COLLECT FOR THE DAY

Lord, you have taught us that all our doings, without love are, nothing worth:
send your Holy Spirit and pour into our hearts that most excellent gift of love, the true bond of peace and of all virtues, without which whoever lives is counted dead before you.
Grant this for your only Son Jesus Christ's sake, who is alive and reigns with you, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever.

Morning Masses:

FIRST READING
1 Kings 19.1-15a

A reading from the first book of Kings.
Ahab told Jezebel all that Elijah had done, and how he had killed all the prophets with the sword. Then Jezebel sent a messenger to Elijah, saying, 'So may the gods do to me, and more also, if I do not make your life like the life of one of them by this time tomorrow.'
Then he was afraid; he got up and fled for his life, and came to Beer-sheba, which belongs to Judah; he left his servant there. But he himself went a day's journey into the wilderness, and came and sat down under a solitary broom tree.
He asked that he might die: 'It is enough; now, O LORD, take away my life, for I am no better than my ancestors.' Then he lay down under the broom tree and fell asleep.
Suddenly an angel touched him and said to him, 'Get up and eat.' He looked, and there at his head was a cake baked on hot stones, and a jar of water. He ate and drank, and lay down again.
The angel of the LORD came a second time, touched him, and said, 'Get up and eat, otherwise the journey will be too much for you.' He got up, and ate and drank; then he went in the strength of that food forty days and forty nights to Horeb the mount of God. At that place he came to a cave, and spent the night there.
Then the word of the LORD came to him, saying, 'What are you doing here, Elijah?'
He answered, 'I have been very zealous for the LORD, the God of hosts; for the Israelites have forsaken your covenant, thrown down your altars, and killed your prophets with the sword. I alone am left, and they are seeking my life, to take it away.'
He said, 'Go out and stand on the mountain before the LORD, for the LORD is about to pass by.'
Now there was a great wind, so strong that it was splitting mountains and breaking rocks in pieces before the LORD, but the LORD was not in the wind; and after the wind an earthquake, but the LORD was not in the earthquake; and after the earthquake a fire, but the LORD was not in the fire; and after the fire a sound of sheer silence. When Elijah heard it, he wrapped his face in his mantle and went out and stood at the entrance of the cave.
Then there came a voice to him that said, 'What are you doing here, Elijah?'
He answered, 'I have been very zealous for the LORD, the God of hosts; for the Israelites have forsaken your covenant, thrown down your altars, and killed your prophets with the sword. I alone am left, and they are seeking my life, to take it away.'
Then the LORD said to him, 'Go, return on your way to the wilderness of Damascus; when you arrive, you shall anoint Hazael as king over Aram.'

PSALM
Psalms 42 and 43

RR I will yet give thanks to him who is the help of my countenance, and my God.
1 As the deer longs for the water-brooks, so longs my soul for you, O God.
2 My soul is athirst for God, athirst for the living God; when shall I come to appear before the presence of God?
3 My tears have been my food day and night, while all day long they say to me, 'Where now is your God?' RR
4 I pour out my soul when I think on these things: how I went with the multitude and led them into the house of God,
5 With the voice of praise and thanksgiving, among those who keep holy-day.
6 Why are you so full of heaviness, O my soul? and why are you so disquieted within me? RR
7 Put your trust in God; for I will yet give thanks to him, who is the help of my countenance, and my God.
8 My soul is heavy within me; therefore I will remember you from the land of Jordan, and from the peak of Mizar among the heights of Hermon.
9 One deep calls to another in the noise of your cataracts; all your rapids and floods have gone over me.
10 The Lord grants his loving-kindness in the daytime; in the night season his song is with me, a prayer to the God of my life. RR
11 I will say to the God of my strength, 'Why have you forgotten me? and why do I go so heavily while the enemy oppresses me?'
12 While my bones are being broken, my enemies mock me to my face;
13 All day long they mock me, say to me, 'Where now is your God?'
14 Why are you so full of heaviness, O my soul? and why are you so disquieted within me? RR
15 Put your trust in God; for I will yet give thanks to him, who is the help of my countenance, and my God.
1 Give judgement for me, O God, and defend my cause against an ungodly people; deliver me from the deceitful and the wicked.
2 For you are the God of my strength; why have you put me from you? and why do I go so heavily while the enemy oppresses me? RR
3 Send out your light and your truth, that they may lead me, and bring me to your holy hill and to your dwelling;
4 That I may go to the altar of God, to the God of my joy and gladness; and on the harp I will give thanks to you, O God my God.
5 Why are you so full of heaviness, O my soul? and why are you so disquieted within me? RR
6 Put your trust in God; for I will yet give thanks to him, who is the help of my countenance, and my God.


SECOND READING
Galatians 3.23-29

A reading from the letter of Paul to the Galatians.
Before faith came, we were imprisoned and guarded under the law until faith would be revealed. Therefore the law was our disciplinarian until Christ came, so that we might be justified by faith.
But now that faith has come, we are no longer subject to a disciplinarian, for in Christ Jesus you are all children of God through faith.
As many of you as were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ; There is no longer Jew or Greek, there is no longer slave or free, there is no longer male and female; for all of you are one in Christ Jesus.
And if you belong to Christ, then you are Abraham's offspring, heirs according to the promise.


GOSPEL
Luke 8.26-39

Hear the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ according to Luke.
Jesus and his disciples arrived at the country of the Gerasenes, which is opposite Galilee.
As he stepped out on land, a man of the city who had demons met him. For a long time he had worn no clothes, and he did not live in a house but in the tombs.
When he saw Jesus, he fell down before him and shouted at the top of his voice,
'What have you to do with me, Jesus, Son of the Most High God? I beg you, do not torment me' - for Jesus had commanded the unclean spirit to come out of the man.
(For many times it had seized him; he was kept under guard and bound with chains and shackles, but he would break the bonds and be driven by the demon into the wilds.)
Jesus then asked him, 'What is your name?'
He said, 'Legion'; for many demons had entered him. They begged him not to order them to go back into the abyss.
Now there on the hillside a large herd of swine was feeding; and the demons begged Jesus to let them enter these. So he gave them permission. Then the demons came out of the man and entered the swine, and the herd rushed down the steep bank into the lake and was drowned.
When the swineherds saw what had happened, they ran off and told it in the city and in the country.
Then people came out to see what had happened, and when they came to Jesus, they found the man from whom the demons had gone sitting at the feet of Jesus, clothed and in his right mind. And they were afraid. Those who had seen it told them how the one who had been possessed by demons had been healed.
Then all the people of the surrounding country of the Gerasenes asked Jesus to leave them; for they were seized with great fear. So he got into the boat and returned.
The man from whom the demons had gone begged that he might be with him; but Jesus sent him away, saying, 'Return to your home, and declare how much God has done for you.' So he went away, proclaiming throughout the city how much Jesus had done for him.


POST COMMUNION PRAYER

Loving Father, we thank you for feeding us at the supper of your Son:
sustain us with your Spirit, that we may serve you here on earth until our joy is complete in heaven, and we share in the eternal banquet with Jesus Christ our Lord.

Reuben's Theme:

"Forward in Faith."

+ In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, Amen.

Hostility, conflict, confusion, disappointment, fear, depression, anxiety, loneliness and much more...

It's all in our psalm and readings today.

In our first reading, Elijah flees south to the Sinai desert for fear of his life.

Why?

Well, Ahab was King of Israel.

Religious life in Israel reached an all time low in Ahab's 22 year reign.

He, and his thoroughly evil wife Jezebel of Tyre, introduced the corrupt worship of the god Melqart - known to us as 'Baal'.

Into this crisis situation, God sent Elijah...
...the greatest of all the prophets according to Matthew - in chapter 17 of his gospel.

Elijah had shown Baal to be no god and had converted the false prophets, leading to the present situation with Jezebel after revenge.

In last weeks first reading we were given an advanced foretaste, from chapter 21, to show of the type of people Ahab and Jezebel were.

Last week, we were shown how Ahab wanted Naboth's vineyard, and went about trying to buy it honestly and legitimately, but Naboth didn't want to sell, so Ahab gave up and went into a sulk.
When Jezebel got wind of this, she created an evil plot and had Naboth killed.
With Naboth out of the equation, Ahab did what he was told, by Jezebel, and took possession of the vineyard.

Ahab was weak and easily led.
Jezebel was greedy, wicked and manipulative and totally evil.

In our reading today; Elijah is on the run...
...hiding in the south...
...in the Sinai desert.

Spiritual and physical strain leave Elijah in the grip of...
...depression...
...fear...
...and disappointment.

Our psalm today, is actually two psalms, but psalms 42 and 43 certainly originated as a single poem.

The psalmist is in exile, this time in the north - the River Jordan rises near the foot of Mt. Hermon on Israel's northern border.

He is surrounded by godless men who mock his faith.

Deeply dispirited, he looks back on past joys - when he went with the multitude and led them into the house of God.

Full of anxiety he reflects on the contrast between the past and the unhappy present.

He is longing for God's presence.
Just as Elijah was longing for God's presence.

Elijah was in the right place though...
...Mount Horeb.
That's where God made himself known to Moses.

And sure enough, God speaks to Elijah.

So...

Does God speak out of the great wind that was so strong it was splitting mountains?

No.

Does God speak out of the great earthquake?

No.

Does God speak out of the burning fire? (that's what he did for Moses).

No.

Does God speak to Elijah out of the stillness of sheer silence?

Could be....!!??!!    © Hong Kong Phooey? :-)

Self-pity is dealt with...

...a sense of proportion restored...

...and the path ahead mapped out.

Elijah had felt himself intolerably alone, his work finished.
But he is given a companion and successor...
...Elisha.

The way forward is shown to Elijah in the stillness...
...the order...
...the calm.

Elisha is to be 'anointed', 'called to become a prophet', by Elijah's symbolic action in throwing his cloak around him, in a few verses after our reading today ends.

So, God's work goes on - and it is destined that Elisha will eventually take things forward in Elijah's place.

For our psalmist...
Black as things are, faith and hope still break through...
Put your trust in God; for I will give thanks to him, who is the help of my countenance, and my God.

For Elijah...

Putting his trust in God and hearing God's word, God's message, in the silence and stillness of calmness, rather than the chaotic and violent actions and forces of nature - all nature, leads to the just, and true, way that God wishes Israel to go forward in their faith.

In our Gospel reading today, we hear the story continue from last week:

The stormy crossing to the other side and now Jesus is confronted by a man in a pitiful plight - a fragmented personality at the mercy of an hundred conflicting impulses; totally incapable of a normal life.

Jesus has power over nature.
Jesus has power over human nature...
..and not only human nature...
...but over the spiritual forces of evil.

During the crossing of the see of Galilee...
during the storm...
...the disciples had been in chaos and conflict.
Jesus brought stillness, calm and order.

The storm is brought to stillness...
...the disciples calmed...
...and their emotions and lives are given order.

Now, Jesus was confronted with someone who was in chaos and conflict within themselves.

Jesus brings calmness, stillness and order, to this unfortunate man.

Jesus casts out 'legion' (the many evil spirits) and sends them into the heard of swine - which promptly run down a steep bank and are drowned.

Now, you have to remember that where Jesus was, on the other side of the Sea of Galilee, most people would not be Jewish, so the eating of pork would be common there.

Jesus, symbolically shows everyone there that, on that day, the Jewish way was the only way.
That the Jewish God, with all power over nature, human nature and the spiritual forces of evil...
...was the only true and all powerful God.

Jesus gives them faith in the true God and shows them how to take their faith forward in the stillness and calmness that only God can give, but most reject Him and the healed man is left to spread the Gospel.

So where does this leave us with Paul's letter to the Galatians, part of which we heard today.

In Paul's letter, slavery under Jewish law is addressed.

The law operated as a temporary restraint until the promise made to Abraham was fulfilled in the coming of Christ.

"Before faith came, we were imprisoned and guarded under the law until faith would be revealed."

Revealed in Christ Jesus!

Paul shows how faith must be taken forward...
...Forward to a new faith in Jesus.

" ...for in Christ Jesus you are all children of God through faith."

Now, by faith in Jesus, we are ALL God's children.

"As many of you as were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ;

There is no longer Jew or Greek,
there is no longer slave or free,
there is no longer male and female;
for all of you are one in Christ Jesus."

Paul shows the Galatians, and the world, the true way forward.
The true way our faith...
...our faith in God - The Father, Son and Holy Spirit...
the true way our faith must go forward.

The true way our faith must go forward then, and today...
...in times of chaos and conflict...
...both in the world - and within ourselves.

The true way our FAITH must evolve and go FORWARD through Jesus Christ...

As Paul tells us...