Birds, Birds, Birds

Posted on March 6, 2013 by pat

c. J. P. Mahon, 2013

Deuteronomy exhorts the people to observe God’s law which is a just law. Even other nations know how just and commendable is God’s law for the Israelites. Jesus reassures us that he has come to fulfill the law.

Jesus also says that he has come to liberate us, to set us free. Law represents first half of life stuff. Law enables us to build foundations from which we can later take flight. Maybe this is what Augustine means when he says, “Love God and do what you will.” This is not an invitation to dissolute living. Rather, it is recognition of the fact that a firm foundation for moral choice is in place and love is the primary motivator.

Having done due allegiance to the scripture readings for today, I want to go off on a tangent. Yesterday we drove down to the Viera Wetlands. The wetlands consist in settling ponds around a sewerage treatment plant. The ponds settle the water and provide a wonderful habitat for many of God’s birds and other wildlife. Continue reading →

Forgiveness

Posted on March 5, 2013 by pat

c. J. P. Mahon, 2013

The only theme that ties the reading from Daniel and the Gospel from Matthew is forgiveness. Azariah (Abednego) is the principal prayer in the apocalyptic story in Daniel. The captors changed their Jewish names to Babylonian names, a tactic often use by captors to dehumanize the victims. Apocalyptic stories focus on the present pain and speak hope of delivery in the future. Azariah, amid the flames, prays for forgiveness not only for himself but for all the people held in captivity. Matthew is a stern warning about the consequences of not forgiving. Continue reading →

The Voices of the Prophets

Posted on March 4, 2013 by pat

Hawk
c. J. P. Mahon, 2013

Having read the Old Testament account of the curing of Namaan the Leper, I conclude that God does have a sense of humor and sometimes plays with us human beings. Namaan was not buying the statement that God’s ways were not his ways. He could have washed in the rivers back home and been cured. The fact is that God could have cured him back home but, for some reason God wanted Namaan to make pilgrimage to a special place where the prophet Elisha could teach him to surrender to God’s ways. Pilgrimage is very much a part of any healing journey. The pilgrimage may be across the Camino in Spain or across the desert of one’s own heart. As the Psalmist says, “Athirst is my soul for the living God. When shall I go and behold the face of God?” Continue reading →

The Prodigal Goddess

Posted on March 2, 2013 by pat

Juan Diego and the Imprint the Virgin Left

Luke, reportedly a physician, a healer, weaves the wonderful story of the prodigal son. The son was prodigal in that he wasted his lavish inheritance on a life of dissipation. In this sense, Augustine and Merton, who both led lives of dissipation before turning to God, were prodigals. Returning to God they were lavishly welcomed. The reading from Micah tells us that God will throw away our sins.

Several years ago, reflecting on this grace-filled story, I said it was really a story about the prodigal father. The father was indeed prodigal in this sense. He was lavish in giving when the son returned. Continue reading →

Return of the Mother Goddess

Posted on March 1, 2013 by pat

The Mother Goddess Cares for Creation
c . J. P. Mahon, 2013

We could go just about anywhere with today’s readings. The reading from Genesis is the beginning of a poignant tales about the patriarch Joseph and his family. I picture Joseph as a little nerd who throws his dreams and importance into the faces of his siblings. Of course, he is his father’s favorite and has a bright multi-colored cloak to draw further attention to himself. Enter sibling rivalry and jealousy. The meanest among the brothers want to murder him thus continuing the Cain-Abel pattern—destroy those whom you do not like. Since we will see more of this saga as it unfolds into Egypt, we will leave it at this time.

There are two levels in the parable of the unjust stewards. Obviously, Jesus is warning the Pharisees and other leaders that they will lose their dibs on the kin-dom if they persist in killing prophets—a grim prediction of his own murder at their hands. This is the first and obvious meaning. We always kill the prophets and the poets—as Merton said—because they speak the truth we do not wish to hear. Away with them. They shall not discomfort us. We are comfortable with the status quo in our cozy empire!

Reading Andrew Harvey’s The Return of the Mother and Virgil Elizando’s Guadalupe: Mother of the New Creation, I see another level to the story. In patriarchal societies, we kill the Mother Goddess or, at least, relegate her to inferior status in the divine pantheon. The Continue reading →

A Parable for Today

Posted on February 28, 2013 by pat

Alligators, Brevard Zoo
c. J. P. Mahon, 2013

[As we face yet another showdown over budget priorities, we realize that budgets are moral documents. Here is a parable on the eve of sequestration. Let those who have ears to hear hear!]

Jesus said to the politicians in Washington:
“There were rich and powerful people who dressed in silk suits and fine linen
and they dined sumptuously each day in the Capitol cafeteria and at the finest restaurants in the Washington area.And begging on the steps of the Capitol was a poor man named Lazarus, covered with sores, who would gladly have eaten his fill of the scraps that fell from the rich politicians’ tables. Dogs even used to come and lick his sores.When the poor man died, he was warmly welcomed by St. Peter at heaven’s gate. Continue reading →

Power, Prestige and the Cosmic Christ

Posted on February 27, 2013 by pat

We soar like eagles with the Cosmic Christ
c. J. P. Mahon, 2013

The Jews are plotting against Jeremiah. His message is unsettling to them and he must go. Rather than listen to what he is saying and coming to a deeper understanding they refuse to abandon their comfortable ways. They have hung the Do Not Disturb sign on the Temple.

In the Gospel, we see Jesus preparing the disciples for his journey up to Jerusalem. The authorities are of the same ilk. Jesus is discomforting them and he has to go. Does Jesus turn back? No, like Jeremiah and the prophets before him, he trudges on knowing full well that he is walking into the jaws of death. Continue reading →

Forgiven

Posted on February 27, 2013 by pat

Speaking of scarlet and red
c. J. P. Mahon

God is faithful and merciful and just. Grace means that God blesses us with pure gift. Unlike the Pharisees in today’s Gospel, we know we cannot do enough to earn God’s favor. We already have God’s favor. We are created in the very image and likeness of God. God is the DNA of divine life flowing in us and through us. Continue reading →

Lenten Prayer

Posted on February 26, 2013 by pat

Pelican, Port Canaveral
c. J. P. Mahon, 2013

The reading for the second Monday of Lent was from Daniel 9. Daniel 9 is Daniels’ confessional prayer on behalf of the people. For a detailed discussion of Daniel 9, see http://www.christfaithpower.com/2013/02/19/lets-make-god-look-good/.

Walter Brueggemann in the January Experience took us beyond Daniel 9 to a wonderful confessional prayer in Nehemiah 9. All these prayers show the people of Israel grappling with their relationship to the Lord God. They acknowledge that there is no God but Yahweh. They readily admit that they have sinned and deserved punishment. They understand that they deserve punishment. They also understand that God is merciful and compassionate and will relent in the face of their earnest prayers. The people will amend their errant ways. God will change God’s mind to look good to the nations. It is a roller coaster ride of covenant love, breaking the covenant by sinning, repenting, God relenting and forgiving. It happens over and over again as they grow in their relationship with the Lord God. As I was thinking about Daniel 9 and Nehemiah 9, I realized how this pattern of relationship is so much a part the Twelve Steps of Alcoholics Anonymous. No wonder AA has been so successful for so many. Life is all about the give and take in human and divine relationships. Continue reading →

The Night

Posted on February 24, 2013 by pat

Ponce de Leon Lands in Florida
c. J. P. Mahon, 2103

“When the sun was setting, a deep sleep overcame Abram, and a horror (a terror, a shuddering fear) of great darkness assailed and oppressed him.

When the sun had gone down and a [thick] darkness had come on, behold, a smoking oven and a flaming torch passed between those pieces.

On the same day the Lord made a covenant (promise, pledge) with Abram . . .” Gen 15)

It was night. Abram had a direct encounter with the Lord God in the darkness of the night that oppressed him. It was dark. Darkness implies that there will be a new day, a new beginning. Continue reading →

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