Tuesday, July 1, 2008 - Canada Day
Amos 3:1-8, 4:11-12; Psalm 5; Matthew 8: 23-27
This continuous reading of Amos contains dire promises if the people do not listen to God. Today’s reading ends with “Prepare to meet your God!” What are we to do? Call in our distress and hopelessness to Jesus, who today is asleep although the boat that carries him is swamped. With his friends, we too cry, “Save us! We are perishing!”
Not much consolation on Canada Day, except that we can acknowledge our need and our sinfulness as nations as well as individuals. Then we can assert with the psalmist: “I through the abundance of your faithful love will enter your house and bow in awe of you.”
How do you prepare day after day to meet your God? When have you cried, “I am (or we are) perishing” and what happened next? Ask for such deep trust that even when your boat (life) is swamped you can sleep through it, undisturbed.
The prayers for Canada Day: “O God, you have placed great gifts in our hands. In thanksgiving, may we in Canada share all things with our brothers and sisters throughout the world”….”O God, give our nation the gifts of unity and peace which are symbolized by the gifts we offer”…”May our nation ever work for peace and unity.”
Wednesday, July 2, 2008
Amos 5:14-15, 21-24; Psalm 50; Matthew 8: 28-34
God rebukes the people, and Jesus rebukes multiple demons who plague two men who live among the tombs. Amos warns: “….establish justice at the gate and it may be that God will be gracious to the remnant.” God hates the “noise” of their songs, but “let justice roll down like waters, and righteousness like an ever-flowing stream.”
“Peace is flowing like a river, flowing out of you and me, flowing out into the desert, setting all the captives free.” Even Protestants know this song, for it puts music to a deep desire of so many hearts: to be peacemakers, to facilitate freedom, to let justice roll. What is your desire? Share it with Jesus and ask him to cast out any hatred or violence lurking in your heart.
Make us instruments of your peace and justice. Where there is hatred, let us sow love; where there is despair, hope; where there is sadness, joy. Work through us, Jesus.
Thursday, July 3, 2008 - Feast of Thomas, apostle
Ephesians 2: 19-22; Psalm 117; John 20: 24-29
“You are no longer strangers and aliens…” Thomas, who must have felt estranged after missing Easter night, is welcomed by Jesus. We know that story, the invitation to touch the wounds of Jesus, no longer painful, but streaming grace and glory and healing.
Thomas’ response is probably often on our lips: “My Lord and my God.” Yet there are Catholics who still feel estranged, perhaps because they themselves are so wounded, perhaps because they have not received the fullness of faith to make a declaration like Thomas’, perhaps because they have never heard from Jesus’ lips his opening blessing:
“Peace be with you.”
Pray for all those in darkness and despair, who feel lost or alienated from a church community. Pray to hear Jesus bless you personally today with peace. Then mentally go around the world (some folks pray before a map taped to their wall), breathe in the peace of Jesus and breathe out a smile on each or several countries.
We do believe, Jesus. Help our unbelief. We do want healing. Heal our resistance to healing. We do want to be close to you. Help our fear of intimacy.
Friday, July 4, 2008 - U. S. Independence Day
Because this web page serves SSNDs and friends in both Canada and the U.S. we will keep the readings of the day, just as we did for Canada Day on July 1.
Amos 8:4-6, 9-12; Psalm 119; Matthew 9: 9-13
Amos lists our sins against the poor, our injustices. God promises to turn our feasts into mourning. What hope can there be? Jesus came to put flesh on the mercy of God, ever faithful when we are unfaithful, sick and weary of God. At Matthew’s banquet the Pharisees accuse Jesus of uncleanness, eating with sinners. Jesus reminds them and us that God wants us to learn how much God wants mercy, not ritual purity and sacrifices. Those who are sick need Jesus, he asserts. Alleluia! We are loved sinners, and invited to the table, invited to come to him, all we who are weary and heavy-burdened.
Which descriptor best fits you and the United States today? Unjust? Sad?
Unfaithful? Sick? Weary? Hopeless? Pure? Needy? Heavy-burdened? How will you respond to Jesus who calls, “Come to me, _____________, and I will give you rest?”
Rest in his mercy.
We are a nation full of sin and corruption. Forgive those who are self-righteous, and help us always to know our need of you, Jesus, and your faithful mercy.
The prayers for U.S. Independence Day: “O God, today we rededicate ourselves to your service, and to the works of justice and freedom for all”…”Through the coming together of many peoples our nation has been molded into one. Keep us united in peace with you and let us be a source of peace”…”May love flow in rich blessing throughout our land.”
Saturday, July 5, 2008
Amos 9:11-15; Psalm 85; Matthew 9:14-17
A switch: God through Amos promises the fruits of repentance. Hills flowing with wine, valleys fertile, rebuilt cities. Jesus gives a new spin to fasting, which the Pharisees and the disciples of John the Baptist do. How can we fast when the bridegroom is with us? What rejoicing when “the Lord speaks peace to the people!” “Steady love and faithfulness shall meet; justice and peace will kiss….Faithfulness (the faithful One) springs up from the earth.
Is the bridegroom with you? How shall you respond? Mother Teresa of Calcutta had no felt sense of God’s presence, and yet through her justice and peace did kiss. Are you in the desert, darkness, depression? Ask, beg, shout your desire to hear Jesus speak peace to you. Picture, imagine the Spirit, the comforter, even on a hot day (in the northern hemisphere) wrapping you round in the peace of Christ. Try it. God’s plans for us are plans of peace. Hold God to that promise.
Raise up all that is ruined in us, God of re-creation. Build us again, encourage us again, let your justice and peace be felt in our hearts, and through us to the nations.
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Sunday, July 6, 2008 - Fourteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time
Zechariah 9: 9-10; Psalm 145; Romans 8: 9, 11-13; Matthew 11: 25-30
How beautiful, how restful is the good news in all our readings today! First, the God of Zechariah is humble, is strong, is authoritative, “commanding peace to the nations.” A psalm response of praise because God “holds up all who are falling down
and raises up all who are bowed down.” Paul’s good news is that we are in the Spirit.
Jesus bursts into thanks that God reveals mysteries to infants, rather than to the wise. Then he invites us, weary and carrying heavy burdens, to come to him for rest. No need to pose, to pretend to be better than we are, for we are in the Spirit. No need to hide our weakness and failing-downs.
A summer of rest. Name your heavy burdens, your falling-downs, your various pretenses. Jesus wants them all, so that you can relax. Do that: rest, relax, feel each set of muscles loosen. If you fall asleep like an infant, Jesus holds you in that wordless act of trust.
Make us gentle and humble of heart, Jesus. Relax all the tensions in our bodies, our minds, our emotions, our relationships. Give us many bursts of thanks this summer!
Monday, July 7, 2008
Hosea 2:14-16, 19-20; Psalm 145; Matthew 9: 18-26
In today’s gospel, Jesus is enroute to heal a girl when a woman suffering hemorrhages for twelve years touches his cloak and is healed. His response to her is: “Take heart.” What must happen to his own heart when the crowd outside Jairus’ house laughs at him who says the leader of the synagogue’s daughter is just sleeping. Hosea too is the laughing-stock of his people for marrying, on God’s orders, a woman so obviously wanton. Hosea acts out in his love for this unfaithful wife the drama between God’s fidelity and our idolatry/adultery. The psalm repeats the beautiful name for God: “gracious and merciful, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love.” (cf Exodus 34:6)
Where does the Spirit lead you in these readings? What draws your heart? Suffering some fault or pain for many long years? Needing to hear Jesus tell you, “Take heart!”? Frantic that your loved one(s) be touched by Jesus? Saddened that you or those you love are laughed at? Ask Jesus for what you need, and to waken even from the dead those parts of you that are sick or neglected.
God, lover of sinners and healer of hearts, we worship you! Thank you for Hosea’s courage and Jesus’ refusal to let laughter stop his work. Give us courage too.
Tuesday, July 8, 2008
Hosea 8: 4-7, 11-13; Psalm 115; Matthew 9:32-38
God is furious at the idolatry practiced in the northern kingdom of Israel. Remember the link between idolatry and Hosea’s wife’s adultery. Psalm 145 describes how foolish idols are. Jesus on the other hand is moved with compassion because the crowds “were harassed and helpless.” It is noticing the plight of the people that leads him to ask his disciples (and us) to pray for laborers to gather in the harvest. So often “laborers in the harvest” is used to refer to vocations to priesthood and religious life. No, lay Catholics are not the harvest needing laborers. Lay Catholics are just as much called by their baptism to labor in the fields of the world.
What is the field in which you work, live, vacation? What harvest do you see there? How can you labor with Christ to bring all things, all people to him? If your mind goes blank, ask the Spirit to teach you where in your ordinary life the harvest is to be found.
So many small idols capture our attention and distract our hearts. Jesus, take on the gods we worship in secret, and instead bring us into the light to work with you.
Wednesday, July 9, 2008
Hosea 10: 1-3, 7-8, 12; Psalm 105; Matthew 10: 1-7
Matthew begins his “missionary sermon” in this passage; Jesus tell his disciples they are not to proclaim good news to the Samaritans. Luke and John are the ones who include and esteem Samaritans. Through Hosea, God promises punishment for the wicked, but for the just ones, they will “reap steadfast love. Break up your fallow ground. It is time to seek the Lord, that God may come and rain holiness upon you.”
Are there “Samaritans” in your life? Tell Jesus how you feel about them and then ask for the grace of justice which includes. What is fallow ground in your life that needs
“breaking up?” Any ruts that are getting hard? Any chunks of clay that are thirsting for God’s rain and reign? Tell God just what you need today.
Thank you for your own steadfast love, our God of grace. Loosen the soil of our hearts so we may soak up your holiness and with soft hearts, turn to the outcasts.
Thursday, July 10, 2008
Hosea 11: 1, 3-5, 8-9; Psalm 80; Matthew 10: 7-15
Jesus sends his friends to bring peace to each house they enter. Hosea’s passage shows God offering peace to all of us who have frightening images of God. Whether we picture God as father or as mother, those with authority over us can continue to frighten us. But God is a parent who teaches us to walk. What parent swoops down to slap a child a child who after one or two toddling steps falls, plop? Nor does God, but rather “takes them up in my arms.” God continues: “I led them with cords of kindness, with bands of love, lifted them like infants to my cheeks, bent down to feed them.” God bends down to us. Jesus puts flesh on the footwashing authority of God.
If you have children, remember their first steps and how you felt. If you do not have children, try to imagine and feel your pride as they begin to step out. When they fall, what did/do you do? Go back to all that God does according to Hosea. What do you need from God today?
Let your face shine on us, God, that we may be saved. For the glory of your name, lead us and guide us. You are better than the dearest parent, and we worship you.
Friday, July 11, 2008
Hosea 14: 1-9; Psalm 51; Matthew10:16-23
The Jesus of Matthew’s missionary sermon turns the topic to coming persecution. The God of Hosea offers images of God as dew, and an evergreen cypress. “Your faithfulness comes from me,” God states. Today we celebrate the feast of a man who shook the dust of decadent Rome from his feet and moved to solitude, eventually drawing others to Monte Casino, Benedict, the founder of monasticism. Often we use Psalm 50 as a penitential psalm, but to honor Benedict whose monks inspired a thirst for God and educated so many, we focus on this verse: “You desire truth in my inmost being. Therefore, teach me wisdom in my secret heart.”
Return to whatever word of phrase in the paragraph above strikes your heart: dew, cypress, faithfulness, solitude, thirst for God, God’s desire, truth, inmost being, wisdom, secret heart….. If centering prayer helps you know God, sink into your inmost being now and adore. If you have lots to do today, preview each activity and ask for the gift of wisdom.
In all that we do, in word or in work, we do all in the name of Jesus, and for your glory, our God. Thank you that our faithfulness comes only from you.
Saturday, July 12, 2008
Isaiah 6:1-8; Psalm 93; Matthew 10: 24-33
Jesus continues promising persecution to his missionaries, but with a refrain: “Do not fear….” “Do not fear those who kill the body, but cannot kill the spirit.” Yet, Jesus was terrified of death in Gethsemane. It is important to be just who we are, brave or fearful, zealous or distracted, and say with Isaiah, “Here I am.” With God we need to say: I am who I am, God. Then Isaiah added boldly, “Send me!” This eager prophet however needed to take a long sabbatical from the persecution which followed his prophesying.
Take a long, loving look at your fear and your zeal. Ask the Spirit to teach you all that you fear. Let it just bubble up without censoring. This is a part of who you are, so offer it to Jesus. Then ask the Spirit to let bubble up all your great desires, what you want to do for God, with Jesus, no matter how incredible your desires are, and respond to each, “Send me!” God loves our great desires.
“Holy, holy, holy are you, Lord God of power and might. Heaven and earth are full of your glory.” Let Isaiah’s vision of your majesty inspire us to worship and love.
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Sunday, July 13, 2008 - Fifteen Sunday of Ordinary Time
Isaiah 55: 10-11; Psalm 65; Romans 8: 18-23; Matthew 13: 1-23
Our children write words like LOL and BRB and communicate, with each other at least! God takes much more care with the Word which will effect all that God wants and never come back (BRB is be right back) empty. The psalmist rejoices (LOL is laughing out loud) in God’s visiting the earth and making it fruitful. How does God visit all of creation which longs eagerly and is groaning to be set free? Through the Word, Jesus, who falls on the good ground of our heart and produces a hundredfold!
“The sufferings of this present time are not to be compared to the glory” as we all, with the whole of creation, wait for the freeing of the end time. What are you suffering now? Does remembering glory to come comfort you at all? What is the world suffering now? Peoples? Nations? Creation itself? Pray that God’s word will make all abundant and fruitful NOW. Is there one small thing you can do today to relieve suffering?
Let your word penetrate our world and all your creation, God of grace. Relieve our suffering, and save us from our greed, the evil we do each other and our planet.
Young people will be arriving in Sydney, Australia to celebrate World Youth Day with the Pope. Benedict has already sent this message to the youth: “I know very well that you young people hold in your hearts great appreciation and love for Jesus, and that you desire to meet him and speak with him.” Let’s laugh out loud in joy and hope for this gathering!
Monday, July 14, 2008
Isaiah 1: 10-17; Psalm 50; Matthew 10:34-11:1
In both readings it is krisis time, time for decision, for that is what crisis means in Greek. God spells out through Isaiah just what God wants our decision to be: “Cease to do evil (decision and scissors have the same root, so something will be cut off or cut out of our lives). Learn to do good (that is a lifelong process of learning). Seek justice, rescue the oppressed, defend the orphan, plead for the widow.” Jesus warns us about securing our lives and, ironically, losing them. Matthew ends this sermon with a consolation. We cannot do all the good in the world that we would want to do, but if we welcome those who do serve in missionary lands, in the halls of justice, on the picket lines, we “receive their reward.”
Ask the Spirit to show you if there is anything that God needs to wean you from (rather than “cut off”). Be still a while and see what bubbles up. Is there something you are learning about God, yourself, and your relationships? Don’t think; just let it bubble up. How, when, what and whom do you seek, rescue, defend and plead? Whom will you welcome into your heart today?
To move into you, Jesus, is to move into permanent insecurity, for you do not have a place to lay your head. Be our only security and deepen our trust in you.
Tuesday, July 15, 2008
Isaiah 7: 1-9; Psalm 48; Matthew 11:20-24
We have a theme today: cities. Ahaz is king of the southern kingdom called Judah, location of Jerusalem. Israel or Ephraim, both names of the northern kingdom, has allied itself with Aram (Syria) and is planning to attack Jerusalem. Our antiphon is “God upholds God’s city forever.” Jesus cries woe to Chorazin, Bethsaida and Capernaum, his own home town.
Remember the cities, towns, villages, and countries where you have lived. Pray for them and for their inhabitants. If you know the refrain to “City of God” sing it throughout the day. “May our tears be turned into dancing!”
We pray to you, cities of this earth: “If today you hear God’s voice, do not harden your hearts.” And we pray to you, Jesus, to rebuild the cities of God.
Wednesday, July 16, 2008
Isaiah 10:5-7, 13-16; Psalm 94; Matthew 11: 25-27
Through Isaiah, God speaks words of rage and destruction. Through Jesus, God speaks consolation and thanksgiving. Provided we are humble and open to God’s word.
Jesus cries, “I thank you, God…because you have hidden these things from the wise and the intelligent and revealed them to infants…for such was your gracious will.” Jesus has swung from the woes of yesterday to the rejoicing of today. We know Matthew didn’t record Jesus’ words on a steno notepad nor a camcorder, but we can look back at the text and see yesterday and today the dying (woes)/rising (gracious will) pattern before the cross and resurrection.
Where do you find a dying/rising pattern in your own life? Yesterday, the past week or month or year? When has God’s “gracious will” brought life out of death for you? Take a long enough time to wait for the Spirit to reveal “these things” to you, humble and open.
Your gracious will! We too thank you and adore you, our God of grace, for your revelation in and through Jesus. Let us lead lives that reveal you, attractive signs for all to see.
Thursday, July 17, 2008
Isaiah 26: 7-9, 12, 16-19; Psalm 102; Matthew 11: 28-30
“I yearn for you in the night; my spirit earnestly seeks you,” Isaiah prays, and continues with belief in the resurrection: “O dwellers in the dust, awake and sing for joy! For your dew is a radiant dew, and the earth will give birth to those long dead.” Jesus offers us rest: “Come to me, all you that are weary and are carrying heavy burdens.”
Is there any burden harder to carry than the death of a loved one? Remember and , offer to Jesus all “those long dead” whom you still carry in your heart. Pray for those who have died alone, abandoned, perhaps scorned. Then, what do you yearn for in the night? When you lie awake, where does your heart go?
Thank you that “a people yet unborn” will praise you. Thank you for the youth gather in Sydney, and those who are joined in spirit with them. We pray for those doomed to die. Thank you for the gift of our faith in resurrection.
Friday, July 18, 2008
Isaiah 38:1-6, 21-22, 7-8; Isaiah 38; Matthew 12: 1-8
Isaiah tells the king that he is soon to die, and Hezekiah weeps bitterly. Then God sends Isaiah to tell the king, “I have seen your tears…” and allots him 15 more years of life. The psalm is a lament (from the Hebrew lamah, which means “why?”) of someone
who feels doomed to die. Matthew repeats a quote from Hosea which he has used before, signaling how important it must have been to him and his community. Jesus says, quoting God’s own self, “I desire mercy, not sacrifice.”
Since you prayed with “I desire mercy, not sacrifice” on July 4, what have you noticed about your growth in receiving the gift of mercy? In the last two weeks, where have you been able to be merciful? In thought, action, service? Whose tears are you seeing these days? Pray for them.
Deepen and expand our hearts, Jesus, so that we see in perspective how much our mercy and compassion delights God. Thank you for your mercy!
Saturday, July 19, 2008
Micah 2:1-5; Psalm 10; Matthew 12: 14-21
Micah speaks God’s anger toward “those who devise wickedness in their beds. When the morning dawns they perform it, because it is in their power.” The psalmist prays: “Do not forget the poor” to God, but it is more likely that we forget the poor. It is not evil we plot on our beds, but lack of mindfulness that leads us to neglect. The Pharisees set out to “destroy” Jesus, whereas most baptized people today would never want to destroy Jesus, yet may relegate him to the sidelines of their lives.
Again, what do you when you lie awake? Where does your heart go? Try this to fall asleep (and do it mindfully now for a while): Breathe in peace, breathe out a smile. You can smile peace on various groups whom you love, or take the challenge and breathe peace on your “enemies.” Or just move around the nations of the world.
Thank you, God of grace, for being in Jesus to reconcile the world and its peoples to yourself. Thank you for making us ambassadors of reconciliation, unity and peace.
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Sunday, July 20, 2008 - Sixteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time
Wisdom 12: 13, 16-19; Psalm 20; Romans 8: 26-27; Matthew 13: 24-43
The last stanza of the psalm repeats the name of God Moses received while being held fast in the cleft of a rock: “a God merciful and gracious, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness.” Paul’s experience of the Spirit echoes God’s graciousness, for “when we do not know how to pray, the Spirit comes to the aid of our weakness.” God is the saving one, the Spirit is the praying one, and Jesus is the story teller. He ends his three parables with the assurance that no matter how small our beginnings, like a mustard seed or a pinch of yeast, God does the growing. So what must we do to let God work with us? We must not ravage the field full of both wheat and weeds. In our own lives we cannot judge what is weed and what is wheat; how much less can we judge other people. We throw ourselves on the mercy of God and let God make the decisions when the time comes. God does it all, and is glad to!
When have you decided to root out some sin or fault from your life? What happened? When have you felt your prayer was weak, your attention to God not steadfast? Can you trust Paul’s good news that the Spirit prays within us, all the time, even when we are asleep. Entrust your prayer, this prayer, to the Spirit now.
Save us from our judgments, we beg you, God who searches our hearts. Thank you that you have poured the Spirit into our hearts that we may praise you night and day!
Monday, July 21, 2008
Micah 6: 1-4, 6-8; Psalm 50; Matthew 12: 38-42
How many times we are told in Jewish and Christian scriptures that God does the saving, that God prefers mercy to one another rather than all the sacrifices we offer. Today we are reminded how simple it is to please God: act justly, love tenderly, walk humbly with God. We honor God the psalmist tells us with a sacrifice of thanksgiving. How hard is that? Jesus offers us two signs: Jonah and the Queen of the South. Jonah called people to repent, literally a change of mind. The Queen wanted the wisdom of Solomon, and “behold, one greater than Solomon is here.”
What do you want from God? Repentance, wisdom, justice, tenderness, humility, a grateful heart? Don’t do damage to your heart, trying to root out imperfections. Start with a sacrifice of thanksgiving for all that God has given you already. Ask that you might love God tenderly as God walks with you.
Mercy on your people, God! Let us see the signs of your presence and work in our war torn world. Transform us into attractive signs of your justice and love.
Tuesday, July 22, 2008 - Feast of Mary of Magdala, apostle to the apostles
2 Corinthians 5: 14-17; Psalm 63; John 20: 1, 11-18
Another title for Mary might be, sister to the brothers. Jesus has been so intimate at the last supper, sharing with his friends his inner thoughts and desires. “I call you no longer servants, but friends”. Now he calls them brothers. A new kin-ship is established when God raises Jesus. Our first reading announces: “the love of Christ urges us on.” Mary’s mission spreads beyond the disciples as she is urged on by love. “My whole being thirsts for you, O Lord, my God,” is her song. In the last stanza she proclaims, “My whole being clings to you.” Yet in the gospel she is told not to cling, because Jesus has not yet ascended. But when his physical presence is gone, what must have been her clinging?
“How can I keep from singing, when to that Rock I am clinging?” And yet you thirst as Mary does, for a deeper intimacy with Jesus. You wouldn’t be praying regularly unless you hunger and thirst for him, long to be sent by him, filled with his love that urges you to the least of the brothers and sisters, your new kin. Share your desires with Jesus, and let him share his with you.
Thank you, Jesus, for loving this woman so well. Keep on teaching us to love well, to offer your compassion and mercy to outcasts and strangers.
Wednesday, July 23, 2008
Jeremiah 1: 1, 4-10; Psalm 71; Matthew 13: 1-9
Imagine a boy appointed by God to be “over the nations.” Prophets have power not their own, for they are so close to the mind and heart of God that they can speak God’s will to the nations. Jeremiah might well have sung this psalm in which the psalmist states: “From my youth you have taught me….” Jesus concludes his parable of the sower and seed with “Let anyone with ears listen!”
A disciple is a learner, a listener. What have you heard God speak to you over your lifetime? When did you begin to be taught by God? What was your first communion like, your confirmation? What has God been teaching you when you married or professed your religious vows? Use as a mantra today: “Speak, Lord. Your servant is listening.”
Thank you for calling us too so close to your mind and heart, God, that we dare to speak justice to the nation, speak truth to power. Give us courage to change what we can.
Thursday, July 24, 2008
Jeremiah 2: 1-3, 7-8, 12-13; Psalm 36; Matthew 13: 10-17
“Be appalled, be shocked, be utterly desolate, says the Lord.” Why? Not only have the people abandoned God, the fountain of living water so available to them. They also have taken water into their own hands, building cisterns to catch rain water, cisterns which crack. The stupidity of thinking we can do life better than God! The psalmist says,
“You give them to drink from the river of your delights” and they turn away. The psalm continues: “With you is the fountain of life, and in your light we are bathed in light.”
If you have ever taken life into your own hands instead of trusting the abundance of life Jesus came to offer, ask pardon. What are the delights of God that God offers you?
Picture the fountain of life welling up from deep within you, the Spirit. Let Christ’s light bathe you in light. Send him to your loved ones and watch him bathe them in light. Send him to the nations, to the city streets, to the hospitals, prisons and refugee camps with life.
You are the fountain of life, Holy Spirit, and how grateful we are that you bathe us in the light and life of Christ. Thank you! Deepen our trust in your abundance.
Friday, July 25, 2008 - Feast of James, apostle
2 Corinthians 4: 7-15; Psalm 126; Matthew 20:20-28
This is the son of Zebedee who has a mother ambitious for him. The other readings are chosen to highlight martyrdom, the cup James asserts he will drink. Paul lists the sufferings that may precede a martyr’s death, for we are but earthen vessels.
However, the good news is that we bear in our bodies the dying of Jesus so that the life of Jesus may be made manifest in this mortal flesh of ours. “Those who sow in tears will reap rejoicing!” Life comes out of death, joy out of sorrow.
Contemplate your body. Where is it carrying or has it carried the dying of Jesus?
Show Jesus your earthen vessel with its defects, cracks, pains, afflictions, tears, disappointments. Watch him pick you up, hold you, caress you just as you are. Ask to let his life shine through you, must as you are.
Look on your own Body, the church, Jesus, and see how broken we are, how bruised and ignored. Heal us, and make us instruments of your healing.
Saturday, July 26, 2008 - Feast of Anne and Joachim
Sirach 44:1, 8, 10-15; Psalm 132; Matthew 13: 16-17
Legend names the grandparents of Jesus, Mary’s mother and father. Joseph’s father, Jacob, is actually named in Matthew’s genealogy. “Let us sing the praises of our ancestors in their generations,” Sirach begins. Their names live on and “the assembly declares their wisdom.”
Did Jesus know his grandparents? Let’s play in our imaginations for a while, picturing some of the activities, feeling some of the warmth of these elders as they tend their grandson. Then let us remember what we can of our own grandparents. Is there any wisdom you still remember receiving from them? Speak with them now, for they care for you perfectly now.
Thank you, Jesus, for sharing our humanity, enjoying your grandparents. Bless all grandparents, especially those who are far physically or emotionally from their grandchildren.
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Sunday, July 27, 2008 - Seventeenth Sunday in Ordinary Time
I Kings 3: 5-12; Psalm 119; Romans 8:28-30; Matthew 13: 44-52
“Understanding to discern what is right” is what King Solomon asks of God, who highly approves. Not riches, not revenge, but an understanding heart. In the psalm, gold and silver cannot compare with God’s Word and mercy. Jesus offers three parables about the kin-dom of heaven which is like hidden treasure, like a pearl, and like a net catching all kinds of sea creatures which the fishermen have to separate. That is the simple meaning of discernment: separating. On the other hand, Paul writes of everything coming together, and all for our good. Paul names Jesus the firstborn of many brothers and sisters in this new family of God.
God asks you what gift you want. How do you respond? What do you most deeply desire? When have you experienced that “all things work together for your good,” as Paul expresses it? If you cannot remember, ask the Spirit to bring these situations to mind and then respond to God’s goodness to you.
Let the unfolding of your words give us light, Jesus. Help us keep our eyes on you, our light, our pioneer, our unifier, our peace-giver. Thank you.
Monday, July 28, 2008
Jeremiah13:1-11; Deuteronomy 32; Matthew 13: 31-35
The prophet not only speaks but listens. Jeremiah listens to God’s command to wear a dirty loin cloth, go to the Euphrates River (and now that the news is about Iraq we know how far from Israel that journey would take Jeremiah!), bury the cloth, return later when it is thoroughly rotten and say to Israel: I wanted you to cling to me, but you would not listen. The canticle from Deuteronomy likens God to a mother who bears Israel, and gives birth. Jesus tells stories that show how the kin-dom grows from small beginnings of mustard seed and bit of yeast.
How, when, why do you cling to God? How is God like a mother to you? When have you experienced a small beginning, and watched it mushroom? As the Spirit reminds you of these events, how will you respond?
We cling to you, God of grace, that you may make us one people, “a praise and a glory” to you. All we do today in word or in work or in listening, we do to glorify you.
Tuesday, July 29, 2008 - Feast of Martha of Bethany
Jeremiah 14: 17-22; Psalm 79: Luke 10: 38-42
Martha may only rate a memorial, but she does have a special gospel to celebrate her feast. First, Jeremiah laments: “We look for peace but find no good; for a time of healing but there is terror instead. We acknowledge our wickedness.” The psalm asks that the groans of prisoners be heard by God. Finally we come to Martha, welcoming Jesus into her home. It is unusual for a woman to have a home in Israel at that time, seemingly unmarried, and with an unmarried sister. Women were married about age 12, and we can hardly believe these sisters are that young. Why are they alone? Widows go to the home of their husbands. Is it possible that these two special friends of Jesus are divorced, cast off by their husbands?
Let us pray today for all those who are imprisoned unjustly, or who are caught in loveless marriages. Let us pray for all those who are cast aside by their spouses, that their hearts may be healed. Let us pray for peacemakers who work so diligently for peace and find terror instead.
We too acknowledge our sin, merciful God. Iin our fear, we create war instead of peace, violence instead of healing. Forgive us our international, national and personal violence.
Wednesday, July 30, 2008
Jeremiah 15: 10, 16-21; Psalm 59; Matthew 13: 44-46
First Jeremiah laments the day he was born, then tells how the word of the Lord was joy to him, and concludes his woes, addressing God: “Why is my pain unceasing, my wound incurable, refusing to be healed? Truly, you are to me like a deceitful brook whose waters fail.” Jeremiah takes joy in the words of the Lord and in the parable a treasure hidden in the field causes joy when found. “In his joy he goes and sells all that he has and buys that field.”
Both readings are passionate. When have you asked God, “Why?” When accused God of being like a brook whose waters fail? Dared to be angry with God? How did it all turn out for you? Did you ever find a treasure that sent you sky-high with joy? Remember the events of rage and rejoicing and see them in the light of our dying/rising pattern. Bring them to offer at the next Eucharist you celebrate.
By your cross and resurrection you have set us free. You are the savior of the world! By our dying and rising with you, our lamenting and rejoicing, help us help you.
Thursday, July 31, 2008 - St. Ignatius of Loyola
Jeremiah 18: 1-6; Psalm 146; Matthew 13: 47-52
How appropriate these readings are to commemorate Ignatius. Jeremiah is told to go to the potter’s house and watch what happens when the clay is spoiled; the potter re-fashions it. In the gospel, the fishermen pull in all kinds of sea creatures and need to discern which are healthy, which are spoiled. In his Spiritual Exercises Ignatius asks us to remember first that we are mere creatures, dependent on God. When we have absorbed that foundational truth, God will begin to re-shape our hearts. We will discern, sort through, all that leads us closer to Christ, until eventually we will find God in all things.
What is your experience of being re-shaped by God, transformed by the Spirit? When, where, how did that happen? Remember and respond. What choices have you made that brought you closer to Christ, life-choices and just the decisions of yesterday?
Remember and respond.
Re-shape our hearts, Creator God. Help us rejoice in our dependence on you. Enlighten our choices in the light of Christ, and help us to find you in all things.
Friday, August 1, 2008
Jeremiah 26: 1-9; Psalm 69; Matthew 13: 54-58
The liturgists don’t do this with weekday Eucharist, but occasionally all things, all readings work together. Today is such an occasion, with Jeremiah delivering hard news to the people and Jesus being rejected by his people as well. “They took offence at him (Jesus). He said to them, ‘Prophets are not without honor except in their own country and in their own house.’”
Who are the prophets in your life? How do you honor them? With whom do you take offence when you hear hard truth? Test the prophets is Paul’s advice. When someone speaks well, do you discern any falsehood? When others speak challenge, do you discern some truth in what they say? Are they speaking in the name of God?
Open our hearts, Jesus, to recognize and pay attention to those who speak in your name. Give us the gift of discernment, the wisdom to know the difference.
Saturday, August 2, 2008
Jeremiah 26: 11-16, 24; Psalm 69; Matthew 14:1-12
Prophets can be killed. Jeremiah is spared, but John the Baptist died for the truth. John calls Herod an adulterer. So often we are squeamish, labeling adultery as simply an affair. We are not to judge, and yet John judged and was beheaded. Dietrich Bonhoeffer judged the Nazi regime as evil and was ready to assassinate Hitler, losing his life in the process. Bonhoeffer warns against “cheap grace” in his prophetic book, “The Cost of Discipleship.”
Again, pray for the grace of discernment. Ask to discern evil and to speak boldly against it. Ask for the courage to change what you can change, in your own life, in that of your family, neighborhood, parish, country. One small voice, one little candle is how change can begin. “Whatever you do in word,” Paul advises, “Do all in the name of the Lord Jesus.”
Bless those who suffer persecution for the sake of justice, God of costly grace. Do not let us cheapen your gifts to us by choosing comfort over necessary critique.
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Sunday, August 3, 2008 - Eighteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time
Isaiah 55: 1-3; Psalm 145; Romans 8: 35, 37-39; Matthew 14: 13-21
While most Christians believe (and it is in Scripture) that Jesus came to save us from our sins, Franciscan theology offers us another way to look at the meaning of the incarnation. God is so abundantly generous, so full of life, that God wants to share that abundant life with creatures. We hear that in God’s invitation to come to the waters, to milk, wine and bread—all freely given. As the psalmist teaches: “You open your hand” and all good flows from God’s generosity. Nothing can thwart God’s gift of Christ to us; “nothing can separate us from the love of God”—not even “mortal” sin. If we have not understood yet, Jesus puts flesh on God’s desire to give us all. He takes two fish and five loaves and creates an abundance for 5,000 men (men are so attracted to him!), not counting women and children.
How, where, when do you experience God’s abundant life poured out? Savor each memory, roll it around your tongue like fresh water, roll it around your heart until gratitude begins to flow. Sit quietly with that array of memories and let the generosity of God fill you again.
We come to you for every good thing, God of abundance, but so many of your creatures are desperate for fresh water. Save us from our greed and grasping, our misuse of all your gifts, but especially water.
Monday, August 4, 2008
Jeremiah 28:1-17; Psalm 119; Matthew 14: 22-36
“Lord, save me,” cries Peter who tested Jesus, “if it is you, command me to walk on water.” Jeremiah tests the prophet Hananiah who told the people that Babylon would be defeated. How do we test our own religious experience? How do we know if a prophet, even ourselves, speaks the Word of God? Jeremiah says when peace comes, we know it is a true word. When we cry out to Jesus for saving, placing our religious experience before him, we ask him to be a two edged sword, sorting our motivations. If love grows, our hearts expand and deepen, then we can be fairly sure the experience is of God.
Hear Jesus say directly to you as he did to Peter, “Come.” Let that word roll around your ears, your mind, your heart. Where does he want you to come? Ask him and wait in silence to see what bubbles up from deep within you. Feel the bubbles! Respond.
May your word of truth be always in our hearts and on our lips. Save us, free us to be honest in word, in action. Keep us always authentic in our dealings. Thank you!
Tuesday, August 5, 2008
Jeremiah 30: 1-2, 12-15, 18-22; Psalm 102; Matthew 15: 1-2, 10-14
Although this Thursday we will read of the new covenant God promises through Jeremiah, it is foreshadowed here. Merrymaking, fruitfulness, thanksgiving will be our response to God’s favor. Jesus quickly deflates the Pharisees’ condemnation of his friends for not observing ritual washings. Instead Jesus looks to the heart, and how the heart speaks, to discern true purity.
How do you respond to God’s favor in your life? And how is your heart today?
What rises to your lips? Joy, anger, fear, grief, love? Show your heart to Jesus and ask for healing of your heart and the heart of the world.
By your cross and resurrection, you have set us free. You are the savior of the world, and how much we need your saving grace, your favor. Help us! Thank you.
Wednesday, August 6, 2008 - Feast of the Transfiguration
Daniel 7: 9-10, 13-14; Psalm 97; Matthew 17: 1-9
Daniel offers a vision of God as the Ancient One (no wonder so many image God as a bearded grandfather). “One like a human being” (traditionally translated Son of Man) is presented to him, and the Ancient One presents him with power and dominion. The gospel narrates Jesus’ transformation on Mount Tabor, flanked by Elijah and Moses.
“We behold the glory of God, shining on the face of Jesus,” as the song puts it. Yet this glory leads Jesus to shed his power and dominion on his last night on earth to kneel before his friends and wash their feet.
How does the glory of God shine on your face? How does the power of God work through your weakness? Look at Jesus, shining with the glory of God, looking at you, tenderly and humbly, ready to wash your feet.
Thank you for your Son, the beloved. May we always listen to him. May we come to share the divinity of him who emptied himself to share our humanity.
August 7, 2008
Jeremiah 31: 31-34; Psalm 51; Matthew 16: 13-23
Through Jeremiah God promises a new covenant, a new way of knowing God, with an interior and heart-felt law binding them in love. The psalm begs for this new heart and faithful spirit. After Peter confesses that Jesus is the Messiah, Jesus throws over the old covenant’s hope for a kingly Messiah to promise that his Messiahship will be marked by suffering. It will be a new covenant in his blood, our liturgy announces day after day.
How do you know God? How do you know Jesus? How do you know the Spirit?
“Create in me a new heart, and put a good and faithful spirit within me….Give me back the joy of your salvation.” Pray for all those who have no knowledge of God, no heart-felt experience of God, and no joy.
Show us how we can find you in the weakest and most forlorn of those who people our TV screens during the news. Let all nations know you and rejoice in your love.
Friday, August 8, 2008
Nahum1: 15, 2:2, 3:1-3, 6-7; Deuteronomy 32; Matthew 16: 24-28
Jesus moves from announcing his suffering and death yesterday to telling us today in our continuous reading that we will be in the same straits, taking up our own cross. Like him (and we know how his story ends), if we lose our life we will truly find it. Nahum tells of God’s avenging Israel’s enemies, while “on the mountain tops are the feet of those who bring good news.”
What is the cross in your life that you have been bearing? Show it to Jesus and ask him to share it. What is the good news in your life that you want to shout from the mountain tops? Share that with him too. Today, look for the dying/rising pattern of Christian life.
If we have died with you, Lord, we shall live with you, Lord. Open our eyes to see this mystery in our daily lives, to accept the hard and the joyous with trust in you.
Saturday, August 9, 2008
Habakkuk 1:12-2:4; Psalm 9; Matthew 17:14-20
The prophet hears God promise a vision. Perhaps God does not have a will, definitely not a blueprint, but perhaps not even a preference that we have to search out. God has a vision. “The dream you have for me, my Lord, is only a shadow of your dream for me.” God has a vision for the world, and we are invited to share it. Jesus shows us that God’s vision is to cast out evil from people, from the earth. He heals a child who throws himself into the fire and into the water. God’s vision is of peace, peace within and peace in the world.
What is God’s dream for you? Ask God. Be still, wait, listen. What is God’s passionate desire for your life? Wait, listen. What is God’s vision for our planet, the water, air, soil? Join that vision in your imagination, “a peaceable kin-dom,” and contemplate it.
Deepen our faith, Jesus, so that we can cast out evil, so that we can be bearers of God’s vision, that we can be instruments of peace and unity. Thank you.
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Sunday, August 10, 2008 - Nineteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time
1 Kings 19: 9, 11-13; Psalm 85; Romans 9: 1-5; Matthew 14: 22-33
Wind splitting rocks, earthquakes and fire, and finally “a sound of sheet silence.”
We are told the God was not in turmoil, but speaks in silence. Today’s emphasis on the unity of all creation would remind us that God is in chaos and in silence. To prove the point, we have the gospel story of waves battering the disciples’ boat. Jesus walks serenely toward his friends through the tumult. Not only does he bid Peter come to him, but us as well. Today. Saying, “Take heart. It is I.” We sink and with Peter cry, “Lord, save us!”
What at the moment is chaotic in your life? Frightening? Shaking your foundations? Where is the silence in your life? Try to hear Jesus’ invitation to you to come, come closer, trust, walk on water. Call out, “Save me!” and watch him stretch out his hand to you. Contemplate the strength and steadiness of his hand. How will you respond?
Save us, Lord, for we are all sinking, perishing, enveloped in war and violence of all kinds. We pray the psalm in hope: “Justice and peace will kiss.” Give us both, we beg.
Monday, August 11, 2008
Ezekiel 1:2-5, 24-26; Psalm 148; Matthew 17: 22-27
What splendid readings to celebrate Clare of Assisi. First, the priest Ezekiel shares his inaugural vision with us, a flaming, gleaming, thundering cloud holding a throne, above which sat a glorious human-like figure, the very glory of God. How applicable to Clare is the Alleluia verse: ”God has called us with the gospel to share the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ.” Matthew’s gospel reminds us of the dying/rising pattern in all Christian life and then narrates Peter’s defense of Jesus who does pay the temple tax. Jesus provides the tax, a coin from the mouth of a fish he instructs Peter to catch.
In her utter poverty, Clare too was provided for by her Lord. When have you felt the sting of poverty? When have you felt enveloped by the glory of God? What do you need today for God to provide? Where will you see God’s glory? Will that be enough?
Speak with Jesus about these things.
Take, Lord, receive all that we have and call our own. You have given everything to us; to you we return it. Give us only your love and your grace. That is enough for us.
Tuesday, August 12, 2008
Ezekiel 2:8-3:4; Psalm 119; Matthew 18: 1-5, 10, 12-14
Another religious experience of Ezekiel is described in which he is told to eat a scroll. The writing on it were “words of lamentation and mourning and woe,” but when he ate it, it tasted to him like honey. The psalm takes up the theme of how the word of God is sweeter than honey, more than thousands of gold and silver pieces. Jesus puts before us two classes of God’s favorites: children and straying sheep. He doesn’t suggest we stray, of course, but he does teach that unless we become as humble children, we will not enter the kin-dom of heaven. “Not one of these little ones should be lost.”
Our church in the U.S. is experiencing mourning and woe over the defiling of little children by too many of its shepherds. Ask God to take your prayers and attempts to live humbly, just today, as reparation for the evil done to children. Pray for the children in refugee camps, in war zones, in hospitals.
Forgive us our more subtle abuses and neglect of your children, Good Shepherd.
Make us gentle and humble of heart, like you. Turn us always toward the lost.
Wednesday, August 13, 2009
Ezekiel 9: 1-7, 10: 18-22; Psalm 113; Matthew 18: 15-20
Ezekiel writes about another vision. The Alleluia verse: “God was in Christ to reconcile the world to God’s own self, and God has entrusted to us the good news of reconciliation” fits with the gospel. “If your brother or sister sins against you, go and point out the fault when the two of you are alone.” In this piece of Matthew’s sermon on how to be in community, Jesus offers practical advice and concludes with the central experience of community: “Where two or three are gathered in my name, I am there among them.” He is the center of community, he and his healing, reconciling love.
When someone “sins” against you, or angers you or threatens you, what do you usually do? Unless you can speak with this person, there is no reconciliation, just stuffed feelings that leak out and damage community. Re-conciliare from the Latin means to speak again. This speaking does not mean yelling or labeling, some of the ways our society makes war! Here is a simple approach, “I feel angry (or annoyed or scared or….) when you – and name a specific behavior. Could we talk about it, please?” Sisters are not the only ones in community. Parishoners, neighbors, siblings, co-workers, all could profit from Jesus’ advice on how to begin reconciliation.
So many of us gather in your name, all the hours of the day, all the nations of the world. Help us to find you already there among us, to discover the community the Spirit has already created. Thank you!
Thursday, August 14, 2008
Ezekiel 12:1-16; Psalm 78; Matthew 18: 21-19:1
Ezekiel obeys God’s command to do a prophetic sign (rather than word). Jesus continues to speak about forgiveness, seven times seventy times a day. Forgiveness is a sign of the kin-dom, he says, in a parable. A king, settling accounts with his servants, discovers one who owed him thousands and could not pay. When the slave begs for mercy, the king grants it, forgiving the debt. Then the slave turns on one of his fellows and does not forgive. Jesus warns of God’s punishment “if you do not forgive your brother or sister from your heart.” Forgiveness is God’s gift.
Too many advise forgiveness as an act of the will. It is not then from our heart. Only God can melt the heart, granting us the gift of forgiveness. Beg for the gift of forgiving – who? Name them to God. Ask the Spirit to remind you of those you are forgetting. Don’t forget to include church and national leaders in your prayer for forgiveness. Remember, even Jesus couldn’t forgive on the cross, but he could ask God to forgive those who were killing him.
Father, forgive those who are still killing the body of Christ. Forgive us our sins as we forgive those who sin against us, and give us a share in your own compassionate forgiveness.
Friday, August 15, 2008 - Feast of Mary’s Assumption
Revelation 11: 19, 12: 1-6, 10; Psalm 45; 1 Corinthians 15: 20-26; Luke 1:39-56
“The queen stands at your right hand…” is the psalm antiphon. This is a day to celebrate the glory of Mary who stood in utter agony next to the cross. Dying/rising. This theme is continued in Mary’s Magnificat, her song when greeted by Elizabeth. God puts the mighty down and lifts up the lowly, in this case, a peasant girl. Class disappears in our origins and in our final destiny. We human beings are variations on the carbon atom, which comes from dying stars, each one of us stardust. Mary is the firstborn of many sisters, “the first fruits,” leading us home to the Light from which we came.
Remember Mary, and ask her how she is like you in all things. She is fully human, fully alive, giving God glory on earth and now in life everlasting. Go through the events of your day and as you change tasks say, “For your glory, God.”
May we come to share the divinity of him who emptied himself to share our humanity. Thank you, God, for the humanity of Mary, now glorified, the promise of all that we share.
Saturday, August 16, 2008
Ezekiel 18: 1-10, 13, 30-32; Psalm 51; Matthew 19: 13-15
I am often asked why our liturgists skip around in a chapter like this in Ezekiel. Often they omit obscure passages but today their omission obscures the meaning and makes Jesus’ appreciation and blessing of children in the gospel a problem. “If a person has a son who is violent (v 10)…shall he then live? He shall not (v 13)…” leaves us thinking that the “he” refers to father (mother) who will be punished. The missing verses between 13 and 30 clearly state God’s word: a parent will not suffer for his (her) children nor a child for his (her) parent.
Unfortunately parents suffer mightily when their children are ill, lost, addicted, sinful in any way, die in untimely fashion. Unfortunately children suffer mightily from parental neglect or abuse when they are small, or incapacitated in old age. Let us pray first for our own parents and/or children, asking for Jesus to bless them. Then, as the communion antiphon proclaims, “all humankind can gather under your protection,” let us pray for children and parents around the world.
We turn to you and live, our God, Father and Mother. Give your life to those we love, and open our eyes and hearts to your family, and ours, around the world.
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Sunday, August 17, 2008 - Twentieth Sunday in Ordinary Time
Isaiah 56: 1, 6-7; Psalm 67; Romans 11: 13-15, 29-32; Matthew 15: 21-28
While usually the first reading and gospel are chosen to complement each other, it is unusual for the second reading to fit. Today, with a theme of God’s welcoming all the nations, Paul’s sorrow over the Jews’ rejection of Jesus and the Gentiles acceptance connects with the gospel of a Canaanite woman (Gentile) who believes in Jesus and is at first rejected by him. The struggle over whether to admit Gentiles to “the Way” rocked the early church. They missed Isaiah’s promise of salvation, that God wants foreigners to join, to minister, to love and worship Israel’s God. The psalm reiterates, “Let all the nations praise you.” Paul understands that because the Jews to whom he preached Jesus rejected his Messiahship, Paul’s ministering to the Gentiles created reconciliation; if only the Jews would change their stance and accept Jesus, there would be for them “life from the dead.” In the gospel, Jesus is en route to the beach, “the district of Tyre and Sidon,” and is bothered by a persistent woman with a possessed daughter. At first he refers to her and all Gentiles as dogs, and still she will not give up. Jesus changes his mind. Metanoia in Greek means a change of mind, a repentance. Jesus wakes up to his own unconscious bigotry and heals the girl.
Today’s readings are so appropriate, at least for US citizens wh struggle over issues of immigration. Where does Jesus stand? With Barak Obama’s candidacy for president, unconscious racism is surfacing. What has Jesus to say? Pray that the demon of racism and fear of foreigners to be cast out, first from yourself and those you love, and then from all peoples of the world.
May you be gracious to us and bless us, letting your face shine on us and all your people. May you open and stretch our minds and hearts, as this Gentile woman did for Jesus.
Monday, August 18, 2008
Ezekiel 24: 15-24; Deuteronomy 32; Matthew 19: 16-22
First, Ezekiel is warned that God will take away “the delight of [his] eyes,” his wife; he is not to mourn her. His stoic behavior is a sign to the people that they too will lose the “delight of their eyes,” God’s sanctuary. They will pine away and groan to each other. They have forgotten “the Rock that bore you…the God who gave you birth,” explains the response from Deuteronomy. Motherly language. But Matthew omits the tender language of Mark’s version of the man who approaches Jesus and can admit to keeping all the commandments. “What do I still lack?” the man asks. In Mark, Jesus looks at him and loves him and then says: “Go, sell your possessions….”
How is the church the delight of your eyes? Discuss that with Jesus. How do you feel about God’s giving you birth, God as your mother? Discuss that with Jesus (and be sure to listen as well). And then the question you ask: “Jesus, what do I still lack?” Listen. Then look at him looking at you with love. Hold that gaze as long as you can.
How much we need you, how much we lack! We offer you all the losses of our lives, and we groan to you. Hear us, Mother-God, and comfort all your people.
Tuesday, August 19, 2008
Ezekiel 28:1-10; Deuteronomy 32; Matthew 19: 23-30
Yesterday’s charge from Jesus, “Go, sell” continues today. First the king of Tyre is warned by the prophet that although his wisdom has garnered him great wealth, he will die violently. In the gospel Jesus promises an inheritance of eternal life for those who leave everything, but this will call for a change of attitude, a metanoia for those who are rich. What is our motivation for letting go? The Alleluia verse proclaims another kind of riches which will be ours: “Jesus Christ was rich but he became poor to make you rich of his poverty.”
Jesus speaks of leaving property and relationships “for his name’s sake.” A paradox: we are to love one another and build relationships; we are to cherish the earth.
Dare we change “leave” to let go? Not grasp and cling, but hold lightly, trusting that all the riches we need will be given, all the loves will be “for his name’s sake” and not simply to calm our loneliness? Take some time now to show him all that you love: the people, the things, the treasures of nature. As each passes before your mind’s eye, say:
“For your name’s sake.”
Please give us wisdom to garner true riches, all that you want to give us through Jesus. Your abundance, your goodness your generosity moves us to such gratitude.
Wednesday, August 20, 2008
Ezekiel 34: 1-11; Psalm 23; Matthew 20: 1-16
God excoriates the priests (shepherds) of Israel through another priest-prophet, Ezekiel. God will be a true shepherd. As in today’s passage, God lists all the neglect of the false shepherds, so in Ezekiel 34:15-16 which is omitted in our somewhat continuous reading of Ezekiel, God does all this for us: “feeds…strengthens the weak…heals the sick…binds up the injured, brings back the stray and seeks the lost.” Whatever way we find ourselves, hungry or weak or hurt or lost, God meets us where we are, not with judgment but with compassion. That is why in Jesus’ parable of the vineyard workers, whether we have worked since the break of day or have been hired at noon or five o’clock, we all receive the same reward. “…the master is generous” !
How are you today? For what do you hunger, where does your weakness lie, what is sick in you, what is injured, what is lost? Share that with your compassionate shepherd.
And what about your work in the vineyard? At what hour did you begin to do all “in word or in work” for the glory of God instead of your own? Renew your commitment to work for God’s glory.
Master, shepherd, how generous you are! Thank you for loving us as we are. Let us share in your all encompassing love and reach out to those who need your riches.
Thursday, August 21, 2008
Ezekiel 36: 23-28; Psalm 51; Matthew 22: 1-14
God the shepherd is gathering the people, Ezekiel proclaims, giving them a new heart, removing their hearts of stone and giving them hearts of flesh. God puts God’s own spirit in them. Jesus describes a glorious wedding banquet to which the rich refuse to come, so busy with their farms and business. So the king commands his slaves to “go into the streets and gather all whom they found, both good and bad….”
Imagine yourself at God’s wedding banquet. People from the streets swarm into the banquet hall. What do you see, hear, smell? How do you feel with these poor strangers? Do not be afraid to admit your fears and revulsions to God. Pray with the psalmist: “A clean heart create in me, O God.” Ask for God’s own spirit, God’s own heart that loves and welcomes the poor, the marginalized, the foreigner. Remind God that you are only a five o’clock worker, but you trust that the master is generous.
Take away our hearts of stone, we beg you, God. As Jesus took flesh and dwelt among us, so let our hearts of flesh dwell, in reality or in our prayer, with the most outcast.
Friday, August 22, 2008
Ezekiel 37: 1-14; Psalm 107; Matthew 23: 34-40
In the SSND mother church of St. James in Munich, Jesus leans from the cross to crown his mother. Today is the feast of the Queenship of Mary. How appropriate then to have the familiar story of the field of dry bones which Ezekiel is shown. God promises new life for those bones, which will be animated by God’s own spirit. Mary is raised to new life, and rules with the cosmic Christ. The gospel summarizes just why she is our queen, our leader, our pioneer in risen life. The commandments to love God and our neighbors as ourselves were fulfilled in her loving.
Asking the Spirit to help you, let your memory run through the events of Mary’s life. Ask her to show you in each event (the ones narrated in Scripture and ones you know this very human woman would have had to experience, even old age), how she was loving God and her neighbor. How was she loving herself? Ask her. Listen.
With all our heart, with all our mind, with all our being, we do love you, our God. Teach us to love ourselves well so we may love our neighbors well too.
Saturday, August 23, 2008
Ezekiel 43: 1-7; Psalm 85; Matthew 23: 1-12
Ezekiel receives another vision of God’s glory and a promise that God will reside with the people forever. The psalm’s antiphon is “The glory of the Lord will dwell in our land.” How? The psalm tells us that God speaks peace to us; so receiving God’s peace will let God’s glory dwell in our land. Justice and peace shall kiss, truth shall spring out of the earth, and that will let God’s glory shine. Justice will go before God. And the gospel? Jesus is scolding the Pharisees and scribes for tying heavy burdens on the people’s backs and making a show of their own glory. No truth and authenticity in their practice of religion, no justice, no peace.
If we want peace, we work for justice. How do you do that? Ask the Spirit to remind you, and listen. How does God’s glory dwell in your land? How could it? Show God your great desires for justice and peace in your land and around the world. Let God show you God’s desire for justice and peace. Share your hearts’ (plural!) desire.
Give us a desire for authenticity and truth in our religion, and lead us to an ever renewing church (semper reformanda, to quote Blessed John XXIII). Forgive us any burdens we lay on others.
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Sunday, August 24, 2008 - Twenty-first Sunday in Ordinary Time
Isaiah 2: 15, 19-23; Psalm 138; Romans 11: 33-36; Matthew 16: 13-20
The honor of a name! Twice the psalm thanks and exalts God’s holy name.
The name of our God is wisdom, and oh, the depth of the wisdom of God, cries Paul.
To God be glory forever! Then Jesus asks his friends, Who do people say that I am, and who do you say that I am? Peter names Jesus Messiah and son of the living God; Jesus names Simon bar Jonah the head, the Cephas and the Rock, Petrus.
Who do people say that you are? What face do you show to the public? Who do you say that you are? What name do you give yourself? What name does God give you?
We exalt your name, our God, and thank you for naming us as your own, Christian, one in Christ. Make us more and more aware of how we carry his name.
Monday, August 25, 2008
2 Thessalonians 1:1-5, 11-12; Psalm 96; Matthew 23: 13-22
Paul gives thanks to God for all those who read his letters: “We must always give thanks to God for you, brothers and sisters, as is right because your faith is growing abundantly, and the love of everyone of you for one another is increasing”. Today too, Paul emphasizes the name, “that the name of our Lord Jesus Christ may be glorified in you, and you in him.” Perhaps the worst name Jesus gives the Pharisees is “children of hell,” as he accuses them of making converts and leading them to hell.
Whom do you call a child of hell? Pray for that person, or that group. Ask to be released from the demons of prejudice. How is your faith growing? How is your heart expanding? Ask for an increase of faith (trust) and love (trust and service).
You in us and we in you, may we all be
istening
to the Spirit: