Daily Retreat 10/11/07
2007 Oct 11 Thu
Mal 3: 13-20b/ Ps 1: 1-2. 3. 4 and 6/ Lk 11: 5-13
From today’s readings: “A record book was written before Him of those who fear the LORD and trust in His name.... Blessed are they who hope in the Lord.... How much more will the Father in Heaven give the Holy Spirit to those who ask Him?”
The End of the Old
Malachi is the last book in the Old Testament - the prophecies about the Messiah and His precursor (John the Baptist) make it an appropriate bridge to the New Testament. The three chapters attempt to wake up and shake up the people of God with the reminder that life is ultimately a crucial choice for or against God (cf. Psalm 1).
Who can deny that today, as in that time, "indeed evildoers prosper, and even tempt God with impunity"? Although God does not bribe us with material prosperity to follow Him, yet He does promise to "give the Holy Spirit to those who ask Him" - and the Holy Spirit helps us choose God in every way, to "delight in the law of the LORD and meditate on His law day and night."
So do we give in to wicked temptations which promise immediate gratification, or do we hold out faithfully in our hope in the Messiah’s promises? The choice is ours, remembering "the LORD watches over the way of the just, but the way of the wicked vanishes."
Mal 3: 13-20b/ Ps 1: 1-2. 3. 4 and 6/ Lk 11: 5-13
From today’s readings: “A record book was written before Him of those who fear the LORD and trust in His name.... Blessed are they who hope in the Lord.... How much more will the Father in Heaven give the Holy Spirit to those who ask Him?”
The End of the Old
Malachi is the last book in the Old Testament - the prophecies about the Messiah and His precursor (John the Baptist) make it an appropriate bridge to the New Testament. The three chapters attempt to wake up and shake up the people of God with the reminder that life is ultimately a crucial choice for or against God (cf. Psalm 1).
Who can deny that today, as in that time, "indeed evildoers prosper, and even tempt God with impunity"? Although God does not bribe us with material prosperity to follow Him, yet He does promise to "give the Holy Spirit to those who ask Him" - and the Holy Spirit helps us choose God in every way, to "delight in the law of the LORD and meditate on His law day and night."
So do we give in to wicked temptations which promise immediate gratification, or do we hold out faithfully in our hope in the Messiah’s promises? The choice is ours, remembering "the LORD watches over the way of the just, but the way of the wicked vanishes."
posted by FrPitstick | 10/09/2007
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