Mark 5: 21 - 43
Once when I was out of work, my children and I arrived home on the last breath of gas in our van.  With no money in the bank and no food in the fridge, I had been denied EI and was struggling through a workless summer as a teacher.  I was afraid.
 
Mark tells a similar story: The leader of a synagogue, Jarius, and his wife had every logical reason to be afraid. Their 12 yr old was bedridden and very sick, and nothing seemed to help – no normal remedies worked- and while he was fetching Jesus, the girl’s Mom and those supporting her noticed that the child had stopped breathing and was getting cold with death. But when Jesus arrived on the scene, the parents had two options – to live into their fears or to “only” believe. They chose to believe and follow Jesus to their daughter’s bedside. Within minutes their girl was alive again, and walking around.   
 
It was my 15 year old daughter, who noticed my anguish and said, “Mom, God’s got this, you know!” Yes, I knew that, but I had needed to hear the call of Christ to believe. Within minutes, the kids found an unusual letter in the mail, a cheque from my sister’s father in law half a country away. That day I learned again to ‘only’ believe, and to spend no time or energy on the black hole of fear.  
 
My life, our lives, are full of fears – fears of losing our memory, abilities, or physical strength; worries about financial stability or life style comfort; fears of attack on family, friends or fame, or anxieties about changes or charges or chastisements. When I note fears encroaching on my well-being, will I turn to “face my fears” or will I turn my face and my footsteps towards Jesus and ONLY believe?  Holy Spirit of Jesus, help me to not fear, but only believe.
 
Let me know again the joy of your help; with a spirit of fervor sustain me.    (Psalm 51:12)
 
GRANT ME, O Lord my God, a mind to know you, a heart to seek you, wisdom to find you, conduct pleasing to you, faithful perseverance in waiting for you, and a hope
of finally embracing you.
St. Thomas Aquinas
 
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Mark 4:26-34
We just noticed yesterday that my 5-ish granddaughter touches the ceiling when she stands up in the back seat.  Was it only yesterday that she needed a step-stool to climb into her car seat?  Slowly and silently, almost imperceptibly, growth takes place and often surprises us when we recognize it for what it is – a coming into fruition and fullness. So grow the manifestations of prayers answered – the kingdom of God at work around, amidst and within us. We say a prayer, invoke the Name of the Lord, voice a blessing or read aloud some scripture, and without our power or even knowledge, the seed of the Word of God begins sprouting, often with changes too subtle for us to notice, let alone recognize. How is it that I/we so often forget the Word we have planted? What is so surprising about the growth that takes place? Our creating Father God is continually growing up the grace-full fruits of his kingdom – do we even have the patience and the steadiness of faith to watch for the growth of Mercy in our life’s events and relationships? Will I continue to simply ‘not know’ or even ignore the Word showing up around me, or will I recognize and celebrate the fruitfulness and fullness of the Kingdom of God group up throughout my life?  Holy Spirit of God, help me perceive your kingdom growing, where by prayer your Word is sown. 
 
Let me know again the joy of your help; with a spirit of fervor sustain me.    (Psalm 51:12)
 
A coincidence is when God puts his finger in a situation, and remains anonymous…
Anonymous
 
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John 3:22-30 & Mark 4:1-20
It is a win-win situation, this business of aging and decreasing in terms of worldly powers like fame, fortune, and influence. But it is a question of how I live into the inevitable changes in my be-ing that makes the sum total of my life a growing, flowering and fruitful reminder of God’s Glory Story, or simply a dry memory. John the Baptizer’s life is an example of this. He humbly and faith-fully lived into his gift of proclaiming repentance for the forgiveness of sins, pointing people to the Good News of Jesus, the Son of Man who was the Son of God come to lay down his life for the salvation of humankind. When he began to decrease in popularity and was eventually imprisoned and beheaded, instead of bemoaning his own circumstances, John used his time and energy to point others to the mercy of God walking the earth in the person of Jesus. In this way, the seed of the Word of God planted deeply in his being through his contemplative desert existence, grew him into a mighty prophet that ‘made straight the way of the Lord’ not only to the people of his day but also for us in these days of our lives. As my own be-ing decreases, day by day and year by year, will I become regretful and full of dry memories, or will the fruitfulness of my living, my growing up into the fullness of the Holy Spirit, like the be-ing of John the Baptist, grow up to produce mighty fruits of faithfulness?  Holy Spirit of God, as I decrease, may you increase.
 
Here I am, Lord, I come to do your will.  (Psalm 40:7-8)
 
Let us have no desire to choose our own paths, but walk in those which God may be pleased to present to us.
St. Vincent de Paul
 
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1 Corinthians 1:17-18
On Saturday I set out to visit my daughter and family. Distracted by some cares and worries, I found myself northbound on #416, on the way to work, rather than driving south as I had intended. My five year old back seat driver asked the question, “How are we going to get there, Nana?” It was only after I had said it, I realized the depth of the answer: “Find a bridge and turn around…” How often in life do I hurriedly and absently mindedly take an all-too familiar path by force of habit that leads me into error.  I may even realize my mistake at the time, but I need to then patiently go forward to  ‘find the bridge’ so that I can turn off the beaten path, and go in the right direction. The one true bridge is the Merciful Word of God in the person of Christ Jesus. Yes, I can continue on the ‘wrong’ way and drive past any one or all of the bridges of mercy, meekness, faith, hope and love, peace and joy that God scatters along my way – and arrive at my self-selected plans and projects (aka ‘work’) – on a Saturday! Or I can “repent” and seek the next bridge of Grace along my way and real-ize, -that is bring into (my) reality, or ‘take’ - the saving call, the Saving Grace of Christ Jesus. By taking the first bridge we came to, we turned around and drove in the right direction, and had a good visit that softened our hearts and grounded us in family once again. When I take a wrong turn will I drive past the bridges the Saviour of the world holds out to me and continue on my harried, hurried way? Or will I slow down, and make the turn (“repent”) into the salvation of the Master and arrive at the fullness of righteousness – that is, right relationships - with God, others, and myself? Holy Spirit of God help me real-ize the salvation of Christ Jesus.   
 
Here I am, Lord, I come to do your will.  (Psalm 40:7-8)
 
Why are [you] always in such a hurry to make a mistake?
Anonymous
 
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Mark 3:1-6
In some ways this passage from Mark’s Gospel is a study in meekness. A man with a withered hand went to synagogue one day, meekly trusting the Living God to nourish and guide him into life through prayer and praise. The Pharisees in attendance there, with all their lawful legalities, were looking forward to seeing whether Jesus would heal the man with the withered hand, so that they could have hard evidence to accuse him. And Jesus entered the synagogue on that same day as was his custom, empowered by true meekness that is the Mercy and the Holy Spirit he shared with his Father.  The stage was set with three actors in place. Jesus, knowing the trust that was in the softened heart of the man, and the judgement that was in the hardened hearts of the Pharisees, called the man with the withered hand forward. As true meekness met false ‘righteousness’, as softness of heart encountered and addressed hardness of hearts, Jesus healed the man with the withered hand in full view of the religious lawyers. Indeed, that day at Synagogue, the meek inherited ‘the earth’ – the man’s hand was restored! And those whose hearts were far from meek, and hardened by rights and rites, laws and lovelessness, left the place of prayer and praise with feet pointed two steps further along the road to the hell of crucifying the Son of Man who was the Son of God. This side of the redemption won by Christ Jesus when he died and rose again at Easter, each day of my life is potentially a synagogue, a place of prayer and praise to the Living God.  Will I go into this day with a softened heart, exercising the virtue of meekness, or with a hardened heart that is complaining and critical? Will I, like Jesus, be healing others, or will I, like the Pharisees, be looking for a way to accuse and continue along the ‘path of perdition’? Holy Spirit of God, soften my heart to practice meekness.   
 
 
Here I am, Lord, I come to do your will.  (Psalm 40:7-8)
 
Those who are truly humble within themselves will never find their tongues betraying them.
St. John Climacus  
 
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