From
Fear
to
Love
Lenten Reflections on the
Parable of the Prodigal Son
by Henri J.M. Nouwen
(1932-1996)
(For Lent this year, a season of reflection and renewal,
I am forgoing the usual quotes and using only snippets from Henri
Nouwen found at
the site above in his “Reflections on the Parable of the Prodigal Son.”)
The parable tells of a wealthy landowner’s son
who leaves home and squanders his inheritance. When he returns destitute but
contrite, the father joyfully welcomes him, causing resentment in the dutiful
brother. The father explains that a celebration is warranted for “your brother
was dead, and is alive again.” We learn that God, like a loving parent, is
merciful and forgiving, that reconciliation with Him is a gift. That we should
not judge others, but rejoice when a sinner returns to His fold.
Temptation
In those days Jesus came from Nazareth of Galilee and was baptized by John in
the Jordan. And just as he was coming up out of the water, he saw the heavens
torn apart and the Spirit descending like a dove on him. And a voice came from
heaven, "You are my Son, the Beloved; with you I am well pleased."
And the Spirit immediately drove him out into the wilderness. He was in the wilderness forty days, tempted by
Satan; and he was with the wild
beasts; and the angels waited on him.
Now after John was arrested, Jesus came to Galilee, proclaiming the good news
of God, and saying, "The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God has
come near; repent, and believe in the good news."
Mark 1:9-15
Temptation
on the Mountain
DUCCIO di
Buoninsegna
1308-11
Tempera on wood
Frick
Collection, New York
Notes: Reverse
predella panel from the "Maestà"
http://www.biblical-art.com/artwork.asp?id_artwork=1282&showmode=Full
We are
only lost when we can be found.
Only in the light of goodness and forgiveness do
we discover that we are lost.
The older son in the prodigal son story didn’t
consider himself lost,
but when he was confronted with his brother’s
return
and the love of his father, he touched into his
lostness.
It’s a
real discipline to allow yourself to be forgiven, to be healed, to be given
something.
To believe that God wants to wipe out all your
guilt and give you a new heart and a new spirit is a challenge.
It’s hard to live in close relationships and to
discover that the greatest gift is often to receive.
It means you give up being in control and
respond by say, “Yeah, I need your help.”
When you make that conversion from being the strong
one to being the one who receives,
then real mutuality grows and love becomes real
and visible.
Dine-Around
this week at Mimi’s
Chef Mimi
Headless Woody,
Ann, Barb S., Mimi, Mike, Barb H., (and Al’s arm)
Sorry, Woody,
for cutting off your head.
Al and Barb
Male Call:
Quilts Made by Men
January 30 - April 28, 2012
Rocky
Mountain Quilt Museum
Golden,
Colorado
Carmon, from
our Wednesday Breakfast Group, had his quilt juried into the show.
Spring Comes to the Prairie
Carmon Slater
Evergreen,
Colorado
Another Time, Another Place
Michael D. Marsh
Marshall,
Missouri
Proud
grandparents Bill and Gail Frasier had a Breakfast Reception for their son,
Tim, his wife, Brenna, and their son, Quinn!
They were visiting here from their home in Nova Scotia where they are
both marine biology professors at St. Mary’s University. Tim is primarily interested in marine mammal
behavior.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G0sKgxE4R-8
At Book Club,
Tara served Devil’s Food Cake.
(But she didn’t
have a tail!)
If you read the Beatitudes
(Matthew 5:3-12), you see Jesus’ face and you
see through Jesus’ face the love of his Father.
Humble.
Poor. Meek. Peacemaker.
Hungry for justice and peace.
It is so important for you to see that Jesus
wants you to be more and more like that.
That’s the image of God that appears in flesh
among us.
The three
temptations in the desert were precisely to choose the “upward way.”
·
Be relevant: do something that the world can praise you for like
making bread out of the stones.
·
Be spectacular: jump from the tower so that everybody can see
you and you can be on television because you’re so influential, so important.
·
Be powerful: kneel before me and I will give you dominion over
all the lands.
But Jesus said, “No,” because he knew that God’s way is not to
be relevant, to be spectacular, or to be powerful.
February 26, 2012 First Sunday in Lent
Previous OPQs may be found at:
http://www.dotjack.com/opq.htm
All quotes are from Henri Nouwen.
Agnus Day, by James Wetzstein
Agnus Day appears with the permission of www.agnusday.org
http://www.heartlight.org/gallery/1145.html
Gen. 9:8–17
Ps. 25:1–10
1 Peter 3:18–22
Mark 1:9–15