Reform that Rebuilds

 

 

Please note: The Cleffi's are on vacation this week a repeat meditation has been posted, we will resume the normal schedule of meditations next week.

 

 Begin with prayer to the Holy Spirit 

Readings : Nehemiah 1

 

    In the book of Nehemiah what we find taking place is the second phase of the rebuilding of the Temple that began with Ezra. The rebuilding of the Temple took place after the return of the Jews from captivity in Babylon. Although the temple had been rebuilt the walls of the city were still in ruins because of the laziness of the people. Something was needed to motivate the people to complete the task at hand. God will always call someone to challenge his people to accomplish his goals. 

 

    Nehemiah received word of the situation in Jerusalem. What he was told was that the remnant that was left in Jerusalem was in great affliction and the wall was broken down, and its gates were burned. Nehemiah's response is what makes all the difference in this situation, and every situation that befalls the children of God. Nehemiah's response is a challenge to all Oratorian's. It challenges us because it reveals that we are on the cutting edge of reform and change. Our posture and response can make all the difference in a situation. The way Nehemiah initially responds to this news should be a directive for all who want to participate and be used of God. Nehemiah could have responded like many would have by saying, they got what they deserved for being lazy and slothful, but that is not what he did.  What did Nehemiah do when he heard of what had occurred at Jerusalem and to his fellow Jews? Nehemiah wept, mourned, fasted, and prayed. 

 

    It seems that the response that God is calling us to have in time of reform and renewal is to search our souls. How could I be part of the solution if I am still part of the problem? How could I help anyone or anything if all I do is point the finger and try to blame others. Nehemiah ran to the solution which is the Lord.  In Neh. I:5-7(Read)  Nehemiah includes himself as part of the problem. How does he include himself as part of the problem?  He doesn't exclude himself from the characteristics and behavior that led Israel into captivity. Nehemiah made himself vulnerable. Jesus also made himself vulnerable and it took him all the way to the Cross. How does one reform and rebuild? Nehemiah had a solution. Neh. 1:9 RSV, "But if you return to me and keep my commandments and do them, though your dispersed be under the farthest skies, I will gather them thence and bring them to the place which I have chosen, to make my name dwell there."  

 

    We all have friends and loved ones who are scattered and away from the church. Perhaps it is a child, spouse, sister, or, co-worker. You and I know many who have left the church, and those who have not left but they are no longer actively involved. We must not judge them we must love them and pray and fast for them to come back to Fathers house. And we like the father of the prodigal son need to be ready with open arms to welcome them back. 

 

 

                                                                                                            

Quotation for Meditation

Catherine of Genoa had a deep conviction that reform had to begin with the individual. She lived in a time when the reform of the Church itself was needed. The great reformers of the Catholic Church of the sixteenth century all assumed that her basic principle was correct, namely that reform had to begin with the individual. They all agreed that reform must be founded on prayer and expressed by charity to one's neighbor, especially the poor, and by love of God. All the Catholic reformers insisted on a deep personal piety, which psychologically galvanized all the potentials of the individual into action: intelligence, memory, will, emotion, and even the intuitive powers.

 

Father Benedict Groeschel, C.F.R., The Reform of Renewal, San Francisco, Ignatius Press, Pg.191

 

Quiet Time and Then Discussion

 

Questions for Meditation

  

1. Why does God place challenges before us?

2. Why are we on the cutting edge of reform and renewal? 

3. Why is it important to internalize and look within before responding?

Prayer 

    Dear Lord and Savior we come before you with desires and intentions of reform for ourselves and for the Church. As we sense this deep need for change we are uniquely aware of our own frailty and inability to bring change to ourselves or the Church. Therefore Lord melt our hearts in a way that makes them suitable for your use. We seek the necessary humility that would create clean hearts within us and right spirits. And perhaps then could we, like Nehemiah be truly sensitive and courageous in our own personal reform and renewal.  We call upon you for the task ahead that we may be faithful and diligent to run the race and complete the course.  Amen.