of justice. But, in today’s liturgy, it leads by way of contrast to another and very different case of adultery. A situation where the woman is clearly guilty, and yet wins Jesus’ total forgiveness.

Adultery is a very common theme that runs through many stories in the Bible, as well as the fatal punishment meted out. Christ condemns even adultery of mere desire. The sixth commandment and the New Testament forbids adultery absolutely. The prophets denounce the gravity of adultery; they see it as an image of the sin of idolatry. The Catechism of the Catholic Church defines grave matter: Grave matter is specified by the Ten Commandments, corresponding to the answer of Jesus to the rich young man: “Do not murder, Do not commit adultery, Do not steal, Do not bear false witness, Do not defraud, Honour your father and your mother.”

The number one reason why people cheat is a lack of connection in the relationship. Most people do not realize how important creating, maintaining, and nurturing a connection in a relationship is. The unfaithful spouse must be willing to stop the affair, provide all details honestly and completely, and take the steps necessary to prove his or her trustworthiness. A Catholic spouse who engages in adultery must throw themselves at the mercy of God in the Sacrament of Reconciliation and seek spiritual advice.

The good news is that restoring a marriage after an affair is possible, with God’s help. In fact, not only can your marriage survive an affair, but your marriage can become even stronger than it was before the crisis. “Nothing is impossible with God,” (Luke 1:37).

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Not a mantra to be mumbled but a reassurance to be treasured –The Annunciation of the Lord – Isaiah 7:10-14 and 8:10/ Luke 1: 26-38

At the annunciation, the message of the angel to Mary was that ‘the Lord is with her.’ There is nothing more assuring than to know that the ‘Lord is with us.’ But that should be an automatic faith response for all people of faith. Words that Jesus himself reassured us of at his ascension when he said, “and know that I am with you always, unto the end of time.“ (Matthew 28:20).

The message of the annunciation that the angel Gabriel communicated to Mary consisted of a greeting and a word of assurance. The greeting, “Hail, favoured one” is interesting and enlightening. ‘Ave’ or Hail is a Latin word, used by the Romans as a salutation and greeting. It is the singular imperative form of the verb avēre, which meant ‘to be well’; thus, one could translate it literally as ‘be well.’ But this was not all, for the angel also called Mary the ‘favoured one’. Yet, Mary is the favoured one not the favourite one!

The Bible declares that “God does not show favoritism” (Romans 2:11). God loves everyone equally. There is nothing we can ever do to make God love us more and there is nothing we can ever do that will make God love us less. Mary is not God’s favourite but she is the favoured one; she has found favour with the Lord for who she is and how she lived her life; in fidelity to God. It is no small thing to be regarded, to be favored, especially when you are exceedingly aware that you should not be.

To this favoured child is the message of assurance, “the lord is with you” “do not be afraid.” God knows how much we all need to be assured because so many of us worry about the challenges at hand. Seneca said, “we suffer more in imagination than in reality.” The words of the angel were clear to Mary and by extension to us, “do not be afraid, the Lord is with you.” For those who pray the rosary daily, these words are not a mantra to be mumbled but a reassurance to be treasured.

This story of Gabriel’s announcement to Mary is surrounded by the impossible. Reading the Biblical narrative one can list the impossibilities and yet the angel is firm when he says, “nothing is impossible for God.” While ‘the’ annunciation may be the message of an angel proclaiming the plan of salvation for human kind, we too celebrate our annunciation each time God asks something that seems impossible of us yet asked for with the same assurance, “do not be afraid.”

Is it easy to say yes when God asks the ‘impossible’ from us? Was it easy for Mary when God asked her for what seemed humanly impossible? We know that Mary was perplexed at first, even scared. Mary had questions too, “how can this be since I am a virgin?” Mary was not without her doubts. While the narrative records the annunciation in a couple of lines it would be well within our reasoning to safely assume that she debated, considered and reasoned this calling. Having flashes of doubt is not sinful, living in constant doubt turns our hearts of faith away from a loving God and his plan for us.

When God calls us, he singles us and chooses us. Our response often is “how can this be?” Me? Who am I? Why am I favored? How can the Lord be with me? While these words of doubt may resonate at times in our hearts let us be assured on this day of HIS presence in our lives. Mary’s story moves us all from who we think we are to what God has called us to be, from observant believer to confessing apostle.

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Truth stands alone and stands still – Friday, 4th Week of Lent – Wisdom 2:1a, 12-22/ John 7:1-2,10,25-30

Read also https://www.pottypadre.com/spare-the-rod-spoil-the-child/ based on the Gospel text of today.

I cannot for the life of me recall ever reading this text from scripture. Yet for those who love the Lord, you have leant by now that God speaks to us through his word in his own time and says what you need to hear and not what you want to hear.

God chose to speak this text to my heart today, on my 53rd birthday and I want to break this down for you as a gift. He shares his word with me. I share his message with you and I hope each day you do the same by sharing HIS word fearlessly. Remember, truth stands alone and stands still.

We find ourselves living in a world where ever thing must be reasoned out and have a ‘convincing answer’. When applied to the Christian faith, ‘convincing answers’ are nothing more than a stubborn heart and mind refusing to accept the truth of God. They would gladly settle for the compromised and convenient ‘truths’ that the world would rather offer. Oddly, this is not entirely a malaise of this generation for the Book of Wisdom, written in the 1st century BC, was battling with a similar situation.

The author of the book of wisdom addresses the “ungodly” (1:16). That’s a tough word to use in a modern world that strives to be politically correct. The author of the book of wisdom seemed to care a damn for political correctness and threw it in the dustbin where in belonged. He called out the ungodly for who they were and did not seek to find a ‘pastorally’ acceptable or politically correct term.

At the heart of the matter, is the matter of the heart. While we often speak of thought that emanates from the head, it is the chatter in the heart that leads us to the fires of hell. Chapter two of the book of wisdom needs to be read in its entirety to understand the chatter of the ungodly; and boy do they have much to say!

It is they ungodly that want to “enjoy the good things that exist.” “Make use of creation to the full as in youth.” It is they who “want to take their fill of costly wine and perfumes” and enjoy every moment of every season. It is they who desire to crown themselves with rosebuds before they wither, as if rosebuds are going out of style and it is they who never cease “enjoying themselves.”

But while all this may seem like a ‘bit’ of self-indulgence, the sin of the ungodly runs deeper for their shameless eyes also fall on the poor and marginalized of society. Scripture tells us that not only do the pick on the “poor man” they do it knowing that he is righteous. They target the widow and disregard the aged whom they circle around like vultures, knowing their prey is weak and dying. They believe that might is right and what is weak proves to be useless (think now of the abortonist and those pushing the euthanasia agenda)

But their sin multiply when the righteous person stands up as a voice of conscience, or the good person becomes an inconvenient truth; standing as a beacon against their sins, calling them out in public. Hell, hath no fury than the ungodly scorned for now everything is fair game for them.

Read verses 12 to 20 and you can identify with the sufferings of Christ. It seems like this text was a prophecy of what Our Lord would suffer. But this text is also a testimony to those in the Church who have the courage to stand up and call out the sins within the Church. While it is fashionable to point out the sins of civil society it is anathema to call out your own.

When corrupt religious institutions, both systems and individuals, turn against the righteous few because they stand up and call out the sins of the institution, then moral standing has failed completely. Our Lord stood alone; he called out the scribes, the Pharisees, the Sadducees, the Sanhedrin and even the Chief Priest himself. Our Lord stood alone, as a voice of conscience of his day and for that he was ridiculed and mocked. The entire might of the Roman government was used against him. False accusations were brought against him and he was sentenced to death, a death sanctioned by the might of the religious institution.

Perhaps today we are no far from the same situation….but for a few good men and women.

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