The BreadCast

(2Sm.15:13-14,30,16:5-13;   Ps.3:2-7;   Mk.5:1-20)  “Many are saying of me, ‘There is no salvation for him in God.’” Today David’s sins rise to his neck, and he is persecuted for them.  But in accepting the persecution as chastisement from the hand of God, David regains his kingly stature, becoming once again humble and obedient to the Lord. David’s son Absalom has successfully led a rebellion against him among the Israelite nation under David’s command.  The king is forced to flee, and as he leaves, his son will lie with the wives and concubines he has left behind upon the same roof where David first spied the bathing Bathsheba.  How his sins come to visit him! But it is in mourning David flees Jerusalem and climbs the Mount of Olives – the hill upon which Christ’s own passion shall begin in the garden where He is taken by the sword.  David “wept without ceasing.  His head was covered and he was walking barefoot.”  Repentant is the king in remembrance of his sins and the punishment now come upon him.  And his sincerity he exhibits profoundly again, for as Shimei curses and stones him, though he is surrounded by soldiers he does not exact retribution or seek to stop him.  Despite the fact this kin of Saul has no right to act toward the king in this way, yet David is struck to the heart by the truth of his words: “Now you suffer ruin because you are a murderer,” and leaves all in the hands of God, responding to his soldier, “Suppose the Lord has told him to curse David; who then will dare to say, ‘Why are you doing this?’”  Open is David about the fact that even his own son is seeking his life, and so what standing can he expect to have with his enemies.  As he endures his trial, he hopes only it shall be purgatorial: “Perhaps the Lord will look upon my affliction and make it up to me with benefits for the curses he is uttering this day.”  And so he does not “fear the myriads of people arrayed against him on every side,” for he rediscovers his faith in God. And as the Lord casts out the legion of demons from the possessed man of Gerasene, so He shall purge David of his sin.  To whatever extreme our afflictions have grown, the Lord is present to save.  For if this man who could not be secured with chains, who “uninterruptedly night and day amid the tombs… screamed and gashed himself with stones,” could be found by a word from the Lord “sitting fully clothed and perfectly sane,” what have we to fear of all the devils who accuse us of our sins?  Jesus is mightier than them and there is no telling “how much the Lord in His mercy” can do when we fall on our faces before Him in homage.  True repentance brings salvation to all sinful souls. ******* O LORD, let us come from dwelling among the tombs to sit at your feet in peace. YHWH, though our adversaries be arrayed against us on every side, you are there to rescue our souls.  Though the devils press upon us and accuse us of our sins, you grant forgiveness… and bring us to our right minds.  O let us proclaim what you have done for us!  Though we have merited death, new life is ours in you. How great is the attack of our foes in this dark world, dearest LORD.  Do not sin and death rule in this forsaken place?  Does Satan not have great power to harm your servants?  Yet so much greater is your power, for you look with pity upon our afflictions and cross the sea to come to save us.  It is our sins that cause us to weep and mourn – but our sins you take from us and so free us from the chains of the evil one. The stones that shower down on our heads we accept as chastisement from your hand, knowing they shall bring cleansing of our guilt and that of others.  O LORD, we beg you to stay with us.

(1Jn.5:5-13;   Ps.147:12-15,19-20;   Mk.1:7-11) “God gave us eternal life, and this life is in His Son.”  How reassuring John is to us who believe – “I have written this to you to make you realize that you possess eternal life” – for how easily we can forget the grace that is ours “in the name of the Son of God.”  How sure he is.  How clear in his explanation.  How loving.  One has little reason to wonder why he was beloved of the Lord, for this love bleeds in all his words and leads us to that love of Christ that is eternal life. The Father’s witness has been given clearly, “You are my beloved Son.  On you my favor rests.”  Mark, too, makes certain that Jesus is the Son of God.  How can we forget the words of the Father?  And how can we forget the blood He has shed on our behalf, and the water that flows like baptism from His side?  “It is the Spirit who testifies to this, and the Spirit is truth.”  If you have the Spirit dwelling in you, you know this – it sets your heart on fire, and is indeed as the breath of life.  How can we know anything but eternal life when baptized in the Holy Spirit by the Lord? “He has granted you peace in your borders,” our psalmist proclaims; and in the Spirit we have only peace – nothing lacking rest can enter there.  And now “with the best of wheat He fills [us],” now that we receive His body in the Eucharist.  What bread indeed we eat!  Here is the bread of life.  We have His Word born in the Spirit spoken to our ears, and on His very presence we sup.  Such witnesses!  What more need we to believe? “Jesus is the Son of God,” brothers and sisters.  This alone you need remember.  When all else fails and darkness pervades, know that Jesus is with you and bringing you to life. ******* O LORD, let us be baptized in the Holy Spirit, and we shall have eternal life.       YHWH, eternal life you have given us in your only Son. Peace reigns in Him, and in us, if we believe in Him. As the Spirit descended upon your beloved One, so it descends upon those who believe in the Name of Jesus. Him you have sent us that you might give us yourself.      There is none greater than Jesus the Christ, nor shall there be. There is no one else for whom we need wait. He has come. He has died for us. Now He is risen and His Spirit is with us to guide us to all life. Help us, O LORD, to remember this; help us to hold on to the blessing you have provided in your only Son.      With the best of wheat fill us, O LORD, with His Body and His Blood; His flesh let us become. Then nothing shall disturb us; then our faith will make us whole. Then we shall hear your words pronounced over us that we are your beloved children. O let the Spirit fall upon us and remain with us! Let us be cleansed of sin and believe in your Word.

(1Jn.3:11-21;   Ps.100:1-5;   Jn.1:43-51) “We should love one another.”  In our gospel, “first [Jesus] came upon Philip” – whose name means “love” – and invited him to follow Him.  Love brought with him one in whom “there is no guile,” and he (Nathanael) declared openly to the Lord: “You are the Son of God; you are the king of Israel.”  And so we must all be of love, and be without deceit.  We must all “know that the Lord is God; He made us, His we are; His people, the flock He tends.”  The Lord must find us all at peace “under the fig tree” with consciences that have “nothing to charge us with.”  And great things wrought by the hand of God we shall see before our eyes. “The Lord is good,” and we must be like Him.  The Lord is of love, and loving as He does we pass “from death to life”: “The way we came to understand love was that He laid down His life for us; we too must lay down our lives for our brothers.”  How well John speaks of the love all need in our first reading today.  Here is the voice of a man, an apostle in the Spirit of Christ, who loves “in deed and in truth,” and since he does “not merely talk about it,” but lives it, his words are alive with that truth.  Love.  This is “the message [we] heard from the beginning.”  This laying down our lives is our guiding light leading us to the eternal life of heaven. And so we should “serve the Lord with gladness.”  We should “come before Him with joyful song.”  We should declare openly that He is God, as our love leads us to do.  His “kindness endures forever”; yes, His love is for eternity, and we must come to share in that great gift of love.  “The man who does not love is among the living dead,” but he who loves lives forever.  The world will hate us because it is not of love; but all the more we should be encouraged to love, to die to the hatred the world brings and find our place in peace under our fig tree with the Lord who is love itself. Let us love and be of love, brothers and sisters, and we shall live forever with our Lord and the angels of heaven. ******* O LORD, let us pass from the death wrought by this world to life with you in Heaven.  YHWH, may our consciences be clear before you; may we be of love and so be of you who are love.  May we be without guile, seeking only you and the peace you bring to our souls.  Then we shall praise you in joy forever, for then we will be your own. O LORD, let us be true to our call to love you and one another.  Let it not be only in words that we love but in truth, with our very lives.  If we do not act as your Son, how can we call you ‘Father’; how will we know you at all?  You dwell in ineffable light with the angels of Heaven, and only by love do we come to that light, only by laying down our lives as Jesus. LORD, let us know your goodness in our lives that we might enter your gates with thanksgiving for all the blessings we share with your saints.  In freedom may we bless your Name, you who look upon us with kindness.  To your side let us be guided by our desire to love.

(Is.35:1-10;   Ps.85:9-14,Is.35:4;   Lk.5:17-26)   “A highway will be there, called the holy way.”   Jesus is the highway; holy is He!  He is the stream that “will burst forth in the desert.”  It is He who “strengthen[s] the hands that are feeble [and] make[s] firm the knees that are weak,” that they might walk along His way.  It is He who forgives sins.  For “no one unclean may pass over” the safe path He makes in the wilderness of this world, and He wishes to “give His benefits” to all of faith.  “Near indeed is His salvation to those who fear Him.”   “Then will the lame leap like a stag, then the tongue of the dumb will sing,” prophesies Isaiah.  And Jesus says to the paralyzed man, “Get up!  Take your mat with you and return to your house.”  And what did the man do?  “He picked up the mat he had been lying on and went home praising God.”  “We have seen incredible things today!” the crowd exclaims in awe, for the great vision of the prophet Isaiah has come to pass before their eyes: before them is being set the path to paradise. “Hear what the Lord proclaims,” brothers and sisters: “Justice shall walk before Him, and salvation, along the way of His steps.”  Along His holy way “the redeemed will walk.  Those whom the Lord has ransomed will return and enter Zion singing, crowned with everlasting joy.”  All those forgiven their sins will enter their homes praising God.  Yes, the “desert and the parched land… will bloom with abundant flowers, and rejoice with joyful song.”  We once paralyzed in our sin, by His hand, by His word, along His holy way, shall walk once again. He has come.   “Here is your God, He comes with vindication; with divine recompense He comes to save you.”  In Him “kindness and truth… meet, justice and peace… kiss.”  In Him we are made whole by the breath of His mouth, by the words from His lips.  And now we have “a journey to make.”  Now there is a way to walk.  Let us remain upon this highway.  Let us preserve the healing He has brought to our bones.  Let us now live in faith with our Lord. ******* O LORD, tear down the mountains of pride and fill in the valleys of fear that we might come to you on straight paths.  YHWH, how shall our flesh see your salvation?  How shall we come to your glory, we poor, miserable creatures?  Only because you call us to redemption.  Only because you desire us to share in your heavenly majesty.  And only if we make straight the way for your Son to come into our hearts. O LORD, let us ever increase in knowledge of what is good and lasting, that we might be made pure and blameless for the day of Christ, that we might become as He is, blessed to be called your sons.  O let us give glory and praise to you for such a blessing! Restore our fortunes, dear God; may we who have been separated from you and sent into exile be brought back to your holy City, to your mountain.  As on royal thrones let us be borne aloft to gaze upon your splendor and glory, O King of all the nations.  Great things you have indeed done for us, for now our weeping is turned to joy and we enter your presence bearing great fruit.  Alleluia!

(Rm.11:1-2,11-12,25-29;   Ps.94:12-15,17-18;   Lk.14:1,7-11)   “The Lord will not cast off His people, nor abandon His inheritance.”   Today the gifts and call of the Israelites, which are “irrevocable,” are spoken of beautifully in our readings. Indeed, the majority of Jews rejected and even persecuted Jesus and His followers.  But as Paul tells us, the Lord has always and will always leave a remnant among them to maintain His covenant with them.  As Paul reminds us, “I myself am an Israelite.”  And of course so were all the apostles.  God has not rejected His people, for “God’s gifts and His call are irrevocable.”  The promise He has made to bless the Israelites stands to this day. Paul explains clearly the wisdom of God and how He works through the transgressions of the Jews to bring the Gentiles to salvation.  And how the Gentiles’ conversion and the grace poured upon them shall lead the Israelite people back to the Lord: “Blindness has come upon part of Israel until the full number of Gentiles enter in, and then all Israel will be saved.”  Yes, all Israel will yet be saved; they shall yet come flowing to the mountain of God, to His Son, and find redemption, and find the honor bestowed upon them; and by their turning, how much all His holy people shall be blessed!  “Judgment shall again be with justice, and all the upright of heart shall follow it.”  Alleluia! But there is another lesson for us today, and it, too, has to do with the quality needed by the chosen.  Jesus speaks of it clearly in our gospel, and it illustrates the difficulty the Jews have in coming to the Lord, and warns us against the same mistake.  Jesus comes to dinner “at the house of one of the leading Pharisees” and witnesses the guests scrambling for the best seats at table.  Quietly He speaks to them, gently He reminds them, that they are not called to exaltation of their own position, gifted as it may or may not be, but to humility before all, as He has indeed shown us.  How unlike our Lord, who though in the form of God humbled Himself to become human and even to die on a cross (without uttering a word), are they.  And here is the teaching of Christ: “Sit in the lowest place.”  The greater our call, the deeper should be our humility.  This emptying ourselves as has Jesus is an indispensable virtue for any Christian.  And only it will bring the Jew to realize the presence of Christ in his midst. And should we who have been grafted to the kingdom’s tree late in time boast of our gift, walk with haughty eyes in His house?  By no means, lest we be cast off by Him.  Let us rather treasure the grace the Lord has granted us, preserve His call within us, and make our election permanent, beneath the shadow of His cross. ******* O LORD, we shall not enter your reign until we are humble before you; your Son is ever present and so we must ever give place to Him. YHWH, you do not abandon your people, Jew or Gentile believer, but serve in your wisdom to bring all to salvation, if they but humble themselves before you.  For pride is the only thing that can condemn us, the only thing that can keep us from you and your merciful love; and so if you make your people to stumble, it is only for their good, only to see that they shall inherit your glory by their conformity to the humility of your only Son. There is a greater than all of us present here at our feast.  Should we not make room for Jesus, LORD?  And if we do not, if we clamor to take our place above your Chosen One, if we look upon the gifts and graces that come to us only through Him and use them as excuse to exalt ourselves above others, will not such conceit, will not such blindness to the presence of Jesus and His sacrifice for our sins keep us from sharing in His body and blood?  O let us enter your gates by taking the lowest place with your chosen ones.

(Rm.8:18-25;   Ps.126:1-6;   Lk.13:18-21)   “Hoping for what we cannot see means awaiting it with patient endurance.”   We cannot see the coming of the kingdom of heaven.  It comes so gradually; it rises imperceptibly, “like yeast which a woman took to knead into three measures of flour.”  It grows like the tiny mustard seed, which “became a large shrub and the birds of the air nested in its branches.”  A most fruitful reign is the reign of God, and well worth the wait.  As Paul says, “I consider the sufferings of the present to be as nothing compared with the glory to be revealed in us.”  But wait we must.  In hope we take our refuge.  And as we hope, indeed we suffer, for “we ourselves, although we have the Spirit as first fruits, groan inwardly while we await the redemption of our bodies.”  With the rest of creation we groan “in agony” for the futility to which the physical universe has been subject.  Yet hope have we, and it is this which gives us a sense of joy even as we wait so patiently. “Those that sow in tears shall reap rejoicing.”  Our psalm gives us a picture of the joy that awaits us in the redemption of the just in the kingdom of God as it describes the happiness of the exiles’ return from Babylon: “We were like men dreaming.  Then our mouth was filled with laughter, and our tongue with rejoicing.”  The knowledge of the Lord’s hand at work in the lives of these Israelites can only increase our hope, can only stir our faith that we too shall sing, “The Lord has done great things for us,” that we too shall “come back rejoicing” after this time of trial which is our stay here on this earth.  And the fact that we have the Spirit now as the first payment against the day of judgment and against the power of Satan in this dark world causes a sense of joy already in our bones, gives us even now a foretaste of the kingdom to come, and which comes to us indeed each day in every breath we breathe in His presence, and particularly in the food He leaves us to consume at the altar of His holy sacrifice. Yes, we have His Word at work in us even now, brothers and sisters.  Even as we speak (even as I write), the seed does grow into a tree, the yeast does cause the dough to rise.  Though it take time and we hope most for its fulfillment, yet it is with us even now in this blessed growth we experience in the sight of our God, in the blood of our Lord.  Our hope is not in vain, and the tears we shed now certainly nourish the growth of the kingdom within us and all around us.  Even in these does our hope find fulfillment.  Even in these tears do we taste surpassing joy.    ******* O LORD, let us hope in you always; your kingdom is rising in our midst. YHWH, in patience let us await the coming of your kingdom, for it shall surely come and is even now here within us.  When it shall be revealed to our eyes, our hope will be fulfilled and all our groanings answered.  We shall indeed rejoice in your presence on that holy day. Your Spirit is now planted in us as a seed of the kingdom, and though we go forth in tears doing your work in this dark world, we ever have the Spirit’s reassurance – the hope He engenders makes any sufferings seem as nothing.  For your glory, O God, shall soon be revealed in its fullness; it shall soon come to full growth and we will take rest in its branches.  O let us rise unto you! And so, with patient endurance let us wait, O LORD, for the dawn upon the horizon, for on the new day all Creation shall sing your praise, all its sorrow forgotten.

(Rm.4:13,16-18;   Ps.105:6-9,42-43;   Lk.12:8-12)   “All depends on faith, everything is a grace.”   Faith is our father; it brings us to life for it makes us children of “the God who restores the dead to life and calls into being those things which had not been.”  By faith we entrust ourselves into God’s hands and become as Abraham, who is “our father in the sight of God in whom he believed.”  “Hoping against hope, Abraham believed and so became the father of many nations,” and insofar as we believe, we become his children before God.  Indeed, it is through faith alone that we are born into His kingdom. And having faith, we must acknowledge its presence in our lives by witnessing to the Son of God.  If we are His disciples, as we must be, we will not hide His grace working in us but allow it to bear fruit in the profession of that faith before the world.  And so, as we “come before synagogues, rulers, and authorities,” as we stand before the face of this generation, as we do anything in this world, we must “not worry about how to defend [ourselves] or what to say.”  Jesus tells us, “The Holy Spirit will teach you at that moment all that should be said.”  And so by this trusting in Him we prove ourselves children of faith. This is the manner in which I produce this writing.  Trusting in Him as entirely as my faith allows, I am not concerned beforehand what I shall speak, what I shall write upon this page.  In the measure that I am a child of grace, I prove it by my allowing Him to speak through me at this moment and in His way.  This is what we must strive to do with all our work, in all our lives.  All our lives are founded upon this faith, and the Lord calls us in an ever greater way to express that faith, to live that faith, by consecrating all we think and do to His will and desire.  It is for us to but come into His presence, to remember He is here with us, and so to find His grace at work in our lives. We must be prepared and be preparing ourselves always to stand before Him forever.  As we place ourselves in His presence now, it is so that we die to ourselves and begin to live by His grace.  More and more we must trust in that faith which joins us to Him and makes us children of the promise which “holds true for all Abraham’s descendants… for all who have his faith.”  Faith alone will bring us to life, for faith alone brings us into the presence of Him who is life.  Enter His grace, brothers and sisters, and find it working in your life. ******* O LORD, if we believe in you, you will be with us. YHWH, you restore the dead to life and call into being those things which had not been.  And so, should we not put our faith in you?  And so, should we not proclaim your glory before men?  With a God such as you, what need we fear?  O let us live in faith and so be blessed! All indeed depends on faith, O LORD; it is our very life breath.  Everything is a grace from you who bring all things into being, and we must acknowledge that grace at work in our lives in order to join ourselves to you and that grace, and so find life itself.  Separated from you we shall but die, but as children of Abraham, as children of faith who believe in you and in your Son, we shall live forever. You are faithful and true to your Covenant with your chosen ones.  Let us trust in you, LORD,  and in your Spirit’s movement in our lives.

(Zec.8:20-23;   Ps.87:1-7,Zec.8:23;   Lk.9:51-56)   “Let us go with you, for we have heard that God is with you.”   God is with us, brothers and sisters.  And though all upon earth turn their faces from Him now, though in ignorance they reject Him and our preaching of His Word – there shall come a day when all nations find their home in Him.  In that day the Lord shall reign. As Jesus sets His face toward Jerusalem and His coming death at the hands of His own people, He passes through many towns and sends harbingers of His drawing nigh.  In today’s gospel we read of the Samaritans’, the dreaded “half-breed” of Israelites, rejection of His presence among them: “The Samaritans would not welcome Him because He was on the way to Jerusalem.”  And for this should they not be destroyed like Sodom and Gomorrah? request the sons of thunder, James and John.  But it is “only to reprimand them” that Jesus makes answer to such an idea.  Indeed, they reject the Son of God, but in this moment they certainly know not what they do.  Should they be any different than the Jews who will offer Him up for crucifixion or the apostles who will abandon Him? From the gospel we must take solace, brothers and sisters, when our words fall on deaf ears, when the Word of God seems not to take root in souls.  We are only emissaries of His Word, and that Word will bear fruit only in His time.  But, of course, at the same moment we mourn rejection, we must be buoyed by the vision delivered by Zechariah in our first reading and confirmed so wonderfully in our psalm, for in it is the Truth of the resurrection that follows the Lord’s crucifixion.  We are told that “the inhabitants of one city shall approach those of another and say, “Come!  Let us go to implore the favor of the Lord,” and that “in those days ten men of every nationality, speaking different tongues, shall take hold, yes, take hold of every Jew by the edge of his garment and say, ‘Let us go with you, for we have heard that God is with you.’”  Not only will they hear the Word of God, they will beg its presence in their lives!  For the Lord shall draw them inextricably to His mountain.  “And of Zion they shall say: ‘One and all were born in her; and He who has established her is the Most High God.’” Brothers and sisters, we dwell now in Zion; Holy Church is the New Jerusalem.  And hearts shall turn to her with longing – she shall find her treasured place here at the end of the age.  We need not fear or be anxious, for the day of the Lord shall come, when “all shall sing, in their festive dance: ‘My home is within you.’”  Continue on to every town, bearing His love.   ******* O LORD, all who desire the salvation wrought by Jesus  will be welcomed into your House.    YHWH, in Jerusalem let us make our home, in your holy Church.  To this House all nations shall come, for it is here you dwell on earth.  Heaven is indeed in our midst: you are with us.  And it is for you the heart of every man longs – O let us be born into your kingdom! Toward Jerusalem the face of your Son is set; it is always to this place He comes.  Here He dies and here He is raised, and here He dwells unto eternity….  In His blood let us be reborn.  In Him your glory is known among us, O LORD, for you have established Him forever as our Home.  Let us all come to Jesus in the New Jerusalem to implore your favor, O Most High God.  And let us bring all souls to these gates, that in glory they might enter in and find their place in Him.  His messengers let us be until the end of the age.

(Zec.8:1-8;   Ps.102:16-23,29;   Lk.9:46-50)   “The city shall be filled with boys and girls playing in her streets.”   “Even if this should seem impossible in the eyes of the remnant of this people, shall it in those days be impossible in my eyes also, says the Lord of hosts.”  Sometimes we lose sight of the kingdom of heaven.  Sometimes our faith fails because of the difficult circumstances in which we find ourselves.  Or sometimes our pride can be the obstruction, blinding our eyes to the presence of the Lord in our midst, speaking to us in the children who play all around us, who sit at His side… whose angels behold His face always.  Sometimes we lose hope and the promise of eternal life escapes us. But why?  Do we not know that the Lord “has regarded the prayer of the destitute, and not despised their prayer”?  Have we not experienced His redeeming grace many times in our lives?  Do we not believe Him when He tells His chosen ones: “They shall be my people, and I will be their God, with faithfulness and justice”?  Why are we so forgetful of His love for us and distracted by our situation?  For the Lord does “hear the groaning of the prisoners”; He does “release those doomed to die”; He does look down “from His holy height” and hear the prayers of us His lowly ones, if we but call out to Him. “I will rescue my people from the land of the rising sun, and from the land of the setting sun.”  At the center of the universe shall we dwell, “within Jerusalem,” with the Lord.  This is our promise.  And this is our call – to bring others within those gates, to invite all His children to enter His holy presence.  Not to look past them in blind ambition, but to set our hearts on serving Him by striving always and only to build up His kingdom even here on earth. Jesus knows our thoughts, brothers and sisters.  He knows how vain we can be in our ways.  And so He sets a child before us.  He shows us the lowliness we must know to enter the kingdom of heaven.  And He presents us with a challenge to gather His children there.  Indeed, heaven shall be filled with the laughter of children, but will we hear it – and will we find true reward by increasing it always in His Name?  Let your heart not fail or despair of any circumstances, for “the children of [His] servants shall abide, and their posterity continue in [His] presence.”  Ever maintain hope for the glory of Zion and see it rising in your midst.    ******* O LORD, may we be as children before you in your heavenly kingdom. YHWH, gather your children together as one in your holy City of Jerusalem.  In the peace of your presence let us dwell all our days.  We are greatly troubled here upon this earth.  Help us to turn and become as children that in innocence and humility before you we might remain.  Hear us as we cry out and look down with pity upon our poor souls. O LORD, let us be on your side; faithful and just make us, we pray.  O let us serve you in holiness that when you appear in glory we may enter your company and not be kept from you by our foolish pride.  You are our God; let us not be made blind to your presence. O LORD, let us hear the sound of children playing in your streets, and let us be among them.  If we could but humble ourselves, in your eyes we would find our place secure.  Release those who are doomed to die; with you let us dwell forever.

(Col.1:24-2:3;   Ps.62:6-7,9;   Lk.6:6-11)   “We admonish all men and teach them in the full measure of wisdom, hoping to make every man complete in Christ.”   It is Paul’s desire to see the nations “enriched with full assurance by their knowledge of the mystery of God – namely Christ – in whom every treasure of wisdom and knowledge is hidden.”  It is his desire for us all to be filled with this wisdom that is Christ, for it is his call from Christ to bring His Gospel forth to the eyes and ears of the whole world, to “fill up what is lacking in the sufferings of Christ for the sake of His body, the Church.”  And it is our call to join Him in such sufferings in Jesus’ name, that indeed His Word might come to its fullness, that indeed in such suffering we might find with Paul the joy of knowing “the mystery hidden from ages and generations past but now revealed to His holy ones.”  This “glory beyond price” is ours as we listen to His Word, as we follow in His ways. Jesus shows Himself to be the model teacher, the teacher of teachers, the Word itself, in our gospel today.  “On a sabbath Jesus came to teach in a synagogue where there was a man whose right hand was withered.”  For Jesus the synagogue was hostile territory, for the scribes and Pharisees “were on the watch” to “find a charge against Him,” to catch Him in His teaching.  Jesus does not turn away from the danger before Him but confronts them with the limitations of their interpretation of the teaching perhaps most dear to them – the command to keep the sabbath holy.  He would teach them the full meaning of this command; He would fulfill this wisdom before them, showing them that God does not preclude the doing of good for others on the sabbath, that this day made for rest is thus truly a day made for healing and that this day is therefore the best to come to Him for healing – for what does He wish for us but our healing, our salvation?  But being blind to the love of God and His desire for good and the good of all, they do not perceive His lesson, and make it instead a cause to “destroy” the Son of God. It is difficult to understand how these leaders of the people could become “frenzied” at the healing of one of their flock – how can this be evil to do on the sabbath?  But we must remember that blindness to the will of God is not the sole possession of these scribes and Pharisees.  It is a foolishness which is part of us all in our all-too-human thoughts and actions.  It is this blindness which the Lord calls us from; it is this wisdom known in Christ to which Paul would direct us all.  Let us join with him, with Jesus, in the “work and struggle” to bring God’s healing word forth to the hands and hearts of all.  “God is our refuge.”  Let us firmly “trust in Him” and in His wisdom, and we shall be made whole.    ******* O LORD, let us be whole in your sight by the sacrifice of your Christ. YHWH, in your Son every treasure of wisdom and knowledge is hidden.  In Him let us take our refuge, that we might be taught in fullness of your goodness, of your love for us, and come to share in that love with all your holy ones. O LORD, let us not harden our hearts against your work in our midst, against your Son come among us to lead us to you.  Let us not rather stay the path we travel in our blindness but recognize before the great mystery you reveal to us in the presence of your Son that we fall short of His glory because of our limited vision, and embrace the wisdom He holds out to us. O let us stretch forth our withered hands! that we might be healed of all the wickedness in our hearts and come to serve you and your Church as you call us.  In suffering for the sake of your kingdom may we find our joy with Christ; ever strengthened and united in His love, let us take our refuge in the glory He bears us.