TEEPLE.tv

Some days, the weight of existence is falls hard and reality sets in.  Growing up as a child of the 80’s, I watched a lot of TV and found solace in shows like Little House on the Prairie and movies like the Lost Boys and Lucas.

Two deaths have hit home hard this week.  Corey Haim died yesterday and today was Merle Olson.  For the uninitiated, Corey was an 80’s movie star who was age 38 at the time of his death yesterday.  Merle Olson, amongst playing in the NFL for the RAMS, also played in Little House on the Prairie and some other shows.

I also have a head cold which doesn’t enlighten my darkened mood.  I pray for both of their souls that they find the peace with GOD they could not have here.   Life is a many splendid thing and our existence is very short and fragile – how peaceful this world would be if we all understood that and embraced it.

Sad.

What is prayer?  What does it mean to you?

Is it a personal conduit to the Lord or a form of personal meditation?

Is it how you ask for things, or thank the maker for his gifts?

How do you use prayer?

Today’s reading is very interesting because it shows Jesus teaching his disciples how they should pray.  Not prayer for the sake of prayer, but a meaningful prayer that says it all – it praises God, asks for forgiveness, and prayers for guidance and understanding.  The reading is from Matthew 6:7-15

Jesus said to his disciples:

^7″And when you pray, do not keep on babbling like pagans, for they think they will be heard because of their many words. ⁸Do not be like them, for your Father knows what you need before you ask him.

⁹“This, then, is how you should pray:
” ‘Our Father in heaven,
hallowed be your name,
¹⁰your kingdom come,
your will be done
on earth as it is in heaven.
¹¹Give us today our daily bread.
¹²Forgive us our debts,
as we also have forgiven our debtors.
¹³And lead us not into temptation,
but deliver us from the evil one.^[a]‘

¹⁴For if you forgive men when they sin against you, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. ¹⁵But if you do not forgive men their sins, your Father will not forgive your sins.

Do you stand in church and prayer the Lord’s prayer with your heart, or your mouth.  I have found that my strength is within my relationship with God and that relationship is nourished by my ability to pray and pray often.  I also find that praying to God helps center my mind and even when I am troubled by events unfolding around me, a quick prayer and reflection help dig me out.

Jesus sat in the garden of Gethsemane and prayed to God about his future and the plans that were unfolding before him.  He prayed so hard that he sweat out blood.  You have to admit that this level of concentration and diligence in his prayers is reflective of the meaning behind his teachings written above.

I sit in church and the great thing about the Catholic church is that it is highly ritualized and that ritual has such majesty and beauty.  I don’t go to sit and fulfill and obligation.  I can find God on a nice walk in our local park, or while I am digging into the soil of my back yard.  My prayers are just as important in the privacy of my backyard as they are standing before a priest.

Do this:  take 2 minutes out of your day and Thank God that you woke up, that you got dressed, that you saw the sun rise another morning.  Embrace your existence as a blessing and give thanks to the one who gave it to you.

Thank you, God, for allowing me to share your Word with anyone who will read it.

Today marks the Holy Day of the Feast of The Chair of Saint Peter, the Apostle.  While we reflect through Lent, our yearning to strengthen our relationship with Jesus, we must take notice and also reflect upon the prophetic words and beauty, spoken by Jesus to Peter:

Peter 5:1-4

^13(A) Now when Jesus came into the district of Caesarea Philippi, he asked his disciples, “Who do people say that the Son of Man is?” ¹⁴And they said, “Some say^(B)John the Baptist, others say^(C) Elijah, and others Jeremiah or one of the prophets.”¹⁵He said to them, “But who do you say that I am?” ¹⁶Simon Peter replied,^(D) “You are^(E) the Christ,^(F) the Son of^(G) the living God.” ¹⁷And Jesus answered him, ^(H)“Blessed are you,^(I) Simon Bar-Jonah! For^(J) flesh and blood has not revealed this to you,^(K) but my Father who is in heaven. ¹⁸And I tell you,^(L) you are Peter, and^(M) on this rock^[a] I will build my church, and^(N) the gates of^(O) hell^[b] shall not prevail against it. ¹⁹I will give you^(P) the keys of the kingdom of heaven, and^(Q) whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed^[c] in heaven.”

To fully understand the above verse and the meaning behind it, we must have a rudimentary understanding of the time when Jesus lived – the political climate, if you would.  The Romans had been occupiers of Jewish homeland for years upon years, imposing taxes and their ideology upon all that they conquered.  There were, at this time, many zealots who appeared and spoke of GOD and preached of the coming of the messiah.  John the baptist, himself, was a prophet, baptizing and preaching about the one coming with fire to cleanse all.  Jesus came and taught a great multitude – preached about his father’s kingdom and perform miracles.  News of this ‘man’ spread widely amongst the Nation of Israel.  But the establishment in power had other plans for the Lord.

When Jesus spoke the above words, the proverbial writing was on the wall and the tide of favor by the common people was being turned by the religious leaders and he knew, the end was coming soon.

So Jesus asked his disciples, “Who do the people say that I am?”.  The disciples presented sound answers that were reasonable at the period given people’s expectations of a ‘holy’ presence.   None of the answers were bad – just not correct.  To be called Elijah or Jeremiah fit a lot of views at the time by the Jewish people of who the ‘messiah’ was supposed to be.

So, Jesus asked his disciples directly of who they thought he was?  This could have been answered a thousand different ways, but Simon simply said in a factual manner: “You are the Christ, the Son of the Living God.”

WOW!  You can’t blame Peter for being a direct-to-the-point type of guy.  Read that statement again:  YOU ARE THE CHRIST, THE SON OF THE LIVING GOD!

A factual statement – no, a revelation.  You are the Christ.  And with this statement, Simon is forever altered and changed.  Jesus addresses him and says that he is blessed and that NO MAN HAS SAID THIS, but that this revelation has been granted to him BY GOD DIRECTLY!  This is important.  It wasn’t Simon who said, “I think you are… ”  or “We talked and we think you are…”, but “YOU ARE…”!

Jesus goes on to say that “You shall be called PETER, and on this ROCK I will build my church”.

I believe Jesus is telling Peter (notice I no longer call him Simon) that his statement is the rock upon which his church will be built.  Is not Peter’s statement, in fact, a dogmatic truth of our religion?

To build our faith and grow with the Lord, we too must have a strong foundation from which we can build our relationship with God.  This foundation begins with Peter’s words:  You are the Christ, the Son of the living God!  With this, our relationship, our community, our church will have all the foundation necessary to grow and flourish.