Comments on: Wednesday, 4/5/17 — How Can We Keep From Singing?

By: Steve

Steve — Thu, 06 Apr 2017 09:47:04 +0000

As you often do…..put a positive spin on all of our blessed lives. My thankfulness deepens as I reflect on the readings. Cheers Steve

By: Elizabeth Kirya

Elizabeth Kirya — Thu, 06 Apr 2017 00:57:46 +0000

Dear Steve, thank you for the phrase with God it’s a win-win situation. As I read Daniel about the 3 men, I thought about the 10 commandments, Jesus Christ summerized in two: “Love God,..”. These God fearing men, showed how well they understood and kept the 1st commandment, ” You shall worship the Lord your God and Him only you shall serve.” (Deut. 6:4., then when Jesus answered the Pharisees,Matt 22:37-38; Lk 10:27), and would rather die than to break the commandment. And their conviction that, if they do not break the commandment, even if they die they’ll still be with the God they love, serve and obey. What a great example they are to us. Also by their not breaking the commandment,notice how Nabuchadnezar’s mind changed and he believed that indeed their God is the one to believe and right one to follow. What a contrast, in John 8: 31-42, the ones who claim to know so much cannot even pay attention to what Jesus, the visible God the Son, is telling them. Because of their PRIDE which I can say is our original, are going to kill Jesus (break the 5th commandment). When I read the verbal exchange between Jesus and the Jews, I’m flabbergasted to see how when in blindness, stupid pride, can block out any sensible voice. It seems like in His love, mercy, willingness, Jesus is trying His best to make them see, but cannot see. O our loving Jesus, please save us from our sins in which we’re adamantly stuck! In these days of Lent left help us to realize who You are, why You came, and that You alone can lead us to your Father. You are the Way, the Truth, the Light to lead us to eternal rest.

By: Elizabeth Kirya

Elizabeth Kirya — Wed, 05 Apr 2017 23:33:29 +0000

275 Sunnydale Rd

By: Mark Misencik

Mark Misencik — Wed, 05 Apr 2017 15:16:07 +0000

Hey Steven,

As always, I enjoy your reflection. And from what I’ve gleaned over the years of reading your thoughts on scripture is that you are a “glass is half full” type of person, which is good.

That being said, I may be going out on a limb here, but I would bet you didn’t see the movie “Silence” that was released a couple of months ago or read the book by Shusaku Endo. I will not go into the details of the movie/book, but your view of believing in God leads us to a win-win no matter what hardship befalls in life might change. Evil is smarter than you think.

As for the Pharisees (and the Jews of today) on why they refuse to believe in Jesus is all you have to do is read Deuteronomy 6:4-6. There are many examples in the OT that show what happened to the Jews when the started to believe in false gods and it never ended good. If you look up the word “Pharisee” and understand what their purpose was you may get a feel for why they were behaving the way they did. Yes, in my opinion, they took their power used it unwisely. Jesus points this out many times. So I do understand your view on “truth”. But your question on how couldn’t they listen to God’s only begotten Son when He was standing right in front of them can be answered by reading Matthew 25. And after reading Matthew, I think we all can agree that we’ve been deaf from time to time too, because He’s also been standing in front of us, believe it or not.

Mark

By: LC

LC — Wed, 05 Apr 2017 12:41:14 +0000

Win – win … what a great thing to remember! Thank you for the reflection that is so easy to hold on to because of how you help us to apply it to situations in our daily lives. Yes, the love and promise of God make everything OK.

By: Laura

Laura — Wed, 05 Apr 2017 12:17:55 +0000

Thank you Steve. It is wonderful to have such a loving God. I think of how much He loves us that He sent His only Son into the world for us, when I read today’s Gospel. If only we have the courage not to deny Him in this life like the reading from the Old Testament. I pray for that kind of love for God.

By: Ogene Abu

Ogene Abu — Wed, 05 Apr 2017 11:17:25 +0000

Thanx a lot for the insightful commentary. It really gets to the heart of some of my worries!
May God continue to guide your thoughts!

By: Alice

Alice — Wed, 05 Apr 2017 08:55:03 +0000

Thanks for your reflection Steve
May the Lord God Almighty give us the belief like that one of Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego when we are challenged by the many worldly situations