Weekdays of the 19th Week in Ordinary Time

Weekdays of the 19th Week in Ordinary Time

From today I will give a reflection on the first reading also for those who would like it

Monday  9^th August 2010

The prophets of the OT were the instruments by which God spoke to the people of their time. They wrote in the context of the political and religious situation of their world. They also wrote in their own cultural way and personal style. They wrote for the people of that time only. Coming through and clothed in all this is a message from God. We are interested in hearing what God had to say to the people then and through that now to us. We cannot read the book as if it is written today. If we do, then we will misunderstand it. We have to read and meditate on it in the context of Ezekiel. We need to know enough about Ezekiel and his world to get the ‘nugget of gold’ which is God’s message for us today. Like each individual must achieve their vision so must God achieve his vision for the human race., This is man’s glorification in Christ. He does it through the cooperation of human beings. When they do not cooperate as in Palestine he has to allow world events to develop in a way that works towards his goal. Sometimes as in the time of Ezekiel it involves allowing the captivity and exile of the people in Jerusalem to Babylon (597 BC), the destruction of the Temple and Jerusalem (587 BC)and then the capture of Babylon by Cyrus and his sending back of the exiles (539 BC). This involved immense human suffering.

Ezekiel 1:2-5, 24-28c

² On the fifth of the month -- it was the fifth year of exile for King Jehoiachin- ³ the word of Yahweh was addressed to the priest Ezekiel son of Buzi, in Chaldaea by the River Chebar. There the hand of Yahweh came on him. ⁴ I looked; a stormy wind blew from the north, a great cloud with flashing fire and brilliant light round it, and in the middle, in the heart of the fire, a brilliance like that of amber,

²⁴ I also heard the noise of their wings; when they moved, it was like the noise of flood-waters, like the voice of Shaddai, like the noise of a storm, like the noise of an armed camp; and when they halted, they lowered their wings; ²⁵ there was a noise too. ²⁶ Beyond the solid surface above their heads, there was what seemed like a sapphire, in the form of a throne. High above on the form of a throne was a form with the appearance of a human being. ²⁷ I saw a brilliance like amber, like fire, radiating from what appeared to be the waist upwards; and from what appeared to be the waist downwards, I saw what looked like fire, giving a brilliant light all round. ²⁸ The radiance of the encircling light was like the radiance of the bow in the clouds on rainy days. The sight was like the glory of Yahweh. I looked and fell to the ground, and I heard the voice of someone speaking to me.

Ezekiel begins to prophecy in 593 BC while in captivity in Babylon. He has a vision. The four living creatures are cherubim. This is all symbolic. In the vision God appears as in human form. It is not a human form. Even in the darkest days of Jerusalem, there is always hope because God is working out his vision even through events such as the destruction of the Temple and the ensuing misery.

The sound of these creatures is symbolic of God’s majesty. It wasn’t the glory of God but like the glory of God. In our time of the New Covenant of Jesus this ‘vision’ is available for everyone. Without the symbolic appearances of Ezekiel, you can have the reality of sitting in the presence of the Almighty, if you so wish. He will speak to you. Do you want the ‘vision’?

Mt 17:22-27

Gospel

²² When they were together in Galilee, Jesus said to them, 'The Son of man is going to be delivered into the power of men; ²³ they will put him to death, and on the third day he will be raised up again.' And a great sadness came over them. ²⁴ When they reached Capernaum, the collectors of the half-shekel came to Peter and said, 'Does your master not pay the half-shekel?' ²⁵ 'Yes,' he replied, and went into the house. But before he could speak, Jesus said, 'Simon, what is your opinion? From whom do earthly kings take toll or tribute? From their sons or from foreigners?' ²⁶ And when he replied, 'From foreigners,' Jesus said, 'Well then, the sons are exempt. ²⁷ However, so that we shall not be the downfall of others, go to the lake and cast a hook; take the first fish that rises, open its mouth and there you will find a shekel; take it and give it to them for me and for yourself.

The fact that he was heading for a violent death dominated the mind of Jesus. Every prophet had been persecuted and Isaiah had predicted it clearly of the Messiah. Jesus now tells his disciples that he will be betrayed. It shows their great love for him that this fills them with sorrow. Like us Jesus doesn’t know what will happen after death but he has total trust in the love and fidelity of his Father to save him and so predicts that he will be ‘on the third day raised up’. Can you trust in the mercy of God to save you?  Jesus comes ‘from above’ and as the Son is not obliged to pay the Temple tax which is his Father’s house. Nonetheless to avoid causing misunderstandings he tells Peter to pay. When it is not a matter of strict principle we should prefer peace.

Tuesday 10^th August 2010

19^th Week in Ordinary Time

Ez2:8-3:4

⁸ But you, son of man, are to listen to what I say to you; do not be a rebel like that rebellious tribe. Open your mouth and eat what I am about to give you.' ⁹ When I looked, there was a hand stretch- ing out to me, holding a scroll. ¹⁰ He un- rolled it in front of me; it was written on, front and back; on it was written 'Lamentations, dirges and cries of grief '.

¹ He then said, 'Son of man, eat what you see; eat this scroll, then go and speak to the House of Israel.' ² I opened my mouth; he gave me the scroll to eat ³ and then said, 'Son of man, feed on this scroll which I am giving you and eat your fill.' So I ate it, and it tasted sweet as honey. ⁴ He then said, 'Son of man, go to the House of Israel and tell them what I have said.

‘Son of man’: Ezekiel. is only a human being as opposed to God. The scroll is a symbol of God’s Word. It is an inner experience of God speaking to him about his people. Lamentations: Jerusalem is going to be destroyed. He is to listen to what God says and assimilate it fully. He will have no peace until he proclaims it   It will be sweet for him as he listens. He must then go and tell what he has learnt from God. Today God wants to speak to each baptised person since we share in the prophetic role of Christ.

Matthew 18:1-5,10,12-14

a

¹ At this time the disciples came to Jesus and said, 'Who is the greatest in he kingdom of Heaven?' ² So he called a little child to him whom he set among them. ³ Then he said, 'In truth I tell you, unless you change and become like little children you will never enter the kingdom of Heaven. ⁴ And so, the one who makes himself as little as this little child is the greatest in the kingdom of Heaven. ⁵ 'Anyone who welcomes one little child like this in my name welcomes me.

¹⁰ 'See that you never despise any of these little ones, for I tell you that their angels in heaven are continually in the presence of my Father in heaven.

¹² 'Tell me. Suppose a man has a hundred sheep and one of them strays; will he not leave the ninety-nine on the hillside and go in search of the stray? ¹³ In truth I tell you, if he finds it, it gives him more joy than do the ninety-nine that did not stray at all. ¹⁴ Similarly, it is never the will of your Father in heaven that one of these little ones should be lost.

The question the disciples ask is about who is greatest in the community of Jesus, namely the Church. We must not be deceived by position and authority. The Pope, the Bishops and others in authority are not necessarily the greatest in the Church. They have a role of service to the community. True greatness lies elsewhere. In Jesus’ time children had no rights. They were owned. He is greatest in the Kingdom and the Church who like a child then, humbles himself and trusts completely in the Father. Realising that everything we have is God’s gift and imitating Jesus who washed his disciples’ feet so we need to learn self-abasement, gentleness and meekness. “Regard others as more important than yourself” (Rom 12:10). People such as these are brothers of Jesus. Those who make themselves ‘the little ones’ are greatest. Do you only look great or are you great?

Feast of St. Lawrence, deacon and martyr.

John 12:24-26

Jesus said to his disciples⁴ In all truth I tell you, unless a wheat grain falls into the earth and dies, it remains only a single grain; but if it dies it yields a rich harvest. ²⁵ Anyone who loves his life loses it; anyone who hates his life in this world will keep it for eternal life. ²⁶ Whoever serves me, must follow me, and my servant will be with me wherever I am. If anyone serves me, my Father will honour him.

We must fall in love with Jesus. This love too is blind. We will think only of him and how to please him. He will dominate our thoughts and desires night and day. We will forget our own interests and seek only to please him in whatever we do. We will throw away our life for him. Jesus did this for his Father. We are to do it for him. The key is to be in love. Without this love we will do nothing. With it, like Lawrence, we will not count any hardship. How are we to fall in love with Jesus? This is God’s gift but freely given to those who really want it. It is through daily and earnestly searching for Jesus in personal prayer. Do you want Jesus with all your heart? Or are there unwritten limits? Can you throw away your life for him?

Wednesday 11th August 2010

Ez.9:1-7. 10:18-22

Then he shouted loudly for me to hear, 'The scourges of the city are approaching, each carrying his weapon of destruction!' ² Immediately six men advanced from the upper north gate, each holding a deadly weapon. Among them was a man dressed in linen, with a scribe's ink-horn in his belt. They came in and halted in front of the bronze altar. ³ The glory of the God of Israel rose from above the winged creature where it had been, towards the threshold of the Temple. He called to the man dressed in linen with a scribe's ink-horn in his belt ⁴ and Yahweh said to him, 'Go all through the city, all through Jerusalem, and mark a cross on the foreheads of all who grieve and lament over all the loathsome practices in it.' ⁵ I heard him say to the others, 'Follow him through the city and strike. Not one glance of pity; show no mercy; ⁶ old men, young men, girls, children, women, kill and exterminate them all. But do not touch anyone with a cross on his forehead. Begin at my sanctuary.' So they began with the old men who were in the Temple. ⁷ He said to them, 'Defile the Temple; fill the courts with corpses; then go out!' They went out and hacked their way through the city.

¹⁸ The glory of Yahweh then came out over the Temple threshold and paused over the winged creatures. ¹⁹ These raised their wings and rose from the ground as I watched, and the wheels were beside them. They paused at the entrance to the east gate of the Temple of Yahweh, with the glory of the God of Israel over them, above. ²⁰ This was the winged creature I had seen beneath the God of Israel by the River Chebar; I knew that they were winged creatures. ²¹ Each had four faces and four wings and what seemed to be human hands under their wings. ²² Their faces were like those I had seen by the River Chebar. Each one moved straight forward.

Because of the sins of the priests and people God is about to leave the city of Jerusalem. Linen is a sign of cleanliness worn here by a saviour. Those to be spared will have a X on their foreheads. This is the last letter of the Hebrew alphabet. The evildoers will be executed and their corpses will make the Temple unfit for worship. Their sins were idolatry and lack of interior dedication to God and social justice to their neighbour. The innocent will be spared. Like the man in linen marks those to be saved so Christ will save us from the ultimate destruction that sin brings upon itself.

The winged creatures are the Cherubim from the Temple.

When the land is purified a new holy city will arise.

Matthew 18:15-20

⁵ 'If your brother does something wrong, go and have it out with him alone, between your two selves. If he listens to you, you have won back your brother. ¹⁶ If he does not listen, take one or two others along with you: whatever the misdemeanour, the evidence of two or three witnesses is required to sustain the charge. ¹⁷ But if he refuses to listen to these, report it to the community; and if he refuses to listen to the community, treat him like a gentile or a tax collector. ¹⁸ 'In truth I tell you, whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven; whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven. ¹⁹ 'In truth I tell you once again, if two of you on earth agree to ask anything at all, it will be granted to you by my Father in heaven. ²⁰ For where two or three meet in my name, I am there among them.'

Jesus spoke of the lost sheep. This is ‘the little one’ who has sinned. He is concerned that he/she does not perish. So should we be. What are we to do? As an individual I must meet the person with a view to saving not to judging. If I fail I should not give up. Love compels us. Two people must approach the person. If the person still refuses, the matter should be brought to the community, in the hope of saving the person. If he/she still obstinately refuses to repent then by that fact the person is outside the community and this is to be recognised. Concern for a brother or sister is the motive for our actions. Do we have a community of fellowship or  a hierarchically legal society? Jesus stands in the midst of his community. Is your church a family or a group of individuals?

Thursday 12^th August 2010

12, 2010
Thursday of the Nineteenth Week in Ordinary Time

Ez 12:1-12

The word of the LORD came to me:
Son of man, you live in the midst of a rebellious house;
they have eyes to see but do not see,
and ears to hear but do not hear,
for they are a rebellious house.
Now, son of man, during the day while they are looking on,
prepare your baggage as though for exile,
and again while they are looking on,
migrate from where you live to another place;
perhaps they will see that they are a rebellious house.
You shall bring out your baggage like an exile in the daytime
while they are looking on;
in the evening, again while they are looking on,
you shall go out like one of those driven into exile;
while they look on, dig a hole in the wall and pass through it;
while they look on, shoulder the burden and set out in the darkness;
cover your face that you may not see the land,
for I have made you a sign for the house of Israel.

I did as I was told.
During the day I brought out my baggage
as though it were that of an exile,
and at evening I dug a hole through the wall with my hand
and, while they looked on, set out in the darkness,
shouldering my burden.

Then, in the morning, the word of the LORD came to me:
Son of man, did not the house of Israel, that rebellious house,
ask you what you were doing?
Tell them: Thus says the Lord GOD:
This oracle concerns Jerusalem
and the whole house of Israel within it.
I am a sign for you:
as I have done, so shall it be done to them;
as captives they shall go into exile.
The prince who is among them shall shoulder his burden
and set out in darkness,
going through a hole he has dug out in the wall,
and covering his face lest he be seen by anyone.

Ezekiel acts out the fate of Jerusalem when it is overthrown (587 BC). Ezekiel is not in Jerusalem but already one of the exiles in Babylon (593 BC). This is for the benefit of his fellow captives there. The meaning is that the people of Jerusalem will suffer exile and the king, Zedekiah, will try to flee but be captured and blinded. The exiles in Babylon thought the king would rescue them. Far from it. The fortunes of the king are totally reversed and he will die in exile. It strikes us that the people of Jerusalem were slow learners. This is the result of their infidelity to God and man. May we not follow in their footsteps. “The wages of sin are death” Let us repent while there is still time.

Mt 18:21–19:1

Gospel

Peter approached Jesus and asked him,
“Lord, if my brother sins against me,
how often must I forgive him?
As many as seven times?”
Jesus answered, “I say to you, not seven times but seventy-seven times.
That is why the Kingdom of heaven may be likened to a king
who decided to settle accounts with his servants.
When he began the accounting,
a debtor was brought before him who owed him a huge amount.
Since he had no way of paying it back,
his master ordered him to be sold,
along with his wife, his children, and all his property,
in payment of the debt.
At that, the servant fell down, did him homage, and said,
‘Be patient with me, and I will pay you back in full.’
Moved with compassion the master of that servant
let him go and forgave him the loan.
When that servant had left, he found one of his fellow servants
who owed him a much smaller amount.
He seized him and started to choke him, demanding,
‘Pay back what you owe.’
Falling to his knees, his fellow servant begged him,
‘Be patient with me, and I will pay you back.’
But he refused.
Instead, he had the fellow servant put in prison
until he paid back the debt.
Now when his fellow servants saw what had happened,
they were deeply disturbed,
and went to their master and reported the whole affair.
His master summoned him and said to him, ‘You wicked servant!
I forgave you your entire debt because you begged me to.
Should you not have had pity on your fellow servant,
as I had pity on you?’
Then in anger his master handed him over to the torturers
until he should pay back the whole debt.
So will my heavenly Father do to you,
unless each of you forgives his brother from his heart.”

When Jesus finished these words, he left Galilee
and went to the district of Judea across the Jordan.

God can forgive us because he loves us. He doesn’t want us to have to pay the punishment for our sins. Sin brings its own penalty death. This is the fruit of sin, not the fruit of God’s decision. Is there anything greater than eternal death, a living death separated from Love? Only then will it be understood. And God who takes delight in showing mercy forgives us when we appeal. Jesus appeals for us too. But mercy shown us demands that we show mercy too. “Blessed are the merciful, for they shall receive mercy”. If we are filled with the Spirit of God we will be able to show mercy and forgive those who do us harm. Our ability to forgive reveals our likeness to God. Those who do not forgive put their eternal salvation at very high risk. Is there anyone you have not forgiven from your heart?

Friday 13^th reflection by this date

Saturday August 14, 2010
Memorial of Saint Maximilian Mary Kolbe, priest and martyr

Ez 18:1-10, 13b, 30-32

The word of the LORD came to me:
Son of man, what is the meaning of this proverb
that you recite in the land of Israel:

“Fathers have eaten green grapes,
thus their children’s teeth are on edge”?

As I live, says the Lord GOD:
I swear that there shall no longer be anyone among you
who will repeat this proverb in Israel.
For all lives are mine;
the life of the father is like the life of the son, both are mine;
only the one who sins shall die.

If a man is virtuous—if he does what is right and just,
if he does not eat on the mountains,
nor raise his eyes to the idols of the house of Israel;
if he does not defile his neighbor’s wife,
nor have relations with a woman in her menstrual period;
if he oppresses no one,
gives back the pledge received for a debt,
commits no robbery;
if he gives food to the hungry and clothes the naked;
if he does not lend at interest nor exact usury;
if he holds off from evildoing,
judges fairly between a man and his opponent;
if he lives by my statutes and is careful to observe my ordinances,
that man is virtuous—he shall surely live, says the Lord GOD.

But if he begets a son who is a thief, a murderer,
or lends at interest and exacts usury–
this son certainly shall not live.
Because he practiced all these abominations, he shall surely die;
his death shall be his own fault.

Therefore I will judge you, house of Israel,
each one according to his ways, says the Lord GOD.
Turn and be converted from all your crimes,
that they may be no cause of guilt for you.
Cast away from you all the crimes you have committed,
and make for yourselves a new heart and a new spirit.
Why should you die, O house of Israel?
For I have no pleasure in the death of anyone who dies,
says the Lord GOD.  Return and live!

The prophet stresses personal responsibility although he does not overlook individual suffering for the community’s sins. He himself was suffering the captivity in Babylon. God is a God of holiness and so we are to be holy. Morality is not a balance of good works and bad, but of our relationship with God. We cannot blame ‘society’ for all our woes. God calls each person to come back to him so that he may live. There is no life for human beings outside of God the Creator and Redeemer. He does want to see us die in eternal separation. He longs for us to return to him and live. Pardon is always available.

Mt 19:13-15

Gospel

Children were brought to Jesus
that he might lay his hands on them and pray.
The disciples rebuked them, but Jesus said,
“Let the children come to me, and do not prevent them;
for the Kingdom of heaven belongs to such as these.”
After he placed his hands on them, he went away.

In Jewish society children had no rights. They were the property of their fathers. They were considered unimportant. The disciples still have much to learn. They are still status conscious. Children are too insignificant to bring to Jesus. But the disciples do not understand that pride, self-dignity and position in society or Church mean nothing to Jesus. The disciples have to get rid of their self-importance and so do we. Only those who see themselves as they are will get into heaven. Everything we have is a gift. We have no right to make demands on others. At best we are ‘unprofitable servants’ and like the tax-collector in the Temple need to bow down unworthy to raise our heads. We may be raised to the dignity of God, but this is through his love and mercy. We are to be humbly grateful.  Do you associate with the lowly? (Rom