Scripture reflection for 15th week, Thursday and Friday, July 17,18,2008
used to see last week's reflections and also has handy links to the right
for the Mary Page and other Marianist Resources. Very convenient for those
using the blog for the reflections: http://scripmed.blogspot.com
Scripture for Thurs. 15th week, Ordinary Time, Isaiah 26:7-9.12.16-19.
Psalm 102:13-14,15,16-18, 19-21. Matthew 11:28-30. Lectionary # 392:
We need both the inspired word of God through Isaiah and the
revelation of Jesus to live a balanced and holy life. The Scriptures for
today help us to do just that. Isaiah who reveres God as the Holy One of
Israel calls us to have a total trust in God and to strengthen this trust
through prayer. He tells us, "With my soul I have desired thee in the
night; yea, with my spirit within me have I sought thee earnestly." (verse
9). Through Isaiah we are learning both guidance and discipline in our
desires and in our actions.
Jesus then comforts us with his very consoling words--among the best
in the Bible--for he tells us that we can learn from him how to bear the
burdens of our respective callings or vocations in life--single, married,
vowed, etc. He speaks as Wisdom personified in a manner similar to the
deuterocanonical book of Sirach. He wants us to be at rest--a sabbath like
rest that is peaceful. His yoke is the commandment to love one another and
God with all our heart, soul, and mind. He invites us to pray and approach
him for this rest in the Lord.
Gentleness and humility of heart are to be expressed in our deeds and
words. Our heart and minds are to be united to God and to the Lord Jesus.
Though we may often think of these virtues as "soft"; they demand great
discipline and patience within us. Isaiah has helped us to understand this
and our response to the Wisdom of God will be graced. It is worth our
effort today to be patient, kind, and humble. Perhaps, the Benedictine
monks and nuns understood this through their motto, Ora et Labora, that is
Pray and Work. Amen.
Friday, July 18, Ordinary Time of 15th Week, Scripture: Isaiah 38:1-6,
21-22, 7-8. Isaiah 38: 10.11.12.16. Matthew 12:1-8. Lectionary # 393
Hunger pains are something we cope with from time to time. We
realize these sensations are nothing in comparision with what children,
women, and refugees suffer in places like the Sudan. We cringe when we see
the children starving on our TV news. So many are dying from thirst and
hunger that it boggles our mind and disturbs us. Our hunger pains are
nothing compared to what they go through in their short lives.
Jesus shows us in today's episode that certain rules are flexible and
are always to be reasonable when it comes to religious practices such as
fasting, or exceptions to Sabbath laws. His disciples are eating the
morsels of wheat grain on a Sabbath as they walk with him through one of
the fields of wheat. There are others who see them doing this and make it
a point to bring it to the attention of Jesus. What will he do and say?
They, of course, are passing judgment on the disciples and calling their
master into question about this action on their part. Jesus shows them
that there was an example of David taking the sacred breads from a
sanctuary to feed his soldiers and this was normally not permitted. God's
rules are not to be controlled by our human way of judging. The spirit of
Jesus and of the Torah leads to freedom and peaceful rest on the Sabbath.
It is not a question of "man-made" regulations.
Our consciences are constantly in need of being formed according to
right reason, common sense, and God's provident care. We need the
Scriptures as we move on through the stages of our lives to help us keep
these precious concerns about what is right and what is wrong. Balance and
reasonableness are prudent principles is dealing with some of our own
dilemmas. Today we are being asked by the Scriptures to pay attention to
our own spiritual hunger and thirst and not look at others while doing
this. We really do not have the leisure to spy on others and judging
whether they are observant or not. Amen.
posted by Fr. Bert SM at 7:57 AM
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