Weekdays of the 12th Week in Ordinary Time

Meeting Jesus through the Gospels

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 21^st 2010

Monday of the Twelfth Week in Ordinary Time

Gospel

¹ 'Do not judge, and you will not be judged; ² because the judgements you give are the judgements you will get, and the standard you use will be the standard used for you. ³ Why do you observe the splinter in your brother's eye and never notice the great log in your own? ⁴ And how dare you say to your brother, "Let me take that splinter out of your eye," when, look, there is a great log in your own? ⁵ Hypocrite! Take the log out of your own eye first, and then you will see clearly enough to take the splinter out of your brother's eye. ⁶ 'Do not give dogs what is holy; and do not throw your pearls in front of pigs, or they may trample them and then turn on you and tear you to pieces. ⁷ 'Ask, and it will be given to you; search, and you will find; knock, and the door will be opened to you.

Jesus forbids us from judging people not from judging issues. God alone can read our hearts and knows our mind and so our guilt or innocence. We can and very often are called upon to judge what we see. Behaviour is acceptable or not, in line with the Word of God or not. We can see this and often need to judge it. Have I the courage to tell someone when their behaviour is wrong? Am I aware of my prejudices?  Do I speak ‘the truth’ without regard for the pain my words inflict? Do I love the person whose behaviour I abhor? Do I long for their welfare? Do I consider myself superior? Do I really try to understand the other, to see their point of view? None of us can see ourselves. Have I the humility to listen to what others see in me?

Tuesday June 22^nd 2010.

Matthew 7: 6, 12-14.

⁶ 'Do not give dogs what is holy; and do not throw your pearls in front of pigs, or they may trample them and then turn on you and tear you to pieces.

¹² 'So always treat others as you would like them to treat you; that is the Law and the Prophets. ¹³ 'Enter by the narrow gate, since the road that leads to destruction is wide and spacious, and many take it; ¹⁴ but it is a narrow gate and a hard road that leads to life, and only a few find it.

The treasure of the Church is the Holy Eucharist.  Jesus has surrendered himself to us, available as our food and friend. We must safeguard this Gift from all abuse. We should prepare to receive Jesus through the Sacrament as we would if he came visibly. We should live with him as our friend. We belong to an ancient tradition The Didache, a document of the first century, writes: Let no one eat or drink of your Eucharist except those baptised into the name of the Lord; for, as regards this, the Lord has said, `Give not that which is holy unto dogs. Jesus also gives us the rule which solves so many moral dilemmas: do to others what you would have them to do to you. The goal of life is the embrace of God. May we take serious steps to reach it. Do you always keep it in mind?

Wednesday June 23^rd.

Matt 7:15-20.

'Beware of false prophets who come to you disguised as sheep but underneath are ravenous wolves. ¹⁶ You will be able to tell them by their fruits. Can people pick grapes from thorns, or figs from thistles? ¹⁷ In the same way, a sound tree produces good fruit but a rotten tree bad fruit. ¹⁸ A sound tree cannot bear bad fruit, nor a rotten tree bear good fruit. ¹⁹ Any tree that does not produce good fruit is cut down and thrown on the fire. ²⁰ I repeat, you will be able to tell them by their fruits.

A prophet speaks in the name of the Lord (Deut.13:1). How do we know whether someone is a true or false prophet? Jesus says, ‘by their life’. The true prophet lives a Spirit filled life. He will be poor in spirit, meek and merciful, he will hunger and thirst for righteousness, be pure in heart and a peacemaker and will rejoice when he suffers for the sake of Jesus. He will strive to become perfect just as our heavenly Father is perfect. St. Paul gives a list of the fruits of the indwelling Spirit. The prophet will manifest love, peace, patience, kindness, generosity, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control.  Like grapes from the vine these are the fruits of the Spirit living within us. Jesus is the vine and we are the branches. Does the Spirit live in you and show his presence by his fruits in your life?

Thursday 24^th June 2010

Nativity of John the Baptist.

Luke 1:57-66, 80.

The time came for Elizabeth to have her child, and she gave birth to a son; ⁵⁸ and when her neighbours and relations heard that the Lord had lavished on her his faithful love, they shared her joy. ⁵⁹ Now it happened that on the eighth day they came to circumcise the child; they were going to call him Zechariah after his father, ⁶⁰ but his mother spoke up. 'No,' she said, 'he is to be called John.' ⁶¹ They said to her, 'But no one in your family has that name,' ⁶² and made signs to his father to find out what he wanted him called. ⁶³ The father asked for a writing-tablet and wrote, 'His name is John.' And they were all astonished. ⁶⁴ At that instant his power of speech returned and he spoke and praised God. ⁶⁵ All their neighbours were filled with awe and the whole affair was talked about throughout the hill country of Judaea. ⁶⁶ All those who heard of it treasured it in their hearts. 'What will this child turn out to be?' they wondered. And indeed the hand of the Lord was with him. Meanwhile the child grew up and his spirit grew strong. And he lived in the desert until the day he appeared openly to Israel.

The neighbours wanted to call the child Zechariah to follow in his father’s footsteps. They forgot that God has a unique vision for everyone. We are the image of God and each is called to manifest an aspect of God. Life is to discover his vision and become the person he desires. Only then can we truly glorify him. We are not to become a copy of our parents or of anyone. We each have our own beauty. Elizabeth and Zechariah realised that he was God’s gift to them and the world. They understood their role. They would help him flower into John the Baptist, not another Zechariah. In their love he grew and was strong in the spirit. He spent his time listening till it was clear what God wanted him to do. Do we teach our children to listen to God speaking in their hearts?

Friday 25^th June 2010

Matthew 8:1-4

After he had come down from the mountain large crowds followed him. ² Suddenly a man with a virulent skin-disease came up and bowed low in front of him, saying, 'Lord, if you are willing, you can cleanse me.' ³ Jesus stretched out his hand and touched him saying, 'I am willing. Be cleansed.' And his skin-disease was cleansed at once. ⁴ Then Jesus said to him, 'Mind you tell no one, but go and show yourself to the priest and make the offering prescribed by Moses, as evidence to them.'

The leper penetrated all the barriers that kept him from Jesus – the Law,  people’s fear, horror, violence, officials, the crowd and his own fear too. It was when he was face to face that he could surrender and be healed. We too need healing as much as he did. There are barriers – ‘absence’, silence, lack of time, work, other interests and the list goes on. We need to penetrate them to come face to face with Jesus. We must identify with the leper as we approach Jesus face to face in our prayer. Jesus can and will do for us what we need. What are you asking for? How do you ask? See the leper’s confidence. He calls Jesus ‘Lord’ a title of the Risen Lord. What is your relationship to Jesus? Personal or one of a crowd? Jesus looks at you and not your ‘leprosy’. He feels for you.

Saturday 26^th June 2010

Matthew 8:5-17

When he went into Capernaum a centurion came up and pleaded with him. ⁶ 'Sir,' he said, 'my servant is lying at home paralysed and in great pain.' ⁷ Jesus said to him, 'I will come myself and cure him.' ⁸ The centurion replied, 'Sir, I am not worthy to have you under my roof; just give the word and my servant will be cured. ⁹ For I am under authority myself and have soldiers under me; and I say to one man, "Go," and he goes; to another, "Come here," and he comes; to my servant, "Do this," and he does it.' ¹⁰ When Jesus heard this he was astonished and said to those following him, 'In truth I tell you, in no one in Israel have I found faith as great as this. ¹¹ And I tell you that many will come from east and west and sit down with Abraham and Isaac and Jacob at the feast in the kingdom of Heaven; ¹² but the children of the kingdom will be thrown out into the darkness outside, where there will be weeping and grinding of teeth.' ¹³ And to the centurion Jesus said, 'Go back, then; let this be done for you, as your faith demands.' And the servant was cured at that moment. ¹⁴ And going into Peter's house Jesus found Peter's mother-in-law in bed and feverish. ¹⁵ He touched her hand and the fever left her, and she got up and began to serve him. ¹⁶ That evening they brought him many who were possessed by devils. He drove out the spirits with a command and cured all who were sick. ¹⁷ This was to fulfil what was spoken by the prophet Isaiah: He himself bore our sicknesses away and carried our diseases.

Jesus is alive and doesn’t have to physically touch you to heal you. But he wants to heal you. Jesus is astonished at the centurion’s faith. Healing is not magical or like popping a pill into one’s mouth. It depends on our relationship with Jesus. Do I approach Jesus with the trust that removes barriers? We are human beings. We are totally dependent on God for everything from physical life and health to eternal happiness with him. To live this consciously is to be faithful to our nature. God’s nature is to give life and everything we have. This gentile centurion recognised who he was and who Jesus was and calls him ‘Lord’. It is only when I approach Jesus as he did, that I can enter into a living relationship with Jesus. Is your faith a faith that brings you to the Risen Jesus? Then you will live.