Ash Wednesday

When on Ash Wednesday we hear the words, "Remember, you are dust," we are also told that we are brothers and sisters of the incarnate Lord. In these words we are told everything that we are: nothingness that is filled with eternity; death that teems with life; futility that redeems; dust that is God's life forever.  

—Karl Rahner in The Eternal Year.

For today's GSMC Bible Study Podcast on Ash Wednesday, please click here.

Daily Bible Verse: Jonah 3:1-3a

I love the story of Jonah.  He's so human and relatable, with his running and his grumpiness and his pouting.  He does eventually do as God asks and go to Nineveh, but he's never gracious about it.  Jonah, along with so many other biblical characters, shows how God uses ordinary people, crabby people, stubborn people to carry out God's work in the world.  God finds us, accepts us, and calls us, just as we are.  There is no need to be perfect to do God's work.

Daily Bible Verse: Matthew 2:10-11

The secular world was done with Christmas 12 days ago, but in the religious, liturgical world, we celebrate until Epiphany and the coming of the Magi.  The shepherds arrived at the nativity earlier in the story and went out into the surrounding areas to tell of what they had seen.  The coming of the 3 kings, or wise men, give Jesus's birth a different perspective and impact.  The shepherds were regular people, even lowly, but the magi were much more important and elevated in terms of status.  Both visits are important and significant: They show that Jesus was, in fact the Messiah, being visited by wise men who had followed a star to find him and pay him homage with impressive and expensive gifts, but also that Jesus was not going to be the expected Messiah.  He was born in in a stable and laid in a manger, and his first visitors were less than impressive.  Shepherds and wise men both indicate the type of Messiah brought forth in Jesus.

Daily Bible Verse: Luke 2:40

We don't get a lot of insight into Jesus's childhood.  There's the story of his teaching in the temple around the age of 12, but we don't get much in the way of childhood stories.  What we do get is this verse, which is brief but tells us that Jesus grew and not only became strong, but also grew in wisdom.  We know that he is growing and evolving and, most importantly, that God's favor was upon him throughout his childhood and his entire life.

Daily Bible Verse: Galatians 4:6-7

These verses follow the ones posted on Sunday of this week and continue that theme of being children of God.  We are so beloved as God's children we are encouraged to call God Abba, which translates closer to Daddy than Father,  a term which gives us an idea of the intimacy involved in this relationship.

Daily Bible Verse: Psalm 148:1

Praise the Lord in everything you do today!

Daily Bible Verse: Isaiah 61:10

I love the book of Isaiah for many reasons, but especially for the imagery.  Rejoicing in God is a common enough theme throughout the bible, especially in the Old Testament, but here we have someone who is rejoicing with their entire being.  Then they describe how God has clothed them as a bride and groom are clothed, which reinforces the idea of rejoicing because weddings tend to be joyful occasions.

Daily Bible Verse: Luke 2:25-32

Now there was a man in Jerusalem whose name was Simeon; this man was righteous and devout, looking forward to the consolation of Israel, and the Holy Spirit rested on him. 26 It had been revealed to him by the Holy Spirit that he would not see death before he had seen the Lord's Messiah. 27 Guided by the Spirit, Simeon came into the temple; and when the parents brought in the child Jesus, to do for him what was customary under the law, 28 Simeon took him in his arms and praised God, saying, 29 "Master, now you are dismissing your servant in peace, according to your word; 30 for my eyes have seen your salvation, 31 which you have prepared in the presence of all peoples, 32 a light for revelation to the Gentiles and for glory to your people Israel." (source)

I love the faithfulness in these verses.  Simeon is faithful in his belief that he WILL see the Messiah, and faithful in listening to the promptings of the Holy Spirit.  God is faithful in keeping that promise made to Simeon.  If only we could all be as faithful and reciprocal in our relationships.  I look to figures like Simeon to remind me not only to be faithful and trusting in God's promises, but to pay attention to the promptings of the Spirit, so that I too might see the light of Christ in my life.