2521AFC052325 – Do the right thing, again. 😀 ← PODCAST LINK

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John 14:23 ^b–24 – ^{23 b}  “Those who love me will keep my word, and my Father will love them, and we will come to them and make our home with them. ²⁴ Whoever does not love me does not keep my words; and the word that you hear is not mine, but is from the Father who sent me.”

Acts 15:1-2 – The Council at Jerusalem
¹ Then certain individuals came down from Judea and were teaching the brothers, “Unless you are circumcised according to the custom of Moses, you cannot be saved.” ² And after Paul and Barnabas had no small dissension and debate with them, Paul and Barnabas and some of the others were appointed to go up to Jerusalem to discuss this question with the apostles and the elders.

Psalm 67:1-2 –
¹ May God be gracious to us and bless us
    and make his face to shine upon us, Selah*
² that your way may be known upon earth,
    your saving power among all nations.

*Selah: Psalm 67 includes a petition for a bountiful harvest (Psalm 67:6), made in the awareness that Israel’s prosperity will persuade the nations to worship its God. A popular Catholic Bible commentary addresses Selah thusly regarding its appearance in Psalm 3:2

At the end of this verse, Hebrew text adds, Selah, and the Septuagint (LXE) διαψαλμα, a word which is not much better understood. … St. Jerome expresses it semper, in his Hebrew version. It would perhaps be as well to leave the original term. … It occurs seventy-one times in the psalms, and thrice in Habacuc. Some think it is a sign to raise the voice, or to pause, etc. at the end of the lesson [or phase], before the psalter was divided. ^[1] I have always considered it as an imperative to pause and reflect reverently on the preceding poetry.

Revelation 21:10-11 – ¹⁰ And in the Spirit he carried me away to a great, high mountain and showed me the holy city Jerusalem coming down out of heaven from God. ¹¹ It has the glory of God and a radiance like a very rare jewel, like jasper*, clear as crystal.

*In biblical symbolism, chalcedony is associated with purity, clarity, and spiritual insight. Jasper can take on many beautiful colors and patterns. Here are some examples.

I pray that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give you a spirit of wisdom and revelation as you come to know him. It is so easy for us to be wrong, but sometimes it seems so wrong for others to be right. I remember getting into a confrontation with my teacher in the second or third grade about the placement of a comma in the number “2500.” She had taught us the “tens, hundreds, thousands” rules. Back then, I knew “’t’ain’t necessarily so.” My dad always spoke it as “twenty-five-hundred-dollars,” and so I knew that comma should be placed in the center of the number – like this: 25,00 – and since my dad knew “everything one could know about math,” that had to be an acceptable (albeit alternative) answer. I ended up in the principal’s office calling my dad at work to get his  absolutely true and valid testimony that I was right. Except, I wasn’t, and that was a very hard lesson for me to grasp. As I recall, I had to apologize and take a Zero on the exercise. It was hard and expensive to be wrong and then be arrogantly insisting on my presumptive expertise about it.

That’s kinda like what was going on in our reading from Acts 15. Some chaps, who were influenced by Pharisees and some Traditionalists, started telling the gentiles they had to be circumcised to be saved through Jesus’ followers in The Way. Well, that wasn’t received well at all. It turned out to be a case of presumptive expertise similar to mine. The point was argued locally, it was referred to a higher authority (the Apostles no less!), consensus was achieved, and we imagine apologies were issued, and that was that. It was also the First Church Council. Councils are convened so that the Church can make use of the cumulative wisdom of the Apostles and Presbyters and the Teaching Authority of the Church. Over the millennia, many Councils have been convened to help the Church discern the Right and Proper position she should take on matters which arise and can cause confusion and dissent. These decisions are then shared with the faithful as protections to ensure we are all “in bounds” and safe from error. In 2446AFC111524 – This is a Big Deal!, we used this cartoon to illustrate the point. Sometimes (often?) what we think is right because that’s the way we want it is dead wrong. In fact, it’s a lot like telling God “No thanks. I know what you want, but I’ve got this. I don’t want to do what you want. I want to do what I want. I want what I want when I want it. I know it’s the wrong thing, maybe even evil … but I still want it even if YOU don’t!”

Fortunately God’s guardrails are literally all over the place! Often they are in the counsel of loved ones or persons in deemed authority. Sometimes it’s in the Bible. Sometimes it’s in the government’s legal system. We all know people who are not always right but never known to be wrong (in their own minds!). Whenever we are the ones who stir up that sort of situation, it’s a good time to take a Selah, a nice little pause to let reality come back into control so we can think things through, get some advice, or – best of all – pray our way through it. As the adage says, “When things get tough it’s time to give God a little P.U.S.H. – Pray Until Something Happens.” Prayer is the default method for asking for, and accepting, God’s help. A lot of times we forget that second part – accepting God’s help. And once we have his help, it’s nice to say “Thank you, Lord. (↔ Music Link) ”We stay stuck to that insolent “I do it myself!” like any three-year-old. It takes discipline to remember that, and then to act like that. Hmmm. Maybe that’s part of the role of discipleship?

I want to draw our attention briefly to the Psalm Key Verse today. I see it as an echo of the Aaronic Blessing found in Numbers 6:22-27:

The Lord bless you and keep you;
The Lord make his face to shine upon you, and be gracious to you;
The Lord lift up his countenance upon you, and give you peace.

Whenever and wherever God blesses us – whether through the ministrations of his ordained, through the counsel of friends, or through the civil enactments of those placed in authority over us – doing the right thing is always to bless others in response to the blessings given to us. And since God blesses us in all things at all times in all places, it is always Right to do the Right thing. Our motivating disposition should always be to do the Right thing; however, we know that in our brokenness, we can expect to fail at that often.

Our failures are opportunities to turn around and go back. When I went back to my third-grade classroom, I was glad to be there, and glad I hadn’t been bumped off by the Cool Guys who mocked me when I left. Now, many times we hear someone say, “What’s the point of being good? Everybody just thinks you’re all stuck up or something, and they never stop taking shots at you. Look a Jesus. He was such a good guy, and look what happened to him.”

Ah, adelphos, we know that’s not the End of The Story. We have something to look forward to, something the Apostle John described: a great, high mountain and showed me the holy city Jerusalem coming down out of heaven from God. It has the glory of God and a radiance like a very rare jewel, like jasper, clear as crystal. I envision that like brilliantly-clear crystal with swirls and patterns of colors like a combination of the rainbow, the Aurora Borealis, and the most spectacular kaleidoscope ever imagined. I want to go there, be there, live there forever; and I want to see every single one of you there, too. It is remembering how to find that narrow road that gets to that beautiful place that seems to elude us.

I have found it elusive, too. “Lord! What am I gonna DO? I got lost again! HOW can I keep your Word when I keep losing my direction?!?” And our Lord comes back to us with this:
“Those who love me will keep my word, and my Father will love them, and we will come to them and make our home with them.Whoever does not love me does not keep my words; and the word that you hear is not mine, but is from the Father who sent me.” Here I am always reminded of the father who brought his son, possessed by an evil spirit which often tried to injure the boy, to Jesus asking for a cure … if possible. Here is part of that account from Mark 9:21-24 (GNT) [1] –
²¹ “How long has he been like this?” Jesus asked the father.

“Ever since he was a child,” he replied. ²² “Many times the evil spirit has tried to kill him by throwing him in the fire and into water. Have pity on us and help us, if you possibly can!”

²³ “Yes,” said Jesus, “if you yourself can! Everything is possible for the person who has faith.”

²⁴ The father at once cried out, “I do have faith, but not enough. Help me have more!”

In the King James Version I grew up with that came out “Lord, I believe; help thou mine unbelief!” Would not the same prayer be appropriate for love? “Lord, I love you, but not enough. Help me Love you more!” This Love is not just external cessation of things we know are wrong. It is a radical reorientation of our LIVES, a change that makes us a different, a true metanoia. Metanoia is that deep, complete conversion that Jesus often spoke about when he told us to Repent and believe the Gospel! We know why! YOLO-F!

We must become that person who is another step closer to being like Jesus. That’s the process called conversion. You decide to change, to embrace “metanoia,” and then you place your faith in him. That’s conversion. (↔ Click Link) Once you experience conversion, you’re ready to follow him. Remember? “Come, follow me.”? (↔ Music Link) We can change our actions and behavior at least a little and if it doesn’t last long, we can try again, until we internalize the Love that makes those changes possible. When our sin becomes repugnant, then we see it more clearly, and then hunt it down and throw it out! By now we must surely know that this means metanoia – a conversion in one’s life that arises from penitence (sincere and effective sorrow), and doing “a 180” so that whatever transgression(s) arose, we choose to delete that poor choice – we will replace it with a better choice, one shown to us by Jesus himself.

Lately I have been learning that the most effective prayer I know is, “Jesus, please help me.” And whenever I shut up and listen, his help is there, and I have strengths I never saw and so am able – even in just a very small way – to do the right small thing with his Great Love. We must be patient with our sinfulness rather than grumpy which leads to procrastination. Instead let us pray, “create in me a clean heart O God. (↔ Music Link) We will do the right thing, again, and again, and … 😉

Whatever, whenever, wherever, whoever, however, if ever, forever —
at your service, Belovéd!

Please pray with us here at Share-a-Prayer.

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.

^[1] George Leo Haydock, Haydock’s Catholic Bible Commentary (New York: Edward Dunigan and Brother, 1859), Ps 3:2–3.

AFC051625 – Love. How much is enough? 😀 ← PODCAST LINK

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Acts 14:22 – ²² There [in Antioch] they [Paul and Barnabas] strengthened the souls of the disciples and encouraged them to continue in the faith, saying, “It is through many persecutions that we must enter the kingdom of God.”

Psalm 145:8 –
⁸ The Lord is gracious and merciful,
    slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love.

Revelation 21:3-4 – ³ And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying,

“See, the home of God is among mortals.
He will dwell with them;
they will be his peoples,
and God himself will be with them;
⁴ he will wipe every tear from their eyes.

John 13:34-35 – ³⁴ I give you a new commandment, that you love one another. Just as I have loved you, you also should love one another. ³⁵ By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.”

E pili mau na pomaika‘i ia ‘oe a me ke akua ho’omaika‘i ‘oe, ʻŌmea! (May blessing always be with you and may God bless you, Beloved!) This post is dedicated in thanksgiving to AV whose kindness has been overwhelming.

During these days of Eastertide, we have been listening to passages from chapters 13 through 17 of the Gospel of John. Some writers refer to this as the Upper Room Discourse because it takes place in the Cenacle during the Passover meal and the Institution of the Eucharist. Other writers call portions of it Jesus’ High Priestly Prayer (particularly chapter 17) because it is filled with prayerful instructions for Jesus’ Disciples (that’s you and me, folks). At the end of John 14, Jesus says, “come. Let us leave.” And they go toward Gethsemane (↔ Music Link). John 15 includes the lesson about the Vine and the branches. John 16 is full of warnings and doom – they are warned not to give up and warned their grief will be immense. These chapters contain dozens of passages that become cherished memory verses for believers.

• “Do not let your hearts be troubled. You believe in God, believe also in me. (John 14:1)
• “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. (John 14:6)
• As the Father has loved me, so I have loved you; abide in my love. (John 15:9)
• I give you a new commandment, that you love one another. Just as I have loved you, you also should love one another. (John 13:34)
• By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.”(John 13:35)
• This is my commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you. (John 15:12)
• I am giving you these commands so that you may love one another. (John 5:17)
• No one has greater love than this, to lay down one’s life for one’s friends. (John 15:13)

And there are even more from The Apostle John!

• 1 John 3:11 – For this is the message you have heard from the beginning: we should love one another
• 1 John 3:23  – And his commandment is this: we should believe in the name of his Son, Jesus Christ, and love one another just as he commanded us.
• 1 John 4:7 – Beloved, let us love one another, because love is of God; everyone who loves is begotten by God and knows God.
• 1 John 4:9-12 – ⁹ God’s love was revealed among us in this way: God sent his only Son into the world so that we might live through him. ¹⁰ In this is love, not that we loved God but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the atoning sacrifice for our sins. ¹¹ Beloved, since God loved us so much, we also ought to love one another. ¹² No one has ever seen God; if we love one another, God lives in us, and his love is perfected in us.

It seems that perhaps The Apostle John advocated for “all you need is Love.” As he repeatedly pointed out, “this is the Message from The Beginning” (my emphasis added throughout the above). In the Baltimore Catechism §1: God made me to know Him, to love Him, and to serve Him in this world, and to be happy with Him forever in the next. In The Catechism of the Catholic Church §§290-301, the Church affirms that God – as the Holy Trinity – created all things in Love, and for Love. Time itself begins in the Love that caused, causes, and will cause Life. Time ends in that same Love. Love literally makes the universe hum God’s tune from “Let there be” to “eternally is.”

The “in-between time” also exists in Love and for Love. Wherever there is “not-Love” there is the death of what has been created for the cause, purpose, and effect of Love. Jesus – who is God – commands us to remain in his Love so that our love will be perfected. Going back to the Vine-and-branches statements, if we are to bear much fruit, it must be Good Fruit; and for it to be fruit at all, much less Good Fruit, it cannot come to the Goodness of its maturity when it is apart from the vine. Like the adage says, “Be a part or fall apart.” How do we become “a part?”

“Love one another as I have Loved you.” (↔ Music Link) This is the archetypal mode of anything and everything. One might say that Love is Wisdom because it was Wisdom who was working with, in, for, and through God the Father, God the Son, and the Love between the Father and the Son – the Holy Spirit. That Perfect Love has been broken, tarnished, abused, and mutilated by Original Sin. This is why The Apostle Barnabas and The Apostle Paul included in their missionary preaching ““It is through many persecutions that we must enter the kingdom of God.” As Jesus is recorded saying in Mark 10:29-30 – ²⁹ Jesus said, “Truly I tell you, there is no one who has left house or brothers or sisters or mother or father or children or fields, for my sake and for the sake of the good news,  ³⁰ who will not receive a hundredfold now in this age—houses, brothers and sisters, mothers and children, and fields, with persecutions—and, in the age to come, eternal life. The “in-between time” is The Age of The Church. When this present age ends – most likely in fire as The Apostle Peter said in 2 Peter 3:10 (GNT) [1] – ¹⁰ But the Day of the Lord will come like a thief. On that Day the heavens will disappear with a shrill noise, the heavenly bodies will burn up and be destroyed, and the earth with everything in it will vanish – we will all be united in the Perfect, Everlasting Love of The Holy Trinity.

How will we avoid or even endure those persecutions? “If you love me, you will keep my commandments.” I always hear that in two ways: [1] Love begets my obedience, or [2] my Love enables my obedience. All I have to do is Love him – and everyone else, too – and that will be obeying his commandments; or, my Love for him – and everybody else, too – enables my obedience. However that works out for us , it comes to this: Love and obedience working together are enough to “walk through the Valley of The Shadow of Death, and fear no evil;” or succumb to any persecutions. “No one has greater love than this, to lay down one’s life for one’s friends.” If Jesus is our friend, then God the Father is our friend, and God the Holy Spirit is our friend. My Life, your Life, our Lives are in the hands of Our Abba, Our Father in Heaven.

That, of course, means that our Lives are in the hands of Love. Because why? Because God IS Love, right? “ Q: If God is with us who can be against us (and prevail over God?) A: Nobody, nothing, nowhere! We know this because we know –
⁸ The Lord is gracious and merciful,
    slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love. (↔ Music Link) And remember that “steadfast love” is Covenant Love, enduring Love, compassionate Love, Love that is perpetually Faithful and Redemptive. In short, Steadfast Love is God’s method for showing us his Perfect Integrity, Endless Mercy, Everlasting Love, And Eternal Salvation. If we give our own Life into his hand, we are either obeying his commands or Loving him completely. And yes, you spotted that: it’s BOTH, not either/or! Every moment our souls shout out Alleluia!, or say, Thank you Lord!, then we are doing what we are created to do and who we are created to be. Best of all, we know how that ends.

See, the home of God is among mortals.
He will dwell with them;
they will be his peoples,
and God himself will be with them.

That is a reset back to Square Zero, back to before the rebellion that produced a shaky-snakey Angel who interrupted the Really Great Deal God offered our First Parents: Love Me and Obey Me, and I will Love you and Bless you. Everything he has told us is designed to help us to be strengthened souls of his disciples and to be encouraged to continue in the faith. God as the Triune source and ruler of all that was, is, or will be has given such Abundant Living Love that our Lives overflow thereby  inundating all Life around us with Love, Love, Love. Love and Obey or Obey and Love; either way HE’s got it covered and then some. How much is enough? Just as much as we can (↔ Music Link). Forever and ever, AMEN.

Whatever, whenever, wherever, whoever, however, if ever, forever —
at your service, Belovéd!

Please pray with us here at Share-a-Prayer.

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.

2519AFC050925 – Be my Shepherd Lord 😀 ← PODCAST LINKB

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The Fourth Sunday of Easter is often referred to as Good Shepherd Sunday. We will not comment on the other readings for Sunday May 11, 2025 – the Fourth Sunday of Easter. It’s also Mother’s Day, so a special shout-out to my Dearest, Darling Wife, Crucita who agreed – oh, so many years ago! – to be my wife and the mother of our children:

HAPPY MOTHER’S DAY! And thank you for accepting the challenge of raising two kids while each of us worked full-time, pursued post-graduate educations, and still had time to travel and have fun together. You’re amazing!

Now, the Gospel for Sunday’s Mass is a short excerpt from the “Good Shepherd” narrative in the tenth chapter of the gospel of John. We might put that “Pile of Keys” image from last week here, because I’m going to put in the whole narrative – all 16 verses – from the (GNT) [1]

John 10:1-16 – ¹ Jesus said, “I am telling you the truth: the man who does not enter the sheep pen by the gate, but climbs in some other way, is a thief and a robber. ² The man who goes in through the gate is the shepherd of the sheep. ³ The gatekeeper opens the gate for him; the sheep hear his voice as he calls his own sheep by name, and he leads them out. ⁴ When he has brought them out, he goes ahead of them, and the sheep follow him, because they know his voice. ⁵ They will not follow someone else; instead, they will run away from such a person, because they do not know his voice.”

⁶ Jesus told them this parable, but they did not understand what he meant.

Jesus the Good Shepherd

⁷ So Jesus said again, “I am telling you the truth: I am the gate for the sheep. ⁸ All others who came before me are thieves and robbers, but the sheep did not listen to them. ⁹ I am the gate. Those who come in by me will be saved; they will come in and go out and find pasture. ¹⁰ The thief comes only in order to steal, kill, and destroy. I have come in order that you might have life—life in all its fullness.

¹¹ “I am the good shepherd, who is willing to die for the sheep. ¹² When the hired man, who is not a shepherd and does not own the sheep, sees a wolf coming, he leaves the sheep and runs away; so the wolf snatches the sheep and scatters them. ¹³ The hired man runs away because he is only a hired man and does not care about the sheep. ^14-15 I am the good shepherd. As the Father knows me and I know the Father, in the same way I know my sheep and they know me. And I am willing to die for them. ¹⁶ There are other sheep which belong to me that are not in this sheep pen. I must bring them, too; they will listen to my voice, and they will become one flock with one shepherd.

Psalm 23 –  A Psalm of David.

¹ The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want.
²     He makes me lie down in green pastures;
he leads me beside still waters;
³     he restores my soul.
He leads me in right paths
    for his name’s sake.

⁴ Even though I walk through the darkest valley,
    I fear no evil;
for you are with me;
    your rod and your staff—
    they comfort me.

⁵ You prepare a table before me
    in the presence of my enemies;
you anoint my head with oil;
    my cup overflows.
⁶ Surelygoodness and mercyshall follow me
    all the days of my life,
and I shall dwell in the house of the Lord
    my whole life long.

Today, I return to one of my favorite stories about kids and God. THE LORD IS MY SHEPHERD

A Sunday School teacher decided to have her young class memorize one of the most quoted passages in the Bible; Psalm 23. She gave the youngsters a month to learn the verses. Little Rickey was excited about the task but, he just couldn’t remember the Psalm. After much practice, he could barely get past the first line.

On the day that the kids were scheduled to recite Psalm 23 in front of the congregation, Rickey was so nervous. When it was his turn, he stepped up to the microphone and said proudly, “The Lord is my Shepherd, and that’s all I need to know.” Rickey was a living example of what happens when we ask, “Will you Shepherd me Oh God?” (↔ Music Link)

In the drawing above, you can get an idea of how a shepherd might protect his sheep by being the door or gate to the sheepfold. Most sheep folds were constructed of low stone walls, unroofed (although sheepcotes were sometimes sheds with roofs), and quite often circular. The shepherd could lay across the threshold or entrance of the holding pen and that way anything (or anyone) coming or going would literally have to pass by him. It was quite a security system. The shepherd was that gate and, one might also say, the gatekeeper (see verse 3).

The gatekeeper opens the sheepfold for the shepherd. In much the same way, the Holy Spirit opens the Church (the sheep and sheepfold) for the shepherd (The Word) to lead and protect. The sheep obey the shepherd who has conditioned them to know his voice. They know when that voice speaks there is safety for it is the shepherd’s leading that takes them to graze on verdant slopes and rest by running waters which are always fresh and clean rather than stagnant puddles and ponds. The shepherd values his sheep, so much in fact that he names them and calls them by their names much like we name our pets. But for shepherds in Biblical times – and most likely even today in herds not run by agribusiness – sheep are not just pets, and yet are more than just livestock. The sheep provided wool, leather, meat, and a sacrificial victim for important feasts and rites. Shepherds invested time and effort in caring for the sheep because they were a major component of their lives. They took care of the sheep because they needed the sheep; to fail to take care of them would be to abandon them. Scripture uses the imagery of sheep and shepherd to describe the relationship between Israel and Jehovah. Sheep are the most-mentioned animals in the Bible – at least 200 times – and the shepherds are often mentioned with them.

Do you remember who the first shepherd was in the Bible? Turn to Genesis 4:1-2 – Now Adam slept with his wife, Eve, and she became pregnant. When the time came, she gave birth to Cain, and she said, “With the Lord’s help, I have brought forth a man!” Later she gave birth to a second son and named him Abel. When they grew up, Abel became a shepherd, while Cain was a farmer. Abel was also the first victim of murder in the Bible. “Tending flocks” was usually a lonely job. One solitary shepherd might tend to a dozen sheep or several hundred sheep. Sheep are fairly obedient – although we tend to think of them as dim-witted and unwise – but they are easily spooked, too. When they are frightened their tendency to bolt makes it difficult to keep them under control. That is why the familiarity between the shepherd and the flock was so important. The shepherd definitely needed the sheep, but most certainly the sheep needed the shepherd even more. They depended on each other.

We also tend to think of sheep being driven, like other domesticated herd animals. But sheep are better led than driven. The shepherd is at the head of his flock. He goes where they are going and gets there before them. If they are going to the sheepfold, he enters first. If they are leaving, he exits first. If they are going to pastures for grazing, he finds those pastures. The sheep follow only the shepherd; they run from strangers; they panic when attacked by carnivores like wolves or lions. They form a sort of attachment to the shepherd – something like we do with our pets – and they are contented to remain in that relationship.

When the Psalmist says, “The Lord is my Shepherd, I lack for nothing” he is saying that he is in a one-to-one relationship with God, who generously provides for all his needs. God needs him and he depends on God. God loves and cares for him, and he in turn loves and serves God. God gives him peaceful, contented rest and renews his strength through healing. As a shepherd, God leads David (and us) in the ways of righteousness; his own righteousness and goodness keep us nurtured and safe. He shows us the goodness of a holy life. Even in the worst of times, David knows (as do we) that God will protect him from his enemies and strengthen him as well as his allies. He know his Shepherd’s protection will be effective and generous. He live in joyful hope As he contemplates being a member of God’s Eternal Family because his generosity extends even to the point of adoption as a sister or brother to his Only Begotten Son.

In fact, God’s generosity affects everything about David’s life (and ours). In the temporal things, God grants David such wealth and prestige that his enemies can only stand afar off and wish they could have it a tenth as good; David has the assurance of hope and protection. God has anointed him (and us) with a kingly consecration. At banquets the heads of guests were anointed with fragrant oil – sometimes also the feet were anointed – and that served as a sign of the wealth of the host and of the richness of his welcome to his table. In David’s song, he says his cup runs over; there is such an abundance of blessing that he cannot contain it all and so the blessings run from his life to the lives of others. God’s generosity is so superabundant that David’s generosity becomes more abundant (as should ours). David also understands that the abundance of those blessings of grace and faith and salvation is not just a one-time occurrence; it is continuous – so continuous that it is eternal.

When we see the term “The House of the Lord,” or “of the House and lineage of David,” we know that the word house means family. David states “I will dwell in the House of the Lord.” David is part of God’s family; so are we – by adoption in Christ Jesus. Because of our Good Shepherd, we are called by name to follow his Word and to dwell with him forever in the last and highest sheepfold – Heaven. All are called; few are chosen. Only those who answer that call know the voice of the Good Shepherd. Our Good shepherd leads us out of the sheepfold of evil in this world and calls us to follow him to verdant pastures and running waters – a life of blessed peace and joy without fear, without suffering, without death. He has lain down his life for us and – even better – he has taken it up again. So also shall he take up our lives. Psalm 95:7-8 – For he is our God, and we are the people of his pasture, and the sheep of his hand. O that today you would listen to his voice! Do not harden your hearts, as at Meribah, as on the day at Massah in the wilderness!

Through Baptism, we belong to the Good Shepherd, the Great Shepherd, but we also depend on other shepherds in our day-to-day lives. Our Pastors, Priests, and Rabbis are also part of God’s abundant generosity, part of the richness of his Table. The foretaste of that Banquet we receive at the hands of these consecrated and ordained ministers is what nourishes our spirits and makes our JOY overflow while the enemies of God can only watch from afar. On this Good Shepherd Sunday, take a minute to [1] thank God for the Shepherd who laid down his life for his sheep, and [2] thank the shepherd of the flock where you worship for the generous gift of their lives for your benefit.

In this present age, we often see that people opposed to the Church and to Jesus – or even worse, indifferent – often rise up in rebellion against the Body of Christ (that is, The Church) with blasphemies and persecutions, even martyring many who have chosen Christ (↔ Music Link) as their Shepherd. Let’s listen, then, to the Voice of our Good Shepherd as he calls us into verdant pastures with abundant, refreshing waters as well as safety and sumptuous provision for all our needs.

The Ideal Shepherd Isaiah talks about in Isaiah 40:11 is the Davidic Shepherd in Psalm 23, and in Ezekiel 34, especially Ezekiel 34:15-23. Isaiah portrays this shepherd carrying the lambs with tenderness and care. Little lambs have a lot of energy, but they also tire easily. When they are moving with the flock as they graze, the little guys sometimes get tuckered out and just can’t go any farther. The good shepherd will pick up that little one and carry it for a while so it can rest without being left behind. As for the ewes, especially those still carrying their progeny, they must be led with care – slowly, with an eye toward safe paths, gentle slopes, adequate water, and  gradually move the flock so as not to endanger their lives. When Jacob and Esau were going through the process of reconciling with one another, Jacob makes a comment that driving the herd hard would kill the future of the herd – the ewes and the lambs they carried. Here’s the thing: If there are bleating, hopping, stumbling, messy, cute little lambs around, they are the future of the herd, and there will soon be more during the herd’s birthing season. Same for the Church.

If there are squalling, wriggling, falling, messy, dear little children around, they are the future of the Church as well as the present Church. Their participation in the Stewardship of Worship is an essential part of The Church of Today. Hopefully they do not come armed with Cheerios, toys, and crayons, and their parents help them appreciate orderly quietude. Soon enough they will bring their own children to Church. Jesus loves the little children. We too should love them and as unconditionally as he did. They are our seed, our dependents, our present, and our future. They are of our flock, and our Shepherd blesses them, and us, with his tender care. Jesus is the gate, and when we enter the Kingdom through him, we are saved because he laid down his life for us. That’s all; we need to know. Plant that in your heart and nurture it.

Whatever, whenever, wherever, whoever, however, if ever, forever —
at your service, Belovéd!

Please pray with us here at Share-a-Prayer.

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.

2518AFC050225 – A Deeper Kind of Praise. 😀 ← PODCAST LINK

Read it online here, please. And please – when you visit there – use one of the social media links at the bottom of the page to share this post. Thank you! And remember, we now have a READER VIEW available, so share this link or this email often.
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Acts 5:32 – ³² And we are witnesses to these things, and so is the Holy Spirit whom God has given to those who obey him.
Psalm 30:4 –
⁴ Sing praises to the Lord, O you his faithful ones,
    and give thanks to his holy name.

Revelation 5:13 – (GNT) [1] ¹³ And I heard every creature in heaven, on earth, in the world below, and in the sea — all living beings in the universe — and they were singing:
“To him who sits on the throne and to the Lamb,
    be praise and honor, glory and might,
    forever and ever!”

John 21:17-19 – ¹⁷ He said to him the third time, “Simon son of John, do you love me?” Peter felt hurt because he said to him the third time, “Do you love me?” And he said to him, “Lord, you know everything; you know that I love you.” Jesus said to him, “Feed my sheep. ¹⁸ Very truly, I tell you, when you were younger, you used to fasten your own belt and to go wherever you wished. But when you grow old, you will stretch out your hands, and someone else will fasten a belt around you and take you where you do not wish to go.” ¹⁹ (He said this to indicate the kind of death by which he would glorify God.) After this he said to him, “Follow me.”

May Peace always be with you and may God bless you, Belovéd! If you’ve been with us a while, you know that when you see that pile of keys there is going to be a lot of Scripture here. Indeed, that is the point – to get the Word into our hands for the Glory of God. Last week we focused on God’s Mercy (part of tht recurring theme of Perfect Integrity, Endless Mercy, Everlasting Love, And Eternal Salvation). Today we will look at praising God for his Mercy, and at least one method is not what we’d usually expect. In addition, we’ll take a look at a short, bot important and fascinating, passage that is not included in the Sunday readings this weekend. Now, let us begin to Praise the Lord! (↔ Music Link)

In the first reading from Acts of the Apostles, the Apostles declare that they are witnesses to the events of Jesus’ ministry, Passion, Death, Resurrection, and Ascension. Their declaration of faith infuriates the Sanhedrin because they are jealous of their own power yet do not know what to do with these seemingly ordinary men who are doing such extraordinary things. Moreover, these Apostles claim that there is another Greater witness – the Holy Spirit. They are now more than the fishermen and tax collectors that started out with Jesus’ first command, “Repent and believe the Gospel!” They are filled with, anointed with, empowered with the Holy Spirit whom God has given to those who obey him. Let us always pray that we, too, may be obedient to God by Loving his Only Begotten Son with that same Power in the Holy Spirit! We also can then Praise the Lord with thanksgiving and Joy. This is the praise we hear from the Psalmist.

Sing praises to the Lord, O you his faithful ones,
    and give thanks to his holy name. How do we become formed into Disciples of the Lord, Messengers of his Gospel? It is by being faithful to what “God in Three Persons” has told us to do: “‘You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind.’ And also, ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’” (See Matthew 22:37–39) This is the best way to Praise God (↔ Music Link)– but it requires a few things as a foundation for it to work properly. Alas, far too many of us believe we can do that on our own, believe that we are already Holy and righteous enough and our obedience to these two commandments is impeccable. But what about the other 8? Or, do we make the appropriate sacrifices necessary to obey these commands? What sacrifices could possibly be necessary to honor God by loving him and loving our neighbor?

One of God’s most enduring Prophets said it this way:
¹⁶ For you have no delight in sacrifice;
    if I were to give a burnt offering, you would not be pleased.
¹⁷ The sacrifice acceptable to Godis a broken spirit;
    a broken and contrite heart, O God, you will not despise. (See Psalm 51:16-17)

Our ability to Love God and neighbor as commanded is dependent on our ability to recognize our brokenness, to humble ourselves, and to give up all claims to being smart enough or good enough or whole enough to do it by ourselves. (↔ Learning Link) It is astonishing how many people are wandering around in the World saying “I’m looking for myself.” Well, as the old saying goes, “wherever you go, there you are.” Why would you look for yourself? You are where you are. Besides Someone else is looking for you: Ezekiel 34:11-12 – ¹¹ “‘For this is what the Sovereign Lord says: I myself will search for my sheep and look after them. ¹² As a shepherd looks after his scattered flock when he is with them, so will I look after my sheep. I will rescue them from all the places where they were scattered on a day of clouds and darkness.’” WE do not “rescue” ourselves; only God can do that, and humbly and contritely allowing him to do that is Holy Praise indeed.

God is Holy, and our Praise to him is also Holy – Holy, but not always wholly Holy. How can there be more to do to Praise God than to obey his commands? To help us look further into that question I want to give you some verses omitted from the Gospel reading for the Third Sunday of Easter which shed a bit more light on the Power of wholly Holy Praise:

Acts 5:34-41 – ³⁴ But a Pharisee in the council named Gamaliel, a teacher of the law, respected by all the people, stood up and ordered the men to be put outside for a short time. ³⁵ Then he said to them, “Fellow Israelites, consider carefully what you propose to do to these men. ³⁶ For some time ago Theudas rose up, claiming to be somebody, and a number of men, about four hundred, joined him; but he was killed, and all who followed him were dispersed and disappeared. ³⁷ After him Judas the Galilean rose up at the time of the census and got people to follow him; he also perished, and all who followed him were scattered. ³⁸ So in the present case, I tell you, keep away from these men and let them alone; because if this plan or this undertaking is of human origin, it will fail; ³⁹ but if it is of God, you will not be able to overthrow them—in that case you may even be found fighting against God!”

They were convinced by him, ⁴⁰ and when they had called in the apostles, they had them flogged. Then they ordered them not to speak in the name of Jesus, and let them go. ⁴¹ As they left the council, they rejoiced that they were considered worthy to suffer dishonor for the sake of the name.

The Sanhedrin and the whole Senate of the Israelites listened to Gamaliel and agreed with his advice. I have often wondered if Gamaliel – whose name means “God is my reward” – might have been among the Priests who sat in the Temple with the boy, Jesus, and listened to Jesus’ questions and answers. Scripture gives us no hint of that, but I am certain that the Holy Spirit moved his heart to speak as he did. And he was right, as one would expect given his Inspiration, and so became part of the prophecies given after the martyrdom of the Prophet St. John the Baptizer. We see at the end of this passage that the Apostles were flogged. That is a very painful way to Praise God! And yet we read, they rejoiced that they were considered worthy to suffer dishonor for the sake of the name. “Worthy to suffer?” OH,WOW! Would I, could I, could you, could WE be willing to praise God in that manner? And as they say on TV, “But wait! There’s more!”

Jesus showed us the ultimate model of Praise. He was lifted up in the manger to be seen by the shepherds. He was lifted up on the Cross to be seen by his Mother and an Apostle. He was lifted up from the Tomb. He was lifted up into Glory. He was lifted up to The Throne to sit at the Right Hand of God the Father as the Wholly Holy Lord God of Hosts. But before all of that –
⁶ who, though he was in the form of God,
    did not regard equality with God
    as something to be exploited,
⁷ but emptied himself,
    taking the form of a slave,
    being born in human likeness.
And being found in human form,
⁸     he humbled himself
    and became obedient to the point of death—
    even death on a cross. (See Philippians 2:6-8)

The ultimate form of Praise is the Ultimate Obedience of Christ. It is this Deeper Kind of Praise to which we, like The Apostle Peter and all the other Apostles of Jesus are called. This deeper, bolder, richer Praise sounds impossible, but we know, “For mortals it is impossible, but for God all things are possible.” (See Matthew 19:26) In 2515AFC04112 (↔ Click Link) I wrote “It is logical to me that if we are not ready to die today, it is unlikely we will be ready by tomorrow; therefore, every day for me is a chance to go see God face-to-face, and so I spend it praying, and singing hymns. Regrettably, I manage to fit in enough time to sin as well, and so that makes me look forward to tomorrow with constantly-renewing conversion AND the intent and the Power to do right things better and better things right.”

Must we endure a tortuous death to prove our love, our obedience, our wholly Holy Praise to God? Each of us must answer if we can give him that deeper Praise The Apostle Paul advocated in Romans 12:1-3 – ¹ I appeal to you therefore, brothers and sisters, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship. ² Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your minds, so that you may discern what is the will of God—what is good and acceptable and perfect.

³ For by the grace given to me I say to everyone among you not to think of yourself more highly than you ought to think, but to think with sober judgment, each according to the measure of faith that God has assigned. It’s hard, I know, and that is one reason I advocate for making a consistent offering of one’s self – and a daily offering (↔ Click Link)of some sort is a good beginning. I am reminded of C. S. Lewis’ statement by Aslan: “Further up and further in.” If we desire to be lifted up to that JOY of Eternal Transformation, then might it not also be necessary for us to be lifted up by God who is already waiting and searching for us?

Jesus told The Apostle Peter . “But when you grow old, you will stretch out your hands, and someone else will fasten a belt around you and take you where you do not wish to go.” ¹⁹ (He said this to indicate the kind of death by which he would glorify God.) After this he said to him, “Follow me.” Let’s not wait until we are old. Let’s just follow Jesus who is our Lord and our God. The Apostles, and later many other martyrs, testified of their Love and Obedience to God by giving up their lives. If we, too, offer or lives to God daily, he will make us ready for whichever Depth of Praise he knows is Right for us.

Our God is SO good! (↔ Music Link) He will let his Holy Spirit guide us to think with sober judgment, each according to the measure of faith that God has assigned, and then to choose to accept that Gift of newer and deeper praise. Some might be called to just say a prayer at waking or before falling asleep. Hopefully everyone offers The Common Grace (”Bless us O Lord, …). Some may be moved to use part of all of the breviary, a book containing the complete Divine Office or Liturgy of the Hours. (← Check it out!) A few might become evangelists, lay missionaries, consecrated Brothers or Nuns, Deacons, or Priests. ALL must become martyrs by giving Praise as Deep and Wide and High as God allows. As we often say here, “Why would you want anything less?” YOLO-F! Whatever we are doing and have been doing up until that moment when we step into The River, that’s where we will be standing as The Resurrected Disciples on the Day of Reward. THEN we will really know a Deeper Kind of Praise!!

Whatever, whenever, wherever, whoever, however, if ever, forever —
at your service, Belovéd!

 Please pray with us here at Share-a-Prayer.

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.

2513AFC032825 – Lay that burden down ! 🙂 ← PODCAST LINK

Read it online here, please. And please – when you visit there – use one of the social media links at the bottom of the page to share this post. Thank you! And remember, we now have a READER VIEW available, so share this link or this email often.
Do you know someone who enjoys Bible study, or who might like to read this? Ask them to email us or to subscribe on our blog-site.

Isaiah 66:10-11 – ¹⁰ Rejoice with Jerusalem, and be glad for her,
    all you who love her;
rejoice with her in joy,
    all you who mourn over her—
¹¹ that you may nurse and be satisfied
    from her consoling breast;
that you may drink deeply with delight
    from her glorious bosom.

Joshua 5:9 – ⁹ The Lord said to Joshua, “Today I have rolled away from you the disgrace of Egypt.” And so that place is called Gilgal * to this day.
* גָּלַל – galal – { gaw-lal’} To roll, roll away, roll down, roll together. This metaphor indicates God has relieved his people of the heavy burden they have been carrying – the humiliation of their slavery in Egypt.

Psalm 34:6-7 – (GNT) [1]
⁶ The helpless call to him, and he answers;
    he saves them from all their troubles.
⁷ His angel guards those who honor the Lord
    and rescues them from danger.

2 Corinthians 5:20 ^c-21 (GNT) – We plead on Christ’s behalf: let God change you from enemies into his friends! ^21 **Christ was without sin, but for our sake God made him share our sin in order that in union with him we might share the righteousness of God .

** [5:21] This is a statement of God’s purpose, expressed ironically in terms of sharing and exchange of attributes. As Christ became our righteousness (1 Cor 1:30), we become God’s righteousness (cf. 2 Cor 5:14–15).

Luke 15:31-32 – ³¹ Then the father said to him, ‘Son, you are always with me, and all that is mine is yours. ³² But we had to celebrate and rejoice, because this brother of yours was dead and has come to life; he was lost and has been found.’

Aloha nui loa, ʻŌmea! Grace and Peace to each of you from God our Father and our Lord, Jesus the Christ, in the Power of the Holy Spirit. Our opening Key Verse for today is the introit – the entrance hymn – for the fourth Sunday of Lent. Already we are past the half-way point this Season of Lent. Sunday is Laetare Sunday so named because of the introit (entrance antiphon) in Isaiah 66:10-11 which in Latin begins with “Laetare Jerusalem: et conventum facite omnes qui diligitis eam: gaudete cum laetitia, …” which means “Rejoice, O Jerusalem: and come together all you that love her: rejoice with joy, …” For this special Sunday, the vestments and church appointments are rose-colored (“pink”). This passage also contains the Latin word gaudete which also means Rejoice.

This passage is declaring the future restoration of Jerusalem. He promises True Worship will prevail, wickedness will be banished, the entire World will unite in Righteousness to dwell in a New Heaven and New Earth. As stated above “God has relieved his people of the heavy burden they have been carrying – the humiliation of their slavery in Egypt.” In this metaphor, Egypt stands for the evil and oppression in the World. That burden will be lifted through the Power of the Holy Spirit. It is such a wonderful message that Jerusalem, and all the world with her, will literally jump for joy. God will take away our hearts of stone (↔ Music Link) and replace them with hearts for Love alone. There is a caveat, however.

God created us in Love and for Love. His expectation – his command – is that we love and obey him. These acts of obeisance – homage, respect, and binding loyalty to him – are the implementation of his Grace in our lives. He gives us gifts. We use them to give him praise and thanks. He rewards us with even greater gifts – the restoration of our Original Innocence which we lost by Original Sin. That burden of Original Sin, the Egypt of our existence – is rolled away by the restoration of Love between God and all his Creation. What a great cause for rejoicing! Our future is the fulfilment of all for which we Hope.

In the passage from Joshua, this Hope is explained as having been rolled away. Envision a multitude of people gathered together to transport a gigantic stone across a long distance. Although they are weary, they continue to work together – mostly. There are a few grumblers and some slackers, too, but still they all move forward.

Then comes The Word of Proclamation, “I AM rolling away that burden. Rest, and rejoice!” Even the grumblers and slackers get relief because I AM restores them as well. Every angel guards those who honor the Lord, and rescues them from danger. In the presence of those Angels, (↔ Click Link) we will sing God’s Praise! The helpless call to him, and he answers; he saves them from all their troubles. Our exodus from Egypt is accomplished through Christ’s descent into Sheol and exodus from there to the Land of the Living by his Resurrection. This is because Christ was without sin, but for our sake God made him share our sin in order that in union with him we might share the righteousness of God. And thereby we are liberated from the burden of Sin – Original as well as personal but still with the caveat above – our burden is lifted (↔ Music Link). We are further blessed when Jesus commands us to help roll away the burden of our neighbors. It is reminiscent of the stone rolled away at the Tomb. That which is prefigured in the Old Testament is revealed in the New Testament. Our God is SO good!

Now, I owe you 2 “Person of the Week” stories. Let’s begin with the person God called Israel. You can find that account in Genesis 32:22-32. Here’s the back story: Jacob, the second son of Isaac and brother of Esau, the first son of Jacob, was going through Esau’s territory. There was still deep division between the two because Jacob had stolen his brother’s birthright by tricking him to cede it to him for a bowl of pottage. Jacob was afraid Esau would do him harm. God had told him to return to the land of his father and to settle in another corner of that territory, and so he had brought all his possessions – thousands of animals and people – including his wife, children, and servants. He sent all of them across the river Jabbok with many gifts for Esau hoping that the Gifts would soften his brother’s heart.

After Jacob had sent everything over the river Jabbok, he an “a man” wrestled all night. Jacob was winning, and he kept at it until it was early dawn. The man – whom we infer to be a divine being – admits Jacob has prevailed and signals to end the contest. Jacob refuses to quit until his opponent gives him a blessing. The opponent agrees and asks, “What is your name?” “Jacob,” he replied. Then we read – Genesis 32:28 – ²⁸ Then the mansaid, “You shall no longer be called Jacob, but Israel, for you have striven with God and with humans, and have prevailed.” This name is Israel יִשְׂרָאֵל (Yisra’el) { yis-raw-ale’} The meaning is: He struggles with God or God prevails. In all of that region, the descendants of Esau and Ishmael pronounce the name of Israel’s descendants as Isra-Elis (EEsrah-AYlees). Israel’s comment after that event was “I have striven with God and prevailed!” He named the place Peniel which mean “Face of God,” for he said “I have seen the face of God and lived.”

That’s one, and here’s two: Esau! We’ve already pointed out he was the first son of Jacob which means he was entitled to a double portion of the inheritance and the leadership of the family. The inheritance would be divided between both of Isaac’s and Rebekah’s sons, and the eldest would receive ⅔ of the inheritance, not just ½. In Genesis 25:19-34 at verses 22-23, we read – ²² The children struggled together within her; and she said, “If it is to be this way, why do I live?” So she went to inquire of the Lord. ²³ And the Lord said to her,
“Two nations are in your womb,
    and two peoples born of you shall be divided;
the one shall be stronger than the other,
    the elder shall serve the younger.”

Esau came out first, and he looked fully mature – covered with hair, and reddish in color. That was the derivation of his name. Jacob was second, and – according to the account in Genesis 25:26 – ²⁶ Afterward his brother came out, with his hand gripping Esau’s heel; so he was named Jacob, Isaac was sixty years old when she bore them.

Esau grew up to be a skilled hunter and was not one much for the religious side of life. After he moved away from Isaac’s territory, his descendants were called the Edomites and the land THEY occupied was often called Idumea. We read God’s words conveyed by Moses in Deuteronomy 23:7 – ⁷ You shall not abhor any of the Edomites, for they are your kin. You shall not abhor any of the Egyptians, because you were an alien residing in their land. Esau is a noteworthy person in the Patriarchal narrative, and – as with Ishmael – the tensions between their descendants continue to be felt today.

That’s if for this post. Thanks for coming along! We’ll see all y’all next week as we continue our Lenten journey. We continue to REJOICE, secure in the hope that our prayers and sacrificial offerings as stewards of God’s Love will free us – as well as our friends, neighbors, and relatives – from all that burdens us while we continue to remember that he says, “Adelphos – you are always with me, and all that is mine is yours.” And what does God have for our inheritance? How about his Everlasting Love?!? (↔ Music Link) The Peace of the Lord is with us always!

Whatever, whenever, wherever, whoever, however, if ever, forever —
at your service, Belovéd!
Please pray with us here at Share-a-Prayer.

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.

Jacob’s trip from Haran to Edom