Scripture Reflection for July 10,2008

Scripture: 14th Thursday, Ord. July 10,2008: Hosea 11:1-4, 8-9. Psalm 80:4b. Matthew 10:7-15. Lectionary # 386: God's compassion is felt in the Scriptures for today. In Hebrew the word for compassion is :"Hesed" and between the lines and beneath the text this loving-kindness of God is always present to the person listening "with the ears of his or her heart." Today it is so clear that we do not need any help to sense this compassion of a God who loves us no matter what! Hosea is speaking to us about our relationship to God which should be similar to a husband's love for his wife and her love for him. Hosea is actually using his own marriage to describe God's compassionate love for us. We need such directness from time to time in order to grow in our relationship with God and with one another; we need to lay aside whatever hinders us from that covenantal love and compassion of God. Hosea goes on to develop this love by telling us it is like a parent' love (father's in the text) who is concerned about his or her child. God stoops down, picks us up, cradles us and then feeds us. "I draw them with human cords, cords of love...My heart is overwhelmed; my compassion is brimming over." Jesus also is commissioning his apostles (disciples) to continue showing God's compassion to those in need. They are to be "other Christs" in bringing the Good News to others, in caring for the sick, in cleansing lepers, and in driving out demonic addictions. This is what we are entrusted with for we are the voice and the hands of the Lord, the heart and the feet of Jesus for others. Mother Teresa, the Blessed self-giver, has shown us what it means to be an apostle: ..."simply live the Gospel. Live the Gospel in prayer; live the Gospel in words. ...If you do not put that little drop of prayer, of penance in your life and in your heart, then the people will be defrauded. You won't be able to give what you do not have." Amen. July 11, 2008. Scripture: Hosea 14:2-10. Psalm 51. Matthew 10:16-23. Lectionary # 387... Conversion is a daily task. It is an experience that can give us a new view of our life and make it worth while. The word for conversion in Hebrew is "to turn" (Shuv, Teshuvah). We turn completely around in order to be face to face with God. The New Testament word is "Metanoia" and is a bit abstract. It means changing our mindset. Perhaps, we need both in order to tap into the right side of our brain and the left, then the conversion is complete! Before we can understand both Hosea and the Gospel message for today we need to return to and face the Lord; then we can talk about doing the mission of an apostle. It is Hosea who commences with the word meaning to turn back to our God. If we listen to the prophet speaking for God then we will come again to the gift of God's merciful and loving-kindness (Hesed). Countless graces then follow. Hosea then continues to tell us to be prudent and wise so that we may keep ourselves walking the paths of God not our own off the track paths. We are to constantly bring ourselves back to these paths of God trusting that where we all seemed to have wandered from are through God's graces restored. But we must walk always facing the Lord. Our Psalm and its response are our prayer and guide for the day, "Straight are the paths of the Lord, in them the just walk." Jesus has a similar message as Hosea. We are to be shrewd and simple (image of the slyness of a snake and the simplicity of a dove are his examples). We are to be aware of ferocious wolves who try to frighten us from the path and then we become their prey. Perhaps, the wolves are those who refuse to listen to God's word, God's call. To those who listen, the Spirit of God is promised to be with us along the ways and paths of life. The same Spirit will prompt us what to say, how to pray, and how to bring others along the paths of God. Inward struggles will continue both within ourselves and in our communities of belief, but the mission is to continue and will continue till the Lord returns again. "Come, Holy Spirit, fill the hearts of your faithful and kindle in them, in us, the fire of God's love." Amen. July 12, 2008. Saturday of 14th week. Scripture: Isaiah 6:1-8. Psalm 93:1ab, 1c-2, 5. Matthew 10:24-33. Lectionary # 388: We are greeted by the great theophany and call of the prophet Isaiah in today's liturgy. He is the prophet most often cited in the New Testament. We are privileged to hear the dramatic call of this noble man. His experience takes place in the Temple and he is surrounded by Seraphim; one of them cleanses his lips with a burning coal so that his hesitation to speak in God's name is taken away after such a purification of his lips, tongue, and voice. The Temple resounds amidst the whirl of the wings of the Seraphim with the trisagion: Holy, Holy, Holy, (Sanctus, Sanctus, Sanctus; Kadosha, Kadosha, Kadosha). We are indebted to Isaish for the words we use in the Eucharistic Prayer and we sing or say them each time we participate in the Mass. We, too, are called to experience the holiness of God and we are led to ask that our own lips and lives be purified so that we can worthily proclaim the word of God and live that word in what we do, what we say, who we are. The Temple, a place of worship, continues in the Psalm for the day, Psalm 93. We can appreciate Isaiah's call in what this Psalm contains and we do well to take the time to meditate upon the Psalm. Just as God removed Isaiah's hesitancy, so, too, Jesus tells us not to be worrisome and anxious. We are worth more than the care that God shows to the sparrows! God's providence enables us to be disciples of the Lord Jesus and it is enough for us to be like our teacher and Lord. If we acknowledge who Jesus is then He will acknowledge us before his Father. Amen.