The Book of the genealogy of Jesus Christ, the son of David, the son of Abraham (Mt 1:1).

Many may gloss over the long genealogy of names that follows verse one. Matthew certainly had a reason, Luke also had his, as did other ancient writers for compiling genealogical lists. Those reasons are interesting in and of themselves, but I wanted to key in on something basic we may miss if we quickly pass over Jesus’ bloodline.

Matthew placed the context of the incarnation of the Son of God in history, time, and place. Jesus belonged to a people. All of us, as human beings, have the same desire and yearning for belonging. Knowing where we came from, sharing stories of our families, of our culture, ethnicity, race, language, customs, celebrations, rituals, and religion, provide a place for us, provide stability and security. On the flip side, the more we lose the connectedness to our roots, the more we may feel adrift. The need to belong is primal.

Matthew shared and shares again for us in today’s readings the roots of Jesus’ genealogy, for they are our’s as well. He invites us to hear them again, to recognize our place in the same saga of salvation history. The Church chose this Gospel today as we remember and celebrate the nativity of Mary. All of the Bible, as a part of Sacred Tradition, is the story of Mary and our ancestors who encountered God and shared their stories. They passed them on, generation after generation, to provide for us a foundation, so we can know that we are never alone, that we have a place, that we are a people, we stand in solidarity with one another, that we belong.

Let us continue to show that solidarity through prayer and support for those already affected by Harvey and Irma, and those of us who may be affected by Irma tomorrow and in the days to come. In Jesus’ name, “Peace be still!”

Link for Mass readings for today:

http://www.usccb.org/bible/readings/bible/matthew/1:1

Photo credit:

http://www.luc.edu/dos/services/statementofsolidarity/

After he had finished speaking, he said to Simon, “Put out into deep water and lower your nets for a catch.” Simon said in reply,”Master, we have worked hard all night and have caught nothing, but at your command I will lower the nets” (Lk 5:4-5).

Faith is to trust in God and believe that what he tells us is true. On our own initiative and will power we are limited as finite beings as to what we can do. We can read an example if this in today’s account regarding how Simon had been fishing all night with no results. But when we follow God’s direction and initiative all things are possible. At Jesus’ command, Simon Peter follows and not only completes what he originally set out to do, he did so beyond anything he had imagined. He caught so many fish that the nets were tearing.

God’s initiative and grace enter our life daily as Jesus entered Simon’s boat. Do we have eyes to see and ears to hear and a willingness to listen and follow the initiative of Jesus? Remember the rich man who had followed all the commandments, but when Jesus invited him to sell all and come and follow him, he could not do it. Simon the magician saw the works of Philip, Peter, and John and wanted to buy the power of the Holy Spirit to heal but was rebuked. Turning away from Jesus’ invitation or seeking to manipulate Jesus for our own personal gain will not gain fulfillment.

We need to follow the example of Mary’s faith. She received the invitation of God to bear a child even though she did not understand how this could be since she had not known a man. She trusted, bore Jesus, not just any baby, but the God Man, the incarnate Son of God, Jesus the Christ. We need to follow such examples of Peter, James, and John, who in today’s reading said yes to lowering their nets, even though they did not see the point since they had been fishing all night to no avail, and were amazed at their catch. Then led by Peter’s humility and contrition, they “left everything” and said yes to following Jesus. They went on to announce the Gospel of the Lord and caught people for the Kingdom of heaven.

Are we willing to be caught by the Love of Jesus? Jesus calls us today to do little things with great love. He has a plan for us, as he did for Mary and the Apostles. He will give us the means to accomplish what he calls us to do. In that quiet place in our soul he is inviting us to follow him. We may not think what he is inviting us to do is possible, but trust him. “Do not be afraid!”

Our prayers continue to be with those who are already suffering from the effects of Irma in Puerto Rico and the islands of the Caribbean. As it continues on toward the Dominican Republic, Haiti, and Cuba, and turns toward Florida, may its course veer far enough away so as not to cause any significant damage to life and property. In Jesus’ name, “Peace be still!”

Link for today’s Mass reading:

http://www.usccb.org/bible/readings/090717.cfm

Photo credit from:

To Catch Uhu, Be an A‘ama: Traditional Hawaiian Fishing Methods

“But he said to them, “To the other towns also I must proclaim the good news of the Kingdom of God, because for this purpose I have been sent” (Lk 4:43).

Jesus himself present, fully divine and fully human, is the foretaste of heaven in our midst then, as presented in our Gospel reading, and today at work in us his Church. His work of preaching, teaching, healing, and casting out demons, shows the divinve flow of the Father’s Love being infused into our fallen human condition. Jesus came to restore that which had been lost and once he begins his mission he is ever on the go.

Through our Baptism we have been conformed to and indellibly marked by Christ, and for Christ. We are nourished by his Body and Blood in the Eucharist and were empowered through the laying on of hands by the bishop at our Confirmation. We have been divinized, made God through our pariticpation in the life of Jesus the Christ. We are to preach and teach the same Gospel, we are to be his healing presence, we are to make Jesus present to those in our midst, and yes we too are called to cast out all demons, negativity, fear and darkness. The weakest Christian is more powerful that Satan himself, for we are aligned and empowered by Jesus when we invoke his holy name.

Jesus did not travel very far during his three and a half year public ministry, yet his Word has reached all corners of the world. That is because of those who have encountered him, said yes to his invitation, and have been about building a relationship with him, and embracing the gift of the vocation they have been called to. We are called to the same mission of evangelization. Jesus invites us today to “proclaim the good news of the Kingdom of God.” Let us begin, let us be on our way!

Let us hold each other up in prayer for those in the path of Irma and those evacuating. “Peace be still!”

Link to today’s Mass readings:

http://www.usccb.org/bible/readings/bible/luke/4:38

Jesus returned to his Nazareth, as we saw in yesterday’s reading, and that did not end so well, with his fellow Nazoreans running him out of town (Lk 4:29). In today’s reading, Jesus was teaching in the synagogue at Capernaum. The initial reaction to Jesus’ teaching was similar in both accounts; the people were “amazed” and “astonished” with his teaching. But no one in either group makes the bold statement that arises today: “I know who you are – the Holy One of God” (Lk 4:34)! This phrase was professed by a demon. He who taunted Jesus.

From the very beginning of Jesus’ ministry the opposition was present. In Nazareth, the fallen nature of our humanity reared its head. His own people were unwilling to see beyond the ordinary Jesus they always knew. Wasn’t he just the son of Joseph, just the carpenter? Jesus was safe when he merely worked a quiet life, participated in the life of the synagogue, even when he returned from surrounding territories amidst words of praise, and even stepping up to read in the synagogue from the words of Elijah: he was the hometown boy making good. But once Jesus began to equate himself in the line of the prophets and share how God was working beyond the people of Israel, with his accounts of Elijah going to the Gentile widow, and Naaman, another Gentile going to Elisha, highlighting that God worked beyond the people of Israel, even his own had enough. Jesus had to go (Lk 4:29).

In today’s account, another source of opposition, is the taunting demon. Jesus rebuked him immediately and called him out of the man. Jesus would face time and again the fallen nature of humanity, disbelief, lack of faith, and the opposition of demons and soon the failure of religious and civic leadership. Sound familiar?

Where do we find our self in the scenes of Jesus’ ministry and teaching? There is a clear choice that Jesus proposes and that is we are either for him or we are against him. Saying yes to follow Jesus is a day to day commitment and we must be willing to face the same challenges that his disciples did. We need to be willing to face our weakness and own shortcomings, conform our lives to his will to see the darkness and sin within ourselves, be willing to ask for help and be willing to be healed, to acknowledge that demons do exist and play a role in the principalities and powers that influence our world. The harsh truth is that the closer we draw to Jesus, the more we experience his light, the clearer we see the dark influences that plague our world that we were blinded to before.

We need to believe in Jesus, trust in Jesus, spend time in prayer, in his word, and serving him in one another and stand strong against the temptations and darkness of this world. When we fall short, fail, as did the apostles, we need to follow, not Judas, but Peter: repent, confess our love for Jesus, and begin again. We need to hold one another accountable, support and lift one another up in love. Together, with our Loving God and Father, for he is at our right hand, we will stand firm (cf. Psalm 16)!

Readings for today:

http://www.usccb.org/bible/readings/090517.cfm

Photo Credit: Reuters Daniel Chan

He said to them, “Today this Scripture passage is fulfilled in your hearing” (Lk 4:21).

Jesus, who had just sat down, spoke these words to his hometown congregation in Nazareth who had just heard him read the passage from the writings of the prophet Isaiah. Jesus proclaimed that he was the one to whom Isaiah was talking about. Luke chose to place this event as the starting point of Jesus’ public ministry, of bringing glad tidings to the poor, proclaiming liberty to the captives, recovering sight to the blind, letting the oppressed go free, and proclaiming a year acceptable to the Lord (Lk 4:18-19).

This is a message of universal healing to all of humanity that restoration and reconciliation would come and Jesus would be the vehicle to bring us back into communion and relationship with his Father. The poor mentioned were not just in reference to those experiencing material poverty, but to those finding themselves on the margins of society, the outcasts, those on the peripheries. The captives were not only those imprisoned for debts or crimes, but those bound in the chains of their own sin and addiction. The blind were not only those who could not physically see, but those who experienced spiritual blindness of pride and arrogance. The oppressed, were not just of those under the iron fist of totalitarian and dictatorial regimes, but those pressed down through their own self imposed anxieties and fears.

In what ways are we in need for Jesus’ healing and restorative power? What is keeping us on the peripheries, apart from communion and fellowship? What sins and addiction keep us bound, what fears and anxieties keep us oppressed? Today we hear or read again Jesus’ words proclaimed in the Gospel. Jesus’ invitation for healing, for aligning with his ministry, the same words he spoke to his own hometown he is speaking to us. Will we remain blind and run Jesus out of our midst to hurl him over a cliff or come to him, kneel before him, and acknowledge our need for Jesus to be the Lord of our life?

Let us take some time today and examine our conscience. Then come to Jesus with a contrite, sorrowful heart for what he have done and what we have failed to do. May we feel his healing hands on our heads and the warmth of his love pouring through us to purge us of our sin and heal us from that which keeps us bound. Then let us ask him how we can participate with him in bringing about an “acceptable year of the Lord” (Lk 4:19).

If we seek the freedom to be proficient in anything, playing a sport, an instrument, singing, dancing, acting, writing, drawing, pursuing a career, having a healthy relationship, being married and a parent, we are required to make a commitment of time, discipline, and sacrifice. The process of mastery also requires a willingness to risk, and make mistakes.

In any of the above examples, and any you may think of, consistent time is needed each day. The most challenging part of any endeavor is beginning and making the time. Once we actually begin, the next challenge is the discipline to stick with the goal no matter the distractions and temptations that may dissuade us. This process also takes sacrifice, because to do anything means we are not able to do something else. During each step of the process we risk making mistakes, not doing it right, looking foolish. We experience frustration and impatience as we see ahead of us what we seek to accomplish, but the freedom to do just that seems so far out of reach.

Yet, with the persistence to time, discipline, and sacrifice, we begin to have brief experiences, a foretaste of the freedom of mastery. We lose ourself in the moment where we are not only able to play a series of chords, hit that note, make a move, nail a precision shot, or are involved in a communication of mutual understanding, we are one with those actions. From this context from our personal experience of life, we might have a better understanding of the demands of discipleship.

Then Jesus said to his disciples, “Whoever wishes to come after me must deny himself, take up his cross, and follow me. For whoever wishes to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will find it. What profit would there be for one to gain the whole world and forfeit his life (Mt 16:24-26)?

Those of us who seek to be his disciples need to invest our time, discipline, and sacrifice. This is the same as any other endeavor we seek to master. The difference is that developing a discipleship with Jesus is to be our first priority. All else flows from our losing our life in Jesus, mind, body, and soul. We can have all the power, prestige, fame, material gain, pleasure at the tips of our fingers, we may have gained the whole world, but if our fundamental option is our self and our own pride, we have forfeited our life. God is our fulfillment; nothing else can satisfy the deep yearning for communion with him that we experience in the depths of our soul.

Finding our life, being true to who we are, free of that which is imposed on us from without and within, is what Jesus means by taking up our cross. We are to let go of our identity, our masks of who we pretend to be, if we are to be free to live a life of integrity and authenticity. Jesus refused the identity of the messiah that others projected upon him. He was not to be a leader of power in the worldly sense, not a warrior king, but a suffering servant, a king of peace. He would go to the cross and take upon him the pain, suffering, and sin of the world, and face death head on, and conquer all. He did so that we might have life and have it to the full. As St Irenaeus is believed to have written, “The glory of God is the human being fully alive.” May we make the commitment to give our time, discipline and sacrifice in pursuit of discipleship with Jesus, to carry our cross and to lose our life in him. By doing so we will experience the freedom for excellence to be who we are called to be and experience the joy and fulfillment of being fully alive!

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Today’s Gospel Reading:

http://www.usccb.org/bible/readings/bible/matthew/16:21

“Then the one who had received the one talent came forward and said, ‘Master, I knew you were a demanding person, harvesting where you did not plant and gathering where you did not scatter; so out of fear I went off and buried your talent in the ground. Here it is back'” (Mt 25: 24-25).

I used to struggle with this verse of Jesus’ Parable of the Talents, because I related to, but sided with the the servant who buried his talent in the ground. What the servant did made senseto me, he kept his master’s talent safe and returned what he had been given. This practice of burying was considered a safe and acceptable practice in ancient Palestine when protecting someone else’s money. Also, at the beginning of the parable, there is no reference to investing the talents, though in the Gospel of Luke there is an explicit demand to “trade with these until I come” (Lk 19:13). What is Jesus saying to us?

Actually, Jesus in this parable, offers a microcosm of salvation history, the thread of which has been woven through all of Sacred Scripture from Genesis to Revelation. God, through his sovereign will, has consistently called, calls today, and will continue to call into the future a people to himself. In each age God has bestowed upon humanity his generous gift of grace, inviting us to receive and share in his very life, which is what we have been created for. This is a free gift, to be freely accepted or rejected. Once received though – no matter how little we choose to receive, we are directed to share what we have been given. Through a life lived of accepting, receiving, giving back to God and to one another, we are given even more through the promise of eternal reward.

In receiving the gift of God, himself, and sharing what he has given, ultimately his love, for God himself is Love, we not only mirror on earth, albeit dimly, but share in the divine communion of the love between God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit. To reject this gift, to receive some of the benefits and not to share it, we face the possibility of condemnation. We do so because in rejecting the gift of God himself or refusing to share even small aspects of himself we have been willing to receive, we cut ourselves of from the very life force and source of our being. If we are not connected to the vine, we wither and fade.

We can see this pattern emerge in this parable. The master gives his servants talents. To one he gives five, to another two, and to a third he gives one. All accept what they have been given. But differ in what they do. The first two double what they have been given, and the third buried what he had been given. Two have received and multiplied their talents, the one refused to and kept it to himself. The master returns, commends and rewards the two, then berates and even takes the little the one had been given and gives it to the one who had more.

The message of this parable is as clear as it is challenging. John P. Meier summarizes that, “Jesus is insistent; along with sovereign grace, serious demand, and superabundant reward comes the possibility of being condemned for refusing the demand contained in the gift. Indeed, one might argue that no aspect of Jesus’ teaching is more pervasive in the many different streams of the Gospel tradition, and no aspect is more passed over in silence today” (309).

God has created us, has loved us and creation into existence from the abundance of his grace. Will we continue to reject the gift of his love and invitation of communion? Will we receive just the minimal amount of our existence and limit ourselves and who we are called to be for our self and others because we would rather embrace the temptations of anxiety and fear? Will we resist the full expression of the gift God has given us, afraid to risk, to go out from ourselves to serve others? Or, will we appreciate the gift of our life and say thank you for the breath we breathe? Are we willing to expand the love we have been blessed with and received by being willing to share, to multiply our talents, to embrace who God calls us to love in kind, to will the good of others, whoever they may be?

I have lived the life of the wicked servant who buried his talent out of fear. I have embraced the sin of sloth and resisted opportunities to share what God has given me to invest. This is no path to fulfillment, but an experience of separation from the fullness of the One who wants so much more for me. To live a day to day existence adrift and dulled, is certainly not the way I hope to spend eternity. I still struggle with anxiety and fear at times but trust in the love of God and even in trepidation, and wobbly knees at times, seek Jesus’ hand and accept to be led by him. I have risked and fallen, made mistakes and duffed up time and again, but each year of life gets better and better and more fulfilling. We are not alone. What Jesus invites, gives, and yes demands us to do, he will at the same time provide the support and energy to carry it through to fulfillment. I leave you with the words of Jesus and St John Paul II who echoed them as he began his pontificate:

“Be not afraid!”

Mass readings from today:

http://www.usccb.org/bible/readings/090217.cfm

Meier, John P. A Marginal Jew: vol. 5, Probing the Authenticity of the Parables. New Haven: Yale University Press, 2016.

Photo credit: JoAnn Dube’

Picture from my first Mass as an ordained permanent deacon, September 7, 2013

“The foolish ones said to the wise, ‘Give us some of your oil, for our lamps are going out.’
But the wise ones replied, ‘No, for there may not be enough for us and you. Go instead to the merchants and buy some for yourselves'” (Mt 25: 8-9).

The above verse comes in the midst of Jesus’ The Parables of the Ten Virgins. The bride groom has been delayed in his coming so the ten virgins fall asleep. When they awake, five are prepared with oil for their lamps and five are not. From a first reading of this verse, we can be struck by the unwillingness of the wise not wanting to share their oil with the foolish.

The key to the lanterns being full or empty of oil had to do with the effort or lack thereof regarding those maidens involved.  All have been invited to the wedding feast, some are prepared and some are not. The oil in the parable may represent the invitation to relationship and discipleship with Jesus.

We cannot build a relationship with Jesus for others nor can others build a relationship with Jesus for us. No matter how full our lamps are, no matter how much of a blessing we find in our relationship with Jesus and our faith community, and no matter how we desire Jesus to have a relationship with our family members, friends, and colleagues, we cannot build that relationship for them. We cannot share our oil with them.

Also, if we do not have a relationship, or are resisting going deeper in discipleship, and we see others experiencing the joy, fulfillment, and fruits of a relationship with Jesus, and would like to have what others have, in the same vein, they can’t give us their relationship either. They cannot give us their oil. We need to be open to the invitation of the bridegroom, we need to be willing to develop a relationship, to do our part. Jesus could be knocking on our door, but if we do not open it and let him in, he will not impose upon our free will to refuse to answer.

Two examples may help to bring the point home. In Acts 8:9-24 there is the account of Simon the magician and in Acts 3:6 Simon Peter. Simon the magician witnesses the works of the Holy Spirit moving through Philip, Peter, and John. He offers Peter money to be able to do what they did and Peter strongly rebukes Simon. Money can’t buy love, nor can it buy the fruits of the Spirit experienced by those who have developed an intimate relationship with Jesus. In Acts 3:6, Peter comes upon a crippled beggar and states that he has neither gold nor silver, but what he did have he would give him: “In the name of Jesus Christ the Nazorean, [rise and] walk.” The man was healed and walked.

Simon the magician’s lamp was empty, because he spent years building himself up, putting himself first, and saw God’s grace as a means for his self aggrandizement. Simon Peter’s lamp had been filled with oil from having learned at the Master’s feet, having gone with him through the crossroads, the storms, his own failures, betrayals and humility and repentance.

The bridegroom has invited us to participate in the wedding. The time of his return is not yet, but we need to be prepared. We need to fill our lamps by being about the work of developing our relationship with Jesus and in the words of Mary, doing what he tells us! We can’t fill other’s lamps, but we can be present to others where they are, assist in their need, share our faith, offer to pray with and for them, invite them to fellowship, study, and worship. But when it comes to encountering and being open to developing a relationship with Jesus, that is between Jesus and the person invited.

Mass Reading for the Day:

http://www.usccb.org/bible/readings/090117.cfm

“Who, then, is the faithful and prudent servant, whom the master has put in charge of his household to distribute to them their food at the proper time” (24:45)?

Jesus is calling us to be that “faithful and prudent steward” and the household we are to serve is our own homes, churches, communities, states, countries, and world. For the world is our home and those we serve are our brothers and sisters. Jesus’ call is a universal call to solidarity. We are all united in this effort for and with one another because we are all brothers and sisters created in the same image and likeness of our loving God and Father.

God has created us, not as automatons or robots, or drone worker bees. He has created us as unique persons, one of a kind, distinct wonders that have never been nor will ever be again. While at the same time, we as this gift of diversity is not intended to be separate from one another, but God has created all of us to be interconnected, to be loved and to love. What affects one, affects all. Also, how we treat one another is how we treat Jesus.

Jesus clearly points this point out in his parable, often called the Judgment of the Nations, when he stated: “‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you drink? When did we see you a stranger and welcome you, or naked and clothe you? When did we see you ill or in prison, and visit you?’ And the king will say to them in reply, ‘Amen, I say to you, whatever you did for one of these least brothers of mine, you did for me’”(Mt 25: 37-40).

There are many areas to address from Jesus’ articulation of who we are to care for as faithful and prudent stewards, and for the remaining part of this reflection, I will focus on “When did we see you a stranger?” The stranger’s face can be seen in the over 65 million refugees and immigrants who are seeking refuge, safety, basic care and support from war, terrorism, government abuse, gangs, violence, human trafficking and more. Archbishop Thomas Wenski, diocese of Miami, points out that: “These 65 million men, women and children represent the greatest number of displaced persons since the end of World War II” (Wenski).

How do we even begin to address this crisis, including those displaced and dealing with the devastation of Hurricane Harvey? First and foremost, we need to see not numbers, but brothers and sisters in each face, not nations, but fellow human beings in dire need, not ethnicity, race, or religion, but Jesus in the exhausted eyes of each stranger. We need to pray how we can “give a visible demonstration of support for refugees and migrants” (Wenski). As think and pray about how we can help, Pope Francis is leading the way.

On September 27, Pope Francis will be launching a campaign of encounter called “Share the Journey”. Luis Antonio Taglehis, Cardinal Archbishop of Manila and President of Caritas Internationalis, wrote in a letter in late July that the “campaign proposes to look at the migratory phenomenon with “new eyes and an open heart,” to “dissipate the fear” of the people and to “understand why so many people are abandoning their homes,” (Droujinina). The U.S. bishops will be coordinating with “Catholic Charities USA and Catholic Relief Services, who have also designated the week of Oct. 7-13 a “week of prayer and action” in order to promote a culture of encounter to counter the culture of indifference” (Wenski).

May we have the humility to begin to confess those wounded areas in our being where we suffer from anxiety and fear, acknowledge that we have been unaware or indifferent, and/or even where we still harbor prejudice, intolerance, or bias. As we are forgiven, as we experience the love and mercy of Jesus, let us draw strength from him, begin to see the dignity present in one another, and begin to take steps to encounter and serve one another as brothers and sisters.

Special thanks to Elena Garcia and Jill Hanson for bringing Archbishop Wenski’s article to my attention, and for Archbishop Wenski’s leadership.

Gospel reading for today:

http://www.usccb.org/bible/readings/083117.cfm

Archbishop Wenski article in full:

http://www.usccb.org/bible/readings/083117.cfm

Marina Droujinina article about launch of Share the Journey Campaign:

https://zenit.org/articles/caritas-pope-to-launch-share-the-journey-campaign/

Jesus said, “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, you hypocrites. You are like whitewashed tombs, which appear beautiful on the outside, but inside are full of dead men’s bones and every kind of filth. Even so, on the outside you appear righteous, but inside you are filled with hypocrisy and evildoing” (Mt 23:27-28).

How many of us spend an inordinate amount of time regarding physical externals? Washing, makeup, the right clothes, the correct scents, teeth whitening, plucking, nipping, and tucking. How about time spent exercising through gym memberships, home exercise equipment, physical trainers, sports, stretching, running, or cycling. How about time spent towards a career through education, updating, professional learning, seminars, webinars, Linkedin and networking. There are other categories that I can add, and the point is that there is not anything necessarily wrong with any of the above in moderation and each in balance are healthy practices.

Though if external activities are all we are investing of our time and energy, then Jesus has a point. We may “appear beautiful on the outside” with great looks, a body that doesn’t quit, and a career to die for, but what is going on inside? Are we empty, unfulfilled, achieving goal after goal, yet feeling adrift or hollowed out? Do we have all the right social skills and etiquette down, know the right things to say in public, we have friends in the hundreds on our social media accounts, yet we feel alone and not a part of anything meaningful?

Worse yet, do we go to Church, say the right prayers, are active in ministry, we tithe, are members of boards, involved in the community, and doing some great works of charity, but when the door is closed, and no one is looking… what kind of “hypocrisy and evil doing” are we up to? I bet you’d like me to go back to Jesus chewing out the Pharisees, right now, wouldn’t you?

The above represent some of the extremes of external behavior, and I am sure much of us are more balanced in our lives, but we do need to take a good solid look at what time we invest and where we are focusing our energies. We need to examine our conscience regularly regarding a real assessment of the health of our relationship with God, family,  significant friendships in our lives, our vocation instead of occupation, and our service to those beyond our intimate circle.

Making time for prayer, study, worship, finding and living out our vocation, and service to others helps to build a foundation for developing the inside. Making time to rest, renew, and reflect on the core of who we are in the depths of our soul, getting in touch with who God calls us to be, leads to contentment and peace. Standing up for who and what we believe in, speaking what we believe with confidence and respect, while allowing others to do the same, leads to fulfillment and joy. With these points as our foundation then we are more apt to address the externals in a healthier, balanced way, such that we achieve a fuller experience of life, identity, and integrity.

The question is, do you want to spend time whitewashing the tomb, living life on the outside or conforming your life to Christ, and being transformed from within?