Garden Delight Aug 27 2006

 

lake jovita taken june 2006

 

aug 27 2006

Jos 24:1-2a, 15-17, 18b Joshua gathered together all the tribes of Israel at Shechem, summoning their elders, their leaders, their judges, and their officers. When they stood in ranks before God, Joshua addressed all the people: “If it does not please you to serve the LORD, decide today whom you will serve, the gods your fathers served beyond the River or the gods of the Amorites in whose country you are now dwelling. As for me and my household, we will serve the LORD.” But the people answered, “Far be it from us to forsake the LORD for the service of other gods. For it was the LORD, our God, who brought us and our fathers up out of the land of Egypt,out of a state of slavery. He performed those great miracles before our very eyes and protected us along our entire journey and among the peoples through whom we passed. Therefore we also will serve the LORD, for he is our God.”

Ps 34:2-3, 16-17, 18-19, 20-21 R. (9a) Taste and see the goodness of the Lord.
I will bless the LORD at all times;his praise shall be ever in my mouth. Let my soul glory in the LORD; the lowly will hear me and be glad.
R. Taste and see the goodness of the Lord.
The LORD has eyes for the just,and ears for their cry. The LORD confronts the evildoers,to destroy remembrance of them from the earth.
R. Taste and see the goodness of the Lord.
When the just cry out, the LORD hears them, and from all their distress he rescues them. The LORD is close to the brokenhearted; and those who are crushed in spirit he saves.
R. Taste and see the goodness of the Lord.
Many are the troubles of the just one, but out of them all the LORD delivers him; he watches over all his bones; not one of them shall be broken.
R. Taste and see the goodness of the Lord.

Eph 5:21-32 or 5:2a, 25-32 Brothers and sisters: Be subordinate to one another out of reverence for Christ. Wives should be subordinate to their husbands as to the Lord. For the husband is head of his wife just as Christ is head of the church, he himself the savior of the body. As the church is subordinate to Christ, so wives should be subordinate to their husbands in everything. Husbands, love your wives, even as Christ loved the church and handed himself over for her to sanctify her, cleansing her by the bath of water with the word,that he might present to himself the church in splendor,without spot or wrinkle or any such thing,that she might be holy and without blemish. So also husbands should love their wives as their own bodies. He who loves his wife loves himself. For no one hates his own fleshbut rather nourishes and cherishes it, even as Christ does the church, because we are members of his body. For this reason a man shall leave his father and his mother and be joined to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh. This is a great mystery, but I speak in reference to Christ and the church.orBrothers and sisters: Live in love, as Christ loved us. Husbands, love your wives, even as Christ loved the church and handed himself over for her to sanctify her, cleansing her by the bath of water with the word, that he might present to himself the church in splendor, without spot or wrinkle or any such thing, that she might be holy and without blemish. So also husbands should love their wives as their own bodies. He who loves his wife loves himself. For no one hates his own flesh but rather nourishes and cherishes it, even as Christ does the church, because we are members of his body. For this reason a man shall leave his father and his mother and be joined to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh. This is a great mystery, but I speak in reference to Christ and the church.

Jn 6:60-69 Many of Jesus’disciples who were listening said,“This saying is hard; who can accept it?” Since Jesus knew that his disciples were murmuring about this, he said to them, “Does this shock you?What if you were to see the Son of Man ascending to where he was before? It is the spirit that gives life,while the flesh is of no avail. The words I have spoken to you are Spirit and life. But there are some of you who do not believe.” Jesus knew from the beginning the ones who would not believe and the one who would betray him. And he said,“For this reason I have told you that no one can come to me unless it is granted him by my Father.” As a result of this, many of his disciples returned to their former way of life and no longer accompanied him. Jesus then said to the Twelve, “Do you also want to leave?” Simon Peter answered him, “Master, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life. We have come to believe and are convinced that you are the Holy One of God.”

No one comes to me unless the Father beacons. Many are called but the path is narrow and few answer. God gives us a free will to respond. The divinity in Jesus gives him the ability to see who will answer God's call and who will betray him. Jesus is the model of love. He continued to love and share with those he knew would later betray him. The words of Jesus are spirit and life. God is present now today in the Word made flesh the Scriptures that share the divine presence.

Simon Peter, in the gospel today, answers with loyalty to Jesus when Jesus asks the Twelve if they want to leave him. Peter again acknowledges that he sees the divine in Jesus. Peter gives me hope for my vocation. He is impulsive, he makes mistakes but he hangs onto his rock, the recognition of the divinity of Jesus and his path as an apostle and witness to the path and ways of God.

It is at times a struggle to follow Jesus in daily living and for me the acts and heart of faith are at the core and show my true heart. It is at the same time a great joy and blessing and a cycle of daily returning to the Lord in all thoughts, acts and feelings. It is a turning over of all that I am, a giving totally to a life in Christ revealed daily in the Word that gives the path, the way, the strength to live as a member of the Church, the living Body of Christ.

The first reading is a reminder of the salvation of God's people. My life is not my own, I have been saved by the Lord and in a daily gratitude of that live letting go of my false self of petty pride, needs and wants and open to the true self of love of all people and love of God in my heart, mind, body and acts of each day

I pray especially today for the presence of faith to put aside any distractions that might keep me from the path of God's will in all that I do today.