2526AFC062725 – Choose Your Lion ← PODCAST LINK 🙂
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Acts 12:7, 11 – 7 Suddenly an angel of the Lord appeared and a light shone in the cell. He tapped Peter on the side and woke him, saying, “Get up quickly.” And the chains fell off his wrists.
11 Then Peter came to himself and said, “Now I am sure that the Lord has sent his angel and rescued me from the hands of Herod and from all that the Jewish people were expecting.”
Psalm 34:7, 17 (GNT) [1]
7 His angel guards those who honor the Lord
and rescues them from danger.
17 The righteous call to the Lord, and he listens;
he rescues them from all their troubles.
2 Timothy 4:17-18 – 17 But the Lord stood by me and gave me strength, so that through me the message might be fully proclaimed and all the Gentiles might hear it. So I was rescued from the lion’s mouth. 18 The Lord will rescue me from every evil attack and save me for his heavenly kingdom. To him be the glory forever and ever. Amen.
Matthew 16:17-19 – 17 And Jesus answered him, “Blessed are you, Simon son of Jonah! For flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but my Father in heaven. 18 And I tell you, you are Peter,[a] and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of Hades will not prevail against it. 19 I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven, and whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven.”
Aloha nui loa, ʻŌmea! When you these things described in our Key Verses taking place, you know that the Kingdom of God is near. Each of these passages describes things that happened during times of intense persecution. What the Lord wants us to recognize is that when it’s time to “enter the lions’ den,” God is with us and rescues those who are faithful. We have some very special indications of that this weekend.
Today, Friday June 27, the church celebrates the Solemnity of the Sacred Heart of Jesus. This is a celebration I look forward to every year. Back in 1973, I first became interested in the sacramental (i.e., not a Sacrament, but something which fosters and animates devotion to the Sacraments) of The Sacred Heart of Jesus. To me, the image was so very compelling. I joined the Sacred Heart Auxiliary on April 1, 1978, consecrating my life to The Sacred Heart of Jesus. We discovered a copper repoussé (you can see it here) of The Sacred Heart just before Christmas in 1978. Two days after we bought that we got a call from our adoption worker saying “We have a baby boy for you to pickup.” That baby boy became Timoth Olin Todd who was born on April 28, 1978, just 27 days after my consecration. Here’s some information on the icon shown below.
- The heart. It is usually shown in the shape and form of a natural human heart – not valentine shaped – and sometimes even blood vessels are depicted. The heart is the center of our being, the place of Love and, regrettably, sin as well. It represents the core of Jesus’ human life.
- A crown or girdle of thorns. These represent the torture and mockery Jesus endured on our behalf, perhaps especially our mental sins of lusts, wrath, pride, and sloth l(aka acedia).
- A gaping wound. Usually on the lower-left side of the heart below the thorns. This recalls the “proof of death” described in the accounts of the crucifixion. There was a lance or spear thrust through the side of the corpse from which water and blood poured out. It also portrays fulfilled of an ancient Messianic prophecy: “They shall look on him whom they have thrust through” (Zechariah 12:10 this is a very touching Prophecy well-portrayed in the statue “La Pietà di Michelangelo”)
- In some icons (not in this one) droplets of blood are depicted, perhaps with a chalice beneath to collect them. this recalls Jesus’ institution of the “New Covenant”: This cup is the new covenant in my blood, shed for you and for all people for the forgiveness of sin. (Remember: in Greek, the word for “many” is πολλῶν which means multitudinous, plenteous, sort of “more than you can count”)
- There are flames around the top of the heart. These signify the great intensity and warmth of Jesus’ Love.
- The Cross. It was on the Cross, his final earthly throne, where Jesus demonstrated his immense Love for us, for his Father, and the absolute obedience in his own heart.
- Rays of light. This Love is further illustrated by beams or light or glowing light surrounding the heart. Jesus is the light of the World and it is that light of Love that signals the Love of his heart reaching out to dispel the Darkness.
So, there you have a short (well, almost short)t description of the Sacred Heart of Jesus. In April 2022 I used an image. I share this account with you because it illustrates that God does hear prayer and then comes to the rescue. Crucita and I were married in 1969. We had been hoping for a child for 10 years when that call came. “Being Pregnant” (with expectations) for 10 years is exhausting! All our prayers were answered, and we were delivered from our anguish. It was like being imprisoned, unable to move forward with our dreams of a family. Then, like The Apostle Peter, the Lord reached out and changed our lives. God rescues them from all their troubles. He gifts JOY to our hearts even (especially!) when that seems impossible.
For St. Peter, the impossible became reality. What a jail-break! Today someone might say, ”The whole thing was surreal.” St. Peter was expecting to die, and probably in a very painful way. St. James had already been murdered by Herod, and so when the King put St. Peter in jail, the prognosis was not good! He was prepared, as best he could be, to die for Jesus. Then, an Angel nudges him in the side, makes him stand up and get set to travel, and miracle upon miracle, he gets out of jail in the most improbable way. It was miraculous, to be sure.
It would be, and is, difficult to ignore those big miracles, but way too easy to ignore the little ones like corn growing, babies laughing, flowers blooming, finding a good parking space, making friends who last a lifetime, the ingredients and skill to prepare a good meal, missing the accident that happened just moments after we passed by that location, holding hands at the movies, taking a walk in the early-early morning as the sun comes up, falling in love several times until True Love elevates our hearts to unimagined happiness, seeing the Real Presence of the Body, Blood, Soul, and Divinity of Christ – and then receiving him alive in our hearts. (↔ Music Link)
The Apostle Paul describes another miraculous escape from death when he says But the Lord stood by me and gave me strength, so that through me the message might be fully proclaimed and all the Gentiles might hear it. So I was rescued from the lion’s mouth. Some interpret this as stating that he wasn’t forced into the Coliseum to be devoured by wild animals. Many scholars think it goes deeper than that. Having to “face the lion” is to face immense danger from hostile authority. Our Father in Heaven, his belovéd Son Jesus, and our dear Companion, the Holy Spirit possess higher and greater authority than any powers on Earth or in the bondage of evil. There is, however, a very important proviso we nearly always overlook: God-In-Three-Persons has primacy in everything. Every thing, every time, and especially every relationship. What God requires is that we hold a relationship with him, a Covenant of Love. We saw it in Eden – until that snake showed up. We saw it in Abram when he made a sacrificial Covenant with the Lord Jehovah. We saw it in King David when he committed serious sins, and he returned to the Lord God in penitence and humbled himself before God. David the Psalmist gave us the words His angel guards those who honor the Lord
and rescues them from danger. After millennia passed, we saw it in Jesus – the Root and Offspring of David (See Revelation 22:16) – who honored the lord by giving up his life for all of us – sinners worse than David and Saints equal to the Apostles Peter and Paul.
This Sunday we honor these two – the Greatest of the Apostles many will say, because they truly did give God Primacy in all things. The World would see their lives as wasted for a hopeless ideal. They, and we, see that loss as the greatest-possible Hope. We must certainly recall the hope in Revelation 5:5 – 5 Then one of the elders said to me, “Do not weep. See, the Lion of the tribe of Judah, the Root of David, has conquered, so that he can open the scroll and its seven seals.” The “Seven Seals” is the symbol of the final and greatest Covenant, and only the Lion of Judah, the Lamb that was Slain, the One Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the World, The Lamb who (Music Link →) alone is Worthy can – and will – open that scroll and reveal every creature in heaven and on earth and under the earth and in the sea, and all that is in them, singing,
“To the one seated on the throne and to the Lamb
be blessing and honor and glory and might
forever and ever!”
The Apostle Peter was given the Keys to the Kingdom of Heaven, and like Eliakim he will take over rule from the Shebna of Eternity, ha-Satan, and be the Steward of his Master’s house, a place of many mansions prepared for those who love Jesus. Pick a lion, adelphos. The Lion of Judah who conquers and saves, or the Lion of Hell who deceives and devours. You might remember these two characters.
“Mufasa” is a Swahili name associated with governing, strength, nobility, and wisdom. Scar is – well – a scar, a healed-over wound. Those who choose to follow him are ultimately abused by him. Those who follow the Leader (↔ Important Learning Link), who give preeminence and absolute Primacy to whom it is due, they can build their live and therefore their homes on The Rock against which Hell cannot prevail. Choose a lion, choose a Life. There are two choices, there are two roads, there are two trees, there are two roads, there are two ways. There is only Blessing or Curse.
Pick one, and give it your all. Here’s a checklist:
- Narrow and wide roads, gates, passages – there is one entrance to Heaven (Matthew 7:13-14)
- The Way, The Truth, and the Life – there is one Way to Eternity (John 14:6)
- Slavery to sin or freedom in Righteousness – there is one Deliverance from sin (Romans 6)
- Sowing and Reaping: Whoever sows to please their flesh, from the flesh will reap destruction; whoever sows to please the Spirit, from the Spirit will reap eternal life (Galatians 6:7-8)
- Life and Death, Blessing and Curse, Good and Evil (Deuteronomy 30:15-20) – “Choose life therefore that you may live” There is One Way to Eternal Life in Heaven.
- As for me and my house, We will serve the Lord.” (Joshua 24:15)
Whatever, whenever, wherever, whoever, however, if ever, forever
at your service, Belovéd!
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Unless otherwise indicated, all scripture passages are from the New Revised Standard Version Catholic Edition (NRSVCE) New Revised Standard Version Bible: Catholic Edition, copyright © 1989, 1993 the Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Biblical languages inserts from Bible Hub (Bible Hub: Search, Read, Study the Bible in Many Languages) Visit at http://biblehub.com
Aloha Friday Messages by Charles O. Todd, III is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License
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