Yesterday, I was in a co-worker’s van for a few minutes while we drove to pick up an impounded truck out of a tow company yard. The minute I got in his van, I “felt” like a cold was coming on—even though a few minutes earlier I was feeling great! His van smelled of cough drops and eucalyptus and menthol, and my chest started burning as though I had inhaled some Vick’s Vapo-rub or had a straight shot of rum. I jokingly told him, “If I get a cold tomorrow, your _ _ _ is mine! I’ll find you some kind of unpleasant task to do!” Guess what? I have a full-blown cold today! My throat is sore, I’m coughing, and I have a sinus headache that won’t quit! Phil says that the cold is a “fast runner”, meaning that it comes and goes in just a few days. I hope so, because I remember the last “minor cold” I had resulted in my having to take a vacation to recover from! I also remember that I felt so sick I didn’t have faith strong enough to say the rosary every day or even think about the benefits my suffering could have been if I had offered it up to Christ in reparation for sin. I don’t plan on making that mistake twice.
Friday, November 20, 2009
The Sorrowful Mysteries
1 Maccabees 4:36-37, 52-59
1 Chronicles 29:10bcd, 11abc, 11d-12a, 12bcd
Luke 19:45-48
While they (the scribes and Pharisees) sought to kill Jesus, they could find no means because the people all around were rapt. They were caught up in his words and his teaching.
So why, ultimately were they able to get Him? It was probably because most people tired of a new thing. For a while this Rabbi offered something new and different, but then, as the seed landed on shallow ground, interest dried up and blew away.
In the first fervor of our faith, we often take up many devotions and practices. We travel the road of them thoroughly, keeping them faithfully. Over time our ardor may die. The words that once held us close no longer have any interest because of all the other things we crowded into our lives.
Ask yourself truthfully, "Do I hang on His words? Is every word out of Jesus' mouth my sole thought for the day? Is God's revelation of love the ground of my being? Do I listen to scripture and think about scripture as regularly as I do the lyrics of a song I like?"
I suspect the answer for most of us would be: "No." We've heard those words ten-thousand times before, the wine has been pressed out of the grapes and all that is left are the lees--the smashed out skin of the grapes. Or so it seems. But such a thought is an illusion, a snare. The word of God—and the Word of God—is “ever-living”. Each time we consider it anew we are made whole. Each time we examine it we are transformed.
Take some time out today and spend it "hanging on Jesus' words." Take the time and trouble to do a "scriptural Rosary." That’s a poor choice of words. In today’s world of computers, Ipods and “tweeters”, it’s no trouble to find and pray a scriptural rosary on line. Listen to what is said in the scriptures that introduce and accompany each mystery. Read a short passage of scripture--perhaps the readings for next Sunday's Mass, or reread the readings for today.
Hang on His words and you will be listening to the sounds of eternity. You will be hearing the voice of God Himself. You will be stunned when you hear Him say, "You are the apple of my eye. You are my chosen, my beloved, and I have loved you since before you were."
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