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July 31, 2006
Feast, St Ignatius of Loyola, Priest
Monday 17th Week in Ordinary Time - Yr II
JEREMIAH 13:1-11
The LORD said to me: Go buy yourself a linen loincloth;wear it on your
loins, but do not put it in water.I bought the loincloth, as the LORD
commanded, and put it on.A second time the word of the LORD came to me
thus:Take the loincloth which you bought and are wearing,and go now to
the Parath;there hide it in a cleft of the rock.Obedient to the LORD's
command, I went to the Parathand buried the loincloth.After a long
interval, the LORD said to me: Go now to the Parath and fetch the
loinclothwhich I told you to hide there.Again I went to the Parath,
sought out and took the loinclothfrom the place where I had hid it.But
it was rotted, good for nothing!Then the message came to me from the
LORD: Thus says the LORD:So also I will allow the pride of Judah to
rot,the great pride of Jerusalem.This wicked people who refuse to obey
my words,who walk in the stubbornness of their hearts,and follow
strange gods to serve and adore them,shall be like this loincloth which
is good for nothing.For, as close as the loincloth clings to a man's
loins,so had I made the whole house of Israeland the whole house of
Judah cling to me, says the LORD;to be my people, my renown, my praise,
my beauty.But they did not listen.
MATTHEW 13:31-35
He told them another parable: "The kingdom of heaven is like a mustard
seed, which a man took and planted in his field. Though it is the
smallest of all your seeds, yet when it grows, it is the largest of
garden plants and becomes a tree, so that the birds of the air come and
perch in its branches." He told them still another parable: "The
kingdom of heaven is like yeast that a woman took and mixed into a
large amount of flour until it worked all through the dough." Jesus
spoke all these things to the crowd in parables; he did not say
anything to them without using a parable. So was fulfilled what was
spoken through the prophet: "I will open my mouth in parables, I will
utter things hidden since the creation of the world."
REFLECTION
St. Ignatius of Loyola was a soldier. At his ancestral home, the Loyola
castle in the Basque country, he was recuperating after his leg had
been shattered in battle by a cannon ball. All he had to occupy his
time were his daydreams. Ignatius asked for books. The only books
available were on the life of Christ and a biography of the saints. To
alleviate the boredom, Ignatius read these. Gradually his daydreaming
changed. He began to see himself doing great deeds for Christ. And he
asked, "If Francis of Assisi, if Dominic could do such daring deeds for
Christ, could not I also do great deeds for him?"
Then Ignatius made a marvelous discovery. After an adventuresome and
romantic daydream, he felt flat, empty, without enthusiasm or interest.
After daydreaming about exploits for Christ, however, there lingered
with him an aliveness, an expansiveness, an enthusiastic interest in
life. He recognized that God was speaking to him through his feelings,
that it would be in the service of Christ rather than in the pursuit of
soldierly and romantic goals that he would find joy and fulfillment.
Ignatius had stumbled upon what we have come to call the "discernment
of spirits," a method of entering into oneself and reading and
interpreting one's feelings to find God's will. As the years passed,
Ignatius developed and fine-tuned this original insight into the
dynamics of spiritual growth, until it has become, along with his
Spiritual Exercises and the Society of Jesus, one of his greatest and
most valuable legacies to Christ's Church.
How many times have we contemplated what Jesus means to us? In today's
Gospel, this question is asked clearly by Jesus to his disciples. St.
Ignatius saw the Lord as someone to know, love, and serve; someone we
can turn to at times of crisis and happiness; someone who is there for
us when we are in need. Today as we celebrate the feast day of St.
Ignatius of Loyola. Can we see Christ as St. Ignatius saw him?
July 30, 2006
17th Sunday in Ordinary Time - B
2 KINGS 4:42-44
A man came from Baal-shalishah bringing to Elisha, the man of God,
twenty barley loaves made from the firstfruits, and fresh grain in the
ear. Elisha said, "Give it to the people to eat." But his servant
objected, "How can I set this before a hundred people?" Elisha
insisted, "Give it to the people to eat." "For thus says the LORD,
'They shall eat and there shall be some left over.'" And when they had
eaten, there was some left over, as the LORD had said.
EPHESIANS 4:1-6
Brothers and sisters: I, a prisoner for the Lord, urge you to live in a
manner worthy of the call you have received, with all humility and
gentleness, with patience, bearing with one another through love,
striving to preserve the unity of the spirit through the bond of peace:
one body and one Spirit, as you were also called to the one hope of
your call; one Lord, one faith, one baptism; one God and Father of all,
who is over all and through all and in all.
JOHN 6:1-15
Jesus went across the Sea of Galilee. A large crowd followed him,
because they saw the signs he was performing on the sick. Jesus went up
on the mountain, and there he sat down with his disciples. The Jewish
feast of Passover was near. When Jesus raised his eyes and saw that a
large crowd was coming to him, he said to Philip, "Where can we buy
enough food for them to eat?" He said this to test him, because he
himself knew what he was going to do. Philip answered him, "Two hundred
days' wages worth of food would not be enough for each of them to have
a little." One of his disciples, Andrew, the brother of Simon Peter,
said to him, "There is a boy here who has five barley loaves and two
fish; but what good are these for so many?" Jesus said, "Have the
people recline." Now there was a great deal of grass in that place. So
the men reclined, about five thousand in number. Then Jesus took the
loaves, gave thanks, and distributed them to those who were reclining,
and also as much of the fish as they wanted. When they had had their
fill, he said to his disciples, "Gather the fragments left over, so
that nothing will be wasted." So they collected them, and filled twelve
wicker baskets with fragments from the five barley loaves that had been
more than they could eat. When the people saw the sign he had done,
they said, "This is truly the Prophet, the one who is to come into the
world." Since Jesus knew that they were going to come and carry him off
to make him king, he withdrew again to the mountain alone.
REFLECTION
The importance of today's Gospel, the multiplication of the loaves and
fishes, is shown by the fact that all the four Evangelists report it.
But for John this event is the institution of the Holy Eucharist.
The connection between the multiplications of the loaves and the
Eucharist is made quite clear by the subsequent discourse on the "Bread
of Life." Jesus is the Bread of Life. Whoever eats this Bread will live
forever.
John's account of the multiplication of the loaves differs noticeably
from the Synoptic versions in several ways. For John, the crowd is not
gathered to hear Jesus' teaching, but to follow him because of his
healing power. While the dialogue about the need for food remains
similar, the meal differs significantly. Here Jesus distributes the
loaves himself, not the disciples. Moreover, John focuses almost
exclusively on the bread.
John's Gospel highlights direct and personal experience with Jesus. It
is no minor difference of detail than to have Jesus distribute the
bread himself. John's focus is not on the disciples sharing in Jesus'
mission, but upon Jesus as the one who desires to feed the hungry. No
mention is made of the distribution of the fish. The focus is on the
bread. It becomes clear from the subsequent dialogue that the scene is
part of a larger unit in which Jesus presents himself as the bread of
life, given to nourish those who believe.
We are often surprised by the way God provides for our needs, feeding
us with the Bread of Life. The most unlikely persons may become
"channels of grace" to us, as did that small boy, who offered his lunch
of bread and fish to Jesus, when the multitudes on the hillside were
hungry.
We are not only fed by the Bread of Life. We are also called to share
it with others. This means sharing God's grace, the forgiveness we
receive in Jesus, which gives us hope and assurance no matter what
comes to us.
But there is more. It also means sharing material things to help meet
the needs of those living in hunger and poverty. The Church has
sometimes focused on the so-called "spiritual needs" of people,
restricting God's gift of the Bread of Life to matters of soul and
spirit. We Christians are called to share materially with others, no
matter what their need.
When we pray in the Lord's Prayer, "Give us this day our daily bread,"
we are not praying for spiritual sustenance. It's actually very
material. Martin Luther rightly emphasized that by the words "daily
bread" is meant everything we need for this life, such as food and
clothing, home, property, work, and income, a developed family, an
orderly community, a good government, favorable weather, peace and
health, a good name, and true friends and neighbors. The bread, which
God graciously gives to us relates to our entire being. We pray that
God will feed us generously with the Living Bread and that we will
share with others with grateful hearts. This involves every aspect of
life, both body and soul.
We need to be nourished regularly by the Bread of Life, just as we need
to eat regularly to nourish our bodies. Worship, including reading of
the Scripture, prayer and receiving the Eucharist, are all natural
parts of Christian life. So is fellowship with other Christians in the
community, which God creates through the Church.
D.T. Niles, the late great Christian leader from Sri Lanka summarizes
our stance as Christians: "Christian mission is not one person, with an
abundance of bread, condescendingly doling it out to those who are less
fortunate. Christian mission is rather one beggar standing alongside
another beggar pointing to the source of food." We are fellow beggars,
equally in need of the Bread of Life.
May God continue to feed us lavishly, and may we gratefully point
others to that Living Bread.
July 29, 2006
Memorial, St. Martha
Saturday 16th Week in Ordinary Time - Yr II
JEREMIAH 7:1-11
The following message came to Jeremiah from the LORD: Stand at the gate
of the house of the LORD, and there proclaim this message: Hear the
word of the LORD, all you of Judah who enter these gates to worship the
LORD! Thus says the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel: Reform your ways
and your deeds, so that I may remain with you in this place. Put not
your trust in the deceitful words: "This is the temple of the LORD! The
temple of the LORD! The temple of the LORD!" Only if you thoroughly
reform your ways and your deeds; if each of you deals justly with his
neighbor; if you no longer oppress the resident alien, the orphan, and
the widow; if you no longer shed innocent blood in this place, or
follow strange gods to your own harm, will I remain with you in this
place, in the land I gave your fathers long ago and forever. But here
you are, putting your trust in deceitful words to your own loss! Are
you to steal and murder, commit adultery and perjury, burn incense to
Baal, go after strange gods that you know not, and yet come to stand
before me in this house which bears my name, and say: "We are safe; we
can commit all these abominations again"? Has this house which bears my
name become in your eyes a den of thieves? I too see what is being
done, says the LORD.
MATTHEW 13:24-30
Jesus proposed a parable to the crowds. "The Kingdom of heaven may be
likened to a man who sowed good seed in his field. While everyone was
asleep his enemy came and sowed weeds all through the wheat, and then
went off. When the crop grew and bore fruit, the weeds appeared as
well. The slaves of the householder came to him and said, 'Master, did
you not sow good seed in your field? Where have the weeds come from?'
He answered, 'An enemy has done this.' His slaves said to him, 'Do you
want us to go and pull them up?' He replied, 'No, if you pull up the
weeds you might uproot the wheat along with them. Let them grow
together until harvest; then at harvest time I will say to the
harvesters, "First collect the weeds and tie them in bundles for
burning; but gather the wheat into my barn."'"
REFLECTION
Luke, the master storyteller that he is, brings us into the
nitty-gritty of having Jesus come for dinner. Jesus takes advantage of
a minor domestic crisis to teach us a profound lesson about the
spiritual life. It appears that there is a basic inequality in the
kitchen. Martha is doing all the work and Mary is sitting at Jesus'
feet, listening to his words of wisdom. Martha is direct in her
complaint: "Lord, do you not care that my sister has left me to serve
alone?" Jesus' response captures in a moment the tension in all of us
between the contemplative impulse and the desire to serve. Jesus
responds not with irritation or indifference but with compassion and
love saying: "Martha, Martha, you are anxious and troubled about many
things. One thing is needed. Mary has chosen the good portion which
shall not be taken away from her."
We are all called to invite Jesus into our lives every day. To give
Jesus true hospitality, the attitudes of Martha and Mary must be
combined. We need to sit at Jesus' feet and learn from him. We need to
carve out time in our hectic schedule to pray and reflect on Jesus'
teaching. When we do this, like Mary, we choose the better part. All
service of God needs to be rooted in a prayer life.
Martha is not praised, but neither is she actually condemned. Martha
recognized Jesus as the Messiah and she was blessed in being thought
worthy to receive him into her house and serve him. Yet, today's
reading is not centered on loving service to others, no matter how
important that is. Mary is a perfect model of one who focused on the
most important thing: Christ. As we develop our prayer life and draw
closer to God, our love of God will show itself in service of others,
and in doing this, we shall serve the Lord himself.
Martha is like so many of us today. We are often sidetracked from our
prayer life and service to the Lord by all sorts of distractions. In
Jesus' chiding of Martha for her preoccupation, he is teaching us that
to focus our attention on him is to choose the better part. Spending
time with Jesus will surely draw us to want to serve him in our
brothers and sisters.
July 28, 2006
Friday 16th Week in Ordinary Time - Yr II
JEREMIAH 3:14-17
Return, rebellious children, says the LORD, for I am your Master; I
will take you, one from a city, two from a clan, and bring you to Zion.
I will appoint over you shepherds after my own heart, who will shepherd
you wisely and prudently. When you multiply and become fruitful in the
land, says the LORD, They will in those days no longer say, "The ark of
the covenant of the LORD!" They will no longer think of it, or remember
it, or miss it, or make another. At that time they will call Jerusalem
the LORD's throne; there all nations will be gathered together to honor
the name of the LORD at Jerusalem, and they will walk no longer in
their hardhearted wickedness. Be amazed at this, O heavens, and shudder
with sheer horror, says the LORD. Two evils have my people done: they
have forsaken me, the source of living waters; They have dug themselves
cisterns, broken cisterns, that hold no water.
MATTHEW 13:18-23
Jesus said to his disciples: "Hear the parable of the sower. The seed
sown on the path is the one who hears the word of the Kingdom without
understanding it, and the Evil One comes and steals away what was sown
in his heart. The seed sown on rocky ground is the one who hears the
word and receives it at once with joy. But he has no root and lasts
only for a time. When some tribulation or persecution comes because of
the word, he immediately falls away. The seed sown among thorns is the
one who hears the word, but then worldly anxiety and the lure of riches
choke the word and it bears no fruit. But the seed sown on rich soil is
the one who hears the word and understands it, who indeed bears fruit
and yields a hundred or sixty or thirtyfold."
REFLECTION
The segment of Jeremiah's prophecy in today's first reading was written
after the destruction of Israel and Judah. Jerusalem had been leveled
and the Temple, together with the Arc of the Covenant, destroyed.
Jeremiah had warned the people to repent their sinful ways if they
wished to avoid God's punishment. They did not repent. Their punishment
came at the hands of the Chaldaean army. Most of the people of Israel
and Judah had been dragged off into exile. In the midst of this
depressing desolation that hung, a heavy pall over God's people,
Jeremiah preaches the dawn of a new age for them.
The future will be given to what various prophets called "a remnant." A
small group of people who had been faithful to Yahweh and who were
faithful to him still, will come back to Jerusalem. Shepherds after
God's own heart will be given to them.
This small remnant will not rebuild the Arc of the Covenant, which was
destroyed in the general destruction of Jerusalem and the Temple. This
was one of the mistakes their forebears had made: for them the Arc and
the Temple were amulets or talismans that would ward of all evil, no
matter how the people of Judah lived their lives. They should have
entrusted themselves to Yahweh himself rather than to the Arc and the
Temple and they should have lived exclusively by Yahweh's word.
July 27, 2006
Thursday 16th Week in Ordinary Time - Yr II
JEROME 2:1-3, 7-8, 12-13
This word of the LORD came to me: Go, cry out this message for
Jerusalem to hear! I remember the devotion of your youth, how you loved
me as a bride, Following me in the desert, in a land unsown. Sacred to
the LORD was Israel, the first fruits of his harvest; Should any
presume to partake of them, evil would befall them, says the LORD. When
I brought you into the garden land to eat its goodly fruits, You
entered and defiled my land, you made my heritage loathsome. The
priests asked not, "Where is the LORD?" Those who dealt with the law
knew me not: the shepherds rebelled against me. The prophets prophesied
by Baal, and went after useless idols. Be amazed at this, O heavens,
and shudder with sheer horror, says the LORD. Two evils have my people
done: they have forsaken me, the source of living waters; They have dug
themselves cisterns, broken cisterns, that hold no water.
MATTHEW 13:10-17
The disciples approached Jesus and said, "Why do you speak to the crowd
in parables?" He said to them in reply, "Because knowledge of the
mysteries of the Kingdom of heaven has been granted to you, but to them
it has not been granted. To anyone who has, more will be given and he
will grow rich; from anyone who has not, even what he has will be taken
away. This is why I speak to them in parables, because they look but do
not see and hear but do not listen or understand. Isaiah's prophecy is
fulfilled in them, which says: You shall indeed hear but not
understand, you shall indeed look but never see. Gross is the heart of
this people, they will hardly hear with their ears, they have closed
their eyes, lest they see with their eyes and hear with their ears and
understand with their hearts and be converted and I heal them. "But
blessed are your eyes, because they see, and your ears, because they
hear. Amen, I say to you, many prophets and righteous people longed to
see what you see but did not see it, and to hear what you hear but did
not hear it."
REFLECTION
Some people read today's Gospel and think that Jesus is saying he
teaches in parables in order to confuse the listeners. Of course, this
doesn't make sense. No teacher teaches so that the listener will not
learn.
So what is Jesus saying? We've talked with someone about a matter of
great importance to both of us. After the conversation we think the
matter is understood, settled, there will be no problem with it. Then
later on we find out that nothing was settled by the conversation,
because we heard only what we wanted to hear, not what the other person
actually said. So both of us were talking on different wavelengths.
There was no conversation at all.
This is the sort of thing Jesus is talking about in today's Gospel. "I
use parables," Jesus is saying, "because they look and do not see, they
listen and do not hear or understand ..."
The danger to Christians who live but do not listen is very real. The
more closed we are, the less will we grow in the Spirit; the less we
grow in the Spirit, the more closed we shall become. Thus, we will be
able to see and hear and understand less and less as time goes on. As
Jesus puts it, "The person who has not, will lose what little he has."
Jesus teaches using parables, because Jesus hopes the picture will
seduce the mind of the listener away from his self-interests. "I use
parables to get them to see and hear and understand."
It is important, therefore, to pray for openness of spirit to Jesus'
teaching, for this is the only path along which any one of us can
follow him.
July 26, 2006
Memorial, Sts Joachim & Anne, parents of BVM
Wednesday 16th Week in Ordinary Time - Yr II
SIRACH 44:1. 10-15
Now will I praise those godly men, our ancestors, each in his own time:
Yet these also were godly men whose virtues have not been forgotten;
Their wealth remains in their families, their heritage with their
descendants; Through God's covenant with them their family endures,
their posterity, for their sake. And for all time their progeny will
endure, their glory will never be blotted out; Their bodies are
peacefully laid away, but their name lives on and on. At gatherings
their wisdom is retold, and the assembly proclaims their praise.
MATTHEW 13:16-17
"But blessed are your eyes, because they see, and your ears, because
they hear. Amen, I say to you, many prophets and righteous people
longed to see what you see but did not see it, and to hear what you
hear but did not hear it.
REFLECTION
How blest were Joachim and Ann, the parents of Mary, the mother of God!
If as Jesus himself taught, the goodness of the tree is known from the
goodness of the fruit it bears, blest indeed and holy are Joachim and
Ann. Yet, this holy couple never realized how blest and holy they were.
If the tradition about them has any truth to it, Mary was born to them
in their latter years. They may never have met Mary's child, their
grandson. They may never even have suspected that their daughter was to
bear in her womb and give to Israel and to the world the hope they
themselves kept alive and for whose fulfillment they longed and prayed.
Fr. Mark Link notes that the Dutch painter Vincent Van Gogh at his
death in 1890 left behind some 1,700 paintings and drawings. During his
years as a painter, Van Gogh sold only one painting. He was given $85
for it. He died thinking himself a failure. He had no idea that he was
a great painter. And yet, recently, one of his paintings sold for
millions of dollars.
It's normally the case, people generally speaking don't think very
highly of themselves or of their achievements. Yet Jesus tells us that
we are blessed because our eyes have seen and our ears have heard what
the prophets and the Old Testament saints longed to see, but never saw,
longed to hear and never heard.
We have seen Jesus the Christ, Son of the Father, and we have heard him
speak and urge us on to the fullness of Christian living. Let us thank
the Lord for the goodness he has shown us.
July 25, 2006
Feast, St. James, apostle
Tuesday 16th Week in Ordinary Time - Yr II
2 CORINTHIANS 4:7-15
But we have this treasure in jars of clay to show that this
all-surpassing power is from God and not from us. We are hard pressed
on every side, but not crushed; perplexed, but not in despair;
persecuted, but not abandoned; struck down, but not destroyed. We
always carry around in our body the death of Jesus, so that the life of
Jesus may also be revealed in our body. For we who are alive are always
being given over to death for Jesus' sake, so that his life may be
revealed in our mortal body. So then, death is at work in us, but life
is at work in you. It is written: "I believed; therefore I have
spoken." With that same spirit of faith we also believe and therefore
speak, because we know that the one who raised the Lord Jesus from the
dead will also raise us with Jesus and present us with you in his
presence. All this is for your benefit, so that the grace that is
reaching more and more people may cause thanksgiving to overflow to the
glory of God.
MATTHEW 20:20-28
Then the mother of Zebedee's sons came to Jesus with her sons and,
kneeling down, asked a favor of him. "What is it you want?" he asked.
She said, "Grant that one of these two sons of mine may sit at your
right and the other at your left in your kingdom." "You don't know what
you are asking," Jesus said to them. "Can you drink the cup I am going
to drink?" "We can," they answered. Jesus said to them, "You will
indeed drink from my cup, but to sit at my right or left is not for me
to grant. These places belong to those for whom they have been prepared
by my Father." When the ten heard about this, they were indignant with
the two brothers. Jesus called them together and said, "You know that
the rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and their high officials
exercise authority over them. Not so with you. Instead, whoever wants
to become great among you must be your servant, and whoever wants to be
first must be your slave-- just as the Son of Man did not come to be
served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many."
REFLECTION
Today is the feast of St. James, brother of John, one of Zebedee's
sons. He was present at the Transfiguration and most of Jesus'
miracles. He was the first disciple to be martyred, around the year 42.
The martyrdom of St. James is significant in light of today's Gospel.
Whereas he was the first of the apostles to be martyred, he was also
one of those who dared to ask Jesus for a special place in the kingdom.
Recall that James and John, accompanied by their mother, approached
Jesus and asked that they be seated on Jesus' right and left when Jesus
reigns in his kingdom. They were asking for places of honor, the best
seats in the house, but Jesus could only ask them in response, "Can you
drink the cup I am going to drink?" James and John answered in the
affirmative, and indeed, like Jesus, James died for his faith.
There is something in us that wants to be given importance. We feel
good when we are praised or affirmed, and rightly so. But sometimes we
start doing things for the sake of being praised. While this is a very
human impulse, Jesus turns the table on us and says that "anyone who
wants to be great among you must be your servant, and anyone who wants
to be first among you must be your slave, just as the Son of Man came
not to be served but to serve...."
Here we have in summary Jesus' radical idea of servant leadership. To
be great is not to be recognized or acknowledged as such, but to be a
humble servant. To be first is not to get ahead of all the others, but
to be their slave. This goes against the wisdom of the world. Even when
we try to be servant leaders, people can still praise us for it, and
that's fine as long as our motivations are clear. Besides, those
moments of praise and adulation do not last. In the end, servant
leadership is a life-style, something we try to do day in and day out,
especially when no one is looking. It is to fulfill our daily duties
and commitments with humility and love, even when we are not
appreciated for it. At times we may even be persecuted or ridiculed for
our commitments. At times we may have to swallow our pride for the sake
of the greater good.
July 24, 2006
Monday 16th Week in Ordinary Time - Yr II
MICAH 6:1-4, 6-8
Hear what the LORD says: Arise, present your plea before the mountains,
and let the hills hear your voice! Hear, O mountains, the plea of the
LORD, pay attention, O foundations of the earth! For the LORD has a
plea against his people, and he enters into trial with Israel. O my
people, what have I done to you, or how have I wearied you? Answer me!
For I brought you up from the land of Egypt, from the place of slavery
I released you; and I sent before you Moses, Aaron, and Miriam. With
what shall I come before the LORD, and bow before God most high? Shall
I come before him with burnt offerings, with calves a year old? Will
the LORD be pleased with thousands of rams, with myriad streams of oil?
Shall I give my first-born for my crime, the fruit of my body for the
sin of my soul? You have been told, O man, what is good, and what the
LORD requires of you: Only to do the right and to love goodness, and to
walk humbly with your God.
MATTHEW 12:38-42
Some of the scribes and Pharisees said to Jesus, "Teacher, we wish to
see a sign from you." He said to them in reply, "An evil and unfaithful
generation seeks a sign, but no sign will be given it except the sign
of Jonah the prophet. Just as Jonah was in the belly of the whale three
days and three nights, so will the Son of Man be in the heart of the
earth three days and three nights. At the judgment, the men of Nineveh
will arise with this generation and condemn it, because they repented
at the preaching of Jonah; and there is something greater than Jonah
here. At the judgment the queen of the south will arise with this
generation and condemn it, because she came from the ends of the earth
to hear the wisdom of Solomon; and there is something greater than
Solomon here."
REFLECTION
Jesus says to the Pharisees that the people of Nineva heard God in
Jonah's preaching and repented. The Queen of Sheba saw God's wisdom in
Solomon and traveled all the way to Jerusalem to do him homage. The
Pharisees saw the wonder of Jesus' miracles and heard the wisdom of his
teaching, and yet failed to recognize God speaking in him.
The Pharisees wanted the Messiah. But the Messiah they wanted was not
the type of Messiah Jesus intended to be. They heard Jesus talking
about the primacy of service to others, about suffering and turning the
other cheek; and they heard him criticizing their approach to religion.
This was not the kind of Messiah they wanted. So they blinded
themselves to what God was writing in clear bold lines in Jesus.
We may be blinding ourselves to the reality. Not just the material
reality in front of us, but the spiritual reality also of God in the
form of suffering of our neighbors. Like the three little monkeys, we
cover our eyes, and stop our ears and seal our lips. These evils,
therefore, do not exist for us nor does the voice of God reproving us.
Jesus said that on the Day of Judgment the people of Nineva and the
Queen of Sheba will rise up and condemn his generation.
When the people of Nineva and the Queen of Sheba rise up on the last
day, will they condemn our generation as well?
July 23 2006
16th Sunday in Ordinary Time - B
JEREMIAH 23:1-6
Woe to the shepherds who mislead and scatter the flock of my pasture,
says the LORD. Therefore, thus says the LORD, the God of Israel,
against the shepherds who shepherd my people: You have scattered my
sheep and driven them away. You have not cared for them, but I will
take care to punish your evil deeds. I myself will gather the remnant
of my flock from all the lands to which I have driven them and bring
them back to their meadow; there they shall increase and multiply. I
will appoint shepherds for them who will shepherd them so that they
need no longer fear and tremble; and none shall be missing, says the
LORD. Behold, the days are coming, says the LORD, when I will raise up
a righteous shoot to David; as king he shall reign and govern wisely,
he shall do what is just and right in the land. In his days Judah shall
be saved, Israel shall dwell in security. This is the name they give
him: "The LORD our justice."
EPHESIANS 2:13-18
Brothers and sisters: In Christ Jesus you who once were far off have
become near by the blood of Christ. For he is our peace, he who made
both one and broke down the dividing wall of enmity, through his flesh,
abolishing the law with its commandments and legal claims, that he
might create in himself one new person in place of the two, thus
establishing peace, and might reconcile both with God, in one body,
through the cross, putting that enmity to death by it. He came and
preached peace to you who were far off and peace to those who were
near, for through him we both have access in one Spirit to the Father.
MARK 6:30-34
The apostles gathered together with Jesus and reported all they had
done and taught. He said to them, "Come away by yourselves to a
deserted place and rest a while." People were coming and going in great
numbers, and they had no opportunity even to eat. So they went off in
the boat by themselves to a deserted place. People saw them leaving and
many came to know about it. They hastened there on foot from all the
towns and arrived at the place before them. When he disembarked and saw
the vast crowd, his heart was moved with pity for them, for they were
like sheep without a shepherd; and he began to teach them many things.
REFLECTION
In today's first reading, the prophet Jeremiah criticizes Judah's
political and religious leaders for being selfish - looking after their
own interests and neglecting the flock entrusted to them. How the
condemnation is applicable to those officials today who are getting
filthy rich at the expense of the hardship of our countrymen.
The Gospel reading shows Jesus acting as a compassionate shepherd
taking the apostles away for needed rest and yet ready to teach the
people himself although he was tired, because the people were "like
sheep without a shepherd."
In biblical times, shepherds and sheep had quite an intimate
relationship. The shepherd would know each one of the sheep by name as
well as their characteristics and peculiarities. The sheep would
recognize their shepherd's voice. A shepherd would risk his life
protecting the sheep from bandits and wild animals. And if any of the
sheep is lost, the shepherd would not rest until he has found the lost
one, or at least bring evidence that it had been killed by wild beasts.
That's why Jesus could describe himself as the Good Shepherd.
Because we have been baptized and share Jesus' life as priest, prophet,
and king, we, too, are shepherds. As members of the Body of Christ, we
are all responsible for one another. We are our brother's keepers and
have to be shepherds to one another, as parents, teachers, members of a
parish organization, or simply as Christians, each in his own sphere of
life and with his own contribution to make.
To reflect the image of the Good Shepherd, we must follow the rhythm of
the Christian life suggested by today's Gospel reading. The Christian
life is a continuous going to the presence of God from the presence of
men, and coming out into the presence of men from the presence of God.
It is something like the rhythm of sleep and work. We cannot work
unless we have our time to rest, and sleep will not come unless we have
worked until we are tired.
There are two dangers in life. First, is the danger of constant
activity. No one can work without rest; and no one can live a Christian
life unless he gives himself times with God. It may well be that the
whole trouble in our lives is that we give God no opportunity to speak
to us, because we do not know how to be still and to listen. We give
God no time to recharge us with spiritual energy and strength, because
there is no time when we wait upon him. How can we shoulder life's
burden if we have no contact with him, who is the Lord of all good
life? How can we do God's work unless we seek him in the silence of our
prayers?
The second danger is that of too much withdrawal. Devotion does not
lead to action is not genuine devotion. Prayer that does not lead to
work is not real prayer, but an escape from responsibilities.
Some people spend so many hours in the church with loads of novena
booklets. They pray to practically all the saints in the church
calendar. Yet, when they go home, they start scolding and cursing their
drivers and household helpers. They indulge in their favorite past time
of tsismis against their neighbors.
We must never seek the presence of God in order to escape the presence
of men, but rather in order to prepare ourselves better for people. The
rhythm of the Christian life is the alternate meeting with God in the
secret place and serving men in the market place.
One young man told me his realization in prayer. He says, "The other
day as I was praying to encounter Christ, I realized that Christ is in
the people around me - in the maids, in the driver, in my family
members, the people I encounter." That kind of realization in prayer
will certainly cause a change in the attitude and relationship of the
prayer with the people around him.
July 22 2006
Memorial, St. Mary Magdalene
Saturday 15th Week in Ordinary Time - Yr II
2 CORINTHIANS 5:14-17
For the love of Christ impels us, once we have come to the conviction
that one died for all; therefore, all have died. He indeed died for
all, so that those who live might no longer live for themselves but for
him who for their sake died and was raised. Consequently, from now on
we regard no one according to the flesh; even if we once knew Christ
according to the flesh, yet now we know him so no longer. So whoever is
in Christ is a new creation: the old things have passed away; behold,
new things have come.
JOHN 20:1-2, 11-18
On the first day of the week, Mary Magdalene came to the tomb early in
the morning, while it was still dark, and saw the stone removed from
the tomb. So she ran and went to Simon Peter and to the other disciple
whom Jesus loved, and told them, "They have taken the Lord from the
tomb, and we don't know where they put him." Mary stayed outside the
tomb weeping. And as she wept, she bent over into the tomb and saw two
angels in white sitting there, one at the head and one at the feet
where the Body of Jesus had been. And they said to her, "Woman, why are
you weeping?" She said to them, "They have taken my Lord, and I don't
know where they laid him." When she had said this, she turned around
and saw Jesus there, but did not know it was Jesus. Jesus said to her,
"Woman, why are you weeping? Whom are you looking for?" She thought it
was the gardener and said to him, "Sir, if you carried him away, tell
me where you laid him, and I will take him." Jesus said to her, "Mary!"
She turned and said to him in Hebrew, "Rabbouni," which means Teacher.
Jesus said to her, "Stop holding on to me, for I have not yet ascended
to the Father. But go to my brothers and tell them, 'I am going to my
Father and your Father, to my God and your God.'" Mary Magdalene went
and announced to the disciples, "I have seen the Lord," and then
reported what he told her.
REFLECTION
On the day Jesus delivered Mary Magdalene from the seven demons (Mk
16:9), we know she encountered grace and mercy and she was changed. She
found in Jesus the answer to her hope and longing for unconditional
love and forgiveness. Consequently, she wanted nothing more than to be
with him - to learn from him, to drink his words. She followed Jesus
with unwavering faith. She just could not separate herself from her
Beloved so that even to the end when Jesus was crucified Mary Magdalene
was present.
No one can imagine the sorrow Mary Magdalene must have felt when Jesus
died. In her sorrow she sought comfort in the stranger she mistook for
a gardener. Her failure to see Jesus could not have been motivated by
disbelief that he could be alive. In her grief she needed a very
personal friend at hand. And when Jesus calls out to her by name, she
finally recognizes him and her shattered faith becomes whole again.
With Jesus' appearance, Mary comes back to follow Jesus. She declares
the Lord resurrected and she becomes an instrument in the disciples'
coming to faith.
Jesus awaits your desire for a close relationship with him. He calls
your name each day. Are you attuned to his voice and his words as he
speaks to you, Mary Magdalene was?
July 21, 2006
Friday 15th Week in Ordinary Time - Yr II
ISAIAH 38:1-6, 21-22, 7-8
When Hezekiah was mortally ill, the prophet Isaiah, son of Amoz, came
and said to him: "Thus says the LORD: Put your house in order, for you
are about to die; you shall not recover." Then Hezekiah turned his face
to the wall and prayed to the LORD: "O LORD, remember how faithfully
and wholeheartedly I conducted myself in your presence, doing what was
pleasing to you!" And Hezekiah wept bitterly. Then the word of the LORD
came to Isaiah: "Go, tell Hezekiah: Thus says the LORD, the God of your
father David: I have heard your prayer and seen your tears. I will heal
you: in three days you shall go up to the LORD's temple; I will add
fifteen years to your life. I will rescue you and this city from the
hand of the king of Assyria; I will be a shield to this city." Isaiah
then ordered a poultice of figs to be taken and applied to the boil,
that he might recover. Then Hezekiah asked, "What is the sign that I
shall go up to the temple of the LORD?" Isaiah answered: "This will be
the sign for you from the LORD that he will do what he has promised:
See, I will make the shadow cast by the sun on the stairway to the
terrace of Ahaz go back the ten steps it has advanced." So the sun came
back the ten steps it had advanced.
MATTHEW 12:1-8
Jesus was going through a field of grain on the sabbath. His disciples
were hungry and began to pick the heads of grain and eat them. When the
Pharisees saw this, they said to him, "See, your disciples are doing
what is unlawful to do on the sabbath." He said to the them, "Have you
not read what David did when he and his companions were hungry, how he
went into the house of God and ate the bread of offering, which neither
he nor his companions but only the priests could lawfully eat? Or have
you not read in the law that on the sabbath the priests serving in the
temple violate the sabbath and are innocent? I say to you, something
greater than the temple is here. If you knew what this meant, I desire
mercy, not sacrifice, you would not have condemned these innocent men.
For the Son of Man is Lord of the sabbath."
REFLECTION
The Pharisees never missed a chance to entangle Jesus and his disciples
in controversy. One of their favorite topics was the Sabbath law.
According to the Pharisaic understanding, all work was forbidden on the
Sabbath.
It's interesting that Jesus didn't seem to get too excited about the
Pharisee's accusation. He cited the example of David and his soldiers
when they were hungry. The priests gave them the bread to eat, which
had been offered to God in the Temple, even though the law stated that
only the priests could eat this bread. Furthermore, he pointed out,
priests can prepare animals for sacrifice on the Sabbath without
incurring guilt. He was suggesting that the position taken by the
Pharisees was far too strict.
Then he made two statements that must have got the Pharisees very
upset. He said, "The Son of man is Lord of the Sabbath." The Sabbath
was the most important, the most sacred religious institution in Jewish
life and this institution was established by God himself. It would seem
therefore that Jesus was hinting that he was divine.
He also said, "If you understood the meaning of this text, 'it is mercy
I desire and not sacrifice,' you would not have condemned these
innocent men (namely, the apostles who were pulling grains from the
stalks of wheat on the Sabbath)." In effect Jesus was saying, "I much
prefer that you show mercy to your fellow men and women than that you
offer religious sacrifice to God."
Jesus clearly believes that it is more important that we be
compassionate to our fellow men and women, than offering sacrifice to
God. The relevance of this to living our faith is clear. What we think
of as an obligatory act of religion may well have to be set aside in
order that we respond to a demand of charity to satisfy the need for
compassion.
July 20 2006
Thursday 15th Week in Ordinary Time - Yr II
ISAIAH 26:7-9, 12, 16-19
The way of the just is smooth; the path of the just you make level.
Yes, for your way and your judgments, O LORD, we look to you; Your name
and your title are the desire of our souls. My soul yearns for you in
the night, yes, my spirit within me keeps vigil for you; When your
judgment dawns upon the earth, the world's inhabitants learn justice. O
LORD, you mete out peace to us, for it is you who have accomplished all
we have done. O LORD, oppressed by your punishment, we cried out in
anguish under your chastising. As a woman about to give birth writhes
and cries out in her pains, so were we in your presence, O LORD. We
conceived and writhed in pain, giving birth to wind; Salvation we have
not achieved for the earth, the inhabitants of the world cannot bring
it forth. But your dead shall live, their corpses shall rise; awake and
sing, you who lie in the dust. For your dew is a dew of light, and the
land of shades gives birth.
MATTHEW 11:28-30
Jesus said: "Come to me, all you who labor and are burdened, and I will
give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am meek
and humble of heart; and you will find rest for yourselves. For my yoke
is easy, and my burden light."
REFLECTION
A good teacher knows how to command attention and adopts various
techniques when the students' concentration wanes. Jesus is no
exception. The good teacher that Jesus is, using paradox, he describes
the yoke of his Gospel as easy and his burden as light. Unaccustomed as
we are to pairing off these particular nouns and adjectives, we are
jolted into stopping and reflecting.
Jesus will never abandon us. He knows that our lives are demanding and
fretful, filled with anxieties about work, housing, relationships,
money, etc. As a result, we may have difficulty absorbing the
nourishment of prayer, scripture reading and the sacraments. People can
be like pieces of rubber bands stretched to their utmost limits one
day, then the next day in a state of collapse.
Jesus' yoke is a whole way of life - a discipleship, and a relationship
with him. He demands of us willing service to the Gospel, but rewards
us with friendship and love. Our part of the bargain is a twofold
pledge: to model our lives on his and to enter wholeheartedly into
relationship with him.
The image of the yoke calls to mind two oxen ploughing a field side by
side, in step with one another. Jesus walks by our side. Because he
shares our burden, he befriends us on our journey through life and
invites us to rest with him at the end of the day. We are made in the
image of a hard-working God who labors to create the world and who
works with us to sustain it. He rests with us as we renew our energies.
Discipleship and trust are key qualities that are needed. Enthusiasm
for the Lord can see us through the ups and downs of life. It can help
us focus and fill us with the light of his grace. The conviction that
Jesus is by our side can calm our fears and encourages us to take the
spiritual rest that we all need for a healthy and balanced life as we
journey on the difficult road of life. Let us always be aware of Jesus
by our side, not just lifting or removing but sharing our burdens, and
helping us to bear with joy the yoke of discipleship.
July 19 2006
Wednesday 15th Week in Ordinary Time - Yr II
ISAIAH 10:5-7, 13B-16
Thus says the LORD: Woe to Assyria! My rod in anger, my staff in wrath.
Against an impious nation I send him, and against a people under my
wrath I order him To seize plunder, carry off loot, and tread them down
like the mud of the streets. But this is not what he intends, nor does
he have this in mind; Rather, it is in his heart to destroy, to make an
end of nations not a few. For he says: "By my own power I have done it,
and by my wisdom, for I am shrewd. I have moved the boundaries of
peoples, their treasures I have pillaged, and, like a giant, I have put
down the enthroned. My hand has seized like a nest the riches of
nations; As one takes eggs left alone, so I took in all the earth; No
one fluttered a wing, or opened a mouth, or chirped!" Will the axe
boast against him who hews with it? Will the saw exalt itself above him
who wields it? As if a rod could sway him who lifts it, or a staff him
who is not wood! Therefore the Lord, the LORD of hosts, will send among
his fat ones leanness, And instead of his glory there will be kindling
like the kindling of fire.
MATTHEW 11:25-27
At that time Jesus exclaimed: "I give praise to you, Father, Lord of
heaven and earth, for although you have hidden these things from the
wise and the learned you have revealed them to the childlike. Yes,
Father, such has been your gracious will. All things have been handed
over to me by my Father. No one knows the Son except the Father, and no
one knows the Father except the Son and anyone to whom the Son wishes
to reveal him."
REFLECTION
Strangely enough the first reading begins with the phrase, "Woe to
Assyria!" "Strangely" because it goes on to say that Assyria is the rod
of Yahweh's anger, the staff of his wrath. It foretells that Assyria
will be the instrument, which God will use to punish Judah. Assyria
will be an instrument in Yahweh's hands even though the Assyrian king
does not realize it. He may boast that his armies are plundering Judah
in anticipation of destroying her. He may boast that his is the
intention, the destruction of Judah. He it is who will destroy
Jerusalem. Assyria will not go unpunished, not because of the king's
unrestrained boasting, but because he did not recognize that God is the
Lord of history, their history and the history of all the world's
nations.
The Assyrian king's boasting sounds as though he sees himself as a god.
By his own wisdom and power he has widened Assyria's boarders, by
pillage he has enlarged his treasures, he has seized the riches of many
nations and no one has moved a finger to stop him.
In the first reading, Isaiah proclaims his theology of history. Yahweh
is the supreme arbiter of the fate not only of his own people, but of
the pagan nations as well. God is the master of history who, in spite
of humankind's empty posturing and proud arrogance, moves the world in
the direction in which he would have it go.
And so it is even now. God, the Lord of History moves the world toward
the fulfillment of the Kingdom, whether with our cooperation, the
cooperation of humankind, or not.
July 18, 2006
Tuesday 15th Week in Ordinary Time - Yr II
ISAIAH 7:1-9
In the days of Ahaz, king of Judah, son of Jotham, son of Uzziah,
Rezin, king of Aram, and Pekah, king of Israel, son of Remaliah, went
up to attack Jerusalem, but they were not able to conquer it. When word
came to the house of David that Aram was encamped in Ephraim, the heart
of the king and the heart of the people trembled, as the trees of the
forest tremble in the wind. Then the LORD said to Isaiah: Go out to
meet Ahaz, you and your son Shear-jashub, at the end of the conduit of
the upper pool, on the highway of the fuller's field, and say to him:
Take care you remain tranquil and do not fear; let not your courage
fail before these two stumps of smoldering brands the blazing anger of
Rezin and the Arameans, and of the son Remaliah, because of the
mischief that Aram, Ephraim and the son of Remaliah, plots against you,
saying, "Let us go up and tear Judah asunder, make it our own by force,
and appoint the son of Tabeel king there." Thus says the LORD: This
shall not stand, it shall not be! Damascus is the capital of Aram, and
Rezin is the head of Damascus; Samaria is the capital of Ephraim, and
Remaliah's son the head of Samaria. But within sixty years and five,
Ephraim shall be crushed, no longer a nation. Unless your faith is firm
you shall not be firm!
MATTHEW 11:20-24
Jesus began to reproach the towns where most of his mighty deeds had
been done, since they had not repented. "Woe to you, Chorazin! Woe to
you, Bethsaida! For if the mighty deeds done in your midst had been
done in Tyre and Sidon, they would long ago have repented in sackcloth
and ashes. But I tell you, it will be more tolerable for Tyre and Sidon
on the day of judgment than for you. And as for you, Capernaum: Will
you be exalted to heaven? You will go down to the nether world. For if
the mighty deeds done in your midst had been done in Sodom, it would
have remained until this day. But I tell you, it will be more tolerable
for the land of Sodom on the day of judgment than for you."
REFLECTION
Ahaz, King of Judah, a royal prince of David's line, was caught in a
political quandary. The powerful kingdom of Assyria was looking
southward, threatening the kingdoms of Israel and Damascus. The kings
of Israel and Damascus wanted to depose King Ahaz from Judah's throne
and put a puppet in his place. Then with Israel, Damascus and Judah
united, they thought that they would be able to withstand the threats
of Assyria.
Ahaz was terrified by the thought of war with Israel and Damascus. The
only way he could meet this threat and prevail, he thought, would be to
enter into a vassal relationship with the powerful King of the
superpower, Assyria. This, of course, Yahweh, the God of Judah, did not
want.
It is often said that the Old Testament God was a jealous God. He
certainly was. He was furious whenever his people turned to the gods of
the pagans. He staunchly opposed any alliance between Judah and a pagan
kingdom. Alliances of this sort denied that Yahweh was the most high
King of Judah; these alliances also tempted the people with their pagan
shrines and shameful practices.
Yahweh sent Isaiah to King Ahaz to dissuade him from making an alliance
with of Assyria. Isaiah told Ahaz to be confident in the strength of
Yahweh, to refuse all foreign entanglements, to trust in the promises
Yahweh made to David. "Stand firm in your faith," Yahweh urged Ahaz.
"If you do, only then will you and your house stand firm."
Ahaz, nevertheless, made an alliance with Assyria. Judah and King Ahaz
were made to pay the price. Eventually they suffered shame and defeat
at the hands of Assyria, to whom they had looked for salvation rather
than to Yahweh.
God demands that we trust him; he urges us to believe that it is not by
our own efforts but by his supportive grace that we will prevail over
those who would destroy us. Salvation is from God and from him alone.
July 17 2006
Monday 15th Week in Ordinary Time - Yr II
ISAIAH 1:10-17
Hear the word of the LORD, princes of Sodom! Listen to the instruction
of our God, people of Gomorrah! What care I for the number of your
sacrifices? says the LORD. I have had enough of whole-burnt rams and
fat of fatlings; In the blood of calves, lambs and goats I find no
pleasure. When you come in to visit me, who asks these things of you?
Trample my courts no more! Bring no more worthless offerings; your
incense is loathsome to me. New moon and sabbath, calling of
assemblies, octaves with wickedness: these I cannot bear. Your new
moons and festivals I detest; they weigh me down, I tire of the load.
When you spread out your hands, I close my eyes to you; Though you pray
the more, I will not listen. Your hands are full of blood! Wash
yourselves clean! Put away your misdeeds from before my eyes; cease
doing evil; learn to do good. Make justice your aim: redress the
wronged, hear the orphan's plea, defend the widow.
MATTHEW 10:34-11:1
Jesus said to his Apostles: "Do not think that I have come to bring
peace upon the earth. I have come to bring not peace but the sword. For
I have come to set a man against his father, a daughter against her
mother, and a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law; and one's
enemies will be those of his household. "Whoever loves father or mother
more than me is not worthy of me, and whoever loves son or daughter
more than me is not worthy of me; and whoever does not take up his
cross and follow after me is not worthy of me. Whoever finds his life
will lose it, and whoever loses his life for my sake will find it.
"Whoever receives you receives me, and whoever receives me receives the
one who sent me. Whoever receives a prophet because he is a prophet
will receive a prophet's reward, and whoever receives a righteous man
because he is righteous will receive a righteous man's reward. And
whoever gives only a cup of cold water to one of these little ones to
drink because he is a disciple - amen, I say to you, he will surely not
lose his reward." When Jesus finished giving these commands to his
Twelve disciples, he went away from that place to teach and to preach
in their towns.
REFLECTION
At the time the Gospels were written, the vast majority of Christians
were converts from either paganism or Judaism. Matthew was writing his
Gospel primarily for converts from Judaism. In the eyes of everyone,
these converts were renouncing their culture and their family, as well
as their religion. They embraced their new faith with such passion that
it led to a severe wrenching from their past and to deep interfamily
conflicts as well.
The words of Jesus consoled them: "Do not suppose that my mission on
earth is to spread peace. My mission is to spread not peace, but
division" - the word our version translates as "division" is the
Aramaic word for "sword." Jesus is saying, " I have come not to bring
peace but the sword." And he says, "This sword will cut through blood
relationships, making a man's enemies those of his own household."
Jesus' words consoled the converts, assuring them they were moving
along the right path.
What does this passage say to us who for the most part, certainly, are
born Christians, not converts? Given the closeness of family ties and
deep family ties in our culture, perhaps the passage is telling us
today that no matter how strong the claim of the family is on us, if
there is a conflict between the demands of the family and Christ's
values, our primary loyalty has to be to Christ and his values, even if
this means that the family-members will look on us as traitors. As
Christ puts it, this is the cross we must take up today, if we are to
be worthy of him.
July 16 2006
15th Sunday in Ordinary Time - B
AMOS 7:12-15
Amaziah, priest of Bethel, said to Amos, "Off with you, visionary, flee
to the land of Judah! There earn your bread by prophesying, but never
again prophesy in Bethel; for it is the king's sanctuary and a royal
temple." Amos answered Amaziah, "I was no prophet, nor have I belonged
to a company of prophets; I was a shepherd and a dresser of sycamores.
The LORD took me from following the flock, and said to me, Go, prophesy
to my people Israel."
EPHESIANS 1:3-14
Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed
us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavens, as he chose
us in him, before the foundation of the world, to be holy and without
blemish before him. In love he destined us for adoption to himself
through Jesus Christ, in accord with the favor of his will, for the
praise of the glory of his grace that he granted us in the beloved. In
him we have redemption by his blood, the forgiveness of transgressions,
in accord with the riches of his grace that he lavished upon us. In all
wisdom and insight, he has made known to us the mystery of his will in
accord with his favor that he set forth in him as a plan for the
fullness of times, to sum up all things in Christ, in heaven and on
earth. In him we were also chosen, destined in accord with the purpose
of the One who accomplishes all things according to the intention of
his will, so that we might exist for the praise of his glory, we who
first hoped in Christ. In him you also, who have heard the word of
truth, the gospel of your salvation, and have believed in him, were
sealed with the promised holy Spirit, which is the first installment of
our inheritance toward redemption as God's possession, to the praise of
his glory.
MARK 6:7-13
Jesus summoned the Twelve and began to send them out two by two and
gave them authority over unclean spirits. He instructed them to take
nothing for the journey but a walking stick- no food, no sack, no money
in their belts. They were, however, to wear sandals but not a second
tunic. He said to them, "Wherever you enter a house, stay there until
you leave. Whatever place does not welcome you or listen to you, leave
there and shake the dust off your feet in testimony against them." So
they went off and preached repentance. The Twelve drove out many
demons, and they anointed with oil many who were sick and cured them.
REFLECTION
A Jesuit missionary labored for many years in a Bukidnon mission in
Mindanao. When the mission parish was finally turned over to the
diocesan clergy, the new parish priest was amazed that the Jesuit
missionary had left him practically a bare convent without any
furniture, not even a bed. What the new parish priest did not realize
was that the old missionary had lived in the bare convent all his years
in the mission without any furniture. He had nothing to leave behind.
This story calls to mind the words of Jesus in today's Gospel reading
as he sent the Twelve on their mission, "Take nothing on the journey
but a walking stick ... no food, no traveling bag, not a coin in the
purses in their belts. Do not bring a second tunic."
What was the point of Jesus in giving these instructions? He told the
Apostles not to carry any provisions of food or money in their purse,
not even to bring a change of clothes. Jesus' point was that the
Apostles are to travel light to be able to reach far and wide, to reach
more people. The focus is the mission, not the comfort or popularity,
or the success of the messenger.
We must learn to travel light in our life's journey and to be ready to
endure discomfort to be able to reach far and wide for the sake of
bringing God's Good News. We must learn to trust in God's providence
and the people's hospitality.
When Jesus said, "Whatever house you find yourself in, stay there until
you leave the locality." He was saying whatever hospitality you find,
settle there, and do not be looking for more comfort or better
accommodations. Our concern is not how to ensure our own comfort, but
to preach the Kingdom of God.
What does this have to do with us? You and I are called to be apostles,
to spread the message of Christ by word, action, and style of life. Do
not say that these instructions are meant for priests and religious -
the "professional" evangelizers. All of us, by our baptism, are called
to bring the message of Christ to the world around us. We can do better
if we are not weighed down with a lot of unimportant things that take
our time, our attention, and our money.
Some gadgets like cell phones contribute to our comfort and
convenience. They help us do our work more efficiently and quickly.
However, if we are not careful they can enslave us. It is now a common
sight to see people standing on a street corner or bus stop, or
sidewalk holding a cell phone to their ears and chatting away. They
cannot live without a cell phone. Even at Mass or at stage plays or
concerts, we often hear cell phones ringing disturbing people and
interfering with what is going on, as if that is the most urgent thing
in life - a matter of life and death.
Does this mean we have to live like Mahatma Gandhi, or St. Francis of
Assisi, or live like the poorest beggar? Not at all. But the spirit of
Christ is that we free ourselves of the superfluous, the unnecessary,
the piles of "extra things" that weigh us down physically and
spiritually.
Of course, doing without things must be relative. A carpenter for
instance needs tools, a physician needs expensive clinical equipment, a
housewife needs kitchen utensils, a lawyer - shelves of reference
books. But all of us, some more than others, can find many material
possessions we can do without, things that keep us from thinking,
speaking, and acting freely. We cannot follow the will of God, if we
are tied down by many attachments.
We are on a journey to heaven. The less "baggage" we carry the more we
can concentrate on essentials, the more time we can give to the
spiritual. Let us travel like Jesus and his original followers.
July 15, 2006
Memorial, St. Bonaventure, bishop & doctor
Saturday 14th Week in Ordinary Time - Yr II
ISAIAH 6:1-8
In the year King Uzziah died, I saw the Lord seated on a high and lofty
throne, with the train of his garment filling the temple. Seraphim were
stationed above; each of them had six wings: with two they veiled their
faces, with two they veiled their feet, and with two they hovered
aloft. They cried one to the other, "Holy, holy, holy is the LORD of
hosts! All the earth is filled with his glory!" At the sound of that
cry, the frame of the door shook and the house was filled with smoke.
Then I said, "Woe is me, I am doomed! For I am a man of unclean lips,
living among a people of unclean lips; yet my eyes have seen the King,
the LORD of hosts!" Then one of the seraphim flew to me, holding an
ember that he had taken with tongs from the altar. He touched my mouth
with it and said, "See, now that this has touched your lips, your
wickedness is removed, your sin purged." Then I heard the voice of the
Lord saying, "Whom shall I send? Who will go for us?" "Here I am," I
said; "send me!"
MATTHEW 10:24-33
Jesus said to his Apostles: "No disciple is above his teacher, no slave
above his master. It is enough for the disciple that he become like his
teacher, for the slave that he become like his master. If they have
called the master of the house Beelzebul, how much more those of his
household! "Therefore do not be afraid of them. Nothing is concealed
that will not be revealed, nor secret that will not be known. What I
say to you in the darkness, speak in the light; what you hear
whispered, proclaim on the housetops. And do not be afraid of those who
kill the body but cannot kill the soul; rather, be afraid of the one
who can destroy both soul and body in Gehenna. Are not two sparrows
sold for a small coin? Yet not one of them falls to the ground without
your Father's knowledge. Even all the hairs of your head are counted.
So do not be afraid; you are worth more than many sparrows. Everyone
who acknowledges me before others I will acknowledge before my heavenly
Father. But whoever denies me before others, I will deny before my
heavenly Father."
REFLECTION
In today's Gospel reading, the point is made that the disciples of
Jesus have to proclaim him to people. But there are many different ways
to understand this. It could mean various things, like a doctrine that
is to be spread and imposed by all means upon people. But the Gospel
speaks of something entirely different. Jesus makes it very clear that
words are not enough. The disciple who wants to bear witness to Jesus
must do so by deeds. As Jesus says: "Not everyone who says to me 'Lord,
Lord' will enter the kingdom of heaven but the person who does the will
of my Father in heaven." Jesus also says: "For the Son of Man is going
to come in the glory of his Father with his angels, and then he will
reward each one according to his behavior."
Yes, only what one practices shows what sort of person he is and what
motivates him. Words are too often a mere smoke screen that hides the
reality.
In the course of the centuries, the name of Jesus has been a label
stuck on many things. This happening even now. Yet there is little
doubt what it really covers. In the scriptures, God has a human face.
If in the name of God people are trampled upon in whatever way, this
can never serve God whom Jesus called our Father. Jesus says: "Whatever
you do to the least of those who are mine, you do it to me."
The Church of Jesus is everywhere where people stand up for human
rights. The compassion of Jesus led him so far that his actions
remained human even at his abasement on the cross. The Gospel is
disarming and honors heroes who are without glory. True disciples of
Jesus dare to be nonviolent. This is the only kind of heroism God
recognizes.
July 14, 2006
Friday 14th Week in Ordinary Time - Yr II
HOSEA 14:2-10
Thus says the LORD: Return, O Israel, to the LORD, your God; you have
collapsed through your guilt. Take with you words, and return to the
LORD; Say to him, "Forgive all iniquity, and receive what is good, that
we may render as offerings the bullocks from our stalls. Assyria will
not save us, nor shall we have horses to mount; We shall say no more,
'Our god,' to the work of our hands; for in you the orphan finds
compassion." I will heal their defection, says the LORD, I will love
them freely; for my wrath is turned away from them. I will be like the
dew for Israel: he shall blossom like the lily; He shall strike root
like the Lebanon cedar, and put forth his shoots. His splendor shall be
like the olive tree and his fragrance like the Lebanon cedar. Again
they shall dwell in his shade and raise grain; They shall blossom like
the vine, and his fame shall be like the wine of Lebanon. Ephraim! What
more has he to do with idols? I have humbled him, but I will prosper
him. "I am like a verdant cypress tree"- because of me you bear fruit!
Let him who is wise understand these things; let him who is prudent
know them. Straight are the paths of the LORD, in them the just walk,
but sinners stumble in them.
MATTHEW 10:16-23
Jesus said to his Apostles: "Behold, I am sending you like sheep in the
midst of wolves; so be shrewd as serpents and simple as doves. But
beware of men, for they will hand you over to courts and scourge you in
their synagogues, and you will be led before governors and kings for my
sake as a witness before them and the pagans. When they hand you over,
do not worry about how you are to speak or what you are to say. You
will be given at that moment what you are to say. For it will not be
you who speak but the Spirit of your Father speaking through you.
Brother will hand over brother to death, and the father his child;
children will rise up against parents and have them put to death. You
will be hated by all because of my name, but whoever endures to the end
will be saved. When they persecute you in one town, flee to another.
Amen, I say to you, you will not finish the towns of Israel before the
Son of Man comes."
REFLECTION
The words of Jesus in today's Gospel are words of warning accompanied
by words of promise. He tells his apostles that they are being sent out
"as sheep among wolves" and therefore they (we) must be "cunning as
serpents and yet as harmless as doves."
Jesus then goes on to describe coming persecutions when his disciples
will suffer, but he also promises that the Holy Spirit will be there to
provide whatever is needed for the apostles' ministry.
Most Christians find it easy to understand being like sheep among
wolves or being as harmless as doves. This is often interpreted to mean
that we should be meek and humble. What we often overlook is that Jesus
also asks us to be as "cunning as serpents." What could this mean?
Maybe there is still a place for being "cunning" in a Christian's life,
and perhaps it has to do with discerning the needs of every time and
place. We are asked not only to be meek and humble followers or
servants (sheep and doves), but also to be cunning-to understand the
ways of the world and to do what is necessary to proclaim the Gospel,
even if it involves suffering and persecution.
We must be cunning as serpents and harmless as doves.
July 13, 2006
Thursday 14th Week in Ordinary Time - Yr II
HOSEA 11:1-4, 8E-9
Thus says the LORD: When Israel was a child I loved him, out of Egypt I
called my son. The more I called them, the farther they went from me,
Sacrificing to the Baals and burning incense to idols. Yet it was I who
taught Ephraim to walk, who took them in my arms; I drew them with
human cords, with bands of love; I fostered them like one who raises an
infant to his cheeks; Yet, though I stooped to feed my child, they did
not know that I was their healer. My heart is overwhelmed, my pity is
stirred. I will not give vent to my blazing anger, I will not destroy
Ephraim again; For I am God and not man, the Holy One present among
you; I will not let the flames consume you.
MATTHEW 10:7-15
Jesus said to his Apostles: "As you go, make this proclamation: 'The
Kingdom of heaven is at hand.' Cure the sick, raise the dead, cleanse
the lepers, drive out demons. Without cost you have received; without
cost you are to give. Do not take gold or silver or copper for your
belts; no sack for the journey, or a second tunic, or sandals, or
walking stick. The laborer deserves his keep. Whatever town or village
you enter, look for a worthy person in it, and stay there until you
leave. As you enter a house, wish it peace. If the house is worthy, let
your peace come upon it; if not, let your peace return to you. Whoever
will not receive you or listen to your words- go outside that house or
town and shake the dust from your feet. Amen, I say to you, it will be
more tolerable for the land of Sodom and Gomorrah on the day of
judgment than for that town."
REFLECTION
The commissioning of the apostles foreshadowed the great evangelical
mission of the Church as given by the risen Jesus before his return to
the Father. As baptized members of the Church, we have inherited that
mission. We should see it as an exciting challenge. Sad to say, many of
us consider it as a burden placed on our shoulders. It is a tragic
irony that we who have the fullness of the Good News do not proclaim
our faith with the same fervor and zeal as so many Protestant
denominations do.
A common problem is that we are fearful of evangelizing because we are
not as clear as we should be about the message that we should proclaim.
Jesus was very clear about the message that his disciples should
preach: "The kingdom of heaven is at hand. Repent and believe the Good
News." Our message is, in essence, the same: the kingdom of heaven has
arrived in Jesus. It is his victory over sin and death that enables us
to proclaim: "Christ has died, Christ is risen, Christ will come
again."
Another difficulty is the fear of our own weaknesses. Somehow we are
able to accept that the preaching of the first disciples was blessed
with all sorts of miracles and other signs. But we have little or no
expectation that our efforts will be similarly blessed. We need to
recall that, like the apostles, we are not expected to rely on our own
meager resources. We have Jesus' promise of the Holy Spirit. The good
news about preaching the Gospel is that he is always present as we bear
witness in his name. His is the power of conviction, forgiveness,
reconciliation and salvation, a power so awesome that nothing can stand
against it. In his power and with his love every good thing is
possible.
Perhaps the greatest obstacle to our witnessing to Jesus is our fear
that we may attract ridicule and hostility. It is when this happens
that we can know most fully Jesus' presence in us, for he has said:
"Blessed are you when men revile you and persecute you and utter all
kinds of evil against you falsely on my account."
July 12, 2006
Wednesday 14th Week in Ordinary Time - Yr II
HOSEA 10:1-3, 7-8, 12
Israel is a luxuriant vine whose fruit matches its growth. The more
abundant his fruit, the more altars he built; The more productive his
land, the more sacred pillars he set up. Their heart is false, now they
pay for their guilt; God shall break down their altars and destroy
their sacred pillars. If they would say, "We have no king"- Since they
do not fear the LORD, what can the king do for them? The king of
Samaria shall disappear, like foam upon the waters. The high places of
Aven shall be destroyed, the sin of Israel; thorns and thistles shall
overgrow their altars. Then they shall cry out to the mountains, "Cover
us!" and to the hills, "Fall upon us!" "Sow for yourselves justice,
reap the fruit of piety; break up for yourselves a new field, for it is
time to seek the LORD, till he come and rain down justice upon you."
MATTHEW 10:1-7
Jesus summoned his Twelve disciples and gave them authority over
unclean spirits to drive them out and to cure every disease and every
illness. The names of the Twelve Apostles are these: first, Simon
called Peter, and his brother Andrew; James, the son of Zebedee, and
his brother John; Philip and Bartholomew, Thomas and Matthew the tax
collector; James, the son of Alphaeus, and Thaddeus; Simon the
Cananean, and Judas Iscariot who betrayed Jesus. Jesus sent out these
Twelve after instructing them thus, "Do not go into pagan territory or
enter a Samaritan town. Go rather to the lost sheep of the house of
Israel. As you go, make this proclamation: 'The Kingdom of heaven is at
hand.'"
REFLECTION
Jesus started his apostleship by choosing 12 men from among common
people. He taught them through parables, through various teaching, by
example and through miracles. He taught them that the kingdom of heaven
is not what they imagined it to be.
Until today, the power of Jesus' message transforms us into doing our
share in his mission. It opens our eyes to what he has done; it opens
our ears to his teachings. But even more so, his message restores us to
a better way of life, a life reborn of the Holy Spirit - a new life.
This transformation comes from believing. For every house that welcomes
this peace, the peace remains. For every house that rejects his message
of peace, the peace departs.
Jesus instructed his disciples to start with the lost sheep of Israel
instead of going into pagan and Samaritan territory because he knew
that these people were not yet ready to accept the Good News. On the
contrary, the Jews possessed the laws of the covenant since the time of
their ancestors. It was their tradition and way of life. Jesus knew
that this was the key to their beliefs and entrusted this knowledge to
Peter and the other apostles. As witnesses to his teachings, they were
empowered to bring the Good News to the Jews and later, when they were
ready, to the Gentiles.
Have we considered our own calling lately? Have we reviewed our lives?
Let's take a few minutes to reflect on Jesus' plans for our salvation.
July 11, 2006
Memorial, St. Benedict, abbot
Tuesday 14th Week in Ordinary Time - Yr II
HOSEA 8:4-7, 11-13
Thus says the LORD: They made kings in Israel, but not by my authority;
they established princes, but without my approval. With their silver
and gold they made idols for themselves, to their own destruction. Cast
away your calf, O Samaria! my wrath is kindled against them; How long
will they be unable to attain innocence in Israel? The work of an
artisan, no god at all, Destined for the flames- such is the calf of
Samaria! When they sow the wind, they shall reap the whirlwind; The
stalk of grain that forms no ear can yield no flour; Even if it could,
strangers would swallow it. When Ephraim made many altars to expiate
sin, his altars became occasions of sin. Though I write for him my many
ordinances, they are considered as a stranger's. Though they offer
sacrifice, immolate flesh and eat it, the LORD is not pleased with
them. He shall still remember their guilt and punish their sins; they
shall return to Egypt.
MATTHEW 9:32-38
A demoniac who could not speak was brought to Jesus, and when the demon
was driven out the mute man spoke. The crowds were amazed and said,
"Nothing like this has ever been seen in Israel." But the Pharisees
said, "He drives out demons by the prince of demons." Jesus went around
to all the towns and villages, teaching in their synagogues,
proclaiming the Gospel of the Kingdom, and curing every disease and
illness. At the sight of the crowds, his heart was moved with pity for
them because they were troubled and abandoned, like sheep without a
shepherd. Then he said to his disciples, "The harvest is abundant but
the laborers are few; so ask the master of the harvest to send out
laborers for his harvest."
REFLECTION
All of us have gone through times when we were "called" by God. These
calls may be mediated by a beggar, a needy friend, our children who
want to be close to us, lonely old people, or even the Church. The
church constantly needs people to work on its various projects.
Whatever the call, we may have decided not to answer it because maybe
we were too tired, had a tough week, or simply because we felt that we
had no time to give. Whatever reasons we may have had, let us consider
opening our hearts and minds and responding affirmatively the next time
we hear his call.
St. Benedict, whose feast we celebrate today, was a "cunning" saint.
Living in the early sixth century, he noticed the moral decay in
society and even in the existing monasteries, so he started reforming
monasteries and eventually wrote the famous Rule of St. Benedict. This
later became the norm for Western monasticism. Rather than promote
excessive self-denial among monks, Benedict envisioned a community that
balanced work and prayer (ora et labora) and sought to be a school of
holiness rather than a group of individuals competing for holiness. He
stressed interior conversion rather than external manifestations of
piety.
In the middle ages, the monasteries became models of an alternative
world ruled by the spirit of Christ. Where extreme social hierarchy
ruled, the monasteries presented an ideal of social equality. When
manual labor was derided, they affirmed the spiritual value of work.
When culture and education was disintegrating, they maintained pockets
of learning and civilization. Where violence ruled, they preached and
lived in peace. The Benedictine monasteries challenged the prevailing
values in the world, and we are called to do the same in our world.
July 10, 2006
Monday 14th Week in Ordinary Time - Yr II
HOSEA 2:16, 17C-18, 21-22
Thus says the LORD: I will allure her; I will lead her into the desert
and speak to her heart. She shall respond there as in the days of her
youth, when she came up from the land of Egypt. On that day, says the
LORD, She shall call me "My husband," and never again "My baal." I will
espouse you to me forever: I will espouse you in right and in justice,
in love and in mercy; I will espouse you in fidelity, and you shall
know the LORD.
MATTHEW 9:18-26
While Jesus was speaking, an official came forward, knelt down before
him, and said, "My daughter has just died. But come, lay your hand on
her, and she will live." Jesus rose and followed him, and so did his
disciples. A woman suffering hemorrhages for twelve years came up
behind him and touched the tassel on his cloak. She said to herself,
"If only I can touch his cloak, I shall be cured." Jesus turned around
and saw her, and said, "Courage, daughter! Your faith has saved you."
And from that hour the woman was cured. When Jesus arrived at the
official's house and saw the flute players and the crowd who were
making a commotion, he said, "Go away! The girl is not dead but
sleeping." And they ridiculed him. When the crowd was put out, he came
and took her by the hand, and the little girl arose. And news of this
spread throughout all that land.
REFLECTION
Today's Gospel is about faith - believing without understanding,
believing beyond reasons. The two persons in today's Gospel demonstrate
great faith in Jesus. They firmly believed Jesus could help them to
solve their problems.
The synagogue leader was a man of great influence, with a good standing
in society. He was undoubtedly conscious of his place in Jewish
society, but he humbled himself, out of love for his daughter, to seek
help from Jesus. He believed in the goodness of Jesus. He believed
without doubt that Jesus could bring his daughter back to good health.
Jesus, on the other hand, understood the synagogue leader's
predicament. He was touched by his humble faith. He graciously
responded to the request and went to the leader's house. There he
performed the miracle of waking up the dead girl.
The hemorrhagic woman was also full of faith, "If I can only touch
Jesus' garment, I shall get well." She got what she wanted, because of
her belief.
Let us reflect on our lives. Has the Lord revealed himself to us
through events that have directly touched us? Did we recognize his
presence in our lives? Perhaps God has already influenced every step in
our lives, weaving our lives and strengthening our faith. And all we
need to do is to realize this in our hearts and minds.
July 9, 2006
14th Sunday in Ordinary Time - B
EZEKIEL 2:2-5
As the LORD spoke to me, the spirit entered into me and set me on my
feet, and I heard the one who was speaking say to me: Son of man, I am
sending you to the Israelites, rebels who have rebelled against me;
they and their ancestors have revolted against me to this very day.
Hard of face and obstinate of heart are they to whom I am sending you.
But you shall say to them: Thus says the LORD GOD! And whether they
heed or resist-for they are a rebellious house- they shall know that a
prophet has been among them.
2 CORINTHIANS 12:7-10
Brothers and sisters: That I, Paul, might not become too elated,
because of the abundance of the revelations, a thorn in the flesh was
given to me, an angel of Satan, to beat me, to keep me from being too
elated. Three times I begged the Lord about this, that it might leave
me, but he said to me, "My grace is sufficient for you, for power is
made perfect in weakness." I will rather boast most gladly of my
weaknesses, in order that the power of Christ may dwell with me.
Therefore, I am content with weaknesses, insults, hardships,
persecutions, and constraints, for the sake of Christ; for when I am
weak, then I am strong.
MARK 6:1-6
Jesus departed from there and came to his native place, accompanied by
his disciples. When the sabbath came he began to teach in the
synagogue, and many who heard him were astonished. They said, "Where
did this man get all this? What kind of wisdom has been given him? What
mighty deeds are wrought by his hands! Is he not the carpenter, the son
of Mary, and the brother of James and Joses and Judas and Simon? And
are not his sisters here with us?" And they took offense at him. Jesus
said to them, "A prophet is not without honor except in his native
place and among his own kin and in his own house." So he was not able
to perform any mighty deed there, apart from curing a few sick people
by laying his hands on them. He was amazed at their lack of faith.
REFLECTION
In a survey by the Wall Street Journal asking 10,000 people "What is
your greatest fear?" the answers indicated that the third greatest fear
was of death, and the second was loneliness. What was significant is
that the greatest fear of all was that of failure.
Failure is a powerful and problematic experience for all of us. It
touches us at our core and often saps our energy and clouds our
perception of reality. Fear of failure often overwhelms people today,
paralyzing them, keeping them from potential for change and growth.
It is important, therefore, that Mark's Gospel shows how Jesus was met
with rejection when he came to preach in his hometown of Nazareth to
demonstrate how Jesus was quite familiar with the experience of
rejection and failure.
In fact, Mark immediately follows his account of this incident with
Jesus' instructions to his disciples as he sent them to preach the
kingdom. In those instructions he states that they may not always be
blessed with success and positive responses to the Gospel message. Here
Mark shows, through the construction of his narrative, that he was well
aware of the issue that might easily challenge and discourage the
future mission of the Church.
Why the rejection and hostility of the people of Nazareth? Was it
because of his message? His message was the Gospel, the good news. In
fact, Jesus was announcing a year of favor - the Jubilee Year - quoting
the prophet Isaiah as Luke's Gospel tells us, Jesus read:
"The Spirit of the Lord is upon me; therefore he has anointed me. He
has sent me to bring glad tidings to the poor, to proclaim liberty to
captives. Recovery of sight to the blind, and release to prisoners to
announce a year of favor from the Lord." (Luke 4:18-19)
Then he announced, "Today this scripture passage is fulfilled in your
hearing." (Luke 4:21) This last statement links the passage from the
prophet Isaiah to Jesus' own works and teaching. He has come to fulfill
the prophecy of Isaiah.
To the people of Nazareth, the message may be acceptable, but the
medium was not. Who is this Jesus, who is proclaiming the message? Why,
he is just a village craftsman. They grew up with him. They knew his
family and relatives. They bought plows, yoke, and other tools from
him. He was just one of them. How dare him making such outrageous
claims.
To make matters worse, Jesus challenges their narrow nationalistic
understanding of God's favor by citing the two historical examples of
God favoring the pagans over the Israelites - the widow of Sarephath,
whom God favored with a miracle over the many widows in Israel, and the
healing of Naaman, the Syrian leper over the many lepers in Israel.
This statement of Jesus in effect challenges their traditional way of
thinking. So, instead of listening to the prophetic voice of Jesus,
they tried to silence him.
>From this Gospel passage, we can see that what we are called to do by
Jesus regarding the nature of discipleship is to persevere. There is no
more certain route to failure than to give up too quickly and allow
self-pity and self-centeredness to take over.
There is no escape from mission, and even when people do not seem to
want to hear, we are expected to go on. Even if we are not responsible
for those who stubbornly refuse to listen to the Gospel, we cannot be
excused from our task. For it is God, who sends us out, and it is God,
who is ultimately rejected or accepted. The message we are to proclaim
is the focus, not our need for success to bolster our pride and
self-esteem.
We are called to bring the love and hope of the Gospel in every area of
our lives in whatever form is possible and practical. There is no
turning away from the responsibility that is ours, and leave God to do
what God alone can deal with.
July 7, 2006
Friday 13th Week in Ordinary Time - Yr II
AMOS 8:4-6, 9-12
Hear this, you who trample upon the needy and destroy the poor of the
land! "When will the new moon be over," you ask, "that we may sell our
grain, and the sabbath, that we may display the wheat?" We will
diminish the containers for measuring, add to the weights, and fix our
scales for cheating! We will buy the lowly man for silver, and the poor
man for a pair of sandals; even the refuse of the wheat we will sell!"
On that day, says the Lord God, I will make the sun set at midday and
cover the earth with darkness in broad daylight. I will turn your
feasts into mourning and all your songs into lamentations. I will cover
the loins of all with sackcloth and make every head bald. I will make
them mourn as for an only son, and bring their day to a bitter end.
Yes, days are coming, says the Lord God, when I will send famine upon
the land: Not a famine of bread, or thirst for water, but for hearing
the word of the LORD. Then shall they wander from sea to sea and rove
from the north to the east In search of the word of the LORD, but they
shall not find it.
MATTHEW 9:9-13
As Jesus passed by, he saw a man named Matthew sitting at the customs
post. He said to him, "Follow me." And he got up and followed him.
While he was at table in his house, many tax collectors and sinners
came and sat with Jesus and his disciples. The Pharisees saw this and
said to his disciples, "Why does your teacher eat with tax collectors
and sinners?" He heard this and said, "Those who are well do not need a
physician, but the sick do. Go and learn the meaning of the words, I
desire mercy, not sacrifice. I did not come to call the righteous but
sinners."
REFLECTION
Matthew the tax collector and the rich Israelites of Amos's day were
engaged pretty much in the same sort of business activity. Both robbed
the poor. In the first reading Amos condemns the rich Israelites
because they could hardly wait for the Sabbath and other feast days to
come to an end to get back to their business of unjust profiteering, of
gouging the poor. They lessened the size of the grain measure (the
epha) so the poor would get less when they buy, and they increased the
silver measure (the shekel) so the poor would have to pay more. They
maltreated the poor, treated them as commodities to be bought and sold.
They sold to them even the leavings of the wheat, swept up from the
floor, food unfit for human consumption.
The tax collector in Jesus' day also gouged the poor. He bought the job
of tax collector from the Romans. He made his living by overcharging
his countrymen, rich and poor. What was over and above the required tax
he kept for himself. He made a good living.
The Pharisees condemned tax collectors just as Amos condemned the
oppressors of the poor in his day. What the Pharisees didn't see was
that Amos's condemnation was an attempt to call the unjust rich to
repentance. Nor did they see that Jesus' friendship with tax collectors
and other sinners was an attempt to bring them to repentance.
Jesus sees the Pharisees as wanting in mercy even as the rich of Amos's
day showed no mercy to the poor whom they squeezed ruthlessly. To
correct the Pharisees, Jesus cites the prophet Amos, "Go and learn the
meaning of the words, 'It is mercy I desire and not sacrifice.'"
The lives of Christians are to be patterned on Jesus' life. We are to
be concerned about both justice and mercy. We are to bring justice to
those suffering injustice, we are to show mercy to all.
July 6, 2006
Thursday 13th Week in Ordinary Time - Yr II
AMOS 7:10-17
Amaziah, the priest of Bethel, sent word to Jeroboam, king of Israel:
"Amos has conspired against you here within Israel; the country cannot
endure all his words. For this is what Amos says: Jeroboam shall die by
the sword, and Israel shall surely be exiled from its land." To Amos,
Amaziah said: "Off with you, visionary, flee to the land of Judah!
There earn your bread by prophesying, but never again prophesy in
Bethel; for it is the king's sanctuary and a royal temple." Amos
answered Amaziah, "I was no prophet, nor have I belonged to a company
of prophets; I was a shepherd and a dresser of sycamores. The LORD took
me from following the flock, and said to me, 'Go, prophesy to my people
Israel.' Now hear the word of the LORD!" You say: prophesy not against
Israel, preach not against the house of Isaac. Now thus says the LORD:
Your wife shall be made a harlot in the city, and your sons and
daughters shall fall by the sword; Your land shall be divided by
measuring line, and you yourself shall die in an unclean land; Israel
shall be exiled far from its land.
MATTHEW 9:1-8
After entering a boat, Jesus made the crossing, and came into his own
town. And there people brought to him a paralytic lying on a stretcher.
When Jesus saw their faith, he said to the paralytic, "Courage, child,
your sins are forgiven." At that, some of the scribes said to
themselves, "This man is blaspheming." Jesus knew what they were
thinking, and said, "Why do you harbor evil thoughts? Which is easier,
to say, 'Your sins are forgiven,' or to say, 'Rise and walk'? But that
you may know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive
sins"- he then said to the paralytic, "Rise, pick up your stretcher,
and go home." He rose and went home. When the crowds saw this they were
struck with awe and glorified God who had given such authority to men.
REFLECTION
It's not unusual for a corrupt government to cite religion to support
its corrupt policies. Nor is it unheard of that a corrupt religious
leader might be in the forefront of those defending government
corruption. This was the situation in which Amos found himself when at
God's urging, he went about Israel, condemning the social sinfulness of
king, priests, and people.
Amos's preaching was subversive. It condemned king, priests and people,
revealing to them how they were violating the obligations imposed on
them by the covenant they had entered into with God.
The priest Amaziah expelled the prophet from the Temple at Bethel, the
main site of religious worship in Israel, and ordered Amos to go back
to Judah, where, he told him, he could earn his bread by prophesying.
He was never to prophesy in Israel again.
Amos responded to Azamiah's deportation order, protesting that he was
not a professional prophet, that his one goal was to preach the word
God had told him to preach. Amos certainly had no interest at all in
supporting the political establishment.
On the day of our baptism all of us were appointed prophets. It's not
an easy role to fulfill. People don't like to being reminded of their
sinfulness, and so the prophet always arouses opposition. If, however,
we meet with opposition, we need only put our trust in God and rely,
not on our wisdom and strength, but on his. Amos can be an inspiration
for us. He was a shepherd and a dresser of sycamore trees. He was not
an educated man. Yet he fulfilled the obligation God put on him. We can
do the same in regard to the obligation he put on us on the day of our
baptism.
July 6, 2006
Thursday 13th Week in Ordinary Time - Yr II
AMOS 7:10-17
Amaziah, the priest of Bethel, sent word to Jeroboam, king of Israel:
"Amos has conspired against you here within Israel; the country cannot
endure all his words. For this is what Amos says: Jeroboam shall die by
the sword, and Israel shall surely be exiled from its land." To Amos,
Amaziah said: "Off with you, visionary, flee to the land of Judah!
There earn your bread by prophesying, but never again prophesy in
Bethel; for it is the king's sanctuary and a royal temple." Amos
answered Amaziah, "I was no prophet, nor have I belonged to a company
of prophets; I was a shepherd and a dresser of sycamores. The LORD took
me from following the flock, and said to me, 'Go, prophesy to my people
Israel.' Now hear the word of the LORD!" You say: prophesy not against
Israel, preach not against the house of Isaac. Now thus says the LORD:
Your wife shall be made a harlot in the city, and your sons and
daughters shall fall by the sword; Your land shall be divided by
measuring line, and you yourself shall die in an unclean land; Israel
shall be exiled far from its land.
MATTHEW 9:1-8
After entering a boat, Jesus made the crossing, and came into his own
town. And there people brought to him a paralytic lying on a stretcher.
When Jesus saw their faith, he said to the paralytic, "Courage, child,
your sins are forgiven." At that, some of the scribes said to
themselves, "This man is blaspheming." Jesus knew what they were
thinking, and said, "Why do you harbor evil thoughts? Which is easier,
to say, 'Your sins are forgiven,' or to say, 'Rise and walk'? But that
you may know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive
sins"- he then said to the paralytic, "Rise, pick up your stretcher,
and go home." He rose and went home. When the crowds saw this they were
struck with awe and glorified God who had given such authority to men.
REFLECTION
It's not unusual for a corrupt government to cite religion to support
its corrupt policies. Nor is it unheard of that a corrupt religious
leader might be in the forefront of those defending government
corruption. This was the situation in which Amos found himself when at
God's urging, he went about Israel, condemning the social sinfulness of
king, priests, and people.
Amos's preaching was subversive. It condemned king, priests and people,
revealing to them how they were violating the obligations imposed on
them by the covenant they had entered into with God.
The priest Amaziah expelled the prophet from the Temple at Bethel, the
main site of religious worship in Israel, and ordered Amos to go back
to Judah, where, he told him, he could earn his bread by prophesying.
He was never to prophesy in Israel again.
Amos responded to Azamiah's deportation order, protesting that he was
not a professional prophet, that his one goal was to preach the word
God had told him to preach. Amos certainly had no interest at all in
supporting the political establishment.
On the day of our baptism all of us were appointed prophets. It's not
an easy role to fulfill. People don't like to being reminded of their
sinfulness, and so the prophet always arouses opposition. If, however,
we meet with opposition, we need only put our trust in God and rely,
not on our wisdom and strength, but on his. Amos can be an inspiration
for us. He was a shepherd and a dresser of sycamore trees. He was not
an educated man. Yet he fulfilled the obligation God put on him. We can
do the same in regard to the obligation he put on us on the day of our
baptism.
July 5, 2006
Wednesday 13th Week in Ordinary Time - Yr II
AMOS 5:14-15, 21-24
Seek good and not evil, that you may live; Then truly will the LORD,
the God of hosts, be with you as you claim! Hate evil and love good,
and let justice prevail at the gate; Then it may be that the LORD, the
God of hosts, will have pity on the remnant of Joseph. I hate, I spurn
your feasts, says the LORD, I take no pleasure in your solemnities;
Your cereal offerings I will not accept, nor consider your stall-fed
peace offerings. Away with your noisy songs! I will not listen to the
melodies of your harps. But if you would offer me burnt offerings, then
let justice surge like water, and goodness like an unfailing stream.
MATTHEW 8:28-34
When Jesus came to the territory of the Gadarenes, two demoniacs who
were coming from the tombs met him. They were so savage that no one
could travel by that road. They cried out, "What have you to do with
us, Son of God? Have you come here to torment us before the appointed
time?" Some distance away a herd of many swine was feeding. The demons
pleaded with him, "If you drive us out, send us into the herd of
swine." And he said to them, "Go then!" They came out and entered the
swine, and the whole herd rushed down the steep bank into the sea where
they drowned. The swineherds ran away, and when they came to the town
they reported everything, including what had happened to the demoniacs.
Thereupon the whole town came out to meet Jesus, and when they saw him
they begged him to leave their district.
REFLECTION
In today's Gospel story, our attention is focused on the healing of
people possessed by evil spirits. If we imagine ourselves to be at the
scene, we see the story unfolding with various sights and sounds that
we might have missed if we just read the passages of the Gospel without
a thorough reflection.
The more prominent meaning of the miracle Jesus performs today is one
of power. Even the demons recognize this power and plead to be cast
into the herd of pigs. When the swineherds report to the town's people
what happened to the herd of pigs, there is an outcry because they
regard the pigs as prized possessions.
Miracles are signs that invite people to open their eyes to Jesus'
works and ears to hear Jesus' words. They are signs that invite people
to be spiritually reborn to begin new lives as "new creations" in God's
kingdom. Looking at our present life-styles, do we allow Jesus to
challenge our comfortable ways of living even when they are not
pleasing before God's eyes? Now that we have been enlightened through
daily "miracles" do we still cling to our old ways?
Indeed, after being freed from worldly vices through the knowledge of
the Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, they still returned to those vices
and surrendered to them. And their present state has become worse than
the first. It would have been better for them not to have known the way
of holiness than, knowing it, to turn away from the sacred doctrine
that they had been taught. In their case these proverbs are relevant:
"Hardly has the pig been washed than it again wallows in the mud." (2
Peter 2:20-22)
July 4, 2006
Tuesday 13th Week in Ordinary Time - Yr II
AMOS 3:1-8; 4:11-12
Hear this word that the LORD has spoken against you, O people of
Israel, against the whole family which I brought up out of the land of
Egypt: "You only have I known of all the families of the earth;
therefore I will punish you for all your iniquities. "Do two walk
together, unless they have made an appointment? Does a lion roar in the
forest, when he has no prey? Does a young lion cry out from his den, if
he has taken nothing? Does a bird fall in a snare on the earth, when
there is no trap for it? Does a snare spring up from the ground, when
it has taken nothing? Is a trumpet blown in a city, and the people are
not afraid? Does evil befall a city, unless the LORD has done it?
Surely the Lord GOD does nothing, without revealing his secret to his
servants the prophets. The lion has roared; who will not fear? The Lord
GOD has spoken; who can but prophesy?" "I overthrew some of you, as
when God overthrew Sodom and Gomorrah, and you were as a brand plucked
out of the burning; yet you did not return to me," says the LORD.
"Therefore thus I will do to you, O Israel; because I will do this to
you, prepare to meet your God, O Israel!"
MATTHEW 8:23-27
And when he got into the boat, his disciples followed him. And behold,
there arose a great storm on the sea, so that the boat was being
swamped by the waves; but he was asleep. And they went and woke him,
saying, "Save, Lord; we are perishing." And he said to them, "Why are
you afraid, O men of little faith?" Then he rose and rebuked the winds
and the sea; and there was a great calm. And the men marveled, saying,
"What sort of man is this, that even winds and sea obey him?"
REFLECTION
It is nearly nightfall when Jesus, together with disciples, get into a
boat and head across the Sea of Galilee. Shortly after they sail, Jesus
falls asleep. Out of nowhere a storm suddenly hits. The disciples think
they can handle the situation and let Jesus rest. But later, despite
their all efforts to maneuver their boat out from the stormy sea, they
find themselves in danger of sinking. Through the raging storm, Jesus
sleeps soundly.
How is it that Jesus could sleep through the violent storm?
The Gospel today talks about Jesus' humanity. Like every human, Jesus
gets tired after a day's work and falls asleep even through a storm.
His deep sleep signifies his total trust in God, even through a storm.
He has abandoned his life to the Father's loving care. However, his
loving relation with the Father spills over to others as well. Jesus
sleeps through the storm but not through the cries of his disciples. He
reacts with human compassion to save his friends in need. Indeed, the
miracle lies not in the stilling of the storm but in the suddenness
with which Jesus responds to it.
Today's Gospel reminds us to examine our faith in relation to our
fears. D. A. Carson once said, "Faith drives out fear and fear drives
out faith." Although we all believe that Jesus is God, we need to ask
ourselves: Do we live each day with the belief that Jesus is truly in
control of every situation? How many times have we been calling on the
Lord for help in times of trouble and every time we said "Jesus, where
are you when I needed you most?" Don't you think we should rather seek
him in calm assurance and not with terrifying fears that he does not
care? When we face difficulties, we need to have faith in God's
goodness and God's control.
July 3, 2006
Memorial, St. Thomas, apostle
Monday 13th Week in Ordinary Time - Yr II
EPHESIANS 2:19-22
Brothers and sisters: You are no longer strangers and sojourners, but
you are fellow citizens with the holy ones and members of the household
of God, built upon the foundation of the Apostles and prophets, with
Christ Jesus himself as the capstone. Through him the whole structure
is held together and grows into a temple sacred in the Lord; in him you
also are being built together into a dwelling place of God in the
Spirit.
JOHN 20:24-29
Thomas, called Didymus, one of the Twelve, was not with them when Jesus
came. So the other disciples said to him, "We have seen the Lord." But
Thomas said to them, "Unless I see the mark of the nails in his hands
and put my finger into the nailmarks and put my hand into his side, I
will not believe." Now a week later his disciples were again inside and
Thomas was with them. Jesus came, although the doors were locked, and
stood in their midst and said, "Peace be with you." Then he said to
Thomas, "Put your finger here and see my hands, and bring your hand and
put it into my side, and do not be unbelieving, but believe." Thomas
answered and said to him, "My Lord and my God!" Jesus said to him,
"Have you come to believe because you have seen me? Blessed are those
who have not seen and have believed."
REFLECTION
We tend to look at things in our own personal point of view. In the
letter of Paul to the Ephesians, we are reminded to appreciate the
greatest gift that God had given us - God accepted us, we of whom were
not part of his initially chosen people, into his family. What can we
do to build a dwelling place within ourselves for God's spirit to grow
within us?
Just like Thomas, all of us have our personal spiritual doubts. Some of
us may be searching for some kind of spiritual "proof." But what kind
of "proof" are we looking for? Is it a belief "that if it works - then
it must be true" especially if it was experienced firsthand? Or is it a
"leap of faith" or "leap in the dark"? Or is our belief on the point
that "since there was past evidence, then it makes sense"?
The Gospel today reminds us to pause and reflect on the evidences in
our daily lives that come from our belief and trust in Jesus Christ.
Could these evidences have been shown within us as a result of
experiencing and reflecting on God's Words, finding it easier to show
love and concern to others and the need to share our faith with them?
July 2, 2006
13th Sunday in Ordinary Time - B
WISDOM 1:13-15; 2:23-24
Because God did not make death, nor does he rejoice in the destruction
of the living. For he fashioned all things that they might have being;
and the creatures of the world are wholesome, And there is not a
destructive drug among them nor any domain of the nether world on
earth, For justice is undying. For God formed man to be imperishable;
the image of his own nature he made him. But by the envy of the devil,
death entered the world, and they who are in his possession experience
it.
2 CORINTHIANS 8:7, 9, 13-15
Now as you excel in every respect, in faith, discourse, knowledge, all
earnestness, and in the love we have for you, may you excel in this
gracious act also. For you know the gracious act of our Lord Jesus
Christ, that for your sake he became poor although he was rich, so that
by his poverty you might become rich. not that others should have
relief while you are burdened, but that as a matter of equality your
surplus at the present time should supply their needs, so that their
surplus may also supply your needs, that there may be equality. As it
is written: "Whoever had much did not have more, and whoever had little
did not have less."
MARK 5:21-43
When Jesus had crossed again (in the boat) to the other side, a large
crowd gathered around him, and he stayed close to the sea. One of the
synagogue officials, named Jairus, came forward. Seeing him he fell at
his feet and pleaded earnestly with him, saying, "My daughter is at the
point of death. Please, come lay your hands on her that she may get
well and live." He went off with him, and a large crowd followed him
and pressed upon him. There was a woman afflicted with hemorrhages for
twelve years. She had suffered greatly at the hands of many doctors and
had spent all that she had. Yet she was not helped but only grew worse.
She had heard about Jesus and came up behind him in the crowd and
touched his cloak. She said, "If I but touch his clothes, I shall be
cured." Immediately her flow of blood dried up. She felt in her body
that she was healed of her affliction. Jesus, aware at once that power
had gone out from him, turned around in the crowd and asked, "Who has
touched my clothes?" But his disciples said to him, "You see how the
crowd is pressing upon you, and yet you ask, 'Who touched me?'" And he
looked around to see who had done it. The woman, realizing what had
happened to her, approached in fear and trembling. She fell down before
Jesus and told him the whole truth. He said to her, "Daughter, your
faith has saved you. Go in peace and be cured of your affliction."
While he was still speaking, people from the synagogue official's house
arrived and said, "Your daughter has died; why trouble the teacher any
longer?" Disregarding the message that was reported, Jesus said to the
synagogue official, "Do not be afraid; just have faith." He did not
allow anyone to accompany him inside except Peter, James, and John, the
brother of James. When they arrived at the house of the synagogue
official, he caught sight of a commotion, people weeping and wailing
loudly. So he went in and said to them, "Why this commotion and
weeping? The child is not dead but asleep." And they ridiculed him.
Then he put them all out. He took along the child's father and mother
and those who were with him and entered the room where the child was.
He took the child by the hand and said to her, "Talitha koum," which
means, "Little girl, I say to you, arise!" The girl, a child of twelve,
arose immediately and walked around. (At that) they were utterly
astounded. He gave strict orders that no one should know this and said
that she should be given something to eat.
REFLECTION
Some people think that trusting God means to expect God to do
everything for them in a dramatic way. They look for miraculous
healings like those of paralytics suddenly throwing away their crutches
and starting to walk after being prayed over. Or of cancer suddenly
disappearing after a healing session. God sometimes acts that way. But
most often he uses ordinary means. He often heals by assisting the
skills and of physicians and nurses in treating patients. Doctors treat
and cures, but it is God who heals.
In today's Gospel reading, the sick woman trusts that Jesus could heal
her. But she did not just wait for Jesus to come to her. She worked her
way to touch Jesus even if just the cloak.
Likewise, Jairus also trusts that Jesus can heal his sick daughter. But
Jairus does not just sit and trust in Jesus. He travels a long way to
ask Jesus to come and lay hands on his daughter. The two people in
today's Gospel do more than just trust in Jesus. They go a step
farther. They do their part. They make use of the ordinary means God
gave them to obtain the healing they needed.
This leads us to the question of our prayer life. How do we pray? Do we
pray expecting God to do everything for us? Do we consider that doing
our part is as important as praying? Our prayer should lead us to
actions in response to the needs of others. And our actions should
drive us to more intense prayer.
Jesus Christ is here, present among us. His living presence makes it
possible for us to reach out to him, to touch him. If we do, he turns
to us, looks for us, wanting us to know him more; he yearns to live in
us. The faith we show in touching him begins to make us whole.
This touch of Christ finds a physical reflection in our sacramental
system. Here is a continuous touching that gives life, that heals, that
makes two one.
The touch of Christ and the sacramental touch should be reflected in
our human exchange, in the touch of this Christian body. We must love
one another as Jesus loves us.
This demands that we take the initiative in loving. It is our Christian
responsibility, our Christian calling to reach out and touch another
living person. The physical touch, a reaching out, a smile, a
handshake, a hug should be expressive of something deeper, fuller, and
richer: It is a symbol of self - I touch you not simply my hand. I am
touching you - with my love, I am touching you - with the love of
Christ.
July 1, 2006
Saturday 12th Week in Ordinary Time - Yr II
LAMENTATIONS 2:2, 10-14, 18-19
The Lord has consumed without pity all the dwellings of Jacob; He has
torn down in his anger the fortresses of daughter Judah; He has brought
to the ground in dishonor her king and her princes. On the ground in
silence sit the old men of daughter Zion; They strew dust on their
heads and gird themselves with sackcloth; The maidens of Jerusalem bow
their heads to the ground. Worn out from weeping are my eyes, within me
all is in ferment; My gall is poured out on the ground because of the
downfall of the daughter of my people, As child and infant faint away
in the open spaces of the town. In vain they ask their mothers, "Where
is the grain?" As they faint away like the wounded in the streets of
the city, And breathe their last in their mothers' arms. To what can I
liken or compare you, O daughter Jerusalem? What example can I show you
for your comfort, virgin daughter Zion? For great as the sea is your
downfall; who can heal you? Your prophets had for you false and
specious visions; They did not lay bare your guilt, to avert your fate;
They beheld for you in vision false and misleading portents. Cry out to
the Lord; moan, O daughter Zion! Let your tears flow like a torrent day
and night; Let there be no respite for you, no repose for your eyes.
Rise up, shrill in the night, at the beginning of every watch; Pour out
your heart like water in the presence of the Lord; Lift up your hands
to him for the lives of your little ones Who faint from hunger at the
corner of every street.
MATTHEW 8:5-17
When Jesus entered Capernaum, a centurion approached him and appealed
to him, saying, "Lord, my servant is lying at home paralyzed, suffering
dreadfully." He said to him, "I will come and cure him." The centurion
said in reply, "Lord, I am not worthy to have you enter under my roof;
only say the word and my servant will be healed. For I too am a man
subject to authority, with soldiers subject to me. And I say to one,
'Go,' and he goes; and to another, 'Come here,' and he comes; and to my
slave, 'Do this,' and he does it." When Jesus heard this, he was amazed
and said to those following him, "Amen, I say to you, in no one in
Israel have I found such faith. I say to you, many will come from the
east and the west, and will recline with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob at
the banquet in the Kingdom of heaven, but the children of the Kingdom
will be driven out into the outer darkness, where there will be wailing
and grinding of teeth." And Jesus said to the centurion, "You may go;
as you have believed, let it be done for you." And at that very hour
his servant was healed. Jesus entered the house of Peter, and saw his
mother-in-law lying in bed with a fever. He touched her hand, the fever
left her, and she rose and waited on him. When it was evening, they
brought him many who were possessed by demons, and he drove out the
spirits by a word and cured all the sick, to fulfill what had been said
by Isaiah the prophet: He took away our infirmities and bore our
diseases.
REFLECTION
In the first reading, we see the anger of the Lord manifested in the
daughter Judah for the wrongdoing that she had done. Later in the same
reading we read that the Israelite people repented and suffered for
many of the wrong doings. In the end, they cried out to the Lord so
that they can reach out and ask the Lord to for his help.
In our own lives, how often have we committed offenses against the Lord
or our neighbors, and felt that we deserved punishment? And yet, the
Lord was merciful enough to us so that when we reached out to him with
humility and genuine regret, he helped us to overcome our faults,
errors and guilt and helped us to return to his loving protection.
There are many miracles that Jesus performed while he was on earth.
Today's Gospel relates the centurion who asked Jesus to cure his
servant. So great was the centurion's trust in Jesus' healing power
that he did not need his physical presence to cure his servant.
Today when we reflect and ask the Lord for help in our various needs,
let us ask ourselves: Is our trust and belief in the Lord strong enough
that even during difficult times we continue to feel his presence
helping, guiding, strengthening us and giving us the courage we need?
For such is the power of the Lord.
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