Christians Today Should Bring Forth the Precious Without the Vile

Today's first reading at Mass contains a poignant verse from Jeremiah 15:19 (NAB)

Thus the LORD answered me: If you repent, so that I restore you, in my presence you shall stand; If you bring forth the precious without the vile, you shall be my mouthpiece. Then it shall be they who turn to you, and you shall not turn to them;

Jeremiah. Photo of a mosaic by Sacred Destinations on Flickr.

I was struck by the wording: Precious versus vile. Pure versus disgusting. Repentant sinner versus proud, audacious sinner.

Once again, the reality of being used as an instrument by the Lord hit me. God was telling Jeremiah to clean up his act -- to repent and stay pure -- so that the prophet could become effective in his ministry.

It's the same challenge given to Christians today. Turn to Him! Turn away from the vile!

Why? He can't use someone who hasn't turned away from sin, or someone who hasn't been restored into a loving relationship with his creator, or someone who decidedly chooses to abandon the Lord's presence because of sin.

He can only use someone who chooses the precious, the pure, the holy over the vile at any given moment. Someone who makes a conscious decision to eschew the vulgarity of the modern world in favor of the holiness of God's word and His sacraments.

Someone who chooses NOT to use curse words and instead chooses to praise God through good times and trials, just like Job.

Someone who chooses NOT to watch lewd television shows and instead chooses to read the word of God.

Someone who chooses to pray for those in need, to do acts of charity, to forebear insults, to accept persecution with joy, to fast from pride.

May we learn to revile the vulgarity around us and instead cling to the Lord for our sustenance and power so that, like Jeremiah, we may work to bring about God's kingdom.


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Are we usable instruments in the hand of God?

Are we usable instruments in the hand of God?

We threw out toothbrushes the other night, partly because the bristles were splayed and worn out, but mostly because they had molds growing on the bottom handle. A quick look into the cup that held the brushes gave us the culprit: stagnant water that had been there for months. Probably water that dripped down from wet toothbrushes, accumulating over a long period of time. Moldy, filthy water that contaminated anything in it, defiling these tools which we use to clean out the dirt on our teeth. Ironic how those cleaning tools were made useless once dirtied.

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Are we usable instruments in the hand of God? Are we allowing ourselves to be used by the Lord to build His kingdom? Hopefully the answer is yes to both. And yet, how can we be useful if we are not holy? If we are not clean?

Leviticus 11:44
For I, the LORD, am your God; and you shall make and keep yourselves holy, because I am holy.

Psalm 15:1-2
LORD, who may abide in your tent? Who may dwell on your holy mountain?
Whoever walks without blame, doing what is right, speaking truth from the heart;

The Lord will not use defiled instruments to acomplish His work. And neither will He bless you or answer your prayers if sin blackens your heart and resides in your life. Lent is a good time to return to the Lord. Step out of that filthy moldy water that has lain stagnant for ages, return to the Lord, and be used of God.

Lenten practices: not merely physical activity, but spiritual movement towards God

As Lent begins this week, another season of penance and return to the Lord is upon us. This is a time of abstinence from meat on Fridays, of fasting on Ash Wednesday and Good Friday, of ashes and sorrow for sins. It is a time given to us to concentrate on the finite-ness of our lives so we may more closely focus on the inifite life promised to us by Jesus, and on the infinite love of God the Father who waits for us prodigals to return to His arms from our wasteful and wicked living.

In this season however, be aware that actions are meaningless in and of themselves. If we abstain and fast and give to the poor without the proper attitude of love and obedience to God, then those actions mean little. The Lord has to be in it, in you, in your actions for them to be truly vibrant. If these are exercised without God's love, then they remain physical activities. God wants spiritual activity -- He wants your spirit to move twards Him.

Psalm 40: 7-9
...sacrifice and offering you do not want; but ears open to obedience you gave me. Holocausts and sin-offerings you do not require; so I said, "Here I am; your commands for me are written in the scroll. To do your will is my delight; my God, your law is in my heart!"

Ps 40:7-9 reminds us that sacrifice and offering aren't what the Lord wants. Instead, He wants ears of obedience and our availability. Hence the psalmist proclaims like Samuel, like Moses, like Mary: "Here I am!"

1 Cor 13: 3
If I give away everything I own, and if I hand my body over so that I may boast but do not have love, I gain nothing.

1 Corinthians 13:3 reminds us that giving away our things and self-mortification gives us nothing more than an empty pocket and a painful body if not done with love -- if not done for love of others and of God.

PRAYER
Lord, during these 40 days of Lent, allow us to give up all that does not help us turn back to you. Allow us to sacrifice these temporal things for love of you. Bless our efforts to hear your call daily and to be obedient, with ears that move our feet and hands towards Your Son.

Help us Lord not to do hollow practices with our bodies but to accomplish meaningful acts of love with our hearts -- so that what we give up, what we donate, what we fast and abstain from, may ultimately lighten our physical bodies from material baggage and allow our hearts may fly to You in love. May all this prompt us to serve You through the people around us, most especially the poor and the voiceless, the downtrodden and the persecuted.

And all these things we ask in the mighty name of Your son Jesus Christ, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit,one God forever and ever, Amen.

Confession, Kinda Like Extraction of Spiritual Tooth Decay

Reposted from Saturday, January 17th, 2009

I’m writing this in front of a computer with an ice pack tied to my head. I call it my hands-free redtooth device, put in place to reduce the swelling I’m experiencing from having two molars extracted. This is my physical body telling me it’s been brutalized.

My two upper 3rd molars were not being used for anything. They had no counterparts beneath them on which to grind on, and instead they were simply collecting dirt in pockets of food. In time, those molars would have slipped out anyway. My dentist advised me to get rid of them, thereby reducing any dirt collection areas they were hiding.

“104/365: I love the dentist.” Flickr photo by Betsssssy.

Miraculously, she extracted them in 5 minutes, painlessly. The injection was painless because her hands were steady. And the tooth extraction itself? She didn’t need forceps. Just one tool which looked a chisel, and 2 minutes per tooth. Wow. After all those painful extractions of my youth, this one was a miracle.

Until I got home, and the anesthesia wore off, and I was in pain that shot out like lightning bolts, from head to toe. Got the ice pack, filled it to the brim and lay down without eating. Slept it off. And now, a day later, it’s acting up again. So I administer the ice pack, and stick to the soft foods.

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Just this Monday, I went to the Sacrament of Reconciliation. It was just after the 7 AM Mass at our parish. I sat down with my pastor and parish priest and confessed my sins to God, through the priest (who is Our Lord’s stand-in), and he reminded me that loving is accepting without expectation (or, that I must “Love without counting,” as I’ve blogged about before). Harboring bitterness or expectations is not healthy, he told me. So, love without asking for anything in return. I sat in prayer before the tabernacle housing the ultimate expression of loving unconditionally.

I know I am forgiven because I believe that when Jesus instituted His church on earth, He gave the apostles the authority to bind and loose (Matthew 16:19), which is the authority to forgive sins and reconcile sinners with the church.

“confession.” Flickr photo by jovike.

Like my molar extraction, the pain hit me afterwards in the form of temptation. In my past year at my job, I’ve never felt more irritable than this week. And it’s been a struggle fighting it. It’s been tough going. But through God’s grace, things have been more than fine. Things have been taken care of. Prayer helps, and the daily reading of Scripture and the Catechism enriches me.

But see, I’m better off without the molars, just as I’m better off without the sins. And even if the physical body aches (molars) and is buffeted with temptation (spirit), I know in the end, that this is good for me. And this is how it should be.