For Such a Time as This

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A Reflection on John 2:1-12

“They have no wine.” (v 3)

Mary’s words here are not a question.  They don’t even seem like a request.  They simply make a statement, with which she reveals the situation to Jesus and her heart to us.  Mary’s heart is for the broken-hearted, the empty-handed.  She sees the weakness that we are encumbered with and she knows just what to do: go to her Son.

Jesus’ words are confusing: “O, woman, what have you to do with me? My hour has not yet come.” And yet, His actions speak clearly.  The next moment, the Word unveils his power over the material world and transforms the water into wine.  What Jesus did not say, he communicated with this miracle: Mary’s heart is his heart.  As she is for the broken-hearted, so is He.  His mission is her mission.  As He has come to bring us into communion with the Father, so has she been given to us as a powerful intercessor for that purpose.

We are not alone.  We have a mother who sees, who brings us to Jesus, and asks on our behalf.  She reminds us, as she reminded St. Juan Diego, “Am I not here, who am your mother?  Are you not under my shadow and protection?”

And she sees.  She sees where we have “no wine,” the dark corners of our souls that are empty, the deep abyss of desolation that we try fervently to fill with cheap substitutes.  And she brings Jesus to us; she shows him our emptiness, and what does he do?  He fills us up with the good and everlasting wine.

What are my places of emptiness?  What am I trying to fill them up with?

Mary, my mother, you see me. My emptiness, my weakness, my quiet desperation.  Please bring your Son Jesus into these places, and ask Him to fill me up where I am lacking, so that I may reflect His glory like you do.

Scripture quotations are from The Catholic Edition of the Revised Standard Version of the Bible, copyright ©1965, 1966 National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.

Day 3 of our Reflections on the Gospel of John. If you'd like to receive the transcript by email, go here. 

A Reflection on John 1: 35-51

“What do you seek? ... Come and see.” (v 39)

These are the very first words of Jesus in the Gospel of John, spoken to the first Apostles.  Jesus could see their longing; He knew why they were there.  Still, He asks because He wants them to recognize and give voice to their desire.  He wants the same for us.  Close your eyes, and hear Him say those same words to you.  He gazes into your heart, already knowing your wants and needs, your sins and wounds, yet waiting to hear your answer.  “What do you seek?  Do you know, child, what will satisfy your heart’s desire?  You may come to me looking for answers, but do you know, truly, what your soul cries out for?  When you let go of all the false idols, all the counterfeits, can you feel the desire quell within you?... Come and see.  I will show you.  I see what is in your heart, and if you will let me, I will satisfy your thirst, measure for measure, even overflowing.”

Will you let Him change you as the first Apostles did?  They “stayed with him that day,” and after living an encounter with Jesus, they couldn’t help but spread this news.  What will your response be?  When you hear Him saying, “Come and see,” will you go to meet Him in your heart of hearts?  Will you allow yourself to be so changed by that encounter, that others will see the change in you and come to know Him more through you?

He is calling you to a greater intimacy with him, an intimacy you may not have known was possible on this earth.   He sees the question in your heart, and he wants you to come and see.  All that is left is for you to take the first step.  Are you ready?

Jesus, I long to meet you in my heart.  I desire intimacy with you there.  Help me to prepare my heart.  Remove the impediments and heal the wounds that keep you out.  Make your home in me.

Scripture quotations are from The Catholic Edition of the Revised Standard Version of the Bible, copyright ©1965, 1966 National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.

Welcome to Day 2 of Lent and our reflections.  If you'd like to receive this transcript by email, go here. 

A Reflection on John 1:19-34

“Who are you?” (v 19b)

There is something different about John the Baptist.  It couldn’t escape the notice of the Pharisees.  This strange man drew big crowds to the Jordan River, so they sent messengers to ask him: “Who are you?”  They were confused by who this man could possibly be: he is obviously anointed for some great work of God. And in their pride, they demanded answers, perhaps in an attempt to keep up the façade of control.  The result is a self-imposed spiritual blindness.

We all have wounds that hinder our own ability to see.  Some we know about, but refuse to acknowledge.  Others we may not even realize are there; we know them only by their fruits: bitterness and resentment, vanity, pride, gluttony and addiction, jealousy, sloth.  Sometimes, like the Pharisees, we are blinded by our own righteousness:  we turn the spiritual life into a checklist, a goal to be met, an outcome to control.  Our sins, disordered desires, and pride cloud our eyes and keep us from seeing Jesus.

It is time to ask ourselves: what is hindering my ability to see?  What is clouding my vision?  When John saw Jesus, he was able to see Him as He really is, to see the Spirit descend upon Him. May the Spirit descend into our hearts and show us the places where we need to be healed, so that we can truly see the Lamb of God.  We trust in the words of Isaiah the prophet: “The glory of the Lord shall be revealed, all flesh shall see it together.” (Is 40:5)

Come, Holy Spirit, remove the scales from my eyes.  I invite you into my heart to show me what is a hindrance.  Come and bring Jesus, the divine Physician, to heal my wounds and open my eyes.  I will do my part by letting go and releasing the sin and control I cling to.  May I recognize the glory of Jesus as John did.

Scripture quotations are from The Catholic Edition of the Revised Standard Version of the Bible, copyright ©1965, 1966 National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.

Just a quick episode to announce our plans for this Lent!

What Do You Seek?  Walking with Jesus in the Gospel of John

We will be reading through the Gospel of John and sharing reflections written by Katie.  These reflections will start on Ash Wednesday and extend through the Sunday after Easter (Divine Mercy Sunday).  We will be releasing an episode every morning with the reflections in the show notes to read if you like.  If you would like to receive the reflections to your email inbox, you can subscribe to our email list at www.markandkatiemartinez.com.  

A Rule of Life is an “intentional conscious plan to keep God at the center of everything we do.” (Scazzero)  It is an important tool for growing in spiritual and emotional health.  The word "rule" comes from the greek word for trellis - the rule for your life is supposed to be something that supports you and helps you grow, not something constricting or defeating.  As such, it should be uniquely tailored to you.  We discuss what has worked and not worked for us for a rule of life in the past, and the four main pillars of a rule of life.  Pray about these pillars and how you can incorporate a rule in your life!

Pillars of a rule of life:

Prayer: Daily Office, Mass/Worship, Study, Silence...

Rest: Sabbath Rest, Play/Recreation...

Work/Activity: Ministries (unique to you!), physical exercise/taking care of the body...

Relationships: Emotional health, family, friendships...

Resources we mention:

Emotionally Healthy Spirituality by Peter Scazzero

Your Blue Flame by Jennifer Fulwiler

Thank you for your ratings and reviews! Contact us and sign up for our podcast and blog updates at www.markandkatiemartinez.com

"Love in practice is a harsh and dreadful thing compared to love in dreams." (The Brothers Karamozov by Dostoevsky)

Learning to love well in an emotionally healthy way is a big part of becoming an emotionally healthy adult.  Many of us are stuck "emotionally."  We may be an emotional infant, child, adolescent, adult, or have qualities of each of these emotional maturity levels.   It's important to be aware of where we are now, so that we can do the work of growing emotionally as God desires us to.  We need to grow from seeing the world and relationships as I-It, (we are the center of the universe, seeing the other person as an object for our own purposes) to I-Thou (we are each sacred and of equal dignity, therefore we see the other person as a unique "I" and we connect with them across our differences while still remaining our own "I.")   We took the quiz (linked below!) and we discuss what it looks like to be where we are emotionally, and how we can try to grow into the emotional adults God created us to be.  A big part of this is how we deal with conflict. Are we false peacemakers or do we see true peace?  Scazzero gives us practical ways to grow emotionally and resolve conflict in an emotionally healthy way:

1) Communication - learning to speak and listen in an emotionally healthy way

2) Stop Mind Reading!! Being willing to speak how we are feeling vulnerably.

3) Bill of Rights - what are our rules for relationships, how we will be respected by and respect the other person

4) Clarify Expectations - make them conscious, realistic, spoken, and agreed upon

5) Allergies and Triggers - be aware of the way past hurts come into our current relationships and be willing to share and heal (see our Episode in Season 1 - How Triggers Lead to Healing)

Resources we mention:

Emotionally Healthy Spirituality by Peter Scazzero

How Emotionally Healthy are You? Assessment

Thank you for your ratings and reviews!  Email us at [email protected], or visit our website at www.markandkatiemartinez.com.

In this episode, we're talking about securing the rope that guides us through the blizzards of life with prayer and rest.  In our busy, hectic lives, it's hard to take a stop and take a breath.  What we've learned is that ultimately, it's about trust.  Do you trust God to take care of things long enough to take a break?  This goes for during our days, when we need to build in those times to come back to the spring of living waters, and during our week, when we need to follow the rhythm of work and rest that God designed us for by taking a Sabbath rest one day each week.  We talked about the components that Peter Scazzero thinks needs to be included in the "Daily Office," the times to stop and pray during the day, and the components of Sabbath Rest. 

Four Elements for the Daily Office:

1. Stopping 

2. Centering (Calling to mind the presence of God.)

3. Silence

4. Scripture

Four Principles of Biblical Sabbath:

1. Stop

2. Rest

3. Delight

4. Contemplate

Discussion Questions:

1. What is your anchor?  Are you putting your trust in a false, moving anchor, or do you have firm anchors in place?  

2. How can you incorporate prayer into your day, keeping in mind the four elements?

3. Is there room in your life for Sabbath Rest?  What activities that are not life-giving could you let go of to make more room?  

4. What needs to change to make your Sabbath more restful and life-giving?  Is it a "day of preparation for the Sabbath?"  Or saying no to certain activities?  

Resources we mention:

Emotionally Healthy Spirituality by Peter Scazzero

Thank you for your reviews and ratings!  Email us at [email protected]

We all face limits and loss that we need to grieve.  Part of growing into an emotional adult is learning to grieve biblically and embrace our limits.  Unfortunately, many of us were not given a good example of how to grieve as we grew up.  We use defensive maneuvers to try to escape the pain, such as denial, minimizing, blaming others, blaming ourselves, rationalizing, intellectualizing, distracting, and becoming hostile.   Thankfully, the Bible gives us an example in grieving in the book of Job.  

The five phases of biblical grieving are:

1. Pay Attention

2. Wait in the confusing in-between

3. Embrace the gift of limits

4. Climb the ladder of humility

5. Let the Old birth the New, in God's time.

Resources we mention:

*As Amazon Associates, we earn on qualifying purchases.

Emotionally Healthy Spirituality by Peter Scazzero

In this episode, we continue our conversation on emotionally healthy spirituality with a very important topic: The Wall.  The wall is the emotional and spiritual block we all face.  It can be a time of doubt, dryness, or sadness.  It has been called desolation by St. Ignatius and the dark night of the soul by St. John of the Cross.   What's important to remember about the wall is that it is something we will all go through, as it is necessary for us to grow in our relationship with God and in our discipleship.   We can't control it, we can't pray our way out of it.  We must persevere in our faith, seeking to learn what God is trying to teach us, and let Him take us through it.  We trust that He will bring us through to the other side.  Do not be discouraged when you go through walls of your own.  It simply means that the Lord wants to grow in greater friendship with you - He is the potter, molding the hard clay of your heart to make it soft and pliable.  It can hurt, but He is always with you and always knows what is best for you.

Reflection Questions:

1.  Where do you feel like you are on the stages of faith?  (1:Life-changing awareness of God, 2:Discipleship/learning, 3:Active life, 4:Journey Inward, 5:Journey Outward, 6:Transformed in Love)

2.  Can you identify any "walls" that you have gone through in your life?  How did God bring you through them?  What did you learn from them?

3.  How can you prepare for future walls?  (Such as journaling about past consolations, developing a good prayer routine/foundation, etc)

As Amazon Associates, we earn on qualifying purchases.

Resources we mention: 

Emotionally Healthy Spirituality by Peter Scazzero

Another in the Fire by Hillsong United