Dave Prince on a climb in Switzerland
Picture Mike Prince
Our Blog is inspired by The Holy Spirit.
Wednesday of the First Week in Extraordinary Time
When we were asked to write the Wednesday blog, we asked what the parameters were in writing our blog. Bill, the Publisher, told me there are no rules except the obvious, it had to pertain to Catholic Teaching.
Today we are going to take advantage of this rule by not quoting from the readings which we have commented on in prior blogs but go instead outside of the box, if you will, and talk about two readings that have recently caught my attention.
Every valley shall be lifted up,
every mountain and hill made low;
The rugged land shall be a plain,
the rough country, a broad valley.
Then the glory of the Lord shall be revealed,
and all flesh shall see it together;
for the mouth of the Lord has spoken.
Emphasis mine Isaiah 40: 4-5
Isaiah Chapter 40 as I understand it points directly to Jesus., for example:
A voice proclaims:
In the wilderness prepare the way of the Lord! Isaiah 40:3
John the Baptist.
Go up onto a high mountain,
Zion, herald of good news!
Cry out at the top of your voice,
Jerusalem, herald of good news!
Cry out, do not fear!
Say to the cities of Judah:
Here is your God!
Here comes with power
the Lord God,
who rules by his strong arm;
Here is his reward with him,
his recompense before him.
Like a shepherd he feeds his flock;
in his arms he gathers the lambs,
Carrying them in his bosom,
leading the ewes with care.
Isaiah 40:9-11
Jesus!
Sooooo, where’s my question?
The valleys still exist, and the mountains are still high. For a long time (and remember I’m eight-five) I couldn’t figure out the bolded portion of the reading Every valley shall be lifted up, every mountain and hill made low.
Until,
Either Fr. Richard Rohr or Dr. Tim Gray wrote or commented in a talk one day that when Jesus started preaching about the kingdom of Heaven, those whom society felt they had an inside track to Heaven, Scribes, Pharisees, Herodians, and wealthy (mountains) were brought low.
In Matthew 23 and Luke 6, Jesus uses “woe” (meaning deep sorrow, misery, or a curse) to rebuke Scribes and Pharisees for hypocrisy, legalism, and obstructing others from the kingdom of heaven. Google
The Parable of the Two Sons. “What is your opinion? A man had two sons. He came to the first and said, ‘Son, go out and work in the vineyard today.’ He said in reply, ‘I will not,’ but afterwards he changed his mind and went. The man came to the other son and gave the same order. He said in reply, ‘Yes, sir,’ but did not go. [x]Which of the two did his father’s will?” They answered, “The first.” Jesus said to them, “Amen, I say to you, tax collectors and prostitutes are entering the kingdom of God before you. When John came to you in the way of righteousness, you did not believe him; but tax collectors and prostitutes did. Yet even when you saw that, you did not later change your minds and believe him. Underlining mine. Matthew 21: 27-32
And what Dr. Gray or Fr. Rohr said was, the mountains were the Scribes and the Pharisees, Herodians, and wealthy, and the valleys were the tax collectors and the prostitutes.
When I was reading the Bible last year I came upon this quote, and saved it because I didn’t understand it, and I believed Isaiah accurately predicted everything that would happen,
But
We still have mountains and valleys, so now you understand my dilemma, which I pray we have now resolved.
Prayer:
If you want to grow in Love, Joy and Peace, this is a result of growth in Patience, Kindness, Generosity, Faithfulness, Gentleness and Self-Control.
Sidebar:
The past two weeks have been very different. Because Christmas and New Year’s fell on Thursdays I didn’t go into the jail, which I missed.
We are going to refer to Galatians 6: 7-10, which was a reading I happened to read at the end of last year.
Make no mistake: God is not mocked, for a person will reap only what he sows, because the one who sows for his flesh will reap corruption from the flesh, but the one who sows for the spirit will reap eternal life from the spirit. Let us not grow tired of doing good, for in due time we shall reap our harvest, if we do not give up. So then, while we have the opportunity, let us do good to all, but especially to those who belong to the family of the faith. Underlining mine. Galatians 6: 7-10
I pray that as each of you sow for the spirit you will start to reap eternal life here and now, by building a relationship with The Triune God, and growing in the Love, Joy, and Peace of the Holy Spirit.
Picture:
This is a picture of Dave, our middle son, on a cliff in Switzerland. The Picture was taken by Mike Prince.
We are showing this picture again because we feel it really expresses what we have been discussing for the past four years in our blogs.
It reminds me of my life and when I made “difficult climbs” at times because of ignoring God’s will (even though I believed God was there and loved me). I just didn’t want to do God’s will all of the time, because I was afraid (satan) of what God would ask.
At age seventy this all changed and I agreed to do God’s will as we have written, and now I picture myself near the end of the climb, and as I look back, I can see all of the hills and valleys we have traversed, and I am filled with Joy for my “Yes,” my Yes because it had to be my decision to do God my Father’s will.
The hills and valleys don’t appear to be hills and valleys anymore, as we demonstrated in last week’s picture, and as I have reflected on my life, I truly realize the Triune God was always with me, and the obstacles I faced, in reality, WE faced, and were times in my life that would promote further growth in our relationship.
As only God can do, the negatives were changed into positives, and I now “Thank God the Father for the DIFFICULITIES He has, and is, ALLOWING in my life.”
The life of Jesus was filled with DIFFICULITIES. The DIFFICULITIES started at His birth, in a cave, and continued with the family soon after fleeing to Egypt.
Question?
If Jesus encountered many DIFFICULTIES, shouldn’t I expect the same? And wouldn’t there be something wrong if I didn’t have DIFFICULITIES.
Celebrate a God that we are privileged to worship, a God of OUTREAGEOUS LOVE, and grow in your relationship with the Father, Son, and their Holy Spirit.
Because we have the advantage of having the Holy Spirit infused in our souls at Baptism, we live in EXTRAORDINARY TIMES!
Please keep Snapping!
And if you want the ten calling cards shown above, email me and I will send you my address, send me a STAMPED self-addressed envelope and I will send you ten cards.
The offer for the cards is for American readers only. The Post office won’t accept foreign stamps.
If you want a copy of the prayers we discussed.
Send an email to: fprince101@gmail.com
Remember, if you want to submit a picture, please do not include people. We have to get permission from that person to use their photograph.
