Saturday, May 08, 2004
Gospel: Jn 14:1-14: "I am the Way the Truth and the Life."
"The Way. . ." how all of us want someone to show us the way. how many times i am asked, show us away out of this. today has been long, and tough. K, 19 is back on polk, calling me, coming over, needy, cannot learn that these old men expect something from him and there is nothing for free; s. 19 is throwing one fit after another because i want give him money or let him "shoot up" in my place. they act like animals in the wild and wonder why "I don;t have friends". all of them are seeking the Way--for K and S, and V and J it is speed and heroine, it gets them through the day, it makes them feel good and avoid facing life its difficulty and its work. It is what gives them something to live for.
throughout my life when ever i have strayed from Jesus, i have found myself lost, on the edge, always going towards the dark side, but as long as i stay centered in Jesus my life makes sense, it is not easy, nor painless, but a centeredness that helps me get through life with hope.
For these guys they are looking for that centeredness, for that Way, for that meaning, they are looking for some reason to get through life, and until they find the Way or another spirituality they will continue to wander and seek the easy way out. There is no easy way in life and the Way, to follow him is certainly not easy, but it sure as hell is fun and fulfilling. Amen Amen Deo Gratis! Thanks be to God!
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Thursday, May 06, 2004
Since monday i have been in santa rosa resting. i came for a friends sixteenth birthday party and got a room at the day's inn and have simply been resting, just resting. i have been tired, very tired.
Each day i have jotted down reflections on the daily reading:
5-4: John 10:25-30: "I told you the work I do in God's name bears witness to me."
Through the years people have asked me to prove that i was sincere, real, etc about my work. and in the end despite diplomas, awards, newspaper articles, memberships, all i can say is: "my work bears witness to who i am and who i serve." authenication for my ministry, for who i am ultimately comes from within and in relationship to God and bears witness by our works. ultimately it is that inner authication that supports us, for like Jesus, we cannot please everyone. and so i continue to say: my works speak for themselves:
we feed the hungry
clothe the naked
bury the dead
visit those in prison
provide ways of maintaining and improving the quality of life of people
preach the Gosepl and administer the sacraments.
but ultimately we have to know from God within ourselves the value of who we are and what we do.
5-5: Jn. 12:44-50
Jesus does not judge us, by our choices we judge ourselves and where we will go with our lives. Each time we choose a needle, a drug, a pipe, food, money to face our demons we choose death, but when we choose the route of suffering and grace in Jesus we choose life.
5-7-Acts 13:13-25
During the season of Easter we are reading the activities of the early apostles and the church. throughout the world today we have all sorts of atrocities done in the name of religion, and we have our on national agenda of conquest set by a faith based approach. but the early church grew because of the example and the message of love of the early followers,. they lived out that message of love, they lived out that message of grace in an age of violence and madness. we are called today to be that message of love, to be counter cultural, to be contagious with our faith, to live out our faith day in and day out so that others might see Christ in us.
I say very little about Jesus in the ministry, but over the years there have been some like Nick, who called me recently to tell me he had entered into a relationship with Jesus, because by watching me in my own fuck up way doing ministry he saw a Jesus who was one of grace and love not of hatred,a judgment, but of acceptance.
We are called to live out our faith in this age of war and religious bigotry, a faith of love and grace.
Deo Gratis! Thanks be to God!
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Since monday i have been in santa rosa resting. i came for a friends sixteenth birthday party and got a room at the day's inn and have simply been resting, just resting. i have been tired, very tired.
Each day i have jotted down reflections on the daily reading:
5-4: John 10:25-30: "I told you the work I do in God's name bears witness to me."
Through the years people have asked me to prove that i was sincere, real, etc about my work. and in the end despite diplomas, awards, newspaper articles, memberships, all i can say is: "my work bears witness to who i am and who i serve." authenication for my ministry, for who i am ultimately comes from within and in relationship to God and bears witness by our works. ultimately it is that inner authication that supports us, for like Jesus, we cannot please everyone. and so i continue to say: my works speak for themselves:
we feed the hungry
clothe the naked
bury the dead
visit those in prison
provide ways of maintaining and improving the quality of life of people
preach the Gosepl and administer the sacraments.
but ultimately we have to know from God within ourselves the value of who we are and what we do.
5-5: Jn. 12:44-50
Jesus does not judge us, by our choices we judge ourselves and where we will go with our lives. Each time we choose a needle, a drug, a pipe, food, money to face our demons we choose death, but when we choose the route of suffering and grace in Jesus we choose life.
5-7-Acts 13:13-25
During the season of Easter we are reading the activities of the early apostles and the church. throughout the world today we have all sorts of atrocities done in the name of religion, and we have our on national agenda of conquest set by a faith based approach. but the early church grew because of the example and the message of love of the early followers,. they lived out that message of love, they lived out that message of grace in an age of violence and madness. we are called today to be that message of love, to be counter cultural, to be contagious with our faith, to live out our faith day in and day out so that others might see Christ in us.
I say very little about Jesus in the ministry, but over the years there have been some like Nick, who called me recently to tell me he had entered into a relationship with Jesus, because by watching me in my own fuck up way doing ministry he saw a Jesus who was one of grace and love not of hatred,a judgment, but of acceptance.
We are called to live out our faith in this age of war and religious bigotry, a faith of love and grace.
Deo Gratis! Thanks be to God!
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Sunday, May 02, 2004
Reading I
Acts 13:14, 43-52
Paul and Barnabas continued on from Perga
and reached Antioch in Pisidia.
On the sabbath they entered the synagogue and took their seats.
Many Jews and worshipers who were converts to Judaism
followed Paul and Barnabas, who spoke to them
and urged them to remain faithful to the grace of God.
On the following sabbath almost the whole city gathered
to hear the word of the Lord.
When the Jews saw the crowds, they were filled with jealousy
and with violent abuse contradicted what Paul said.
Both Paul and Barnabas spoke out boldly and said,
"It was necessary that the word of God be spoken to you first,
but since you reject it
and condemn yourselves as unworthy of eternal life,
we now turn to the Gentiles.
For so the Lord has commanded us,
I have made you a light to the Gentiles,
that you may be an instrument of salvation
to the ends of the earth."
The Gentiles were delighted when they heard this
and glorified the word of the Lord.
All who were destined for eternal life came to believe,
and the word of the Lord continued to spread
through the whole region.
The Jews, however, incited the women of prominence who were worshipers
and the leading men of the city,
stirred up a persecution against Paul and Barnabas,
and expelled them from their territory.
So they shook the dust from their feet in protest against them,
and went to Iconium.
The disciples were filled with joy and the Holy Spirit.
Responsorial Psalm
Ps 100:1-2, 3, 5
R. (3c) We are his people, the sheep of his flock.
or:
R. Alleluia.
Sing joyfully to the LORD, all you lands;
serve the LORD with gladness;
come before him with joyful song.
R. We are his people, the sheep of his flock.
or:
R. Alleluia.
Know that the LORD is God;
he made us, his we are;
his people, the flock he tends.
R. We are his people, the sheep of his flock.
or:
R. Alleluia.
The LORD is good:
his kindness endures forever,
and his faithfulness, to all generations.
R. We are his people, the sheep of his flock.
or:
R. Alleluia.
Reading II
Rv 7:9, 14b-17
I, John, had a vision of a great multitude,
which no one could count,
from every nation, race, people, and tongue.
They stood before the throne and before the Lamb,
wearing white robes and holding palm branches in their hands.
Then one of the elders said to me,
"These are the ones who have survived the time of great distress;
they have washed their robes
and made them white in the blood of the Lamb.
"For this reason they stand before God's throne
and worship him day and night in his temple.
The one who sits on the throne will shelter them.
They will not hunger or thirst anymore,
nor will the sun or any heat strike them.
For the Lamb who is in the center of the throne
will shepherd them
and lead them to springs of life-giving water,
and God will wipe away every tear from their eyes."
Gospel
Jn 10:27-30
Jesus said:
"My sheep hear my voice;
I know them, and they follow me.
I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish.
No one can take them out of my hand.
My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all,
and no one can take them out of the Father's hand.
The Father and I are one."
I am tired, bone tired today. matt spent the night last night and it was fun just to hang out with someone who doesn;t ask anything from me. People are so needy, and lately money is so tight on street that people are desperate, and the world situation i think plays into it, i counted saying no fifty times one day last week. these guys live in the center of their own world, and cannot see beyond it, and what is really a shame is for the most part they never will. That is why at times there is a sense of aloneness in the work. today matt asked me about his summer job with me: "In my other jobs, fixing an airplane atc. there was always some end result, or is this it." I said yea, this is it, we hang out with street kids and be their friend, even though it is not easy. the end result my never come nor at least in our life times. But our task is to be a presence of Christ in their lives.
Our scriptures for today reflect the persecution of the early Christians, and the the promise of eternal life. For me we live in eternity now, and we are seeking to live out that promise, that is where the hope comes from, and so when people asked me about my success stories all i can say: success is in the eye of the beholder, and for me success is living out the resurrection faithfully from day to day doing my best."
Deo Gratis! Thanks be to God!
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