Tag: writing

2 Kings 5:14-17
2 Timothy 2:8-13
Luke 17:11-19

While the first reading is only a small portion of the entire story, the passage in 2 Kings tells us of Naaman and involves many people, including a prophet, 2 kings, a wife and a servant girl. Naaman isn’t a poor beggar or cast off by society, as was often the case for lepers. Before the piece of scripture we have here, Naaman is told by Elisha to wash in the river, but refuses. He’s washed in other rivers with the same promise and hope.

Naaman is an Armenian, a gentile, and yet is still cured by the God of Israel. This story reinforces the understanding that the Lord of Israel is the only God and cares for gentiles as well the Jewish people (2). “The story revolves around people moving from ignorance and misconceptions to full knowledge.” It was common to bring gifts to a prophet, however, Elisha refuses to accept them. This is to drive home his point that the miracle was the Lord’s doing and not His. (3)

Marginalized, the community of lepers includes Jews and Samaritans, two nationalities which were typically enemies. According to Leviticus lepers were to avoid contact with others, but, they relied on others’ charity for survival. It is suggested that they needed to be further than 50 yards, and in some cases, a wall separated them from mainstream community. However, because they call Jesus by name and used the title of “Master,” a title often used by the disciples, they most probably had interactions with him before (2).

After Naaman is cured, Gehazi, Elisha’s servant, lies to Naaman and Elisha in an attempt to gain finical and material rewards. He believes the Lord’s prophets should gain from His power. He is repaid for his infidelity with Naaman’s leprosy (1). While the ten lepers have been restored to their communities, Gehiza becomes an outcast of his own.

According to Barclay, when Paul writes, “Remember Jesus Christ risen from the dead” he is not referring to one definitive moment in time but a continued state of being which lasts forever. More accurately, Paul is saying, “Remember your risen and ever present Lord (4).”

Like Timothy our work includes serving the community, and Jesus reminds us that such work includes brings others into and back into the community. Jesus and Elisha, Naaman and the cured leper remind us that our Lord is sovereign, and is the Lord of all people, regardless of their belief. They remind us we are intended to be members of communities. Jesus’ saving grace allows us to be restored to our communities and society when we are or feel alienated from others. Finally, they exhort us also to welcome with friendship and practical support the disenfranchised and marginalized into our communities.

 

Journal Questions:

• Discuss a situation in which you were told to do something which may have benefitted you, but that you resisted doing. Why? What changed your position? What was the consequence?
• Recall and reflect on a situation where you witnessed the Lord taking care of people or a person who didn’t necessarily believe in Him. Did their attitude change? How did observing this situation deepen your relationship with God?

 

References:
1- The Collegeville Bible Commentary, Old Testament. The Order of St. Benedict, Inc., Collegeville, Minnesota, 1992.
2- New Interpreter’s Bible One Volume Commentary. Abingdon Press, Nashville, Tennessee, 2010.
3- The New Jerome Biblical Commentary. Prentice Hall, Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey, 1990.
4- The Letters to Timothy, Titus and Philemon, Barclay, William. The Daily Study Bible Series, The Westminster Press, Philadelphia, 1975.

 

© 2016 Marilyn MacArthur, all rights reserved

Habakkak 1:2-3; 2:2-4
2 Timothy 1:6-8, 13-14
Luke 17:5-10

All of these readings teach us about faith; the first reading tells us a bit about the work needed and required of us, while the second reading and the gospel tease out some of the nuances. God’s charge to us, whether it be prophecy, ministry or discipleship, is our duty and obligation.

The Lord tells us through Habakkak that it is our duty to speak, to share visions and insights either through writing or speaking. While faith asks us to perform work with our hands, it is our duty to communicate the motivation behind our deeds so that others may come to a deeper faith. This section from Habakkak consists of a double set of questions and laments, each followed by an oracle or reply from God (1). Like Abraham, Moses and the prophets, we are allowed to argue and complain to the Lord openly, however, we must also be willing to hear His reply, and to change our attitudes and behaviors as a consequence of that prayer.

The second reading points out that while God’s work requires belief in Him and in the importance of the work, faith also requires confidence in one’s ability to accomplish it successfully. While faith, bestowed in baptism, is needed to fulfill the obligation we have to the Lord, it is not finite or limited. Its development and growth is not automatic simply because He has compelled the work.

Paul makes a list of qualities and virtues which will strengthen Timothy for his mission. Our missions, skills and obligations, “deposited,” or bequeathed (2) to us for safeguarding, have been given to us by the Holy Spirit. While it is a struggle to refrain from doubting or running away, we are compelled through our own desires to stay the course.

Jesus tells the disciples they may rely on but not presume divine grace (2). Not only does the work require effort, however, the faith to do the work also requires intentional energy to grow deeper and wider. Barclay uses the word “compelled” in reference to the Lord’s expectation that we do the work required of us without expecting reward. The idea of compulsion is not simply that another with power over us can impose obligations upon us. It involves a deep sense of fortitude and motivation, urgency and momentum to carry out the work despite discouragement from or the disinterest of others.

 

Journal Questions:

• Do you consider compulsion a positive or negative word? Write about an activity which you engage in that is a “compulsion” which results in good.
• What understandings and perceptions, talents and interests, missions and visions have been bequeathed to you? Who has left them in your hands? How have you safeguarded or responded to them?

 

References:
1- The Collegeville Bible Commentary, Old Testament. The Order of St. Benedict, Inc., Collegeville, Minnesota, 1992.
2- New Interpreter’s Bible One Volume Commentary. Abingdon Press, Nashville, Tennessee, 2010.
3- The New Jerome Biblical Commentary. Prentice Hall, Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey, 1990
4- The Letters to Timothy, Titus and Philemon, Barclay, William. The Daily Study Bible Series, The Westminster Press, Philadelphia, 1975.
5- The Gospel of Luke, Barclay, William. The Daily Study Bible Series, The Westminster Press, Philadelphia, 2001.

 

© 2016 Marilyn MacArthur, all rights reserved

Amos 6:1A, 4-7
1 Timothy 6:11-16
Luke 16:19-31

In these verses, Amos continues his theme of social justice, but focuses on the delusion of power. After the woe, Amos speaks of a marzeach feast, which involved excessive drinking and consumption, perhaps in honor of those fallen in military battles. The last of these verses states that the Lord rejects this “state of affairs and will tear down the cities (1).”Jesus’ parable also lays out the consequences of abusing of wealth.

Like Amos, Jesus also mentions the importance of using wealth in order to follow God’s law (1). The rich man perpetrated no crime against Lazarus, other than not noticing his suffering or trying to help in any way. “It was not wealth that kept him from Abraham’s bosom, but his irresponsible stewardship (4).” He seems to have learned from his apathy, because he asks Lazarus to warn the brothers.

Paul calls Timothy a ‘man of God,’ a title used for Moses, Eli, and Samuel. It is a title which is a call and invitation to be a religious leader. Paul lists the virtues needed to be a man of God, to address the wrongs of society such as abuse of wealth, gluttony and apathy. Although he takes some liberty, Barclay translates the words as follows: (2)

Righteousness, dikaiosune, giving both human and God their due;
Godliness, eusebeia, reverance, awareness of living life in the Lord”s presence;
Faith, pistis, fidelity to the Lord;
Love, agape, love of the Lord for men;
Patience, hupomone, victorious endurance in the face of adversity and suffering;
Gentleness, paupatheia, not anger for wrongs done to the self, but to others.

These explanations offer us ideas as to how to live according to both the Old and New Testament laws which exhort us to notice, respect and help our fellow man, observing their plights and addressing their sufferings.

 

Journal Questions:

• Recall on an occasion when you participated in “excessive consumption.” How did you feel before, during and afterwards? Using sensory details to indicate the shifts in your attitude before, during and after the event.
• Reflect on each Barclay’s definitions of the various virtues. Contrast your former understanding to your new insights.

 

References:
1- New Interpreter’s Bible One Volume Commentary. Abingdon Press, Nashville, Tennessee, 2010.
2- The Letters to Timothy, Titus and Philemon, Barclay, William. The Daily Study Bible Series, The Westminster Press, Philadelphia, 1975.
3- Interpreter’s One-Volume Commentary on the Bible. Abingdon Press, Nashville, Tennessee, 1971.
4- The Collegeville Bible Commentary, Luke. The Order of St. Benedict, Inc., Collegeville, Minnesota, 1992.

 

© 2016 Marilyn MacArthur, all rights reserved

Amos 8:4-7
1 Tim 2:1-8
Luke 16:1-13

Amos not only admonished and condemned the greedy, but prophesied national downfall as a consequence of the systematic avarice of those in power and the exploitation of the general populous. In ancient Judaism, “The quality of one’s relationship to God depended to some extent on how one related to fellow members of the covenant community (2).”

Jesus is also quite concerned with social justice, and the allocation and use of wealth to benefit the many. However, He does not preach doom for a nation here on Earth in this generation or that. As always, He cares about each person and his or her desire to reach towards an Eternal Life with Him.

We are only God’s stewards, we don’t actually own what is ascribed as ours. Mammon, an Aramaic word meaning wealth (4), can “seduce disciples away from God. Disciples are to convert mammon into heavenly capital by sharing it with others, particularly the needy (2).” In other words, wealth is not ours to cling to, but to give away responsibly.

“Indeed allegiance to money and allegiance to God are fundamentally conflicting values (3).” If we get confused or forget to use our wealth for the Lord’s people’s gain, and use it for our own advancement, we have excluded the Lord. Loving wealth and loving the Lord are mutually exclusive; but using wealth to benefit the Lord’s people is an act of love for the Lord.

All of us, from time to time, even well-intentioned Children of the Light are blinded by glittery wealth; it can obstruct of vision of the Lord. Many people who are in love with money know it, but see no danger. These folks are of this generation and are best left to deal with other like-minded, money-loving folks. “For the children of this world are more prudent in dealing with their own generation than are the children of light.” As Children of Light, because we are responsible and diligent in our stewardship of mammon, we strive to prove ourselves competent and trustworthy in larger matters. These larger matters involve our stewardship of the “Light of the World,” (John 8:12).

 

Journal Questions:

• What do you spend your money on? How does it benefit others? How does it draw you closer to God, or pull you away?
• Reflect on the attitude towards money that a rich person you know personally has and then write about the attitude of someone you know personally who is poor. What have you learned about mammon from each?
• What are you called to be a “steward” of? It might be wealth, family, values or insights or other.

 

References:
1- Interpreter’s One-Volume Commentary on the Bible. Abingdon Press, Nashville, Tennessee, 1971.
2- The New Jerome Biblical Commentary. Prentice Hall, Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey, 1990
3- New Interpreter’s Bible One Volume Commentary. Abingdon Press, Nashville, Tennessee, 2010.
4- Ignatius Catholic Study Bible. Ignatius Press, San Franciso, California, 2001.
5- The Collegeville Bible Commentary, Luke. The Order of St. Benedict, Inc., Collegeville, Minnesota, 1992.

 

© 2016 Marilyn MacArthur, all rights reserved

Exodus 32:7-11, 13-14
1 Timothy 1:12-17
Luke 15:1-32 (or 1-10)

The Lord points out to Moses that the Israelites are lost, breaking the Covenant in two ways. They have turned away from the Lord by a) doubting His intentions, and b) worshipping idols. The Israelites complain and demand proof of the Lord’s presence while, ironically, Moses is receiving instructions to prepare for the Lord’s physical presence among them. We too often demand that the Lord reveal His presence to us, although we miss or are not ready for the full revelation of it.

“Go down to your people at once,” the Lord says to Moses. “Israel envisioned a special role of intercession whereby the relationship of the people to the Lord was bound up with the relationship of certain endowed individuals to Him (1).” We too are called to be mediators to both believers and non-believers. Our liturgies bear this out as we offer intercessions during the Prayers of the Faithful.

Paul had also been lost. Scholars believe that, while this letter is written as if the writer were Paul, it was not actually written by him. Why did this writer expand on Paul’s transgressions as if he were Paul himself? This pseudo-Paul writer holds up Paul as an example of the saving power of the Lord. He also reminds us that remembering our sins, in Pauline style, inspires greater gratitude and helps us keep our pride in check.

The parables of the lost coin and the lost sheep both reveal not just a God who searches out and saves the lost, but who publicly celebrates His finds. Moses teaches us about a God who saves a lost collective of people, while Jesus preaches a God who saves individual souls. The letter gives us a glimpse into the many layers of purpose behind the saving grace. Beyond our need, He also saves us to draw others to Himself. All three readings encourage, inspire and communicate hope. Traveling full circle, Moses demonstrates our responsibility in holding unto that hope for those who have lost it.

 

Resources:

1- The Collegeville Bible Commentary. The Order of St. Benedict, Inc., Collegeville, Minnesota.1992
2- The New Interpreter’s Bible: One Volume Commentary. Abingdon Press, Nashville, TN. 2010.

 

Journal Questions:

1. Reflect on a time that you asked the Lord to be present, yet realized later that you were either not ready, or that it was being prepared for. What preparations were needed, and who provided them?
2. Does remembering your past transgressions discourage you or help you combat pride and sustain gratitude?
3. Who do you intercede for? Would you say that you hold unto hope for them, until they are ready to receive it? How is this idea either fitting or not?

 

© 2016 Marilyn MacArthur, all rights reserved