Aug. 4-9 Scripture meditations

Scripture: Lectionary 410 Numbers 20:1-13. Psalm 95:1-2, 6-7,8-9, Matthew
16:13-23:

We have a snapshot of one of the greatest moments in Peter's life in
today's excerpt from St. Matthew. He is the one who cries out with
boldness, You, Jesus, are the Christ (the Messiah), the Son of the living
God." Jesus replies with a blessing, "Blessed are you, Simon, for flesh and
blood have not revealed this to you, but my heavenly Father." What a great
exclamation of faith that helps us identify who Jesus really is. Peter's
proclamation helped the other apostles to make some progress in
understanding who Jesus is for them, but it will take more than this one
great act of faith of the Rock on which the Church is to be built. The
drama of the scene continues when Peter rejects the statement of Jesus that
he must undergo much suffering and even death on a cross before being
raised to life again by the Father. Peter would rather have Jesus as a
royal Messiah not a suffering Servant of God as Isaiah had foretold.

Jesus' reprimand is not calling Peter a devil but an Adversary-- the
biblical meaning of "Satan" as we recall from the Book of Job that
illustrates the role of the Satan in the first chapter of that great book
of Wisdom outside of Israel but written by an Israelite! Peter accepts the
reprimand and again makes further progress in his following of Jesus even
though he will falter when Jesus' prediction happens within a year.

In our own moments of comfort and consolation that we sometimes experience
in prayer we are overjoyed and express our faith boldly. We feel close to
Jesus when all is going well with us and our spiritual life. However,
everyone of us has ups and downs on the journey with Jesus and we tend in
our lesser moments of faithfully following the Lord as disciples to forget
to pray or to do good to others. We feel handicapped by our discouragement
and our lack of fervent prayer. We then need Jesus, like Peter did, to
snap us out of such a downward trend. We turn again to the Lord and soon
find that following Jesus means the way of the cross. The Resurrection will
take time till we experience it. We now have the rest of Peter's story to
reflect on and find ourselves like Peter eventually becoming a true
apostle--one who is sent to others because we have learned the meaning of
the Paschal Mysteries in our own lives. Amen.

August 5,

Scripture: Lectionary 411: Deuteronomy 4:32-40. Psalm 77:12-13,14-15,
16.21. Matthew 16:24-28:

Deuteronomy is one of the most poweful and beautiful books of the Bible. It
brings the cream to the top for the sources of the Torah, the first five
books of the Bible. Moses is our leader and our narrator according to the
unknown author of this great work. Such an author knows the full story of
the hero Moses. He is an omniscient narrator--something that every author
enjoys in his or her telling of a story, an event, or a personal
experience.

We are led to accept Moses as a confirmation figure of what a covenant of
the heart is between God and God's beloved ones. Deuteronomy encourages us
to think always and ofen of the covenant made on Sinai and then lived out
in every faithful person who has accepted the inspired message of God in
this outstanding revelatory book. Moses is the interpreter par excellence
of all that has passed before the writing of this climactic book of the
Torah.
As we move through it we discover already in chapter six the holiest of
faith expressions called the Shema: "Hear, O Israel, the Lord is our God,
the Lord is one." (Deuteronomy 6:4). The Shema appears also in Deuteronomy
11:13-21, and Numbers 15:37-41 and is read every morning and evening and is
called in the synagogue, the keriat Shema, that is, the reading of the
Shema. We too could pray this as a morning and evening prayer. It is
considered to be a confession of faith and is a vital part of the Jewish
liturgy. "It is spoken by a Jew on his deathbed, and throughout the
centuries Jews undergoing martyrdom have died with the Shema on their
lips." (The Encyclopedia of the Jewish Religion, p. 355).

We hear of Moses' repeating what has happened in the Exodus, what the
blessings and commandments of God are, how God is supremely unique and
transcendent, and how we are always to choose life over death, good over
evil, etc.
What the Gospel of John is for Christians, Deuteronomy is the heart of the
Jewish belief and the commandment of love is evident just as stongly as it
is in John-- God is the omniscient author of both Deuteronomy and John. We
learn how God is kind and merciful and ever faithful to the covenant given
to Moses. Jesus realized this and told us that he has come not to change
one of the letters of the Scriptures but to fulfill them.

Psalm 77 reminds us to remember the deeds of the Lord and we can find them
in Deuteronomy. Jesus wishes to lead us into the kingdom of God through
following him in his own commitment to the words of God and God's will. We
can see that the selection from Deuteronomy today and that from the Gospel
serve as bookends for the salvation story that is ours both as Jew and
Christian. Amen.

August 6: The Transfiguration, lectionary # 614.

Scripture: Daniel 7:9-10, 13-14. Psalm 97:1-2.5.6-9. I Peter 1:16-19.
Matthew 17:1-9. Lectionary # 614:

"All of us, gazing on the Lord's glory with unveiled faces, are being
TRANSFORMED from glory to glory into his (Jesus') image by the Lord who is
the Spirit." Paul gives us this thunderbolt of revealed grace that
penetrates into the heart of the mystery of Jesus' transfiguration. We
celebrate our own being conformed to Christ through this mystery that is
both consoling and overwhelming as we learn from the three apostles who
were there on the mountain top with Jesus and saw Moses and Elijah. It is
our own spiritual transformation into Christ and our ecclesial conformity
to Christ that enables us to continue the mission of Jesus today. We have
a foretaste of the glory and beauty of heaven as well as strength for the
foreboding days of the suffering and death of Jesus on the Cross. Our own
cooperation with God's plan of salvific love is bound up in the insight and
graced statement that Paul gives us today in a passage that speaks of the
Lord's glory.

For each of us this starts with our Baptism where we are named and claimed
by the Trinity in its name of Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Paul in his
statement refers to the Lord (God the Creator and Father), to Jesus (the
Son), and to the Holy Spirit our sanctifier. Being buried with Christ we
rise with him and feel his transformative power working within our hearts.
We are changed by this mystery now celebrated as the fourth mystery in the
luminous mysteries of the Rosary.

In the Readings from St. Anastasia of Sinai we are told, "These are the
divine wonders we celebrate today; this is the festival of Christ that has
drawn us here... Let us run with confidence and joy to enter into the cloud
like Moses and Elijah, or like James and John." We can also acclaim with
Peter as we enter into the sacred mystery of the Eucahrist after having
been enlightened by the word of God. We acclaim with Peter, " Lord, it is
good for us to be here." Amen.

August 7: lectionary # 116 Sunday A 19th in Ordinary Time:

Scripture: Lectionary 116. I Kings 19:9. 11-13. Psalm 85:
9.10.11-12.13-14. Romans 9:1-5. Matthew 14:22-33.

Where is God for you? Is he in the great force of a hurricane? Or do we
need an earthquake in our life experiences to awaken us to the presence of
God? Or maybe it is in the fire of addictions and passions that have the
force of an active volcano that burns within us and still has not found
God? Our prophet Elijah who is a symbolic image of John the Baptist and a
precursor of the Messiah finds God in the quiet whispers of a gentle
breeze. He immediately realizes the presence of God and hides his face in
the mouth of a cave in fear and in awe. He had the other adventures in his
life that were so troubling and now he finds God in the peaceful atmosphere
of a simple breeze. He prays.

Jesus prays by leaving the apostles alone in a fishing boat. He goes up a
mountain to find the solitude necessary from them and the clinging crowds
always seeking a miracle, a healing, or some form of consolation in their
troubled souls. The apostles soon are in a sudden squall that whips up on
the Lake of Galilee. They are afraid of the power of the storm and miss
the presence of someone who could still the storm. But wait! What is that
or who is that coming toward them but looking like a ghost--only more to
fear besides the storm. Fear produces all kinds of imaginative thoughts
that are far from being helpful in a stormy situation. Nature is against
them too and how are they to survive? Yet, a familiar voice tells them,
"Do not be afraid. It is I." Peter is the first to recognize the specter
as Jesus and not a ghost, yet he is not totally sure. "If it is you, let
me also walk on the water." He like ourselves can do this in some unsteady
and fearful steps and then we sink because of our lack of belief that it
could really be Jesus.

Raging winds, fiery lava, and a splitting of the ground on which we stand
are familiar to us in our lifelong journey toward the Lord. To overcome
these threats we need to discover that Jesus is near walking through the
waters, the fire, and the earthquakes of our life. He brought calm to
those in the boat (a symbol of the Church in difficult times like our
present time); he lifts us up from the deep just as he did lift Peter.
Again and again he tells them and us, "Do not be afraid, it is I." Our
best response is given to us by the Rock of the Church, Peter: "Lord, save
us, Lord, save me." I am of little faith and have many fears, many doubts
that you can do this for me. Help me to realize you are very near to me.
You are the Son of God, the Savior, the Lord of all nature and all peoples.
Why do we, why do I fear and lack trust in you and your words? Have mercy
on me, Lord, for I have sinned. Amen.

August 8, Monday (St. Dominic) Lectionary # 413.

Scripture: Lectionary 113. Deuteronomy 10:12-22. Psalm 147:12-13. 14-15.
19-20. Matthew 17:22-27:

Deuteronomy is a book of encouragement for us. We, like the people who
first heard this read in the Temple, need to embrace its message. This is
a foundation document for a covenant with God. It is a blessing given by
Moses to us and those who handed it down. No wonder when it was found the
Israelites wept and repented in the Temple area. God was again with them
and their covenant was restored.

All of the books of the Torah are named after the first word or words that
begin the scroll. Deuteronomy begins with the word "Devarim" which means
"Words." How appropriate a beginning for this magnificent section of the
Bible. It constantly recalls for us the believing readers God's great
works among us (the magnalia Dei). We hear the commandments again always
with the convincing encouragement of the great prophetic leader Moses. We
learn there is no other God than the Lord God (Adonai-Elohim). All of
God's loving promises are being fulfilled as the People of God are about to
enter the Promised Land.

Our Psalm Response repeats the same message: "God has proclaimed his
ordinances to Jacob, statutes and ordinances to Israel. He has not done
this for any other nation. His ordinances he has not made known to them."
We are listening or singing the last third stage of the Psalm. In this
Psalm the name of God appears seven times, a number of completeness. Its
praise of God is a gentle and pleasant prayer. Its sensitivity is unique
within the psalter and is a gentle liturgical pesuasion like the words of
Deuteronomy.It is a perfect liturgical psalm for summoning Israel and us
to adore and praise the Lord.

In the Gospel for this day, Jesus predicts his suffering and death. He
always does this three times within the Gospels to make sure the apostles
grasp what lies ahead for them through following him. This is the sealing
of the covenant he has made with those who are his disciples then and now.
He does this as a suffering servant Messiah and yet as Lord of all. As his
disciples we are to bear our crosses and follow him always. It is this that
leads to the Resurrection of Jesus and ours. Amen.

August 9th. Lectionary # 414. Deuteronomy 31:1-8. Resp. Deuteronomy
32:3-4.7-8. 9.12. Matthew 18:1-5. 10.12-14.
Children are our future. Today's selection from Matthew is the very best on
children and it comes from the mouth of Jesus who is humble and gentle of
heart. He goes quite counter-cultural to his time in the way he extols and
presents children in this passage. It is remarkable for a first century
person, the historical Jesus of Nazareth. The citation from Matthew
18:1-5.1l0.12-14 is one that should be on the desks and walls of all those
involved with children from the parents on to the teacher to all in the
helping professions: vowed religious, diocesan priests, and every adult
involved with children.

Jesus wants all of us to be as simple and single of heart like a child. For
such is the makeup of the kingdom of God. Jesus rebukes even his own
disciples when they try to keep the children from him. All of the Gospels
recall Jesus' love and kindness to children. John gives us the theological
highpoint in saying, "Anyone who did accept Him he empowered to become
children of God. These are they who believe in his name--who were not
begotten by blood, nor by carnal desire, nor by man's willing it, but by
God." (John 1:12-13).

Children are to be loved, cherished, and protected by all of us, but
especially by the parents, the relatives, the teachers, and those entrusted
with the spiritual and educational needs. They are to be given the sacred
trust of each adult and all the moreso those in the helping professions. We
do well to meditate often on this passage and other passages in the Gospels
(cf. Mark 9:36-37; 10:13-15; Luke 9:47-48; 18:16-17). We are to be aware
of confronting any form of child abuse and child trafficing. What a
disgrace for those involved in such criminal behavior against those who are
innocent and belong to the kingdom of God.

Returning to the first reading from Deuteronomy we now are saying farewell
to this book in our liturgical cycle for weekdays. We can learn how to
bless the children and to always choose life for them. We learn how to
show them a loving God who is always there to protect them through this
book. Moses has indeed left us a remarkable testament for living life to
its fullest. The Torah and its last book is a veritable treasure.

Recently, in the Bible Today, an article touched upon the word of God. It
can easily be applied to what we have heard and read from the Book of
Deuteronomy: "An argument could be made that the biblical tradition remains
alive not simply because of the truths and convictions that can be taught,
or because of the physical evidence that can be wrought, but because of
images that can be caught. God's people throughout history have
experienced the reality of covenant love and have passed that on in ways
that engage the human imagination." (Cackie Upchurch, Bible Today,
July/August 2011, page 209).

------------------------------------

Yahoo! Groups Links

<*> To visit your group on the web, go to:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/womensretreat/

<*> Your email settings:
Individual Email | Traditional

<*> To change settings online go to:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/womensretreat/join
(Yahoo! ID required)

<*> To change settings via email:
womensretreat-digest@yahoogroups.com
womensretreat-fullfeatured@yahoogroups.com

<*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to:
womensretreat-unsubscribe@yahoogroups.com

<*> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to:
http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/