Prayer Of A Person Saved From Death

"How can I repay YAHWEH

for all HIS goodness to me?

I will lift up the cup of salvation

and call on the name of YAHWEH.

I will offer YOU a thanksgiving sacrifice;

I will call on the name of YAHWEH.

I will carry out my vows to YAHWEH

in the presence of HIS people."

- Psalm 116:12-13. 17-18

(This psalm is a simple prayer of thanks to GOD, after an escape from death by sickness, accident or malice.

We can pray with this psalm, when we have overcome mortal dangers or solved personal conflicts.  It is good for everything to remain in the sphere of the love of GOD, in whom we believe.)

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JESUS And Beelzebul

"One day JESUS was driving out a dumb demon.  When the demon had been driven out, the mute person could speak, and the people were amazed.  Yet some of them said, 'HE drives out demons by the power of Beelzebul, the chief of the demons.  So, others wanted to put HIM to the test by asking HIM for a heavenly sign. 

But JESUS knew their thoughts and said to them, 'Every nation divided by civil war is on the road to ruin and will fall.  If Satan also is divided, his empire is coming to an end.  How can you say that I drive out demons by calling upon Beelzebul?  If I drive them out by Beelzebul, by whom do your fellow members drive out demons?  They will be your judge, then. 

But suppose I drive out demons by the finger of GOD; would not this mean that the kingdom of GOD has come upon you?  As long as the strong and armed man guards his house, his goods are safe.  But when a stronger one attacks and overcomes him, the challenger takes away all the weapons he relied on and disposes of his spoils.

Whoever is not with me is against me, and whoever does not gather with me, scatters.

When the evil spirit goes out of a person, it wanders through dry lands looking for a resting place.  And finding none, it says, I will return to my house from which I came.  When it comes, it finds the house swept and everything in order.  Then it goes to fetch seven other spirits even worse than itself.  They move in and settle there, so that the last state of that person is worse than the first.'" - Luke 11:14-26  

(HE drives out demons by the power of Beelzebul.  More than the healings, the exorcisms unsettled the Pharisees and the Teachers of the Law.  They, the religious authorities, traveled from Jerusalem to see this JESUS for themselves.  The Jews of JESUS' time were obsessed with the belief that illness was a form of possession.  JESUS does not concern HIMSELF with distinguishing between illness and possession.  Actually, the Devil is behind all human misery.  Beelzebul, the name of an ancient idol, was a Jewish term for the Devil.

  

By the finger of GOD.  In Exodus 8:15, the same expression is used to designate the power of GOD working miracles.

 

Whoever is not with ME...  This phrase seems to contradict Luke 9:50:  Whoever is not against you is with you. In fact, in Luke 9:50, JESUS admits that HIS spiritual family goes much beyond the visible group of HIS disciples:  those who, without belonging to the church, work for the same goals, must be considered as friends.

 

In Luke 11:23, on the other hand, JESUS speaks of people who refuse to stand with HIM and HIS message and who want to remain uncommitted:  they do not join HIM, and later they will criticize HIM.

 

The Jews believed that evil spirits preferred to live in the desert or, rather, that GOD had banished them there.  Here JESUS is speaking of people who only believe for a while because they do not repent enough of their past sins.  They enjoyed listening to the word, but they did not take the costly measures that would have allowed them to heal the root of evil.)

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"Ask, And It Will Be Given To You; Seek, And You Will Find; Knock, And It Will Be Opened To You."

"JESUS said to them, 'Suppose one of you has a friend, and goes to his house in the middle of the night and says, 'Friend, lend me three loaves, for a friend of mine who is traveling has just arrived, and I have nothing to offer him.'  Maybe your friend will answer from inside, 'Don't bother me now; the door is locked, and my children and I are in bed, so I can't get up and give you anything.'  But I tell you, even though he will not get up and attend to you because you are a friend, yet he will get up because you are a bother to him, and he will give you all you need.

And so, I say to you, 'Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you.  For the one who asks receives, and the one who searches finds, and to him who knocks the door will be opened.'

If your child asks for a fish, will you give him a snake instead?  And if your child asks for an egg, will you give him a scorpion?  If you sinful people know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will YOUR heavenly FATHER give the Holy Spirit to those who ask HIM.'" - Luke 11:5-13 

 

(JESUS urges us to ask with perseverance without ever getting tired of asking but, rather, "tiring" GOD.  GOD will not always give us what we ask for, nor in the way we ask, since we do not know what is good for us.  HE will give us a Holy Spirit, or a clearer vision of HIS will and, at the same time, the courage to follow it.

Knock and it will be opened to you.  A page from Father Molinie is a commentary on this verse.  "If GOD does not open at once, it is not because HE enjoys making us wait.  If we must persevere in prayer, it is not because we need a set number of invocations, but rather because a certain quality, a certain way of prayer is required.  If we were able to have that at the beginning, our prayer would be heard immediately.

"Prayer is the groaning of the Holy Spirit in us as Saint Paul says.  Yet we need repetition for this groaning to open a path in our stony heart, just as the drop of water wastes away the hardest rocks.  When we have repeated the Our Father and the Hail Mary with perseverance, one day we can pray them in a way that is in perfect harmony with GOD's will.  HE HIMSELF was waiting for this groaning, the only one which can move HIM since, in fact, it comes from HIS own heart.

"As long as we have not played this note, or rather, drawn it from within, GOD cannot be conquered.  It is not that GOD defends HIMSELF since HE is pure tenderness and fluidity, but as long as there is nothing similar in us, the current cannot pass between HIM and us.  Man gets tired of praying, yet if he perseveres instead of losing heart, he will gradually let go of his pride until being exhausted and overcome, he obtains much more than he could have wished for.")

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LORD, Teach Us To Pray

"One day JESUS was praying in a certain place and when HE had finished, one of HIS disciples said to HIM, 'LORD, teach us to pray, just as John taught his disciples.'  And JESUS said to them, 'When you pray, say this:

          FATHER, hallowed be YOUR name,

          may YOUR kingdom come,

          give us each day the kind of bread we need,

          and forgive us our sins, for we also forgive all who do us wrong,

          and do not bring us to the test'." - Luke 11:1-4 

(The apostles already knew how to pray, and they prayed in common, as all the Jews did, in the synagogue and at key times during the day.  Yet, in living close to JESUS they discovered a new way to live in close fellowship, and they felt a need to address the FATHER differently.  JESUS waited for them to ask HIM to teach them how to pray.  See Matthew 6:9.)

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Martha And Mary

"As JESUS and HIS disciples were on their way, HE entered a village, and a woman called Martha welcomed HIM to her house.  She had a sister named Mary, who sat down at the LORD's feet to listen to HIS words.  Martha, meanwhile, was busy with all the serving, and finally she said, 'LORD, don't YOU care that my sister has left me to do all the work?  Tell her to help me!'

But the LORD answered, 'Martha, Martha, you worry and are troubled about many things, whereas only one thing is needed.  Mary has chosen the better part, and it will not be taken away from her.'" - Luke 10:38-42   

(Many things seem to be necessary in a family: cleaning, preparing meals, looking after the children.  If there is no time to listen to others, what is life worth?  Perhaps we do many things in the service of GOD and our neighbor; only one thing nevertheless is necessary for us all: being available for JESUS when HE is present.

Mary has chosen the better part.  She followed only her instinct, but JESUS sees more: HE will not be there much longer, and in any case HIS presence among us is always brief.  Mary has been able to take hold of these brief moments when JESUS could be hers, and she is HIS while listening to HIM.)

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The Good Samaritan

"Then a teacher of the Law came and began putting JESUS to the test.  And he said, 'Master, what shall I do to receive eternal life?'  JESUS replied, 'What is written in the Scripture?  How do you understand it?'  The man answered, 'It is written:  You shall love the LORD your GOD with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your strength and with all your mind.  And you shall love your neighbor as yourself.'  JESUS replied, 'What a good answer!  Do this and you shall live.'  The man wanted to keep up appearances, so he replied, 'Who is my neighbor?'

JESUS then said, 'There was a man going down from Jerusalem to Jericho, and he fell into the hands of robbers.  They stripped him and went off leaving him half-dead.

It happened that a priest was going along that road and saw the man but passed by on the other side.  Likewise, a Levite saw the man and passed by on the other side.  But a Samaritan, too, was going that way, and when he came upon the man, he was moved with compassion.  He went over to him and treated his wounds with oil and wine and wrapped them with bandages.  Then he put him on his mount and brought him to an inn where he took care of him.

The next day he had to set off, but he gave two silver coins to the innkeeper and told him:  'Take care of him and whatever you spend on him, I will repay when I come back.' 

JESUS then asked, 'Which of these three, do you think, made himself neighbor to the man who fell into the hands of robbers?'  The teacher of the Law answered, 'The one who had mercy on him.'  And JESUS said, 'Go then and do the same.'" - Luke 10:25-37  

(Who is my neighbor?  The teacher of the Law expected to be given the precise limits of his obligation. Whom was he supposed to look after?  Members of his family?  People of his own race?  Or perhaps everybody?

 

It is significant that JESUS concludes HIS story with a different question:  Which of the three made himself neighbor?  It is as if HE said:  do not try to figure out who is your neighbor, listen instead to the call within you, and become a neighbor, be close to your brother or sister in need.  As long as we see the command to love as an obligation, we do not love as GOD wants.

 

Love does not consist simply in being moved by another person's distress.  Notice how the Samaritan stopped by in spite of it being a dangerous place, how he paid for the expenses and promised to take care of whatever else might be necessary.  Instead of just "being charitable" he took unconditional and uncalculated risks for a stranger.

 

On one occasion, Martin Luther King pointed out that love is not satisfied with comforting those who suffer:  "To begin with, we must be the good Samaritan to those who have fallen along the way.  This, however, is only the beginning.  Then, some day we will necessarily have to realize that the road to Jericho must be made in such a way that men and women are not constantly beaten and robbed while they are traveling along the paths of life."

 

With this example, JESUS also makes us see that, many times, those who seem to be religious officials, or who believe they fulfill the law, are incapable of loving.  It was a Samaritan, considered a heretic by the Jews, who took care of the wounded man.

 

For the Jews, neighbors were the members of Israel, their own people, dignified by sharing the same religion; in fact, this familial relationship came from "flesh and blood."  For JESUS, true love leads one to give up any discrimination.)

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The Parable Of The Tenants

"Listen to another example:  There was a landowner who planted a vineyard.  He put a fence around it, dug a hole for the wine press, built a watchtower, leased the vineyard to tenants, and then, went to a distant country.  When harvest time came, the landowner sent his servants to the tenants to collect his share of the harvest.  But the tenants seized his servants, beat one, killed another, and stoned a third.

Again, the owner sent more servants; but they were treated in the same way.

Finally, he sent his son, thinking, 'They will respect my son.'  But when the tenants saw the son, they thought, 'This is the one who is to inherit the vineyard.  Let us kill him, and his inheritance will be ours.'  So, they seized him, threw him out of the vineyard and killed him.

Now, what will the owner of the vineyard do with the tenants when he comes?  They said to him, 'He will bring those evil men to an evil end, and lease the vineyard to others, who will pay him in due time.'

And JESUS replied, 'Have you never read what the Scriptures say?  The stone which the builders rejected has become the cornerstone.  This was the LORD's doing, and we marvel at it.  Therefore, I say to you: the kingdom of heaven will be taken from you and given to a people who will produce its fruit.'" - Matthew 21:33-43   

(In this comparison, the vine represents the kingdom of GOD.  The Jews were GOD's people, and they came to consider that their own interests were those of GOD.  HE had to help them against others.  They had confidence that they would be saved and were not concerned about the fate of others who did not recognize GOD.

GOD entrusted HIS kingdom to them; in other words, HE guided them throughout the long span of their history, so that they would be an example to others.  They were to communicate their experience to others so that all would develop justice, a spirit of responsibility, a sense of community; these were the fruit GOD wanted to harvest.

GOD sent prophets to remind them of their debt: they were scarcely heard.  Finally, the only Son of GOD become human appears and the same thing will happen.  HE will be thrown out of the vineyard, in other words, rejected by HIS own people.  Which is why the kingdom of GOD will be given to others, to those believers converted from other nations and gathered in the Church of CHRIST.

Here ends the parable.  It could equally be applied to the Church today if it becomes a religion of one social class, or similar to the other religions, or if we do not find in the Church more obedience to GOD, more commitment to values that will save the world.  What would happen to Christian groups and their leaders if they began to feel they were the owners of the kingdom and its promises?) 

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JESUS Gives Thanks To The FATHER

"The seventy-two disciples returned full of joy.  They said, 'LORD, even the demons obeyed us when we called on YOUR name.'  Then JESUS replied, 'I saw Satan fall like lightning from heaven.  You see, I have given you authority to trample on snakes and scorpions and to overcome all the power of the Enemy, so that nothing will harm you.  Nevertheless, don't rejoice because the evil spirits submit to you; rejoice, rather, that your names are written in heaven.'

At that time, JESUS was filled with the joy of the Holy Spirit, and said, 'I praise YOU, FATHER, LORD of heaven and earth, for you have hidden these things from the wise and learned and made them known to little ones.  Yes, FATHER, such has been YOUR gracious will.  I have been given all things by MY FATHER, so that no one knows the Son except the FATHER, and no one knows the FATHER except the Son, and he to whom the Son chooses to reveal HIM.'

Then JESUS turned to HIS disciples and said to them privately, 'Fortunate are you to see what you see, for I tell you, that many prophets and kings would have liked to see what you see, but did not see it; and to hear what you hear but did not hear it.'" - Luke 10:17-24  

(At first, the person who preaches CHRIST and works for HIM is scared.  Then follows the joy of having surpassed oneself, and even more the joy of having believed and worked with the very power of JESUS.  JESUS gives thanks for the seventy [or seventy-two] and for all those who will follow HIM.

What are these things that GOD has revealed to the little ones but the mysterious power of the Gospel to transform people and show them the truth?  The apostles marvel at the power coming from the name of JESUS [Mark 16:17].  JESUS underlines the defeat of the Adversary, Satan.

The learned and the clever think they know, but do not know what is essential.  They speak of a GOD who is no more than a shadow of the true GOD as long as they do not recognize him in JESUS.  They do not know where the world is heading because they do not see how GOD's power is working wherever JESUS is being proclaimed.

The little ones, on the other hand, have understood.  Before they saw themselves as a sacrificed generation.  For the little ones are used to sacrificing themselves for their children from generation to generation, or they are sacrificed by powers, under the pretext of bringing happiness to their descendants.  They did not live for themselves; rather they were preparing a place for others.  Now the little ones, namely, the humble believers, have everything if they have JESUS, the FATHER has given everything to HIM.

Little ones live their faith in simple ways, but they know that none of their sacrifices are lost.  It is JESUS who reveals the FATHER to us and, knowing HIM in truth, we also share in HIS control over events.  Our desires and our prayers are powerful because we have come to the center from which GOD directs the forces saving humankind: because we work for eternity, our names are already written in heaven.

To evangelize does not mean to try to sell the Gospel but rather to prove its power to heal people from their demons.  We need not become activists in order to accomplish that.  We must admit that we have no power in these things and we must give thanks to GOD who enabled us to see, to hear and to communicate HIS salvation.

Fortunate are you to see...  Stop being envious of famous people, kings and prophets of the past.  You who are alive now, and who are neither kings nor prophets, have been given the better part.)

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The Little Ones

"At that time, the disciples came to JESUS and asked HIM, 'Who is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven?'

Then JESUS called a little child, set the child in the midst of the disciples, and said, 'I assure you, that, unless you change, and become like little children, you cannot enter the kingdom of heaven.  Whoever becomes humble, like this child, is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven, and whoever receives such a child, in MY name, receives ME.'

See that you do not despise any of these little ones; for I tell you, their angels in heaven continually see the face of MY heavenly FATHER." - Matthew 18:1-5. 10 

(JESUS does not answer the apostles' question: Who is the greatest?  Because what matters is not to become great, but to be close to CHRIST.  In order to receive CHRIST, we must welcome HIM in the person of the little ones.)

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Triumphant Trust In GOD

"Hear my voice when I call, O YAHWEH, 

have mercy on me and answer.

My heart says to you,

'I seek YOUR face, O YAHWEH.'

Do not hide YOUR face from me

nor turn away YOUR servant in anger.

YOU are my protector, do not reject me;

abandon me not, O GOD my savior!

I hope, I am sure,

that I will see the goodness of YAHWEH

in the land of the living.

Trust in YAHWEH, be strong and courageous

yes, put your hope in YAHWEH!"

- Psalm 27:7-8. 8-9. 13-14

(In the struggles of this life, the believer is not discouraged, but clings to the hope the LORD have in store for us at the end of the conflict.  A trust without limits: Though my father and mother forsake me, yet will the LORD receive me.  To such a GOD, the psalmist can say: One thing I seek... (to) dwell in the house of the LORD.  All the struggles, trials and temptations will not let us forget the house of the LORD at the end of the road.) 

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