Praise + Thanks = Appreciation

by Fr. David M. Knight

Thursday, November 28, 2024

Thanksgiving Day

Rv 18:1-2, 21-23; 19:1-3, 9a/Lk 21:20-28 (Lectionary 506) 

(Use any readings from the Lectionary for Ritual Masses (vol. IV), the Mass, “In Thanksgiving to God,” nos. 943-947)

https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/112824.cfm

It gives us a good feeling about our Church to see in today’s Mass prayers that we don’t celebrate Thanksgiving without asking God to “open our hearts to concern for our fellow men and women, so that we may share your gifts in loving service.” We see ourselves as stewards of all God has given us, called to “manage” everything for the good of all. “From your hand we have received generous gifts so that we might learn to share your blessings in gratitude.” We ask that the Mass itself, the “perfect sacrifice of Jesus,” will “draw us closer to all our brothers and sisters in the human family.” Our goal is always the “unity and peace” of the Kingdom: people sharing the Bread of the banquet in total, universal forgiveness and love. “Give us this day... and forgive us....”

It may seem negative to read Luke 12:15-21 on Thanksgiving Day. Jesus is warning us, as we rejoice in what we have, “Take care! Be on your guard against all kinds of greed; for one’s life does not consist in the abundance of possessions.” But it is really good news.

God said to him, ‘You fool! This very night your life is being demanded of you. And the things you have prepared, whose will they be?’  So it is with those who store up treasures for themselves but are not rich toward God.”

This invites us to think how it will be for those who have turned over all they have and are to God to abandon themselves to the work of his kingdom. The next lines are:

Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat, or what you will wear.... strive for his kingdom, and these things will be given to you as well.

But once we are thinking “end time,” we are thinking of blessings beyond imagination. Joel 2:21-27 begins by promising green fields and fruitful trees. But the passage ends suggesting more:

He has dealt wondrously with you.... You shall know that I am in the midst of Israel. I am the Lord your God... My people shall nevermore be put to shame.

Colossians 3:12-17 tells us to make every day Thanksgiving: “Dedicate yourselves to thankfulness.” How? “Let the word of Christ rich as it is, dwell in you.” If we read God’s word, he will give us a perspective on life that lifts us above the humdrum or the hassling routines of daily life. “In wisdom made perfect, instruct one another.” Our conversation should reach the level of mystery. “Whatever you do, whether in speech or in action, do it in the name of the Lord Jesus.” If we do this consciously, we will “give thanks to God the Father through him.”

So use the WIT prayer: Lord, do this with me, do this in me, do this through me” — all day long.

Initiative: Praise and thank. This is the formula for appreciation. Of anybody.

Reflections brought to you by the Immersed in Christ Ministry

www.ImmersedinChrist.org 

Keep Your Perspective

by Fr. David M. Knight

Wednesday, November 27, 2024

Thirty-Fourth Week of the Year

Rv 15:1-4/Lk 21:12-19 (Lectionary 505)

https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/112724.cfm

Luke 21:12-19: Jesus is still speaking in the timeframe of this world as he was when he said at the Last Supper:

In the world you face persecution. But take courage; I have conquered the world!”

And his reason, then and now, was: “I have said this to you, so that in me you may have peace.” (John 16:33)

You will be betrayed even by parents, brothers and sisters; by relatives and friends; and they will put some of you to death. You will be hated by all because of my name.

But nothing people do to us can really harm us. Even if they kill us: “not a hair of your head will perish. By your endurance you will gain your souls.” Clearly, having “peace” with this depends on our awareness of another timeframe.

That timeframe is described in Revelation 15:1-4:

I, John, saw in heaven another sign, great and awe-inspiring.... I saw something like a sea of glass mingled with fire. On the sea of glass were standing those who had won the victory over the beast....and they sang the song of the Lamb:

‘Great and wonderful are your works,

Lord God almighty.

Just and true are your ways,

O King of the nations.’”

This is a different picture from what we see on earth. In this world Jesus died a loser: delivered over to his enemies; betrayed by one friend, denied by another; deserted by most of his followers; condemned and put to death. And his followers will suffer the same fate (see above). This is what we will see on earth. At times, it will be all we can see.

But it is not the whole picture. In the “end time” all will proclaim:

Who will not fear you, Lord,

or glorify your name?

For you alone are holy.

All the nations will come

and worship before you,

for your judgments have been revealed.

The Gift of Wisdom is the “habit of seeing everything in the light of the last end.” It makes sense: if we are going somewhere, we look first at our destination before choosing a road. And the beginning of this Wisdom is “Fear of the Lord”—seeing God and everything else in perspective. That is what the Book of Revelation helps us to do. It could also be called the Book of Perspective. It lets us see everything from the perspective of what will be and how great it will be. Psalm 98 says it:

Sing to the Lord a new song, for he has done marvelous things.

His right hand has won victory for him....

Let the sea and what fills it resound,

the world and those who dwell in it shout for joy.

For the Lord comes to rule the earth.

He will rule the world with justice.

Initiative: Find peace through perspective. Or, “Don’t sweat the small stuff.”

Reflections brought to you by the Immersed in Christ Ministry

www.ImmersedinChrist.org 

Separating Light from Dark

by Fr. David M. Knight

Tuesday, November 26, 2024

Thirty-Fourth Week of the Year

Rv 14:14-19/Lk 21:5-11 (Lectionary 504)

https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/112624.cfm

In Luke 21:5-11 Jesus is talking about events within the time-frame of our earthly history. He said the Temple—“adorned with precious stones and votive offerings” that impressed the people so much—was going to be destroyed. It was, by the Romans, in 70 A.D. Physical monuments to earthly wealth and power cannot be counted on to last and shouldn’t be missed. Impressive buildings filled with artwork that attract tourists (like St. Peter’s Basilica in Rome) may do more harm than good. If “wars and insurrections” deprive us of them, we “must not be perturbed.”

By coincidence, in another “year 70” the “papal states” were dismantled. These were territories of central Italy governed by the pope as temporal ruler from 756 to 1870. Encouraged by widespread public demonstrations, the Italian government besieged Rome in 1870. Pope Piux IX insisted on a token resistance by papal troops to show he did not consent to giving up temporal power. The popes did not accept the situation until Pius XI signed the Lateran Treaty in 1929. Remnants of royal attitude remain.

When religion has a rich face, its heart is obscured.

Revelation 14:14-19 calls us to look beyond the time-frame of this earth to the day when “One like a Son of Man, wearing a gold crown on his head and holding a sharp sickle in his hand,” will come to separate true values from false.

The fields that are “ripe for the harvest” will be reaped by the “Son of Man,” Jesus himself. These are the faithful who have borne fruit. The unfaithful are the “grapes of wrath.” An angel is sent to cut them down and throw them into the “winepress of God’s wrath. (See Matthew 9:37; 13:30.)

The point is that earthly appearances don’t count and don’t last. Christians are neither impressed nor distressed by what is merely created. Christians are impressed only by the mystery of God’s presence in created things: his power giving them existence and acting within all they do; his love giving them to us for our benefit; his love urging us to use them for the benefit of others.

Christians are distressed only by the falsehood that denies or distorts true meaning and value. Christians have been “ransomed as the first fruits of humanity.... On their lips no deceit has been found.” Having “become Christ” we ask to see with his eyes, think with his thoughts, speak with his words, and act as his body on earth. Jesus promised that if we “abide in his word,” we will “truly be his disciples”: we will “know the truth, and the truth will make us free.” We just have to live in constant awareness of the mystery revealed in his word. (See John 8:31-36.)

Our distress at falsehood is balanced by our assurance that one day everything will be brought into the light. Jesus, the Word of God, will establish the Truth of God in every mind and heart. Then all will be one in the One.

Initiative: Look forward to the “judgment,” the “separation” of light from dark.

Reflections brought to you by the Immersed in Christ Ministry

www.ImmersedinChrist.org