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Readings for Catholic mass

Monday, Second Week of Advent

~ Retired Bill ~ Leave a comment

Scripture Readings for December 11, 2017

Isaiah 35: 1-10, Psalm 85:9-14 and Luke 5:17-26

Once again our first reading from Isaiah, indeed all of Advent, gives us an image of what will happen when God comes: the weak will be strong, deserts will run with water, the blind will see. It is probably best summed up in saying, God comes to save us.

The Gospel from Luke gives us a concrete example of that happening. A paralyzed man is brought to Jesus and Jesus forgives his sins and heals his paralysis and the man walks home. By any standard, this is God saving his people.

Luke is trying to say one thing. Jesus is God present among us. That’s the message. As Christians, of course, we all believe that.

So what’s the message for us, we already believe Jesus is God’s presence in the world. I think our issue is that Jesus, the person who lived in Nazareth, isn’t here anymore. That makes it harder to operate as if God were here saving us today. That, however, is exactly what being Christian is all about, living out of the belief that God is here saving us today just as Jesus demonstrated 2,000 years ago. That is the point of what we can the Incarnation. You know, what we popularly call Christmas. The outrageous notion that God would become one of us, live a human life and suffer the same way people do. Why would God do that? Christian doctrine says God did that to make it clear that God lives here with us as part of everything, including death, and not far away in some distant heaven.

If that’s true then life should be dramatically different. As Isaiah says, people who are afraid will lose their fear, the lame will walk, flowers will bloom in the desert. An interesting example is in today’s Gospel. Things are dramatically different here. A man, who in the story doesn’t say a word, has his sins forgiven, his paralysis cured and he gets to walk home.

The thing that has always struck me about this story is Jesus’ response to this man being dropped through the roof right in front of him. The first thing Luke describes is, “Jesus saw their faith.” The narration explains the group of men couldn’t bring the paralyzed man into Jesus because of the crowd in the building. So they have to go up on the roof and lower him through the tiles. In this very elaborate physical work Jesus sees their faith. We often think of faith as a spiritual exercise, saying yes to beliefs. But here faith is connected solely to the physical task these men did. Additionally, it isn’t even the faith of the man on the stretcher because when Jesus addresses the man on the stretcher, “as for you” he is separating the paralytic from his observation about “their faith.” This is important because it says the paralytic’s sins were forgiven because of the work, the action of faith, performed by the men, who got him into the room.

This is a rather amazing intertwining of spiritual and physical issues, as well as the connections between us all. It is, for me, an example of how God actually lives in the reality of the world. It says that what happens, or not, each day in our world is an expression of Spirit not just day by day mechanics. Why should we think that a physical explanation of a given situation excludes the spiritual reality of God’s presence? For example, we know very well that doing something nice for another person can help that person feel better. You could say it lifts his/her spirits.

Our lives should be dramatically different if we act on the faith, the trust that God is part of our present reality. In Luke, a group of men brought a paralyzed man to Jesus and he was healed body and soul. What person, what relationships, what attitudes, what else that needs healing should we be bringing to the Savior through how we live?

Memorial, St. Ambrose

~ Retired Bill ~ Leave a comment

Scripture Readings for December 7, 2017

Isaiah 26:1-6, Psalm 118:1, 8-9, 19-21, 25-27, Matthew 7:21, 24-27

There was a time when I really didn’t like Jesus’ statement in Matthew about heavenly reward as available to “only the one who does the will of my Father.” It felt a lot like lock-step obedience which didn’t sit well with me. Lock-step obedience still puts me off but I’ve come to realize that is not what is being presented here. This is about responding to an offer of love, insight and wisdom. Today’s readings assume you already understand that God has made the first move. God unconditionally offers love and care and the historical Jesus tried to convey that reality emotionally by the way he lived his life and intellectually by the rather striking and clever parables he told. So there’s an offer on the table. The question is, are we going to accept it? Accepting it means putting into practice what we know about how God operates. God asks that we try to do what God does, live a life that gives to others, open caring based on who we are, giving what is ours to give. If we do that then we will be on solid ground. If we don’t we’ll discover that there isn’t any other real solid ground to stand on. All the rest is illusion, sand that can be washed away by any of the storms in life. So this isn’t about lock-step obedience it’s about being willing to discover where truth and justice live.

As the reading from Isaiah says, it all begins with trust.  Do we, in fact, believe in a God that offers good things, care and protection? This is clearly not obvious to many people. It takes more than readings from the bible to provide the basis for this view of life. It takes the experience of love and care to foster this view. It’s also why living a life that is caring and loving has such a concrete effect on our little part of the world. It’s why paying it forward makes such a surprising difference for people. It’s what we celebrate when we talk about saints, whether it’s St. Ambrose, St. Francis or Mother Teresa. These people decided to devote their whole lives to paying it forward. They felt such a strong love from God that they wanted to share it with others, especially those who weren’t getting it from anyone else.

For us, if we believe we have been blessed by God, the question is will we respond to what we have been given? It probably doesn’t mean rebuilding the Church, going to foreign lands or feeding street people. It does mean paying it forward to others who may not expect or even deserve our generosity or love at that moment. Those moments occur all the time in families, with friends and colleagues. My own challenge is while driving. I think people should follow the rules of the road, when they don’t, I’m not very good at being generous. No doubt there are situations in which you are less likely to give way or turn pleasantly helpful. There are, of course bigger issues than facing our daily frustrations but there is no better place to start. It’s a way to begin to look at who we are in all that we do. Do we trust enough that God is with us to act justly, give generously and love unconditionally in real everyday situations? Not so much when some charitable organization needs a donation but when we are challenged, when there’s a risk, a cost to giving something of ourselves to others. Our first reading from Isaiah says that if we are willing to do that, then God will be with us and peace will be the result.

Wednesday, First Week of Advent

~ Retired Bill ~ Leave a comment

Scripture Readings for December 6, 2017

Isaiah 25:6-10a, Psalm 23:1-6, Matthew 15:29-37

Today’s readings are about God’s loving care for us. The Gospel from Matthew summarizes it best, “They all ate and were satisfied.” Isaiah has God not only feeding people rich food and choice wine but God destroys death and so wipes the tears from everyone’s face. These are the images of the messianic banquet where all our needs are met. It’s the time we wait for in Advent.

I am struck by the sheer, over the top, abundance described in these readings. Isaiah doesn’t just say that God will provide rich food and choice wine he has to repeat in more lavish terms that this is, “juicy, rich food and pure, choice wines.” He reveals God’s empathy for the fear all people have of death and makes the removal of that fear a touching moment in which God wipes the “tears from all faces.” I think this is definitely the God “for whom we looked.” It is a God who protects us, takes away our fears and gives us more than we had expected.

Today’s Psalm reinforces this idea. It is the famously quoted Psalm 23, “The Lord is my shepherd,” which describes God’s soothing presence, one who is a guardian in time of fear, a provider of rich and extravagant blessings so that “only goodness and kindness follow me all the days of my life.” Who could ask for more than that? This is the gratitude of one who lives “in the house of the Lord.”

Finally, we have Matthew’s story of Jesus on a mountain near the Sea of Galilee. This too is a story of gift and abundance. Jesus cures the sick and in so doing amazes the crowd. It is a description reminiscent of the healings that Isaiah uses to describe the time of God’s reign. Yet Jesus not only cures the lame and the blind but he sympathizes with their simple but essential need for a meal. Not only does he eliminate many of the severe and future killing major calamities of their lives with physical healings but then turns around and serves them a meal. Who acts like this? The message in these readings is clear, God does.

I think we have to take these readings seriously. If Advent is to mean anything then we have to consider that these readings tell us something about how God operates towards human beings. I want to set the challenge of evil in the world aside for the moment and just absorb the gift of these readings. Here is a message of love so clear, so strong, so plainly sincere that we need to be sure we don’t dismiss it. That we don’t write it off as irrelevant to our daily lives or a nice description of what heaven must be like. This might have been an idyllic messiah story for Isaiah or the Psalmist but when Jesus lived in this world the whole thing changed. A real human being, who was later killed, brought God’s generous, caring gifts into ordinary people lives and the world has not been the same since. Stuff changed. History was effected by Jesus, his disciples and all the myriad believers, heretics, thinkers and peasants who lived and struggled to live up to what they thought Jesus was all about. We need to embrace the love and active generosity of God. It is affecting to accept that God is trying to give us a life of happiness and joy. That is what Advent asks us to do, look ahead, see what is possible, and be willing to welcome the gifts.

Tuesday, First Week of Advent

~ Retired Bill ~ Leave a comment

Scripture Readings for December 5, 2017

Isaiah 11:1-10, Psalm 72:1-2, 7-8, 12-13, 17 and Luke 10:21-24

Today’s first reading is all about the coming of the future king and his reign. Isaiah is the ultimate Advent reading. It is the basis of Advent, telling us what is to come and what to look for. If we have mistakenly romanticized Christmas into a season of gift giving and family get-togethers, Isaiah reminds us that we are waiting for a completely different world, a paradise of peace and joy.

In terms of Advent we are still waiting for something that we think has already taken place. We treat Advent as routine, part of getting ready for Christmas. However, Advent is asking us to wait for something much bigger; not bigger than Christmas properly understood but bigger than our usual operational understanding of Christmas. Advent and Isaiah want us to see a new world that looks like Eden, a paradise. It is a world where calves and lions walk together, where children play with once deadly snakes, where the poor are treated fairly and there is “no harm or ruin” on the earth. That is the world we are looking for.

Yet in Luke’s gospel Jesus is telling his disciples that they are already seeing what the prophets wanted to see. They have just returned from their mission to spread the Gospel and they have been wildly successful, even casting out spirits. They have participated in knowing God, they have taken part in revealing God’s kingdom. However, for us, two thousand years later, this anticipated heaven doesn’t appear to be present. God’s reign is not yet. So how is Isaiah’s prophesy and Luke’s gospel helpful for us today? What message can we take away?

It is an understanding that Jesus is both the media and the message. His existence is what we need to know about ourselves and our relationship with God. When Isaiah talks about all the gifts of the Spirit that will be given to the expected Messiah, to Jesus, he is revealing what is available to all of humanity. This is also what Jesus is thanking his Father for in Luke, when he says, “you have revealed these things to the childlike,” i.e. to ordinary people, to everyone. That’s what Jesus is also saying to his disciples, when he says they are blessed because they can actually see what Jesus, the Messiah, is doing and as a result they are in a position to do the same thing. Kings and prophets before Jesus only thought in terms of a future possibility, an imagined future in which they hoped to see God act in their world. However, that’s what the disciples actually have in front of them, the living expression of God in the world.

If we believe that’s true, that the person Jesus is God operating in the world, then we are also in a position to live that reality. To spread that way of living, to act out of that love and presence which is available to us in the Spirit. No, the world is not the idyllic paradise we might imagine. Yet when and where people have lived the life of love and care for others, their piece of the planet has been changed. You know the famous examples: Dorothy Day, Mother Teresa, Thomas Merton, and the many official saints. You also probably know people you admire who have changed their part of the world, people who have made a difference. These are happy, enthusiastic, devoted people who recognize the gift they have and share it. That’s something we can all do and it can make a difference to this world’s day to day reality.

Monday, First Week of Advent

~ Retired Bill ~ Leave a comment

Scripture Readings for December 4, 2017

 Isaiah 2:1-5, Psalm 122:1-9 and Matthew 8:5-11

We have just begun Advent so when I heard the last line from Isaiah, “let us walk in the light of the Lord,” I thought it said exactly what we need right now. The earlier part of Isaiah says what walking in the light of the Lord is all about: putting aside hostilities, getting along with everyone and doing what God says is the right thing. It is behavior attuned to the divine that yields the peace of the Lord and builds a City of God.

The most concrete example in today’s readings is the behavior of the centurion. This man is a Roman army officer, he’s in charge of 100 men. In this time and place he could have anything he wants. He has real power over not just his soldiers but could force his will on any of the locals he chose. Yet he comes to Jesus not only respectfully but humbly. He is also apparently aware of the fact that if a Jew entered a Gentile house they were considered ritually unclean.

The centurion asks as one without power or privilege. However, he asks confidently believing that Jesus doesn’t even have to enter his house to do what he wants. This is how the centurion walks in the light of the Lord. He asks out of his concern for his servant who is paralyzed and suffering at home. He asks with no other qualifications. I think that is often hard to do, to come before God, leaving status, privilege, and one’s attitude behind. To ask out of our concern alone trusting that God can accomplish what is needed.

Our Psalm today is all about having peace and prosperity. Living in God’s city. Jerusalem is meant to be the image of what we would call heaven. I want to suggest that heaven shouldn’t just be an image we have of our life after death. But rather we must consider that Jesus and Scripture are trying to tell us something about what God wants for us here and now. Especially if you consider that most of what makes up our peace and prosperity comes from within.

The Psalm is very explicit about this when it says, ‘Peace be within you.” I think that the image of Jerusalem may well be the ideal of how changing our attitudes could change who we are and how we deal with the world and all the everyday issues that aren’t very peaceful. What if we approached life as humbly as the centurion? What if we were willing to hear what God is saying to us and were willing to accept the paths God lays out before us?

This is one of the first days of Advent, a time in which we wait for the light of Christ to be born into the world. Perhaps it’s time to consider that the birth this year could well be within us. We too can walk in the light of God and experience a birth that comes about when we, like the centurion, humbly ask for healing from whatever suffering has harmed part of our lives. Maybe then it will be easier to see and hear what God is doing for us. “Let us walk in the Light of the Lord.”

Presentation of the Blessed Virgin Mary

~ Retired Bill ~ Leave a comment

Scripture Readings for November 21, 2017

2 Maccabees 6: 18-31, Psalm 3:2-7 Luke 19: 1-10

Today’s Gospel is about how Zacchaeus, a very rich man, forgets about his wealthy trappings and climbs a tree just to get a look at Jesus and then is changed when Jesus comes to his house. It is a story that says if Jesus comes to stay with us anything is possible. Even rich people will become generous. It says salvation is the work of God.

So maybe we should look at the first reading to see what it might tell us and perhaps it will add something to the Gospel story. The reading from Maccabees is very focused and detailed. It tells us about one incident in the life of one man. Eleazar, an old man and a scribe, is asked to eat the pork of a pagan sacrificial offering. He is respected and a friend of the king’s officials and they give him a way to get around the king’s rules. They offer him a way out … bring some of your own meat and pretend it is from the sacrifice. Eleazar however understands how pretending to comply compromises everything he stands for. To pretend to eat the forbidden meat although not actually doing it is to say that the king’s rules are more important than what God asks.  It sounds like a clever legal maneuver. Look like you’re complying but don’t actually do what is being asked and therefore satisfy your conscience while giving the larger society what it demands, the appearance of compliance.

His friends are trying to help but they don’t understand the deeper issue. For Eleazar’s friends it’s only appearance that counts. So if you look like you’re doing the things others expect then even if you’re actually doing something else, who cares?  I think we see a lot of this today. Public figures in sports, politics, and entertainment seem to only be concerned with appearances. What records they can break, whether they are elect-able, what the press says about them, that is what counts not their actual behavior or positions or values. Each situation seems to be guided solely by how much a person can get away with. Clever words and phrases seem to do a slight of hand. They spin the facts. Public behavior like that suggests we would be foolish not to act the same way.

It is here that I think we can connect with our friend Zacchaeus. Zacchaeus the rich man was changed by having Jesus come to his house but Zacchaeus showed who he was long before Jesus actually came to his house. Zacchaeus, the rich tax collector, certainly didn’t worry about what people would think when he started running ahead of the crowd and enthusiastically climbed a tree. Zacchaeus acted on something that called him to discover what was new with this Jesus. Zacchaeus, like Eleazar, wasn’t constrained by what his friends in high places would say. He wasn’t guided by appearances. He didn’t have to give up his life like Eleazar but he was abandoning any pretense of reserve or wealthy position or even ordinary decorum Zacchaeus went with his heart, his excitement. His unabashed eagerness took him to a new life. In much the same way, Eleazar’s enthusiasm for God took him to a new life.

We may never be asked to give up our life as a sacrifice to be Christian but we may have to reveal and act openly on the commitments we have and the values we hold. Let’s pray we can break from the crowd and climb whatever it takes so we will be able to see what life is asking of us.

Wednesday, Third Week of Advent

~ Retired Bill ~ Leave a comment

Memorial: St. John of the Cross

December 14, 2016

Isaiah 45:6c-8, 18, 21c-25, Psalm 85:9-14, Luke 7:18b-23

All our readings during Advent have had elements of what the Reign of God, the time of the Messiah’s coming, would look like. However, today’s readings step it up to the next level. Salvation and the Messiah are central to what we hear.

As a result I felt a bit overwhelmed with the myriad of images in Isaiah, the Psalm and Luke. However, let me start with Jesus’ response to John’s Messiah question of whether he is “the one who is to come?” I have often wondered why Jesus’ response wasn’t, “Yes, it’s me, you don’t have to look anywhere else.” I mean why not be plain and open about it. Of course, it’s a way for Luke to say something important about how people come to believe in Jesus. Faith isn’t a set of facts about Jesus or God for that matter. Faith is a relationship of trust and it must begin for John in the same way. Jesus message for John is to look at what he can see: the healings, the good that is being done. Those actions are out in the open, can John see what they mean? That’s the point of the last line about not taking offense. John might take them the wrong way. He could come to the conclusion that this guy isn’t bringing the fire and brimstone judgment that John expected. He might dismiss him as not the one.

All of us do the same thing each day. Not necessarily about faith questions. We see something, or someone, and come to a conclusion about its significance, its value, good or bad. We make judgments all the time about whether or not to invest ourselves in projects, ideas, people and relationships. That’s what Jesus is asking of John. Does he see something here that’s worth believing in? The point of religious faith is to ask us the same question. Not just once at a Baptism or Confirmation or at Mass when we say the Nicene Creed, but at every moment in our lives when we have to decide what something is worth.

That is where some of the other images in today’s reading come into play. Isaiah says the earth was made by God not to be wasted but to be lived in. He uses wonderful nature images of a relationship between heaven and earth. Justice falls like rain from heaven and as a result the earth sprouts with its own salvation and justice. Today’s world is, in fact, filled with terrible horrific events. It is also filled with wonderfully generous, productive and life changing events. So do we see the earth, our world, as a good place that God created for us to live in? The text says, “Turn to me and be safe.” Will we turn to God and see that “there is no other” approach that brings about salvation and justice? Or do we take offense at the idea that this world has a good factor that underwrites its very existence? Does what we see lead us to decide that the world is too dangerous and simply not safe? Are we operating out of a fearful outlook that in all likelihood and under normal conditions something will go wrong? That’s a challenge to hope. It’s a challenge we all have to face. Which world is our world?

It’s why we need to hear the Psalm, perhaps today’s strongest message of what salvation, the Christmas we’re waiting for, is all about.

“The LORD … proclaims peace to his people.
Near indeed is his salvation to those who fear him,
glory dwelling in our land.”

“Kindness and truth shall meet;
justice and peace shall kiss.
Truth shall spring out of the earth”

Is this something we’re willing to take to heart? Can we invest our lives in this? Can we trust that if we live as part of God’s plan God will be with us? Is Jesus the one who is to come or should we look for another?

Tuesday, Third Week of Advent

~ Retired Bill ~ Leave a comment

Memorial: St. Lucy, December 13, 2016

Zephaniah 3:1-2, 9-13, Psalm 34:2-3,6-7,17-18,19,23, Matthew 21:28-32

The readings today are very reassuring for all of us who take a while to catch on. I would suggest even those of us who were downright belligerent and destructive should rejoice in what is revealed about God’s attitude today. Jesus tells the story very clearly in Matthew. Two sons are asked to work in the vineyard. One says no but then actually does it. The other says yes, to satisfy his father, but doesn’t actually do the work. Even Jesus’ opponents the chief priests and the elders get this right. The one who actually does the work is the obedient son.

Jesus is using the obvious answer to indict the people in power. He’s demonstrating that the way to God is not through position, education or social status but rather by simply responding to God’s offer of forgiveness and love. In this case, the confrontation with John the Baptist is the offered opportunity for these officials. As I see it, the problem was, these people would have had to admit they had taken the wrong path or misjudged John at first. Jesus points out that even in the face of conversions from the destitute and outcasts of society these “smart” people wouldn’t reconsider their opinion of John based on what they saw happening and change their minds.

The key is they wouldn’t change their minds even in the face of good things. The good news for us is, there is room to change our minds, to take a different path. We don’t have to be first “to get” what’s going on in our lives or understand right away the things that have gone wrong. Our lives can develop, mature, take shape and then at some point we can make a change, we can choose what’s really best for us. Maybe that’s what the waiting of Advent is really meant to tell us. It’s OK to be uncertain for now, something better is coming. We need to pay close attention to what is going on in our lives. Then when that marvelous new thing happens, it gives us a chance to choose. That is something we can do, choose.

What is particularly wonderful about this is that God seems to absolutely expect that people and communities will have done the wrong thing. Then against what might be considered normal expectations, God turns around to help make the change happen and promptly forgets everything that’s gone before. That’s what I’m hearing in Zephaniah. Consider this:

“I will change and purify the lips of the peoples … On that day

You need not be ashamed of all your deeds, your rebellious actions against me”

This is a new start. A time when that remnant of humility within us can have a chance to come forward so we can live as one who “speaks no lies” and enjoy the pleasure of having “none to disturb them.”

I don’t think this should actually surprise us given what the Psalms say repeatedly about God saving his people. In this instance the message is strong and to the point:

When the poor one called out, the LORD heard,
and from all his distress he saved him.

 The LORD redeems the lives of his servants;
no one incurs guilt who takes refuge in him.

 Please notice that what the voice of God points to in Zephaniah, is exactly the same problem for which Jesus is criticizing the chief priests and elders. Jerusalem is not willing to see what’s going on and refuses to change her mind as a result. Here is how Zephaniah talks about Jerusalem’s offense:

She hears no voice,
accepts no correction;
In the LORD she has not trusted,
to her God she has not drawn near.

 The right course of action is to draw near to God by asking for help, not worrying about what’s gone before, taking the first step, and choosing for ourselves. After all Christmas is coming.

Wednesday, Second Week of Advent

~ Retired Bill ~ Leave a comment

Memorial: St. Ambrose, December 7, 2016

Isaiah 40:25-31, Psalm 103:1-4, 8, 10, Matthew 11:28-30

Today’s readings are an effort to raise our personal spirits, perfect for those down in the dumps, I’d rather just stay in bed days. Isaiah is very clear that God gives strength to those who faint and energy to those who are weak. Even though the young “stagger and fall … those that trust in the Lord … will run and not grow weary.” Written originally to encourage Israel to hold on to its faith while exiled in Babylon these words are just as important today in helping us remember we are not alone when our own sense of well-being collapses. It seems to me that is the key thing religious faith does: reassures us that we are not on our own, especially in our deepest selves. When feelings and attitudes seem to turn against us, when outside support doesn’t seem to help, then we need to hear that the God, who created the entire world, is on our side and will provide the support no one else can give.

It seems we repeatedly get the message wrong. Historically, Christianity has often doubled down on human sinfulness and guilt instead of emphasizing God’s mercy and forgiveness. We are subject to the broad general attitudes that see religion as a course for moral guidance and proper behavior. That makes it easy to see God as judge and score keeper. Matthew’s gospel for today is a good antidote for that approach, Jesus says, “Come to me, all you who labor and are burdened, and I will give you rest.” It is a theme reinforced in the Psalm, “Merciful and gracious is the LORD … He pardons all your iniquities, he heals all your ills.” That is what I think is meant by redemption, by salvation. God saves us from all we do wrong, from the ideas and attitudes that keep us from being open and loving to others as well as being frightened of a world intended for our happiness. We too often let people, situations and our own experiences drive us to defensive, negative attitudes and actions. Only honesty, perseverance and trust can dig us out. God’s loving presence supports that kind of behavior, that kind of thinking and the sense of well-being that underlies it.

The lesson is exactly what Jesus says in Matthew, “Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am meek and humble of heart.” Jesus is meek and humble not strident and proud, not fighting for advantage in each situation but willing to take what comes as one who trusts that the world itself is good and if anything, tilted in our favor. Can we believe it is possible to be ourselves, work for what we value and actually enjoy a fulfilling life? Will we let the Word of God comfort us and support our hopes, desires and the real challenges we undertake? If we can, then the Gospel will surely be Good News for us.

Friday: Thirty-fourth week in Ordinary Time

~ Retired Bill ~ Leave a comment

Today’s Scripture Readings

Revelations 20:1-4, 11-21:2, Psalm 84:3-6a, 8a, Luke 21:29-33

I am particularly attracted to the Psalm response for today, because it sums up where we are headed. “Here God lives among his people.” That is an outcome I find comforting because I think it not only refers, as the other readings today do, to our life with God after death but also to the life we live right now. I think the important part is to see the connection, the parallel between our life with God now and our ultimate home with God in the future.

There is nothing that I believe more strongly than that God lives among us right now in every moment of our lives and is available to us in a way that we don’t understand very well and therefore don’t fully appreciate nor respond to. These readings tell us something of what it takes to appreciate that presence.

Part of what we heard today is from the last of the visions of John in the Book of Revelation. As you know he is trying to tell us what will happen at the end of time. It is a mythic picture of what will be the culmination of God’s work. We often talk about the end of time as the time of judgment. It is that but that judgment in our reading today is a description of how all that is evil will be destroyed and all that is good will be rewarded. It is a story meant to take away our fears. Our fears of the devil, Satan, monsters, beasts, of all that is unknown. Even death itself is destroyed. The sea is no more because the sea represents all the forms of chaos in the world. Remember the flood in the Old Testament is how all of life is removed from the earth. So the sea stands for those great uncontrollable forces that ruin life on earth. This is a story of sweeping away all that harmed the people of God’s kingdom and made them fearful.

At the same time those who were faithful to Christ and lived a good life are brought into the kingdom to reign with Christ. Did you hear how judgment would be “according to their deeds?” Twice in a very short space John repeats this “according to their deeds” because that would have been a very radical idea. The norm of the time would have expected the wealthy and the powerful to be rewarded because of their position in society. To judge people by how they acted with each other was still a very new and radical idea.

Our reading of Revelation ends with the culmination of all God’s plans. A new heaven and new earth replace the old heaven and old earth. It is all new, without fear and full of love, just like a bride and groom, fresh, vibrant love that creates new life.

One of the things to notice is that there is a complete disconnect here between what was and what will come after. The old is destroyed and the new is brand new. Nothing is brought over from what was before except the people who have lived a good life and were already living as God asked them to live.

Perhaps in that disconnect is a message for us today. If this story of the culmination of God’s creation is told as a myth, then it is meant to tell us something of ourselves. Something of what will help create that new heaven and new earth in our own lives now. I think that something is our willingness to see our own fears and put them aside. To see the signs of the times, like Jesus’ fig tree and recognize it is time to move on. That all things change and we must be willing to make changes too. Each of us has different monsters and beasts that keep us from being as fully human and loving as we might be. Perhaps if we can let go of what we fear, what holds us, then we can more fully appreciate the deeper reality of our Psalm today, “Here God lives among his people.” The good overcomes evil, deeds can overcome fear. Today the book of Revelation and our Gospel said that’s what God wants for us.