One Priority

Your heavenly Father knows you need them all. Set your hearts on his kingdom first, and on his righteousness, and all these other things will be given you as well. So do not worry...
Mt.6:32-34

Jesus is just warming up in his Sermon on the Mount by addressing a core malady in all of us.Worry.

Worries, fears, anxieties... these all rob me of my peace. This gives a hint as to where they all come from. Jesus gives the antidote to the devil's ploys. Seek first the kingdom of God. Make this my daily priority and everything else falls into line. The result? Peace.

The word "priority" is recorded as first in use during the thirteenth century. Then in the 1940s something strange happened. "Priority" began to be replaced by "priorities". Like, "What are your priorities in life?" The thing is, this creates an oxymoron. Having multiple "priorities" means none of them can be a priority. Priority is the single most important thing. 

Why's this important? Because when I have priorities in my day I become stressed, I lose my peace. One thing alone is my priority today. Seek first his kingdom. Then all is well.

Saint Mary of the Cross, please pray for us.

Jesus is God

‘But you,’ he said ‘who do you say I am?’ Then Simon Peter spoke up, ‘You are the Christ,’ he said, ‘the Son of the living God.’
Mt.16:15,16

Jesus asks the pivotal question to his disciples.... and to me. Who do I say he is?

What must a person believe to be called Christian? Many theological answers come to mind but the essential faith proclamation is simple and direct. Jesus is God.

I recently saw the words "Jesus is God" written in large letters on the T-shirt of a man who, with his wife, evangelises in the Middle East. The same phrase was also written underneath in Arabic. The phrase is jolting in its boldness, even to me let alone a Muslim. 

The modern world will say Jesus was a good man, a prophet even, but God? Yes, Jesus is God. My best friend is the creator of the Universe! Mind blowing but true. 

Jesus, I say you are God. I place my trust in you.

The Beggar's Friend

A court was held and the books were opened.
Dn.7:10

Daniel's vision of end times presents a courtroom. Jesus steps into the room and "the books" are opened.

My book is going to be opened. All, yes all, will be revealed. This is where I cling to the promise of Jesus to Nicodemus. "For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him." Jn.3:17 I'm counting on Jesus being my merciful advocate, like Moses was for Miriam. 

As Saint Paul states, "What shall we say, then? Shall we go on sinning so that grace may increase? By no means!" Rms.6:1,2. I have died to sin, so how can I live in it any longer? Yes, mercy and grace are mine in Jesus, but so is a new life. I would be the greatest of fools to turn my back on becoming a new man, born again.

So, let the books be opened, let my beggared life be exposed and let my reliance on the beggar's friend be my hope. Meanwhile, I live as a new man born again full of the hope, peace and joy that only Jesus the beggar's friend can give.

Jesus, I place my trust in you.

Preach Cast and Cure

He summoned his twelve disciples, and gave them authority over unclean spirits with power to cast them out and to cure all kinds of diseases and sickness.
Mt.10:1

Jesus' pity and compassion for the people prompts him into action. He sends out the twelve, the labourers in the harvest, to do what he was doing at the start; preaching, casting out demons and curing all kinds of diseases and sickness. 

The commission hasn't changed or stopped. If I want to be a labourer in the harvest, and what professing Christian wouldn't, I should be preaching, casting and curing in my sphere of influence. Jesus didn't die for a powerless Church. 

Come Holy Spirit. Fill me with power to preach, cast and cure that Jesus is glorified.

Go Tell Jesus

And his disciples came and took the body and buried it, and they went and told Jesus.
Mt.14:12

John's disciples would have been overwhelmed with grief at their rabbi's brutal murder. Their first response is to give John's body the dignity of a burial. Their second response is to go tell Jesus.

When calamity strikes my first response is that of an autotron... I robotically clean up the mess. When I can lift my head above the panic, the grief, the shock... I go tell Jesus. 

The response of John's disciples to his beheading always takes me back to the nightmare of the suicide of a son of close friends. I was his confirmation sponsor and, as is the way with suicide, I felt guilty. We and other friends went to the parents' home. All we could first do was weep with them. 

Then someone suggested we pray. We went and told Jesus. The boy wasn't brought back to life. He remained tragically dead, but... a corner had been turned. We were now facing the right direction, away from despair and towards hope, a hope that does not disappoint. 

Thank you Jesus for being especially close when I grieve. I place my trust in you.

Faith Fuels Miracles

‘A prophet is only despised in his own country and in his own house’, and he did not work many miracles there because of their lack of faith.
Mt.13:57,58

Perception determines expectation. You receive what you perceive. Jesus' townsfolk perceived the carpenter's son. They expected only woodwork. 

Jesus gives the key to miracles here. Expectant faith fuels miracles. If I perceive the Eucharist as merely a symbol of bread and wine, that's all I receive. When I perceive it as his body and blood, I receive the miracle of his full divinity. As Flannery O'Connor famously said, "If it's just a symbol, to hell with it!"

When I perceive Jesus as the living, loving God who walks beside me today, well... today anything could happen!

Holy Spirit, fan into flame the gift of faith I have received. Let miracles work through me to the glory of Jesus. 

Speak for His Glory

Whatever you eat, whatever you drink, whatever you do at all, do it for the glory of God. Never do anything offensive to anyone.
1Cor.10:31

Saint Paul presents a model for the lives of believers. In all things desire to glorify God.

Probably my tongue is the thing that fails in this the most. I say things I regret. I desire my words to always be edifying, building people up, to speak less and listen more.

Lord, may the words from my mouth and the meditations of my heart be pleasing unto you.