days end june 2006

 

clouds 2006

 

sunset

 

June 26 2006

2 Kgs 17:5-8, 13-15a, 18 Shalmaneser, king of Assyria, occupied the whole land and attacked Samaria, which he besieged for three years. In the ninth year of Hoshea, king of Israel the king of Assyria took Samaria,and deported the children of Israel to Assyria, setting them in Halah, at the Habor, a river of Gozan, and the cities of the Medes. This came about because the children of Israel sinned against the LORD, their God, who had brought them up from the land of Egypt, from under the domination of Pharaoh, king of Egypt,and because they venerated other gods. They followed the rites of the nations whom the LORD had cleared out of the way of the children of Israel and the kings of Israel whom they set up. And though the LORD warned Israel and Judah by every prophet and seer, “Give up your evil ways and keep my commandments and statutes, in accordance with the entire law which I enjoined on your fathers and which I sent you by my servants the prophets,” they did not listen, but were as stiff-necked as their fathers, who had not believed in the LORD, their God. They rejected his statutes,the covenant which he had made with their fathers, and the warnings which he had given them, till, in his great anger against Israel, the LORD put them away out of his sight. Only the tribe of Judah was left.

Ps 60:3, 4-5, 12-13 R. (7b) Help us with your right hand, O Lord, and answer us.
O God, you have rejected us and broken our defenses; you have been angry; rally us!
R. Help us with your right hand, O Lord, and answer us.
You have rocked the country and split it open; repair the cracks in it, for it is tottering. You have made your people feel hardships; you have given us stupefying wine.
R. Help us with your right hand, O Lord, and answer us.
Have not you, O God, rejected us, so that you go not forth, O God, with our armies? Give us aid against the foe, for worthless is the help of men.
R. Help us with your right hand, O Lord, and answer us.

2 Cor 5:14-17 Brothers and sisters: The love of Christ impels us,once we have come to the conviction that one died for all;
therefore, all have died. He indeed died for all, so that those who live might no longer live for themselves
but for him who for their sake died and was raised. Consequently, from now on we regard no one according to the flesh;
even if we once knew Christ according to the flesh, yet now we know him so no longer. So whoever is in Christ is a new creation: the old things have passed away; behold, new things have come.

Mt 7:1-5 Jesus said to his disciples: “Stop judging, that you may not be judged. For as you judge, so will you be judged, and the measure with which you measure will be measured out to you. Why do you notice the splinter in your brother’s eye, but do not perceive the wooden beam in your own eye? How can you say to your brother, ‘Let me remove that splinter from your eye,’ while the wooden beam is in your eye? You hypocrite, remove the wooden beam from your eye first; then you will see clearly to remove the splinter from your brother’s eye.”

This Gospel reading is often quoted by people who funny as it seems use it to be critical of another person for acting in a way that they think is judgmental. It is a silly and sad part of human nature that somehow it is such an easy thing to see what another person should do. It is not so simple to look in the mirror and see what I can do. I am the only person that can really change myself.

I must stop and pull back throughout the day and reflect on acts and conversations and listen to my heart to see when I have slipped into this foolish way of living that is not God's way of love. It is a constant process of learning and relearning to look to myself and tend to my ways first. To give advice is something that I avoid. I would rather discuss the sides and options of a matter with a person but not suggest what their decision should be. There is so much of who a person is that is known by God and that person and I feel that what I see is only the "tip of the iceberg" I respect and reverence the God in others.

Sunset June 2006

 

sunset june 2006

 

evening june 2006

 

taken june 2006

 

June 25 2006

Jb 38:1, 8-11 The Lord addressed Job out of the storm and said: Who shut within doors the sea, when it burst forth from the womb; when I made the clouds its garment and thick darkness its swaddling bands?When I set limits for it and fastened the bar of its door, and said: Thus far shall you come but no farther, and here shall your proud waves be stilled!

Ps 107:23-24, 25-26, 28-29, 30-31
R. (1b) Give thanks to the Lord, his love is everlasting.
They who sailed the sea in ships,trading on the deep waters, These saw the works of the LORD and his wonders in the abyss.
R. Give thanks to the Lord, his love is everlasting.
His command raised up a storm wind which tossed its waves on high. They mounted up to heaven; they sank to the depths; their hearts melted away in their plight.
R. Give thanks to the Lord, his love is everlasting.
They cried to the LORD in their distress; from their straits he rescued them, He hushed the storm to a gentle breeze, and the billows of the sea were stilled.
R. Give thanks to the Lord, his love is everlasting.
They rejoiced that they were calmed,and he brought them to their desired haven.Let them give thanks to the LORD for his kindness and his wondrous deeds to the children of men.
R. Give thanks to the Lord, his love is everlasting.


2 Cor 5:14-17 Brothers and sisters: The love of Christ impels us, once we have come to the conviction that one died for all; therefore, all have died. He indeed died for all, so that those who live might no longer live for themselvesbut for him who for their sake died and was raised. Consequently, from now on we regard no one according to the flesh; even if we once knew Christ according to the flesh, yet now we know him so no longer. So whoever is in Christ is a new creation: the old things have passed away; behold, new things have come.

Mk 4:35-41 On that day, as evening drew on, Jesus said to his disciples: “Let us cross to the other side.” Leaving the crowd, they took Jesus with them in the boat just as he was. And other boats were with him. A violent squall came up and waves were breaking over the boat, so that it was already filling up. Jesus was in the stern, asleep on a cushion. They woke him and said to him,“Teacher, do you not care that we are perishing?” He woke up, rebuked the wind, and said to the sea, “Quiet! Be still!” The wind ceased and there was great calm. Then he asked them, “Why are you terrified? Do you not yet have faith?” They were filled with great awe and said to one another,“Who then is this whom even wind and sea obey?”

The storm scared the disciples. They had forgotten of the powers that Jesus had. When he calms the wind and sea they realize that is not merely human but truly divine in a special way. They wonder how can this be, what is this, but they do not doubt the divinity in their presence after the might sign of the wind and seas being calmed. There is an inner calm that comes with knowing through faith that Jesus will be there beside me through any trial or storm that can arise. Although it may seem that Jesus is "asleep at the wheel" the Lord is ever loving and watchful.

Psalm 107 tells of the storms being stilled by the Lord. The Lord is comforting and protecting. It continues to amaze me and reaffirm my faith that the psalms are so intertwined with the Gospel and fortell that which came later.

In the first reading God is talking to Job about when God created the seas. It is a wonder and an amazement. There are parts of the book of Job that are poetic and awesome in the description of God the creator. God is so revealed to a simple, humble man, Job. Job had incredible faith in the face of adversity. In the face of those who knew him telling him to forget his faith to give up leave behind his thoughts of loyalty to God and belief that God will save him. I find Job an inspiration. There may be floods, diseases, loses of loved ones, things like boils that set me apart from others but my faith is something that no one or thing can take from me. It is the greatest gift of my life. It is my very life.