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Thursday, August 14, 2003

Meditation
Joshua 3:7-11,13-17

Water can seem like such a neutral, harmless substance, but it plays a powerful role in the Bible. Several times in the history of Israel, God showed his love to his people by parting a body of water and letting them pass through. He separated the Sea of Reeds so that Moses and the Israelites could escape the Egyptians and enter into a covenant with him on Mount Sinai. In the time of Joshua, God parted the Jordan River so that a new generation of Israelites could cross into the Promised Land. Just before he was taken up into heaven, the prophet Elijah miraculously parted the Jordan and walked across with Elisha.

God is still parting waters today. At every baptism, the waters are parted, and Jesus leads new Christians through them to the safety and blessing of his kingdom. An old life is left behind, and a whole new life is begun—a life filled with the potential for intimacy with Jesus and empowerment by the Holy Spirit himself. Just think: Every baptized person has the potential to be Christ in this world: “For God did not give us a spirit of cowardice, but rather a spirit of power and of love and of self-discipline” (2 Timothy 1:7).

Because God has parted the waters for us and poured his love into us, we too have the power to love. At baptism, we were not only rescued from death, but empowered to go out into the world as witnesses to Jesus. We may not feel qualified, but by his Spirit, God has empowered us to manifest his generosity and kindness both in times of crisis and in the mundane aspects of our daily lives.

Once, when asked to do something she felt was beyond her, St. Thérèse of Lisieux said, “The very fact that left to myself I could do nothing made my task seem all the more simple. There was only one thing for me to do—unite myself more and more to God, knowing that he would give all the rest in addition.”

“Father, I put my trust in you. Regardless of the circumstances, in whatever tasks you ask of me, I will trust that you are with me, giving me the power to see them through and even transforming them into miraculous happenings for your glory.”

One Bread, One Body

<< Wednesday, August 13, 2003 >>

St. Pontian
& St. Hippolytus

Deuteronomy 34:1-12

Psalm 66

Matthew 18:15-20

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END-TIMES TALK

“I have let you feast your eyes upon it, but you shall not cross over.” —Deuteronomy 34:4

In American culture, movies and novels typically conclude with a happy ending. After a long struggle, the author lets justice prevail and the good guys triumph.

God, the Author of Life (Acts 3:15), is also into happy endings. His happy ending is “immeasurably more than we ask or imagine” (Eph 3:20) — “life on high in Christ Jesus” (Phil 3:14). Yet it is sometimes difficult to resist the temptation to question God’s handling of endings in this earthly life.

Moses’ ending seems tragic. He endured forty years of revolt and grumbling, faithfully shepherding the Israelites to the border of the Promised Land. Yet God refused to allow him to enter the land (Dt 34:4). But without Moses’ demise, the Israelites would never have followed Joshua as their new leader. If Moses had a “good ending” in the Promised Land, he might have then died without publicly commissioning Joshua, leaving Israel weak and in disarray.

Our heritage is not so much the final outcome, but rather the day to day privilege of having God present in our midst (Mt 18:20). Each day in God’s service is its own reward (Is 49:4). If we daily focus on Jesus present with us, Jesus will be “the End” for us (Rv 22:13). Any circumstantial worldly ending will not leave us disappointed (Rm 5:5), for our hopes lie firmly in Jesus, the Lord of the End. “Let this, then, be the end” (2 Mc 15:39).

Prayer: Father, do in me whatever You must in order to do through me whatever You will.

Promise: “Again I tell you, if two of you join your voices on earth to pray for anything whatever, it shall be granted you by My Father in heaven.” —Mt 18:19

Praise: St. Pontian and St. Hippolytus forgave their most bitter enemy — each other.