10th Week of Ordinary Time

Meeting Jesus through the Gospel

1. Sit quietly, recollect yourself. Concentrate on Jesus. Call on the Holy Spirit. Take your time. There is no rush and there is no fixed rule to follow. Be free in the Spirit.

2. Be aware that Jesus is with you. Use a mantra if you like, e.g. ‘Jesus, Jesus, Jesus ..’

3. Read the passage with Jesus who was there and in the Holy Spirit who inspired it.

4. Note the words and sentences that strike you.

5. Pray about these and ask the Lord to speak to you through his Spirit.

6. Keep a journal of the inspirations you are given for your life. Jesus is present to you and he is speaking to you.

7. If the passage is a ‘dramatic’ one try and live the passage in your imagination. Remember it is not just imagination because Jesus is present now with you. Put yourself in the scene.  It is the Holy Spirit who makes Jesus real.

Monday June 7^th

Matthew 5:1-12

 Blessed are the poor in spirit

¹ Seeing the crowds, he went onto the mountain. And when he was seated his disciples came to him. ² Then he began to speak. This is what he taught them: ³ How blessed are the poor in spirit: the kingdom of Heaven is theirs. ⁴ Blessed are the gentle: they shall have the earth as inheritance. ⁵ Blessed are those who mourn: they shall be comforted. ⁶ Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for uprightness: they shall have their fill. ⁷ Blessed are the merciful: they shall have mercy shown them. ⁸ Blessed are the pure in heart: they shall see God. ⁹ Blessed are the peacemakers: they shall be recognised as children of God. ¹⁰ Blessed are those who are persecuted in the cause of uprightness: the kingdom of Heaven is theirs. ¹¹ 'Blessed are you when people abuse you and persecute you and speak all kinds of calumny against you falsely on my account. ¹² Rejoice and be glad, for your reward will be great in heaven; this is how they persecuted the prophets before you.

Notice that Jesus is speaking to his disciples, to those who have accepted him as Lord and Saviour and become the children of the Father in heaven. We have a Father who loves us beyond measure and wants to bless us in every way. To receive this inheritance all we have to do is welcome his gifts. This is what Jesus means when he says, blessed are the poor in spirit – how privileged are those who realise that they have nothing of their own and rely on the mercy and goodness of God, for they will receive everything that is God’s. The beatitudes describe the mind of Jesus himself and those who have the same mind as Jesus are those who will be given the Kingdom of heaven. The Beatitudes teach us what he values in life.  Do you try with God’s grace to put on the mind of Christ?

Tuesday June 8^th 2010

Matthew 5:13-16.

¹³ 'You are salt for the earth. But if salt loses its taste, what can make it salty again? It is good for nothing, and can only be thrown out to be trampled under people's feet. ¹⁴ 'You are light for the world. A city built on a hill-top cannot be hidden. ¹⁵ No one lights a lamp to put it under a tub; they put it on the lamp-stand where it shines for everyone in the house. ¹⁶ In the same way your light must shine in people's sight, so that, seeing your good works, they may give praise to your Father in heaven.

We live in a consumer society – people want as many luxuries as they can afford. More money, more things. A thirst for this world’s satisfaction. We live in a world lusting for power, prestige, the honour and respect of others. If you too have embraced these values then how are you different from others? Salt is different and salt makes a difference, a huge difference. Jesus was different. Rich, he became poor, had nowhere to lay his head. Can you give up your wealth and your desire for wealth? Can you give all this to the poor? Can you be a humble servant of others even in the highest place? If not, then how can you be the salt of the earth? Are you rejecting the call of Jesus? Then what is left? There is no salt. There is no light. Both you and the world are lost.

Wednesday June 9^th 2010

Matthew 5:17-19.

¹⁷ 'Do not imagine that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets. I have come not to abolish but to complete them. ¹⁸ In truth I tell you, till heaven and earth disappear, not one dot, not one little stroke, is to disappear from the Law until all its purpose is achieved. ¹⁹ Therefore, anyone who infringes even one of the least of these commandments and teaches others to do the same will be considered the least in the kingdom of Heaven; but the person who keeps them and teaches them will be considered great in the kingdom of Heaven.

Over generations God revealed himself. He spoke through prophets.  In Jesus he has brought this prophecy to fulfilment. Jesus himself is the Word of God. There is no other from God. He is the living Word and invites us into intimate union with himself. In Jesus we know God himself. He lives among us still and through him we can experience God. We can live in God and God can live in us. We can know Jesus partially through the revelation of the Old Testament. But now we know him fully through deep friendship with him. We now read the Old Testament with him and understand it in him, for it looks towards him. We fulfil it by listening to him and bringing others to him so that we all live by the values and truths of Jesus. Do you live in Jesus the Word of God?

Thursday June 10^th 2010

Matthew  5: 20-26

'For I tell you, if your uprightness does not surpass that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will never get into the kingdom of Heaven. ²¹ 'You have heard how it was said to our ancestors, You shall not kill; and if anyone does kill he must answer for it before the court. ²² But I say this to you, anyone who is angry with a brother will answer for it before the court; anyone who calls a brother "Fool" will answer for it before the Sanhedrin; and anyone who calls him "Traitor" will answer for it in hell fire. ²³ So then, if you are bringing your offering to the altar and there remember that your brother has something against you, ²⁴ leave your offering there before the altar, go and be reconciled with your brother first, and then come back and present your offering. ²⁵ Come to terms with your opponent in good time while you are still on the way to the court with him, or he may hand you over to the judge and the judge to the officer, and you will be thrown into prison. ²⁶ In truth I tell you, you will not get out till you have paid the last penny.

Jesus did not criticize the scribes for their observance of laws. They were stringent in their observation of the letter. But it was external only. What was in their heart and could not be seen didn’t matter for them. For Jesus the fulfilment of the law only has value in God’s eyes when it is an expression of the love in our hearts. We must not kill. Jesus says, not only that but we must not cultivate anger from which murder springs. Rather, love your enemies. Before we make peace with God through sacrifice we should first make peace with our brother and sister. Our sign of peace at Mass should be something real and must extend to everyone, present and absent. Now is the time. We should use it to be at peace with God and with people. Injustice will have to be paid for one day.

Friday 11^th June Solemnity of the Sacred Heart.

Luke 15:3-7.

Jesus told the Pharisees this parable: ⁴ 'Which one of you with a hundred sheep, if he lost one, would fail to leave the ninety-nine in the desert and go after the missing one till he found it? ⁵ And when he found it, would he not joyfully take it on his shoulders ⁶ and then, when he got home, call together his friends and neighbours, saying to them, "Rejoice with me, I have found my sheep that was lost." ⁷ In the same way, I tell you, there will be more rejoicing in heaven over one sinner repenting than over ninety-nine upright people who have no need of repentance.

Why did Jesus use this parable for the Pharisees? They despised shepherds as having a sinful occupation. They could not keep the Law. Pharisees would never keep sheep. God didn’t just become man, he ‘became sin’ in order to seek and save sinners. Then like a shepherd he goes in search of his lost sheep because it is his and he wants it back. He cares for his sheep because he loves them and doesn’t forget even one of them. Do you realise that Jesus cares for you because he loves you, that he longs for you to be with him and cannot bear the thought that you may be lost? He calls you again and again by speaking to you through the inspirations of your heart, by the word of others and the circumstances of your life. Do you respond or continue on your own way – to the abyss?.

June 12, 2010
Memorial of the Immaculate Heart of the Blessed Virgin Mary

Luke 2:41-51

Every year his parents used to go to Jerusalem for the feast of the Passover. ⁴² When he was twelve years old, they went up for the feast as usual. ⁴³ When the days of the feast were over and they set off home, the boy Jesus stayed behind in Jerusalem without his parents knowing it. ⁴⁴ They assumed he was somewhere in the party, and it was only after a day's journey that they went to look for him among their relations and acquaintances. ⁴⁵ When they failed to find him they went back to Jerusalem looking for him everywhere. ⁴⁶ It happened that, three days later, they found him in the Temple, sitting among the teachers, listening to them, and asking them questions; ⁴⁷ and all those who heard him were astounded at his intelligence and his replies. ⁴⁸ They were overcome when they saw him, and his mother said to him, 'My child, why have you done this to us? See how worried your father and I have been, looking for you.' ⁴⁹ He replied, 'Why were you looking for me? Did you not know that I must be in my Father's house?' ⁵⁰ But they did not understand what he meant. ⁵¹Nazareth and lived under their authority. His mother stored up all these things in her heart. He went down with them then and came to

Joseph and Mary go in search of Jesus. They cannot see him anywhere. He is their Son and they love him. They cannot bear the thought of losing him. They forget everything till they find him. They are our models. Do you search for Jesus as they did and Jesus for you? We cannot see him anywhere but you belong to him and he to you. Do you realise how much he loves you and do you respond? Ask for the grace to return his love for you and respond to the grace. Go in search of Jesus day by day. Though you will never see him your heart will be filled with joy because those who seek will find. Jesus will have his own way of being present to you and you to him. Do you realise that life is meant to be an everlasting love story?