Prayfor2

It is better to give than receive. Do you remember where that is in the Bible? It’s a trick question – it’s actually a quote of Saint Francis of Assisi. But the concept is very much rooted in Scripture.

Listen to this from the book of Proverbs:

One man gives freely, yet grows all the richer; another withholds what he should give and only suffers want. A liberal man will be enriched, and one who waters will himself be watered.

And this from Saint Paul's second letter to the Corinthians:

Consider this: whoever sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and whoever sows bountifully will also reap bountifully. God made us for love and to love. We do that most effectively when we sacrifice self interest and become a self gift. Yes, it is enjoyable to receive gifts and to have our love reciprocated. Yet think back to your childhood and Christmas time, when you matured from wanting presents to the joy of watching others open your gifts. Cultivating a giving heart is at the root of a new life in Christ.

Let’s pray – Father of Grace and Mercy – you made us in love to love one another. Help us to recognize our unique gifts and talents, and plant within our hearts the grace to give those gifts to others in love, knowing it is truly better to give than to receive. Help us to sacrifice self interest and become a self gift, loving one another as you have loved us. Amen

There is a popular notion that most people go to heaven, yet Saint Matthew describes the path to heaven as a “narrow gate”, and that the road to destruction is wide.

And yet we know that God desires all to return to heaven.

In Saint Paul's first letter to Timothy, he says God, “desires all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth. For there is one God, and there is one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus, who gave himself as a ransom for all.”

This is echoed by John, “Christ died in expiation for the sins of the whole world.” No one is irredeemable. We also know God doesn’t punish those, who through no fault of their own, know nothing of Him.

Does Hell fit what we know of a just and merciful God? We know He gives us free will to choose the good of this world and the rewards that follow, or to choose the bad, with its raft of consequences.

Because of Gods tendency toward mercy, you could say that the only people in Hell are those that choose to be there, declining Gods loving invitation to heaven. If we don’t choose to accept his mercy and heaven, we may effectively choose Hell.

Let’s pray today for all Souls, but especially those that don’t know God, along with those angry or dispirited with Him. May the light of love and truth break into their lives. Let all choose true love and the eternal joy of heaven. Amen.

Why do Jesus and Saint Paul make such a big deal about those who followed the law versus those who professed faith? Because those following the law thought it was their works and actions earning them salvation instead of recognizing it as a free gift from God.

And yet, our faith must work in love, as Saint Paul shared in his letter to the Galatians. Saint James even went so far as to say that, “faith without works is dead.” It’s not faith or works that saves us, it’s faith AND works.

We can think about faith and works using another analogy of Saint Paul’s – running a race. Initially, we stand outside the racetrack. God gives us a free ticket to enter the race – a ticket we did nothing to earn, but that are free to accept in faith. Once we enter, we have to run the race, and run it well to keep the faith.

Let’s pray Saint Paul’s second letter to his student Timothy in hopeful anticipation that we run our race well, with our faith working in love.

“For I am already being poured out like a libation, and the time of my departure is at hand. I have competed well; I have finished the race; I have kept the faith. From now on the crown of righteousness awaits me, which the Lord, the just judge, will award to me on that day and not only to me, but to all who have longed for his appearance.” Amen

My son and I were filling out our March Madness brackets, and we looked up the odds of achieving a perfect bracket. A Duke math professor calculated the odds at 1 in 9 quintillion, which is 9 followed by 18 zeros. Would you believe that the odds of you existing are even more improbable?

A Harvard professor calculated the odds of your mother meeting your father at 1 in 20,000, and staying together long enough to marry and have children at 1 in 2,000.

Mom has 100,000 eggs and Dad produces 4 trillion sperm during their reproductive years, so the odds of the one egg and the one sperm meeting that resulted in you are 1 in 400 quadrillion.

Add that to the odds of your parents meeting and staying together, and your improbable existence is 1 in 1.6 septillion, or 1 followed by 25 zeros. Said another way, you are 170 million times more likely to fill out a March Madness bracket that to exist! And that’s only considering one generation!

Let pray today from Psalm 139, marveling at the miracle that each of our lives is.

You formed my inmost being; you knit me in my mother’s womb. I praise you, because I am wonderfully made; wonderful are your works!

My very self you know. My bones are not hidden from you, when I was being made in secret, fashioned in the depths of the earth. Your eyes saw me unformed; in your book all are written down; my days were shaped, before one came to be. Amen

Today, I’d like you to impart a sense of urgency around both forgiveness and the sacrament of confession. Too often, we choose to dwell in unforgiveness and unforgiven sin. Jesus was clear about reconciling quickly in the Gospel of Matthew…

You have heard that it was said to your ancestors, ‘You shall not kill; and whoever kills will be liable to judgment.’ But I say to you, whoever is angry with his brother will be liable to judgment, and whoever says to his brother, ‘Raqa,’ will be answerable to the Sanhedrin, and whoever says, ‘You fool,’ will be liable to fiery Gehenna. Therefore, if you bring your gift to the altar, and there recall that your brother has anything against you, leave your gift there at the altar, go first and be reconciled with your brother, and then come and offer your gift.

While recognizing forgiving and asking for forgiveness are hard, reconciling quickly is part of healthy Divine psychology. We should act with the urgency we do when our car is about to run out of gas. Commit to confession as soon as fall you into serious sin. And forgive others quickly, especially when you don’t feel like it – it is healthier for you and for the other person.

Let’s pray – Loving Father, help us to tap into your forgiveness in the Sacrament of confession, and help us to emulate your unyielding mercy by forgiving others quickly. Before we bring our gifts to you, let us to go first and be reconciled. Amen.

Following the daily readings of the Church a part of your daily prayer effectively makes you a member of the world’s largest book club. No matter where you go in the world, in solidarity you would hear the same readings on any given day.

Like a good detective novel, the daily readings of the Church show the ties between the Old and New Testament. The Old Testament is peppered with clues of a coming Messiah who will save the world, which we see fulfilled in the New Testament by the coming of Jesus Christ, the son of God.

The daily readings of the Church also allow you to read nearly the entire bible over three years, and do so in context. It is truly one of the most underappreciated gifts of the Church.

Scripture? All of scripture is divinely inspired and fruitful for teaching? Word of God sharp like two edged sword, separating Bone from marrow?

Let’s pray – Father of grace and mercy. You sent your Holy Spirit to inspire the authors of the scriptures, and the Church to discern the bible. Help us to appreciate the genius of the daily readings – the world’s largest book club - in coming to know, love and serve you more effectively. Amen.

Seven is a sign of perfection in the bible, and the seven words in Psalm 46:10 might be a perfect prayer.

Be still and know that I am God.

Let’s pray this in a new way today, beginning with the first word, and building from there.

Be…In a world that emphasizes doing, Lord help me simply be, so I may dwell in your grace, your mercy, your love.

Be still…Heavenly Father – You speak most clearly in silence. Help us quiet the noise, that we could hear your still small voice.

Be still and know…You are the Father of Wisdom – give us eyes to properly apply the knowledge of the true, good and beautiful in discerning your will.

Be still and know that I AM…You described yourself to Moses as the great, “I AM.“ Inspire in us a renewed sense of awe and wonder of you as our Divine Creator.

Be still and know that I am God…Father of grace and mercy, you are love itself. We thank you for every good grace you afford us – help us to shine the light of your love into the world. Amen.

Imagine being torn in half. If we believe scripture, that is precisely what happens during divorce. Because a man and woman are brought together in the sacrament of marriage and become one flesh, the act of divorce tears that one flesh in half. Divorce is not a separation. It is a mortal wound to what God has united together. And it’s why we grieve a divorce like we do a death – because it is a death.

Listen to Jesus in October 7th’s gospel from Mark, with special attention to the one flesh of marriage.

“The Pharisees approached Jesus and asked,

"Is it lawful for a husband to divorce his wife?" They were testing him. He said to them in reply, "What did Moses command you?" They replied, "Moses permitted a husband to write a bill of divorce and dismiss her." But Jesus told them, "Because of the hardness of your hearts he wrote you this commandment. But from the beginning of creation, God made them male and female. For this reason a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh. So they are no longer two but one flesh. Therefore what God has joined together, no human being must separate."

Let’s pray - Father of Grace and Mercy – please give us a new reverence for marriage. Help us to honor that it is you that unites a man and a woman together, and respect the one flesh the sacrament creates. Amen

Pray For 2 offers a two minute prayer reflection on the daily readings of the Church. Listen to them anytime at Godislove.blog, or on the Redeemer Radio app

Disquieting. It’s the best word I can come up with to describe the effect the abuse crisis has had on my faith. Sin should disquiet us. It’s a rupture to the natural order of the true, good and beautiful. And yet it shouldn’t disquiet it so much that we lose our faith. Jesus created the Church to perfect love and truth, but uses imperfect souls to convey them. And In the calculus of the Church, grace outmatches the productivity of sin. We know how the story ends – love wins.

Listen to this reading from Paul to the Romans

“If, because of one mans’ trespass, death reigned through that one man, much more will those wo receive the abundance of grace and the free gift of righteousness reign in life through the one man Jesus Christ…For just as through the disobedience of one person the many were made sinners, so through the obedience of one the many will be made righteous. The law entered in so that transgression might increase but, where sin abounds, grace abounds all the more, so that, as sin reigned in death, grace also might reign through justification for eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.”

Father of Grace and Mercy – We stand disquieted by the abuse crisis within the Church. As unsettled as we are, please help us stand in the grace of faith. Remind us that where sin abounds, grace abounds all the more. And help us be a channel of that grace. Amen.

Pray For 2 offers a two minute prayer reflection on the daily readings of the Church. Listen to them anytime at Godislove.blog, or on the Redeemer Radio app

I have to do something. After the initial grief and anger felt upon hearing of the coverup within the abuse crisis, I knew this was our call to action. The lay people of the Church can no longer sit back.

Each of us, as members of the one body of Christ - the Church – have a particular role. Each of us has specific gifts and talents that we are supposed to be using for the good of the whole, and God is prompting you now to use them. Whether that’s intercessory prayer, counseling victims, serving on an lay oversight board, writing letter to the editor - you are called to do something.

Listen to Saint Paul explain this critical role in his first letter to the Corinthians:

“…so that there may be no division in the body, but that the parts may have the same concern for one another. If [one] part suffers, all the parts suffer with it; if one part is honored, all the parts share its joy. Now you are Christ’s body, and individually parts of it.”

Father of Grace and Mercy – The abuse crisis is a stark wake up call to the laity within the Church. Help us to prayerfully discern the role you are calling us to, and fill us with the grace to act on it. Lord, haunt us until we do – for the victims, for all of the good and faithful clergy, and for the unstaining of the good news of the Gospel. Amen.

Pray For 2 offers a two minute prayer reflection on the daily readings of the Church. Listen to them anytime at Godislove.blog, or on the Redeemer Radio app