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Deuteronomy 30:11-14 – 11 Surely, this commandment that I am commanding you today is not too hard for you, nor is it too far away. 12 It is not in heaven, that you should say, “Who will go up to heaven for us, and get it for us so that we may hear it and observe it?” 13 Neither is it beyond the sea, that you should say, “Who will cross to the other side of the sea for us, and get it for us so that we may hear it and observe it?” 14 No, the word is very near to you; it is in your mouth and in your heart for you to observe”
Psalm 69:33 –
33 For the Lord hears the needy,
and does not despise his own that are in bonds.
Psalm 69:33 – Turn to the Lord in your need, and you will live. (↔ Music Link)
Colossians 1:19-20 – 19 For in him all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell, 20 and through him God was pleased to reconcile to himself all things, whether on earth or in heaven, by making peace through the blood of his cross.
Luke 10:36-37 – 36 “Which of these three, do you think, was a neighbor to the man who fell into the hands of the robbers?” 37 He said, “The one who showed him mercy.” Jesus said to him, “Go and do likewise.”
Gratia vobis et pax a Deo Patre nostro et Domino nostro Iesu Christo in Spiritu Sancto.
Grace and Peace to you from God our Father, and from our Lord – Jesus Christ – in the Holy Spirit. Today is the Memorial of Saint Benedict, Abbot, and that is why I chose a greeting in Latin for us. He lived from 480 to 547. He founded the Benedictine Monastery at Monte Cassino and is rightly regarded as the father of monasticism in the Western World because he established The Benedictine Rule. As a young man he became disgusted with the debauchery and decadence in Rome and withdrew into solitude in a cave not far from the palace of Nero at Subiaco. He advocated and required a life of balance consisting of roughly equal periods of prayer, work, and study each day. In Chapter 19 of his Rule, “The Discipline of Psalmody” he directs thusly:
“We believe that the divine presence is everywhere and that in every place the eyes of the Lord are watching the good and the wicked (Proverbs 15:3). But beyond the least doubt, we should believe this to be especially true when we celebrate the divine office.”
We have previously confessed the omnipresence of the Lord: When God speaks the name of one of his servants, the ones who are committed to serving him and him only, and they reply in humble readiness, it reminds me of the response we were trained to give in the Armed Forces: Sir! Yes Sir! We enthusiastically show our readiness to serve as did the Psalmist in Psalm 40:7-8 – 7 Then I said, “Here I am; in the scroll of the book it is written of me. 8 I delight to do your will, O my God; your law is within my heart.” We know our duty – to Trust and Obey – and we discharge that duty without reserve.
God establishes servants wherever service is needed. That makes sense, doesn’t it? If something needs to be done, bring in those who are capable of doing it. And we can readily see that God’s servants know what he wants because they are prepared for whatever he asks (See in context Deuteronomy 30:11-14 – 14 No, the word is very near to you; it is in your mouth and in your heart for you to observe.) In Isaiah 58:9, we have a prefiguring of the promise in Genesis 2 – the presence of God in the lives of his earthlings. After all, it is his Spirit that makes us living souls. God is always here, always near, always and all ways Always, and that means he knows us more intimately than we know ourselves. (See my “2nd-most-favorite-Psalm,” Psalm 139:13-16) God chose to make his Son – his ONLY BEGOTTEN SON – manifest in flesh, flesh like ours. He is always present (Omnipresent – here I am, not “here I will be”) He calls us to be present (Here I am Lord) (↔ Music Link) and when we respond, great things happen! We find Grace, Power in the Holy Spirit, Peace surpassing all understanding, surrender to God as he lays hold of us, our willingness to serve escalates, our preparedness is sharpened, we are aglow with the Presence of God. Of course, we are not as refulgent as Christ was as he spoke with Moses and Elijah, but we do shine! Have you ever heard God’s voice? I have. I have shared this before, but I want to share it again today.
Suppose we start out with Isaiah 6:8 – 8 Then I heard the voice of the Lord saying, “Whom shall I send, and who will go for us?” And I said, “Here am I; send me!” I always liked that. It was, in a special way, part of my decision to give my life to “Full Time Christian Service” at age 10 at Camp IdRaHaJe – which is an abbreviation for “I’d Rather Have Jesus.” (↔ Music Link). Later – in high school – I thought I had a calling to the Ministry in the Reformed Church in America. Long story short, one thing led to another, the Draft happened, and that idea faded away. The message for that calling was “Preach my Word.” Once I was in the Air Force, I was led to my conversion in the Catholic Church. Just two weeks after my first fully-Catholic day, I married the love of my life – Crucita – and not long after, the message in the call became “Teach my Word.” I’m still working on that directive. Here is one way that happens:
The Psalm I love best is Psalm 138(← Check it out!). It is my all-time-favorite Psalm. The first two verses are filled with wonderful praise:
Psalm 138:1 – I thank you, Lord, with all my heart;
in the presence of the angels to you I sing. New American Bible (Revised Edition)(NABRE)
I like that part about singing in the presence of the Angels. It reminds me of Psalm 22:3 which says that God “inhabits the praises of his people.” The rest of the Psalm is so reassuring. God will surely hear the cry of the suffering.
There is a passage in 1 Corinthians that steadies me with grateful conviction – conviction that enables my service because it matches up with my “Sir! Yes sir!” The Apostle Paul is describing how he received the Gospel, “as to one born abnormally,” when Jesus met him on the road to Damascus. 1 Corinthians 15:10 – 10 But by the grace of God I am what I am, and his grace toward me has not been in vain. On the contrary, I worked harder than any of them—though it was not I, but the grace of God that is with me. This verse always reminds me that I have not yet worked as hard as I should, or as hard as I can, on behalf of the Gospel. I am what I am by the grace of God, though, and he constantly challenges me to be a better steward of the many, many gifts he has presented me in my life.
I often remind myself and others to “Honor the Giver by accepting the Gift.” When I look at the faith of my Old Friend Abraham, or reflect on the determination and courage of Moses, or recognize in David a heart that God called “a man after my own heart” (See Acts 13:22), I know I fall far short of the servanthood to which I aspire. One of the many reasons for that is that he gifted me with words, and sometimes (way too many times) the words I use are not the Word from God’s own heart. Then he calls, and I remember.
When he calls us, we remember that he chose us, we did not choose him. To him, we are not “hey you” because he has called each of us by name. I remember that he comforts and consoles as well as corrects and counsels because he has given us his Holy Spirit – not just me, but all the faithful in Christ Jesus. Nothing can stop, divert, sully, or prevent his Love from filling our lives. We are victors, conquerors in Christ, and we have not only the Victory, but also the spoils of the victory: The repudiation of every evil that has tried to harm us. We have an indefatigable and inexhaustible source of Love and Protection called “God’s Providence.”
Now then, if God is all around us, within us, and he expects us to listen to him, how is it we can be found hip deep in the mire and muck of the Swamp of Pride, struggling in the darkness? At the risk of being redundant but none the less repetitious, I will remind all of us that WE FORGOT!! The only way we can know that Darkness is not where we belong is to know we have been in Light, and remember that Light is in us. Remember, God is used to hearing us say, “I forgot.” He forgets stuff all the time – for example sins for which we have been forgiven. There in the “depths of despair” we are assaulted by desires and doubts that feast on us like a cloud of voracious gnats and occasionally we have the presence of mind to say, Jesus, help me!
Maybe we don’t hear an explosion or see a burst of impenetrable Light, but if we’re not too foolish to listen we might hear the Word in Isaiah 58:9 a
9 Then you shall call, and the Lord will answer;
you shall cry for help, and he will say, Here I am.
When I hear that, when I lift my hands, my eyes, my heart, and my mind to that Omnipresent Voice I understand those last three words as HEAR I AM. And honestly adelphos, I feel that assurance of his presence is spoken with what I’d call a loving chuckle. It’s like “What are you doing in this mess, kid?” and then the Holy Spirit speaks reminding me of Isaiah 30:21 – 21 And when you turn to the right or when you turn to the left, your ears shall hear a word behind you, saying, “This is the way; walk in it.”
His commandments are not burdensome, they are – as we have been told –very near to you; it is in your mouth and in your heart for you to observe. We know that when we go to him he tells us
33 For the Lord hears the needy,
and does not despise his own that are in bonds. When we hunger and thirst for righteousness(↔ Click Link) the I AM who is near will fill our hungry hearts (↔ Music Link).
HE
will
REDEEM
us!
How can that be? Trust and obey. It’s the only way. Walk with those who “walk with the Lord in the Light of his Word,” and you will become fully aware that 19 For in him all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell, 20 and through him God was pleased to reconcile to himself all things, whether on earth or in heaven, by making peace through the blood of his cross. By now we in the MBN know that all if this is in God’s Absolutely Perfect Plan. Because why? Because YOLO-F! We are to be whole and mature in all our works because that is how God created us to live.
OK campers, take out your note books and get ready for a pop quiz!
Q: What was St. Benedict’s motto? (Just kidding about the quiz)
A: St Benedict’s motto was Ora et Labora (prayer and work).
I’ll end with a few of St. Benedict’s “Tools for Good Works” from Chapter 4 (← Check it out!) of His Rule
1 First of all, love the Lord God with your whole heart, your whole soul and all your strength, 2 and love your neighbor as yourself (Matthew 22:37-39; Mark 12:30-31; Luke 10:27).
20 Your way of acting should be different from the world’s way;
21 the love of Christ must come before all else.
41 Place your hope in God alone.
42 If you notice something good in yourself, give credit to God, not to yourself,
43 but be certain that the evil you commit is always your own and yours to acknowledge.
44 Live in fear of judgment day
45 and have a great horror of hell.
If we have known and shown Mercy, we will know God’s mercy. Remember the lesson from the Parable of the Good Samaritan: “The one who showed him mercy.” Jesus said to him, “Go and do likewise.” As we carry out our Mission to advance the Gospel, we can stay out of the Swamp of Pride by humbly trusting that by showing mercy, we all obey God who told us – Surely, this commandment that I am commanding you today is not too hard for you, nor is it too far away.
Belovéd, some days we are searching for Love in all the wrong places because we are blinded by sin. Therefore I urge you, Don’t just do something. Stand there! and expect the Presence of God. There is no place we can be that God does not already occupy. We recall a beautiful prophecy from Jeremiah 23:23-24 (GNT) [1] – 23 “I am a God who is everywhere and not in one place only. 24 No one can hide where I cannot see them. Do you not know that I am everywhere in heaven and on earth?
Isaiah 55:6 –
6 Seek the Lord while he may be found,
call upon him while he is near;
God is everywhere all the time ready with his help. Acknowledge his Presence and you will say, “Oh! There you are!” Then he will say, “Welcome back, kid. Come on in.”
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
[1] Passages marked (GNT): Good News Translation (GNT) are from the Good News Translation® (Today’s English Version, Second Edition)© 1992 American Bible Society. All rights reserved. For more information about GNT, visit www.bibles.com and www.gnt.bible.
