July 13 and 14 Lectionary 391-92
Matthew 11:25-27:
"The Lord is kind and merciful." Moses is being formed into a leader. He
needs a special divine experience to jolt him into this so God appears to
him on Mount Horeb (Sinai) in a burning bush. God promises to be with him
in helping his people Israel to be liberated from Egypt. There is a faint
recollection of this scene in Matthew's use of the prophetic announcement,
"Out of Egypt I have called my son." In our liturgy we pay attention to
any thoughts that may help us to unite the first reading with the other
liturgical texts. This is good liturgical meditating though it may not be
critical exegesis which needs to be moderated more by prayer in our
liturgical reflections on texts. We have the freedom of the children of God
when we read with faith of the heart to understand where God is calling us
through these sacred messages of Moses and Jesus. Matthew uses the text
for Jesus but Moses is really the one who leads Israel, God's beloved
people, out of Egypt. Freedom is intended both by the author of Matthew
and that of Exodus.
This shows us God's liberating and powerful love that sustains his people
throughout their history. It is salvation history that the Bible is
revealing to us. This takes place daily for us more than we realize and it
is never announced or understood by our news we have in our newspapers.
Psalm 103 tells us why all this is happening to Moses and to us. "The Lord
is kind and merciful." Here again we have an echo of the greatest blessing
in the Bible called the priestly blessing: "The Lord bless you and keep
you! The Lord let his face shine upon you, and be gracious to you! The Lord
look upon you kindly and give you peace.! So shall they invoke my name upon
the Israelites, and I shall bless them." (Numbers 6:24-27). So we take
great consolation from what God is enacting for us out of merciful kindness
and infinite love.
Jesus permits us to look in on his own personal prayer in the Gospel. We
hear him addressing his Father and showing how he is overwhelmed at God's
love for the lowly and the poor whom Matthew calls the "merest children."
We are among them and are truly blessed with God's saving actions among us
and with the eyes of faith we realize this is all God's grace. Amen.
July 14, Lectionary # 392
Scripture: Lectionary 392. Exodus 3:11-20. Psalm 105: 1.5.8-9. 24-25.
26-27. Matthew 11:28-30.
Discipleship is strongly present in both Mark and Matthew. Today's reading
brings that out the meaning of discipleship where we are led to think about
taking up the Cross and following Jesus. Disciples must learn this from
their master, Jesus. We are among those called to discipleship and its
cost. We are encouraged to take up the Cross daily according to Luke thus
all three of the Synoptics are helping us to realize what the price of
discipleship is.
Today it is Jesus himself who informs us as our master that we will be able
to follow him even though it means carrying the Cross as he did. He tells
us, "Come to me, all you who are weary and find life burdensome, and I will
refresh you. Take my yoke (the Cross) upon your shoulders and learn from
me, for I am gentle and humble of heart. Your souls will find rest, for my
yoke is easy and my burden light." This saying of Jesus needs no
commentary. It is extremely clear and simple. They are comforting words
that we just need to assimilate on a daily basis and then live out the
demands of our discipleship. The word disciple is always connected to the
foundation principle of being a learner in the things of God and Jesus for
us as Christian disciples. We have many models of faith who have done
this both in the Old Testament and certainly in the New Testament. Mary
and Joseph are excellent persons who show us how to live as disciples of
Jesus. If we recall this passage in the morning we have already begun our
acceptance of discipleship for the day. Jesus will be there with us to
carry the burdens and trials we face. We then are on the path to being a
learner this day for what will take place. We strive to become more and
more like our master, our teacher, Jesus.
"Jesus promises rest to those who take on themselves the obligations of the
kingdom, using some of the sweetest words ever attributed to him--words
that make intelligible Paul's appreciation for the "meekness and gentleness
of Christ.." (II Cor. 10:1). --- R.E.Brown, in Intro. , p.184.
posted by Fr. Bert SM at 8:43 AM
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