Daily Retreat 09/30/09
2009 Sep 30 Wed:Jerome, p, dr M
Neh 2: 1-8/ Ps 136(137): 1-2. 3. 4-5. 6/ Lk 9: 57-62
From today’s readings: “Why do you look sad? If you are not sick, you must be sad at heart.... Let my tongue be silenced if I ever forget you!... No one who sets a hand to the plow and looks to what was left behind is fit for the Kingdom of God....”
Mission and Wherewithal
After the Babylonian captivity, around the same time that Ezra, Haggai and Zechariah were leading the people in rebuilding the Temple, a man named Nehemiah obtained royal permission to also rebuild the walls of Jerusalem. Without walls, Jerusalem had no real defense, and so was scorned by all. Since God had decreed that the time had come to rebuild His Temple in Jerusalem, it followed that the city itself was also to be rebuilt to protect and worthily host the Temple.
The first chapters of the Book of Nehemiah chronicle the rebuilding of the walls, and the various obstacles that Nehemiah needed to overcome in order to complete the task. In spite of the obstacles, because God was with the builders, the wall was completed in only 52 days (cf. Neh. 6:15)!
Remember, whenever God gives anyone a mission, He also assures that the wherewithal to complete the mission will not be lacking! Nehemiah knew this well, and so was able to accomplish what many dismissed as “impossible” – and now, you and I need to realize that the same thing is true in our lives: all we need to do is discern well our mission from God (our vocation), and then have the faith to know that He is with us to empower us to loyally fulfill our mission
Neh 2: 1-8/ Ps 136(137): 1-2. 3. 4-5. 6/ Lk 9: 57-62
From today’s readings: “Why do you look sad? If you are not sick, you must be sad at heart.... Let my tongue be silenced if I ever forget you!... No one who sets a hand to the plow and looks to what was left behind is fit for the Kingdom of God....”
Mission and Wherewithal
After the Babylonian captivity, around the same time that Ezra, Haggai and Zechariah were leading the people in rebuilding the Temple, a man named Nehemiah obtained royal permission to also rebuild the walls of Jerusalem. Without walls, Jerusalem had no real defense, and so was scorned by all. Since God had decreed that the time had come to rebuild His Temple in Jerusalem, it followed that the city itself was also to be rebuilt to protect and worthily host the Temple.
The first chapters of the Book of Nehemiah chronicle the rebuilding of the walls, and the various obstacles that Nehemiah needed to overcome in order to complete the task. In spite of the obstacles, because God was with the builders, the wall was completed in only 52 days (cf. Neh. 6:15)!
Remember, whenever God gives anyone a mission, He also assures that the wherewithal to complete the mission will not be lacking! Nehemiah knew this well, and so was able to accomplish what many dismissed as “impossible” – and now, you and I need to realize that the same thing is true in our lives: all we need to do is discern well our mission from God (our vocation), and then have the faith to know that He is with us to empower us to loyally fulfill our mission
posted by FrPitstick | 9/28/2009
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