Tag: Feast of Booths

Morning Prayer, 20 Feb – John 8:48-59 ~ “I AM” has left the building

Morning Prayer

+ In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen

Opening sentences – Brendan the Navigator (c. 486-575)

Lord, I will trust You, help me to journey beyond the familiar and into the unknown.

I will trust You in the darkness and know that my times are still in Your hand. I will believe You for my future, chapter by chapter, until all the story is written.

Morning readings

John 8:48-59 ESV:

I-AM

The Jews answered him, “Are we not right in saying that you are a Samaritan and have a demon?”

Jesus answered, “I do not have a demon, but I honor my Father, and you dishonor me. Yet I do not seek my own glory; there is One who seeks it, and he is the judge. Truly, truly, I say to you, if anyone keeps my word, he will never see death.”

The Jews said to him, “Now we know that you have a demon! Abraham died, as did the prophets, yet you say, ‘If anyone keeps my word, he will never taste death.’ Are you greater than our father Abraham, who died? And the prophets died! Who do you make yourself out to be?”

Jesus answered, “If I glorify myself, my glory is nothing. It is my Father who glorifies me, of whom you say, ‘He is our God.’ But you have not known him. I know him. If I were to say that I do not know him, I would be a liar like you, but I do know him and I keep his word. Your father Abraham rejoiced that he would see my day. He saw it and was glad.”

So the Jews said to him, “You are not yet fifty years old, and have you seen Abraham?”

Jesus said to them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, before Abraham was, I am.”

So they picked up stones to throw at him, but Jesus hid himself and went out of the temple.

Reflections:

never see death

The idea of abiding or remaining in Jesus’ teaching is now complemented by the motif of keeping it. This refers to remaining watchful, attentive and focused so as not to disregard it but rather to continue to obey it. It takes work to keep in touch with Jesus’ teaching. The disciple must expend energy to remain true to his teaching.

The promise that the faithful disciple will not die does not mean the disciple will not physically die; it means that he or she will not enter that state of “selfish isolation which is the negation of life”. The very fact that the disciple remains in contact with Jesus, the source of life, suggests such communion, with its death to self and life to God.

straight talk

1. Jesus speaks plainly about the Father – he refuses to glorify himself but says his Father will do so.
2. Jesus speaks plainly about his opponents ignorance of God – they are “liars.”
3. Jesus speaks plainly aboout his relationship to God – “I . . . keep his word.”
4. Jesus speaks plainly about his own divine identity – “before Abraham was born, I am!”

re-formation

The main points of chapters 7 & 8 have been Jesus divine identity, his role as the bringer of God’s salvation as water and light and the opponents’ utter alienation from God. This alienation has been stated explicitly, depicted dramatically in their questions and behavior and is now expressed symbolically in Jesus’ leaving in hiddenness.

Jesus has claimed to be I AM, the divine presence. So when he leaves the temple it is nothing less than “the departure of the Divine Presence from the old `Holy Space’.” He will not return again to the temple; he will come only to its outer precincts. His formation of a community apart from the temple will now become more apparent.

The IVP New Testament Commentary Series

__________

I want to be close, close to Your side / So Heaven is real and death is a lie / I want to hear voices of angels above / Singing as one

Hallelujah, holy, holy / God Almighty, the great I AM / Who is worthy, none beside Thee / God Almighty, the great I AM

I want to be near, near to Your heart / Loving the world and hating the dark / I want to see dry bones living again / Singing as one

Hallelujah, holy, holy / God Almighty, the great I AM / Who is worthy, none beside Thee / God Almighty, the great I AM

The mountains shake before You the demons run and flee / At the mention of the name King of Majesty / There is no power in hell / Or any who can stand / Before the power and the presence of the great I AM

The great I AM / the great I AM / The great I AM / The great I AM / The great I AM

__________

Canticle:

Christ, as a light… illumine and guide me. Christ, as a shield… overshadow me. Christ under me; Christ over me; Christ beside me on my left and my right.

This day be within and without me, lowly and meek, yet all-powerful. Be in the heart of each to whom I speak; in the mouth of each who speaks unto me. This day be within and without me, lowly and meek, yet all-powerful.

Christ as a light; Christ as a shield; Christ beside me on my left and my right.

Blessing

May the peace of the Lord Christ go with you, wherever He may send you. May He guide you through the wilderness, protect you through the storm. May He bring you home rejoicing at the wonders He has shown you. May He bring you home rejoicing once again into our doors.

+ In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen

_____________________________________

Peanut Gallery: A brief word of explanation – the general format for Morning Prayer is adapted from the Northumbrian Community‘s Daily Office, as found in Celtic Daily Prayer (see online resources here.) The Scripture readings are primarily from the Gospel of John, with the intent to complete the reading by Easter. Other Scriptures which illuminate the Gospel of John will be included along the way.

Reflections from various saints will be included as their memorial days occur during the calendar year.

On Sundays, I’ll return to the USCCB readings (see online resources here) and various liturgical resources in order to reflect the Church’s worship and concerns throughout the world.

Photo illustrations and music videos, available online, are included as they illustrate or illuminate the readings. I will try to give credit and link to sources as best I can.

Morning Prayer, 19 Feb – John 8:39-47 ~ who’s your daddy

Morning Prayer

+ In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen

Opening sentences – Brendan the Navigator (c. 486-575)

Lord, I will trust You, help me to journey beyond the familiar and into the unknown.

I choose to live beyond regret and let You recreate my life. I believe You will make a way for me and provide for me, if only I trust You and obey.

Morning readings

John 8:39-47 ESV:

"The Temptation and Fall of Eve" William Blake (1808) Illustrations to John Milton - Paradise Lost
“The Temptation and Fall of Eve”
William Blake (1808)
Illustrations to John Milton – Paradise Lost

[The Jews] answered him, “Abraham is our father.”

Jesus said to them, “If you were Abraham’s children, you would be doing the works Abraham did, but now you seek to kill me, a man who has told you the truth that I heard from God. This is not what Abraham did. You are doing the works your father did.”

They said to him, “We were not born of sexual immorality. We have one Father — even God.”

Jesus said to them, “If God were your Father, you would love me, for I came from God and I am here. I came not of my own accord, but he sent me. Why do you not understand what I say? It is because you cannot bear to hear my word. You are of your father the devil, and your will is to do your father’s desires. He was a murderer from the beginning, and does not stand in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he lies, he speaks out of his own character, for he is a liar and the father of lies. But because I tell the truth, you do not believe me. Which one of you convicts me of sin? If I tell the truth, why do you not believe me? Whoever is of God hears the words of God. The reason why you do not hear them is that you are not of God.”

Reflections:

paternity

Jesus is one with God the Father, expressed here once again in terms of his origin and obedience. It follows that anyone who rejects him is rejecting God the Father who sent him and to whom he is obedient. Their inability to hear his word indicates that something is radically wrong with them – they have the wrong father — they are of their father, the devil.

opposites

John portrays the devil as exactly the opposite of Jesus – Jesus is life and gives life; the devil is a murderer… Jesus is truth and speaks truth; the devil is a liar and the father of lies, to his very core there is no truth in him, but rather lies. This contrast between Jesus’ dependence on the Father and the devil’s independence from the Father is the crucial distinction between them.

The IVP New Testament Commentary Series

__________

Praise to the Father of our Lord, Jesus Christ / Our God and our King, to Him we will sing / In His great mercy, He has given us life / Now we can be called the children of God

Great is the Love that the Father has given us / He has delivered us / He has delivered us

Children of God, sing your song and rejoice / For the love that He has given us all / Children of God, by the blood of His Son / We have been redeemed and we can be called / Children of God / Children of God

A mystery is revealed to the universe / The Father above has proven His love / Now we are free from the judgment that we deserve / And so we are called the children of God
We are the saints / We are the children / We’ve been redeemed / We’ve been forgiven / We are the sons and daughters of our God

__________

Canticle:

Christ, as a light… illumine and guide me. Christ, as a shield… overshadow me. Christ under me; Christ over me; Christ beside me on my left and my right.

This day be within and without me, lowly and meek, yet all-powerful. Be in the heart of each to whom I speak; in the mouth of each who speaks unto me. This day be within and without me, lowly and meek, yet all-powerful.

Christ as a light; Christ as a shield; Christ beside me on my left and my right.

Blessing

May the peace of the Lord Christ go with you, wherever He may send you. May He guide you through the wilderness, protect you through the storm. May He bring you home rejoicing at the wonders He has shown you. May He bring you home rejoicing once again into our doors.

+ In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen

_____________________________________

Peanut Gallery: A brief word of explanation – the general format for Morning Prayer is adapted from the Northumbrian Community‘s Daily Office, as found in Celtic Daily Prayer (see online resources here.) The Scripture readings are primarily from the Gospel of John, with the intent to complete the reading by Easter. Other Scriptures which illuminate the Gospel of John will be included along the way.

Reflections from various saints will be included as their memorial days occur during the calendar year.

On Sundays, I’ll return to the USCCB readings (see online resources here) and various liturgical resources in order to reflect the Church’s worship and concerns throughout the world.

Photo illustrations and music videos, available online, are included as they illustrate or illuminate the readings. I will try to give credit and link to sources as best I can.

Morning Prayer, 18 Feb – John 8:31-38 ~ freedom

Morning Prayer

+ In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen

Opening sentences – Brendan the Navigator (c. 486-575)

Christ of the mysteries, can I trust You to be stronger than each storm in me? Do I still yearn for Your glory to lighten on me?

I will show others the care You’ve given me. I determine amidst all uncertainty always to trust.

Morning readings

John 8:31-38 ESV:

paid in full

So Jesus said to the Jews who had believed him, “If you abide in my word, you are truly my disciples, and you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.”

They answered him, “We are offspring of Abraham and have never been enslaved to anyone. How is it that you say, ‘You will become free’?”

Jesus answered them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, everyone who practices sin is a slave to sin. The slave does not remain in the house forever; the son remains forever. So if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed. I know that you are offspring of Abraham; yet you seek to kill me because my word finds no place in you. I speak of what I have seen with my Father, and you do what you have heard from your father.”

Reflections:

trust

Jesus tests his disciples by giving them further revelation that stretches them and requires them to put their trust in him, rather than in their understanding of all he is saying and doing. They need to understand him well enough to recognize that he is from God, but the very fact that he is from God means he is going to speak and act in ways that are not in keeping with this world.

truth

To know Jesus is to be liberated from all error and evil, for it is to know God himself, who is truth and purity and life. In Jesus’ teaching and in the teaching of Judaism obedience to God is true freedom. This truth is quite different from the thinking of most people today, for it takes God, rather than our own personal feelings and ambitions, as the one good. The freedom in view is not a freedom to do whatever we wish according to the dictates of our own fallen selves, but a freedom from our fallen selves and the power and guidance to act in accordance with God himself, the source of all goodness and life.

freedom

Jesus is speaking of inner spiritual freedom – freedom from sin, and sin, at its heart, is an alienation from God. This alienation is caused by sin in the sense of both error and evil. The antidote, faith, corresponds to both of these aspects since it is the appropriation of knowledge of God (which replaces the error) and of forgiveness for our rebellion against God (which overcomes the evil). Jesus is offering a restored relationship of intimacy with God, which brings life in place of death.

union

The freedom Jesus is offering is union with the Father, the source of all true life. The way to receive this life, with its freedom from sin’s alienation and death, is to remain in his teaching. This involves an actual remaining in the Son himself, which includes remaining in his commands. In order to receive the power to become children of God we must receive the Son of God and share in the Son’s own relationship with the Father.

The IVP New Testament Commentary Series

__________

__________

Canticle:

Christ, as a light… illumine and guide me. Christ, as a shield… overshadow me. Christ under me; Christ over me; Christ beside me on my left and my right.

This day be within and without me, lowly and meek, yet all-powerful. Be in the heart of each to whom I speak; in the mouth of each who speaks unto me. This day be within and without me, lowly and meek, yet all-powerful.

Christ as a light; Christ as a shield; Christ beside me on my left and my right.

Blessing

May the peace of the Lord Christ go with you, wherever He may send you. May He guide you through the wilderness, protect you through the storm. May He bring you home rejoicing at the wonders He has shown you. May He bring you home rejoicing once again into our doors.

+ In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen

_____________________________________

Peanut Gallery: A brief word of explanation – the general format for Morning Prayer is adapted from the Northumbrian Community‘s Daily Office, as found in Celtic Daily Prayer (see online resources here.) The Scripture readings are primarily from the Gospel of John, with the intent to complete the reading by Easter. Other Scriptures which illuminate the Gospel of John will be included along the way.

Reflections from various saints will be included as their memorial days occur during the calendar year.

On Sundays, I’ll return to the USCCB readings (see online resources here) and various liturgical resources in order to reflect the Church’s worship and concerns throughout the world.

Photo illustrations and music videos, available online, are included as they illustrate or illuminate the readings. I will try to give credit and link to sources as best I can.

Morning Prayer, 17 Feb – John 8:21-30 ~ from above

Morning Prayer

+ In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen

Opening sentences – Brendan the Navigator (c. 486-575)

Lord, I will trust You, help me journey beyond the familiar and into the unknown. Give me the faith to leave old ways and break fresh ground with You.

Morning readings

John 8:21-30 ESV:

Crucifix (Cimabue, Santa Croce)
Crucifix
(Cimabue, Santa Croce)

So [Jesus] said to them again, “I am going away, and you will seek me, and you will die in your sin. Where I am going, you cannot come.”

So the Jews said, “Will he kill himself, since he says, ‘Where I am going, you cannot come’?”

He said to them, “You are from below; I am from above. You are of this world; I am not of this world. I told you that you would die in your sins, for unless you believe that I am he you will die in your sins.”

So they said to him, “Who are you?”

Jesus said to them, “Just what I have been telling you from the beginning. I have much to say about you and much to judge, but he who sent me is true, and I declare to the world what I have heard from him.” They did not understand that he had been speaking to them about the Father.

So Jesus said to them, “When you have lifted up the Son of Man, then you will know that I am he, and that I do nothing on my own authority, but speak just as the Father taught me. And he who sent me is with me. He has not left me alone, for I always do the things that are pleasing to him.”

As he was saying these things, many believed in him.

Reflections:

not of this world

Jesus and the Jews are not in the same sphere. Jesus has come from God and is bringing God’s own presence into our midst, but they have no openness to God. Jesus has come into this world in the fullness of humanity, but unlike them, he is not of this world, that is, of human society as it exists apart from God. Indeed, it is because he is above this world that he is able to help the world.

In saying that he is from above Jesus contrasts himself with every other agent of revelation. He is not simply a human being who has achieved enlightenment and now has come to share what he has learned. His point of origin is not this world to begin with. He is a human being just as we are, but there is more to Jesus than that… as the church later came to express it — Jesus is fully God as well as fully man.

peril

Without faith in Jesus as God’s divine Son who has come from above, they will die in their sins. By repeating this warning Jesus is shining as the light of the world, revealing their true condition and its consequences. If we cannot see God in the clearest and most accessible revelation of him ever given — the clearest it is even possible to give — then how can we see him in any lesser manifestation? How are we going to recognize the cryptic, invisible God whom nobody has seen if we cannot recognize his Son incarnate?

Sin is separation from God and therefore a state of death, since God is the source of all life. Jesus says they are in their sins, which means they are alienated from God and thus under the wrath of God. Human beings apart from God are not in neutral territory. They are in a state of rebellion against God that began at the first rebellion and is characterized by death. The people Jesus addresses are as ignorant of their own condition as they are of his identity.

remedy

The Father’s will is simply life itself — Reality. All life is an expression of the Father’s one life. To do what pleases him is not simply a matter of morality but of sharing in his life itself. It is another way of saying that Christ does what he sees the Father doing and speaks what he hears from the Father. As such he is the model of all discipleship. The life Jesus is offering involves being taken up into the one life of the Father himself.

As Jesus thus speaks clearly, many put their faith in him.

The IVP New Testament Commentary Series

__________

__________

Canticle:

Christ, as a light… illumine and guide me. Christ, as a shield… overshadow me. Christ under me; Christ over me; Christ beside me on my left and my right.

This day be within and without me, lowly and meek, yet all-powerful. Be in the heart of each to whom I speak; in the mouth of each who speaks unto me. This day be within and without me, lowly and meek, yet all-powerful.

Christ as a light; Christ as a shield; Christ beside me on my left and my right.

Blessing

May the peace of the Lord Christ go with you, wherever He may send you. May He guide you through the wilderness, protect you through the storm. May He bring you home rejoicing at the wonders He has shown you. May He bring you home rejoicing once again into our doors.

+ In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen

_____________________________________

Peanut Gallery: A brief word of explanation – the general format for Morning Prayer is adapted from the Northumbrian Community‘s Daily Office, as found in Celtic Daily Prayer (see online resources here.) The Scripture readings are primarily from the Gospel of John, with the intent to complete the reading by Easter. Other Scriptures which illuminate the Gospel of John will be included along the way.

Reflections from various saints will be included as their memorial days occur during the calendar year.

On Sundays, I’ll return to the USCCB readings (see online resources here) and various liturgical resources in order to reflect the Church’s worship and concerns throughout the world.

Photo illustrations and music videos, available online, are included as they illustrate or illuminate the readings. I will try to give credit and link to sources as best I can.

Morning Prayer, 15 Feb – John 8:12-20 ~ the light of the world

Morning Prayer

+ In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen

Opening sentences – Oswald of Northumbria (605-42)

This day is Your gift to me; I take it, Lord, from Your hand and thank You for the wonder of it.

God be with me in this Your day, every day and every way, with me and for me in this Your day; and the love and affection of heaven be toward me.

Morning readings

John 8:12-20 ESV:

Light of the World (1)

Again Jesus spoke to them, saying, “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will not walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.”

So the Pharisees said to him, “You are bearing witness about yourself; your testimony is not true.”

Jesus answered, “Even if I do bear witness about myself, my testimony is true, for I know where I came from and where I am going, but you do not know where I come from or where I am going. You judge according to the flesh; I judge no one. Yet even if I do judge, my judgment is true, for it is not I alone who judge, but I and the Father who sent me. In your Law it is written that the testimony of two people is true. I am the one who bears witness about myself, and the Father who sent me bears witness about me.”

They said to him therefore, “Where is your Father?”

Jesus answered, “You know neither me nor my Father. If you knew me, you would know my Father also.”

These words he spoke in the treasury, as he taught in the temple; but no one arrested him, because his hour had not yet come.

Reflections:

background

A lamp-lighting ceremony took place in the temple every evening of the feast, during which large lamps were set up in the Court of Women. The lamps’ light, it was said, filled every courtyard in the city. In the light of these lamps there was great singing and dancing all evening in celebration of God’s salvation, especially his deliverance at the exodus as he lead his people with his presence in a pillar of fire by night. In the sight of these great lamps in the Court of Women, perhaps even in the evening while they blazed, Jesus proclaims himself to be the light of the world.

In this setting, which celebrates the Israelites’ deliverance, Jesus is claiming to be the divine presence that saves God’s people from their bondage. He is the saving presence for the whole world, not just for the Jews.

light and life

Here is a promise of salvation much greater than the salvation Israel experienced, for it is deliverance not just from a national enemy, but from the forces of rebellion against God that lie behind every form of evil in the world. And this deliverance is not just a rescue from darkness and a glimpse of the light, but an ongoing life apart from darkness through possession of the light of life – “the light which both springs from life and issues in life; of which life is the essential principle and the necessary result.”

The world lies in darkness and death because it has rebelled against God and thus broken contact with the one source of light and life. Jesus is the light that brings light and life back to the world and sets it free from its bondage to sin.

judgement

The Pharisees judge by human standards – by “mere appearances.” By contrast, Jesus passes judgment in keeping with reality, because he does so in oneness with the Father. He judges simply by revealing the truth and pointing out one’s distance from that truth. That is why he says he will not judge but his words will judge.

These distinctions regarding judgment are important within the church. Jesus says, “Do not judge, or you too will be judged” (Mt 7:1). Clearly this does not mean we should not distinguish good from evil or truth from error, for Jesus calls us to do just that a few verses later in his teaching on false prophets (Mt 7:15-20). But it is one thing to recognize evil and error and quite another to conclude that an individual is totally lost to God. The final state of a person’s soul is known only to God. Therefore we should write off no one, yet all the while we should discern the teaching and behavior to see whether it is of God. Such discernment can only come from Christ through the Spirit, for our judgments, like Jesus’ (Jn 8:16), can only be right if they are in union with the Father.

The IVP New Testament Commentary Series

__________

__________

Canticle:

Christ, as a light… illumine and guide me. Christ, as a shield… overshadow me. Christ under me; Christ over me; Christ beside me on my left and my right.

This day be within and without me, lowly and meek, yet all-powerful. Be in the heart of each to whom I speak; in the mouth of each who speaks unto me. This day be within and without me, lowly and meek, yet all-powerful.

Christ as a light; Christ as a shield; Christ beside me on my left and my right.

Blessing

May the peace of the Lord Christ go with you, wherever He may send you. May He guide you through the wilderness, protect you through the storm. May He bring you home rejoicing at the wonders He has shown you. May He bring you home rejoicing once again into our doors.

+ In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen

_____________________________________

Peanut Gallery: A brief word of explanation – the general format for Morning Prayer is adapted from the Northumbrian Community‘s Daily Office, as found in Celtic Daily Prayer (see online resources here.) The Scripture readings are primarily from the Gospel of John, with the intent to complete the reading by Easter. Other Scriptures which illuminate the Gospel of John will be included along the way.

Reflections from various saints will be included as their memorial days occur during the calendar year.

On Sundays, I’ll return to the USCCB readings (see online resources here) and various liturgical resources in order to reflect the Church’s worship and concerns throughout the world.

Photo illustrations and music videos, available online, are included as they illustrate or illuminate the readings. I will try to give credit and link to sources as best I can.