Dt 34:1-12
Moses went up from the plains of Moab to Mount Nebo, the headland of Pisgah which faces Jericho, and the LORD showed him all the land—Gilead, and as far as Dan, all Naphtali, the land of Ephraim and Manasseh, all the land of Judah as far as the Western Sea, the Negeb, the circuit of the Jordan with the lowlands at Jericho, city of palms, and as far as Zoar.
The LORD then said to him, “This is the land which I swore to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob that I would give to their descendants. I have let you feast your eyes upon it, but you shall not cross over.” So there, in the land of Moab, Moses, the servant of the LORD, died as the LORD had said; and he was buried in the ravine opposite Beth-peor in the land of Moab, but to this day no one knows the place of his burial.
Moses was one hundred and twenty years old when he died, yet his eyes were undimmed and his vigor unabated. For thirty days the children of Israel wept for Moses in the plains of Moab, till they had completed the period of grief and mourning for Moses.
Now Joshua, son of Nun, was filled with the spirit of wisdom, since Moses had laid his hands upon him; and so the children of Israel gave him their obedience, thus carrying out the LORD’s command to Moses. Since then no prophet has arisen in Israel like Moses,whom the LORD knew face to face. He had no equal in all the signs and wonders the LORD sent him to perform in the land of Egypt against Pharaoh and all his servants and against all his land, and for the might and the terrifying power that Moses exhibited in the sight of all Israel.
Mt 18:15-20
Jesus said to his disciples: “If your brother sins against you, go and tell him his fault between you and him alone. If he listens to you, you have won over your brother. If he does not listen, take one or two others along with you, so that every fact may be established on the testimony of two or three witnesses. If he refuses to listen to them, tell the Church. If he refuses to listen even to the Church, then treat him as you would a Gentile or a tax collector.
Amen, I say to you, whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven. Again, amen, I say to you, if two of you agree on earth about anything for which they are to pray, it shall be granted to them by my heavenly Father. For where two or three are gathered together in my name, there am I in the midst of them.”
Anyone who sets out on the journey of becoming like Jesus embraces certain spiritual practices. Service to others, prayer, worship, meditation on Scripture, and other disciplines become important to us. At first, many of these practices are exciting and life-changing. We eat up the scriptures. We cannot get enough time for prayer. We are filled with love for the Spirit who works through these practices and shapes us into the image of Jesus Christ. You see this fervor in a lot of converts, especially.
Then something happens: our disciplines become ordinary. They become such a part of who we are that we can do them in our sleep (and, it seems we often do). This reminds me of the sermon at last Wednesday's Mass in Simi Valley when Father joked about most of us waiting until bedtime to say the rosary and we end up falling asleep before we're finished with the Apostle's Creed! Why not find time during the day--or even better--the morning to say the rosary when our meditations can help us through the day? The holy fire that used to fill our hearts becomes a distant memory. We don’t really expect much to happen—so we don’t keep looking as fervently as we did for His presence in our lives—we just assume He’s there, and so we ignore Him--until we want something FROM Him. Instead of using the fire to fan our flames of LOVE for God, we use it to give us a "warm glow" to help us forget what our praise is for!
The first reading is about Moses’ final days. Although he could not enter the promised land because of sin, the Lord knew Moses face to face. He was a man of terrifying power and might, yet a man who also had a spirit of wisdom. He lived to be a hundred and twenty yet “his eyes were undimmed and his vigor unabated. His relationship with God was so intense that he had to cover his face so that the people could look at him.
Blessed be God who fills our souls with fire. How does He do that? There is a time to say one’s little prayers and do one’s little disciplines but there is also a time to stand in the midst of the congregation and shout joyfully to God, sing praise to his name, and loudly sound his praise. I am trying to do my part in this with this blog. I hope I can continue for a long time. I really enjoy writing it and it gives me the excuse I need to start my own meditations on His daily Word.
Worship does not always have to be loud and include shouts but praise has a way of breaking through the ordinary humdrum of even solid spiritual practices. Every now and then we need to be filled with fire. I felt this fire after last Sunday’s sermon. In fact, I still feel the warmth! Father Rainwater was at the top of his game. Real fire and brimstone stuff, but also material that hit me close to home! I was so moved I had to give him a “thumbs up” after Mass, and a “Great, passionate sermon, Father!” This compliment seemed to fan his fire into a great big smile of satisfaction that he reached at least one more soul.
The gospel reading envisions a time when brothers and sisters in the Church do not listen to each other and will not receive correction. (Today? I’m thinking Nancy Pelosi, John Kerry, Ted Kennedy, et al. in the stronger sense, and our “separated bretheren” in the lesser sense.) Jesus sets forth a process for winning them back. Father Mitch Pacwa from EWTN had a good point on this today. He was asked, “How do we treat the pagans and tax collectors?” The caller was under the impression that if they fail to listen to the correction time after time we should shun them. But Father Pacwa pointed out that they still have souls created in the image and likeness of God and are deserving of stronger evangelization and prayer, not isolation from the Church. The Church receives the power to bind and loose in heaven and on earth. She can pray to God and know that God will listen. How can this be? Why can two or three agree in prayer and expect the heavens to open and the earth to move beneath their feet? Because Jesus is in the midst of them. The fire of God is the soul of the Church and through Jesus, the one, holy, catholic, and apostolic church becomes all flame.
Wednesday, August 12, 2009
Tuesday, August 11, 2009
Slow down! Wait for it!
Dt 31:1-8
When Moses had finished speaking to all Israel, he said to them, “I am now one hundred and twenty years old and am no longer able to move about freely; besides, the LORD has told me that I shall not cross this Jordan. It is the LORD, your God, who will cross before you; he will destroy these nations before you, that you may supplant them. It is Joshua who will cross before you, as the LORD promised. The LORD will deal with them just as he dealt with Sihon and Og, the kings of the Amorites whom he destroyed, and with their country. When, therefore, the LORD delivers them up to you, you must deal with them exactly as I have ordered you. Be brave and steadfast; have no fear or dread of them, for it is the LORD, your God, who marches with you; he will never fail you or forsake you.”
Then Moses summoned Joshua and in the presence of all Israel said to him, “Be brave and steadfast, for you must bring this people into the land which the LORD swore to their fathers he would give them; you must put them in possession of their heritage. It is the LORD who marches before you; he will be with you and will never fail you or forsake you. So do not fear or be dismayed.”
Mt 18:1-5, 10, 12-14
The disciples approached Jesus and said, “Who is the greatest in the Kingdom of heaven?” He called a child over, placed it in their midst, and said, “Amen, I say to you, unless you turn and become like children, you will not enter the Kingdom of heaven. Whoever becomes humble like this child is the greatest in the Kingdom of heaven. And whoever receives one child such as this in my name receives me. “See that you do not despise one of these little ones, for I say to you that their angels in heaven always look upon the face of my heavenly Father. What is your opinion? If a man has a hundred sheep and one of them goes astray, will he not leave the ninety-nine in the hills and go in search of the stray? And if he finds it, amen, I say to you, he rejoices more over it than over the ninety-nine that did not stray. In just the same way, it is not the will of your heavenly Father that one of these little ones be lost.”
Today’s readings seem to be about humility and being open to God’s guidance. Moses tells Joshua and the Israelites that he will not cross the Jordan with them. The leader for the last 40 years is saying this is the end of the line. Moses tells them to be brave and steadfast and that the Lord will be with them. And in Matthew, the disciples want to know who is the greatest in the Kingdom of heaven. Jesus places a child in their midst and says whoever becomes humble like this child is the greatest in the Kingdom of heaven.
Today’s culture does not encourage reflection. It’s go, go, go all the time! Every waking hour has to be filled. If the page does not come up in five seconds, click on to the next. I don’t have time to talk, so I’ll just text, or even better, “twitter.”
The disciples are classic examples of this. They wanted to know how to be the greatest. No time to pray for guidance. Just give it to us. How many do we have to heal? Tell us in 20 words or less. Jesus, time and again, has to tell the disciples to come away with Him to a quiet place.
Today’s readings were very convicting for me. I like to think that I am on a journey with Christ. I have a strong desire to serve others. In fact, as you know if you’ve been reading my blog recently, I have been trying to become a Eucharistic Minister. I accompanied a woman from the St. Anne’s two weeks ago and thought I was on my way, because she said she would set up an appointment with the hospital administration to allow me access and send me some prayer books and take me around again, but I haven’t heard from anyone at the church since. I wrote emails and have left some messages—still no response. And in today’s world, I thought I would get a quicker response. After today’s readings, I realized I had stopped asking God for guidance and direction on how to get the ball rolling again—So it will be back to prayer for me tonight that he will give me a quick answer. In the meantime, however, I will continue to try and speed up the process. The desire in my soul to bring Jesus to the hospital and homebound is very persistent and it’s frustrating that the process is taking so long.
My prayer today is for all of us who need to slow down. That we would take time and make ourselves available to God. That we would open our hearts to whatever God would call us to do. That we would ask God questions and wait on the Lord for guidance, wisdom and answers.
When Moses had finished speaking to all Israel, he said to them, “I am now one hundred and twenty years old and am no longer able to move about freely; besides, the LORD has told me that I shall not cross this Jordan. It is the LORD, your God, who will cross before you; he will destroy these nations before you, that you may supplant them. It is Joshua who will cross before you, as the LORD promised. The LORD will deal with them just as he dealt with Sihon and Og, the kings of the Amorites whom he destroyed, and with their country. When, therefore, the LORD delivers them up to you, you must deal with them exactly as I have ordered you. Be brave and steadfast; have no fear or dread of them, for it is the LORD, your God, who marches with you; he will never fail you or forsake you.”
Then Moses summoned Joshua and in the presence of all Israel said to him, “Be brave and steadfast, for you must bring this people into the land which the LORD swore to their fathers he would give them; you must put them in possession of their heritage. It is the LORD who marches before you; he will be with you and will never fail you or forsake you. So do not fear or be dismayed.”
Mt 18:1-5, 10, 12-14
The disciples approached Jesus and said, “Who is the greatest in the Kingdom of heaven?” He called a child over, placed it in their midst, and said, “Amen, I say to you, unless you turn and become like children, you will not enter the Kingdom of heaven. Whoever becomes humble like this child is the greatest in the Kingdom of heaven. And whoever receives one child such as this in my name receives me. “See that you do not despise one of these little ones, for I say to you that their angels in heaven always look upon the face of my heavenly Father. What is your opinion? If a man has a hundred sheep and one of them goes astray, will he not leave the ninety-nine in the hills and go in search of the stray? And if he finds it, amen, I say to you, he rejoices more over it than over the ninety-nine that did not stray. In just the same way, it is not the will of your heavenly Father that one of these little ones be lost.”
Today’s readings seem to be about humility and being open to God’s guidance. Moses tells Joshua and the Israelites that he will not cross the Jordan with them. The leader for the last 40 years is saying this is the end of the line. Moses tells them to be brave and steadfast and that the Lord will be with them. And in Matthew, the disciples want to know who is the greatest in the Kingdom of heaven. Jesus places a child in their midst and says whoever becomes humble like this child is the greatest in the Kingdom of heaven.
Today’s culture does not encourage reflection. It’s go, go, go all the time! Every waking hour has to be filled. If the page does not come up in five seconds, click on to the next. I don’t have time to talk, so I’ll just text, or even better, “twitter.”
The disciples are classic examples of this. They wanted to know how to be the greatest. No time to pray for guidance. Just give it to us. How many do we have to heal? Tell us in 20 words or less. Jesus, time and again, has to tell the disciples to come away with Him to a quiet place.
Today’s readings were very convicting for me. I like to think that I am on a journey with Christ. I have a strong desire to serve others. In fact, as you know if you’ve been reading my blog recently, I have been trying to become a Eucharistic Minister. I accompanied a woman from the St. Anne’s two weeks ago and thought I was on my way, because she said she would set up an appointment with the hospital administration to allow me access and send me some prayer books and take me around again, but I haven’t heard from anyone at the church since. I wrote emails and have left some messages—still no response. And in today’s world, I thought I would get a quicker response. After today’s readings, I realized I had stopped asking God for guidance and direction on how to get the ball rolling again—So it will be back to prayer for me tonight that he will give me a quick answer. In the meantime, however, I will continue to try and speed up the process. The desire in my soul to bring Jesus to the hospital and homebound is very persistent and it’s frustrating that the process is taking so long.
My prayer today is for all of us who need to slow down. That we would take time and make ourselves available to God. That we would open our hearts to whatever God would call us to do. That we would ask God questions and wait on the Lord for guidance, wisdom and answers.
Monday, August 10, 2009
We reap what we sow
2 Cor 9:6-10
Brothers and sisters: Whoever sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and whoever sows bountifully will also reap bountifully. Each must do as already determined, without sadness or compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver. Moreover, God is able to make every grace abundant for you, so that in all things, always having all you need, you may have an abundance for every good work.
As it is written: He scatters abroad, he gives to the poor; his righteousness endures forever. The one who supplies seed to the sower and bread for food will supply and multiply your seed and increase the harvest of your righteousness.
Jn 12:24-26
Jesus said to his disciples: “Amen, amen, I say to you, unless a grain of wheat falls to the ground and dies, it remains just a grain of wheat; but if it dies, it produces much fruit. Whoever loves his life loses it, and whoever hates his life in this world will preserve it for eternal life. Whoever serves me must follow me, and where I am, there also will my servant be. The Father will honor whoever serves me.”
“We reap what we sow.” It’s a saying we hear (usually from our parents) the first time we make a bad decision that comes back to bite us in the rear. Of course there’s a lot more to it than that. It can also apply to good decisions and actions as well.
If we didn’t plant seeds and take care of them, we could not harvest anything. Whatever we want, we have to put time and energy into. Planting one seed will surely give a smaller harvest than planting one hundred seeds. A neglected plant will not be as bountiful as one watered and cared for. But the corollary is also good – what we reap, we should sow. God gives us everything, but many complain about giving back. The good things we are given we should give back in charity, in energy, and in good works. And we should give back cheerfully. Whatever we give our time and energy to will be our blessing in return.
But this entails sacrifice as well. We have to spend time and energy to get a return. We have to share our bounty from God and from our work. To get something back, something must be given up. We cannot have our cake, and eat it too. Keeping a seed does no good. It must be planted to sprout, but then it’s not a seed anymore, it’s something else entirely. It’s a whole new plant, and the cycle of life continues. We cannot keep and preserve what we are given – we have to give it back, but then it’s changed into something else entirely. Whatever we try to keep will erode or rot after time, but what we give back can be changed and can change the world.
Brothers and sisters: Whoever sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and whoever sows bountifully will also reap bountifully. Each must do as already determined, without sadness or compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver. Moreover, God is able to make every grace abundant for you, so that in all things, always having all you need, you may have an abundance for every good work.
As it is written: He scatters abroad, he gives to the poor; his righteousness endures forever. The one who supplies seed to the sower and bread for food will supply and multiply your seed and increase the harvest of your righteousness.
Jn 12:24-26
Jesus said to his disciples: “Amen, amen, I say to you, unless a grain of wheat falls to the ground and dies, it remains just a grain of wheat; but if it dies, it produces much fruit. Whoever loves his life loses it, and whoever hates his life in this world will preserve it for eternal life. Whoever serves me must follow me, and where I am, there also will my servant be. The Father will honor whoever serves me.”
“We reap what we sow.” It’s a saying we hear (usually from our parents) the first time we make a bad decision that comes back to bite us in the rear. Of course there’s a lot more to it than that. It can also apply to good decisions and actions as well.
If we didn’t plant seeds and take care of them, we could not harvest anything. Whatever we want, we have to put time and energy into. Planting one seed will surely give a smaller harvest than planting one hundred seeds. A neglected plant will not be as bountiful as one watered and cared for. But the corollary is also good – what we reap, we should sow. God gives us everything, but many complain about giving back. The good things we are given we should give back in charity, in energy, and in good works. And we should give back cheerfully. Whatever we give our time and energy to will be our blessing in return.
But this entails sacrifice as well. We have to spend time and energy to get a return. We have to share our bounty from God and from our work. To get something back, something must be given up. We cannot have our cake, and eat it too. Keeping a seed does no good. It must be planted to sprout, but then it’s not a seed anymore, it’s something else entirely. It’s a whole new plant, and the cycle of life continues. We cannot keep and preserve what we are given – we have to give it back, but then it’s changed into something else entirely. Whatever we try to keep will erode or rot after time, but what we give back can be changed and can change the world.
Sunday, August 9, 2009
The Bread of Life
1 Kgs 19:4-8Elijah went a day’s journey into the desert, until he came to a broom tree and sat beneath it. He prayed for death saying: “This is enough, O LORD! Take my life, for I am no better than my fathers.”
He lay down and fell asleep under the broom tree, but then an angel touched him and ordered him to get up and eat. Elijah looked and there at his head was a hearth cake and a jug of water. After he ate and drank, he lay down again, but the angel of the LORD came back a second time, touched him, and ordered, “Get up and eat, else the journey will be too long for you!” He got up, ate, and drank; then strengthened by that food, he walked forty days and forty nights to the mountain of God, Horeb.
Eph 4:30—5:2
Brothers and sisters: Do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, with which you were sealed for the day of redemption. All bitterness, fury, anger, shouting, and reviling must be removed from you, along with all malice. And be kind to one another, compassionate, forgiving one another as God has forgiven you in Christ. So be imitators of God, as beloved children, and live in love, as Christ loved us and handed himself over for us as a sacrificial offering to God for a fragrant aroma.
Jn 6:41-51
The Jews murmured about Jesus because he said, “I am the bread that came down from heaven, ” and they said, “Is this not Jesus, the son of Joseph? Do we not know his father and mother? Then how can he say, ‘I have come down from heaven’?”
Jesus answered and said to them, “Stop murmuring among yourselves. No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draw him, and I will raise him on the last day. It is written in the prophets: They shall all be taught by God. Everyone who listens to my Father and learns from him comes to me. Not that anyone has seen the Father except the one who is from God; he has seen the Father.”
”Amen, amen, I say to you, whoever believes has eternal life. I am the bread of life. Your ancestors ate the manna in the desert, but they died; this is the bread that comes down from heaven so that one may eat it and not die. I am the living bread that came down from heaven; whoever eats this bread will live forever; and the bread that I will give is my flesh for the life of the world.”
What we hear today in the First Reading is Elijah on the run, or at least he has been. He has been confronting King Ahab and Jezebel. He then had all the false prophets slain. Jezebel makes a promise in a message to Elijah that by tomorrow she will have the dogs to her if by that time they haven’t devoured Elijah.
He is tired and knows he does not have the strength to go on to Mount Horeb. He lies down under the sweeping branches of a tree. The angel visits him twice, wakes him, feeds him and off he goes renewed for the journey. This reminds me of my blog yesterday. It’s similar to my holding on to my rosary or Mom grasping her scapular when we feel overwhelmed by the moment’s events.
If we read farther in the text, we will find that Elijah does reach the holy cave of Mount Horeb, but then hears the whispering voice of God in the breeze inviting him back to face the dogs. But by this time, he has the confidence that God is with him, so he knows that he will succeed.
At Mass this morning, Father Rainwater had a very, very passionate sermon! It had me laughing, crying, bewildered at where he was going with it at some points and amazed at the depth of his message when he explained it. He is a convert, and for some reason I think those that “come home” later in life seem to burn with zeal, and Father Rainwater is no exception.
Last week’s First Reading from Exodus presents the people of Israel complaining about the lack of God’s care in the form of food, as they wandered in the desert. Now, in the Gospel, the Jewish leaders are complaining, because Jesus has told them that He is the new bread come down from heaven. This is quite confusing for them, because they know the mother and father of Jesus.
We are always asking God for more and more. We tend to forget that it is not Jesus’ “job” to keep showing us signs—it is OUR “job” to recognize and love him without the signs! Put another way, it seems like the people in Jesus’ time (and in ours) are only looking for Jesus because they know He will provide for them—they are looking for the ultimate “welfare state”. The want everything for as little as they can get away with. And they want Jesus to provide it. They remind Jesus that Moses fed them manna in the desert. He has to remind THEM that it was the FATHER who provided it, and their ancestors still died. But if they eat of the Bread of Life (Jesus, Himself), they will never die. They (and we) just don’t get it. The bread made by human hands is not what keeps us “alive”. It is the love of God that gives us eternal life!
This is probably the most important message of the Holy Spirit, who guides the Church in Her teachings. The reason I say this is that we have been in John Chapter 6 for the last 3 weeks and we will still be in John 6 for 2 more weeks. Is there any other single chapter of the Bible that the Church devotes five weeks to teaching? Think about it. Taste and see the goodness of the Lord.
Saturday, August 8, 2009
Words for all generations
Dt 6:4-13
Moses said to the people: “Hear, O Israel! The LORD is our God, the LORD alone! Therefore, you shall love the LORD, your God, with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your strength.
Take to heart these words which I enjoin on you today. Drill them into your children. Speak of them at home and abroad, whether you are busy or at rest. Bind them at your wrist as a sign and let them be as a pendant on your forehead. Write them on the doorposts of your houses and on your gates. When the LORD, your God, brings you into the land which he swore to your fathers: Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, that he would give you, a land with fine, large cities that you did not build, with houses full of goods of all sorts that you did not garner, with cisterns that you did not dig, with vineyards and olive groves that you did not plant; and when, therefore, you eat your fill, take care not to forget the LORD, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, that place of slavery. The LORD, your God, shall you fear; him shall you serve, and by his name shall you swear.”
Mt 17:14-20
A man came up to Jesus, knelt down before him, and said, “Lord, have pity on my son, who is a lunatic and suffers severely; often he falls into fire, and often into water. I brought him to your disciples, but they could not cure him.”
Jesus said in reply, “O faithless and perverse generation, how long will I be with you? How long will I endure you? Bring the boy here to me.” Jesus rebuked him and the demon came out of him, and from that hour the boy was cured.
Then the disciples approached Jesus in private and said, “Why could we not drive it out?” He said to them, “Because of your little faith. Amen, I say to you, if you have faith the size of a mustard seed, you will say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there,’ and it will move. Nothing will be impossible for you.”
Today’s message in the readings hit home in a particular way. I felt like Moses pulled me aside and spoke to me personally, reminding me to keep God first.
I can't help but see how little we change from one generation to the next. Moses' message could so easily have been written to our generation as we live and move seemingly without stopping so much of the time. We need the encouragement to teach our children, and keep the thought in front of ourselves, on our wrists, or on our foreheads.
The message is so practical and down to earth; I really feel like I can relate and apply it to my life today as I worry I’m supposed to fix the world I live in by myself.
In Deuteronomy, when the LORD delivers the people to the promised land, where everything will be already built and in good shape He tells them not to forget the LORD, or from where they have come. I think it is human nature to forget when life gets easier. It is why we have to remind each generation of the tough times, and of how far we can move from our Creator’s Will if we forget to include him in our daily lives, to live in Christ.
In the Gospel reading, Jesus is teaching on the same subject, for how does our Faith really grow, except to let our relationship with God grow? The disciples are surprised when they can not dislodge the demon from a man’s son, but Jesus does so with no trouble. So, they ask him why and he tells them, “Because of your little faith. Amen, I say to you, if you have faith the size of a mustard seed, you will say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there,’ and it will move. Nothing will be impossible for you.” (Matthew 17:20-21). We make these same errors in judgment today; and I am grateful for the small reminders, that come in the form of Scripture, or even in the form of trouble.
So, today we are reminded to grow in Faith by loving the LORD God with our whole hearts, with our whole soul and with all our strength; pretty simple. May we continue to see the little reminders that come our way, when our day, our life doesn’t quite go the way we’d like it to go; for nothing about life is impossible for those who have Faith.
And if you don't see the little reminders, create your own! Mom and I were talking the other day on her trip to Simi Valley about what we do when we are in those "moods" that we forget His presence. Mom says she just reaches down to her chest and touches her scapular. I touch the rosary that I always have in my pocket and it gives me the strength to face whatever comes my way. And then of course there's always the universally popular sign of the cross! Give it a try! What can you lose? Nothing! What can you gain? Faith. Hope. Love.
Moses said to the people: “Hear, O Israel! The LORD is our God, the LORD alone! Therefore, you shall love the LORD, your God, with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your strength.
Take to heart these words which I enjoin on you today. Drill them into your children. Speak of them at home and abroad, whether you are busy or at rest. Bind them at your wrist as a sign and let them be as a pendant on your forehead. Write them on the doorposts of your houses and on your gates. When the LORD, your God, brings you into the land which he swore to your fathers: Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, that he would give you, a land with fine, large cities that you did not build, with houses full of goods of all sorts that you did not garner, with cisterns that you did not dig, with vineyards and olive groves that you did not plant; and when, therefore, you eat your fill, take care not to forget the LORD, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, that place of slavery. The LORD, your God, shall you fear; him shall you serve, and by his name shall you swear.”
Mt 17:14-20
A man came up to Jesus, knelt down before him, and said, “Lord, have pity on my son, who is a lunatic and suffers severely; often he falls into fire, and often into water. I brought him to your disciples, but they could not cure him.”
Jesus said in reply, “O faithless and perverse generation, how long will I be with you? How long will I endure you? Bring the boy here to me.” Jesus rebuked him and the demon came out of him, and from that hour the boy was cured.
Then the disciples approached Jesus in private and said, “Why could we not drive it out?” He said to them, “Because of your little faith. Amen, I say to you, if you have faith the size of a mustard seed, you will say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there,’ and it will move. Nothing will be impossible for you.”
Today’s message in the readings hit home in a particular way. I felt like Moses pulled me aside and spoke to me personally, reminding me to keep God first.
I can't help but see how little we change from one generation to the next. Moses' message could so easily have been written to our generation as we live and move seemingly without stopping so much of the time. We need the encouragement to teach our children, and keep the thought in front of ourselves, on our wrists, or on our foreheads.
The message is so practical and down to earth; I really feel like I can relate and apply it to my life today as I worry I’m supposed to fix the world I live in by myself.
In Deuteronomy, when the LORD delivers the people to the promised land, where everything will be already built and in good shape He tells them not to forget the LORD, or from where they have come. I think it is human nature to forget when life gets easier. It is why we have to remind each generation of the tough times, and of how far we can move from our Creator’s Will if we forget to include him in our daily lives, to live in Christ.
In the Gospel reading, Jesus is teaching on the same subject, for how does our Faith really grow, except to let our relationship with God grow? The disciples are surprised when they can not dislodge the demon from a man’s son, but Jesus does so with no trouble. So, they ask him why and he tells them, “Because of your little faith. Amen, I say to you, if you have faith the size of a mustard seed, you will say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there,’ and it will move. Nothing will be impossible for you.” (Matthew 17:20-21). We make these same errors in judgment today; and I am grateful for the small reminders, that come in the form of Scripture, or even in the form of trouble.
So, today we are reminded to grow in Faith by loving the LORD God with our whole hearts, with our whole soul and with all our strength; pretty simple. May we continue to see the little reminders that come our way, when our day, our life doesn’t quite go the way we’d like it to go; for nothing about life is impossible for those who have Faith.
And if you don't see the little reminders, create your own! Mom and I were talking the other day on her trip to Simi Valley about what we do when we are in those "moods" that we forget His presence. Mom says she just reaches down to her chest and touches her scapular. I touch the rosary that I always have in my pocket and it gives me the strength to face whatever comes my way. And then of course there's always the universally popular sign of the cross! Give it a try! What can you lose? Nothing! What can you gain? Faith. Hope. Love.
Friday, August 7, 2009
Ain't no mountain high enough!
Dt 4:32-40Moses said to the people: “Ask now of the days of old, before your time, ever since God created man upon the earth; ask from one end of the sky to the other: Did anything so great ever happen before? Was it ever heard of? Did a people ever hear the voice of God speaking from the midst of fire, as you did, and live? Or did any god venture to go and take a nation for himself from the midst of another nation, by testings, by signs and wonders, by war, with his strong hand and outstretched arm, and by great terrors, all of which the LORD, your God, did for you in Egypt before your very eyes?
All this you were allowed to see that you might know the LORD is God and there is no other. Out of the heavens he let you hear his voice to discipline you; on earth he let you see his great fire, and you heard him speaking out of the fire. For love of your fathers he chose their descendants and personally led you out of Egypt by his great power, driving out of your way nations greater and mightier than you, so as to bring you in and to make their land your heritage, as it is today.
This is why you must now know, and fix in your heart, that the LORD is God in the heavens above and on earth below, and that there is no other. You must keep his statutes and commandments which I enjoin on you today, that you and your children after you may prosper, and that you may have long life on the land which the LORD, your God, is giving you forever.”
Jesus said to his disciples, “Whoever wishes to come after me must deny himself, take up his cross, and follow me. For whoever wishes to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will find it. What profit would there be for one to gain the whole world and forfeit his life? Or what can one give in exchange for his life? For the Son of Man will come with his angels in his Father’s glory, and then he will repay each according to his conduct. Amen, I say to you, there are some standing here who will not taste death until they see the Son of Man coming in his Kingdom.”
Thinking about my blog yesterday, and that “high mountain”. I guess I didn’t meditate long enough, because it “hit” me at Mass this morning. “High” mountains are not easy to climb. The vision in my head is like the hike that Marilyn and Sarah just took a couple of weekends ago to the top of Half Dome in Yosemite—even the last part, where you have to pull yourself up a slick rocky surface with cables! From the pictures I’ve seen that they brought back with them, you wouldn’t think you could get any closer to Heaven. At the same time, it was (I’m told) a very grueling hike to get there. But the girls said, “The sacrifices of the practice hikes and aches and pains were worth the view!”
Mmmm. Something to think about.
Thinking about my blog yesterday, and that “high mountain”. I guess I didn’t meditate long enough, because it “hit” me at Mass this morning. “High” mountains are not easy to climb. The vision in my head is like the hike that Marilyn and Sarah just took a couple of weekends ago to the top of Half Dome in Yosemite—even the last part, where you have to pull yourself up a slick rocky surface with cables! From the pictures I’ve seen that they brought back with them, you wouldn’t think you could get any closer to Heaven. At the same time, it was (I’m told) a very grueling hike to get there. But the girls said, “The sacrifices of the practice hikes and aches and pains were worth the view!”
Mmmm. Something to think about.
Also, please pray for a young woman I heard about today who found out she is pregnant. She is unmarried and has no real commitment to the father. Her parents have kicked her out of her house and she is looking for help. Let's pray she gets her help from those of us who can show her the Truth about life.
Thursday, August 6, 2009
Going up a "high mountain"--The 4th Luminous Mystery
Here's a bit of fun, first.
http://video.yahoo.com/network/100284668?v=5643396&l=3774749
Dn 7:9-10, 13-14
As I watched:
Thrones were set up and the Ancient One took his throne.
His clothing was bright as snow, and the hair on his head as white as wool; his throne was flames of fire, with wheels of burning fire.
A surging stream of fire flowed out from where he sat; Thousands upon thousands were ministering to him, and myriads upon myriads attended him.
The court was convened and the books were opened.
As the visions during the night continued, I saw:
One like a Son of man coming, on the clouds of heaven;
When he reached the Ancient One and was presented before him,
The one like a Son of man received dominion, glory, and kingship; all peoples, nations, and languages serve him.
His dominion is an everlasting dominion that shall not be taken away, his kingship shall not be destroyed.
2 Pt 1:16-19
Beloved:
We did not follow cleverly devised myths when we made known to you the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, but we had been eyewitnesses of his majesty.
For he received honor and glory from God the Father when that unique declaration came to him from the majestic glory, “This is my Son, my beloved, with whom I am well pleased.”
We ourselves heard this voice come from heaven while we were with him on the holy mountain. Moreover, we possess the prophetic message that is altogether reliable. You will do well to be attentive to it, as to a lamp shining in a dark place, until day dawns and the morning star rises in your hearts.
Mk 9:2-10
Jesus took Peter, James, and his brother John, and led them up a high mountain apart by themselves. And he was transfigured before them, and his clothes became dazzling white, such as no fuller on earth could bleach them. Then Elijah appeared to them along with Moses, and they were conversing with Jesus.
Then Peter said to Jesus in reply, “Rabbi, it is good that we are here! Let us make three tents: one for you, one for Moses, and one for Elijah.” He hardly knew what to say, they were so terrified.
Then a cloud came, casting a shadow over them; from the cloud came a voice, “This is my beloved Son. Listen to him.” Suddenly, looking around, they no longer saw anyone but Jesus alone with them.
As they were coming down from the mountain, he charged them not to relate what they had seen to anyone, except when the Son of Man had risen from the dead. So they kept the matter to themselves, questioning what rising from the dead meant.
http://video.yahoo.com/network/100284668?v=5643396&l=3774749
Dn 7:9-10, 13-14
As I watched:
Thrones were set up and the Ancient One took his throne.
His clothing was bright as snow, and the hair on his head as white as wool; his throne was flames of fire, with wheels of burning fire.
A surging stream of fire flowed out from where he sat; Thousands upon thousands were ministering to him, and myriads upon myriads attended him.
The court was convened and the books were opened.
As the visions during the night continued, I saw:
One like a Son of man coming, on the clouds of heaven;
When he reached the Ancient One and was presented before him,
The one like a Son of man received dominion, glory, and kingship; all peoples, nations, and languages serve him.
His dominion is an everlasting dominion that shall not be taken away, his kingship shall not be destroyed.
2 Pt 1:16-19
Beloved:
We did not follow cleverly devised myths when we made known to you the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, but we had been eyewitnesses of his majesty.
For he received honor and glory from God the Father when that unique declaration came to him from the majestic glory, “This is my Son, my beloved, with whom I am well pleased.”
We ourselves heard this voice come from heaven while we were with him on the holy mountain. Moreover, we possess the prophetic message that is altogether reliable. You will do well to be attentive to it, as to a lamp shining in a dark place, until day dawns and the morning star rises in your hearts.
Mk 9:2-10
Jesus took Peter, James, and his brother John, and led them up a high mountain apart by themselves. And he was transfigured before them, and his clothes became dazzling white, such as no fuller on earth could bleach them. Then Elijah appeared to them along with Moses, and they were conversing with Jesus.
Then Peter said to Jesus in reply, “Rabbi, it is good that we are here! Let us make three tents: one for you, one for Moses, and one for Elijah.” He hardly knew what to say, they were so terrified.
Then a cloud came, casting a shadow over them; from the cloud came a voice, “This is my beloved Son. Listen to him.” Suddenly, looking around, they no longer saw anyone but Jesus alone with them.
As they were coming down from the mountain, he charged them not to relate what they had seen to anyone, except when the Son of Man had risen from the dead. So they kept the matter to themselves, questioning what rising from the dead meant.
It occurs to me that every time someone in the Bible went up a high mountain, something great came of it. Elijah "went up the high mountain" and heard the Lord in the breeze. Moses "went up the high mountain" and received the Ten Commandments. Christ took the Apostles "up the high mountain" and gave them an idea of what it is going to be like in Heaven.
It's good to be away from the world and be alone with Christ; and, of course ultimately to be with Christ, glorified in heaven. When we give ourselves to Him, our souls are transformed. We are more open to the influences of God when we are engaged in prayer. We should try to spend time, everyday, in reflective prayer. The way for a soul to be transformed by God’s love is frequently to converse with God, and the best way I've found to do that is in an adoration chapel or simply sitting in front of the Blessed Sacrament. I try to spend at least one hour per week "going up a high mountain" in a chapel or church just sitting or kneeling quietly and listening. Then I hope, just as Christ’s garments became white and glittering, maybe my soul can get a little of God’s light to shine upon it!
Wednesday, August 5, 2009
Setting priorities
Nm 13:1-2, 25–14:1, 26a-29a, 34-35
The LORD said to Moses [in the desert of Paran,] “Send men to reconnoiter the land of Canaan, which I am giving the children of Israel. You shall send one man from each ancestral tribe, all of them princes.”
After reconnoitering the land for forty days they returned, met Moses and Aaron and the whole congregation of the children of Israel in the desert of Paran at Kadesh, made a report to them all, and showed the fruit of the country to the whole congregation. They told Moses: “We went into the land to which you sent us. It does indeed flow with milk and honey, and here is its fruit. However, the people who are living in the land are fierce, and the towns are fortified and very strong. Besides, we saw descendants of the Anakim there. Amalekites live in the region of the Negeb; Hittites, Jebusites, and Amorites dwell in the highlands, and Canaanites along the seacoast and the banks of the Jordan.” Caleb, however, to quiet the people toward Moses, said, “We ought to go up and seize the land, for we can certainly do so.”
But the men who had gone up with him said, “We cannot attack these people; they are too strong for us.” So they spread discouraging reports among the children of Israel about the land they had scouted, saying, “The land that we explored is a country that consumes its inhabitants. And all the people we saw there are huge, veritable giants (the Anakim were a race of giants); we felt like mere grasshoppers, and so we must have seemed to them.”
At this, the whole community broke out with loud cries, and even in the night the people wailed. The LORD said to Moses and Aaron: “How long will this wicked assembly grumble against me? I have heard the grumblings of the children of Israel against me. Tell them: By my life, says the LORD, I will do to you just what I have heard you say. Here in the desert shall your dead bodies fall. Forty days you spent in scouting the land; forty years shall you suffer for your crimes: one year for each day. Thus you will realize what it means to oppose me. I, the LORD, have sworn to do this to all this wicked assembly that conspired against me: here in the desert they shall die to the last man.”
Mt 15: 21-28
At that time Jesus withdrew to the region of Tyre and Sidon. And behold, a Canaanite woman of that district came and called out, “Have pity on me, Lord, Son of David! My daughter is tormented by a demon.” But he did not say a word in answer to her. His disciples came and asked him, “Send her away, for she keeps calling out after us.” He said in reply, “I was sent only to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.” But the woman came and did him homage, saying, “Lord, help me.” He said in reply, “It is not right to take the food of the children and throw it to the dogs.” She said, “Please, Lord, for even the dogs eat the scraps that fall from the table of their masters.” Then Jesus said to her in reply, “O woman, great is your faith! Let it be done for you as you wish.” And her daughter was healed from that hour.
Most of us get used to things, make them habits, or basically forget them unless something goes wrong. This pertains to what we see and smell as well as to such activities as walking, eating, and driving—not to mention the way that we think.
And we also have our little temporary preferences and "needs" that we can forget two weeks later, putting them behind us as unimportant. They can disappear from our lives, even if these "needs" can seem temporarily urgent or even essential to our well-being.
In the Gospel passage the Lord seems to be addressing this trait in the way that good teachers do. He deals lovingly with the woman in today's gospel, teaching her with what seems at first to be cruel disregard. Consider that Jesus has left Israel to go to a specifically pagan area, He does this one remembered thing, and then He returns to Israel: is this conversation with the woman really a refusal on His part? I don't think so.
The woman needs to pray unceasingly, just as the woman appealing to the unjust judge (Luke 18), but in this case it is not that Jesus is refusing or even that He changes His mind: in the heat of her desire and the insistence of her prayer, the woman comes to see the depth of her need and her faith, engages her courage and her wit, and grows as a result of the interaction. Her daughter may be healed in body, but she herself is graced with a greater faith and love.
We must pray unceasingly. We have to learn to ask for what it is that we really desire, not taking Jesus for granted and not just asking for a passing fancy of our hearts. We have to be serious about our lives as we approach the Lord.
The LORD said to Moses [in the desert of Paran,] “Send men to reconnoiter the land of Canaan, which I am giving the children of Israel. You shall send one man from each ancestral tribe, all of them princes.”
After reconnoitering the land for forty days they returned, met Moses and Aaron and the whole congregation of the children of Israel in the desert of Paran at Kadesh, made a report to them all, and showed the fruit of the country to the whole congregation. They told Moses: “We went into the land to which you sent us. It does indeed flow with milk and honey, and here is its fruit. However, the people who are living in the land are fierce, and the towns are fortified and very strong. Besides, we saw descendants of the Anakim there. Amalekites live in the region of the Negeb; Hittites, Jebusites, and Amorites dwell in the highlands, and Canaanites along the seacoast and the banks of the Jordan.” Caleb, however, to quiet the people toward Moses, said, “We ought to go up and seize the land, for we can certainly do so.”
But the men who had gone up with him said, “We cannot attack these people; they are too strong for us.” So they spread discouraging reports among the children of Israel about the land they had scouted, saying, “The land that we explored is a country that consumes its inhabitants. And all the people we saw there are huge, veritable giants (the Anakim were a race of giants); we felt like mere grasshoppers, and so we must have seemed to them.”
At this, the whole community broke out with loud cries, and even in the night the people wailed. The LORD said to Moses and Aaron: “How long will this wicked assembly grumble against me? I have heard the grumblings of the children of Israel against me. Tell them: By my life, says the LORD, I will do to you just what I have heard you say. Here in the desert shall your dead bodies fall. Forty days you spent in scouting the land; forty years shall you suffer for your crimes: one year for each day. Thus you will realize what it means to oppose me. I, the LORD, have sworn to do this to all this wicked assembly that conspired against me: here in the desert they shall die to the last man.”
Mt 15: 21-28
At that time Jesus withdrew to the region of Tyre and Sidon. And behold, a Canaanite woman of that district came and called out, “Have pity on me, Lord, Son of David! My daughter is tormented by a demon.” But he did not say a word in answer to her. His disciples came and asked him, “Send her away, for she keeps calling out after us.” He said in reply, “I was sent only to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.” But the woman came and did him homage, saying, “Lord, help me.” He said in reply, “It is not right to take the food of the children and throw it to the dogs.” She said, “Please, Lord, for even the dogs eat the scraps that fall from the table of their masters.” Then Jesus said to her in reply, “O woman, great is your faith! Let it be done for you as you wish.” And her daughter was healed from that hour.
Most of us get used to things, make them habits, or basically forget them unless something goes wrong. This pertains to what we see and smell as well as to such activities as walking, eating, and driving—not to mention the way that we think.
And we also have our little temporary preferences and "needs" that we can forget two weeks later, putting them behind us as unimportant. They can disappear from our lives, even if these "needs" can seem temporarily urgent or even essential to our well-being.
In the Gospel passage the Lord seems to be addressing this trait in the way that good teachers do. He deals lovingly with the woman in today's gospel, teaching her with what seems at first to be cruel disregard. Consider that Jesus has left Israel to go to a specifically pagan area, He does this one remembered thing, and then He returns to Israel: is this conversation with the woman really a refusal on His part? I don't think so.
The woman needs to pray unceasingly, just as the woman appealing to the unjust judge (Luke 18), but in this case it is not that Jesus is refusing or even that He changes His mind: in the heat of her desire and the insistence of her prayer, the woman comes to see the depth of her need and her faith, engages her courage and her wit, and grows as a result of the interaction. Her daughter may be healed in body, but she herself is graced with a greater faith and love.
We must pray unceasingly. We have to learn to ask for what it is that we really desire, not taking Jesus for granted and not just asking for a passing fancy of our hearts. We have to be serious about our lives as we approach the Lord.
Tuesday, August 4, 2009
The Great Gift of the Priesthood
You may notice I didn't copy and paste the readings for today. That's because the readings we had at Mass today were the optional readings for the Memorial of St. John Vianney, and I thought I'd tell of an experience I shared today instead.
I was excited when I got up this morning because today is the day a friend of mine was to accompany me to Mass for the first time! I was so happy that he was going to see what worship of Our Lord has been, is, and can be for a believer in Christ and the Church He founded over 2000 years ago!
We have been talking about going to a weekday Mass so he wouldn’t feel overwhelmed by the “smells and bells” that can sometimes make seekers of the truth skeptical of the Subject of our worship, if they don’t realize that those very rites and traditions are what makes us focus our eyes and hearts on HIM.
My friend has been getting Tuesdays off—he works two jobs, God bless him—so we thought that today would be the day. He lives only a block away from St. Joseph’s in Modesto and we were able to meet at 5:30 for the 5:45 Mass.
It never occurred to me that the church would be having their festival in August and during the week! Or that they would be having a special Mass in honor of St. John Vianney with a guest homilist brought over all the way from Germany! Or that it would be a concelebrated HIGH Mass (as high as the ordinary form gets, anyway). St. Joseph’s pastor, Father Illo is a very holy and orthodox priest, so there is usually a lot more “punch” to his Masses than in any of the others I am privilged to attend, but I didn’t expect a “full house!” There were confessions going on when we arrived, and it didn’t look like we were going to get started on time, either. Sure enough, Father Illo got up to the lecturn and told us that the visiting priest’s flight from Germany had been canceled and he had to scramble to find another, so he was going to be late and Mass would not start until 6:15. Oh, well. That gave me more time to go over a few of the subtleties of the Mass with my friend, “Joe”. (I’m keeping his real name out of this, because I don’t know how he would feel if I posted it here—so discretion is my best friend in this case). All of this AND the "smells and bells". God sure has a funny sense of humor when He deals with me.
After Mass we spoke for a couple of minutes about a some questions he had, and all in all I felt pretty good about the experience. I hope the experience helps “Joe” come to a full understanding of Christ and His Church so I can witness his baptism some day.
The Great Gift of the Priesthood
The homily was on the gift and mystery of the priesthood and the citation from St. John Vianney, the patron saint of priests, that illustrated in strong terms just how important the priest is in the salvific plan Jesus established.
"Go and confess to the Blessed Virgin or to an angel," he began. "Will they absolve you? Will they give you the body and blood of Our Lord? No, the Blessed Virgin cannot make her divine Son descend in the host. Even if you had two hundred angels there with you, they could not absolve you. A priest, no matter how simple he may be, can. He can say to you: go in peace, I forgive you."
This is a year in which all of us are called to grow in appreciation of — and cease being apologetic about — this great treasure and most precious gift. We are also called to volunteer to help in any way we can—through prayer (always the first choice), ministry, or service. Don’t forget to pray for vocations! There’s a link on the left side of this blog if you need help.
I was excited when I got up this morning because today is the day a friend of mine was to accompany me to Mass for the first time! I was so happy that he was going to see what worship of Our Lord has been, is, and can be for a believer in Christ and the Church He founded over 2000 years ago!
We have been talking about going to a weekday Mass so he wouldn’t feel overwhelmed by the “smells and bells” that can sometimes make seekers of the truth skeptical of the Subject of our worship, if they don’t realize that those very rites and traditions are what makes us focus our eyes and hearts on HIM.
My friend has been getting Tuesdays off—he works two jobs, God bless him—so we thought that today would be the day. He lives only a block away from St. Joseph’s in Modesto and we were able to meet at 5:30 for the 5:45 Mass.
It never occurred to me that the church would be having their festival in August and during the week! Or that they would be having a special Mass in honor of St. John Vianney with a guest homilist brought over all the way from Germany! Or that it would be a concelebrated HIGH Mass (as high as the ordinary form gets, anyway). St. Joseph’s pastor, Father Illo is a very holy and orthodox priest, so there is usually a lot more “punch” to his Masses than in any of the others I am privilged to attend, but I didn’t expect a “full house!” There were confessions going on when we arrived, and it didn’t look like we were going to get started on time, either. Sure enough, Father Illo got up to the lecturn and told us that the visiting priest’s flight from Germany had been canceled and he had to scramble to find another, so he was going to be late and Mass would not start until 6:15. Oh, well. That gave me more time to go over a few of the subtleties of the Mass with my friend, “Joe”. (I’m keeping his real name out of this, because I don’t know how he would feel if I posted it here—so discretion is my best friend in this case). All of this AND the "smells and bells". God sure has a funny sense of humor when He deals with me.
After Mass we spoke for a couple of minutes about a some questions he had, and all in all I felt pretty good about the experience. I hope the experience helps “Joe” come to a full understanding of Christ and His Church so I can witness his baptism some day.
The Great Gift of the Priesthood
The homily was on the gift and mystery of the priesthood and the citation from St. John Vianney, the patron saint of priests, that illustrated in strong terms just how important the priest is in the salvific plan Jesus established.
"Go and confess to the Blessed Virgin or to an angel," he began. "Will they absolve you? Will they give you the body and blood of Our Lord? No, the Blessed Virgin cannot make her divine Son descend in the host. Even if you had two hundred angels there with you, they could not absolve you. A priest, no matter how simple he may be, can. He can say to you: go in peace, I forgive you."
This is a year in which all of us are called to grow in appreciation of — and cease being apologetic about — this great treasure and most precious gift. We are also called to volunteer to help in any way we can—through prayer (always the first choice), ministry, or service. Don’t forget to pray for vocations! There’s a link on the left side of this blog if you need help.
Monday, August 3, 2009
Random thoughts
Nm 11:4b-15
The children of Israel lamented, “Would that we had meat for food! We remember the fish we used to eat without cost in Egypt, and the cucumbers, the melons, the leeks, the onions, and the garlic. But now we are famished; we see nothing before us but this manna.” Manna was like coriander seed and had the color of resin. When they had gone about and gathered it up, the people would grind it between millstones or pound it in a mortar, then cook it in a pot and make it into loaves, which tasted like cakes made with oil. At night, when the dew fell upon the camp, the manna also fell.
When Moses heard the people, family after family, crying at the entrance of their tents, so that the LORD became very angry, he was grieved. “Why do you treat your servant so badly?” Moses asked the Lord. “Why are you so displeased with me that you burden me with all this people? Was it I who conceived all this people? Or was it I who gave them birth, that you tell me to carry them at my bosom, like a foster father carrying an infant, to the land you have promised under oath to their fathers? Where can I get meat to give to all this people? For they are crying to me, 'Give us meat for our food.’ I cannot carry all this people by myself, for they are too heavy for me. If this is the way you will deal with me, then please do me the favor of killing me at once, so that I need no longer face this distress.”
Mt 14:13-21
When Jesus heard of the death of John the Baptist, he withdrew in a boat to a deserted place by himself. The crowds heard of this and followed him on foot from their towns. When he disembarked and saw the vast crowd, his heart was moved with pity for them, and he cured their sick.
When it was evening, the disciples approached him and said, “This is a deserted place and it is already late; dismiss the crowds so that they can go to the villages and buy food for themselves.” He said to them, “There is no need for them to go away; give them some food yourselves.”
But they said to him, “Five loaves and two fish are all we have here.” Then he said, “Bring them here to me,” and he ordered the crowds to sit down on the grass. Taking the five loaves and the two fish, and looking up to heaven, he said the blessing, broke the loaves, and gave them to the disciples, who in turn gave them to the crowds. They all ate and were satisfied, and they picked up the fragments left over– twelve wicker baskets full. Those who ate were about five thousand men, not counting women and children.
I usually put a lot of thought and effort into my posts, but I’ve developed a sort of “writer’s block” that is preventing me from putting my thoughts into a cohesive essay worthy of even a high school paper, so I think today I’ll just post some random thoughts that have been going through my mind today as I meditated on the readings and life in general:
Dad always had a garden no matter where we lived. I remember a couple of times as a very young boy when I would help him water. We would take the hose out to the garden and lay it down at one end of a row and watch the water as it snaked up and down each row in turn until the entire patch was soaked. In the meantime, Dad would pull up a radish or carrot, or—(and this is one I remember vividly for some reason!)—turnip, lift the hose up and wash it off, then take his pocket-knife and slice it up and share it with me right then and there. He always seemed to know what I wanted or needed without my having to tell him, and he would sometimes accommodate me and sometimes not. That’s what loving fathers are like. Why couldn’t the Israelites understand this? Why can’t many of God’s children understand this today?
When John tells the loaves and fishes story, the crowd is “about” five thousand. When Matthew tells the story, the crowd is five thousand MEN, not counting the women and children, which could put the crowd at as many as 10,000 or even 15,000. Pick either version you like, that’s a whole lot of miracle!
One thing that came to me when reading the Gospel today is that Jesus started out with 5 loaves and 2 fish. That’s seven sources of nourishment. There are seven Sacraments. When everyone has had their fill, there is still enough left over to fill 12 wicker baskets. There are 12 Apostles, and twelve “tribes” of Israel. It reminded me that the Sacraments “nourish” our faith and help us to remember that we are ONE, HOLY, CATHOLIC, AND APOSTOLIC church.
The children of Israel lamented, “Would that we had meat for food! We remember the fish we used to eat without cost in Egypt, and the cucumbers, the melons, the leeks, the onions, and the garlic. But now we are famished; we see nothing before us but this manna.” Manna was like coriander seed and had the color of resin. When they had gone about and gathered it up, the people would grind it between millstones or pound it in a mortar, then cook it in a pot and make it into loaves, which tasted like cakes made with oil. At night, when the dew fell upon the camp, the manna also fell.
When Moses heard the people, family after family, crying at the entrance of their tents, so that the LORD became very angry, he was grieved. “Why do you treat your servant so badly?” Moses asked the Lord. “Why are you so displeased with me that you burden me with all this people? Was it I who conceived all this people? Or was it I who gave them birth, that you tell me to carry them at my bosom, like a foster father carrying an infant, to the land you have promised under oath to their fathers? Where can I get meat to give to all this people? For they are crying to me, 'Give us meat for our food.’ I cannot carry all this people by myself, for they are too heavy for me. If this is the way you will deal with me, then please do me the favor of killing me at once, so that I need no longer face this distress.”
Mt 14:13-21
When Jesus heard of the death of John the Baptist, he withdrew in a boat to a deserted place by himself. The crowds heard of this and followed him on foot from their towns. When he disembarked and saw the vast crowd, his heart was moved with pity for them, and he cured their sick.
When it was evening, the disciples approached him and said, “This is a deserted place and it is already late; dismiss the crowds so that they can go to the villages and buy food for themselves.” He said to them, “There is no need for them to go away; give them some food yourselves.”
But they said to him, “Five loaves and two fish are all we have here.” Then he said, “Bring them here to me,” and he ordered the crowds to sit down on the grass. Taking the five loaves and the two fish, and looking up to heaven, he said the blessing, broke the loaves, and gave them to the disciples, who in turn gave them to the crowds. They all ate and were satisfied, and they picked up the fragments left over– twelve wicker baskets full. Those who ate were about five thousand men, not counting women and children.
I usually put a lot of thought and effort into my posts, but I’ve developed a sort of “writer’s block” that is preventing me from putting my thoughts into a cohesive essay worthy of even a high school paper, so I think today I’ll just post some random thoughts that have been going through my mind today as I meditated on the readings and life in general:
Dad always had a garden no matter where we lived. I remember a couple of times as a very young boy when I would help him water. We would take the hose out to the garden and lay it down at one end of a row and watch the water as it snaked up and down each row in turn until the entire patch was soaked. In the meantime, Dad would pull up a radish or carrot, or—(and this is one I remember vividly for some reason!)—turnip, lift the hose up and wash it off, then take his pocket-knife and slice it up and share it with me right then and there. He always seemed to know what I wanted or needed without my having to tell him, and he would sometimes accommodate me and sometimes not. That’s what loving fathers are like. Why couldn’t the Israelites understand this? Why can’t many of God’s children understand this today?
When John tells the loaves and fishes story, the crowd is “about” five thousand. When Matthew tells the story, the crowd is five thousand MEN, not counting the women and children, which could put the crowd at as many as 10,000 or even 15,000. Pick either version you like, that’s a whole lot of miracle!
One thing that came to me when reading the Gospel today is that Jesus started out with 5 loaves and 2 fish. That’s seven sources of nourishment. There are seven Sacraments. When everyone has had their fill, there is still enough left over to fill 12 wicker baskets. There are 12 Apostles, and twelve “tribes” of Israel. It reminded me that the Sacraments “nourish” our faith and help us to remember that we are ONE, HOLY, CATHOLIC, AND APOSTOLIC church.
Sunday, August 2, 2009
You have to have faith
Ex 16:2-4, 12-15
The whole Israelite community grumbled against Moses and Aaron. The Israelites said to them, “Would that we had died at the LORD’s hand in the land of Egypt, as we sat by our fleshpots and ate our fill of bread! But you had to lead us into this desert to make the whole community die of famine!” Then the LORD said to Moses, “I will now rain down bread from heaven for you. Each day the people are to go out and gather their daily portion; thus will I test them, to see whether they follow my instructions or not. “I have heard the grumbling of the Israelites. Tell them: In the evening twilight you shall eat flesh, and in the morning you shall have your fill of bread, so that you may know that I, the LORD, am your God.”
In the evening quail came up and covered the camp. In the morning a dew lay all about the camp, and when the dew evaporated, there on the surface of the desert were fine flakes like hoarfrost on the ground. On seeing it, the Israelites asked one another, “What is this?” for they did not know what it was. But Moses told them, “This is the bread that the LORD has given you to eat.”
Eph 4:17, 20-24
Brothers and sisters: I declare and testify in the Lord that you must no longer live as the Gentiles do, in the futility of their minds; that is not how you learned Christ, assuming that you have heard of him and were taught in him, as truth is in Jesus, that you should put away the old self of your former way of life, corrupted through deceitful desires, and be renewed in the spirit of your minds, and put on the new self, created in God’s way in righteousness and holiness of truth.
Jn 6:24-35
When the crowd saw that neither Jesus nor his disciples were there, they themselves got into boats and came to Capernaum looking for Jesus. And when they found him across the sea they said to him, “Rabbi, when did you get here?”
Jesus answered them and said, “Amen, amen, I say to you, you are looking for me not because you saw signs but because you ate the loaves and were filled. Do not work for food that perishes but for the food that endures for eternal life, which the Son of Man will give you. For on him the Father, God, has set his seal.”
So they said to him, “What can we do to accomplish the works of God?” Jesus answered and said to them, “This is the work of God, that you believe in the one he sent.” So they said to him, “What sign can you do, that we may see and believe in you? What can you do? Our ancestors ate manna in the desert, as it is written: He gave them bread from heaven to eat.”
So Jesus said to them, “Amen, amen, I say to you, it was not Moses who gave the bread from heaven; my Father gives you the true bread from heaven. For the bread of God is that which comes down from heaven and gives life to the world.”
So they said to him, “Sir, give us this bread always.” Jesus said to them, “I am the bread of life; whoever comes to me will never hunger, and whoever believes in me will never thirst.”
These readings are such a wonderful human-to-God story. The release from 430 years of slavery in Egypt is over, the Exodus has led them out into the desert of wandering and they are hungry. Their hunger becomes a complaint against God. They whimper and regret their having left slavery.
God promises food in the form of some mysterious bread, which the Israelites do not understand. There is a little test embedded in the offering. In this Reading we do not hear what it is. If we read a little further, God has asked them to take only their “daily bread” and not provide for any tomorrows.
Of course, as they often do in the Old Testament, they fail the test. They tuck a little away for a less rainy day and it spoils. The gift of today is prelude to the Giver’s kindnesses tomorrow. God provides and the Israelites are to continue watching for tomorrow’s renewal of care.
The wonderful thing here is that God doesn’t retract the gifts, because of the human self-providing—rather, God remains “watching-out” for His humanly family. God gives them bread from Heaven, which is mysterious, but inviting.
The Gospel presents the religious leaders of the Jews as asking Jesus for a “sign”, some kind of unusual event that will prove His authenticity. They quote a line from Exodus, reminding Jesus that their Father sent down miraculous bread, so what can Jesus do, like that.
Jesus uses the very image they use in their challenge. He refers to their religious historic scripture, bread from heaven, as a way of explaining just Who He is. As bread came down, He, Jesus Himself is presently, right now, coming down in their present experience. As the Jews failed to understand the gift of bread in the desert, so they do not understand Jesus. The Jewish leaders are solidly religious and committed to their traditions and sacred history.
We also read in the Gospel today, how the religious leaders were confounded with how Jesus got from here to there. In a sense, they were asking our human question about Jesus in the Eucharist, but even more about Jesus as our Lord and Savior. “How did you do that?” Faith is an understanding, which allows for the not understanding sometimes. How did God split the sea? How did God present manna and quails? How did Jesus take five loaves and two fish to feed so many? How is Jesus present as man and Son of God? How is Jesus present in the Eucharist? You have to have faith.
“You gave us bread from heaven, Lord, a sweet-tasting bread that was very good to eat.” Wis. 16, 20
The whole Israelite community grumbled against Moses and Aaron. The Israelites said to them, “Would that we had died at the LORD’s hand in the land of Egypt, as we sat by our fleshpots and ate our fill of bread! But you had to lead us into this desert to make the whole community die of famine!” Then the LORD said to Moses, “I will now rain down bread from heaven for you. Each day the people are to go out and gather their daily portion; thus will I test them, to see whether they follow my instructions or not. “I have heard the grumbling of the Israelites. Tell them: In the evening twilight you shall eat flesh, and in the morning you shall have your fill of bread, so that you may know that I, the LORD, am your God.”
In the evening quail came up and covered the camp. In the morning a dew lay all about the camp, and when the dew evaporated, there on the surface of the desert were fine flakes like hoarfrost on the ground. On seeing it, the Israelites asked one another, “What is this?” for they did not know what it was. But Moses told them, “This is the bread that the LORD has given you to eat.”
Eph 4:17, 20-24
Brothers and sisters: I declare and testify in the Lord that you must no longer live as the Gentiles do, in the futility of their minds; that is not how you learned Christ, assuming that you have heard of him and were taught in him, as truth is in Jesus, that you should put away the old self of your former way of life, corrupted through deceitful desires, and be renewed in the spirit of your minds, and put on the new self, created in God’s way in righteousness and holiness of truth.
Jn 6:24-35
When the crowd saw that neither Jesus nor his disciples were there, they themselves got into boats and came to Capernaum looking for Jesus. And when they found him across the sea they said to him, “Rabbi, when did you get here?”
Jesus answered them and said, “Amen, amen, I say to you, you are looking for me not because you saw signs but because you ate the loaves and were filled. Do not work for food that perishes but for the food that endures for eternal life, which the Son of Man will give you. For on him the Father, God, has set his seal.”
So they said to him, “What can we do to accomplish the works of God?” Jesus answered and said to them, “This is the work of God, that you believe in the one he sent.” So they said to him, “What sign can you do, that we may see and believe in you? What can you do? Our ancestors ate manna in the desert, as it is written: He gave them bread from heaven to eat.”
So Jesus said to them, “Amen, amen, I say to you, it was not Moses who gave the bread from heaven; my Father gives you the true bread from heaven. For the bread of God is that which comes down from heaven and gives life to the world.”
So they said to him, “Sir, give us this bread always.” Jesus said to them, “I am the bread of life; whoever comes to me will never hunger, and whoever believes in me will never thirst.”
These readings are such a wonderful human-to-God story. The release from 430 years of slavery in Egypt is over, the Exodus has led them out into the desert of wandering and they are hungry. Their hunger becomes a complaint against God. They whimper and regret their having left slavery.
God promises food in the form of some mysterious bread, which the Israelites do not understand. There is a little test embedded in the offering. In this Reading we do not hear what it is. If we read a little further, God has asked them to take only their “daily bread” and not provide for any tomorrows.
Of course, as they often do in the Old Testament, they fail the test. They tuck a little away for a less rainy day and it spoils. The gift of today is prelude to the Giver’s kindnesses tomorrow. God provides and the Israelites are to continue watching for tomorrow’s renewal of care.
The wonderful thing here is that God doesn’t retract the gifts, because of the human self-providing—rather, God remains “watching-out” for His humanly family. God gives them bread from Heaven, which is mysterious, but inviting.
The Gospel presents the religious leaders of the Jews as asking Jesus for a “sign”, some kind of unusual event that will prove His authenticity. They quote a line from Exodus, reminding Jesus that their Father sent down miraculous bread, so what can Jesus do, like that.
Jesus uses the very image they use in their challenge. He refers to their religious historic scripture, bread from heaven, as a way of explaining just Who He is. As bread came down, He, Jesus Himself is presently, right now, coming down in their present experience. As the Jews failed to understand the gift of bread in the desert, so they do not understand Jesus. The Jewish leaders are solidly religious and committed to their traditions and sacred history.
We also read in the Gospel today, how the religious leaders were confounded with how Jesus got from here to there. In a sense, they were asking our human question about Jesus in the Eucharist, but even more about Jesus as our Lord and Savior. “How did you do that?” Faith is an understanding, which allows for the not understanding sometimes. How did God split the sea? How did God present manna and quails? How did Jesus take five loaves and two fish to feed so many? How is Jesus present as man and Son of God? How is Jesus present in the Eucharist? You have to have faith.
“You gave us bread from heaven, Lord, a sweet-tasting bread that was very good to eat.” Wis. 16, 20
Saturday, August 1, 2009
The ORIGINAL "Share the wealth plan"
Lv 25:1, 8-17
The LORD said to Moses on Mount Sinai, “Seven weeks of years shall you count–seven times seven years–so that the seven cycles amount to forty-nine years. Then, on the tenth day of the seventh month, let the trumpet resound; on this, the Day of Atonement, the trumpet blast shall re-echo throughout your land. This fiftieth year you shall make sacred by proclaiming liberty in the land for all its inhabitants. It shall be a jubilee for you, when every one of you shall return to his own property, every one to his own family estate. In this fiftieth year, your year of jubilee, you shall not sow, nor shall you reap the aftergrowth or pick the grapes from the untrimmed vines. Since this is the jubilee, which shall be sacred for you, you may not eat of its produce, except as taken directly from the field. “In this year of jubilee, then, every one of you shall return to his own property. Therefore, when you sell any land to your neighbor or buy any from him, do not deal unfairly. On the basis of the number of years since the last jubilee shall you purchase the land from your neighbor; and so also, on the basis of the number of years for crops, shall he sell it to you. When the years are many, the price shall be so much the more; when the years are few, the price shall be so much the less. For it is really the number of crops that he sells you. Do not deal unfairly, then; but stand in fear of your God.
I, the LORD, am your God.”
Leviticus consists mainly of laws conveyed to Moses and Aaron. It began with rules for the rituals and sacrifices to be performed by the Levite priests, then expanded to include everyone. They set standards of behavior in both the legal and personal sense that showed their intimate relationship with God. In part, the rules required returning acquired land to its original owners; freeing slaves; restoring captives to native lands; lifting debts with no charge of interest. In addition, fields were to be left uncultivated and animals relieved of their labors. God would enable this by providing large crops and stores of food to sustain the people until the next harvest.
Today's first reading describes a "Jubilee Year" to be celebrated throughout every 50th year, starting and ending on the Day of Atonement. It's purpose was to restore social and economic equity and to assure freedom to all by preventing the formation of "classes." Gee whiz! I guess Obama wasn't the first guy to think of "sharing the wealth!" :)
Isn’t it interesting that God’s message has NEVER changed? We must love one another as He loves us. And not let greed and envy get in our way—or politicians. ‘Nuff said.
The LORD said to Moses on Mount Sinai, “Seven weeks of years shall you count–seven times seven years–so that the seven cycles amount to forty-nine years. Then, on the tenth day of the seventh month, let the trumpet resound; on this, the Day of Atonement, the trumpet blast shall re-echo throughout your land. This fiftieth year you shall make sacred by proclaiming liberty in the land for all its inhabitants. It shall be a jubilee for you, when every one of you shall return to his own property, every one to his own family estate. In this fiftieth year, your year of jubilee, you shall not sow, nor shall you reap the aftergrowth or pick the grapes from the untrimmed vines. Since this is the jubilee, which shall be sacred for you, you may not eat of its produce, except as taken directly from the field. “In this year of jubilee, then, every one of you shall return to his own property. Therefore, when you sell any land to your neighbor or buy any from him, do not deal unfairly. On the basis of the number of years since the last jubilee shall you purchase the land from your neighbor; and so also, on the basis of the number of years for crops, shall he sell it to you. When the years are many, the price shall be so much the more; when the years are few, the price shall be so much the less. For it is really the number of crops that he sells you. Do not deal unfairly, then; but stand in fear of your God.
I, the LORD, am your God.”
Leviticus consists mainly of laws conveyed to Moses and Aaron. It began with rules for the rituals and sacrifices to be performed by the Levite priests, then expanded to include everyone. They set standards of behavior in both the legal and personal sense that showed their intimate relationship with God. In part, the rules required returning acquired land to its original owners; freeing slaves; restoring captives to native lands; lifting debts with no charge of interest. In addition, fields were to be left uncultivated and animals relieved of their labors. God would enable this by providing large crops and stores of food to sustain the people until the next harvest.
Today's first reading describes a "Jubilee Year" to be celebrated throughout every 50th year, starting and ending on the Day of Atonement. It's purpose was to restore social and economic equity and to assure freedom to all by preventing the formation of "classes." Gee whiz! I guess Obama wasn't the first guy to think of "sharing the wealth!" :)
Isn’t it interesting that God’s message has NEVER changed? We must love one another as He loves us. And not let greed and envy get in our way—or politicians. ‘Nuff said.
Thursday, July 30, 2009
Nothing to say today
I have tried to be good and make an entry in this blog every day since May--and I think I've had a pretty good run at it, with some interesting topics and (if I do say so myself) some really good analysis of the readings. But today has been a total blank! I had to start early this morning in Modesto. I did some weeding of the flower beds there, conducted an employment interview, and helped some families get a moving van. Then I went on a truck transfer that was quite taxing to me mentally and physically. I think the fact that I wasn't able to get to Mass today and listen to a sermon is part of the reason I can't think of anything to write about. I tried reading the Exodus entry today and for some reason, it just didn't inspire me. The Gospel usually "sparks" some inspiration, but again, nothing today. Maybe it's just a little of the 'dryness' that Mother Teresa spoke about. I'm sure it will go away. I'll just have to pray a little harder tonight and try not to think about it. I'll put it in my "mental" SFGTD box.
Wednesday, July 29, 2009
Radiating with joy
Ex 34:29-35
As Moses came down from Mount Sinai with the two tablets of the commandments in his hands, he did not know that the skin of his face had become radiant while he conversed with the LORD.
When Aaron, then, and the other children of Israel saw Moses and noticed how radiant the skin of his face had become, they were afraid to come near him. Only after Moses called to them did Aaron and all the rulers of the community come back to him. Moses then spoke to them.
Later on, all the children of Israel came up to him, and he enjoined on them all that the LORD had told him on Mount Sinai. When he finished speaking with them, he put a veil over his face.
Whenever Moses entered the presence of the LORD to converse with him, he removed the veil until he came out again. On coming out, he would tell the children of Israel all that had been commanded. Then the children of Israel would see that the skin of Moses’ face was radiant; so he would again put the veil over his face until he went in to converse with the LORD.
Lk 10:38-42
Jesus entered a village where a woman whose name was Martha welcomed him. She had a sister named Mary who sat beside the Lord at his feet listening to him speak. Martha, burdened with much serving, came to him and said, “Lord, do you not care that my sister has left me by myself to do the serving? Tell her to help me.” The Lord said to her in reply, “Martha, Martha, you are anxious and worried about many things. There is need of only one thing. Mary has chosen the better part and it will not be taken from her.”
Jn 11:19-27
Many of the Jews had come to Martha and Mary to comfort them about their brother [Lazarus, who had died]. When Martha heard that Jesus was coming, she went to meet him; but Mary sat at home. Martha said to Jesus, “Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died. But even now I know that whatever you ask of God, God will give you.” Jesus said to her, “Your brother will rise.” Martha said to him, “I know he will rise, in the resurrection on the last day.”Jesus told her, “I am the resurrection and the life; whoever believes in me, even if he dies, will live, and anyone who lives and believes in me will never die. Do you believe this?” She said to him, “Yes, Lord. I have come to believe that you are the Christ, the Son of God, the one who is coming into the world.”
Almost all of the reflections I’ve heard or read today have been about Martha, and rightly so. But then as I was reading the Old Testament account today, I thought of the people I know who continue to be “radiant” despite obstacles and disappointments, because they have learned the lesson that Christ was teaching Martha in the Gospels. They have come to believe that Jesus IS the Christ, the Son of God, the One who HAS come into the world and dispenses His mercy and forgiveness.
One of the traits they all have in common is a prayer life. They don’t get caught up in the anxiety and worry of daily life so deeply that they forget who it is that gave them that life in the first place. They converse with God through His Son with the help of His Mother and the Holy Spirit often, and as a result, they radiate with joy.
As Moses came down from Mount Sinai with the two tablets of the commandments in his hands, he did not know that the skin of his face had become radiant while he conversed with the LORD.
When Aaron, then, and the other children of Israel saw Moses and noticed how radiant the skin of his face had become, they were afraid to come near him. Only after Moses called to them did Aaron and all the rulers of the community come back to him. Moses then spoke to them.
Later on, all the children of Israel came up to him, and he enjoined on them all that the LORD had told him on Mount Sinai. When he finished speaking with them, he put a veil over his face.
Whenever Moses entered the presence of the LORD to converse with him, he removed the veil until he came out again. On coming out, he would tell the children of Israel all that had been commanded. Then the children of Israel would see that the skin of Moses’ face was radiant; so he would again put the veil over his face until he went in to converse with the LORD.
Lk 10:38-42
Jesus entered a village where a woman whose name was Martha welcomed him. She had a sister named Mary who sat beside the Lord at his feet listening to him speak. Martha, burdened with much serving, came to him and said, “Lord, do you not care that my sister has left me by myself to do the serving? Tell her to help me.” The Lord said to her in reply, “Martha, Martha, you are anxious and worried about many things. There is need of only one thing. Mary has chosen the better part and it will not be taken from her.”
Jn 11:19-27
Many of the Jews had come to Martha and Mary to comfort them about their brother [Lazarus, who had died]. When Martha heard that Jesus was coming, she went to meet him; but Mary sat at home. Martha said to Jesus, “Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died. But even now I know that whatever you ask of God, God will give you.” Jesus said to her, “Your brother will rise.” Martha said to him, “I know he will rise, in the resurrection on the last day.”Jesus told her, “I am the resurrection and the life; whoever believes in me, even if he dies, will live, and anyone who lives and believes in me will never die. Do you believe this?” She said to him, “Yes, Lord. I have come to believe that you are the Christ, the Son of God, the one who is coming into the world.”
Almost all of the reflections I’ve heard or read today have been about Martha, and rightly so. But then as I was reading the Old Testament account today, I thought of the people I know who continue to be “radiant” despite obstacles and disappointments, because they have learned the lesson that Christ was teaching Martha in the Gospels. They have come to believe that Jesus IS the Christ, the Son of God, the One who HAS come into the world and dispenses His mercy and forgiveness.
One of the traits they all have in common is a prayer life. They don’t get caught up in the anxiety and worry of daily life so deeply that they forget who it is that gave them that life in the first place. They converse with God through His Son with the help of His Mother and the Holy Spirit often, and as a result, they radiate with joy.
Tuesday, July 28, 2009
A stiff-necked people
Ex 33:7-11; 34:5b-9, 28
The tent, which was called the meeting tent, Moses used to pitch at some distance away, outside the camp. Anyone who wished to consult the LORD would go to this meeting tent outside the camp. Whenever Moses went out to the tent, the people would all rise and stand at the entrance of their own tents, watching Moses until he entered the tent. As Moses entered the tent, the column of cloud would come down and stand at its entrance while the LORD spoke with Moses. On seeing the column of cloud stand at the entrance of the tent, all the people would rise and worship at the entrance of their own tents. The LORD used to speak to Moses face to face, as one man speaks to another. Moses would then return to the camp, but his young assistant, Joshua, son of Nun, would not move out of the tent.
Moses stood there with the LORD and proclaimed his name, “LORD.” Thus the LORD passed before him and cried out, “The LORD, the LORD, a merciful and gracious God, slow to anger and rich in kindness and fidelity, continuing his kindness for a thousand generations, and forgiving wickedness and crime and sin; yet not declaring the guilty guiltless, but punishing children and grandchildren to the third and fourth generation for their fathers’ wickedness!” Moses at once bowed down to the ground in worship. Then he said, “If I find favor with you, O LORD, do come along in our company. This is indeed a stiff-necked people; yet pardon our wickedness and sins, and receive us as your own.”
So Moses stayed there with the LORD for forty days and forty nights, without eating any food or drinking any water, and he wrote on the tablets the words of the covenant, the Ten Commandments.
Mt 13:36-43
Jesus dismissed the crowds and went into the house. His disciples approached him and said, “Explain to us the parable of the weeds in the field.” He said in reply, “He who sows good seed is the Son of Man, the field is the world, the good seed the children of the Kingdom. The weeds are the children of the Evil One, and the enemy who sows them is the Devil. The harvest is the end of the age, and the harvesters are angels. Just as weeds are collected and burned up with fire, so will it be at the end of the age. The Son of Man will send his angels, and they will collect out of his Kingdom all who cause others to sin and all evildoers. They will throw them into the fiery furnace, where there will be wailing and grinding of teeth. Then the righteous will shine like the sun in the Kingdom of their Father. Whoever has ears ought to hear.”
I must have slept wrong last night. I have had a stiff neck all day that has made it hard to drive or even work at the computer. So I thought it was pretty funny that the phrase “stiff-necked people” is used in today’s Old Testament reading.
We all have our own definition of ‘stiff-necked’. It is a word that cannot escape our attention. Notwithstanding my physical pain today, I think of it as inflexible, slow to compassion, awkward, quick to judge, even cruel.
Moses understood his own people to be stiff-necked, ignorant and ungrateful. Yet he begged for the Lord to forgive. No wonder he was loved by his people and by God. He had staying power!
Matthew’s gospel eludes to stiff-necked people as weeds that the Devil sows. We know these folks, and they aren’t always the hardened criminal we see on the news. We all face these stiff-necked folks everyday in our jobs, in our family tensions, it’s all around us. Sometimes people and situations take on an evil façade, so much so, we feel incapacitated to respond. I have to remind myself that God loves the weak, that when I face the evil one working against me, I have to remember that humility is truth, and truth is GOD.
The tent, which was called the meeting tent, Moses used to pitch at some distance away, outside the camp. Anyone who wished to consult the LORD would go to this meeting tent outside the camp. Whenever Moses went out to the tent, the people would all rise and stand at the entrance of their own tents, watching Moses until he entered the tent. As Moses entered the tent, the column of cloud would come down and stand at its entrance while the LORD spoke with Moses. On seeing the column of cloud stand at the entrance of the tent, all the people would rise and worship at the entrance of their own tents. The LORD used to speak to Moses face to face, as one man speaks to another. Moses would then return to the camp, but his young assistant, Joshua, son of Nun, would not move out of the tent.
Moses stood there with the LORD and proclaimed his name, “LORD.” Thus the LORD passed before him and cried out, “The LORD, the LORD, a merciful and gracious God, slow to anger and rich in kindness and fidelity, continuing his kindness for a thousand generations, and forgiving wickedness and crime and sin; yet not declaring the guilty guiltless, but punishing children and grandchildren to the third and fourth generation for their fathers’ wickedness!” Moses at once bowed down to the ground in worship. Then he said, “If I find favor with you, O LORD, do come along in our company. This is indeed a stiff-necked people; yet pardon our wickedness and sins, and receive us as your own.”
So Moses stayed there with the LORD for forty days and forty nights, without eating any food or drinking any water, and he wrote on the tablets the words of the covenant, the Ten Commandments.
Mt 13:36-43
Jesus dismissed the crowds and went into the house. His disciples approached him and said, “Explain to us the parable of the weeds in the field.” He said in reply, “He who sows good seed is the Son of Man, the field is the world, the good seed the children of the Kingdom. The weeds are the children of the Evil One, and the enemy who sows them is the Devil. The harvest is the end of the age, and the harvesters are angels. Just as weeds are collected and burned up with fire, so will it be at the end of the age. The Son of Man will send his angels, and they will collect out of his Kingdom all who cause others to sin and all evildoers. They will throw them into the fiery furnace, where there will be wailing and grinding of teeth. Then the righteous will shine like the sun in the Kingdom of their Father. Whoever has ears ought to hear.”
I must have slept wrong last night. I have had a stiff neck all day that has made it hard to drive or even work at the computer. So I thought it was pretty funny that the phrase “stiff-necked people” is used in today’s Old Testament reading.
We all have our own definition of ‘stiff-necked’. It is a word that cannot escape our attention. Notwithstanding my physical pain today, I think of it as inflexible, slow to compassion, awkward, quick to judge, even cruel.
Moses understood his own people to be stiff-necked, ignorant and ungrateful. Yet he begged for the Lord to forgive. No wonder he was loved by his people and by God. He had staying power!
Matthew’s gospel eludes to stiff-necked people as weeds that the Devil sows. We know these folks, and they aren’t always the hardened criminal we see on the news. We all face these stiff-necked folks everyday in our jobs, in our family tensions, it’s all around us. Sometimes people and situations take on an evil façade, so much so, we feel incapacitated to respond. I have to remind myself that God loves the weak, that when I face the evil one working against me, I have to remember that humility is truth, and truth is GOD.
Monday, July 27, 2009
A prayer for Dad
Well, here it is—another July 27 and I keep thinking about Dad. I have often wondered what he would think of the world today. I would not presume to call Dad a saint, although he was such a simple and humble man—as Mom says, “For a non-Catholic, he sure lived a Christian life!” But we can hope through the mercy of Jesus that he is one—it is a confident hope that I hold dear.
Saints’ feast days are the days when they enter into the place that Christ has prepared for them since before they were born. So on this—Dad’s feast day—I offer to God the following prayer for Dad:
Our Father, Who art in Heaven,
Hallowed be Thy name.
Thy kingdom come,
Thy will be done,
On Earth as it is in Heaven.
Give us this day our daily bread
And forgive us our trespasses
As we forgive those who trespass against us.
Lead us not into temptation,
But deliver us from evil.
Amen.
Ex 32:15-24, 30-34
Moses turned and came down the mountain with the two tablets of the commandments in his hands, tablets that were written on both sides, front and back; tablets that were made by God, having inscriptions on them that were engraved by God himself.
Now, when Joshua heard the noise of the people shouting, he said to Moses, “That sounds like a battle in the camp.” But Moses answered, “It does not sound like cries of victory, nor does it sound like cries of defeat; the sounds that I hear are cries of revelry.”
As he drew near the camp, he saw the calf and the dancing. With that, Moses’ wrath flared up, so that he threw the tablets down and broke them on the base of the mountain. Taking the calf they had made, he fused it in the fire and then ground it down to powder, which he scattered on the water and made the children of Israel drink.
Moses asked Aaron, “What did this people ever do to you that you should lead them into so grave a sin?” Aaron replied, “Let not my lord be angry. You know well enough how prone the people are to evil. They said to me, 'Make us a god to be our leader; as for the man Moses who brought us out of the land of Egypt, we do not know what has happened to him.’ So I told them, 'Let anyone who has gold jewelry take it off.’ They gave it to me, and I threw it into the fire, and this calf came out.”
On the next day Moses said to the people, “You have committed a grave sin. I will go up to the LORD, then; perhaps I may be able to make atonement for your sin.” So Moses went back to the LORD and said, “Ah, this people has indeed committed a grave sin in making a god of gold for themselves! If you would only forgive their sin! If you will not, then strike me out of the book that you have written.” The LORD answered, “Him only who has sinned against me will I strike out of my book. Now, go and lead the people to the place I have told you. My angel will go before you. When it is time for me to punish, I will punish them for their sin.”
Mt 13:31-35
Jesus proposed a parable to the crowds. “The Kingdom of heaven is like a mustard seed that a person took and sowed in a field. It is the smallest of all the seeds, yet when full-grown it is the largest of plants. It becomes a large bush, and the birds of the sky come and dwell in its branches.”
He spoke to them another parable. “The Kingdom of heaven is like yeast that a woman took and mixed with three measures of wheat flour until the whole batch was leavened.”
All these things Jesus spoke to the crowds in parables. He spoke to them only in parables, to fulfill what had been said through the prophet: I will open my mouth in parables, I will announce what has lain hidden from the foundation of the world.
Today’s gospel gives us two parables: the tiny mustard seed and the leavening yeast. The Kingdom of heaven is like these. Each of us starts our life at the moment of conception with a whole lifetime to develop into the child of God that we have been called to be.
The Kingdom of heaven is here and now as well as after we die. It is here and now in how we continue to try to do God’s will. The first sacrament we receive, usually as an infant, is baptism. Those two parables fit here: we start so simply and helpless but with God’s help we develop into a large bush or leavened bread to serve others. But this growth has many setbacks. Our sinfulness and selfishness get into the way. This idea is where the first reading applies.
All last week I reflected on God’s assistance to His people suffering first slavery in Egypt, then faithlessness in the desert. Glory is given to God when He persuades Pharaoh to let His people go free. The plagues, especially the death of the firstborn, were too much for Pharaoh. Moses led his people through the Red Sea, only to spend forty years of wandering in the desert.
The Exodus story in the Old Testament prefigures the baptism for each of us. We go from our birth with original sin through the waters of baptism to spend all our lives, sometimes doing God’s will, but too often sinning as the Israelites did with the golden god they worshipped. Our goal also is a promised land – for us it is Heaven itself and the fruits of our salvation won for us by Jesus.
******Off—subject Alert!!******
Speaking of the golden calf, did Aaron really think Moses (or God) was going to buy his excuse? I mean, come on!! “I threw all of the gold into the fire, and this calf came out!”??? Sounds like a 5-year old kid’s explanation to me!
*****Back to the subject at hand******
In the gospel story Jesus reminds us of how we receive this gift of salvation, the Kingdom of heaven. We go through all our life, at times doing God’s will, but all too often failing in our sinfulness by our weaknesses and selfishness. We are now only an insignificant member of the Church, yet when we live a good life following and imitating Jesus, we become like the smallest of seeds that becomes like a large bush giving shade or the yeast that leavens the bread.
Saints’ feast days are the days when they enter into the place that Christ has prepared for them since before they were born. So on this—Dad’s feast day—I offer to God the following prayer for Dad:
Our Father, Who art in Heaven,
Hallowed be Thy name.
Thy kingdom come,
Thy will be done,
On Earth as it is in Heaven.
Give us this day our daily bread
And forgive us our trespasses
As we forgive those who trespass against us.
Lead us not into temptation,
But deliver us from evil.
Amen.
Ex 32:15-24, 30-34
Moses turned and came down the mountain with the two tablets of the commandments in his hands, tablets that were written on both sides, front and back; tablets that were made by God, having inscriptions on them that were engraved by God himself.
Now, when Joshua heard the noise of the people shouting, he said to Moses, “That sounds like a battle in the camp.” But Moses answered, “It does not sound like cries of victory, nor does it sound like cries of defeat; the sounds that I hear are cries of revelry.”
As he drew near the camp, he saw the calf and the dancing. With that, Moses’ wrath flared up, so that he threw the tablets down and broke them on the base of the mountain. Taking the calf they had made, he fused it in the fire and then ground it down to powder, which he scattered on the water and made the children of Israel drink.
Moses asked Aaron, “What did this people ever do to you that you should lead them into so grave a sin?” Aaron replied, “Let not my lord be angry. You know well enough how prone the people are to evil. They said to me, 'Make us a god to be our leader; as for the man Moses who brought us out of the land of Egypt, we do not know what has happened to him.’ So I told them, 'Let anyone who has gold jewelry take it off.’ They gave it to me, and I threw it into the fire, and this calf came out.”
On the next day Moses said to the people, “You have committed a grave sin. I will go up to the LORD, then; perhaps I may be able to make atonement for your sin.” So Moses went back to the LORD and said, “Ah, this people has indeed committed a grave sin in making a god of gold for themselves! If you would only forgive their sin! If you will not, then strike me out of the book that you have written.” The LORD answered, “Him only who has sinned against me will I strike out of my book. Now, go and lead the people to the place I have told you. My angel will go before you. When it is time for me to punish, I will punish them for their sin.”
Mt 13:31-35
Jesus proposed a parable to the crowds. “The Kingdom of heaven is like a mustard seed that a person took and sowed in a field. It is the smallest of all the seeds, yet when full-grown it is the largest of plants. It becomes a large bush, and the birds of the sky come and dwell in its branches.”
He spoke to them another parable. “The Kingdom of heaven is like yeast that a woman took and mixed with three measures of wheat flour until the whole batch was leavened.”
All these things Jesus spoke to the crowds in parables. He spoke to them only in parables, to fulfill what had been said through the prophet: I will open my mouth in parables, I will announce what has lain hidden from the foundation of the world.
Today’s gospel gives us two parables: the tiny mustard seed and the leavening yeast. The Kingdom of heaven is like these. Each of us starts our life at the moment of conception with a whole lifetime to develop into the child of God that we have been called to be.
The Kingdom of heaven is here and now as well as after we die. It is here and now in how we continue to try to do God’s will. The first sacrament we receive, usually as an infant, is baptism. Those two parables fit here: we start so simply and helpless but with God’s help we develop into a large bush or leavened bread to serve others. But this growth has many setbacks. Our sinfulness and selfishness get into the way. This idea is where the first reading applies.
All last week I reflected on God’s assistance to His people suffering first slavery in Egypt, then faithlessness in the desert. Glory is given to God when He persuades Pharaoh to let His people go free. The plagues, especially the death of the firstborn, were too much for Pharaoh. Moses led his people through the Red Sea, only to spend forty years of wandering in the desert.
The Exodus story in the Old Testament prefigures the baptism for each of us. We go from our birth with original sin through the waters of baptism to spend all our lives, sometimes doing God’s will, but too often sinning as the Israelites did with the golden god they worshipped. Our goal also is a promised land – for us it is Heaven itself and the fruits of our salvation won for us by Jesus.
******Off—subject Alert!!******
Speaking of the golden calf, did Aaron really think Moses (or God) was going to buy his excuse? I mean, come on!! “I threw all of the gold into the fire, and this calf came out!”??? Sounds like a 5-year old kid’s explanation to me!
*****Back to the subject at hand******
In the gospel story Jesus reminds us of how we receive this gift of salvation, the Kingdom of heaven. We go through all our life, at times doing God’s will, but all too often failing in our sinfulness by our weaknesses and selfishness. We are now only an insignificant member of the Church, yet when we live a good life following and imitating Jesus, we become like the smallest of seeds that becomes like a large bush giving shade or the yeast that leavens the bread.
Sunday, July 26, 2009
The hand of the Lord feeds us; he answers all our needs
2 Kgs 4:42-44A 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.
Eph 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.
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.
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.
The readings for today are about miraculous abundance; where there was little, now there is much. Both the First Reading and Gospel speak of looking forward; There is a need and behold, something is distributed for satisfaction.
We pray these days for His presence in our times of need. We can pray and let what we consider small and insignificant to be placed in His hands and distributed to those in need. We can pray knowing of God’s abundance in being faithful, provident and nourishing in our lives.
Elisha is a “holy man” and, in the chapter from which our First Reading is taken, is on a roll. He has promised that a woman who has welcomed him often to her house will have a longed-for child. He has cured another child and provided needed oil for a widow and her sons to use and sell.
The story right before our reading is quite interesting too. Elisha went back to his home and there was a great famine there. His fellow prophets were sitting around hungry. Elisha asked some servants to make a soup for them all. The servant went out and while gathering herbs picked a wild vine which he put in the soup. Upon eating some, they all began to experience sickness because of the poison herb. Elisha ordered that some grains be brought and he threw them in the pot and all was well.
Today we hear of a multiplication of twenty barley loaves to feed one hundred people suffering from the famine. He has to insist that his servant take the loaves and share them even though they do not appear to be enough. Elisha promises that there will be more than enough and there will be leftovers as God has promised. Elisha had received his blessing from God and walked around sharing it in plenty. With today’s Gospel we learn that Jesus, being the Bread of Life, is both the Provider and the provided. The crowd has followed Jesus and the apostles to a deserted place and the journey there has rendered them hungry. All heck is about to breakout if something isn’t done. The apostles don’t have enough money to buy for this crowd so that each could have even a little bit. There is a tension. They have only five loaves and two fish, “what are these among so many?”
Five thousand people reclined and had their fill of bread and fish, so there were fragments to be collected. Because of this sign of abundance, the people wanted to promote Him as King so that they would never have to search for satisfaction and fullness again. Jesus, though, slipped away and left them to experience a different type of hunger, a hunger for His continued presence. He is nourishing, available, familiar, and a reminder of the abiding gift of manna when the Israelites were wandering in the desert. I think I can relate to this type of hunger when I miss Mass or especially the Eucharist, which is also a miracle of multiplication that feeds and nourishes me in my daily life.
There will be more of the image of “bread” in weeks to come. I am moved to ponder briefly the mention of the lad who had the five loaves and two fish. “What are these among so many”? Jesus takes the lad’s meager provisions and does something great with them.
I was thinking that the five loaves and two fish are like our prayers. Jesus takes our offering. He then answers those prayers and adds a “dash” of mercy to (we hope) bring us into His presence. We have to remember that even after we realize that He has answered our prayers, we must continue to pray or “gather the fragments, so that nothing will be wasted”. He will use them to nourish others who may not yet know they need His help.
The hand of the Lord feeds us; he answers all our needs.
Saturday, July 25, 2009
Remember that He is with us always
From time to time, each of us encounters our human limitations. As I age, I become frustrated at what sometimes takes me twice the time to accomplish half of what I might have done as a younger person. Take today, for instance. I went to work at 5AM with one task in mind—to clean some storage rooms that the General Manager has been having trouble getting done due to personnel budgetary concerns—I was going to give him some of my time that I normally would have used for a day off. There were 13 rooms to clean and in my prime I could clean a room in about 20 minutes—tops! So I figured at 3 rooms per hour I could break for lunch (breakfast) at 9AM then do the paperwork I’ve been neglecting all week then go home at about noon. Well, I learned two new things today. First, my body doesn’t like physical labor at 5AM and it told me so by giving me a terrific headache accompanied by sore muscles before 6AM. Second, it’s too dark at 5AM even in the Summer to be effective outside. I was still working on my first room at noon! 7 hours! But in my defense, the room had not been cleaned in over 8 years. A long time customer recently moved out. I went to lunch at noon feeling pretty frustrated. I needed the time to step back and re-evaluate my performance today.
When I got back from lunch I decided I was going to apologize to the manager for not accomplishing as much as I set out to do. He was great. He said he appreciated my offer of help and getting that one room “out of his hair” was a huge help! It made me realize that my efforts had been noticed and appreciated. Sometimes that’s all I need to keep going.
When I’m at the ‘top of my game’, feeling great and full of energy, I can easily become convinced of my own power and gifts, and perhaps forget to step back to recognize that it is the gifts of God’s spirit within me, through me and, at times, in spite of myself that allows others to truly know God’s presence in our world.
It’s easy to resonate with today’s reading from Paul as he speaks of carrying the treasure of God’s message in earthen vessels, “…afflicted in every way, but not crushed, full of doubts, but never despairing…struck down, but never destroyed….So then, death is at work in us, but life is at work in you.”
2 Cor 4:7-15
How do I/we meet the challenges of our own limitations, whether in our physical bodies, and /or in the struggles and restrictions of our life situations? Paul reminds us that it is actually through our human frailties that God’s presence and potential can be recognized.
However, I must first recognize and open myself to God’s spirit and presence within me, in order to let God’s life-giving energy flow. I think this is what today’s Gospel passage suggests.
Mt 20:20-28
The mother of the sons of Zebedee approached Jesus with her sons and did him homage, wishing to ask him for something. He said to her, "What do you wish?" She answered him, "Command that these two sons of mine sit, one at your right and the other at your left, in your Kingdom."
Jesus said in reply, "You do not know what you are asking. Can you drink the chalice that I am going to drink?" They said to him, "We can." He replied, "My chalice you will indeed drink, but to sit at my right and at my left, this is not mine to give but is for those for whom it has been prepared by my Father." When the ten heard this, they became indignant at the two brothers. But Jesus summoned them and said, "You know that the rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and the great ones make their authority over them felt. But it shall not be so among you. Rather, whoever wishes to be great among you shall be your servant; whoever wishes to be first among you shall be your slave. Just so, the Son of Man did not come to be served but to serve and to give his life as a ransom for many."
James and John’s mother seeks a place of honor in the Kingdom for her sons from Jesus. Jesus questions whether or not the sons can truly accept what such an honor entails, but also reminds all that it is God who knows how we shall enter the Kingdom. However, Jesus is very clear: God’s invitation through Jesus is for each of us to serve one another. Our gifts, talents and powers are not for our own glory, but for others, for the community. Anyone desiring greatness in God’s sight must serve others.
How do I approach God with my needs, desires, wants, and fears? How else? With prayer! And with prayer, we have to listen for His will.
I pray that I can learn to be ‘ok’ with my human limitations, but also know that the talents, gifts and presence that are God’s presence in me will be life giving to all if I continue to remember to live for and with others.
I think this will be particularly helpful starting tomorrow, because it will be my first visit (with another Eucharistic Minister) to the hospital to visit and pray with those who are not as fortunate as I am to see Jesus every day at Mass. Please pray that as I begin this pastoral ministry God will give me the graces I need to do His will.
When I got back from lunch I decided I was going to apologize to the manager for not accomplishing as much as I set out to do. He was great. He said he appreciated my offer of help and getting that one room “out of his hair” was a huge help! It made me realize that my efforts had been noticed and appreciated. Sometimes that’s all I need to keep going.
When I’m at the ‘top of my game’, feeling great and full of energy, I can easily become convinced of my own power and gifts, and perhaps forget to step back to recognize that it is the gifts of God’s spirit within me, through me and, at times, in spite of myself that allows others to truly know God’s presence in our world.
It’s easy to resonate with today’s reading from Paul as he speaks of carrying the treasure of God’s message in earthen vessels, “…afflicted in every way, but not crushed, full of doubts, but never despairing…struck down, but never destroyed….So then, death is at work in us, but life is at work in you.”
2 Cor 4:7-15
How do I/we meet the challenges of our own limitations, whether in our physical bodies, and /or in the struggles and restrictions of our life situations? Paul reminds us that it is actually through our human frailties that God’s presence and potential can be recognized.
However, I must first recognize and open myself to God’s spirit and presence within me, in order to let God’s life-giving energy flow. I think this is what today’s Gospel passage suggests.
Mt 20:20-28
The mother of the sons of Zebedee approached Jesus with her sons and did him homage, wishing to ask him for something. He said to her, "What do you wish?" She answered him, "Command that these two sons of mine sit, one at your right and the other at your left, in your Kingdom."
Jesus said in reply, "You do not know what you are asking. Can you drink the chalice that I am going to drink?" They said to him, "We can." He replied, "My chalice you will indeed drink, but to sit at my right and at my left, this is not mine to give but is for those for whom it has been prepared by my Father." When the ten heard this, they became indignant at the two brothers. But Jesus summoned them and said, "You know that the rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and the great ones make their authority over them felt. But it shall not be so among you. Rather, whoever wishes to be great among you shall be your servant; whoever wishes to be first among you shall be your slave. Just so, the Son of Man did not come to be served but to serve and to give his life as a ransom for many."
James and John’s mother seeks a place of honor in the Kingdom for her sons from Jesus. Jesus questions whether or not the sons can truly accept what such an honor entails, but also reminds all that it is God who knows how we shall enter the Kingdom. However, Jesus is very clear: God’s invitation through Jesus is for each of us to serve one another. Our gifts, talents and powers are not for our own glory, but for others, for the community. Anyone desiring greatness in God’s sight must serve others.
How do I approach God with my needs, desires, wants, and fears? How else? With prayer! And with prayer, we have to listen for His will.
I pray that I can learn to be ‘ok’ with my human limitations, but also know that the talents, gifts and presence that are God’s presence in me will be life giving to all if I continue to remember to live for and with others.
I think this will be particularly helpful starting tomorrow, because it will be my first visit (with another Eucharistic Minister) to the hospital to visit and pray with those who are not as fortunate as I am to see Jesus every day at Mass. Please pray that as I begin this pastoral ministry God will give me the graces I need to do His will.
Friday, July 24, 2009
Thou shalt not kill!
Ex 20:1-17 In those days: God delivered all these commandments: "I, the LORD, am your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, that place of slavery. You shall not have other gods besides me. You shall not carve idols for yourselves in the shape of anything in the sky above or on the earth below or in the waters beneath the earth; you shall not bow down before them or worship them. For I, the LORD, your God, am a jealous God, inflicting punishment for their fathers' wickedness on the children of those who hate me, down to the third and fourth generation; but bestowing mercy down to the thousandth generation on the children of those who love me and keep my commandments.”
"You shall not take the name of the LORD, your God, in vain. For the LORD will not leave unpunished him who takes his name in vain."
"Remember to keep holy the sabbath day. Six days you may labor and do all your work, but the seventh day is the sabbath of the LORD, your God. No work may be done then either by you, or your son or daughter, or your male or female slave, or your beast, or by the alien who lives with you. In six days the LORD made the heavens and the earth, the sea and all that is in them; but on the seventh day he rested. That is why the LORD has blessed the sabbath day and made it holy.”
"Honor your father and your mother, that you may have a long life in the land which the LORD, your God, is giving you.”
"You shall not kill.”
"You shall not commit adultery.”
"You shall not steal.”
"You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor.”
"You shall not covet your neighbor's house.”
"You shall not take the name of the LORD, your God, in vain. For the LORD will not leave unpunished him who takes his name in vain."
"Remember to keep holy the sabbath day. Six days you may labor and do all your work, but the seventh day is the sabbath of the LORD, your God. No work may be done then either by you, or your son or daughter, or your male or female slave, or your beast, or by the alien who lives with you. In six days the LORD made the heavens and the earth, the sea and all that is in them; but on the seventh day he rested. That is why the LORD has blessed the sabbath day and made it holy.”
"Honor your father and your mother, that you may have a long life in the land which the LORD, your God, is giving you.”
"You shall not kill.”
"You shall not commit adultery.”
"You shall not steal.”
"You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor.”
"You shall not covet your neighbor's house.”
"You shall not covet your neighbor's wife, nor his male or female slave, nor his ox or ass, nor anything else that belongs to him."
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 thirty-fold."
When I read the first reading today, it reminded me of yesterday’s Gospel and the question that the disciples posed to Jesus—“Why do you speak to the crowd in parables?” Jesus explained that it was because “they look but do not see and hear but do not listen or understand.”
When I was a kid learning the Ten Commandments, most of what I got out of them was “thou shalt nots”. And, as a child I thought they were just rules that God gave to us just like my parents, who also had rules I had to follow. I didn’t know why there were rules, only that I could get hurt or in trouble if I didn’t follow them. But reading them again today, in context, there is one simple line that gives the reason why we must follow the rules of God. “I, the LORD, am your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, that place of slavery. “
Oh! Well then, that’s a whole ‘nother kettle of fish, as they say. The Israelites were slaves and didn’t know what it was like to be FREE. With freedom comes responsibilities and with responsibilities comes rules.
And, while there are a whole litany of the aforementioned “shalt nots”, we sometimes forget about the two “shalts”—to take a day off from all our labors and give glory to God (even the slaves, and any animals that we have) and to honor our elders, starting with our parents.
When I read the first reading today, it reminded me of yesterday’s Gospel and the question that the disciples posed to Jesus—“Why do you speak to the crowd in parables?” Jesus explained that it was because “they look but do not see and hear but do not listen or understand.”
When I was a kid learning the Ten Commandments, most of what I got out of them was “thou shalt nots”. And, as a child I thought they were just rules that God gave to us just like my parents, who also had rules I had to follow. I didn’t know why there were rules, only that I could get hurt or in trouble if I didn’t follow them. But reading them again today, in context, there is one simple line that gives the reason why we must follow the rules of God. “I, the LORD, am your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, that place of slavery. “
Oh! Well then, that’s a whole ‘nother kettle of fish, as they say. The Israelites were slaves and didn’t know what it was like to be FREE. With freedom comes responsibilities and with responsibilities comes rules.
And, while there are a whole litany of the aforementioned “shalt nots”, we sometimes forget about the two “shalts”—to take a day off from all our labors and give glory to God (even the slaves, and any animals that we have) and to honor our elders, starting with our parents.
In God’s infinite wisdom, He gave us the “shalt nots” to show us what we must avoid in order to do the “shalts”. While they are all important, I think our failure in today’s society to follow the Fifth Commandment is the reason we can’t or won’t follow the rest—and He will exact payment from us somehow. We can only pray and believe in His mercy.
Wednesday, July 22, 2009
Unconditional Love
Ex 16:1-5, 9-15
The children of Israel set out from Elim, and came into the desert of Sin, which is between Elim and Sinai, on the fifteenth day of the second month after their departure from the land of Egypt. Here in the desert the whole assembly of the children of Israel grumbled against Moses and Aaron. The children of Israel said to them, "Would that we had died at the LORD's hand in the land of Egypt, as we sat by our fleshpots and ate our fill of bread! But you had to lead us into this desert to make the whole community die of famine!"
Then the LORD said to Moses, "I will now rain down bread from heaven for you. Each day the people are to go out and gather their daily portion; thus will I test them, to see whether they follow my instructions or not. On the sixth day, however, when they prepare what they bring in, let it be twice as much as they gather on the other days."
Then Moses said to Aaron, "Tell the whole congregation of the children of Israel: Present yourselves before the LORD, for he has heard your grumbling." When Aaron announced this to the whole assembly of the children of Israel, they turned toward the desert, and lo, the glory of the LORD appeared in the cloud!
The LORD spoke to Moses and said, "I have heard the grumbling of the children of Israel. Tell them: In the evening twilight you shall eat flesh, and in the morning you shall have your fill of bread, so that you may know that I, the LORD, am your God."
In the evening quail came up and covered the camp. In the morning a dew lay all about the camp, and when the dew evaporated, there on the surface of the desert were fine flakes like hoarfrost on the ground. On seeing it, the children of Israel asked one another, "What is this?" for they did not know what it was. But Moses told them, "This is the bread which the LORD has given you to eat."
Jn 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.
This is the biography of St. Mary Magdalene as written at catholic.org:
She is called "the Penitent". St. Mary was given the name 'Magdalen' because, though a Jewish girl, she lived in a Gentile town called Magdale, in northern Galilee, and her culture and manners were those of a Gentile. St. Luke records that she was a notorious sinner, and had seven devils removed from her. She was present at Our Lords' Crucifixion, and with Joanna and Mary, the mother of James and Salome, at Jesus' empty tomb.
Fourteen years after Our Lord's death, St. Mary was put in a boat by the Jews without sails or oars - along with Sts. Lazarus and Martha, St. Maximin (who baptized her), St. Sidonius ("the man born blind"), her maid Sera, and the body of St. Anne, the mother of the Blessed Virgin. They were sent drifting out to sea and landed on the shores of Southern France, where St. Mary spent the rest of her life as a contemplative in a cave known as Sainte-Baume. She was given the Holy Eucharist daily by angels as her only food, and died when she was 72. St. Mary was transported miraculously, just before she died, to the chapel of St. Maximin, where she received the last sacraments.
Mary Magdalen was well known as a sinner when she first saw Our Lord. She was very beautiful and very proud, but after she met Jesus, she felt great sorrow for her evil life. When Jesus went to supper at the home of a rich man named Simon, Mary came to weep at His feet. Then with her long beautiful hair, she wiped His feet dry and anointed them with expensive perfume. Some people were surprised that Jesus let such a sinner touch Him, but Our Lord could see into Mary's heart, and He said: "Many sins are forgiven her, because she has loved very much." Then to Mary He said kindly, "Your faith has made you safe; go in peace." From then on, with the other holy women, Mary humbly served Jesus and His Apostles.
When Our Lord was crucified, she was there at the foot of His cross, unafraid for herself, and thinking only of His sufferings. No wonder Jesus said of her: "She has loved much." After Jesus' body had been placed in the tomb, Mary went to anoint it with spices early Easter Sunday morning. Not finding the Sacred Body, she began to weep, and seeing someone whom she thought was the gardener, she asked him if he knew where the Body of her beloved Master had been taken. But then the person spoke in a voice she knew so well: "Mary!" It was Jesus, risen from the dead! He had chosen to show Himself first to Mary Magdalen, the repentent sinner.
I’ve always thought that there are two types of love—conditional and unconditional. The conditional is the love that we have for someone or something because we get something in return, whether it is tangible or intangible. The unconditional love is love for the sake of love, as God shows the Israelites and Mary Magdalene shows for Christ. I think this is borne out in the readings pretty forcefully.
The Israelites are given miraculous food from Heaven and still they grumble! Does God forsake them? No! He continues to love them simply because HE IS “I AM”. Mary on the other hand wants only to love Jesus for Who He is, and when He makes Himself known to her she is overjoyed but He rebukes her! How would you feel? I’d be devastated! Not Mary, though. She still just keeps loving Him, because that’s all she knows how to do. She has been with Him for a couple or three years and knows, with every fiber of her being, that He is God. She does not love Him because it will get her to Heaven. She loves Him because HE IS LOVE.
The children of Israel set out from Elim, and came into the desert of Sin, which is between Elim and Sinai, on the fifteenth day of the second month after their departure from the land of Egypt. Here in the desert the whole assembly of the children of Israel grumbled against Moses and Aaron. The children of Israel said to them, "Would that we had died at the LORD's hand in the land of Egypt, as we sat by our fleshpots and ate our fill of bread! But you had to lead us into this desert to make the whole community die of famine!"
Then the LORD said to Moses, "I will now rain down bread from heaven for you. Each day the people are to go out and gather their daily portion; thus will I test them, to see whether they follow my instructions or not. On the sixth day, however, when they prepare what they bring in, let it be twice as much as they gather on the other days."
Then Moses said to Aaron, "Tell the whole congregation of the children of Israel: Present yourselves before the LORD, for he has heard your grumbling." When Aaron announced this to the whole assembly of the children of Israel, they turned toward the desert, and lo, the glory of the LORD appeared in the cloud!
The LORD spoke to Moses and said, "I have heard the grumbling of the children of Israel. Tell them: In the evening twilight you shall eat flesh, and in the morning you shall have your fill of bread, so that you may know that I, the LORD, am your God."
In the evening quail came up and covered the camp. In the morning a dew lay all about the camp, and when the dew evaporated, there on the surface of the desert were fine flakes like hoarfrost on the ground. On seeing it, the children of Israel asked one another, "What is this?" for they did not know what it was. But Moses told them, "This is the bread which the LORD has given you to eat."
Jn 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.
This is the biography of St. Mary Magdalene as written at catholic.org:
She is called "the Penitent". St. Mary was given the name 'Magdalen' because, though a Jewish girl, she lived in a Gentile town called Magdale, in northern Galilee, and her culture and manners were those of a Gentile. St. Luke records that she was a notorious sinner, and had seven devils removed from her. She was present at Our Lords' Crucifixion, and with Joanna and Mary, the mother of James and Salome, at Jesus' empty tomb.
Fourteen years after Our Lord's death, St. Mary was put in a boat by the Jews without sails or oars - along with Sts. Lazarus and Martha, St. Maximin (who baptized her), St. Sidonius ("the man born blind"), her maid Sera, and the body of St. Anne, the mother of the Blessed Virgin. They were sent drifting out to sea and landed on the shores of Southern France, where St. Mary spent the rest of her life as a contemplative in a cave known as Sainte-Baume. She was given the Holy Eucharist daily by angels as her only food, and died when she was 72. St. Mary was transported miraculously, just before she died, to the chapel of St. Maximin, where she received the last sacraments.
Mary Magdalen was well known as a sinner when she first saw Our Lord. She was very beautiful and very proud, but after she met Jesus, she felt great sorrow for her evil life. When Jesus went to supper at the home of a rich man named Simon, Mary came to weep at His feet. Then with her long beautiful hair, she wiped His feet dry and anointed them with expensive perfume. Some people were surprised that Jesus let such a sinner touch Him, but Our Lord could see into Mary's heart, and He said: "Many sins are forgiven her, because she has loved very much." Then to Mary He said kindly, "Your faith has made you safe; go in peace." From then on, with the other holy women, Mary humbly served Jesus and His Apostles.
When Our Lord was crucified, she was there at the foot of His cross, unafraid for herself, and thinking only of His sufferings. No wonder Jesus said of her: "She has loved much." After Jesus' body had been placed in the tomb, Mary went to anoint it with spices early Easter Sunday morning. Not finding the Sacred Body, she began to weep, and seeing someone whom she thought was the gardener, she asked him if he knew where the Body of her beloved Master had been taken. But then the person spoke in a voice she knew so well: "Mary!" It was Jesus, risen from the dead! He had chosen to show Himself first to Mary Magdalen, the repentent sinner.
I’ve always thought that there are two types of love—conditional and unconditional. The conditional is the love that we have for someone or something because we get something in return, whether it is tangible or intangible. The unconditional love is love for the sake of love, as God shows the Israelites and Mary Magdalene shows for Christ. I think this is borne out in the readings pretty forcefully.
The Israelites are given miraculous food from Heaven and still they grumble! Does God forsake them? No! He continues to love them simply because HE IS “I AM”. Mary on the other hand wants only to love Jesus for Who He is, and when He makes Himself known to her she is overjoyed but He rebukes her! How would you feel? I’d be devastated! Not Mary, though. She still just keeps loving Him, because that’s all she knows how to do. She has been with Him for a couple or three years and knows, with every fiber of her being, that He is God. She does not love Him because it will get her to Heaven. She loves Him because HE IS LOVE.
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