Jesus the face of God, his disciple the face of Jesus

Welcome to my blog.

For our daily spiritual nourishment, the Catholic Church, under the Spirit’s inspiration, gives us readings from the Scriptures. You will find them here along with a prayerful reflection upon them.

The Spirit who inspired the author, will also inspire us if we read his Word with an open and humble heart.

May God bless you as your read.

Tuesday 7 July 2020

Jesus the face of God, his disciple the face of Jesus

 Ps 47: 10-11

Your merciful love, O God,

we have received in the midst of your temple.

Your praise, O God, like your name,

reaches the ends of the earth;

your right hand is filled with saving justice.

Prayer

Father in heaven, who through the abject humiliation

of your Son on the Cross,

have saved a world bent on self-destruction,

fill with holy joy all those

you have liberated from the yoke of sin

and grant them everlasting happiness

in your Kingdom.

We make our prayer through your Son,

Christ Jesus our Lord.

____________________

First reading

Hosea 8:4-7, 11-13 ·

When they sow the wind, they shall reap the whirlwind.

Thus says the Lord:

They made kings in Israel, but not by my authority;

they established princes, but without my approval.

With their silver and gold they made

idols for themselves, to their own destruction.

Cast away your calf, O Samaria!

my wrath is kindled against them;

How long will they be unable to attain

innocence in Israel?

The work of an artisan,

no god at all,

Destined for the flames –

such is the calf of Samaria!

When they sow the wind,

they shall reap the whirlwind;

The stalk of grain that forms no ear

can yield no flour;

Even if it could,

strangers would swallow it.

When Ephraim made many altars to expiate sin,

his altars became occasions of sin.

Though I write for him my many ordinances,

they are considered as a stranger’s.

Though they offer sacrifice,

immolate flesh and eat it,

the Lord is not pleased with them.

He shall still remember their guilt

and punish their sins;

they shall return to Egypt.

THE WORD OF THE LORD

Prayerful reflection

The problem with Israel is that they have a divided heart (10:1), (New American). It is false (RSV). It is fickle (NLT). In today’s reading the prophet gives examples of the divided heart of Israel, how they have lived and acted regardless of God’s wishes. It will bring only misfortune and ultimate destruction. If he were living today, he would give other examples of what we do in our lives. Man does not seem to change.

We are all tempted to have a divided heart, to want to do our own thing without reference to God. This is both wrong and foolish. It is wrong because it is God who made us and he made us out of nothing and so we are totally dependent on him. To acknowledge this is to be true to ourselves, to be authentic. He has full rights over us. We are to obey him and please him in everything we do. It is foolish to do our own thing, because as we heard yesterday God loves us with an everlasting love and cares only for our good. To obey him is the wisest thing to do. It can only bring happiness and joy.

But God is unseen and silent. That is a major problem for us. He does however make his presence felt. We must listen to him speaking through the inspired Word of the Scriptures and we must listen to the prophets who speak on his behalf today. Jesus founded his Church on the apostles and gave them authority to teach. We must listen to the teaching of his Church. Jesus is present in his Church and guides its teachers by the Holy Spirit.

Then whatever we do – in our home, in the market place, in the church – we will do in accordance with his will and to please him, our Creator and Father. Then our whole life becomes our worship to God and a source of happiness to ourselves.

Any action we do has consequences. We cannot do an evil act and hope it will not have evil consequences. Every good act will also have good consequences. This is built into the nature of things. We are responsible for our actions. The prophet explains this as God punishing. God punishes us no more than loving parents punish their child. He treats us infinitely more lovingly than the most loving parents treat their child. We can, like any child can ignore their parents, ignore him and destroy ourselves. this

How do you look on life? How do you look on God? Have you idols in your life? do you, or I, have a divided heart?

Psalm

Psalm 115:3-4, 5-6, 7ab-8, 9-10

The house of Israel trusts in the Lord.

Our God is in heaven;

whatever he wills, he does.

Their idols are silver and gold,

the handiwork of men.

The house of Israel trusts in the Lord.

They have mouths but speak not;

they have eyes but see not;

They have ears but hear not;

they have noses but smell not.

The house of Israel trusts in the Lord.

.

They have hands but feel not;

they have feet but walk not.

Their makers shall be like them,

everyone that trusts in them.

The house of Israel trusts in the Lord.

____________________

John 10:14

Alleluia, alleluia.

I am the good shepherd, says the Lord;

I know my sheep, and mine know me.

Alleluia, alleluia.

____________________

Gospel

Matthew 9:32-38

The harvest is abundant but the laborers are few.

A demoniac who could not speak was brought to Jesus, and when the demon was driven out the mute man spoke. The crowds were amazed and said, “Nothing like this has ever been seen in Israel.” But the Pharisees said, “He drives out demons by the prince of demons.”

Jesus went around to all the towns and villages, teaching in their synagogues, proclaiming the Gospel of the Kingdom, and curing every disease and illness. At the sight of the crowds, his heart was moved with pity for them because they were troubled and abandoned, like sheep without a shepherd. Then he said to his disciples, “The harvest is abundant but the laborers are few; so ask the master of the harvest to send out laborers for his harvest.” THE GOSPEL OF THE LORD

Prayerful reflection

God lives in unapproachable light. No one has ever seen God. Nor can anyone ever see God. This is the testimony of both the Old and the New Testaments. God is totally other and incomprehensible to us. Whatever we think of God or say of God will be inadequate.

But in Jesus, that God has become a human being and lived among us. If we look at Jesus we look at God. Of course, we do not see God as he is in himself when we look at Jesus. We see him in the form of a human being, like anyone else. Jesus reveals God in a way we can understand.

Jesus is the great liberator, because God is the great liberator. Jesus liberates those who come to him from every evil because God, the liberator, works through him.

Jesus proclaims the Kingdom. God in him has begun the establishment of the Kingdom of peace, justice and love and will one day ring it to fulfilment.

Jesus is moved with pity, because God is moved with pity. Jesus is the human face of God. There is now no need to search for a God beyond the universe. Let us contemplate Jesus. To know God, it is enough to know Jesus. To meet God, it is enough to meet Jesus. Through our friendship with the man Jesus, we have friendship with the God of the universe. This is the Good News.

Jesus, however, is not visibly present in the world today. May we who believe in him and love him, serve him by being his merciful face for others. May the love of Jesus for each individual flow into their lives through us. This is to be his disciple.

As Jesus revealed God, do you try to reveal Jesus?

____________________

Ps 33: 9

Taste and see that the Lord is good;

blessed the man who seeks refuge in him.

Prayer

Grant, we pray, O Lord,

that, having been nourished by your Word,

we may gain the prize of salvation

and never cease to praise you.

Through Christ our Lord.