For all of today’s readings: Click on today’s date at http://www.usccb.org/bible/
Sent out in the morning
Saturday December 3, 2016
First Week of Advent
Matthew 10:1,6-8
Jesus summoned his twelve disciples and gave them authority … and said to them, “Go out and say, ‘The kingdom of heaven is at hand.’ Then cure the sick, raise the dead, cleanse the lepers, drive out demons. Freely you have received, now freely give.”
Rather than being intimidated, I want to follow in the disciples’ footsteps. Freely I have received, so I can freely give. And whatever happens next is up to God.
I can say, “Can I pray for you right now?” God has poured out his blessing, his “authority,” and we can swim rejoicing. Like honey on our heads, his gift smells good, tastes good and feels good if we let it.
After they have been touched and filled with the power of God’s spirit, Peter and John pray for a crippled man. His healing excites everyone; “they were amazed and began to recognize them as having been with Jesus” (Acts 4:13).
My friend Ruth is a retail clerk. During the Christmas season she prays to carry God’s honey along with her for the often stressed out folks who she helps buy gifts. And on the good days, she says, she pours it right on their heads. Buying gifts is not easy. We don’t read each other’s minds all that well. Our expectations swing wildly from too high to too low. This is exhausting.
But sometimes Ruth pours out the honey and can just watch them relax and be glad. There are all kinds of giving, as Jesus told his disciples: carry your joy and share it, give up your time, let God love through you. Smile. Say thank you. Communicate respect.
Cure, heal, raise, cleanse, drive the evil out and pour on the honey.
Praise the Lord, for you are good. Blessed are we all who wait for you. On the day when you bind up our wounds, you heal the bruises left by your blows. We do not need to see the end, Lord, because you see it. We can rest in this moment, Lord, because we are resting in you. Because we have been freely given, we can freely give.
http://www.davesandel.net/category/lent-easter-devotions-2016/
http://www.christiancounselingservice.com/archived_devotions.php?article_id=1520
