NotMyThoughtsButYours begins as a tool for the teachers,
catechists, and staff of St. Gabriel to reflect on the writings of Luke, both
in the Gospel of Luke and Acts during Lent. We welcome discussion on how
Luke's writings touch your heart, move you to action, or speak to what you may
be experiencing at this time. Please be respectful of others as you
engage in this very personal conversation. This dialogue is intended to
move all of us to a deeper understanding of what God is asking of us at this
time in our lives. Peaceful blogging!!--Therese
Thank you for the invitation, Therese. I'm going to write about my one-word prayer :)Lisa
ReplyDeleteI have to say what strikes me most about the first two books of Luke is the importance of the women. Elizabeth and Mary both so trusting in God. They are also so responsive and supportive of each other. This is beautiful.
ReplyDeleteThe first 7 books of Luke have so many stories of healing. We all need healing because we live in and with the human condition, that is, we hurt each other. I am reminded of my own sinfulness as I hear the story of the woman who washes the feet of Jesus with her tears. Lord, I ask that I may experience your great mercy.
ReplyDeleteLuke 8 contains verses I have not heard, and they strike me deeply. The very first verse talks about the women that were with Jesus along his ministry, those who had been healed and were supporting Jesus.
ReplyDeleteSecondly were verses 19-21; Jesus' mother and brothers were there to see him, and his response was "My mother and brothers are those who hear my word."
These verses include women who were important to the ministry of Jesus. This means a lot to me.
So many stories of healing, trust, and discipleship in chapters 9-10. It is difficult for me to focus. What I am left thinking this morning is that God gave the disciples everything they needed to have faith in Jesus. There were healings, there were voices from heaven and images of prophets from the grave; and yet they still did not completely understand what was right in front of them. This morning I ask God for eyes that see and ears that hear, that I might come to trust a bit more. Otherwise, how am I to do the hard work of discipleship?
ReplyDeleteIn Chapter 11 Jesus has strong words for the Pharisees. "Woe to you because you load people down with burdens they can hardly carry, and you yourselves will not lift one finger to help them."
ReplyDeleteThis speaks to so many areas to me today. Our society is so judgmental and yet we ourselves have not "cleaned out our houses." Our church places so many rules on people, pointing out the dirty laundry without giving a clothesline to hang them on. And in our families we expect so much from out parents and our children, often not seeing limitations that cannot be overcome.
So today I ask that I be able to see the needs and limitations of others, and that I be able to help lead them to a more loving experience of God.
As a mother and a teacher I know how important rules are. They lead us and guide us to do the right thing. But when they begin to get in the way of something great happening, parents and teachers bend those rules to help something creative of extraordinary happen.
ReplyDeleteThe Pharisees could not get themselves out of the rulebook. I don't know if it was because they were afraid or because they just didn't like the player who was challenging the rules. Perhaps a bit of both.
What does seem clear is that we should not let anything keep us from doing what is healing and loving to others. If it means stepping outside of the lines we have drawn to do it, then that is how we need to stretch ourselves. Sometimes this can lead to total transformation.
The cost of discipleship is high, we must be willing to pick up our cross and carry it.
ReplyDeleteWhen I was growing up Catholic Social Teaching was eluded to but never taught. I don't think I am unique. We have generations of Catholics who do not know what the Church teaches, based on what Christ taught, when it comes to how to respond to the issues of the day.
Americanism, however is very much taught every day. Young children can speak clearly of capitalism, the right to protect yourself, etc. We can rationalize and justify most of our behavior because we have chosen to be more American than Christian. And if we say this, we are called unpatriotic.
The Gospel message is clear, but difficult. If we choose it, we will be the one marginalized by a society that calls us naïve or liberal, or unpatriotic, or any other thing they can call us to make us feel wrong. This often puts family members against one another, friends against one another, and leaves us feeling very much isolated and on our own.
If it isn't love, it isn't God. That is the yardstick I use to guide my actions, or at least I try to. Are our guns bringing us to a deeper love of our neighbor? Is my desire to amass money and things bring me or my neighbor to a greater understanding of one another? Is my right to say what I want healing the prejudice of the world? If it isn't, I need to reexamine my actions.
The Way of the Cross is a difficult one. I try to stay focused on the promise at the end, and I don't mean a heaven far off when I die. I mean a place right here on earth where people care for one another out of mutual respect, understanding, and love.
A few of my thoughts/goals inspired by the Luke readings so far -
ReplyDeleteWorry less, pray more!
Devote my energy to what's important. Lord, help me to be more like Mary than Martha.
Make every day about the light - keeping my light bright by setting intentions for and being consciously grateful each day; actively maintaining my health; sharing my positive energy with family, friends, and students - working to avoid the trap of fueling the negative energy we deal with; work through it while actively trusting in the God's hand in my life.
My word is peace. Just as Zechariah said John was sent ahead to do, I pray, Lord, that you "guide our feet into the path of peace. "
Mercy!
ReplyDeleteOf the readings on mercy and forgiveness in Chapter 15, I am ashamed to say the Lost Coin is the one in which I would say, "Well yes, we would look for our money until we find it, and then we would be happy when we did." But the coin did nothing to become lost, and in our minds and hearts we know the sheep and the young son did. So justice comes into play. One of my daughters has had a strong sense of justice since she was a toddler. I can hear her yell still, "Mommy that's not fair!"
She was so caught up in not wanting to see her sister get away with something and was too young to think she would ever need the same mercy shown. Her sense of justice has matured, but probably because she has experienced the mercy of a parent, or her sister, or her God.
Why are we so reluctant to see others receive mercy? Why are we so reluctant to receive mercy ourselves or ask for it?
In this season of repentance and forgiveness I pray that I am able to ask God, and those I have hurt for forgiveness and mercy. And I pray I am able to forgive others who have hurt me. It is through forgiveness and mercy that healing takes place.
I too pray that I am able to truly forgive those who have hurt me - especially family members. I pray that that this forgiveness leads us to a better understanding of each other and to a more supportive relationship in the future. I can imagine that is what happened in the epilogue to the story of the prodigal son.
ReplyDeleteThe Attitude of the Servant in Chapter 17 brings me to see myself as the "unprofitable servant." Lead me, Lord, to serve you in ways beyond the ways in which I am "obliged." Help me to reach out in new and meaningful ways.
If we are to be trusted in large things, we must first be trusted in small things.
ReplyDeleteSo much of Luke's Gospel is focused on doing - the manifestation of our faith. It seems I was raised on a "by faith you will be saved" motto much more than works. I think all children begin to understand the concept of trust and how it is earned. We give children little ways to make good choices and guide them before they are left to make important choices on their own. If they fail, we start again with small choices. Children understand this, and the last thing they want to hear from a parent in high school is, "I don't trust you anymore." Like the manager, they are left to earn their way back into a relationship of trust in which they do not see themselves in an uncomfortable situation or, fallen from grace.
I have been in the situation where I have "fallen from grace," and it literally feels like I am in a free fall. Nothing is right with myself or the ones around me. And I have created the situation, so now I have to set things right. This period of time is great turmoil. My mind races and cannot be stopped. My heart is not at rest and I cannot love or feel loved.
I imagine this is how the rich man felt when he finally realized he should have treated Lazarus better all of those times. He was given opportunity after opportunity to set things right. And yet he did not. Now he had fallen from grace and he was desperate, even trying to make a last ditch effort to safe his brothers when he realized he had blown it.
I hope I have faith enough, and humility enough, to know that I need God's mercy and love, and the mercy and love of others. I don't want to ignore the signs God gives to me of his mercy and forgiveness. And I don't want to miss opportunities to love out of that mercy and forgiveness.
Carol, you mention the epilogue to the prodigal son. It seems there was no such epilogue available for the rich man who had ignored Lazarus' needs. Could make us ask ourselves, "what are we waiting for?"
The story's of the Persistent Widow makes me think of my Grandmother Shea - a WWI nurse, a strong woman. She is known to often say - in difficult times - "pray for perseverance." As in the parable, I think a good intention to set for all times is "pray with perseverance." I am guilty of praying most passionately in those tough times but would like to develop a constant conversation with God and a clearer understanding of his path for me.
ReplyDeleteIt does make me wonder - What am I waiting for?
The Kingdom of God.
ReplyDeleteNowhere in the Gospels is Jesus more clear about what the Kingdom of God is than in Chapter 17, "The Kingdom of God is within you!"
As a child I was taught that The Kingdom of God was in some far away land I went when I died, if I was good enough. Like OZ, there was some wizard in charge and he would determine who went. And, good things would happen to those who went to church, prayed, and did good things for others. The problem with that is when bad things happened, I was left to this question, am I still not good enough. Or worse yet, left to think, "This God is a farce."
Jesus goes on to tell stories of the "Kingdom revealed." The leper who came back to thank and praise the Lord, the Kingdom was revealed. Zacchaeus gives back four times the money he took, the Kingdom was revealed. The Widow trusts enough to give all her money, the Kingdom is revealed.
Then Jesus warns against not staying in touch with that Kingdom. If it isn't love, it isn't God. When I fail to notice the beauty of the world around me; when I fail to give thanks and praise for the healings and joys of my day; when I do not trust in God's desire to give me abundance of life the Kingdom dissolves.
Lord, take away the Pharisee and Sadducee from. Let me not be the one who thinks they know everything and has everything under my own control. Let me get out of my own ego so Your Kingdom may come.
Lord, help me to hear you. I desire to use my gifts to contribute to your Kingdom here on Earth. Help me to be like the widow and give even when I feel like there is nothing left to give. Help me to rise above the "anxieties of daily life" in order to be vigilant and more like Zacchaeus - faith-filled and enthusiastically running ahead.
ReplyDeleteI try to imagine how the apostles must have felt like when events and conversations began to change from miracles to preparation for death. They did not want to see their friend and teacher die. They did not want to believe it. They had big plans for him and themselves.
ReplyDeleteI have big plans for myself and my family. Dreams and goals that would like to see to fulfillment. When anything threatens that plan, I begin to fear. Fear is powerful. It can make you do things and behave in ways that are nothing less than evil.
The words, "Be careful or your hearts will be weighed down with dissipation, drunkenness, and anxieties of life, and that day will close on you unexpectedly as a trap."
Trusting the love and resurrection of Jesus is very difficult. I need to start by trusting and believing that Jesus is with me in all of the small acts of love in my day. Jesus is also present in the small deaths and resurrections of my day - the sorrows and the joys. I pray this will continue to be revealed to me in the ordinary of my day.
Who do you say that I am?
ReplyDeleteOne of the most powerful questions of Scripture. Jesus asked Peter once before this chapter. Pilate asks Jesus, "Are you the Son of God?" The "Christ" the one sent to save us all. Jesus responds, "I Am." And that was the icing on the cake! How dare he? How could anyone say they were the Son of God? What nerve!
And so today, who do I say I am? I am Baptized in the Lord, fully inheriting all that Jesus came to offer. Baptized Priest, Prophet, and King. A daughter of God, known to God even before I was in my mother's womb. Loved into existence by the Creator. Given the mission of being a light for the world.
Do I have the courage, as Jesus did at that moment, to accept who I am? Or am I living my life as more American, mother, sister, wife? I remember Jesus telling the disciples and the crowds, they must leave all behind, even family, if they are willing to be His disciple. The enormity of this is so clear whenever we take even one step to act in the manner of Jesus. We are then called out as idealists, liberal, communists, unpatriotic. When you seek to live the call of your Baptism you will be cast out by the majority.
We crucified love itself. Am I willing to take up my Baptismal Mission and always speak for love, or am I too afraid on the consequences?
Whenever I read or hear this chapter (23) I can't but feel like I am at the movies and this time the ending is different. I so want the ending to be different. It is an ending that doesn't even make sense to the people in charge in the story. Christ did nothing wrong, and yet the High Priests and the public were afraid. If what Jesus was saying was true, then the High Priest and the public had God wrong all along. God was not asking for the kinds of sacrifices and rules the people of the institutions were asking for. God was asking for love.
ReplyDeleteThis is too much! We can sacrifice our goats, or pay our taxes, or follow rules of "The Law" or the law of the government. But don't ask us to love this radically.
Have we made any progress? Or are we, am I, still hoping for a different ending, even though we are not changing the way we behave?
The women are first on the scene!
ReplyDeleteWow! Does anyone else find it as fascinating as I do that the women were the first to have it revealed to them that Christ had Risen? I am reminded of my surprise at the beginning of Luke's Gospel that the women were the first to participate in Jesus' ministry after they had been healed.
It seems very likely to me that women would have an easier time believing in the Resurrection. Women experience life happening in them out of nothing. A risen Lord certainly does not seem any less likely than the miracle of birth. And so they take that message to the men.
It seems to me if God can create life within us, he can indeed raise us to a new life. That is not difficult for me to believe. What is always difficult is taking that message, through works of love, that is difficult.
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ReplyDeleteActs 1-2
ReplyDeleteThe perfect communion people are in when they repent and are Baptized is one that is beautiful. It is the Kingdom of God. All shared what they had so no one was wanting for anything. All broke bread together, there were no schisms in the community.
This is what I thirst for. A community that cares for one another out of the presence of the Spirit. No one of us is worthy and no one of us is unworthy.
Am I as fearful as the Pharisees of losing whatever little power I have in my life? Do I need to put others down in order to boost myself? Do I have a hard time believing in the power of God working through others?
ReplyDeleteDear Lord, I pray to be able to give witness to your power, and to not fear your love and grace given through others.
Dear Lord, I pray for the ability to know your will and for the energy and perseverance to bring it to fruition with the fervor and clarity of Peter and John. Help me - and all in our community - to see your hand in our lives each day.
ReplyDeleteJealousy, fear of loss, lack of faith. A recipe for a stoning. This scripture in acts 7-8 is so difficult to read because it resonates so strongly with "the world."
ReplyDeleteAm I of the world or of God? How I would love to say the latter. But do I have a stone or two in my hand?
I wonder what visible change was in the newly converted disciples that made Simon say, "I want that too!"
ReplyDeleteActs 10
ReplyDeleteYou cannot unsee or unhear something. So once the disciples were shown what Jesus wanted them to see and told what he wanted them to know, it would not be ignored. So they had the courage to give testimony even in the face of persecution.
Lord give me the courage to give witness to what I know is true.
Acts 15 - Unbelievable courage!
ReplyDeleteIt is incredible to think of the amount of courage the first Christians showed. They went out to strange lands with a partner and preached a story that seemed unbelievable to most. A Risen Lord!? Who would believe? They had to speak with such authority and healed with such power. They are jailed and tortured, and yet they continue.
I want that courage. I want to be able to speak the truth in times when it is difficult or seemingly impossible.
Acts 20
ReplyDeleteI have this reflection from Mother Theresa that is so profound.
The meaning of my life is the love of God.
It is Christ in His distressing disguise whom I love and serve...I was a stranger and you gave me something to eat...I was a stranger and you invited me in. I needed clothes and you clothed me..."
Nobody can take my religion from me. Therefore, nobody can refuse me the right to practice it.
Nobody can take it away from me. It is something within me. If there is no alternative to persecution and if that is the only way for that Christ wants to come among his people, by radiating his love for them through my actions, I would stay to serve them, but I wouldn't give up my faith.
I would be ready to give my life, but not my faith.
I am nothing. He is all. I do nothing of my own. He does it.
That is what I am, God's pencil. A tiny bit of pencil with which he writes what he likes.
God writes through us, and however imperfect instruments we may be, he writes beautifully.