Lenten readings for Sunday March 31st (plus some thoughts on our Lenten discussions!)

HI Ladies!

I know that we will not be meeting this week, however, I didn't want to break the flow of truly incredible pearls connecting, linking, deepening the messages coming through our studies on the Sunday Readings of Lent. They not only seem to be building one upon another, but also, amazingly, they seem to be building upon--and reinforcing!--all of the things we have been delving into about "Learning to Walk In Absolute Trust with The HolySpirit...No Matter What!"! Thank You, HolySpirit!  

So, let's talk about it! What have you been thinking as you've contemplated the readings each week? Is there a link...a connection you are beginning to see--from one week to the next? A thread leading back to something we learned or discussed in class?  

For me, I guess I was pretty amazed when the readings from the first Sunday in Lent reminded me to REMEMBER (especially since I was about to enter the throes of those last few weeks of all-consuming, sleep-stealing, life/mind/soul-overtaking musical preparation and anxieties!): 

(http://usccb.org/bible/readings/031019.cfm)

Through the readings, I was exhorted to...remember!... remember who He is in my life, who I am IN Him, who He is/has been/always will be for each one of us IN and THROUGH HIM AND in/through/for each other, no matter the circumstance or the issue at hand. But what struck me the most was how the Gospel reading taught me that, in my deepest trials and fight against temptation (i.e. most often by putting something or someone other than GOD in the throne room of my heart!), I can speak the word of God (and the WORDS of God)--not necessarily to "engage the enemy"--but rather to remind myself in my own voice, GOD's own words of TRUTH--untwisted, undistorted, fully intentioned as God intended and fully revealing "aletheia"...GOD's reality and GOD's "unconcealed TRUTH"!

I was reminded to KNOW God's word, so that I can speak them--powerful and effectual in and for all circumstances.  BUT! I must KNOW Him first in order to be able to recognize and know His voice and words...and then be able to speak them TRULY and in TRUTH...no matter the circumstances!  Yet another reminder for me to stay close to Him and to spend time in His word--especially in my "busiest" seasons!

The second Sunday of Lent reminded me of how, when we DO spend time with and in Him, that we ARE transformed:  

http://usccb.org/bible/readings/031719.cfm

We are empowered by GOD to move from "I believe" to "I KNOW!!"  Something happens, like with Abram looking at the daytime sky for stars he can't see but KNOWS beyond a doubt are still there, like with Peter, James and John when they heard and saw--and finally KNEW beyond a doubt--the fulfillment of the Law and the Prophets in Jesus the Christ at the transfiguration... Something happens within us...a light, a transformation, a paradigm-shifting, life-changing, hope-restoring, down-on-my-knees-in-eucharisteo redemption that inevitably drives (and occasionally hurls!) us from "i believe" and into "I KNOW"...no matter how dire or despairing the situation.  Totally HolySpirit-driven, HolySpirit-given, absolutely, HolySpirit-indwelling. And again, it's a direct result of ever-growing intimacy, knowledge and TRUST in the God we say we follow.  How well DO I know this God that I proclaim...? When in the face of darkness and opposition...who do I truly have sitting upon the throne in my heart...? DO I know that I know that I know WHO is (or who is NOT) directing my thoughts and my actions, my fears and my faith?  My actions and my words will reveal it.

"...for it is out of the abundance of the heart that the mouth speaks." (Luke 6:45)

The LORD is my light and my salvation;
whom should I fear?
The LORD is my life’s refuge;
of whom should I be afraid? (Ps 27:1 from the second reading of the second Sunday of Lent)

...Do I really KNOW...?

And then, the beautiful readings of the third Sunday of Lent:

http://usccb.org/bible/readings/032419-yearc.cfm

God calls to me--even when I don't know Him, even when I don't hear Him, even when I am otherwise occupied. He uses all of nature, all of creation, all of my situations and circumstances, and even some unusual special effects to catch my attention! He KNOWS that I am created to respond to His love and His life, made to respond to His light--even if in the form of a burning bush!  DO I see them? Do I recognize them? Am i even looking...?

And the second chances...given compassionately, mercifully, grace-filled for every moment I dismiss His call, His presence, His work. But my life is but a fleeting time and God knows that every moment I spend outside of Him is potential for eternity spent devoid of His provision of love and life abundant!  He knows that my perspective needs re-alignment!

And so, He continues to pursue and call and urge and send His burning bushes.  He continues to send fellow journeymen (and sometimes, in so many wonderful cases, Red Tent Sisters!) to help cultivate my soil, to help me grow and bear fruit...especially through times of spiritual drought and horrible unrelenting hail storms. He sends me Himself--in the form of every one of the "others" around me--to give me the second chances that will empower me to bear the fruit of my existence--to realize the God-given state of grace and opportunity in ALL forms and circumstances!

Sin => hamartia => "missing the mark" as in an archer misaligned from his target.

Repentance => metanoia => "metamorphosis" as in a caterpillar transforming into an amazing butterfly

As Fr Slawomir said in his sermon this Sunday: "We are ALL sinners. No one greater or lesser than the other. Comparison to one another only leads to self-arrogance...or loss of faith!  We can only approach God--each one of us--as the sinners each one of us truly are.  And only in that way, can we find HOPE."  For me, it's that HOPE of full transformation with and in the God who dwells so powerfully within me--who became one of us SO THAT I could have the choice to partake of His life...or not.

And so, in three weeks of readings, we have gone from "remembering" to "the transformation of Knowing" and then to "hearing His call and walking in the gift of repentance/transformation NOW...not later, not eventually, but NOW". 

(ok I am reminded by this past Sunday's readings of a bumper sticker from the 90's that read: "If you are waiting for the 11th hour to repent, what happens if you die at 10:59?" hah)

So! Can't wait to see where the next set of readings brings us! 

Here they are:

Reading 1, Joshua 5:9, 10-12

Responsorial Psalm, Psalms 34:2-3, 4-5, 6-7
Gospel, Luke 15:1-3, 11-32
Reading 2, Second Corinthians 5:17-21

http://www.usccb.org/bible/readings/033119-yearc.cfm

Please write in your thoughts, ladies! However short or long, just start a new POST or add your comment to this one.  Let's keep our contemplation and Lenten reflections upfront and center no matter where we are this week!

love to everyone
maggie

My thoughts on readings for 24th

What stood out to me.....

In the first reading, God  did not call out to Moses until Moses showed interest in the burning bush. And when God called him it was with exclamation points....Moses! Moses! To me, God  was so excited and happy Moses showed interest in him. I'm very thankful for this different perspective....because it's true for me too, God gets so excited when I show interest in Him. Maggie said something in class that helped as well....God is always there....it's not that He waits until we call and then shows up. I like that because I do feel like I had that kind of outlook on it. It feels a lot better to know He's always with me even if I'm not giving Him my full attention.

Then when God asked Moses to take off his sandals I felt it was because God wanted to be as close to him as possible....God wanted no barriers between them. I believe Maggie made note of this as well in class. I am thankful for this change in perspective because it's true for me too....God wants no barriers between us.

In the Gospel, I liked how Jesus asked....do you think these people suffered because they sinned, by no means (I'm summarizing)....in other words they weren't suffering as punishment. If I do not repent though....if I am not truly sorry for my sins, then my soul/spirit will perish. God does not want my soul to exist in such a state....that would be true suffering. I am thankful for this change in perspective because there have been times when I believed my sufferings were punishment for my sins. There were times when I was afraid to be fully sorry for my sins because I felt if I fully admitted to them or took full responsibility for them, what punishment would I receive....I was afraid of the consequences....what would God make me go through as punishment? But if I don't confess and repent, the consequences of holding onto it  are far worse....Jesus said so, I would perish. Hope that makes sense.

I really like the parable of the fig tree.....if I do not repent I suffer and I do not produce good fruit and I can exhaust the soil. There are so many ways I can exhaust the soil...by complaining, by holding onto anger and unforgiveness, by judging and condemning, by being jealous, vanity, fear, worry doubt.....I don't want to be someone who exhausts the soil in the garden of my own heart or in the Body of the Church. I want to have rich, dark, healthy soil filled with good nutrients so that my roots into Jesus can go deep and so that I can bear good, healing fruit. I want to be part of the solution. I want to do what I can to make things better for the healing of all of Gods Creation. Sometimes I get so anxious about it....that I'm not doing enough or doing the right thing enough. I get upset when I feel I missed an opportunity to be better. Something else Maggie said that was helpful was that repentance is a metamorphosis and a gift of the Holy Spirit, it's not something I can do on my own. I do feel like I'm trying too hard or forcing things too much. So I'm trying to relax and trust the process and cooperate as best I can.

When I recognize I'm exhausting the soil or when I can feel the barriers in my spirit, I talk to Jesus about it and I pray love and Blessings over them in the hopes of transforming them into good things, like love, understanding, thankfulness, forgiveness, patience, mercy, joy, peace, compassion.....that's my part in the process, I believe....then I need to let Jesus and the Holy Spirit take it from there.

Thanks for listening/reading.
Love and Hugs,
Carol Ann

Readings for Sunday March 24, 2019

Hi Ladies!!
Again--I apologize for the lateness of this message (the musical was this weekend and it totally took over my life!).  Anyway, here are the readings for Sunday March 24, 2019, CYCLE C:

First Reading: Exodus 3:1-8, 13-15
Responsorial Psalm: Psalms 103:1-2, 3-4, 6-7, 8, 11
Second Reading: First Corinthians 10:1-6, 10-12
Gospel: Luke 13:1-9

If you are looking through the USCCB site for the link to the readings, be sure to choose "cycle C" (not sure why they had the choice of "A" or "C" for that Sunday):

http://www.usccb.org/bible/readings/032419-yearc.cfm

ok, as usual, PLEASE try to read them as well in your own bible --to get a feel for context and situation for deeper understanding of what's actually happening in these verses. If you can, read the verses before and after (and even fill in the in-between verses that are skipped in the lectionary), so that you can better know the context and intent of the readings.

Questions to ask ourselves as we are reading:

-What is the key concept/message of the day?

-How does the Gospel reading tie into that concept/message...ie. what could God be revealing to us about Christ...about the Father...about our relationship with and in Him...about WHO He is to and for us?

-How does this concept strengthen what we have already learned this past year about: Fear? Trust? Hope? Joy? Truth?

-And then, perhaps most importantly, What is the key message/pearl that the Holy Spirit desires to speak into me and my situation(s) through these verses? 

Just a heads' up for this Sunday's upcoming readings--these are some of the more difficult passages to read and understand. If we are not careful, they can easily lead us into a sense of impending inevitable doom without hope, and true despair in our well-deserved condemnation and judgment of our sin-filled state. So!! Our challenge over this week is to find the "hope" that the HolySpirit is trying to pour into us--through the Old Testament story of God's first introduction of His Name to His people, through Paul's exhortation in his epistle to the Corinthians, and finally, through Jesus' parable in the Gospel reading about the fig tree.

Think about it--pray constantly--and let's hear what the HolySpirit desires to speak into us!

Hope to see everyone on Wednesday!

love

maggie (and Lorraine)

TRUTH, one little five
letter word. But wow the importance of TRUTH is almost overpowering. Just what is TRUTH? The dictionary definition is: the quality or state of being true. But what does true mean? Going back to the dictionary we find that it means that which is in accordance with fact or reality.

In our society today finding truth can be difficult. He said, She said, They said. We can go around and around with this. Ah the folly and foolishness of man. There was even a quiz show on TV called "Truth or Consequence". That came pretty close. But the best place to turn to is the Bible. In fact, one of the synonyms for TRUTH is GOSPEL! The Bible is the one place to turn to to find and understand TRUTH.

In Numbers 23:19, we are told " God is not like man so that He would lie nor is He like the son of man, son of man so that he would be changed, Therefore, having spoken, will He not act. Had He ever spoken and not fulfilled?"

The Gospel (remember that Gospel is a synonym for Truth) is the teaching of Christ. In the Bible we are given a different explanation, JESUS is TRUTH.
Psalm 15:2-3 "The one whose walk is blameless, who speaks the truth from the heart, whose tongue utters no slander,who does no slur on others."

If we do what is written above, we will be walking in the footsteps of Jesus. We will  be walking in TRUTH.

1 John 3:18 " Dear children let us not love with words or speech but with actions and TRUTH." This reminds me of the old saying " Actions speak louder then words"! People say one thing but do something else. Action speaks the TRUTH. These words remind me that we are to walk in fellowship with Jesus Christ and other believers. We are to worship together in fellowship, not in isolation.

1 John 1:6 " If we claim to have fellowship with Him and yet walk in the darkness. We lie and do not live out the truth."

TRUTH is God and God's love for us. "I AM WITH YOU" these four words are like a safety net, protecting us from falling into despair.

In Hebrew FIDELITY
 and TRUTH are the same word. It is similar to AMEN which means "It is so". Ever time we utter the word AMEN we are say that it is the truth.

We are humans and by that definition fallible. We have ups and downs. Sometimes we can feel like we are in a freefall! People and things can and do let us down. God's TRUTH, His promise "I AM WITH YOU" brings everything into prospective. God will hold you by your hand. God will guide you  with counsel. God wants us to be filled with His Presence. We need to pray continuously. Ask and you will receive. In all things give thanks unto the Lord, for His Love is everlasting.

John 14:6 " Jesus answered, ' I am the way and the TRUTH and the life. No one comes to the Father  except through Me".

Week ONE discussion on TRUTH

HI ladies!

Just wanted to write out the verses and a brief summary of our wonderful class session on Truth from this week.  Unfortunately, I found myself getting so caught up in the discussion that I often forgot to take notes! SO! If I missed your verse--or if you have another verse or any more thoughts to add--please write a comment, or even start a new POST and share with us! 

We talked about how the concept of Truth was so, well...huge. And that it actually took a few weeks of mulling over and even discussing with others about where to even start thinking about Truth.  We talked about how, as Fr Slawomir so beautifully counseled Lorraine, in order to even begin considering the depths and enormity of something like Truth, we should first step back and "approach it like a child"...simply, basically, in small bites and with small steps! (How beautiful is that!)

So basically, we started with not only What is MY Truth...but more importantly, WHO is my Truth? Who DO I believe in? Who (or what!) do I place my trust--my thoughts, my passions, my decisions, my joy, my LIFE--in?  and, as Lorraine found herself wanting to refine and define for herself:  If God is my Truth, then WHO is God?  and more specifically...Who IS God--to me???

I love how this led her into delving into the Names of God as He revealed Himself, slowly, surely, personally and intimately to His people (and us!!) throughout His-Story in Scripture (get it? "history"..."His story" with/for/through/in us in Scripture!)... and even more so now, in our everyday moments.  With every "trial" and every circumstance: Who is God trying to be for me that He couldn't be for me until now...through this...in this? and bringing it round to "Truth"--what is the TRUTH in this particular situation? IN which direction does my perspective lay? Am I hovering along the darkened borders of judgment and flesh-based fear, resentment, pride/arrogance, unforgiveness and condemnation...or am I standing squarely in the revealing-for-healing light of GOD's perspective and upon the confidence of GOD's reality of compassion, love, mercy and effectual power to move and heal in His Kingdom? Where AM I standing, right now??  wow...selah on that for a moment, ladies!

We talked about how knowing THE Truth for and in any given situation gives us that divine ability to walk fearlessly, confidently, steadfastly, unshaken and, more importantly, unshakeable even in the face of great adversity and opposition.  God's perspective allows us to stand in the storms and through the storms always readying ourselves with CLEAR discernment for the opportunity to act (and not just react), to speak (or not speak), to battle (or to be ready and await God's timing--kairos time), to grow and learn and strengthen and heal.  To be able to speak AMEN--which in Hebrew means..."verily"="TRUTH"! (Think about that whenever we utter "amen" at the end of our prayers!)

What IS the voice of Truth in our heads, on our lips, in our hearts right now, ladies? 

Voice of Truth

Casting Crowns

Oh what I would do to have
The kind of faith it takes to climb out of this boat I'm in
Onto the crashing waves

To step out of my comfort zone
To the realm of the unknown where Jesus is
And He's holding out His hand

But the waves are calling out my name and they laugh at me
Reminding me of all the times I've tried before and failed
The waves they keep on telling me
Time and time again, "Boy, you'll never win!"
"You'll never win"

But the Voice of Truth tells me a different story
And the Voice of Truth says, "Do not be afraid!"
And the Voice of Truth says, "This is for My glory"
Out of all the voices calling out to me
I will choose to listen and believe the Voice of Truth

Oh what I would do to have
The kind of strength it takes to stand before a giant
With just a sling and a stone
Surrounded by the sound of a thousand warriors
Shaking in their armor
Wishing they'd have had the strength to stand

But the giant's calling out my name and he laughs at me
Reminding me of all the times I've tried before and failed
The giant keeps on telling me
Time and time again, "Boy, you'll never win!"
"You'll never win"

But the Voice of Truth tells me a different story
And the Voice of Truth says, "Do not be afraid!"
And the Voice of Truth says, "This is for My glory"
Out of all the voices calling out to me
I will choose to listen and believe the Voice of Truth

But the stone was just the right size
To put the giant on the ground
And the waves they don't seem so high
From on top of them looking down
I will soar with the wings of eagles
When I stop and listen to the sound of Jesus
Singing over me

But the Voice of Truth tells me a different story
And the Voice of Truth says, "Do not be afraid!"
And the Voice of Truth says, "This is for My glory"
Out of all the voices calling out to me
I will choose to listen and believe
I will choose to listen and believe the Voice of Truth

Because Jesus you are the Voice of Truth
And I will listen to you
You are...

The Voice of Truth

Ok, so, here are the verses that I jot down in my journal from class.  Please look them up in your bibles--transcribe the FULL verses down with your own hands into your journals or onto your word documents in your computer (don't just cut and paste!!) Give your mind, hands and heart a chance to mull over the rhema the HolySpirit so desires to speak into your every moment and every situation through His Word! 

Here we go:

Ephesians 6:14
John 1:17
John 4:24
John 8:32
John 14:6
John 14:15-17
John 15:26-27
1 John 1:6-7
1 John 3:18
Ecclesiastes 3:1-9, then 10-11

Ok--that's it for now! I will send out instructions for our Lenten "Study" in a separate email.  PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE consider adding your thoughts on Truth to this post--add a comment or start your own new one! We have many members who can only join us by blog and eagerly await the sharing and discussion at home.

love
maggie