Grains of Wheat

 Day's Saints
Honoratus of Arles, Abbot
Blessed Giuseppe Antonio Tovini, Franciscan Tetiary

1 Sm 16:1-13 Samuel and the anointing of David

Gospel Mk 2:23-28
As Jesus was passing through a field of grain on the sabbath,
his disciples began to make a path while picking the heads of grain.
At this the Pharisees said to him,
“Look, why are they doing what is unlawful on the sabbath?”
He said to them,
“Have you never read what David did
when he was in need and he and his companions were hungry?
How he went into the house of God when Abiathar was high priest
and ate the bread of offering that only the priests could lawfully eat,
and shared it with his companions?”
Then he said to them,
“The sabbath was made for man, not man for the sabbath.
That is why the Son of Man is lord even of the sabbath.”

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God did not make human beings so they could be oppressed by other human beings, and enslaved by those who think they know more than all the rest.

Sufficient to the task was the will of men, to know and love Him and serve Him. Beyond even that, He made men to serve one another by giving good example and doing the Will of God. Neither He make it so difficult to know His Will that they could not succeed; they were not made so God could have something to condemn. But He did make us all to use our minds and our wills and train them to align with His thoughts and Will, for in these He provides what we need to do what pleases Him.

Men in power over others have a double responsibility to make sure laws are reasonable and in accordance with God's Will. He did not intend men to become ravenous beasts, devouring one another in greed. 

The grain in the field was God's gifts to men to sustain their labors and help them live. Do not take away from others what is necessary to live.

Do not empower men who will oppress others, for to cause grief separates God's children from Himself, and He will not bless what separates men from God. He is with men of His own accord, but it is difficult to seek and find what unites to  God. If you empower an immoral man and men sin on account of it, will He not look into the matter and set things straight?

Bring down on yourselves no wrath from God, but do as He asks, for He has only the best in mind for you.

Grains of Wheat

 Day's Saints
Honoratus of Arles, Abbot
Blessed Giuseppe Antonio Tovini, Franciscan Tetiary

1 Sm 16:1-13 Samuel and the anointing of David

Gospel Mk 2:23-28
As Jesus was passing through a field of grain on the sabbath,
his disciples began to make a path while picking the heads of grain.
At this the Pharisees said to him,
“Look, why are they doing what is unlawful on the sabbath?”
He said to them,
“Have you never read what David did
when he was in need and he and his companions were hungry?
How he went into the house of God when Abiathar was high priest
and ate the bread of offering that only the priests could lawfully eat,
and shared it with his companions?”
Then he said to them,
“The sabbath was made for man, not man for the sabbath.
That is why the Son of Man is lord even of the sabbath.”

+

God did not make human beings so they could be oppressed by other human beings, and enslaved by those who think they know more than all the rest.

Sufficient to the task was the will of men, to know and love Him and serve Him. Beyond even that, He made men to serve one another by giving good example and doing the Will of God. Neither He make it so difficult to know His Will that they could not succeed; they were not made so God could have something to condemn. But He did make us all to use our minds and our wills and train them to align with His thoughts and Will, for in these He provides what we need to do what pleases Him.

Men in power over others have a double responsibility to make sure laws are reasonable and in accordance with God's Will. He did not intend men to become ravenous beasts, devouring one another in greed. 

The grain in the field was God's gifts to men to sustain their labors and help them live. Do not take away from others what is necessary to live.

Do not empower men who will oppress others, for to cause grief separates God's children from Himself, and He will not bless what separates men from God. He is with men of His own accord, but it is difficult to seek and find what unites to  God. If you empower an immoral man and men sin on account of it, will He not look into the matter and set things straight?

Bring down on yourselves no wrath from God, but do as He asks, for He has only the best in mind for you.

Light

I was watching "Shoes of the Fisherman" again yesterday. It dawned on me that, although the world is flooded with light, few can see it, mostly because so few do anything with God's grace, which changes us so we can see.

There is no point in decrying the darkness, or mourning the sting of pain, if we do nothing with the grace of God that will open our eyes to see the real light. The light of the world is disappointing, and garish, making us see all the ugliness there is around us. 

The light of God is strong so as to penetrate everything, everywhere. Neither will we be allowed the joy of a good night's sleep or rest, until our hearts have at last responded to what it found so hard to see.

Time which has so often dragged for us, leaps up refreshed and renewed for us if we respond to God. Just as the moon causes  immense tides of water in the sea, in its orbit around the earth, just so God is moving, a living being, around us, so that if we pay attention, we are aware of God and His light, once we have passed the tide of emotion so we may have a grasp on it. Look beyond the tide of light and the emotion, and what remains is God.

He is everywhere, always until the end of the universe passes away, like the moon setting at night. Who has not felt his heart stir to realize it will be there tomorrow, if you know where to look. The moon sets two hours later every night until it is new, and does not show its light. And if our minds and hearts can be so easily moved by a ball of stone reflecting sunlight, how much more should not our hearts leap up when we recognize the Lord?

On a dark night, in the quiet of the garden, awaken to the light of the Lord. Yet it is not like a child opening a package at a birthday party, well anticipated. The object of our desire does fill us with emotion when we realize the love behind it all. There comes a day when our loved ones pass beyond our gaze and are somewhere we cannot go to listen to them anymore. Yet, just as we anticipate the glory of a full moon rising in a dark sky, we know we will see them again, and that all we have lost to time will be restored to us, in eternity.

So it is worth our while to change a little, to shift the eyes of anticipation to greater things, to do those penitential acts that mean salvation and peace to sinners who repent because we bound the wounds of their sufferings with the bandages of our penances.

We are the focus of His Heart. Open your eyes when He prompts you, and do not refuse to waken from your slumber, for something greater waits to rise in the garden of your life. He permits our self centeredness only long enough to be a child and grow into the splendor of our adulthood; our love, mature in being adult, still has selfish roots, but they have become wonderful possibilities if we desire it. Guard your desires, and guard your heart so they may be for Him entirely.

Light

I was watching "Shoes of the Fisherman" again yesterday. It dawned on me that, although the world is flooded with light, few can see it, mostly because so few do anything with God's grace, which changes us so we can see.

There is no point in decrying the darkness, or mourning the sting of pain, if we do nothing with the grace of God that will open our eyes to see the real light. The light of the world is disappointing, and garish, making us see all the ugliness there is around us. 

The light of God is strong so as to penetrate everything, everywhere. Neither will we be allowed the joy of a good night's sleep or rest, until our hearts have at last responded to what it found so hard to see.

Time which has so often dragged for us, leaps up refreshed and renewed for us if we respond to God. Just as the moon causes  immense tides of water in the sea, in its orbit around the earth, just so God is moving, a living being, around us, so that if we pay attention, we are aware of God and His light, once we have passed the tide of emotion so we may have a grasp on it. Look beyond the tide of light and the emotion, and what remains is God.

He is everywhere, always until the end of the universe passes away, like the moon setting at night. Who has not felt his heart stir to realize it will be there tomorrow, if you know where to look. The moon sets two hours later every night until it is new, and does not show its light. And if our minds and hearts can be so easily moved by a ball of stone reflecting sunlight, how much more should not our hearts leap up when we recognize the Lord?

On a dark night, in the quiet of the garden, awaken to the light of the Lord. Yet it is not like a child opening a package at a birthday party, well anticipated. The object of our desire does fill us with emotion when we realize the love behind it all. There comes a day when our loved ones pass beyond our gaze and are somewhere we cannot go to listen to them anymore. Yet, just as we anticipate the glory of a full moon rising in a dark sky, we know we will see them again, and that all we have lost to time will be restored to us, in eternity.

So it is worth our while to change a little, to shift the eyes of anticipation to greater things, to do those penitential acts that mean salvation and peace to sinners who repent because we bound the wounds of their sufferings with the bandages of our penances.

We are the focus of His Heart. Open your eyes when He prompts you, and do not refuse to waken from your slumber, for something greater waits to rise in the garden of your life. He permits our self centeredness only long enough to be a child and grow into the splendor of our adulthood; our love, mature in being adult, still has selfish roots, but they have become wonderful possibilities if we desire it. Guard your desires, and guard your heart so they may be for Him entirely.

Moment

 Blessed the moment that the Lord, standing waiting for condemnation to be pronounced, embraces you from within, and takes you to where He was scourged, and to where He was nailed to the cross, to invite you to participate in Him.

He makes known that it is Him, and how you are to participate, and the pain begins when you say "amen", and you are laid out, immobilized with pain.

Each blood-drenched moment tears you open, significantly intense and penetrating, pain from all sides.

Physical pain is difficult, and spiritual pain is worse. You have no energy to writhe or cry out, but your mind seeks to quiet the emotions and still your thoughts to reach out to the Savior nearby, for the moment of the revelation of His love. No matter how keen the mind, the cross is more intense lest its burden should diminish. Only love is stronger, and there is safety in clinging to it until you can give it away too, and the souls staggering under the weight of the cross can fall and rest, while you take up pain enough for both. 

We do not see Him more clearly because of the withering of the world in the distance of the Lord. Only He has succeeded in reigning in triumph in a corrupted world, and He shines brightly enough to console all men. In the shining is the peace and the rest, and the Lord.

Moment

 Blessed the moment that the Lord, standing waiting for condemnation to be pronounced, embraces you from within, and takes you to where He was scourged, and to where He was nailed to the cross, to invite you to participate in Him.

He makes known that it is Him, and how you are to participate, and the pain begins when you say "amen", and you are laid out, immobilized with pain.

Each blood-drenched moment tears you open, significantly intense and penetrating, pain from all sides.

Physical pain is difficult, and spiritual pain is worse. You have no energy to writhe or cry out, but your mind seeks to quiet the emotions and still your thoughts to reach out to the Savior nearby, for the moment of the revelation of His love. No matter how keen the mind, the cross is more intense lest its burden should diminish. Only love is stronger, and there is safety in clinging to it until you can give it away too, and the souls staggering under the weight of the cross can fall and rest, while you take up pain enough for both. 

We do not see Him more clearly because of the withering of the world in the distance of the Lord. Only He has succeeded in reigning in triumph in a corrupted world, and He shines brightly enough to console all men. In the shining is the peace and the rest, and the Lord.

Plan

 Jesus came to the synagogue to teach His people, to tell them about the Father, and to lead them to love God. Hannah prayed in the temple for a boy child, and the Lord heard her prayer, giving her a son.

There is always more to what He does, for Hannah gave birth to Samuel who would be a prophet. Jesus spoke in the Synagogue to awaken their spirits and to enliven the love of their hearts for God. The leaders rejected Him, but the evil spirit that had inhabited the man were oblidged to leave the man in peace, for it was in the temple of one of God's children, and He would not allow it to persist in what it was doing; Jesus cleansed the temple.

We need to be aware of these things because they are important. Jesus did not come to the synagogue to waste His time, but to carry out a plan to reveal Himself to His children.

To each man comes a revelation, and those who profit from it are blessed, and have a lifelong friendship they will cherish. Do not think that your life was wasted if you suffered privation and pain, for you have not been denied anything, but have joined the Lord in His plan for all men, and have joined with Him in cleaning the temple and you will dwell  in heaven with Him in His own joy, for it gives Him joy to be with you.

Mary visits a monk