Provoking the Lord

September 12, 2008

Memorial of Saint John Chrysostom, bishop and doctor of the Church

The cup of blessing that we bless, is it not a participation in the blood of Christ? The bread that we break, is it not a participation in the body of Christ? Because the loaf of bread is one, we, though many, are one body, for we all partake of the one loaf. 1 Corinthians 10:16-17

I will show you what someone is like who comes to me, listens to my words, and acts on them. That one is like a person building a house, who dug deeply and laid the foundation on rock; when the flood came, the river burst against that house but could not shake it because it had been well built. Luke 6:47-48

Piety

Let us pray: Provoke us, Lord. Send us your Word so that we will listen and act accordingly. Jesus, through our participation in your Church, we become part of your body and your blood. Holy Spirit, help us to build our foundation upon rock so that our dwelling with the Lord will not be interrupted. Amen.

Study

http://www.usccb.org/nab/091308.shtml

Who is trying to provoke who in today’s Gospel?

St. Paul warns that sacrifices to idolatry are likely to provoke jealous anger from the Lord. What idols do we maintain? How many “things” and how much “stuff” distracts us? Maybe St. Paul is trying to provoke us into casting off our remaining idols.

Maybe, as St. Paul notes, our actions are trying to provoke Jesus. If we fail to hear His words and act on them, we risk death as the forces of nature overcome us. Usually we seek congruency between what we say and what we do. Jesus sets a different standard. He sets the bar higher. His standard is between what HE SAYS and what WE DO. We must listen and act according to his word. He is the Word.

But, if we listen and act…LISTEN…AND ACT. Jesus, through his preaching is trying to provoke us to not only listen, but also to act upon that which we hear. Just like Ezekiel did last Sunday. Just like the Gospel did yesterday. Listening alone is not enough to be Christian. Praying alone is not enough. Study alone is not enough. We must act to save the rest of our family. Jesus provokes us to act accordingly.

Failure to act means we will not have any place to dwell with the Lord because our house will have no solid foundation. Water will destroy it.

Action

When the river burst against it, it collapsed at once and was completely destroyed. Luke 6:49

As Hurricane Ike and its 20 foot storm and tidal surge approaches Galveston, Texas, we watch The Weather Channel’s Abrams and Bettes warn people to go inland from the wide swath this storm will chainsaw across the Texas Gulf Coast. Watch Anderson Cooper instruct his beleaguered viewers in Texas City to evacuate. The National Weather Service is provoking people to evacuate or face certain death.

We know our well-made cities can not be completely collapsed. Yet they will not escape untouched. Yet how much more will the poor villages in places like Haiti, Cuba and the Dominican Republic be destroyed after hurricanes Dolly, Fay, Gustav, Hannah, and now Ike…with Josephine still swirling in the ocean?

You can help “re”act to this devastation by supporting the charities which are helping people in these poor nations as well as those in U.S. communities to recover and rebuild from the series of storms which have marked the 2008 Hurricane season. Please consider making your gift through one or more of the charities listed on the web site http://www.aidmatrixnetwork.org/fema/.

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Consider making use of St. John Chrysostom’s Prayer to Jesus before Holy Communion:

O Lord, my God, I am not worthy that you should come into my soul, but I am glad that you have come to me because in your loving kindness you desire to dwell in me. You ask me to open the door of my soul, which you alone have created, so that you may enter into it with your loving kindness and dispel the darkness of my mind. I believe that you will do this for you did not turn away Mary Magdalene when she approached you in tears. Neither did you withhold forgiveness from the tax collector who repented of his sins or from the good thief who asked to be received into your kingdom. Indeed, you numbered as your friends all who came to you with repentant hearts. O God, you alone are blessed always, now, and forever. Amen. St John Chrysostom, Bishop, Orator, Doctor