Scripture Reflection for May 30, 2008. Friday of 8th week

Scripture: May 30,2008. 8th week in ordinary time. I Peter 4:7-13. Psalm
06:10-13. Mark 11:11-26. Lectionary # 351.

In Hebrew there is a beautiful word--MITZVAH--which probably is
behind many of the virtues we are hearing about in I Peter. This
definition from a modern Jewish writer is very helpful for us Christian
readers: "A Talmudic tradition states that 613 mitzvoth were laid down for
the Israelites in the Torah (the Five Books of Moses). In addition. at
least seven mitzvot (the Noahide laws) were laid down for humankind as a
whole--among them, bans on robbery, murder, adultery, and blasphemy. Many
mitzvot are ritual in nature; many are social. Most involve action, and a
few involve belief. Taken together the mitzvot are the core of Judaism."
(The Joys of Hebrew, Lewis Glinert). He then cites this remarkable
sentence from Abraham Joshua Heschel, "To do a mitzvah is to outdo oneself,
to go beyond one's own needs and to illumine the world." In our epistle
Peter or the author of the epistle says that it is necessary to be calm in
order to pray. Then he enumerates some important virtues or habits and
dispositions (mitzvot) that Christian believers should practice: love for
our neighbor, hosptitality, not complaining or inflicting our ill feelings
on another, using one's talents and graces for others, delivering God's
message to them, and finally glorifying God through our prayer of praise.
Jesus performs all sorts of mitzvot in the Gospels in his healing of
the blind, helping the lame and the widows, and feeding the hungry. Then,
too, he prays and encourages his followers to do the same. I Peter
mentioned prayer at the beginning of the reading, Mark has Jesus talking to
us about prayer at the end of today's passage. Such prayer leads us to
absolute trust in God as the Poor of God (the 'Anawim) who are totally
dependent on God. In hearing the final words of Jesus we hear an echo of
the Lord's Prayer, the Our Father, especially the forgiveness that we
should have. Mark and John do not have the complete words of the Our
Father as do Matthew (Matthew 6:9-15) or Luke (Luke 11:2-4) but the lesson
on forgiveness is there. Forgiveness is essential to our lives as
believers, and we are called to forgive up to seventy times seven each day!
We are especially urged to forgive anyone with whom we are at odds and
trust that through this action (mitzvah) they may be disposed to do the
same. A good prayer for this day is that of the Lord's Prayer. Perhaps,
saying it several times during the day would be a powerful prayer
experience. Amen.