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From the Gospel of Matthew 24:37-44. At sixty years of age, Maria and Paul had a beautiful life. High school sweethearts, they had four children, five grandchildren, a successful business, good friends and a fabulous beach house. They felt very blessed. Their strong faith in God saw them through some difficult challenges. Without warning, Paul died suddenly. Maria was devastated. Why did God do this? Why did God allow this to happen? An indescribable depth of sadness weighed heavily upon her heart. She felt betrayed by the God she thought was looking out for her. She was overwhelmed by despair. Have you ever experienced such incredible and deafening sadness? Where is God in all of the pain?

From the Gospel of Matthew 24:37-44. We can embrace and relish each moment of our lives as a sacred sacrament or nonchalantly and robotically attend to what life presents. We have our feet in two worlds. One is holy and sacred, and the other is profane and secular. Which one has the greater claim on us? To what do we devote most of our energy? We can easily be consumed with the particular demands and essentials of daily life: family, work, obligations, and the like, that we don’t really notice anything more than what is right before us. We become masters at “doing” and neglect our need to “savor.” Jesus reminds his friends that “as it was in the days of Noah, so it will be at the coming of the Son of Man. In those days before the flood, they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, up to the day Noah entered the ark. They did not know until the flood came and carried them all away.”

From the Gospel of Luke 23:35-43. It’s not unreasonable to think that if God wanted to make a statement he could do so in a very dramatic way. After all, he spoke through a burning bush that didn’t actually burn, parted the Red Sea, sent manna to the Israelites from the sky, cured lepers, healed the sick and cast out demons. All of that is pretty dramatic stuff, and they made statements! Now, Jesus hangs dying on a cross. He has been referred to as a king. Considering all of the miracles Jesus did in his short time on earth, isn’t one more in order? If Jesus came down off of the cross, defied death, and parted the waters of suffering and death, onlookers, believers and unbelievers alike, would take notice. It would prove who God is and show us what God wants us to do. Or would it?

From the Gospel of Luke 21:5-19. Many make it their life’s ambition to determine precisely when the world will end. By reading the signs of the times, consulting scripture, or looking to prophetic predictions that are sometimes centuries old, they claim a certain credibility in being able to do so. Is all that necessary to know? Even when his disciples pointedly ask him this question, Jesus does not directly answer. While the end will inevitably come, Jesus points out that there is a lot we need to do first: remain faithful, face persecution, endure suffering, face wars and insurrections, and give testimony. Human beings tend to focus their energies on the wrong kingdom. Consumed with all of the things we have built and seeking to preserve them, we forget that we belong to a different kingdom, the Kingdom of God.

From the Gospel of Luke 20:27-38. Facing her 50th birthday and recently diagnosed with Type
2 Diabetes, Rebecca was at a crossroads. Realizing that she had neglected her health and fitness over the years and allowed herself to gain significant weight, she felt poorly about who she had become. While it was easier to give in to temptation and the gratification received from food, her family needed her, and she desired a long life. She had an image of the person she could become. She wanted to be more trim, focused, disciplined, and healthy. She liked what she saw in her mind and set out on a journey to create it. With great effort, she succeeded and accomplished her goals. When we have a goal ahead of us, we are more apt to do whatever is necessary to get it.

From the Gospel of Luke 19:1-10. Barry had a life sentence in prison for doing unthinkable crimes. He would often remark to the chaplain that he was an atheist and could not bring himself to believe in any “god.” When the chaplain asked why, Barry quickly retorted that the book of Genesis speaks of God creating everything and feeling very good about it. God’s creation of people and things is beautiful. Barry continued, “If there is a God who creates something and likes what He makes and that God is good, then how could He have created someone as evil as me?” The chaplain fell silent as tears welled up in his eyes. “God loves you too, Barry. The stuff that you did is another matter. God puts His image and likeness in each one of us, in our souls. How can God not love himself?” God cannot despise or hate anything or anyone. He made you. Life hurt you. He is always about unconditional love and mercy. Barry found a glimmer of hope that day and was touched by love.

From the Gospel of Luke 18:9-14. There is a thing called “false piety.” It is when we wear a religious disguise of devotion, attend to our obligations, and outwardly abide by rules while being inwardly unkind, uncharitable, and exclusive. Wearing the right clothes, saying the proper prayers, being in sacred places, and reading devotional books, those exhibiting false piety craftily try to control others using the pretense of love. The Pharisees, consistently criticized by Jesus, are prime examples. Thinking they are superior to others, they foolishly believe they are better positioned with God and more worthy of God’s attention. Forming an exclusive “club,” they divide things between “mine” and “yours” and “us” and “them.” They quickly criticize and point out flaws and errors in rituals and thinking. Conformity becomes the first commandment and control is the game’s name.

From the Gospel of Luke 18:1-8. Brendan wouldn’t stop. He continued nagging his mom to let him have a little more time with his phone. He knew the rules but wanted to finish a game and text a few more friends. He begged, had a temper tantrum, pleaded, screamed, pouted, and used every means he could think of t o get Mom to change her mind. Mom had a busy day and was tired. At first, she held her ground. Then, her son’s persistence got the best of her, and she caved. “Brendan, you can have 30 more minutes and no more!” she retorted. Brendan’s determination paid off. He won. 

From the Gospel of Luke 17:11-19. Ten lepers were cured. Only one returned to give thanks. When we fall victim to entitlement, we diminish our capacity to love. Never satisfied, we walk around with outstretched arms, eagerly searching for the next thing we want so that we can acquire it ourselves. Very rarely do entitled hands hold anything to freely give away to others. Entitled hands also find it challenging to reach toward heaven in a gesture of gratitude and praise. We are often more obsessed with celebrating our victories, securing our assets, safeguarding our futures, and stacking the deck of life in our favor rather than relishing and absorbing the gift of the moment and blessings received.

From the Gospel of Luke 17:5-10. As adults, unless we are dealing with children, “obedience” is not a word we typically like to hear. It often brings connotations of military protocols, deference to superiors at work, or conforming to laws and practices. In a culture that has learned to challenge authority, being obedient is understood more as something I “have” to do, not “want” to do. Do you ever see merit in wanting to be obedient? Encouraged to develop independent, self-sufficient egos and personas, we learn to focus on our own wills and merits as we strive for success and achieve a sense of well-being. Giving ourselves over to the will of another, especially when done blindly, can sometimes carry more risk than we are willing to take. Also, blindly following orders without any deference to ethics or morality can lead to atrocious crimes and violence against humanity.