Return To ME With Weeping!

Hi! and happy good mid-week to all of us, GUYS.  For this Wednesday's "daily bread":

THE GOOD NEWS (10 February 2016)

"YAHWEH says, 'Yet even now, return to me with your whole heart, with fasting, weeping and mourning.  Rend your heart, not your garment.  Return to YAHWEH, your GOD - gracious and compassionate.'

YAHWEH is slow to anger, full of kindness, and HE repents of having punished.

Who knows?  Probably HE will relent once more and spare some part of the harvest from which we may bring sacred offerings to YAHWEH, your GOD.

Blow the trumpet in Zion, proclaim a sacred fast, call a solemn assembly.

Gather the people, sanctify the community, bring together the elders, even the children and infants at the breast.  Let the bridegroom leave his bed, and the bride her room.

Between the vestibule and the altar, let the priests, YAHWEH's ministers, weep and say: Spare YOUR people, YAHWEH.  Do not humble them or make them an object of scorn among the nations.  Why should it be said among the peoples: Where is their GOD?

YAHWEH has become jealous for HIS land; HE has had pity on HIS people." - Joel 2:12-18 

(Return to ME with your whole heart: an invitation to penance.  In times of hardship, public fasts were proclaimed in Israel.  People would wear mourning clothes, or they would replace their clothes with sackcloth, or they would not comb their hair and cover their faces with ashes.  In the Gospel, JESUS will not say that these signs of physical penance, like fasting to express sorrow and to accompany prayer, are useless [see Matthew 4:1 and Mark 2:20], but will make it clear that these external signs of penance are not everything, nor are they what is most important.)  

Solomon's Prayer

Hi! and happy and good Tuesday to all of us, GUYS.  For our today's "food for the soul":

THE GOOD NEWS (09 February 2016)

"Then Solomon stood before the altar of YAHWEH in the presence of all the assembly of Israel.  He raised his hands towards heaven and said, 'O YAHWEH, GOD of Israel, there is no GOD like YOU either in heaven or on earth!  YOU keep YOUR covenant and show loving-kindness to YOUR servants who walk before YOU wholeheartedly.  YOU have foretold this day to YOUR servant David, my father, and this day YOU have fulfilled YOUR promise.  Now, O YAHWEH, GOD of Israel, keep this other promise YOU made to David when YOU said, 'You shall always have someone from your family on the throne of Israel, provided that your sons are careful to serve ME as you have done.  Now, therefore, O GOD of Israel, confirm the promise YOU have given to David my father.

But will GOD really live among men on earth?  If neither heavens nor the highest heavens can contain YOU, how much less can this House which I have built!  Yet, listen to the prayer and supplication of YOUR servant, O YAHWEH my GOD; hearken to the cries and pleas which YOUR servant directs to YOU this day.  Watch over this House of which YOU have said, 'MY name shall rest there.'  Hear the prayer of YOUR servant in this place.

Listen to the supplication of YOUR servant and YOUR people Israel when they pray in this direction; listen from YOUR dwelling place in Heaven and, on listening, forgive'." - 1 Kings 8:22-30 

The Temple Of Jerusalem In JESUS' Time

(YAYHWEH has fulfilled HIS promise.  David had received two promises from GOD.  The first was that his son would build the Temple; the second, that his descendants would keep the throne of Israel. 

It is worth noting how GOD, being the invisible GOD and Creator of the Universe, wills to be, in some way, at a definite place, Jerusalem, and among a definite people, David's descendants.  This visible center of divine presence is now the Church.  The Kingdom of GOD is universal, yet the Church relates with CHRIST through a well-defined series of people: the bishops and the pope.

The prayer of Solomon, composed probably by a prophet at the time of the kings, emphasizes both the importance and the relativity of the Temple.  It is there that the "Name" of GOD resides, there GOD will hear the prayers of the people [8:30-53].  And yet this Temple built by human hands "could not contain GOD in HIS glory."  The invisible heavens "cannot contain HIM," how much less this earthly dwelling.

This vision of the Temple will be continually present in the teaching of the prophets.  However great, the Temple will never be a "magic charm" for Israel.  It is the sign and reminder of the presence of the holy GOD.

Gradually, because of this, all theology of Israel will be centered on the Temple.  The earth and the heavens belong to GOD, but on this earth one country belongs to HIM in a very special way - it is the Land of a Promise.  In this Promised Land all the towns are HIS; but one among them is especially dear.  And in this city, in the heart of this city is the holy mountain on which YAHWEH's dwelling place has been built.

The Temple is just like the pivot around which the whole universe revolves. For this reason it is understandable that its destruction in 587 was for the faith of Israel an unimaginable trial: without the Temple of Jerusalem, the universe lost its center.

If the universe had by degrees been centered around the Temple, with the New Testament, on the contrary, it is the CHRIST - the New Temple - who becomes the point of departure for the expansion of salvation: "You will be my witnesses, in Judea and Samaria and to the ends of the earth.")

The New Temple, JESUS CHRIST

The Ark Assembled Near King Solomon

Hi! and happy good first day of the week to all of us, GUYS.  This Monday's "food for the soul":

THE GOOD NEWS (08 February 2016)

"Then Solomon assembled before him in Jerusalem the elders of Israel and all the heads of the tribes, as well as the leaders of the ancestral houses of the Israelites, to bring up the ark of the covenant of YAHWEH, which is Zion. 

The Ark Of The Covenant

All the Israelites assembled near King Solomon in the month of Ethanim, the seventh month.  When all the elders of Israel arrived, the priests carried the ark of YAHWEH and brought it up together with the Tent of Meeting and all the holy vessels that were in the tent.  After the priests and Levites had brought them up, King Solomon with the entire congregation of Israel that had assembled before him and were with him before the Ark, sacrificed so many sheep and oxen that they could neither be counted nor numbered.  Then the priests laid the ark of the covenant of YAHWEH in its place in the inner sanctuary of the House - the Most Holy Place - underneath the wings of the cherubim.  The cherubim had their wings spread out over the place of the ark, providing a covering above the ark and its poles.

The poles were so long that their ends were seen from the Holy Place in front of the inner sanctuary but not from the outside; and they remain there to this day.  There was nothing in the ark except the two tables of stone which Moses placed there at Horeb, where YAHWEH made a covenant with the Israelites when they came out of the land of Egypt.  And when the priests came out of the Holy Place, such a cloud filled YAHWEH's House that the priests could not continue to minister.  Indeed, the glory of YAHWEH filled HIS House.

Then Solomon said, 'YAHWEH has said that HE would dwell in thick darkness.  So the House I have built YOU will be YOUR House, a place for YOU to dwell in forever'." - 1 Kings 8:1-13 

The Sanctuary - The Most Holy Place

(On the day of the Temple's inauguration , GOD makes HIS presence felt by means of the cloud.  In Exodus, this was the visible sign of YAHWEH's presence in Jerusalem which protected them [Exodus 14:19 and 40:34] wherever they were.

In the course of time, many  indecent things occurred in the courtyards of the Temple; they even built up altars to idols and practiced sacred prostitution according to pagan customs. [See 2  Kings 23:4-7].  Yet it is not said that YAHWEH abandoned HIS Sanctuary where HE remained out of fidelity to HIS Covenant.

It was only in the last years of the Kingdom that the prophet Ezekiel had a vision where the cloud left the Temple: this meant that YAHWEH would now live among HIS faithful ones exiled in Babylon [Ezekiel 9:3].

Much later, the apostle John will see this cloud in the heavenly temple [Revelation 15:8] after having seen it over the person of JESUS during HIS transfiguration.)

      

The Call Of Isaiah

Hello! and happy holy and family day to all of us, GUYS.  For our first-thing-first this Sunday:

THE GOOD NEWS (07 February 2016)

"In the year that King Uzziah died I saw the LORD seated on a throne, high and exalted; the train of HIS robe filled the Temple.  Above HIM were seraphs, each with six wings: two to cover the face, two to cover the feet, and two to fly with.

They were calling to one another: 'Holy, holy, holy is YAHWEH Sabaoth.  All the earth is filled with HIS Glory!'

At the sound of their voices the foundations of the threshold shook and the Temple was filled with smoke.  I said, 'Poor me!  I am doomed!  For I am a man of unclean lips living among a people of unclean lips, and yet I have seen the King, YAHWEH Sabaoth.'

Then one of the seraphs flew to me; in his hands was a live coal which he had taken with tongs from the altar.  He touched my mouth with it and said,

'See, this has touched your lips; your guilt is taken away and your sin is forgiven.'

Then I heard the voice of the LORD, 'Whom shall I send?  And who will go for us?  I answered, 'Here I am.  Send me!'." - Isaiah 6:1-8 

The Prophet, Isaiah

(On that day, in the year 740, Isaiah is in the Temple, or rather, he sees himself in the Temple, in spirit.  In the innermost room, where the Ark is kept, there is only the divine presence: YAHWEH seated as king, the train of HIS cloak filling the anteroom, as if to express the overflow of holiness and the power of GOD over the holy place and the city of Jerusalem.

During this brief moment, Isaiah encounters GOD in an intimate, authentic way, and this encounter will mark him for his entire life.  This cannot be expressed, nor can he try to describe YAHWEH who communicated with him in a spiritual way.  The vision he has, the images he sees and the words that he hears are like flashes emerging from this mysterious and unspeakable encounter. 

Isaiah speaks of the holy GOD, that is to say, totally other, infinitely different from any creature.  At the very moment of becoming present, HE is out of our reach.  HOLY GOD is a way of saying that GOD is mystery.  Isaiah continues to hold on to the presence of GOD and at the same time he is invaded by a fear which is not frightening.  In the presence of the Holy One we experience ourselves as sinners, not because of a particular sin, but because of our very nature; we feel incapable of placing ourselves in the hands of GOD who surrounds us with HIS presence.

Poor me!  I am doomed!  because GOD has said: 'No one can see ME and live' [Exodus 33:20].  GOD makes the first move and the Seraph purifies Isaiah through divine fire.  Isaiah is forgiven in the very instant he responds by an act of faith and completely accepts his mission.  From then on, Isaiah will know and will say that it is necessary to choose: either believe in the LORD or else be destroyed by contact with the Holy One.

Seraphim, that is, the burning ones.  The Israelites always believed in good and evil spirits.  From their time in the desert, they attribute to certain of these spirits the form of burning serpents.  These texts help us to understand why YAHWEH appears surrounded by fantastic Seraphim with human faces.  Being superior to humans, these beings can live close to GOD, but they must shield themselves from the splendor of HIS glory.

The glory of GOD is the radiance coming from GOD, who is present in the Jerusalem Temple, as in the center of the world, radiating HIS power from one end of the earth to the other.

The Splendor Of GOD's Glory 

Isaiah receives his mission:

     - He will be GOD's spokesman.

     - Instead of believing, the people will harden their hearts.

     -This will be the cause of Judah's ruin.  All that will remain will be the root from which something new will spring forth.)

Solomon's Dream

Hi! and happy good weekend to all of us, GUYS.  Our today's "daily bread":

"The king used to sacrifice at Gibeon, the great high place; on the altar there he had  offered a thousand burnt offerings.  It was in Gibeon, during the night, that YAHWEH appeared to Solomon in a dream and said, 'Ask what you want me to give you.'

Solomon answered, 'YOU have shown YOUR servant David my father a great and steadfast love because he served YOU faithfully and was righteous and sincere towards YOU.  YOU have given him proof of YOUR steadfast love in making a son of his sit on his throne this day.  And now, O YAHWEH my GOD, YOU have made YOUR servant king in place of David my father, although I am but a young boy who does not know to undertake anything.  Meantime, YOUR servant is in the midst of YOUR people whom YOU have chosen - a people so great that they can neither be numbered nor counted.

Give me, therefore, an understanding mind in governing YOUR people that I may discern between good and evil. For who is able to govern this multitude of people of YOURS?'  

King Solomon Asks GOD For Wisdom

YAHWEH was pleased that Solomon had made this request.  And HE told him, 'Because you have requested this rather than long life or wealth or even vengeance on your enemies; indeed, because you have asked for yourself understanding to discern what is right, I shall grant you your request.  I now give you a wise and discerning mind such as no one has had before you nor anyone after you shall ever have.'

'I will also give you what you have not asked for, both wealth and fame; and no king shall be your equal during your lifetime'." - 1 Kings 3:4-13

(Solomon's "dream" is very famous.  Perhaps this dream is only a parable by which the author of the book describes Solomon's disposition when he began his reign.

Ask what you want.  This is GOD's offer to the young Solomon, HIS beloved one.  It is GOD's offer to any young person who is faced with responsibilities for the first time.  Life will not be a destiny imposed upon him or her; rather, one way or another, GOD will give people what they desire.  What do you seek?  [see John 1:38].

YOU have shown YOUR servant David my father a great and steadfast love.  The young king does not start from scratch.  He owes everything he has to his ancestors, and everything he has from them came from GOD.  Solomon knows that YAHWEH committed HIMSELF to David forever: "I shall never reject your children."

Give me an understanding mind in governing your people.  Solomon concerned about carrying out his responsibilities and does not want the people to be robbed of their expectations.

Nevertheless, Solomon has in mind other forms of "wisdom" that were appreciated in those days:

     - to prepare for himself a long and quiet life, not to have problems or trouble, and to be spared the sacrifices required by a noble life;

     - wealth, enjoyment of life, "to be comfortable";

     - the death of his enemies, i.e., strength that leads to victory, satisfaction of one's personal pride.

I now give you a wise and discerning mind: I will also give you what you have not asked for.  This is the same teaching of JESUS in Matthew 6:33.) 

David

Hello! and happy TGIF to all of us, GUYS.  For this Friday's "food for the soul":

THE GOOD NEWS (05 February 2016)

"As fat is selected from the peace offering, so David was chosen from among the Israelites.

He played with lions and bears as if they were lambs or young goats.

He was still young when he slew a giant to restore the honor of his people; with a sling he aimed a stone that killed the arrogant Goliath.

He invoked the LORD Most High, who gave him strength to slay a mighty warrior, and so exalt the power of his people.

So they glorified him for his ten thousands and praised him as a blessing from the LORD when he was chosen king.

For he wiped out his enemies on all sides and annihilated his adversaries, the Philistines, crushing their power forever.

In all that he did he gave thanks to the Most High, and showed his love for his Maker by singing with all his heart.

He placed singers accompanied by harps before the altar to make beautiful music; he gave splendor to feasts and even greater magnificence to the more solemn occasions, exalting the holy Name of the LORD and having the sanctuary ring with his praises from early morning.

The LORD forgave David's sins and established his power forever; HE made a covenant with him for the benefit of the kings and gave him a glorious throne in Israel." - Sirach 47:2-11 

David And Goliath

(David, the anointed king of Israel whom GOD made a covenant.)

Where Is The Ark Of The Covenant?

David Blessed YAHWEH!

Hi! and happy good Thursday to all of us, GUYS.  For today's "daily bread":

THE GOOD NEWS (04 February 2016)

"In sight of the whole assembly David blessed YAHWEH and said:

May YOU be blessed, YAHWEH GOD of Israel our ancestor, forever and ever!  YOURS, YAHWEH, is the greatness, the power, splendor, length of days, glory, for all that is in the heavens and on the earth is YOURS.  YOURS is the sovereignty forever, O YAHWEH; you are supreme ruler over all.  Riches and honor go before YOU, YOU are ruler of all, in YOUR hand lie strength and power.  YOU are the one who gives greatness and strength to all'." - 1 Chronicles 29:10-12 

GOD Has The Whole World In HIS Hands

(The model of the repentant sinner, King David, blessing GOD before his people.)

King David Blessing GOD

Is HE Not The Carpenter?

Hello! and happy good mid-week to all of us, GUYS.  For this Wednesday's "food for the soul":

THE GOOD NEWS (03 February 2016)

"Leaving that place, JESUS returned to HIS own country, and HIS disciples followed HIM.  When the Sabbath came, HE began teaching in the synagogue, and most of those who heard HIM were astonished.  They commented, 'How did this come to HIM?  What kind of wisdom has been given to HIM that HE also performs such miracles?  Who is HE but the carpenter, the son of Mary and the brother of James and Joset and Judas and Simon?  HIS sisters, too, are they not here among us?  So they took offense at HIM.

And JESUS said to them, 'Prophets are despised only in their own country, among their relatives and in their own family.'  And HE could work no miracles there, but only healed a few sick people by laying HIS hands on them.'  JESUS HIMSELF was astounded of their unbelief." - Mark 6:1-6 

(The brothers and sisters of JESUS are HIS relatives and acquaintances of Nazareth.

How did this come to HIM?  Does this mean that JESUS traveled to other countries in order to get magic powers?

Because HE always lived among them and never did anything extraordinary, they were astonished that, in such a short time, HE became famous throughout Galilee.  In fact they do not know HIM: most of the time people mistakenly believe they know their neighbors.

Prophets are despised only in their own country.  After living with HIM so long and treating HIM like anyone else, how could they suddenly show respect and have faith in HIM?

Who is HE but the carpenter?  The term the Gospel uses is craftsman.  There is no further specification.  Yet the first Christians of Palestine asserted that JESUS was a carpenter.

What kind of wisdom has been given to HIM?  Many people say that because CHRIST was GOD, HE knew all things, but divine knowledge is nothing less than GOD HIMSELF.  HE knows all at once in an instant that never ends - this is eternity.  On the other hand, humans think in ideas, and do not embrace all at the same time.  That is why, from birth, JESUS had to learn from experience and discover.  Yet HE had a clear awareness that HE was the Son, although at the beginning HE did not have the words to think or express this.

JESUS received HIS human learning from Mary, Joseph, and HIS neighbors in Nazareth.  HE acquired HIS wisdom from the Bible and the culture of HIS people.  Yet the FATHER gave HIM HIS Spirit to judge as GOD does and to recognize GOD in all things.  For HIM [as for us now] what was important was not accumulating data and experiences but to be able to appreciate all that occurred.   JESUS inspired by the Spirit, felt all the realities of life in a different way: this was Wisdom.)      

I Send My Messenger To Prepare The Way

Hi! and happy good Tuesday to all of us, GUYS.  For our "daily bread" today:

THE GOOD NEWS (02 February 2016)

"Now I am sending MY messenger ahead of ME to clear the way; then suddenly the LORD for whom you long will enter the sanctuary.  The envoy of the covenant which you so greatly desire already comes, says YAHWEH of hosts.  Who can bear the day of HIS coming and remain standing when HE appears?  For HE will be like fire in the foundry and like the lye used fort bleaching.

HE will be as a refiner or a fuller.  HE will purify the sons of Levi and refine them like gold and silver.  So YAHWEH will have priests who will present the offering as it should be.  Then YAHWEH will accept with pleasure the offering of Judah and Jerusalem, as in former days." - Malachi 3:1-4 

(Now I am sending MY messenger.  To those complaining that GOD does not reveal HIS justice nor reward sufficiently those who serve HIM, Malachi responds by declaring that the LORD will come soon.  He announces the coming of a messenger of GOD who will be responsible for preparing the way for HIM, and that will be the sign of HIS coming soon.

Malachi

Paragraphs 3:1-2 and 4:22-24 complement each other, and point to John the Baptist.  The Gospel will recall them in Luke 1:17; 7:27; John 3:22.  Also see Mark 9:11.)  

John The Baptist Preparing The Way

The Gerasene Demoniac

Hello! and happy first day of the week and of the month of February to all of us, GUYS.  For today's "food for the soul":

THE GOOD NEWS (01 February 2016)

"They arrived on the other side of the lake in the region of the Gerasenes.  No sooner did JESUS leave the boat than HE was met by a man with evil spirits who had come from the tombs.  He lived among the tombs and no one could restrain him, even with a chain.  He had often been bound with fetters and chains but he would pull the chains apart and smash the fetters, and no one had the strength to control him.  Night and day he stayed among the tombs on the hillsides, and was continually screaming and beating himself with stones.

When he saw JESUS from afar, he ran and fell from his feet and cried with a loud voice, 'What do you want with me, JESUS, son of the Most High GOD?  For GOD's sake I beg you, do not torment me.'  He said this because JESUS had commanded, 'Come out of the man, evil spirit.'  And when JESUS asked him, 'What is your name? he replied, 'Legion is my name, for we are many.'  And all of them kept begging JESUS not to send them out of that region. 

Now, a great herd of pigs was feeding on the hillside, and the evil spirits begged him, 'Send us to the pigs and let us go into them.'  So JESUS let them go.  The evil spirits came out of the man and went into the pigs, and immediately the herd rushed down the cliff and all were drowned in the lake.  The herdsmen fled and reported this in the town and in the countryside, so all the people came to see what had happened.

They came to JESUS and saw the man freed of the evil spirits sitting there, clothed and in his right mind, the same man who had been possessed by the legion.  They were afraid.  And when those who had seen it told what had happened to the man and to the pigs, the people begged JESUS to leave their neighborhood.

When JESUS was getting into the boat, the man who had been possessed begged to stay with HIM.  JESUS would not let him and said, 'Go home to your people and tell them how much the LORD has done for you and how HE has had mercy on you.'  So he went throughout the country of Decapolis telling everyone how much JESUS had done for him.  And all the people were astonished. - Mark 5:1-20 

(JESUS overcame the raging sea and disembarking on the pagan shore of the lake HE confronts the demon.  The text says three  times that the possessed lived among the tombs, and mentions also three times the chains with which people had in vain tried to bind him.  For a Jew to repeat something three times is to use the superlative: it is to say that the possessed has partnership with death and with impurity to which it is attached; but no one, absolutely no one is able to master him.  Finally, the possessed, like the servants of idols slashed himself with stones till blood flowed.  This adversary, however, bows low recognizing the superiority of JESUS, Son of GOD the Most High, who forces him to reveal his name.  Here again the name is a symbol: legion that means that this man is possessed by a regiment of demons.  JESUS will free this possessed man: the demon, author of every "impurity" is sent to his own kingdom.  Pigs are in fact, in Jewish tradition, a type of impure animal, and the sea into which they cast themselves is the symbol of the empire of evil.

The herds rushed down.  The actual text of Mark says, "two thousand pigs rushed."  This is an incredible number, for such large herds of pigs were never seen.  In Hebrew, the word for herds is only distinguished from the word for 2,000 by an accent mark.  Probably a mistake was made when Mark's Gospel was written in Greek.

JESUS would not let him.  It is HE who chooses those who will be with HIM.  That does not mean that the others, all those who met JESUS and recognized HIM as Son of GOD, have nothing to do: they will witness in the midst of those they know how HE had compassion on them.  In this way JESUS reminds us of the diversity of vocations.)