Devotion
God’s thunderous storm
David Jacobs
The Lord works in mysterious ways. Have you heard this? While this may seem profound at first, if we dig deeper I think we can see that this phrase is a superficial explanation for something more meaningful. As these verses discuss, do we find it marvelous or mysterious when it rains or snows? Do we dwell on the ways that the Lord is working or do we take it more or less for granted? If we stop and take a moment to consider what we understand about our existence on Earth, we can start to appreciate how beautiful life can be. It helps us to understand our place and our own existence as well as reveal some of the mysterious ways that God is working.
Our worries are often about what God has planned for us: why won't He show us a sign? Why do we feel alone? We become anxious over things beyond our control, causing us to forget that God wants us to enjoy our time on Earth. Worship takes many forms, and one of the most important forms of worship is appreciating the natural world that God created. Rain, snow, thunder, lightning, humans, animals...instead of viewing God's plan as "mysterious", try to appreciate the wonders of His love and the infinite manifestations that we can see, feel, touch, smell, and taste.
Prayer
Take a moment from your busy life and go into nature. The next time you encounter rain, snow, sunshine, wind, plants, and animals, realize that these are all God's creations. More importantly, realize your own place among them and that you, too, are God's work.
Devotion
Culpability
Frances Taylor
This is an interesting passage because, among other things, it talks about sin and who is considered guilty of sin. Paul is talking about how he has been forgiven, how God has been merciful to him because his actions were committed in unbelief. In order for sin to be committed, one needs to know he is committing it. No one can commit sin in retrospect. Sin is always a deliberate act. This can be hard for some to understand. Actions can be considered sinful, even though the person committing them may not be culpable. For example, lying is a sin. However, is the two year old hiding behind the curtains sinning when he or she claims not to have broken the vase? No, because the child has no understanding of the difference between truth and lie. Those who do not have a relationship with God, who do not know the commandments, who have never heard of Jesus, may commit sinful actions, but are not guilty of sin. This is what Paul claims is his situation. Paul ...
Morning Prayer
And the third day there was a marriage in Cana of Galilee; and the mother of Jesus was there: And both Jesus was called, and his disciples, to the marriage. And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, ) full of grace and truth.
Inspiration
When the Lord sent his only Son, he sent also his word. For his body was this very word made flesh. Importantly this was not simply a manifestation of God's word, but also rather an 'animation' of it (meant here in the original Latin as 'animare' –'to instill with life or spirit'), an instance of God's love and divine grace in action, among us.
Prayer
Lord, I am grateful for your mercy in showing us your word made flesh so that we may be redeemed. Further, I am grateful to you for showing us your love and grace through your only begotten son. Let his body not have been torn and broken for no avail, but feed us now in the Eucharist. Let not his blood have...
