Weekly Reflections on the Gospel by Deacon Ray Burger
July 25
It has been said that
The Lord's Prayer is the perfect prayer. And rightly so, since it came
from Jesus Himself. It was the custom for Rabbis to give their
disciples a simple prayer, easy to remember so that they could pray it
often. John the Baptist had done this for his followers, and Jesus'
disciples asked Him to give them a prayer, too. Which He did.
Now, a prayer beginning with Our Father, not your father or my
father, gives us a sense of who we really are - God's Children
- and how we all are in this together. This prayer asks for our daily
needs, for God's forgiveness for our sins, our own promise to forgive
others, and we ask God not to lead us into temptation, which really
means more than sinning. It also means any test of our faith or loyalty
to Him.
You know, when I was kid the part about asking God not to lead us into
temptation worried me for a long time. Why would God do that when He
loved us? Everybody I asked said it was a holy mystery (they didn't
know either). But I finally did quit worrying about it.
It was around the time us guys in the 7th grade noticed that the girls,
also in the 7th grade, were making "goo goo" eyes at us.
July 18
The other day I
dredged up this article about the story of Martha and Mary, one of a
million that I saved a few years ago for possible future use. So now
that it's that future time, I thought it might be of some interest. I
was wrong for two reasons: 1) it was full of errors and 2) when I had
my better half read it she went off like Gangbusters!
"Horse Feathers!" she snorted. "You can tell a man wrote this!" (it
was a religious scholar).
"First of all" she continued, "everybody knows that Jesus always
traveled with some of His disciples. No wonder Martha was in a snit,
having who knows how many unexpectedly camping on her doorstep.
That's just the way women are, and having no help from Mary didn't add
anything to the situation. Darn it, Martha was kind, and just trying to
do her best. She and Mary both loved Jesus but in different ways and
Jesus knew that and He WAS NOT bawling Martha out! And one more thing -
can you imagine the grumbling and the looks on the men's faces if
no food and wine had appeared on the table?"
Well, I wish I had decided to write about the other readings, but what's
done is done.
P.S. My better half wants you to know that she doesn't think Jesus was
grumbling about the lack of eats.
I don't think so, either.
July 11
Jesus' answer to the
Scribe (and us), involves three things. We must help a guy even if he
brought his troubles on himself. Anyone in the whole world who is in
need is our neighbor; our help must be as wide as God's love. And our
help must be practical - just standing around saying "oh, what a
shame" and not doing anything, isn't going to cut it; we must have
active compassion. What Jesus said to the Scribe He says to us - "go
you and do the same."
Once in a while it might be a good thing for us to look in the mirror
and remind that gorgeous/handsome face looking back, that our job
description as a Christian includes being very, very neighborly.
July 4
Today the Apostles
have come back home and are happily telling Jesus about their successes
"on the road." Can't you just see their expressions when Jesus said,
"Look you - I have given you all this power, just don't get too happy
with what you did, be happy that your names are written in heaven."
Jesus warned them (and us) about pride. We can brag about all we have
done for God but it can't ever compare with what God has done for us -
which is everything. Pride goeth before a fall, a fatal fall from
heaven and the presence of God. We don't want anything to do with
something that final. We want to keep our names written in heaven!
June 27
Today Jesus tells us
what it takes to be one of His apostles. God comes first in our lives
before anybody or anything else. And no looking back! I think the
Protestant minister who wrote the hymn, "Onward
Christian Soldiers, going as to war, With the Cross of Jesus, going on
before," must have been meditating on this part of Luke's gospel. Well,
we need to faithfully keep our eyes on God, because we all want to hear
Him tell us at the end of our earthly journey, "Well done, good and
faithful servant!”
Also, I remember hearing someone, somewhere say, "Never look back.
Somepun' might be gaining on ya'.”
June 20
In the Gospel today,
Jesus is at one of the most crucial times of His life. He was already
on His way to Jerusalem, and He knew death on the Cross awaited Him
there.
That is why He asked the question, "Who do the crowds and who do you
say I am?”
He needed to know if anyone had figured out who He really was.
If nobody got it right, then His work was for nothing, but if just one
person realized who He was He had succeeded in lighting a flame in at
least one heart that would never be extinguished.
And good old Peter, who did some really dumb things in his life, had the
right answer!
So, all of us today carry that same flame in our hearts.
Thanks, Pete!
