Friday, August 31, 2007

Today’s text

Luke 13:14-16

But the leader of the synagogue, indignant because Jesus had cured her on the sabbath, kept saying to the crowd, “There are six days on which work ought to be done; come on those days and be cured, and not on the sabbath day.” But the Lord answered him and said, “You hypocrites! Does not each of you on the Sabbath day untie his ox or his donkey from the manger, and lead it away to give it water? And ought not this woman, a daughter of Abraham whom Satan bound for eighteen long years, be set free from bondage on the Sabbath day?”

Prayer

I want this day to be holy, blessed Friend. I want every day to be holy not just the sabbath. So come near to us, for there is no holiness without you.

Time and space, moments and years are made holy when they glisten with your presence. They are holy when, in blessed awareness, I stand in the presence of that which my mind cannot gather in, when I bask in this river of love and joy that overwhelms my senses and overflows the heart when I know your presence.

I have tasted your holiness, Jesus. And I know: Holiness is not marked by good order. It startles and surprises. It wears unsuspected and unsuspecting faces. It does not prefer convention. Nor does it appear on my time table or when we have carefully observed the protocols with which we try to ensure decency and respect. It has nothing to do with rules and regulations or with the moral and intellectual accomplishments of which we are unduly proud.

Holiness is revealed solely in who you are and the healing of life that blossoms in the warmth of your nearness.

You are holy, my Jesus, you alone, in the blessed Trinity of whose beauty you are the face. Days and moments, time and space share in your holiness as they are filled with your healing love. Divine love and the joyous freedom it unleashes are the marks of true sanctity; anything else is an imposter to be cast out.

So let your nearness wash over us, Jesus, that we may bask in that holiness of life and love that heals our hearts and the heart of a wounded world.

Pr. David L. Miller