REDEMPTION

REDEMPTION ҂ PAYMENT

REDEMPTION = REWARD

REDEMPTION = LIFE PROCESS

Consecration of Firstborn.

1

The LORD spoke to Moses and said:

2 Consecrate to me every firstborn; whatever opens the womb among the Israelites, whether of human being or beast, belongs to me.

3 Moses said to the people, “Remember this day on which you came out of Egypt, out of a house of slavery. For it was with a strong hand that the LORD brought you out from there. Nothing made with leaven may be eaten.

4 This day on which you are going out is in the month of Abib.

5 Therefore, when the LORD, your God, has brought you into the land of the Canaanites, the Hittites, the Amorites, the Perrizites, the Girgashites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites, which he swore to your ancestors to give you, a land flowing with milk and honey, you will perform the following service in this month.

6 For seven days you will eat unleavened bread, and the seventh day will also be a festival to the LORD.

7 Unleavened bread may be eaten during the seven days, but nothing leavened and no leaven may be found in your possession in all your territory.

8 And on that day you will explain to your son, ‘This is because of what the LORD did for me when I came out of Egypt.’

9 It will be like a sign on your hand and a reminder on your forehead, so that the teaching of the LORD will be on your lips: with a strong hand the LORD brought you out of Egypt.

10 You will keep this statute at its appointed time from year to year.

11 “When the LORD, your God, has brought you into the land of the Canaanites, just as he swore to you and your ancestors, and gives it to you,

12 d you will dedicate to the LORD every newborn that opens the womb; and every firstborn male of your animals will belong to the LORD.

13 Every firstborn of a donkey you will ransom with a sheep. If you do not ransom it, you will break its neck. Every human firstborn of your sons you must ransom.

14 And when your son asks you later on, ‘What does this mean?’ you will tell him, ‘With a strong hand the LORD brought us out of Egypt, out of a house of slavery.

15 When Pharaoh stubbornly refused to let us go, the LORD killed every firstborn in the land of Egypt, the firstborn of human being and beast alike. That is why I sacrifice to the LORD every male that opens the womb, and why I ransom every firstborn of my sons.’

16 It will be like a sign on your hand and a band on your forehead that with a strong hand the LORD brought us out of Egypt.”

                                                                Exodus, chapter 13

Redemption is not a one time payment that gets us off the hook because the Son of God died for us.  Redemption is a continual relationship with the Son of God who like Isaac and Moses was given a higher form of life that He shares with us at every moment of our existence.

Redemption does not come from the sacrificial act of dying for us.  No.  Even that is not a high enough price for us to be redeemed.  We are redeemed in the fulfillment of the law dictated to Moses that the first born human son had to be redeemed.  God would have violated his own law had He sacrificed His first born Son, once and for all.  How could we be redeemed by an act that would be a disobedience of the law by the very one who had promulgated it?

Abraham could not sacrifice Isaac for the good of the descendants of his father because Abraham did not have the authority to raise Isaac to a universal, life giving existence.

Moses had to live a human life for the salvation of the people so that they could all get their reward.  Moses did not just save the human lives of the people, but continues now, by the Grace of God, to serve as a spiritual sign for their well-being.  Sadly, they do not recognize the life that being redeemed gives.

It has a special meaning when we call Jesus the Lamb of God.  He is the One Human Being whom God Himself sacrificed as His first born, unblemished male offspring.  God did what he could, and the real mystery of redemption is that God the Father found to a way to sacrifice His First Born Son, redeem His human sons in the process and exult His Son and His people to a new level of life beyond the sacrifice. 

Yes, Jesus, human and divine, was sacrificed and redeemed by His Father and in the process they redeemed their people. 

This is not a difficult conclusion to reach for the human who is open to listening to the words of Jesus peppered all through the Gospel.  There are at least two ways to say that “Whoever saves his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life will save it.”  (Matt. 6:25 | 10:39 | 16:25.

Mark 8:35 and Luke 9:22 – 27)  It is sure that in that mix there are some first born males to be found.  Also, for sure, some first born females are a part of that wondrous mix.  ALL of whom are told the same thing, that it is in and through the sacrifice of Jesus joined to ours that we are redeemed.  God the Father and God the Son have shown us the way to do it.  You heard me right, it is a WAY to do it, not a $1,000,000,000,000,000.00 ransom.  It is the WAY to the LIFE lived in the LIGHT of the TRUTH. (John 14, 6)

You see, our Redemption is the complete package of Sacrifice and Resurrection.  Our Redemption is a life consecrated and dedicated to God the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit.  Our Redemption is the grace of living life in an on-going relationship with The ONE who gave His life so that He might find a better one.  By doing this He taught us that His promise is true, “Lose it to Find it.”

This is not a single historical event that took place in a small country of the Middle East 2,000 years ago. This is the on-going, dynamic history of Salvation that has been going on now for thousands of years.  God, His Son and His Holy Spirit are outside of history.  We err when we use history to define God.  We err when we reduce the existence and the acts of Jesus to carpentry and ransom aimed at “Redeeming” us.  Redemption is much more than being sprung out on bail.  Redemption is participating in the sacrifice of the Lamb in obedience to the Father (The Holy Eucharist) in order to have the spiritual strength and enlightenment (Their Holy Spirit) to live a life of missionary zeal as their apostles in their company.

It is a rare moment when I write more than 1,000 words.  One of you got me going on this the other night.  I figured that if I write something long enough, I’ll have time to do something else while you all spend time reading this.

Before I call down God’s blessing of peace and joy on you all I insist on reminding you to not even think of crying at my funeral.

My daily life is filled with many thoughts.  There are so many that I cannot hope to act on every one of them.  However there are some that capture me so much force that I cannot let them escape without comment.

I have many biblical heroes.  I visit them and revisit them often in the course of a week.  It is my way of praying.  When I am sitting there sipping tea and talking to Abraham, Noah or Moses, I can’t help but be moved toward God.  Samuel, Nathan and Elijah are very special to me as well. 

When I analyze it while standing in front of the mirror after a shower, I always come up with the same conclusion:  I love these people because they were not afraid to talk to God frankly.  He talked to them frankly and they talked back to him the same way.  That is captivating in itself.  However, what I find much more captivating is that after the conversation, all my heroes did what God asked of them.  It didn’t matter how well or how badly life was going for them.   When God wanted something, He knew whom He could trust.  It is so penetratingly powerful to see the will power that these heroic individuals called up in order to obey their loving Heavenly Father.  

It is from that holy communion of heavenly dwellers that our Blessed Mother Mary came to visit us one day 169 years ago in the French Alps.  She too was on a mission.  She came to remind us that obedience is the first and most important response to Faith.  Faith is a God given grace that requires our “Yes.”  Actually it requires two “yeses.”  Yes, God, I believe; Yes, God, I’ll do it.  She puts it very squarely on our shoulders, “Unless you submit, I will be forced to let fall the arm of my Son.”  That’s the key.  Obey.  If you really believe, obey.  From the moment of creation, we are called to obey.  Listen,

Adam, name all this stuff;

Adam, don’t eat from that tree;

Noah, build me an ark;

Abram, come and follow me, I want to show you where I want you;

Abram, circumcise all the males around you;

Abraham, go to Sodom and Gomorrah and take the righteous people out;

Moses, go talk to pharaoh;

Moses, tell my people to get ready to leave;

Moses, get my people out of there.

I could go on, but you get the point.  The entire relationship between God and us is one of give and take, take and give.  Get used to it, it was ever thus and it will be ever thus.  Live by it and live happily ever after, here below and there above.  That’s what our Mother says.  She should know, look what she did.  She was so good at it that even her Son gave her the honor of obeying her here below.  Let’s obey Him so that He will be so pleased with us that He won’t mind bending down to help us through the challenge of being human.

 LA FOI ET L’OBÉISSANCE SONT 

ENTRELACÉES POUR L’ÉTERNITÉ

Ma vie quotidienne est remplie de beaucoup de pensées. Il y en a tellement que je ne peux pas espérer prendre compte de chacune d'elles. Cependant, il y en a certaines qui me capturent avec tant de force que je ne peux pas les laisser passer sans commentaire.

J'ai beaucoup de héros bibliques. Je leur rends visite et je les revisite souvent au cours d'une semaine. C'est ma façon de prier. Quand je suis assis là, sirotant un thé et parlant à Abraham, Noé ou Moïse, je ne peux pas m'empêcher d'être trahi vers Dieu. Samuel, Nathan et Elie sont aussi très spécial pour moi.

Quand j'analyse le tout quand je me trouve devant le miroir, je reviens toujours a la même conclusion: J'aime ces gens parce qu'ils n'avaient pas peur de parler a Dieu franchement. Il leur parlait franchement et ils lui répondaient de la même façon. Ce qui est captivant en soi. Cependant, ce que je trouve beaucoup plus captivant est que, après la conversation, tous mes héros ont fait ce que Dieu s’attendait d'eux. Il n'y avait pas d'importance comment bien ou comment mal vie allait pour eux en ces moments la. Quand Dieu voulait quelque chose, il savait en qui il pouvait avoir confiance. Il est si admirable de voir la volonté que ces personnes héroïques exercèrent afin d'obéir à leur Père céleste .

C'est à partir de cette sainte communion des habitants du paradis que notre Sainte Mère Marie est venue nous rendre visite un jour il ya 169 ans dans les Alpes françaises. Elle aussi était en mission. Elle est venue nous rappeler que l'obéissance est la première et la plus importante réponse à la foi. "Oui."  La foi est une grâce donnée par Dieu qui exige de nous une réaction, un dynamisme. Elle requière deux « Ouis, » Dieu, je crois ;  « Oui, » Dieu, je vais le faire.  Notre Sainte Mère pose le défi de la foi très carrément sur nos épaules, «Si vous ne vous soumettez pas, je serai obligée de laisser tomber le bras de mon Fils. »  C'est la clé.  Obéir. Si vous croyez vraiment, obéissez.

A partir du moment de la création, nous sommes appelés à obéir .

Écoutez,

Adam, nomme toutes ces choses;

Adam, ne pas mange de cet arbre;

Noé , me construire une arche;

Abram, viens et suis-moi, je veux te montrer où je te veux;

Abram, circoncis tous les mâles autour de toi;

Abraham, va à Sodome et Gomorrhe et prends les justes en fuite avec toi ;

Moïse, va parler à Pharaon ;

Moïse, dis à mon peuple de se préparer à partir ;

Moïse, prends mon peuple et sortez de là.

Je pourrais continuer, mais vous voyez clairement ce que je veux dire.  L’ensemble des relations entre Dieu et nous est l'un des données et des reprises, des reprises et des données.  Is faut s’y habituer, il a toujours été ainsi et ce sera toujours ainsi. Il faut apprendre comment vivre dans ce rythme.  Qui vit selon la cadence divine vit heureux pour toujours, ici-bas et là-haut. C'est ce que dit notre Mère. Elle devrait savoir, regardez ce qu'elle a fait. Elle était si bonne et si bien ajustée que même son fils lui a fait l'honneur de lui obéir ici-bas. Obéissons-lui afin qu'il soit si heureux de voir notre façon de vivre qu'il ne s'en voudra pas de s’enfiler un tablier pour nous aider à relever le défi de bien vivre notre vie humaine.

THE STARS OF THE SKY, THE GRAINS OF THE BEACH SAND

La foi naît de l'appel de Dieu. Personne ne peut prendre le crédit pour la foi  et la conversion.personnelles. Ce n'était pas Abraham qui a pris l'initiative de partir ou d'inventer une nouvelle façon de servir Dieu. Ni Dieu l'a-t-il inviter avec une proposition qu'il pouvait contester avec sa propre opinion. Dieu l'a appelé à l'impératif et c'est de la même manière que les prophètes et les saints glorieux ont été appelés.
C'est de cette façon que Dieu les a libérés. En conséquence du péché, tous les êtres humains naissent et vivent dans la terre étrangère du péché. La plénitude de notre réalité personnelle n'est pas fondée sur Dieu aussi longtemps que nous ne sommes pas en communion avec Lui. Nos religions et nos idéologies qui sont les produits de notre culture ne nous permettent pas de dépasser les limites d'un monde que nous faisons par et pour nous-mêmes, selon la mesure de nos propres ressources. Afin que nous puissions tirer pleinement conscience de notre appel, il est nécessaire que Dieu nous appelle et que nous acceptions l'invitation à sortir du cercle fatal.

La foi nous met au service de la volonté de Dieu, qui est de sauver l'humanité. Il est possible que pour un moment Dieu nous attire avec une faveur personnelle, mais sous peu, il nous insère dans ses projets à la fin de sauver le monde. Afin de suivre le Christ et faire partie de son peuple élu, il est nécessaire de croire aux promesses que Dieu a faites à son peuple. Dieu nous a prédestinés à être le levain et la lumière du monde.

La foi exige une rupture. Elle nous oblige à regarder de l'avant sans nostalgie de la chaleur et le confort du sein maternel. Les êtres humains se développent en surmontant «crise» après «crise» dans la vie. Ils quittent leur famille, vont travailler, se marient ... La foi nous donne la force de faire face à ces ruptures avec optimisme et nous amène au point où nous pouvons affronter de plus douloureuses. Ce processus nous permet d'entrer plus profondément dans le service de Dieu. La foi est le plus grand moyen par lequel les humains grandissent dans la maturité.

La foi d'Abraham nous enseigne la différence entre l'homme terrestre qui construit sa vie selon les normes de la sagesse humaine et croit qu'il sait où il va, et la personne de la foi qui cherche les signes de Dieu afin de voir où Dieu veut que la voie à suivre doit être. Pour toute une vie, l'homme de foi est un errant, un pèlerin cherchant une justice supérieure, la justice pure et une plus grande perfection que celle qui est le produit de confection purement humaine.

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FAITH –

Faith is born of a call from God.  No one can take the credit for personal faith and conversion.  It was not Abraham who took the initiative to leave or to invent a new way to serve God.  Neither did God invite him with a proposal that he could contest with his own opinion.  God called him in the imperative and this is the same way that the glorious prophets and saints were called.

It is in this way that God freed us.   As a consequence of sin, all humans are born and live in the foreign land of sin.  The fullness of our personal reality is not grounded in God for as long as we are not in communion with Him.  Our religions and our ideologies as products of our culture do not permit us to transcend the limits of a world that we make by and for ourselves according to the measure of our own resources.   In order for us to take full conscience of our call, it is necessary for God to call us and that we accept the invitation to escape the fatal circle.

Faith places us in the service of God’s will which is to save humanity.  It is possible that for a moment God attracts us with a personal favor, but then he inserts us into His specific projects to the end of saving the world.  In order to follow Christ and be a part of His Chosen People, it is necessary to believe in the promises that God made to His people.  God destined us to be the yeast and the light of the world.

Faith requires a breaking away.  It obliges us to look forward without yearning for the warmth and comfort of the womb.  Humans grow by overcoming “crisis” after “crisis” in life.  They leave their family, go to work, get married… Faith gives us the strength to confront these ruptures with optimism and brings us to the point where we can confront more painful ones.  This process allows us to enter more deeply into the service of God.  Faith is the greatest medium through which humans grow into maturity.

The Faith of Abraham teaches us the difference between earthly human who construct their lives according to the standards of human wisdom and believe that they know where they are going, and the person of faith who seeks the signs of god in order to see where God wills the path forward to be.  For an entire life, the person of faith is a wanderer,  a pilgrim seeking higher righteousness, purer justice and greater perfection than that which is the product of purely human confection.

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La fe nace de una llamada de Dios. No se puede tomar el crédito por la fe personal y la conversión. No fue Abraham quien tomó la iniciativa de salir de su tierra o de inventar una nueva manera de servir a Dios. Tampoco Dios lo invitó con una propuesta que podría disputar con su propia opinión. Dios lo llamó en el imperativo y es de la misma manera que los gloriosos profetas y los santos fueron llamados.

Es de esta manera que Dios nos liberó. Como consecuencia del pecado, todos los seres humanos nacen y viven en el país extranjero del pecado. La plenitud de nuestra realidad personal no se basa en Dios por el tiempo que no estamos en comunión con él. Nuestras religiones e ideologías como nuestros productos de nuestra cultura no nos permiten trascender los límites de un mundo que hacemos por y para nosotros mismos de acuerdo a la medida de nuestros propios recursos. Para que podamos tomar conciencia plena de nuestra llamada, es necesario que Dios nos llama y que aceptamos la invitación a salir del círculo fatal.

La fe nos pone al servicio de la voluntad de Dios que ha por fin de salvar a la humanidad. Es posible que por un momento que Dios nos atrae con un favor personal, pero luego nos inserta en sus proyectos específicos a fin de salvar al mundo. Con el fin de seguir a Cristo y ser una parte de su pueblo elegido, es necesario creer en las promesas que Dios hizo a su pueblo. Dios nos predestinó a ser la levadura y la luz del mundo.

La fe requiere una ruptura. Esto nos obliga a mirar hacia adelante sin anhelo de la calidez y el conforte del seno maternal. Los seres humanos crecen mediante la superación de "crisis" después de "crisis" en la vida. Dejan su familia, van a trabajar, se casan ... La fe nos da la fuerza para aguantar estas rupturas con optimismo y nos lleva al punto en que podemos enfrentar las más dolorosas. Este proceso nos permite entrar más profundamente en el servicio de Dios. La fe es el mejor medio a través del cual los seres humanos se convierten en su madurez.

La fe de Abraham nos enseña la diferencia entre los hombres terrenal que construyen sus vidas de acuerdo a los estándares de la sabiduría humana y creen que saben a dónde van, y la persona de fe que busca los signos de Dios con el fin de ver dónde Dios quiere indicar el rumbo a seguir.  Por toda una vida, la persona de fe es un errante, un peregrino que busca mayor justicia, justicia más pura y una mayor perfección de la que es el producto de confección meramente humana.

FAITH, NOT FOR JUST A YEAR, BUT FOR A LIFETIME

Faith is born of a call from God.  No one can take the credit for personal faith and conversion.  It was not Abraham who took the initiative to leave or to invent a new way to serve God.  Neither did God invite him with a proposal that he could contest with his own opinion.  God called him in the imperative and this is the same way that the glorious prophets and saints were called.

It is in this way that God freed them.   As a consequence of sin, all humans are born and live in the foreign land of sin.  The fullness of our personal reality is not grounded in God for as long as we are not in communion with Him.  Our religions and our ideologies as products of our culture do not permit us to transcend the limits of a world that we make by and for ourselves according to the measure of our own resources.   In order for us to take full conscience of our call, it is necessary for God to call us and that we accept the invitation to escape the fatal circle.

Faith places us in the service of God’s will which is to save humanity.  It is possible that for a moment God attracts us with a personal favor, but then he inserts us into His specific projects to the end of saving the world.  In order to follow Christ and be a part of His Chosen People, it is necessary to believe in the promises that God made to His people.  Godz destined us to be the yeast and the light of the world.

Faith requires a breaking away.  It obliges us to look forward without yearning for the warmth and comfort of the womb.  Humans grow by overcoming “crisis” after “crisis” in life.  They leave their family, go to work, get married… Faith gives us the strength to confront these ruptures with optimism and brings us to the point where we can confront more painful ones.  This process allows us to enter more deeply into the service of God.  Faith is the greatest medium through which humans grow into maturity.

The Faith of Abraham teaches us the difference between earthly human who construct their lives according to the standards of human wisdom and believe that they know where they are going, and the person of faith who seeks the signs of god in order to see where God wills the path forward to be.  For an entire life, the person of faith is a wanderer,  a pilgrim seeking higher righteousness, purer justice and greater perfection than that which is the product of purely human confection.

YOU CANNOT SERVE TWO MASTERS -- $$$$, AND ???

A couple of thoughts about the effect of wealth on people.  Nothing serious, just some opining of two people who heard the same talk in church the other day.
We both noticed that with all the talk about wealth not being important in life, God sure knew how to pick the wealthy to help Him get established.  The Bible makes no bones about making the point that Abraham was a well heeled dude.  You can look it up.  This guy wasn't worried where his next air conditioned camel payment was coming from.  Abraham is not the only one of God's helpers who had a shekel or two to his name.  It is striking how often we are shown in the Bible that rich people are the instruments of God's work.  
Even Jesus picked people who were comfortable enough in life to be able to spare the time to help Him achieve His objective.  True, the apostles left everything, but I'm convinced that their wives and other relatives took care of the patrimony while they were walking all over Galilee with the Master.  After all, these people were fishermen.  They were far from hurting.  As Peter said, "We have left everything."  Right on.  You left it, but it continued in the hands of the extended family.  I'd bet on it.
So,what's the secret?  I'll tell you.  Two things:  Relationships first, plus, You can't take it with you.
Consider first what it took for the true followers of God to be considered righteous in His sight.  They had to leave their country (birthplace, most times), their kindred and their father's house.  They had to replace this with a sincere and loving intimate relationship with God.  Abraham is the first true example of this.  Through the ages there are many examples of exactly the same kind of heroic behavior in the name of God and for the sake of His Will.  The Judges did it; the Kings; the Prophets; the Apostles and the Post-Resurrection disciples of Jesus.  Some of them did it despite a rather high degree of economic comfort.  Jesus, it is true, left a lot behind.  Joseph was a craftsman.  He could support a family.  There do not seem to be any truly rich people in the Gospel Entourage, but there does not seem to be any real poverty either.  What there is, is a complete detachment from economic comfort and a total dedication to making life spiritually more comfortable for the members of the community.  When the emissaries of John ask Jesus, "Are you the One who is to come or should we await another?"  We hear Jesus say, "Go tell him who sent you that the deaf hear, the blind see and the lame walk."  
Yep, they were comfortable economically, but they were nervous about the well-being of their peers. Not so much for their own.  They left their comfort behind knowing full well that it was gone for the rest of their life.   So now we know what is expected of us.  Use the little cushion of comfort that God gives us to make our brothers and sisters in the communion of saints at least as comfortable as we are.  It starts with the recognition that we have to leave those three bold things behind to live in God's Country, with God as our Father, in God Our Father's house.
Tomorrow, some real life examples.