…and we still don’t get it!

          It’s unbelievable. 2,000+ years and we still don’t get it. It’s been 2,000+ years since Christ came to teach us, and we still don’t understand the message. 

          Christ came by the power of the Father to teach us there is but one true God, and to be kind to one another. That’s it. He came to teach us that our relationship with God is, as is, our relationship with each other. As we mistreat each other, we separate ourselves from God. 

          And we still don’t get it! 

          As we continue to tear each other apart, regardless of how we self-identify, we drive a larger and larger wedge between us and God. The word used in the New Testament, or Christian Bible, is Love. The “Love” used throughout, is from the Greek meaning “charity” 

          Charity in its simplest form is “kindness”. This is the key to heaven or hell. When we fail in kindness and excel in hate, we fail. We fail completely. There is no room in heaven for hate. As there is no room in hell for love. Christ taught us, “Our Father who art in Heaven hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come thy will be done on Earth as it is in heaven”! 

And we still don’t get it! 

          The New Testament may the most nonracial book(s) ever written. It’s about faith. It’s about how to express that faith between we the people, and as a people, with God. This relationship is intertwined. Our interaction with one another is intertwined in our faith without exception. 

       It is without exception, in all functional relationships, there is one foundation. This foundation consists of mutual respect, mutual trust, mutual care and mutual support. This is true regardless if the relationship is with the divine or with each other. For they are the same. 

          Mutual, not equal. I define it this way, “Equal can be written in law, mutual is expressed person to person”. Mutual kindness, it’s that simple. And it’s that hard. It’s been 2,000+ years and we still can’t or won’t do it. 

          We still insist in exalting ourselves one over another. We read the Bible to self-justify, instead of with a willingness to learn. We are indeed a “stiff necked people” [Acts 7:51-53] 

          We have been saved by Christ, but we can still condemn ourselves. We can throw away the sacrifice of Christ and the “place prepared for us”, [John 14- 2] or we can chose to live in our faith. We have the option to choose between good and evil, love and hate, kindness and cruelty.         

          Love nurtures love and hate nurtures hate. To me the options seem obvious.

And yet we still don’t seem to get it. 

May the peace of Christ fill your hearts and the love of God fill your souls. 

David E. Gonzales

The Dust Has Settled

       Now that the dust has settled, now that the Christ has risen and the world draws back into the life it has carved out for itself. Let’s reflect back on what has just happened. For the events that have just been completed, tortured, died, descended, risen, ascended, these are the events that evolve Christianity distinctly from Judaism.

       The torture and death was a deliberate act of cruelty of man against man. The result of a power struggle where on one side it was the power of man over man and on the other side it was the power of God with man. Yes you read that correctly, God with man, not God over man.

clipartpanda.com

       God has been trying to be partners with man since the beginning of time. From one covenant to another to again another we, humanity, keep rejecting God’s attempts to be one with another. We, humanity, keep rejecting God as if we have all the answers, all the common sense, all the power to control all things. We, humanity, born from the breath of God, still think we are superior to God. And for our efforts we keep fighting each other because after all “we” know best.

       The other three, (descended, risen, ascended) are Christ putting his full and complete trust into the hands of his Father. “Father, into your hands I commend my spirit”. (Luke 23; 46b) Our Christ didn’t descend into hell, rise from the grave or ascend into heaven by his own power. He knew it was by his Father’s hand he would be manifested as the Son of God and returned home to sit at his side. Full and Complete trust in his Father.

       And yet we, humanity, continue on our path, OUR PATH! Not the one God asks of us, but instead the one that we, in all our narcissism, carve out for ourselves. It may be true we know what we want better than anyone. But do we really know what we need better than anyone, or anything?

       And so we continue fighting, killing, raping, aborting, and dividing each other in new and horrible ways. We look to our governments to solve the issues of the poor instead of looking at ourselves to simply help as we can. As we can individually and through our churches, synagogues, temples, mosques, and congregations of all types.

       The dust has settled. God has again, reached out to us. Our relationship with our God is, as is, our relationship with each other. How’s your relationship?

Scripture is from the NABRE

by David E. Gonzales

Works and Salvation, Love is Charity

As I understand it there are two parties to the thought in this debate. On the one side it may be said that by doing good deeds, or works, one can secure, or earn, their place in salvation. On the other side of this debate it is said that we are commanded to do good deeds, or works, in order to retain our salvation, our place in heaven.

            Christ earned our salvation by the way of the cross; however it is clear by Christ’s commandments that we have a responsibility to maintain that earned salvation through “works”. These “works” are works of charity. And charity, of course, is the physical expression of helping the poor by feeding, clothing, and all acts of compassion, without any expectation of a return. This expression should also be accomplished with humility.

            ^1. “Charity, a theological virtue (along with faith and hope), the highest form of Christian love, whose origination source and ultimate end is God” The driving force behind charity is the Holy Spirit, the gift given to us by the Father through Christ. “Though its formal object and final end is God, charity reaches out to the neighbor and well, including even the enemy and the sinner, who are loved for God’s sake”. “Charity is therefore the greatest of the virtues, because it both conjoins us to God and directs all our activity toward the eternal happiness promised us”.

            This “eternal happiness promised us” is our salvation, the final triumph over sin and death. Since our Christ gave himself for salvation, our place in heaven is secure. However we can lose our place through the act of sin. Charity drives us from sin as it is the will of God to do good. The work of charity is how we love God. The work of charity is our spiritual and physical relationship with God. (^2.Mat, 25; 34-40)

            To me it is clear that works are necessary for salvation. Not that works will earn our way to God’s promise to us, but that it will guide us to maintain that which has been earned for us through the works of our Christ, the ultimate work of charity.

            Faith, Hope, and Love are the mainstays of our faith. The words “love” and “charity” are in many places of the New Testament, one and the same. Our relationship with God is through how we treat our friends, enemies, and strangers. Charity is our commandment; Charity is Love, it is how we are meant to live our lives.

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Other examples;

http://daedgo.blogspot.com/2014/01/1-corinthians-13-adaptation.html  = 1 Corinthians; 13

(An adaptation)

http://daedgo.blogspot.com/2012/09/caritas-through-church.html = Caritas through Church

^1.Encyclopedia of Catholicism; Richard P. McBrien (emphasis is mine)

Scripture is from the NABRE;

^2.Then the king will say to those on his right, 'Come, you who are blessed by my Father. Inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world. For I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me drink, a stranger and you welcomed me, naked and you clothed me, ill and you cared for me, in prison and you visited me.' Then the righteous ¹⁶ will answer him and say, 'Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you drink? When did we see you a stranger and welcome you, or naked and clothe you? When did we see you ill or in prison, and visit you?' And the king will say to them in reply, 'Amen, I say to you, whatever you did for one of these least brothers of mine, you did for me.'

Mark, 12; 29-31-

            Jesus replied, the first is this: Hear, O Israel! The Lord our God is Lord alone! You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind, and with all your strength. The second is this: You shall love your neighbor as yourself. There is no other commandment greater than these.

Luke, 10; 29-27

            Jesus said to him, What is written in the law? How do you read it? He said in reply, You shall love the Lord, your God, with all your heart, with all your being, with all your strength, and with all your mind, and your neighbor as yourself.

John, 13; 34-35

            I give you a new commandment: love one another. As I have loved you, so you also should love one another. This is how all will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.

Mat, 22; 37-40

            He said to him, You shall love the Lord, your God, with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind. This is the greatest and the first commandment, the second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself, the whole law and the prophets depend on these two commandments.

* Encyclopedia Britannica (on-line edition)

Encyclopedia

Charity

In Christian thought, the highest form of love, signifying the reciprocal love between God and man that is made manifest in unselfish love of one's fellow men. St. Paul's classical description of charity is found in the New Testament(I Cor. 13). In Christian theology and ethics, charity (a translation of the Greek word agape, also meaning "love") is most eloquently shown in the life, teachings, and death of Jesus Christ. St. Augustine summarized much of Christian thought about charity when he wrote: "Charity is a virtue which, when our affections are perfectly ordered, unites us to God, for by it we love him." Using this definition and others from the Christian tradition, the medieval theologians, especially St. Thomas Aquinas, placed charity in the context of the other Christian virtues and specified its role as "the foundation or root" of them all.

by David E. Gonzales 

The Father and I are one. John 10; 27-30 - The Fourth Sunday of Easter

Our Christ has given us his word, the word that he is the Son of God. With stones in their hands, the crowds wait for a reason to throw these stones, and Jesus gives it to them. The crowd picks the rocks up from the street at hearing this blasphemy and still Jesus continues speaking. In their eyes he has committed a great sin. And so they attempt to bury him with the stones that lay beneath their feet. Jesus escapes “from their power”; I take this to mean the power of ignorance. For the people have heard but do not believe.

            Jesus has given us yet another example of what faith looks like in the reality of life lived. He has shown us the power of faith in him and the Father, who are one. Now it is our turn to stand up in the face of adversity, for our faith and with our faith.

by David E. Gonzales

The Passion; the ultimate teaching of humility.

Palm Sunday

  

Luke 22; 14 – 23, 56.

Jesus offers the new covenant of life in the form of bread and wine,

The apostles argue over which one of them will be the greatest,

Jesus teaches humility.

Peter denies Jesus 3 times,

Peter is the rock that Jesus builds his Church.

Jesus asks his disciples to pray with him at the Mount of Olives and twice he finds them sleeping,

his response to them is his prayer for them, that they do not undergo the test.

Judas betrays Jesus with a kiss,

Jesus does not condemn or judge Judas.

The chief priests and temple guards go the Mount of Olives and try to arrest Jesus,

Jesus voluntarily goes with them.

A disciples strikes the right ear of a servant,

Jesus heals the servant.

While bound before the Sanhedrin, he is struck and ridiculed,

Jesus remains silent.

Jesus is interrogated by Pilate,

He offers no defense.

Jesus is tied to a post and flogged,

He offers no resistance, he makes no condemnation.

As Jesus is crucified on a cross,

He begs for the forgiveness of his executors,

He offers no condemnation.                                                                          

As Jesus hangs near death a condemned thief asks for mercy,

Jesus promises the thief a place in heaven.

The love of our God through his Son our Christ has never before been so selflessly displayed, nor has it been since this day. Yet we find it so hard to follow God’s law of love, and oh, how often we fail!

 “Father, into your hands I commend my Spirit”. (Luke; 22; 46)

Scripture is from the NABRE

by David E. Gonzales