The Rock

How do we know who the Christians are?  Walk down the street and everyone looks alike, don’t they?  Possibly some would think that the way to identify Christians is by their blessings; you know, their nice houses and cars and pretty churches.

Let’s check in with Peter, he knows how to spot a Christian.  We can trust Peter, Jesus called him “the rock!”  Guess we can stand on Peter’s words and not be led astray.  Nice things, luxury and comfort do not fit into his defining qualities of a Christian, unfortunately.  Check it out!

"Dear friends, do not be surprised at the fiery ordeal that has come on you to test you, as though something strange were happening to you. But rejoice inasmuch as you participate in the sufferings of Christ, so that you may be overjoyed when his glory is revealed. If you are insulted because of the name of Christ, you are blessed, for the Spirit of glory and of God rests on you. If you suffer, it should not be as a murderer or thief or any other kind of criminal, or even as a meddler. However, if you suffer as a Christian, do not be ashamed, but praise God that you bear that name. For it is time for judgment to begin with God’s household; and if it begins with us, what will the outcome be for those who do not obey the gospel of God? And, 'If it is hard for the righteous to be saved, what will become of the ungodly and the sinner?'  So then, those who suffer according to God’s will should commit themselves to their faithful Creator and continue to do good." 1 Peter 4:12-19

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Inspiration Resulting in Perspiration

The kingdom of God is not about who's right and who's wrong, if that were the case, we'd all be in trouble.  We remember the words of Jesus, "But go and learn what this means: 'I DESIRE COMPASSION, AND NOT SACRIFICE,' for I did not come to call the righteous, but sinners."  And so we discover mercy, kindness and compassion are more important and greater than the sacrifice it takes to follow the law.  The law at some point will always fail - but love and compassion never fails - it is above the sacrifice of keeping the law.  Go speeding at 50 mph through a 25 mph school zone with a sick passenger on the way to ER, the law fails, but mercy and compassion does not.  Thanks be to God he does not judge us by the law, but by a new law, the law of mercy.  "Judgment is without mercy to those who show no mercy, yet mercy [shown] triumphs over [pending] judgment." James 2:13  (Caution:  This is just a short note of inspiration that may result in perspiration from all of us losers (code for sinners) at the Servants of the Father of Mercy - http://www.HomelessInAmerica.BlogSpot.com.
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Brief Reflections On Mercy

By Travis McGowen 

I have been preaching through the Gospel of Luke for some time now. One of the major themes of Luke is Jesus' ministry to the outcasts of society. He loves and cares for the poor, women, children, and sinners in general. Salvation is for all people, not just the Jew.

As I have preached through this book, I have been challenged on how I might personally apply these insights in my own life. I have been praying to God to be a more merciful person and to be able to show that mercy in everyday life. Now I currently work in the mental health field and I have to show mercy. I work with the outcasts of our society: the mentally ill, mentally retarded, wards of the state, etc.

Needless to say, mercy is on my mind a large portion of the week. I work with people who are much like I was: they are alienated from the community as I was alienated from the community of faith. They are in desperate need of God's mercy as I was and still in need of God's mercy. You see, I was saved by the mercy of God. God pitted me and he didn't even spare his own Son so that I might be saved (Romans 8:32).

My heart and mind has been helped by the insights of others on this subject. Phil Ryken has written an article on the relationship between Reformed Doctrine and Mercy Ministry. John Piper's sermon on John Newton warmed my heart deeply the first time I heard it. Finally, Tim Keller's book on the subject of mercy has been the most helpful non-inspired resource I have found. I am not the only one on this blog who is concerned about mercy, you can read Tyler's thoughts as he has reflected on the at . . . http://sonsoftheprophets.blogspot.com

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Current State of Giving

Americans donated $316 billion to charitable causes in 2012, a 3.5% increase from 2011, a new report by the Giving USA Foundation found. But while charitable donations to education increased 7% to $41 billion, religious donations dropped slightly (by 0.2%) to $101.54 billion. “Americans continue to be the most generous people in the world, despite discretionary income percentages nearing all-time lows,” says Eileen Heisman, CEO of the National Philanthropic Trust. But donors are writing the checks to different recipients.

That’s not to say that donations to religious institutions have dried up. In fact, they accounted for 32% of all charitable donations. But that’s down from around 38% a decade ago, according to Giving USA. And Heisman expects that number to continue to fall. “I don’t think it will plummet to zero,” she says. “At some point, it will level out; the question is when.” But there’s reason to think the next generation may be even less generous to religious institutions. One-in-three people under 30 had no religious affiliation versus just one-in-10 of those 65 and over, a 2012 Pew Research Center report found. Among all U.S. adults, 20% report having no religious affiliation, up from 15% in 2007.

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Keep Your Head Held High

Today, Sister Pauline Quinn (the "Prison Dog Sister") sends in her recent poster creation to encourage all of us who consider ourselves poor, homeless and broken . . .

 

 

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A Voice Crying Out in the Wilderness

You are "a voice crying out in the wilderness" proclaiming God's message of mercy! Thanks be to God "He remembers his promise of mercy to Abraham and his children forever." (Cf. Luke 1:55) We humans are such losers – sinners, aren’t we all?  Yet, God is merciful to each of us and does not give us what we deserve - hell. Unlike the main character in the parable of the "Unmerciful Servant" he calls us sinners to likewise go and be merciful to each other as he is merciful to us. "Blessed are the merciful, for they shall obtain mercy;" He said.  We are so blessed to see Jesus, the victim in the mentally ill, in the nursing homes, living under bridges and “home alone” in the widow.  As on the road to Emmaus, Jesus still comes to us obscure and as One Unknown.  Himself broken, we see him in the wretched and in the breaking of the bread.
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The King Is Coming: “For He Will Deliver The Needy When They Cry Out!”

The King is Coming

By Psalmist King David – 1,000 B.C.

Endow the king with your justice, O God,

    the royal son with your righteousness.
    May he judge your people in righteousness,
    your afflicted ones with justice.

May the mountains bring prosperity to the people,

    the hills the fruit of righteousness.
    May he defend the afflicted among the people,
    and save the children of the needy;
    may he crush the oppressor.

May he endure as long as the sun,

    as long as the moon, through all generations.
    May he be like rain falling on a mown field,
    like showers watering the earth.
    In his days may the righteous flourish,
    and prosperity abound till the moon is no more.

May he rule from sea to sea,
    and from the River to the ends of the earth.
    May the desert tribes bow before him
    and his enemies lick the dust. . .
    May all kings bow down to him
    and all nations serve him.

For he will deliver the needy when they cry out,

    the afflicted who have no one to help.
    He will take pity on the weak and the needy
    and save the needy from death.
    He will rescue them from oppression and violence,
    for precious is their blood in his sight.

Long may he live!

    May people ever pray for him
    and bless him all day long. . .
    May grain abound throughout the land;
    on the tops of the hills may it sway. . .
    May his name endure forever;
    may it continue as long as the sun.

Then all nations will be blessed through him,

    and they will call him blessed.
    Praise be to the Lord God, the God of Israel,
    who alone does marvelous deeds.
    Praise be to his glorious name forever;
    may the whole earth be filled with his glory.
    Amen and Amen.  Psalm 72
 

The King is Coming

By Bill and Gloria Gaither – 1974 A. D.

 
The King is coming, the King is coming,
I just heard the trumpet sounding and soon His face I'll see.
The King is coming, the King is coming,
Praise God, He's coming for me.

The marketplace is empty, no more traffic in the street.

All the builder's tools are silent, no more time to harvest wheat.
Busy housewives cease their labor, in the courtroom no debate.
Work on earth has been suspended as the King comes through the gate.

Happy faces line the hallway, those whose lives have been redeemed.
Broken homes He has mended, those from prison He has freed.
Little children and the aged hand in hand stand all aglow.
Who were crippled, broken, ruined, clad in garments white as snow.
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Perpetual Plea for Booze Money

By Heather King

Recently I was walking to morning Mass in Los Angeles, with the trees and sky above, and the traffic and noise and violence of rush hour below. I kept looking up: to the birds; to a place where I could imagine it was quiet. If you get very quiet, you hear, at the very center of the universe, a pulse, a beat. You hear the birds and the honking horns, the suffering and the joy. You hear the Sacred Heart of Christ.

 So in the middle of a city of millions, I decided to pray the rosary.

And praying the rosary after a couple of minutes what I "heard" was the people waiting for biopsy results, the husband to show up, the electricity to be turned back on, and I saw that these are the people who are sweating tears of blood with Christ in the Garden at Gethsemane. I heard the tears of the teenage girl who is cutting herself, the child whose psychotic mother is forcing him to hold his hand over a gas stove, the women who are being raped, and these are the people who are being scourged at the pillar with Christ.

I heard the overworked heart of the CEO who opens his inbox to find two hundred messages, the day laborers wielding eardrum-shattering leaf blowers for ten hours at a stretch, the twelve-year-old who must translate for her parents when immigration services come to the door, and these are the people who are staggering under the weight of the cross with Christ.

 

I heard the wife who has just discovered that her husband is having an affair with the housekeeper, the farmer who is forced to sell the generations-old family farm to a conglomerate, the playwright who has poured out his heart and soul and is panned on opening night by the critics, and these are the people who are being crowned with thorns along with Christ.

All over the world, all day, every day, people are suffering, and here comes Barry, the homeless schizophrenic and hopeless alcoholic who wanders Sunset Boulevard, one grimy hand clutching a plastic bag holding his worldly belongings, the other held out in a perpetual plea for booze money. What to do in the face of such suffering? What to do with your brokenness, your weakness, your own suffering and loneliness and fear?

You give Barry a couple of bucks. You make sure to shake his hand and thank him, because this is Christ, and his heart is your heart. And you keep walking, to Mass.

Heather King; is a Catholic convert who lives in Los Angeles, CA. She is the author of three memoirs and a blog, www.ShirtofFlame.Blogspot.com.

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The Servant’s Prayer

By Mother Antonia Brenner

Good Morning Dear Lord,
 
Thank you for the precious gift You have given me this morning,

My life, to live fully and joyfully one more day!

Please give me the grace to be kind and patient today,

That I may see beyond worldly appearances,

So that I may encounter your holy presence in each person I meet.

Close my ears dear Father to all gossip.

Seal my lips to all judgments and criticisms,

That my words will only bless all about me and warm the coldest heart.

Let my actions be so just, my feelings be so tender,

My conduct be so humble and true to your will,

That throughout this day I will be a reflection of your heavenly mercy and love.

Amen

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