Francis Fernandez: Benefits

Praise the Lord, my soul; all my inmost being, praise His holy name. Praise the Lord, my soul, and forget not all His benefits. Psalm 103:1-2

“We need to be continually thankful to the Lord for the benefits we have received during the past year. Some we are aware of, but, perhaps even more valuable benefits have come to use without our recognition of them. These graces include rescue from dangers of body and soul, the making of new friends who will play a part in our salvation, and even apparent setbacks like sickness or professional failure. We should enjoy great peace, since we should know that God will draw abundant fruit from circumstances and events that present themselves as unwelcome and are seemingly counterproductive. We later understand these very occasions to be divine caresses.”

Francis Fernandez in In Conversation with God: Meditations for Each Day of the Year, volume 7 (London: Scepter, 1993) 198.

As I approach Thanksgiving, this reading hit home for me because I got word just yesterday of the departure of a staff member at GTP. She announced that she feels led to pursue God’s calling with another ministry.

My first response was sadness because she will be missed. Then, thanks to this reading, I saw this news as a blessing filled with possibility and promise. God will guide us to the next person who will fill her role and teach us new things.

As we approach Thanksgiving, pause to ponder your current situation and past year. Do so with thanksgiving for all God’s benefits and ones you may never be aware of. I am learning that disappointments are actually, as Fernandez put it, divine caresses.

And take time today to read Psalm 103 to prepare your heart, at least in USA, for a week focused on giving thanks.

Then [Jesus] said to His disciples, “The harvest is plentiful but the workers are few. Ask the Lord of the harvest, therefore, to send out workers into His harvest field.” Matthew 9:37-38

“Many around here are not Christians simply because no one is available to teach them how to practice their faith. I have often had the desire to visit the universities in Europe, especially one in Paris, and shout like a madman so as to provoke those who have more knowledge than charity: many souls may be excluded from heaven on account of your negligence.”

Francis Xaiver (1506-1552) in Letters and Writings of St. Francis Xavier, ed. by F. Zubillaga (Madrid: 1953).

This post aims to send a message to those who have more knowledge than charity.

I live in USA where many people love to watch football. The stadium on game day provides a fitting picture for today’s lesson. Many sit in the stands with a love of the game but never take the field to play.

Get out of the stands. Get into the game. Put your knowledge to work with charity.

In the case of Francis, he traveled and ministered in India and China. He saw so many souls needing encouragement and support, and possibly headed to a Christ-less eternity.

I am asking for God to activate workers in the stands to participate in some way.

They may not go to the mission field, but with technology, voluntary service, and generosity, they can play a part in international Christian work with GTP or some other group.

Think about this as we approach Thanksgiving in USA this week.

Wherever we are in the world, consider how you may match the knowledge you with charity to make an eternal impact in the lives of others in the name of Jesus Christ.

You became imitators of us and of the Lord, for you welcomed the message in the midst of severe suffering with the joy given by the Holy Spirit. 1 Thessalonians 1:6

“The living experience of Christ and of our union with Him is our true reason for hope. Our friendship with the Lord gives zest to our life. We enjoy life with an upright rectitude and are not obliged to censure our joy in any way so as to make it compatible with our faith.”

Luigi Giussani (1922-2005) in “Utopia and the Present” in 30 Days, August-September 1990, 9.

It has been enriching to attend three back to back to back conferences with biblical scholars who have nourished my mind and drawn my heart closer to Christ.

When we take time for such activities, we remind ourselves of the reason for our hope and we add zest to life. It deploys us with great joy.

As people cannot live on food alone but must feed on every word that proceeds from the mouth of God, take some time today or this week to feed yourself spiritually.

Do this so your generosity is seasoned with spiritual food that you have enjoyed and cannot help but want to share with others with hope, zest, and joy.

Just as I urged you upon my departure for Macedonia, to remain on at Ephesus so that you would instruct certain people not to teach strange doctrines, nor to pay attention to myths and endless genealogies, which give rise to useless speculation rather than advance the plan of God, which is by faith, so I urge you now. But the goal of our instruction is love from a pure heart, from a good conscience, and from a sincere faith. 1 Timothy 1:3-5

“Our specific vocation is God’s greatest gift to us. It is the reason for our being created, and is therefore our sure way to happiness. From all eternity the Lord provides each one of us with all the graces necessary to correspond with His will. From the moment the Almighty directly creates each unique and immortal soul, and bestows on this new person a body as well through the cooperation of the parents, He wants something what will have importance in His sight from this gift of life. The greatness of man consists in discerning this will of God and in carrying it out. Each person is called to collaborate with the order of creation and to forward the divine plan of redemption.”

Francis Fernandez in In Conversation with God: Meditations for Each Day of the Year, volume 7 (London: Scepter, 1993) 284-285.

On this Saturday, I write to remind everyone to remain faithful in the work God made you to do and in playing the part in the larger story that God made you to play.

That work, your vocation, is God’s gift to you. And you fulfilling your calling is your gift to the world that needs to know the love and generosity of God.

Imagine Timothy learning the part he would play. God wanted him to remain in Ephesus to teach people not to promote a heresy that was the opposite of the plan of God.

Now picture your vocation and mine. We get to do the same thing. We get to be, to remain where God has us and regardless of the local heresies, help people understand God’s plan.

And, like Paul exhorted Timothy, we get to do this with a pure heart, a good conscience, and a sincere faith. With that posture I delivered a paper yesterday at ETS.

If you want a copy, click here to download it: “Demystifying Gender Issues in 1 Timothy 2:9-15 with Fresh Assistance from Artemis.”

“For the kingdom of heaven is like a landowner who went out early in the morning to hire workers for his vineyard. He agreed to pay them a denarius for the day and sent them into his vineyard.

“About nine in the morning he went out and saw others standing in the marketplace doing nothing. He told them, ‘You also go and work in my vineyard, and I will pay you whatever is right.’ So they went.

“He went out again about noon and about three in the afternoon and did the same thing. About five in the afternoon he went out and found still others standing around. He asked them, ‘Why have you been standing here all day long doing nothing?’ “‘Because no one has hired us,’ they answered. “He said to them, ‘You also go and work in my vineyard.’

“When evening came, the owner of the vineyard said to his foreman, ‘Call the workers and pay them their wages, beginning with the last ones hired and going on to the first.’ “The workers who were hired about five in the afternoon came and each received a denarius. So when those came who were hired first, they expected to receive more. But each one of them also received a denarius. When they received it, they began to grumble against the landowner. ‘These who were hired last worked only one hour,’ they said, ‘and you have made them equal to us who have borne the burden of the work and the heat of the day.’

“But he answered one of them, ‘I am not being unfair to you, friend. Didn’t you agree to work for a denarius? Take your pay and go. I want to give the one who was hired last the same as I gave you. Don’t I have the right to do what I want with my own money? Or are you envious because I am generous?’ “So the last will be first, and the first will be last.” Matthew 20:1-16

“The virtue of detachment helps us to stay at Jesus’ side as He goes forward on His mission at a fast and steady pace. It is not possible for us to keep up with Him if we have too much baggage. We cannot be left behind on account of a few material possessions that are not worth our excessive concern for them. At times, Jesus issues a personal call at an early age. At others, one’s vocation becomes clear in the course of one’s mature years, when we have only a short distance to go before we arrive in His presence. Such variety in the time the Lord chooses to call each of us is shown in the parable concerning the laborers who go out to work at different times of the day. Whichever our own case may be, we are called to respond with the joy the evangelists express when they recall the circumstances of their own definitive vocation. Jesus is the same now as then: He is the one who invites us to accompany Him on our way.”

Francis Fernandez in In Conversation with God: Meditations for Each Day of the Year, volume 7 (London: Scepter, 1993) 266-267.

Today’s Scripture brings a parable in view.

We discover the generosity of the landowner. And we also see the importance of responsiveness whether He calls us at a young age, in adulthood, or in our later years. He invites us to accompany Him.

As I attend ETS, IBR, and SBL, I see emerging scholars like my son-in-law or a doctoral student I am advising, adults that I have known for decades, and more mature workers whose lives have shaped mine.

Each one has a story. Some have labored long for the Lord and others are newer to the journey. Being here and delivering a paper, reminds me to just play my part as a worker.

That’s where the comments from Fernandez fit nicely. He challenges us to jettison any baggage that may hinder our ability to serve Him.

Can you imagine going to work in God’s field and carrying a suitcase or a large sack loaded with all your worldly wealth with you? You would never do that, right?

The key to unlocking this parable linked to having possessions as baggage is in the wage promised by the generous landowner. It implies that Jesus will take care of our daily needs.

He promises a denarius. It’s a day’s wages and all a person needs to live today.

This prompts two questions. Firstly, how long have you been working for the Lord? Have you found Him to faithfully care for your needs? If so, imitate His generosity with your own.

And secondly, what do you have? Do you have too much in your baggage? If so, put it to work, again through generosity, and yet, keep laboring. He will make sure you have a denarius a day.

Please pause. Picture all your worldly wealth in a suitcase that you have to carry to labor in the field for Him every day. If it seems heavy, then you have much to store up in heaven.

You can do this. He’s got you and a denarius for your daily service.

And [Andrew] brought him to Jesus. Jesus looked at him and said, “You are Simon son of John. You will be called Cephas” (which, when translated, is Peter). John 1:42

“After Andrew spends the entire day with Jesus, he does not keep the treasure for his personal benefit, but hastens to share it with his brothers.”

John Chrysostom (347-407) in Homilies on St. John’s Gospel 19.1.

Sometimes the most seemingly insignificant passages have the biggest messages for us.

There’s an expression that has been traced as far back as Augustine of Hippo (354-430), a contemporary of John Chrysostom. It goes like this.

“The gospel came to you on the way to someone else.”

Notice Andrew’s generosity today. He “brought” Peter to Jesus. As Chrysostom notes, “he does not keep the treasure for his personal benefit, but hastens to share it with his brothers.”

Let me illustrate this. Look at the header photo, my view of Petco Park from my hotel room in San Diego.

If I met you and I handed you 100 tickets to a baseball game at the ballpark, what would you do? Would you go to the game and sit in the section of 100 seats by yourself?

Of course not. You would invite family and friends to benefit from this gift.

That’s what Andrew did. That’s what we get to do. It relates to generosity because it shows that we understand that the gospel is like getting 100 tickets to a baseball game.

Not just for us but for us to share one hundredfold blessing.

So, as I participate in three conferences this week in San Diego as a learner and as an invited paper presenter ETS, IBR, and SBL, I am hear to gain wisdom from other biblical scholars to bless others.

Sometimes, when we steward faithfully such opportunities, God has us bless thousands and ten thousands.

“Come,” he replied, “and you will see.” So they went and saw where He was staying, and they spent that day with Him. It was about four in the afternoon. Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother, was one of the two who heard what John had said and who had followed Jesus. The first thing Andrew did was to find his brother Simon and tell him, “We have found the Messiah” (that is, the Christ). John 1:39-41

“Jesus encourages the first disciples: Come and see! He says to them. In their personal dealings with the Lord, Andrew and John learn what is not immediately apparent to them through His words alone. Through frequent prayer, we too can grow to perceive many invitations He addresses to us. We will then have greater intimacy with Christ and thus be able to follow Him more closely.

While we are speaking to Him now, we might ask ourselves if we are striving to be attentive to the promptings of His voice. Do we fully respond to what Christ asks of us, since He has wanted to depend on our support? Let us remember that the Lord is always present in the world, just as He was twenty centuries ago.

Now more than ever Jesus is seeking men and women to collaborate in this divine venture for the salvation of souls. Responding positively to His invitation is immensely worthwhile, since it entails cooperating in an enterprise of eternal significance.”

Francis Fernandez in In Conversation with God: Meditations for Each Day of the Year, volume 1 (London: Scepter, 1988) 262-263

The middle part of today’s post really struck me: “Do we fully respond to what Christ asks of us, since He has wanted to depend on our support?”

I had never thought about the fact that when Christ whispers to me to come and see what He has for me, that He wants to depend on my support.

And when I think that He invites me to cooperate in “an enterprise of eternal significance” it is cool to think He is as excited about me playing my part as I am about Him playing His.

Do you hear Him calling you? “Come and see.” What enterprise of eternal significance might He be just itching for you to join Him with. Sit with Him quietly to find out.

Many have undertaken to draw up an account of the things that have been fulfilled among us, just as they were handed down to us by those who from the first were eyewitnesses and servants of the word. With this in mind, since I myself have carefully investigated everything from the beginning, I too decided to write an orderly account for you, most excellent Theophilus, so that you may know the certainty of the things you have been taught. Luke 1:1-4

“When you open [Luke’s] Gospel, think that what is written there – the words and deeds of Christ – is something that you should not only know but live. Everything, every point that is told there, has been gathered, detail by detail, for you to make it come alive in the individual circumstances of your life. You too, like the Apostles, will burn to ask, full of love, ‘Lord what would you have me do?’ And to your soul you will hear the conclusive answer, ‘the will of God!’ Take up the Gospel every day then, and read it and live it as a definite rule. This is what the saints have done.”

Josemaría Escrivá (1902-1975) in The Forge (Strongsville: Scepter, 2002) 754.

Luke devoted himself to research and gave us a definite rule, a Gospel that teaches us how to live, give, serve, and love generously.

I post this today for three reasons. Firstly, my Tuesday morning Bible study agreed to undertake a deep study of this Gospel over the next 6 months. So. I will study it.

Secondly, I am headed to San Diego today with my son-in-law to attend ETS, IBR, and SBL. At these conferences I will learn and also deliver a paper related to my 1 Timothy research. I deliver my paper on Friday and will make it available here later in the week.

Research is a good thing. When we give a portion of our time to we gain in abundance the investment of time. We get a great return. Is it time for you to do some deep research or study?

Thirdly, what if you make Luke’s Gospel a definite rule for your life? A definite rule or rule of life is a set of commitments that give structure to everyday living and foster spiritual growth. It comes from the Latin word for “trellis.”

As trellis helps a plant grow and bear fruit, Luke’s Gospel provides a comprehensive account of the life of Jesus giving us everything we need to know to live out the Christian faith.

And, related to generosity, Luke cites the rich man repeatedly. If you read those texts together, the rich man goes from foolish, selfish, and greedy (Luke 12:13-21) to faithful, saved, and generous (Luke 19:1-10). I hope it impacts you in that same way.

And no book in the Bible will get you in the Christmas spirit faster than Luke’s Gospel. Enjoy.

Put to death, therefore, whatever belongs to your earthly nature: sexual immorality, impurity, lust, evil desires and greed, which is idolatry. Colossians 3:5

“The virtue of poverty is a consequence of faith. In Scripture it is the state of the person who has unconditionally placed his life in the Lord’s hands and therefore turns the reins of control over to Him without seeking any other security.

Consequently, rectitude of intention is essential for effectively resolving to be poor in spirit. A person must not place his confidence in impermanent goods though he may happen to possess them. Many Christians are tempted by the attractions of the modern cult of consumerism.

When life is given over to the accumulation of material wealth, money itself becomes a god. Such idolatry as the apostle Paul warned the first Christians against should never even be named among them.

This tendency causes people to forget the immense treasure of God’s love, the only real good that can truly fill the human heart. We should have the firm intention of serving only one master, since no one can serve two.”

Francis Fernandez in In Conversation with God: Meditations for Each Day of the Year, volume 1 (London: Scepter, 1988) 194-195.

Read this sentence again. “The virtue of poverty is a consequence of faith.” Do you realize the implications of this. Remember the poor in spirit get the kingdom of heaven.

It means you only get the kingdom of heaven when you show by how you handle wealth that you have let go of the kingdom of this world. It’s a consequence of faith.

Too many people, even some readers of these Daily Meditations, have material wealth and bank balances that reveal their membership in the modern cult of consumerism.

If that’s you, then it’s time for some “rectitude of intention” as Fernandez would put it. Or in plain terms, for righteous intention turn to action.

Why store up treasures in heaven and live a life dependent on God? Why abandon the world’s way of thinking and live fully for Him? You get the kingdom.

You don’t figure it out until you live it out. And you are sustained by “the immense treasure of God’s love, the only real good that can truly fill the human heart.”

What are you waiting for? Jesus would say, “Go and sell those goods, share them with those in need and find treasure in heaven.” Paul would say, “Give to your church and others in ministry.”

Right now I am praying for monthly givers to GTP. We have 37 and we need more than 100 by year end to convince foundations considering major gifts that we have regular givers.

They will give us grants if we exceed that mark. Pray with me for monthly givers to GTP. Set up monthly giving here. Also pray as we have work lined up to empower Christian workers in some needy places.

In the next 3 months, if the Lord wills, I plan to message you from places like Jamaica, Trinidad & Tobago, Guyana, El Salvador, India, and Sri Lanka where I have open doors for ministry.

For He will deliver the needy who cry out, the afflicted who have no one to help. He will take pity on the weak and the needy and save the needy from death. He will rescue them from oppression and violence, for precious is their blood in His sight. Psalm 72:12-14

“Many fruit derive from the virtue of poverty. In the first place, the soul is better disposed to receive supernatural graces. A person’s heart expands so as to be sincerely concerned about other people… Jesus grants the detached soul special joy even in the absence of necessities.”

Francis Fernandez in In Conversation with God: Meditations for Each Day of the Year, volume 1 (London: Scepter, 1988) 193-194.

God shows up in powerful ways for those who live with an empty cup eager for Him to fill it for them to enjoy and share. I have seen this my entire life.

Those who amass resources as their help or safety net find this in so doing. They find that it to fails to give them the security they seek. They never have enough.

But those who choose the opposite path, who become poor so that others might be enriched, discover special joy. They find themselves on the way of Jesus.

For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though He was rich, yet for your sake He became poor, so that you through His poverty might become rich. 2 Corinthians 8:9

Some by their decisions choose to look after themselves. Others by their decisions, let God look after them. Ponder this truth in light of your situation and your generosity.